I’m sad that I broke the regularity of posts, but it wasn’t unexpected. Life is always busy and I’ve had things I wanted to post but not when you have to wake up in 6 hours. Even now, I can’t make a detailed post so I’ll try to list some the important things, but small details are important too so I guess I’ll just start writing whatever with a disclaimer that there’s a lot more that might get you into trouble or you might naturally deal with it without a hitch. The things aren’t listed in any order of importance; it’s up to you to decide.
When to Visit Japan
Japan is very seasonal. But going at the peak times will cost you a lot in airfares…
One mistake I made was visiting in Winter. Well, the skiing was awesome, and so was the Sapporo Snow Festival, but the other places were just full of dead-looking trees and yellow grass. So don’t just think “I’m going here and there because reviews were good”, because the reviews were probably at a time when it looked better. Also the sun sets early in Winter (about 4:30pm) so you don’t have many daylight hours. The lesson is: Do things that fit the season.
Spring: The cherry blossoms only bloom for a short time (about 2 weeks) so that’s a short window of opportunity. A very crowded season.
Autumn: The trees turn various shades of green, red, and yellow. You might think you’ve seen it every year in your country and people don’t even take notice, but in Japan it’s a thing. There are certain places where there are large numbers of trees that make really nice scenery. Also even if that doesn’t appeal to you, part of it is the culture and experience of going to places and seeing all the people doing that too.
Summer: Hot and humid. Very hard to walk places.
Festivals: Look up when festivals are and try to make them coincide with your trip. These are really important to make the trip enjoyable and to have a taste of the culture.
Mt Fuji: Climbing is not for the faint hearted. Prepare thoroughly and read up on it. You can only do it in Summer. You can also just go to the 5 lakes at the bottom, but I went in Winter and it was dead and deserted. FujiQ Highland is a very awesome rollercoaster park.
It’s really crowded when it’s the time for certain things, both from tourists and from Japanese.
Internet Access
Nowadays, one of the most important things is Internet access. Although you can certainly get by without it (as people did before Internet was common, and as a lot of people still do now), it makes life a lot easier. What I do is get a mobile data SIM card. The two main companies are b-mobile and eConnect. My information might be out of date so as always, do your own research. It’s a bit expensive but there aren’t many options.
Most hotels and hostels have free wifi, but wifi tends to have reception and overcrowding issues. You can get free wifi at some convenience stores and shops, but it’s inconvenient. They’re never around when you need it.
Hyperdia (mobile application)
This is really useful for train trip planning. However, don’t follow it blindly. You will find that sometimes you miss connections because you get lost or it takes longer than you expected (but it takes transfer times into account surprisingly well), or you wanted to stop off to get something to eat. Also, there will be trains that it doesn’t show. I’ve heard that sometimes there are extra trains that don’t show up, but the main point is that if there is a slower route, you won’t see it unless you set specific search parameters. Why would you want to take a slower train? Between Kyoto and Osaka, there is a Rapid train and a Local train. The local train arrives 6 minutes before the rapid train, but takes 12 minutes longer, so it arrives 6 minutes after the rapid. You usually arrive 6 minutes before the rapid train, so if you can catch the local one, you’re only losing 6 minutes. Even if it’s only 6 minutes, why lose time? Because the rapid tends to be crowded. You tend to be exhausted from travel, and especially if you’re lugging 30kg around, you don’t want to be standing for 30 minutes. Also the local would have more space for luggage. How crowded the rapid is probably varies, but every time I’ve done it, that’s been the case.
So once you become experienced at train route planning, you tend to look up each leg separately. Also one thing that surprised me was that one time, there was a 15 minute transfer time (15 minutes to walk to the next station) but I thought it was because the interval between trains was long so it was a 15 minute wait instead of a 15 minute transfer time.
Navigation
In Japan, the maps are oriented to the direction you are facing. North is not up.
Google Maps. This saves you having to stare at your train map looking like a tourist or look at the display in the train carriage (sometimes you aren’t in a position to see one, and there have been trains where there wasn’t one). Also it helps finding out of the way hostels in a back alley. Just make sure to look it up beforehand because sometimes it can be hard to get Google to find the address (type in English or Japanese?) and cross-reference it with the directions on the site (the address might not be where the place is). By the way, Japan doesn’t have street names (unless it’s a major street) so typically directions are given using landmarks (beware because there might be two of the same convenience store near each other).
Caching maps beforehand is a good idea on hotel wifi so maps load more quickly and to save data usage. I have also used screenshots as a backup since using GPS tends to use more battery, and with mobiles nowadays, battery life is always a problem.
Caution if you don’t have mobile data: There was one time where Google Maps did an update and I needed to be online to accept the new terms and conditions. I was lucky I opened the app just as I was leaving the hostel (using the hostel’s wifi) otherwise I would have been stranded not knowing how to get to a place I was going to.
Electronic devices
Bring a portable battery pack! Don’t forget the cable!
Bring/buy a travel adapter.
Bring a power splitter/multi-plug thing. You’re going to be charging several devices and you might only have one power point.
Bring a LAN cable and laptop. This is probably more for the technology-oriented, but I have been to a place that only had a wired connection. Also wired beats flaky wifi. In one hostel I could not get reception unless I stood in a certain spot. Also you can use your laptop to create a wifi hotspot to share that reliable wired connection (requires special software Virtual Router or Connectify).
Transport
The JR Pass is only available for non-residents of Japan, and you can only buy it (the “exchange voucher”) outside of Japan. When I first heard of it, it seemed really expensive. If you are taking the Shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto/Osaka and back, the 7-day pass should approximately break even. This means that your trip will revolve around the 7 days that the JR Pass is valid. It’s a bit hard to see many places in 7 days. It’s hard to make the 14-day pass worth it.
Choose seats at the back of a carriage on the Shinkansen for extra luggage space (behind the seats). The second best is the front of a carriage with a little extra leg room (I think). Also the very front or back of local trains are better if you’re carrying luggage because you have a wall to lean your luggage against and not be in the way.
You can avoid having to buy the JR Pass by booking your incoming/outgoing flights at each end (Tokyo and Osaka).
Trains stop at midnight. Start going home by 10pm to be safe.
Buses are cheaper than the Shinkansen but they take longer.
Itinerary/General Travel
If it’s your first time to Japan the main places to see are Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. So if you bought the JR Pass you have 7 days to get to Osaka and back. A sample trip would be 3 days in Kyoto, day trip to Nara and 2 days in Osaka. 7 days seems like a lot, but you only get a few days in each place and each day you can only do a few things.
Take into account travel time and going to and from the accommodation to drop off luggage and check in. You can waste a whole day because the morning is wasted on travel, then you go out for a bit and come back to check in. Then it’s dark and everything is closed.
You might imagine Japan as a 24 hour city (Tokyo). Things actually close at maybe 7-9pm, or as early as 4pm for some temples in Kyoto. Also ATMs close and trains stop. Some things open at maybe 10am so if you’re somewhere at 9am you might be hanging around for a while.
There’s a lot of walking. Also lugging luggage around. If you really want to make the most of the trip, consider doing some physical training prior to the trip! Also jetlag/lack of sleep can ruin your enjoyment of the trip so get plenty of sleep and consider scheduling a rest day. Also a rest day might come in handy if it happens to be raining that day.
Weather: Don’t always assume it will be a fine day!
Don’t schedule anything between accommodation places! This is easy to overlook because when you’re planning, you think “oh I might as well stop over at Nagoya because it’s on the way”. But you will have your luggage with you and you can’t do anything with 30kg of luggage. It’s possible to store it at the train station lockers, but it’s risky because there are few or no large lockers and they might be already taken.
Accommodation: I don’t know, but Japan always seems to be out of/low on accommodation. It’s always hard planning an itinerary months in advance when you haven’t even confirmed flights. Accommodation sets the core of the trip and you should try to book it as soon as you have your flight dates.
Money
People say you need cash, some say you can do a lot of things with a credit card now. I’d stay safe and use cash because you know it will always work.
ATMs: Use the post office ATMs. Only open during business hours. Beware of long stretches of public holidays (Golden Week, Obon, New Year).
Conclusion
I have listed many things that came through experience that should give you an idea of some of the things to be aware of. Travel seems to bring out a lot of problems that you would normally not encounter or would be okay if you were in a familiar place. You should always try to be as prepared as possible just so minimise the things that go wrong rather than having everything go wrong.
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