I'm going to Japan! Travel suggestions?

[shelvesofwhimsy]

I'm currently finalizing my travel plans for a trip to Japan! I'll be going in October and will be visiting Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, and Disney lol.

I'm trying to preplan cool/fun/weird places to go and visit ahead of time! Has anyone been recently and may have any tips or suggestions or places to visit or things to try?

*Toy Stores & Cute Cafes are a plus lol


Also any general travel advice on customs etc would be great!

[BubblegumSlippers]

You could go to Spank! It's a used/non-used J-fashion, pastel and over all cute shop with fairy kei clothes, cute clothes, accesorries and toys, especially My Little Pony and other 80s and 90s toys.
I think is somewhere in Nakano, near a Daiso shop. I haven't been there myself but I wish I could.
I think It'd be worth checking it out. And I hope you'll have a fun trip.

Edit: I'm gonna research more, since I'm not completely aware myself of where it's located yet.
Here's their instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spank.love/
You can see what kind of things they have and what the place looks like. It's so cute!

[SaraMari]

Hi!
I've been to Japan about 13 times and have blogged about it a lot in the past. You might  get some inspiration for your plan from the posts:
 http://www.saramari.com/search/label/Tokyo

Some cute cafes off the top of my head:
Pom pom Purim cafe
Cat cafes
Kawaii monster cafe
Q-pot cafe
Moomin cafe

Let me know if you have any specific questions about customs, it really is simple actually you just follow the crowds and get funneled in. Or if you are wondering about cash vs credit cards etc

[Taffeta]

I spent three months there earlier this year, and loved it.

I was there for research so the places I went to were largely dictated by my studies and historic locations. I was living in an apartment in Kyoto for most of the time I was there, so most of my trips out centred on the Kansai region. I also went to Hiroshima and to Shimonseki, North Kyuushuu and Takamatsu. I did a week in Tokyo as well.

The area I know best is obviously Kyoto so any specific details you want to know about that, feel free to ask. I think I went to all the touristy places and a lot of not-touristy places as well.

Things that spring to mind in spoiler tags in case they are of use.

Spoiler

I didn't like Tokyo so much as anywhere else I went. It depends what you are after, I think, but of all the places in Japan I visited, I liked Tokyo the least. Everyone goes to Tokyo but it isn't 'real Japan' for me. Tokyo is more convenient for Mt Fuji, though. I did Fuji by getting the bus from Shinjuku out to Kawaguchi lake and then taking the boat out onto the water, but there are other ways to do this if you are interested. 

If you travel from Tokyo to Kyoto by shinkansen, try and get a window seat "E" because there is a view of Mt Fuji from the window that is quite nice.

There are cat and owl cafes (weird combination) everywhere pretty much. There is obviously Disney in Tokyo, but in/near Osaka there is Universal Studios and on the outskirts of Kyoto there is a slightly quirky Toei Film Studio place which has a mock up Edo village and random performances by people dressed up in costume. Sometimes you can join in with them.

If you're into Pokemon, there are Pokemon Centres at Ikebukuro in Tokyo, Kyoto at the top of Takashimaya (fifth floor actually I think), somewhere in the Daimaru building at Osaka station near Umeda and there's also one in Hiroshima but you didn't mention going there. I am sure there are others, those are the ones I know.

There's also a big TRU in Ikebukuro but no ponies there. I went to a TRU somewhere else, too, but can't remember where it was right now. There are additionally several places that sell sanrio plush and also sumikkogurashi and such similar popular things.

Kyoto has a Disney Store in Shijou Kawaramachi.

Book Off stores have second hand stuff. Some have just books and games, but some have toys and figures and stuff as well. I saw Monster High dolls in Kyoto's in Shijou Kawaramachi but no ponies. There is a big one of these in Kobe but I didn't have time to investigate it.

They prefer cash in most places, and a lot of places don't accept foreign credit cards. Not all cash machines will accept your card, either. The ones at 7/11 stores will, also the ones at post offices, and some on bigger stations. Not all of the cashpoints on small stations do. It's worth being aware of that

Food on the delicatessen floor (Depachika) of department stores is worth experiencing at least once or twice.

Transport is easiest if you have some kind of IC card which you top up and then use to pay for trips. Buses in some places are cheaper with a day ticket card. Definitely true for Kyoto. Some train routes are cheaper than others. If a Japan Rail pass is an option for you maybe look at the cost of that vis a vis where you are going, how long you are there etc. It is only valid on JR trains but it would save money on long distance Shinkansen trips. I wasn't allowed to have one because I had a resident visa and some of my trips cost a lot as a result :/ If you don't have a JR card, there are cheaper ways to travel than the shinkansen. For example Kyoto to Osaka by Hankyuu railway from Shijou Kawaramachi, Karasuma, Saiin or Oomiya stations.  Be careful, not all trains stop at all those stations. All trains towards Osaka start at Shijou Kawaramachi. Don't get a slow train. The same system can be used to get to Kobe, changing trains at Juusou for Kobe Sannomiya.
The waterfall in my avatar is the Nunobiki Waterfall which is near Shin-Kobe station. Kobe is a nice coastal city which is easy to reach from both Osaka and Kyoto - maybe more so from Osaka. It was damaged in the earthquake 20 years ago but has been nicely rebuilt and has a mix of old and new stuff depending on where you want to go and what you want to see.

Definitely make time to eat okonomiyaki, if you can and are not allergic to the ingredients.

If you like deer, Nara (about an hour from Kyoto, or less on an express train) has them wandering wild around the city and you can buy food and feed them. There is also a monkey park of some kind in Arashiyama (Randen train from Shijou Oomiya station) but while I loved going to Arashiyama, I didn't go find the monkeys so I don;t know how good it was.

They say the IC cards are universal. It isn't true. Some are only valid in some places and not all buses in all areas accept them yet, if you go out of the central city. I had two during my stay, only the Kyoto "Icoca" card was valid when I went to Hiroshima and got the boat out to Miyajima. Many buses outside central Tokyo also involve getting on at the back of the bus and off at the front. This includes city buses in Kyoto and Kobe. Nara has a mixture. You mostly pay when you get off, not when you get on. Exact change only if you have no kind of pass. Buses and trains like this are fitted with machines so you can change small notes to coins to achieve this (1000 yen notes only).


There are lots of castles and temples and such I could mention, but I don't know how interested you are in those things xD. My favourite castle was Himeji but I think I was influenced by the cherry blossom being there when I visited.

From Tokyo, Kamakura is a nice and famous old city about an hour out. There's also Yokohama which is closer. I didn't get there but I know a lot of shows and stuff get held there. Tokyo's kabuki theatre has also had shows running this summer. I do not know if Osaka's bunraku puppet theatre has shows in the autumn. I went in April with the professor at my uni, and it was worth it. I think they provide summaries of the story in English for foreign visitors.

Some of it may also depend on how good your Japanese is. I haven't really thought about the language barrier in accessing places because it didn't apply to me - but my impression was that big cities are fairly well provided for in terms of other language users (Chinese, English, Korean).

[Lhianneth]

I think everyone else covered most of it, but I just want to say that I loved Yanaka. It's a short walk from Nippori station. There's an showa era shopping arcade (Yanaka Ginza), which is famous for its sunset view from the stairs. Apparently that view is used in a lot of dramas for romantic scenes... but the area is mostly just really cool temples, shrines, and graves. It sounds maybe a little weird in that context, but it's a lovely part of the city to visit and just walk around. We spent most of a day there, exploring the different grave sites, eating random treats from local stalls (seriously, yakidango for a little over 100 yen, and about a million types of croquettes).

The biggest bonus was the surprise cats. I didn't know it, but apparently the area is famous for the cats that live in the cemeteries and shrines. And once you've seen one, you won't stop seeing them. They're just everywhere.

Edit: One more thing! There are shops in the Nakano Broadway complex that specialise in retro western toys. We found a shop with nothing but Gargoyles, old Strawberry Shortcake dolls, and the like. I don't recall if they had ponies, but they definitely had (very expensive) Fashion Star Fillies. It's the same building that houses Mandarake, and is just full of secondhand goodies, books, toys, and memorabilia.

[tikibirds]

Yeah, there are shops in Nakano Broadway that have ponies (or they did when I was there in September-October).  I rented a room in a sharehouse and spent the 2 months around Tokyo. If you have time, go a little to the west of Tokyo and there is a mountain you can climb, called Mt takao. Buy the ticket to take the tram thing for the first part of the journey (its a lot of very steep switchbacks. We took the tram up but decided to walk down to save money. Its Paved the whole way for cars to get to through but its very steep. There is a temple and resturant at the top. There is also a trick eye museaum and a hot springs by the train station. I passed on the hot spring as I can't force myself to get nekked in front of strangers. There was also some kind of monkey zoo but as I hate monkies I kept on going.

From Shinjuku station, its about an hour west (but it was only like 10 mins west from my sharehouse). I think you Transfer at Tachikawa to some other train line and then get off again at the next stop.

My favorite shop was the Book Off store in Tachikawa as they also sold anime figures and such and had a whole isle of goodies for 100 yen. Being the next stop over on the train line, I visited once a week. I also loved LOFT and their stationary stuff. There seems to be one not far from every train station.

I like shrines/temples and old stuff so I spent a lot of my time visiting them. Since I was there for 8 weeks, I did the tourist thing during the week and stayed local on weekends. WAAAY too crowded for my liking.

I also did  over night trips to Karmakura and Hakone.

I have a blog of china and japan here: https://www.facebook.com/MidnightFoxFire/

[shelvesofwhimsy]

Thank you so much for everyone's comments so far!! It's already been super helpful!! I'm going to start compiling another list of places to visit


We do also want to see historical/traditional things as well, so pretty much all of it haha

[Mewtwofan1]

I've never been, but I have taken a course on Japanese last semester. You probably won't need this, but I'd advise you learn a few basic phrases, like greetings, farewells and questions like where is blank. If you get caught short and nobody there in the immediate area speaks your language, might be a good idea. Not to mention you learn something new! Have fun on your travels!

[Loa]

Get a railpass before you go!!!

[princessluna11706]

Hubby and I can't wait take you around Kyoto!  He graduated from KyoDai, and lived in the city while in university, so he knows the city well

[shelvesofwhimsy]

I've never been, but I have taken a course on Japanese last semester. You probably won't need this, but I'd advise you learn a few basic phrases, like greetings, farewells and questions like where is blank. If you get caught short and nobody there in the immediate area speaks your language, might be a good idea. Not to mention you learn something new! Have fun on your travels!

^ I am trying very hard to do this! Believe it or not I am TERRIBLE at languages. Simply terrible. I lived in Italy for 6 months and learned barely anything despite Italian classes. I am currently learning phrases like, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, excuse me, thank you, good morning, What?, Where is that?, and some numbers.

And then my boyfriend is learning all the characters and kanji  So I'm hoping in a pinch he can help me get out of any awkward situation lol.

Hubby and I can't wait take you around Kyoto!  He graduated from KyoDai, and lived in the city while in university, so he knows the city well

I am so so excited to see you both!! 

[Kiwi]

BUNNY ISLAND!

(yeah, I know, big surprise that suggestion coming from me, haha)

[tikibirds]

You can get around pretty well without knowing Japanese. I didn't venture too far from Tokyo, so not sure if its the same in smaller cities/rural areas. China was ALOT harder because the city I taught in was small and there was no reason for any foreigner to ever visit there ( I was literally the only white person in the city) so No english. Tourist destinations and the mega cities like Beijing or Shanghai are different though as they have a lot more foreigners running around.

The one thing I would of done differently would of been to get the JR pass for a month, which I think was like $500. Since I was in the burbs, it would of been worth it, as I am sure I spent way more on the damn suica card just getting around Tokyo. Plus it includes bullet trains.

[shelvesofwhimsy]

You can get around pretty well without knowing Japanese. I didn't venture too far from Tokyo, so not sure if its the same in smaller cities/rural areas. China was ALOT harder because the city I taught in was small and there was no reason for any foreigner to ever visit there ( I was literally the only white person in the city) so No english. Tourist destinations and the mega cities like Beijing or Shanghai are different though as they have a lot more foreigners running around.

The one thing I would of done differently would of been to get the JR pass for a month, which I think was like $500. Since I was in the burbs, it would of been worth it, as I am sure I spent way more on the damn suica card just getting around Tokyo. Plus it includes bullet trains.

That is very reassuring to hear lol. I am trying to learn just enough so I do not seem very rude lol.
The one time I visited China I was also the only white woman I saw the whole trip haha.

So far we are planning on getting the JR pass the entire 2 weeks we are there just so there are no issues with any trains lol. I know they do not cover all the train lines, but we will be traveling outside of Tokyo a few times, and to the airport so I figured better safe than sorry haha.


@Kiwi I totally wanted to go hahah. That and fox village, but it was veto'd since they're both very far away 

[Lhianneth]

You can get around pretty well without knowing Japanese. I didn't venture too far from Tokyo, so not sure if its the same in smaller cities/rural areas. China was ALOT harder because the city I taught in was small and there was no reason for any foreigner to ever visit there ( I was literally the only white person in the city) so No english. Tourist destinations and the mega cities like Beijing or Shanghai are different though as they have a lot more foreigners running around.

The one thing I would of done differently would of been to get the JR pass for a month, which I think was like $500. Since I was in the burbs, it would of been worth it, as I am sure I spent way more on the damn suica card just getting around Tokyo. Plus it includes bullet trains.

That is very reassuring to hear lol. I am trying to learn just enough so I do not seem very rude lol.
The one time I visited China I was also the only white woman I saw the whole trip haha.

So far we are planning on getting the JR pass the entire 2 weeks we are there just so there are no issues with any trains lol. I know they do not cover all the train lines, but we will be traveling outside of Tokyo a few times, and to the airport so I figured better safe than sorry haha.


@Kiwi I totally wanted to go hahah. That and fox village, but it was veto'd since they're both very far away 

The JR pass is good, but if you have issues getting around, it's not hard to get a Suica.

The machines all operate in English and are very straight-forward. You can find them in every station. My advice would be to pay attention to the exit gates you use very closely, however. Using the subway and the above-ground train lines often means a "transfer", which puts you at the wrong gates. So be careful which exits you use, or you'll have to talk to the ticket guards (they generally speak English in Tokyo, and are good at explaining what went awry).

Also, if you're mostly sticking to Tokyo and other big cities, you should be okay with minimal Japanese. Just knowing how to say "excuse me"/"sumimasen" will get you through most situations, really. Most restaurants offer English language menus, and it's amazing how far you can get with pantomime.