Japan Accomodation

[The_Rural_Juror]

I think the umobile worked out to be about $60 cad for 15 days. We had pocket wifi from some places and mobile hotspotted the rest. My spare battery charger was very useful during the trip.

You can use the pasmo or suica in some vending machines and cabs as well. We opted not to get them as it was another hassle to return then.

[hurrdurr]

Is the general consensus to get a Pasmo if staying in Tokyo and Area only?

We are going for 9 Days and the furthest we are going is to Disneysea/Disneyland.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by A2VR6


Yep, you can use either/or, they essentially work the same way. You can even charge/refill them at the same machines in most cases.

Perfect, looks like we're going with Pasmo haha.


I read the Tsukiji Fish Market is moving in November 2016 to a nearby island - anyone know how that is going to affect the touristy side of things? I'm hoping we can at least visit the shops for some fresh sushi.

[cyra1ax]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt


Perfect, looks like we're going with Pasmo haha.


I read the Tsukiji Fish Market is moving in November 2016 to a nearby island - anyone know how that is going to affect the touristy side of things? I'm hoping we can at least visit the shops for some fresh sushi.

I thought I read that the move was delayed for an indefinite amount of time..

[The_Rural_Juror]

What does everyone's itinerary look like? I was going to post my findings and research when I have time.

[eblend]

Originally posted by A2VR6

The first time you show the JR pass at the Narita Terminal 1 Station they will stamp it which starts your 14 day time limit.

Unless I misunderstood what you are saying, or something changed since the last 4 times I used the pass, this isn't true. You can pick the start date to be in the future, they will stamp a future date, and that's when you can start using it.

For example, when I used a rail pass a few years ago, I just had a 7 day as I was travelling only for those 7 days, and those 7 days were right in the middle of my 3 week trip, so they just put the date I wanted it to start on, same was the case the first time I ever used it. You can start the pass at the time that's most convenient for you. You can also buy all your shinkansen tickets in advance using the pass the same time you activate it if you planned it all, and they will give you all the tickets, as long as your travel is past the date you chose to activate.

Have been to Japan 6 times now, used the pass 4 times...never started it on the day I arrived and exchanged the voucher.

As for the metro card......if you already have a JR pass..just use JR trains for free instead of using metro. In major cities, JR will have a line that will take you where you need to go, unless you are staying somewhere far away from JR station. In Tokyo for example, the circle Yamanote line will take you to pretty much every place you want to go anyways. This is a poor use of JR pass since you will never use up the money u spent on it locally, unless u plan on travelling across the country on bullet trains, which is what I usually do.

[The_Rural_Juror]

^Agree with eblend. You can pick a different start date for your JR pass. I started my JR pass on the day I left Tokyo.

You can reserve seats on the shinkansen at the JR counter for one trip if there is a line-up, more if they are not busy.

Yamanote takes you to a lot of places but a lot of places (like Tsukiji Market) are still much easier to get to with the Metro. Agree that using a JR pass just for the Yamanote is a waste of money. Metro day pass will be a lot cheaper.

[A2VR6]

Originally posted by eblend


Unless I misunderstood what you are saying, or something changed since the last 4 times I used the pass, this isn't true. You can pick the start date to be in the future, they will stamp a future date, and that's when you can start using it.

You are correct on this. I guess I explained it wrong (assumed that he had the pass to cover the whole duration of the trip).You can pick a start date in the future but if thats the case you wouldnt show your JR pass to the attendant at the airport, you'd use the turnstyle with your NEX ticket and continue using the turnstyles in Tokyo or where ever (via purchased ticket or IC card) until your "start date" begins. In any case, the first time you show the pass to the attendant they usually physically stamp it in the lower left corner (entry to railway).

When we went recently we decided to get a JR pass to cover the whole duration of our two week trip just to make things easier so we used the pass straight from the airport. Worked out at the end as we only stayed in Toyko for 5 days and spent the rest of the 9 days in other cities/parts of Japan.

Originally posted by eblend


As for the metro card......if you already have a JR pass..just use JR trains for free instead of using metro. In major cities, JR will have a line that will take you where you need to go, unless you are staying somewhere far away from JR station. In Tokyo for example, the circle Yamanote line will take you to pretty much every place you want to go anyways. This is a poor use of JR pass since you will never use up the money u spent on it locally, unless u plan on travelling across the country on bullet trains, which is what I usually do.

I found that in Tokyo the JR lines pretty much got me to all the places I wanted to go (granted getting to Aomi would be tough on JR only). Kyoto/Osaka we found that we had to rely on the metro cards much more.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by cyra1ax
I thought I read that the move was delayed for an indefinite amount of time..

I hope that's true, we were hoping to check it out. I can't imagine it would ever fully shut down, but if it were in the process of moving I could see it being less of a tourist attraction.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by The_Rural_Juror
What does everyone's itinerary look like? I was going to post my findings and research when I have time.

This is what we ended up booking:

- Arrive Japan NRT Nov 6
- First night stay in Tokyo hotel by Tokyo station
- Nov 7-10 Kyoto (AirBnb) (day trip to Hiroshima)
- Nov 10-14 Osaka (AirBnb) (Day trip to Nara Park)
- Nov 14-16 Hakone (Tonosawa Onsen Ryokan Ichinoyu)
- Nov 16-20 Tokyo (AirBnb)
- Nov 20 fly home

Going to bring $1000 in Yen each, don't plan on doing any shopping really, but need to buy 2-3 meals a day.

Other than that we haven't planned much - been looking at Trip Advisor and the usual places for "must sees" and "must do's" but if anyone has suggestions I'd love to hear them - especially if it's a particularly nice photography spot.

[The_Rural_Juror]

The day trip to Hiroshima can get long meaning that you will miss Miyajima, which I found to be more interesting than Hiroshima. Himeji is a 2-3 hour stop on the way to Hiroshima to climb the castle.

I think Nara is a little easier to access from Kyoto vs Osaka but not a big deal. Our AirBnBs in Kyoto and Osaka were the nicest we have ever stayed in and professionally run.

Probably don't need $2000 in yen tbh if you use your credit cards when you can.

I think the tax-free threshold is about 5000 yen (have to look for the tax free cashier available at some stores) but you will need to have your passport with you.

Ended up going to Sushi Zanmai a few times. It's a chain restaurant but still very good compared to our standards and great value.

More details this weekend after we process our photos.

[Mitsu3000gt]

^^ Thanks I appreciate the feedback.

What would you recommend for Hiroshima? Everything is booked so unfortunately we can't stay over night there. If there was enough time to do Himeji and Hiroshima (Mostly for WWII history) I think that would be enough. We could also do another day trip out of Osaka to do one or the other, that would be fine too.

The only reason we combined Osaka and Nara Park was that it appeared closer on a map - if it's easier to get to from Kyoto that is good to know. Or if there is only one way to get there with JR that would make a difference too.

I am having trouble deciding how much money to bring, because some people tell me I can use my CC quite a bit, others have told me they had to use almost entirely cash except at hotels. Maybe we could get away with $500-$800 CAD in Yen each. Pretty much just buying meals, admissions, incidentals, and maybe some small gifts. I want to buy a Knife which I assume will run me $100-200.

I also had a question about booking seats on the JR trains - is that easy to do at the JR Kiosk without knowing Japanese? Or will we likely get seats without reservations?

I am very much looking forward to a holiday that isn't 30C+ and 100% humidity the whole time haha. Current weather looks pretty ideal there right now.

EDIT: One more thing - is there a go-to phone app for the trains? I looked at the Hyperdia app but it got pretty average reviews.

[g-m]

I had to use mostly cash

[A2VR6]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt



The only reason we combined Osaka and Nara Park was that it appeared closer on a map - if it's easier to get to from Kyoto that is good to know. Or if there is only one way to get there with JR that would make a difference too.

I dont think it makes much difference to get to Nara from Kyoto or Osaka. In either case you can get to the JR Nara station from either the JR station in Kyoto or Osaka. There might be an extra transfer if you leave from Osaka vs. Kyoto (not entirely sure)

I am having trouble deciding how much money to bring, because some people tell me I can use my CC quite a bit, others have told me they had to use almost entirely cash except at hotels

We found that we had to use cash quite a bit at restaurants (higher end ones will usually take CC) as the ticket machines dont usually take CC. Its pretty hit or miss... we tried to use CC as much as possible but we ended up blowing through ~2000 CDN in cash for two people. Granted we did buy roughly $400 in misc stuff that was cash only. In any case, if you run out of cash, it's pretty easy to pop into a 7-11 and use your debit card to take out cash ($5.00 service fee) and the exchange rate is somewhat reasonable.

I also had a question about booking seats on the JR trains - is that easy to do at the JR Kiosk without knowing Japanese? Or will we likely get seats without reservations?

Whenever we booked a reserved seat on a train (ie. Shinkasen) we lined up at the ticket counter and asked the person at the counter to reserve the seats for us. They generally speak/understand English really well and the lineup wasnt more than 10 mins from our experience. I did not try to reserve a seat off the Kiosk machines so I cant comment on that.

EDIT: One more thing - is there a go-to phone app for the trains? I looked at the Hyperdia app but it got pretty average reviews.

I mainly used google maps for trains/times to board train. Worked ok for me. Only thing that got us is that google maps always recommends the fastest way (ie. using the Nozomi Shinkasen which you cant use with your JR passes... you have to buy a ticket to use the Nozomi). Also it was a bit tough using google maps if you wanted to avoid the metros and take JR only... so there was abit of improvising there.

[Illusive 4-2]

Osaka is very central and only a 30 minute train ride to Kyoto, Nara, Kobe, etc. You can get to any of those destinations from Osaka using JR so you don't have to pay for local transportation. Google Maps will be very helpful as you can compare the line colours and times to find the right train; we made that mistake when going to Nara by catching the right colour train, but wrong time and ended up going back to Osaka station half way to Nara (I think it was slated to stop at Oji or something like that). They do have english on the board, but when the train arrives, its strictly Japanese.

We ended up using mostly cash and only used our CC at the airport to buy gifts. If you're not planning on eating Kobe beef or michelin star restaurants, I'd probably budget 1,000 to 2,000 yen/person per meal (lunch/dinner). As always, there's a wide range depending on where you go, but chains like Yoshinoya would come in under that while conveyor belt sushi, random stuff on the street will be in that range. Cash makes it easier and you can also get change so you can get drinks from the machines all over the place. When using your CC, it's less convenient as they have to swipe and you'll have to sign etc. like in the US instead of our tap system here.

Booking seats on the shinkansen is pretty easy, just need to make sure you go to the right counter to make your booking. Most spoke enough english that you can tell them where and what time and they'll know what to do. You don't need to book for local transportation (i.e. Osaka to Nara, Kyoto, etc.), only long distance shinkansens (Tokyo to Kyoto/Osaka). My suggestion is to book a day in advance so you have a time locked in.

As for an app, I used Google Maps the whole time and it never failed me. Even the bus system in Kyoto and Yokohama we had no issues.

Japan is an overload on the senses with lots of things to see and do, but also very adaptable to what your personal temperament and likes/dislikes are. From my trip, things we enjoyed were Dotomburi for the food in Osaka (open later, we cruised through there closer to 11pm when we arrived and everything was still open), Kyoto ramen and Nishiki Market (market closes around 4-5, best to go in the morning/afternoon), Kobe for teppanyaki Kobe beef (went to Misono, if you can spend the money (~10,000 yen for Misono cut meal, ~20,000 yen for Kobe meal, I highly recommend it: https://www.instagram.com/p/BLYJiEkh...by=illusiveyyc). In Osaka, look for a place called Rikuro's for their super light and fluffy Japanese style cheesecake. Wait in line for the freshly made ones, there is a store by Dotomburi and one at the Shin-Osaka train station. We thought Nara was overrated, the deer are a tourist trap...we only saw a handful and when people tried to feed them the crackers, even they have had enough of them; sniffed, walked away, and started eating grass haha. Only highlight there is the mochi place that does the pounding by hand; it's on the way from the Nara station to deer park.

Near Tokyo we found Yokohama to be a really nice place, they have a Chinatown that has an interesting take on xiao long bao, as well as a really nice port where the cup noodles museum is. There is also a beautiful park just southeast of the downtown area that you can reach via bus called Sankeien that I highly recommend. We spent a good 3-4 hours there walking throughout the park. Entry I think was 500 yen and you can also go for a traditional tea ceremony for around the same price as entry.

Tokyo again has a lot going on and it really depends on what you like, but I definitely recommend finding some local Yakitori restaurants. Unlike yakitori here where its all meat, places there skewer vegetables and wrap it in a thin layer of pork before grilling. Tokyo station had those sightseeing tours that you can sign up for, Daiba was neat but also touristy (but Super Autobacs is there!). Definitely should check out some form of conveyor belt sushi, super cheap but also really good. We went to a bullet train sushi place called Uobei in Shibuya, I'd recommend going, food was good and the experience is neat (https://www.instagram.com/p/BLf4nj1h...by=illusiveyyc). Feel free to cruise through my IG, I tried to post interesting stuff throughout our trip. BTW if you're tempted to play those UFO crane games to get a toy (I played for the Pikachu's), I'd take a few moments to watch the locals and see what they do to get it, there's always a trick.

Oh and if you have an iPhone, download an app called RamenDB, it's mostly in Japanese, but once you get to the map, look for the higher ratings (0-100 scale), it won't steer you wrong. We found a place near Kyoto station (two actually next door to each other) I think just east, both rated ~94. Tried one and it was excellent and cheap!

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by A2VR6

Originally posted by Illusive 4-2

Thanks guys - really appreciate the detailed responses.

[eblend]

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
^^ Thanks I appreciate the feedback.

What would you recommend for Hiroshima? Everything is booked so unfortunately we can't stay over night there. If there was enough time to do Himeji and Hiroshima (Mostly for WWII history) I think that would be enough. We could also do another day trip out of Osaka to do one or the other, that would be fine too.

I also had a question about booking seats on the JR trains - is that easy to do at the JR Kiosk without knowing Japanese? Or will we likely get seats without reservations?

EDIT: One more thing - is there a go-to phone app for the trains? I looked at the Hyperdia app but it got pretty average reviews.

When I first went in 2007, Hiroshima museum was pretty interesting, I looked over everything and read over everything, and I hate museums, I thought it was pretty cool. If I recall correctly Hiroshima will require local JR trains, no direct access by shinkansen, so it's a longer journey then most. JR hyperdia site will plan it all for you. I used it exclusively when I went the first few times and prebooked all my tickets ahead of time. Stayed in a Holiday Inn Express a few blocks away from the memorial park if I recall.

In 2009 when I went again I went to Nara and there were a ton of deer...perhaps many died from junkfood people feed them haha, surprised to hear others mention there weren't that many, we had a ton all over us.

[Mitsu3000gt]

^^ Thanks!

So is there an app then for Hyperdia? I found what I think was their app, but it had average reviews. Am I better off just opening their website on my phone instead?

[The_Rural_Juror]

You can get to Hiroshima directly on JR. Then it is a short tram ride to the Peace park.

I used Japan Trains by extremeambiant in the app store. Worked well.

[eblend]

Originally posted by The_Rural_Juror
You can get to Hiroshima directly on JR. Then it is a short tram ride to the Peace park.

Just double checked, yah, Hiroshima is direct, I got it confused with Nagasaki, as I have visited both on the same trip. Nagasaki required a limited express train for almost 2 hours if I recall.

As for the app, when I first went smartphones weren't a thing yet, so never used an app, always just the site. I pre-planned all my bullet trains ahead of time with the site, as those are the ones you mostly need to care about and pre-book, most other things JR in terms of rail are just flash of the pass and ur on.