Traveling to Japan

Greg81

I will be traveling to Japan in May. 4 of us heading there for 12 days.

Planning to stay 3 days in Tokyo then travel to Hiroshima and then back to Tokyo with multiple stops.

Looking for advice:

• Is 3 days in Tokyo enough?
• What is the best way/website to book Shinkansen?
• Any "must see/visit" places in Japan out of the beaten track?
• Anything I should know that is not mentioned in every guidebook?

Thanks.

Nigel Fairservice

I was there this year. I think you can book a Japan rail pass on certain websites through agents and it is slightly cheaper to do so but we left it a bit late to do that. We got our JR pass at the JR station in Haneda Airport. Think you can also buy it at the JR station at Narita Airport if you're flying there. I think you can also buy them at Shinjuku and Shibuya stations in Tokyo too. Buying the JR Pass in Japan cost €240 for a basic 7 day pass. They will check your passport to see if you are on a tourist visa before issuing the pass to you so have it it handy. You can't use the Nozomi Shinkansen (the fastest of the Shinkansens) on the basic JR Pass but it's not a problem as that one was only a bit faster than the other Shinkansens. At stations you just insert your JR pass into the barriers and they will open for you. We didn't bother booking seats. There was plenty of open seating in carriages. The JR Pass will also work on the Yamanote line in Tokyo which is a loop line around Tokyo linking lots of stations and some interesting stops. Some other subway lines are owed and operated by different companies other than JR so the JR pass won't work on thoses lines. I just bought a Suica card for when we were outside the JR environment. You just top up the Suica with credit and tap the card at the barriers.

When we went to Hiroshima we got the Shinkansen from Tokyo. It took 5 and a half hours including a half hour change of train in Osaka. Still good going for a 800 kilometre journey by train. We left Tokyo at 6 am and got to Hiroshima at 11.30 am. When we finished in Hiroshima we took the Shinkansen back to Osaka and stayed the night there. We went to Umeda Sky and the Dotonburi District in Osaka. From Osaka we went to Kyoto which only took 30 minutes by local train and went to a few of the shrines. Went back to Tokyo after.

3 days in Tokyo, you might be cramming stuff in a bit. We stayed for a week and definitely crammed in Hiroshima, Osaka and Kyoto. It would have been nice to have a bit more time but we initially just thought we'd just stay in Tokyo. Tokyo was amazing and works very well considering the amount of people there. It's a wonderful place and I hope to get back there sometime soon. The people were extremely polite and respectful, even during morning rush hour on the trains. Mask wearing is still very prevalent there even in open spaces. I don't think I've seen a cleaner country. Kyoto was my favourite city, the shrines were calming I thought.

Greg81

Thank you for good tips.

Do you need cash with you? I have heard that paying card is not common method.

Also is there any 3/5/7 metro pass for Tokyo?

Thanks.

I’m booked for Japan, on a guided tour, at end of month. Tour leader advised cash is king for most routine purchases as there is very little theft, in fact if money falls from your wallet at a park bench someone will almost certainly put a stone on it so it will still be there if you retrace your track looking for it.

Nigel Fairservice

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120373807#Comment_120373807

Yes, you would need to carry a small bit of cash with you in Japan. I was surprised by this as I thought you could easily do a cashless trip there. Having said that I only took out 10,000 yen in cash which is about 70 euro. I didn't even spend all of it. Many larger shops and restaurants accepted card no problem so I just used my Curve card to pay in most places. Some of the smaller street food stalls only took cash.

I think there are metros passes in Tokyo but we only used Suica and paid per use. Our hotel was on the Yamanote line so we didn't need to use non JR trains too much. I don't remember there being a facility to top up your Suica by card at stations. We used the Suica card as a way of getting rid of our coins. Maybe there was a way of topping up your credit but we didn't linger too long at machines with the queues etc. You can bring up English language menus on the kiosks at the stations. The Tokyo bought Suica cards also worked fine on the Osaka subway. There are vending machines everywhere in Japan and many of them allowed you to use the Suica card to pay for drinks and snacks.

We found the route planner on below website handy for planning our travels by Shinkansen. It gives departure times by type of Shinkansen, eg. Nozomi, Kadama, Hikari and gives you all the intermediate stops. It was very accurate and didn't lead us astray.

https://japantravel.navitime.com/en/

I bought a SIM card from the below website before I left for Japan. I just entered the given APN settings when we landed and it worked perfectly. I believe you can also purchase SIMs at the airports.

https://www.mobal.com/japan-sim-card/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMInuyC2aDm_QIVibbtCh2_lAX6EAAYASAAEgKVtvD_BwE

A lot of the bigger shops in Tokyo will do tax free shopping if you spend over a certain amount as well. Can't remember the exact amount you had to spend (have 5000 yen in my head) but it wasn't a whole lot. Just produce your passport at the till and the shop will take care of the rest for you.

BailMeOut

3 days in Tokyo is plenty.

I know very touristy but visit Gonpachi for dinner. It's such a fun restaurant and the one used in the Kill Bill film. It's touristy but the food is really good although the food anywhere in Toyo is really good!

Greg81

Once again thank you for all tips.

I will be getting 14 days JR Pass.

Works the best for us.

Still a lot of planning but we getting there ;)

retalivity

Go to an arcade and try and play pachinko. Hang out in Akihabara and go to a maid/anime cafe. Eat and drink in tiny Izakayas that hold 10 or less people. Tokyo is crazy, the only place i've ever been where i went with expectations that it would be mental, and it blew them out of the water.

Pasmo is ideal for Tokyo metro, you can buy it in a vending machine in all stations

Nigel Fairservice

Similar, I knew Tokyo would be a bit mad before I left but the place is daft...in a good way. Lovely people as well. I worked with some Japanese lads in Canada and they were some of the nicest people I've met. Good fun as well. People in Japan were very helpful as well despite the language barrier.

Greg81

Lads, everything above added to the list.

Much appreciate the comments.

Greg81

Guys,

What is best way to obtain Yens.

Tried at AIB today and they told me they are not stocking them and can't be ordered.

Nigel Fairservice

Didn't bother getting any Yen before we left. We just used the ATM in the airport. Just used the ATM the one time.