Japan Travel Planning: Ideas & Helpful Tips For A Memorable Trip

Japan Travel Planning Ideas and Tips

Arriving in Japan just a week after the country came out of over two years in lockdown was a privilege and a trip that I thought would never actually happen. A visit to Japan is on many people’s bucket list and having finally made it I can confirm it’s worth holding out for.
In writing this post, I want to share some of our experiences and help give you and understanding of what to expect in Japan, not just what to see and do. There are many websites, blogs and books that will give you detailed itineraries, top places to visit and hidden gems.

How to Plan a trip to Japan

We did lots of research online but also included a trip to the Japan Tourism Board in London. It’s worth a visit or phone call if you can to get hard copies of local area maps and guides. I do love a paper map! If you are travelling independently like we did, I also recommend taking a look at the routes tour companies take and their highlights, especially if you’re short on time. There are many ways to reach Japan from major cities worldwide including direct flights from London or taking a flight from Miami to Tokyo.

Japan travel planning best places to visit Kyoto

Our 12 day experience in October 2022 was not a traditional holiday, to be honest it was exhausting! Despite making extensive use of public transport we still averaged 9 miles walking a day. We saw more than I imagined possible and have enough pictures and memories to make up for the disappointment of the trip being postponed so many times.

Read on for my Japan travel planning ideas and tips to give you an idea of what to expect.

Overall Impressions of Japan – culture and quirks

In Japanese culture, other people are more important than yourself, regardless of age or status. It’s a simple concept that in day to day life results in everyone being very polite. Bowing in respect and as acknowledgement is commonplace, generally people are law abiding and it felt very safe.

Calm and Polite

There’s no-one shouting out to friends across the street, public displays of affection or pushing to get into a train. Jaywalking is illegal so everyone stops at pedestrian crossings – they’ll even wait for a green light on a quiet side road which we found quite strange.

Despite the inevitable hustle and bustle in the big cities, it’s somehow not as stressful as being in the UK.

Clean and Efficient

There are convenience stores everywhere as well as a vast choice of vending machines, everything from noodles and sushi to ice cream, However eating, drinking and smoking in public places, especially the streets, is just not done, In fact you’re hard pushed to find a rubbish bin. Everywhere is extremely clean and trains run on time.

Get Chatting

Although reserved and very modest, if you can get chatting to Japan locals then do try. Often their English is not good so they are embarrassed to chat. However if you can find yourself in a situation like a bar or cafe where maybe someone else can help translate, or even just use google translate, it’s a great chance to find out more. We were generally mistaken for Americans (there is a large US Naval Base near Tokyo) but they love English things especially Harry Potter, Mary Poppins and Beatrix Potter!

We learnt to say hello, please and thank you – our efforts seemed to be appreciated.

Heated Toilet Seats!

I have to admit this freaked me out to start with, but by the time I got home, my cold and frankly boring British toilet was quite disappointing. As we generally stayed in nice hotels, the toilets were top notch with a lot of functions! I didn’t actually try the various spray and bidet modes, as to be honest in most cases it was as much as I could do to work out how to flush them. Some even had music!

The instruction panels look a bit like symbols on clothes for washing and needed a guidebook to translate! It turns out they are now being standardised to help us daft tourists.

Top Tips for Travelling In Japan

I am a massive fan of independent travel and being able to to decide from day to day what I want to see. Admittedly, being bused around does usually mean you to get to see more of the big sights. However, for me, the interactions on public transport, finding quirky shops and cafes down back streets, seeing street performers and just the satisfaction of sussing a place out by yourself gives me great pleasure.

Google maps is your friend

Everywhere had place names in Japanese and English, however getting from A to B was made much easier with Google maps. Public transport options and times were accurate and we used it on a daily basis. Allow more time than you think you need to buy tickets and find the right platform!

Transport by train is efficient and always on time! However there are many different service providers and that can make navigating quite hard (even the Tokyo underground has 3 different operators which need different tickets).

Google maps shows you which train operator runs a service and helps find your way in some of the huge train stations in Tokyo.

WiFi and Data in Japan – Pocket WiFi and E-Sim

Following on from the first point, you will need Data/WiFi to help you research on the go. Although free WiFi is available in many places it is inconsistent.

When we travelled we used a 4g Pocket WiFi router. We used Japan Wireless, it was good value and worked perfectly giving us both unlimited data for the 12 days we were travelling and was invaluable. This system was easy to connect and meant we had a WiFi connection all the time including the metro (underground). It did mean always carrying around the device (about double the thickness and weight of a mobile phone) and we always carried a power bank, both needed charging every night.

We arranged for ours to be delivered to our hotel as we were arriving late in the evening. On departure there was a prepaid postage envelope to send it back in the public post box, which we did at the airport.

Since that journey I have been converted to the E-Sim and can recommend Airalo. If you want to give it a go I have a referral code CLARE5765

Advantages of a Japan Rail Pass

We pre-bought (in the UK) a one week Japan Rail Pass and collected physical tickets from the main train station in Tokyo. It’s only valid on Japan Rail (JR) services including the bullet train (called the Shinkansen in Japan, see below) which is the real saver. There are numerous other train operators as well as other local / regional passes available.

Overall the benefit of the rail pass was never having to worry about buying a train ticket. However you do have to choose the JR run services and find the right train station or platform. It’s a bit like being in London and wanting to go to Nottingham, you need to be at Euston Station, not Waterloo.

Do weigh up the cost based on your holiday plans, as it may not always be worth it. To be honest the trains are quite confusing to start with. After a while you become familiar with the different train operators symbols.

Bullet Train credit fikri-rasyid-3ba59K57wE4-unsplash

Japan Bullet Train / Shinkansen

This was on our bucket list and was one of the reasons we bought a JR Pass, as the bullet train is included. For the week pass ideally you need to do couple of bullet train journeys to cover the cost (eg it’s about about £80 each way from Tokyo to Kyoto).

There are 3 speed levels of the bullet train based in the amount of stops they do: Nozomi, Hikari, and Kodama. With a pre bought rail-pass you can use middle speed (Hikari) but not the Nozomi, which is the super high speed service. To be honest the Hikari was still pretty fast!

Japan Rail operates train lines and bullet trains across Japan. Each train line has a different name such as Tokaido which runs between Tokyo and Osaka (via Kyoto).

It’s quite a lot to get your head around but certainly was a fun experience. When we travelled off peak there was space at the back of the carriage for our smallish cases, however it is advisable to pre book a seat luggage space especially at busy time.

Restaurants Close Early

Keep an eye on opening times for restaurants. Even though in the UK we eat early compared to much of Europe, we were caught out a couple of times by places closing earlier that we expected. Luckily the Family Marts and 7Eleven stay open later!

Random!

This was a word we used frequently. From the themed cafes and plastic food displays to Elvis street performers. We’d marvel at sky scrappers and hi tech advertising displays then find a small temple with incense burning nestled around the corner. In Tokyo there was a giant Transformer, an abandoned shopping centre and vending machines selling everything from ice cream to noodles and yes we found the strange flavoured KitKats (check out Don Quijote for these) .