Japan 14-day trip report with a logistical focus

When researching Japan I noticed that many trip reports focused on how great everything was but not a lot of logistical specifics given. Logistics can make it break a trip so I'm reporting back here.

Context: Experienced Canadian travellers but first time traveling to Japan. Traveling in a party of 4 with 30-somethings and a spry 65-year-old.

14-day trip from late Feb to mid March. We arrived from another Asian country to Osaka > Kyoto > Hakone > Tokyo.

Biggest takeaways/surprises:

• The Hakone buses do accept luggage
• Cherry blossoms were not a priority for us but mid March was still too early to see them (we went to the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden which boasted early blooming varieties – even these were not yet in full bloom.)
• Don't overplan your itinerary. Allow space for walking/wandering as we found some gems this way.

Language and communication:

• Three of us spoke English/Mandarin and one spoke Mandarin only.
• Communicated through basic Japanese words (excuse me/pardon me = sumimasen and thank you = arigato gozaimasu came in handiest; basic counting was also handy) and gestures.
• Google Translate and Google Translate via Google Lens was also extremely helpful.
• Being able to read kanji (since we can read Chinese) provided bonus comprehension.
• We made specific efforts to give and receive all items with two hands as this is an indication of respect in Japanese society (as in Chinese society).

Financial logistics:

• Got 10,000 JPY in Canada for start of trip.
• Used the Wealthsimple Cash Card at 7-Eleven ATMs to take out cash as needed with basically no foreign transaction fees. These ATMs have language options including English.
• There are 7-Elevens everywhere. Some within 2 blocks of each other and in small towns. There are also 7-Eleven ATMs in some metro stations. We usually took out 20-60,000 JPY at a time for the entire party of 4.
• We stopped withdrawing cash around day 11 and started spending down our cash, switching over to using a credit card where possible (specifically, the Wealthsimple Visa as it also charged minimal foreign transaction fees). We left Japan with like 300 JPY in cash.

Health/medication logistics:

• One party member receives prescription stimulants (specifically, Vyvanse otherwise known as lisdexamfetamine). They applied for an importation permit a month before the trip. (Import permit must be applied for at least 14 days in advance. Processing times may be longer around holidays). They brought along physical copies of their prescription, a signed letter from the prescriber, and the printed approved permit. They brought along exactly the number of pills that they were approved to import. When entering Japan, the approved permit was presented to the customs officer along with Vyvanse in the vial from the pharmacy. The officer counted the number of pills in the vial to ensure it contained the correct number of pills.
• One party member brought along a lot of over-the-counter medications including painkillers, diarrhea medication, fiber supplements, melatonin, allergy medications, acid reflux medications. All of it fit into a sandwich bag.
• Some of us with non-restricted prescription medications (like blood pressure pills or antibiotics for traveler's diarrhea) brought printed copies of their prescriptions while others did not.
• We all purchased travel health insurance.

Transportation/luggage logistics:

• We had one member of the party dedicated to figuring out the public transportation system before the trip.
• The type of card you get (ICOCA vs SUICA) depends on the city in which you first purchase the card. They seemed otherwise interchangeable to us.
• We flew into Osaka and therefore picked up ICOCA cards. The new cards must first be charged with a minimum 2,000 JPY in cash. There was an option on the machine for 1,000 JPY that wasn't described on official websites but we did not try this option. The machine accepted 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, and 10,000 JPY notes.
• We did not use the ICOCA on our phones as not everybody had an eSIM for data and none of us used iPhones (currently digital ICOCA is only available on iPhones). * Generally, the public transportation system is much more intimidating on paper than in person.
• Most stations have a station master with an office right next to the gates. They can help you figure out how to get where you're going.
• Google Maps is extremely helpful as per other comments on this topic.
• Not all Limited Express metro trains require an extra fee. In fact, we took at least three Limited Express trains and never paid an extra fee. See Google Maps’ cost estimates.
• We only forwarded luggage once between Hakone and Tokyo. Duration required to deliver luggage depends on distance to your destination (e.g., Kyoto to Hakone takes 2 days).
• We took a taxi once from our Kyoto accommodations to the Kyoto JR Shinkansen station (~3 km, extra large vehicle, cost about 4,000 JPY).

Food logistics:

• One member of the group had an allergy to lobsters. One could not tolerate any spicy food. There were no other dietary restrictions and no picky eaters in the group.
• We purposefully did not reserve or pinpoint specific places to eat because it felt unnecessary and restrictive given how many food places there were.
• None of us are big drinkers and had at most 2 drinks at a meal. Most meals we did not consume any alcohol (this caused a lot of confusion when we went to izakaya).
• We mostly found places to eat based on the menus and fake food displays outside of restaurants as we went about our trip. We also used Tabelog and Google Maps if we wanted something specific like a local specialty.
• During the entire trip, we made a reservation exactly once (omakase at Shibuya Sushi Sen in Tokyo) via Tabelog.
• We ate at a range of budgets, from 400 JPY udon in a hole-in-the-wall run by a single person to 90,000 JPY omakase in a private room.
• It was significantly harder to walk-in to restaurants in Tokyo compared to everywhere else.

Other pre-arrival prep:

• Picked up 10,000 JPY in Canada for the ICOCAs.
• Completed the Visit Japan Web customs declaration form in our departing country (we flew into Japan from another country in Asia) and had the QR codes for everybody ready before we boarded our Peach Aviation flight bound for KIX.
• The exact number of stimulant pills was declared for the pertinent party member. They were declared as non-narcotic prohibited drugs.

Actual trip

Osaka (4 days): One day to arrive and settle in; one day trip to Nara; one half-day trip to Himeji with free time to explore in the evening; one day to visit the Kaiyukan Aquarium and explore Osaka.

• Arrived in the evening via Peach Aviation into KIX. Cleared customs with our Visit Japan Web QR codes.
• The party member with the stimulants got through just fine. The customs officers did review the importation permit and count the number of pills in the vial to ensure it matched the number of pills approved.
• Nobody questioned the other medications in our luggage.
• We took the shuttle bus from the terminal to the JR station/Aeroplaza. We had dinner at the airport food court and picked up/charged 4 ICOCA cards at the JR station using the 10,000 JPY we brought with us.
• We then took the metro into Osaka using Google Maps.
• Checked into our hotel, BON Namba East. Self-check in was easy as long as you read the email beforehand and send BON your home addresses ahead of time.
• We took the metro everywhere (including out to Nara and Himeji) or otherwise walked.
• We generally arrived at our destinations early (e.g., arrived in Nara at about 9 AM) to beat the worst of the crowds.

Kyoto (3 days): One day Nijo Castle (Honmaru and Ninomaru) and Kinkaku-ji with free evening; one day kimono rental, tea ceremony, explore Kiyomizu-dera, and TeamLab Biovortex; one day Fushimi Inari, Nishiki market, and GEAR.

• Left BON Namba East at 0900 to miss rush hour since we were taking the metro to Kyoto and had all of our luggage with us.
• Arrived at our hotel (Laon Inn Gion Nawate) at 1000 and stored our luggage at the hotel while we did Nijo-jo since check in wasn't until 1500. I budgeted 1.5 hour to explore Ninomaru and Nijo-jo before entering Honmaru and it was an appropriate amount of time. Honmaru was booked online ahead of time.
• Kyoto mostly relies on buses which worked fine with our ICOCA.
• There are a million kimono rental places around the Kiyomizu-dera area so no need to reserve a spot like we did.
• You MUST reserve TeamLabs ahead of time. We spent 2.5 hours there and were too tired to enjoy the last little bit of it.
• Arrived at Fushimi Inari at 0800 and it was already busy. We had to be back at the hotel by 1100 to forward our luggage so we left Fushimi Inari by 1015 or so. Fushimi Inari was already extremely crowded by the time we left.
• 65-year-old couldn't make it to the peak of Fushimi Inari due to the sheer number of stairs and the time crunch but was able to reach the important viewpoints.
• Initially planned to forward luggage from Kyoto to Hakone but was misinformed by the hotel front desk that it would take one day. Found out upon filling out the forwarding form that forwarding luggage from Kyoto to Hakone actually takes two days. We elected to not forward our luggage at all.
• Booked four Green Car reserved seats on the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Hakone to guarantee space for our luggage. These seats were booked the night prior to the Shinkansen journey using smart-ex. (Smart-Ex account was set up several days prior to make sure our credit card worked with the platform). We were forced to book upgraded Green Car seats as regular reserved seats were completely booked up. A smaller group or a group traveling with minimal luggage would likely be fine with unreserved seat tickets.
• Asked the hotel to book a taxi pickup on check-out morning to deliver us to the Shinkansen station. Got a large taxi due to four adults and six pieces of luggage.

Hakone (3 days): one day to settle in, one day to do the Hakone Loop, and one day to explore Gora/open-air museum before going off to Tokyo.

• Taxi arrived exactly on time to deliver us from our accommodations in Kyoto to the Shinkansen station. Excellent service and adequate space. Did not cost an arm or a leg (4000 JPY-ish).
• Our trip to Hakone involved the Shinkansen from Kyoto to Odawara, the metro from Odawara to Hakone-Yumoto, and the bus from Hakone-Yumoto to our hotel.
• We purchased physical Hakone Freepasses while transferring at Odawara station. Strongly recommend the Freepass as it was extremely cost-effective as a one-way bus ride from Hakone-Yumoto to our ryokan alone would have been ~1300 JPY.
• Recommend the physical Hakone Freepass over the digital one because we witnessed multiple people having problems with their digital Freepasses taking a long time to load when they needed it. This held up the bus because you needed to show your pass while boarding and getting off.
• We were actually quite concerned about how we were going to get our luggage from Hakone-Yumoto to our ryokan, which was past Gora. Our hotel did not participate in luggage forwarding from Hakone-Yumoto station and the Yamato Transport service counter near Hakone-Yumoto did not do same-day delivery. Our back-up plan was taking a taxi from Hakone-Yumoto to our ryokan.
• Fortunately, buses in Hakone do allow luggage and some buses even have luggage racks. We bused to our ryokan with our luggage with no issues.
• We booked a ryokan called Hakone Onsen Yuyado Yamanoshou with private reservable onsens since one member of our group had tattoos. It also provided kaiseki breakfast and dinner.
• Nobody provided instructions for onsen but generally you are expected to shower/be clean before entering. A soak in a warm tub beforehand is sometimes recommended. You must be completely naked in the onsen to reduce dyes/micro plastics shedding from your clothes into the onsen. There was an instructional sign inside of our onsen change/shower rooms.
• Make sure everybody in your group knows what the onsen actually looks like. We had at least one person spend their 50-minute reservation soaking in the warming tub instead of the actual onsen.
• Forwarded our luggage from Hakone to Tokyo one day before our Tokyo check-in day.

Tokyo (4 days): one day to settle in; one day for Tsukiji, Ueno (mainly Takeya and Kabayashi street), Akibahara; one day for Mt Takao and more Akibahara; one day for Shinjuku/Harajuku/Shibuya; left on the fifth day.

• Bussed from the ryokan to Hakone-Yumoto, metro from Hakone-Yumoto to Odawara, unreserved Shinkansen from Odawara to Tokyo.
• There were plenty of seats in the unreserved Shinkansen cars but our group had to split up. Walked to our hotel from Tokyo Station and all of our forwarded luggage was waiting for us as promised.
• We didn't plan our days in Tokyo beyond deciding which neighborhoods to be in, since there was so much to do in each area. The only things we booked ahead of time was Shibuya Sky (we got a night reservation at 2020) and reserving an omakase dinner after being rejected from two other restaurants as we weren't allowed to wait.
• Since we could walk from our hotel to Tokyo Station, we took the shuttle (called Airport Bus Tyo-NRT) from Tokyo Station to Narita Airport. This shuttle cost 1500 JPY per person. The shuttle from Tokyo Station to Narita did not allow reservations, boarded at Bay 7 in front of Asakusa Sushi bar Hinatomaru, and came every 10 minutes. Our bus at 1100-ish was half empty.
• Stated limit of ~1 suitcase per person but two of our group were allowed to bring two carry-on sized suitcases without issue.
• Our back-up if the shuttle didn't work was going to be the train, which cost twice as much and took just as long as the bus.