Hey all. Just returned from Japan a few days ago after a 2 week trip and wanted to provide a SitRep and some advice and itinerary ideas for those looking to travel. This is a very comprehensive guide and itinerary I wrote out by hand. Not written by AI. A few things to note beforehand.
– This was an entirely solo trip. My friend was supposed to come, but he already went to Aruba and couldn't afford another long haul trip in the same year while he pursues his masters degree.
– I've been through Asia in general about 4 times, so I'm familiar with many of the commonalities out there. (looking at you 7-Eleven).
– Much of my itinerary came from inspiration from reddit, so yeah thanks guys!
– If it matters, I am Jamaican-American. Look more Jamaican though.
– Shinkansen tickets were booked a month in advance. (Primarily for Mt. Fuji views during Golden week).
– I didn't intend to book during Golden week, in fact I was trying to avoid it and go during the middle of May. But I failed at getting sumo tickets for the May 10th tournament, and my mom wanted me home for mother's day, so I had to move it up a week.
– My interest lie within a bit of culture, sightseeing, a lot of bars/nightlife, and A LOT of shopping. Things like finding rare collectibles you can't get anywhere else in the world. (I have a trophy case of rare shit I get during my travels).
Hotels Picked and Reviews.
Hotel#1: The Kanzashi Tokyo Asakusa. Great hotel, rooms are well sized for 1-2 people MAX. Not recommended for families. I picked the hotel room with city view of the Tokyo Skytree. Absolutely worth it IMO.
Hotel #2: Hotel Monterey La Frere – Osaka. This was a reddit recommendation. The most expensive of all the hotels. Absolutely worth the penny. This place really felt like a 5 star. The ONLY downside is that the nightlife and things to do are not near the hotel, usually 1-2 train stops away. Unfortunately this hotel is next to Kitashinchi, which for those that are not aware is a big "underground" night life area, completely locked off from foreigners. I spent most of my nightlife in Dotonbori.
Hotel #3: Sotetsu Fresa Inn Higashi-Shinjuku Ekimae. Probably the worst in terms of quality of the 3. It's not "horrible" but compared against all 3, this one I'd rate the worst. I picked it primarily because of the proximity to Kabukichu and the local Chuo train line which was literally next to the hotel. Very convenient for transit, but definitely like a 2-3 star hotel at best.
Itinerary:
– April 24th Departure (JFK). I was returning from BOS for a work trip and had to go straight to the other terminal to leave from JFK. Had my bags with me. Departure time around 1:30AM EST.
– April 25th – (somewhere over the pacific) zzzzzz.
– April 26th – Landed at Haneda around 4AM JST. Jet lag isn't really a problem for me anymore, so I grabbed my bags after passing through security and went straight to get my eSIM and Suica. I grabbed the signature suica with your name on it. Welcome Suica is no good for me as I already knew I would be visiting Japan again. (I later switched to Digital Suica in Apple Wallet). Visited the onsen in HND to warm up the legs a bit. Wasn't in a rush, since check in was not till 3PM JST. Roamed Asakusa for a few hours before returning to the hotel room after dinner at a ramen shop.
– April 27th: First half of this day was dedicated to mastering the trains and transfer routes at major stations, Ueno, Shinjuku, Shibuya. I'm glad I spent time working on this because the trains are not hard to figure out, but the stations and navigating them incorrectly, can really ruin your day. Took me about 4 hours or so to get the hang of the big stations. Worth noting I am from Manhattan, so I had a headstart in learning the metro. It wasn't too hard. Second half was getting lost in Asakusa and accidentally running into Senso-Ji. Took some photos, got some local Wagyu and then left. Some light shopping in Akihabara. (first mistake of my trip). Lots of mandrake complex shopping.
– April 28th: Tokyo Sightseeing Guided Tour. Bus and River Cruise (Japan Panoramic Tours). Places covered – Senso-Ji (already saw it lol), Tokyo Skytree, Meiji Shrine, Imperial Palace, Matcha pitstop, and Tokyo Bay Cruise. Worth the money. I enjoyed it, but some may prefer to do this on their own. I like getting a burst of "everything" in a single day. Stopped by a local ramen place for dinner then back to the hotel.
– April 29th: McDonald's breakfast. (I had a good chunk of fast food during my trip, only because I make it a habit to try all the usual fast food places to see the differences between the US, Thailand, Cambodia and many other places I've visited). Took the local train to Tokyo Station and hopped on the Shinkansen to Osaka. Arrived in Osaka by 4pm JST. Checked in by 4:30pm. Spent the remainder of the day roaming Osaka streets to get a feel for the 2km radius of the area.
– April 30th: Kyoto Guided Day Tour – Meetup at Tulley's Coffee Kyoto Avanti-Shop. Places hit; Kiyomizudera Temple, Sanju-san-gen-do Temple, Tenryu-ji Temple, Kinkaku-ji Temple, Torii Red Thousand Gates or whatever it's called, Fushimi Shrine, Bamboo forest. Again, I like guided tours, worth the penny for me. Some might want to do this at a slower pace. Dinner at another very small wagyu shop on a shopping street. Can't remember the name, it was next to the Uniqlo by Don Quijote.
– May 1st: Full open day for getting lost in Osaka, and dedicated shopping day. Went to Don Quijote, accidentally stumbled upon DenDen Town (didn't even know it existed) bought a few things, went to as many shopping streets as I possibly could, went to Dontonbori (found the cool nightclub there), checked out Osaka Castle, Daimuru, Shinsaibashi shopping street, went to Namba, and whatever other malls were in the area. I think this was my biggest walking day at like 42,000 steps. Dinner was at another local place serving Takoyaki. Lunch was Okonomiyaki. Breakfast was 7-11. Spent probably more than I should this day. (2nd mistake). This day was rained out too if I remember correctly.
May 2nd: Hiroshima Guided Day Tour – Meetup at Hiroshima Station next to Starbucks. Note: Shinkansen tickets were booked separately by myself, the tour company did not do this for me. Arrived at Hiroshima by 9:30AM. Tour started at 10AM. Locations visited – Miyajima Island, World Heritage site visits, Atomic Bomb Dome, Itsukushima Shrine, Omotesando Street (lots of food tasting here, I think by the time I visited as many food places as I could, I spent north of like $50 on local food within like 4 hours. Tour ended at 5PM JST. Spend the remainder of the day trying local food and more Okonomiyaki. Departed Shinkansen by 7:30pm to the hotel. This was against reddits advice of doing Hiroshima in 2 days rather than a day trip. I’m from NYC guys, I’m used to hustle and bustle, it’s a norm for me, so a day trip was enough and I’m glad I decided to go with my gut on this one. My preferences may not be for you though.
May 3rd: Full Roaming Day of whatever I wanted. Took my time this day, woke up a bit later to get some sleep since I was a bit drowsy. Roamed out to venture Osaka to the western areas for a few hours, took a local train to Kobe to try some food there. I didn't plan to go to Kobe at all, but glad I did, food was incredible. I may come back and dedicate a large portion of my trip to just Kobe again. I loved it here. Back in my hotel again by around 9PM.
May 4th: Full Day at Universal Studios Japan. Nothing much to say, it was an entire day at USJ. Fun day. Worth noting, I did not go on every ride since I didn't care to, but I went to the rides I wanted to go on and I was satisfied with that. I did NOT purchase the pass to get on rides faster. Surprisingly it was not needed even for Golden Week. Super Mario World (the mine cart ride or whatever it's called) had a 5 hour wait. Yeah no thanks. Skipped it. Went home around 8pm. This was my very first time at any Universal park. Never even been to the US one. Ended the night late at Nightclub Gala in Dontonbori and hung out with some cool Australians and another dude from the UK. Trains stopped running so I took the taxi. (Taxi was still cheaper than NYC taxis even with the inflated 12AM prices lol)
May 5th: 7-11 breakfast, then Shinkansen from Shin-Osaka to Shin-Yokohama station. Checked in to the 3rd hotel by 3pm. Went straight to Shinjuku to get a feel for the area. TOUTS GALORE! (Thank you again reddit for the warnings on this. The touts are certainly there, usually to the right area of Hotel Gracery. Very seedy. A simple polite "fuck off" shoos them away. Dealt with this a lot in Laos, Qatar, Cambodia and Thailand so not a surprising experience for me).
May 6th: Mt Fuji Arakurayama Guided Tour – NGL this day was like a 6/10 for me. I had already gotten REALLY good shots of Mt Fuji. but wanted some more close up shots of this place. Fuji decided to be shy and it was fully clouded off by 11AM. I got a few solid photos at 10am right when it was still partially visible but after that, it was gone lol. This is a luck of the draw, there's no way to really predict how good or bad this tour is gonna be. Regardless $48 risk is a good risk for me, and I made the most of this day as best I could.
May 7th: Sumo Experience Show – Yeah I took the watered down sumo experience since getting tickets was impossible and I moved my trip up a week so I'd be missing the main tournament. It was a great experience! Went back to Akihabara to grab some last minute cool finds. Sumo show was over by 1PM, then went to Shibuya (spent most of the time here), and Ikekuburo.
May 8th: Final Shopping Day – Returned to Shibuya since I knew most of my last minute "wants" would be in Shibuya. Found a cool star wars pop up store. For those in Japan still, this shop is open from now until July 1st. It is under the glass building on B1F (or B2F just follow the printed signs for "star wars pop up store". This is a very "only in japan" exclusive stuff here for star wars fans. I bought a darth maul leather varsity jacket. Already got compliments on this jacket back home asking where I got it from. Stopped by Nintendo, Godzilla store, SEGA store, One Piece, basically anything anime you could think of. Took the train further east and went to Nakano Broadway by recommendation of another fellow New Yorker. Holy shit, I didn't think it was possible to see SO MANY MANDRAKES in SINGLE AREA. Had to be at least 16 of them or maybe more. Dinner was at Peter Luger steakhouse Tokyo. Very high end restaurant, usually $200/person. Made the mistake of showing up with a star wars T shirt and everyone else around me are Japanese salary men in suits lol. Oh well.
May 9th: Final farewells, got breakfast twice lol. Went to HND and hung out at the lounge to try some more local food before flying back at 7:30pm JST and landed at….well 7:30pm EST the same day.
My Advice and Important Information:
Money – Cash was not as "King" as I expected it to be. I brought NO cash when I landed and did not do any conversions. I can literally count on 1 hand the amount of times I used cash. My VISA was king (Capital One Venture X – no foreign transaction fees). When I did need to extract cash, I used my Capital One Debit card (also no FX fee). Cash was taken using 7-11 ATMs. (thanks again for this advice reddit as I didnt know).
Shopping – I live by a very simple rule when I travel…If you want something. DO NOT WAIT to buy it! I made this mistake in Qatar, and I'm never making it again. If i saw something I wanted, I bought it immediately. You don't know if you will pass through that area again or the item could be gone. The only exception to this rule was Akihabara, since I knew I was going back and I knew the item I wanted would still be there, and it was.
Traveling by Trains and On Foot – The best advice I can give is ignore the Kanji, and only pay attention to the color of the train line, the letter(s) of the train line, and the station stop codes i.e. JY1-JY24. Most of the signs are in English at the stations anyway, and google maps live navigation by train is actually incredible, even with no service, the map does a good job of tracking where you are and informing you when to get off and where to get off. (recommended to download the entire map of Tokyo before leaving your home country for offline maps). If you still can't figure it out, transit staff is very accommodating and helpful.
The Shinkansen ticket scenario is not straight forward from my experience. Buying the tickets was not the issue as I bought them months in advance but once it's time to leave and get your actual "ticket" I found that it just wasn't working literally every time I tried to board. Ran into a range of issues including the QR code not printing my ticket saying it's invalid. Had to go to the transit help desk every time to get a printed ticket because it never worked. Never really got an explanation for why it wasn't working. Tickets were purchased through SmartEX. Followed reddit advice for this too, still didn't work correctly. Missed a train to Hiroshima but took a non-reserved that arrived 5 minutes after which got me there on time. Don't stress about missing your Shinkansen.
So about Google Maps….HOLY SHIT I wanted to pull my hair out sometimes. Remember that travel day where I said I wanted to learn Shinjuku station and all the big stations early on? Well I was STRESSING because Google maps is great…up until you have to leave or enter the station at the big stations. More recently one of my trips through Shibuya to Shinjuku, it asked me to exit Shinjuku at A10, I found every other exit EXCEPT A10 and after asking transit police, they told me politely that A10 doesn't exist temporarily due to construction. So now I have to do what I don't want to do is exit at a random exit, and of course it puts me on the other side of the world away from where I need to be. This happened a few times on numerous occasions. It's not fun. Google maps is not always up to date and it does NOT do a good job of underground terminals and building maps. Just keep that in mind. I also had a hard time finding the Nintendo store in Osaka, and Google couldn't give me a straight answer, found it 30 minutes later after finding a SMALL sign saying Nintendo on the 13th floor.
"You Speak English?" – Didn't pull this card at all tbh. I can't stress enough how useful AirPod Pro Live Translator is. It will literally auto translate and read it out to you as someone is speaking. This was my primary translator, I also had another pen live translator but it's not as efficient as AirPod. If you don't have airpods, I recommend grabbing a compatible pair if you plan to travel more frequently. Reason why it's so good, is because it doesn't just translate word for word, it does it FLAWLESSLY by capturing phrases as well to make sure it's not misunderstanding things. Many locals appreciated not being forced to speak english. I learned a couple of phrases to speak as well which was helpful.
Xenophobia is Very Real – It exists. Some don't want you there, but it's best to just ignore this and go on about your day. I'm in Japan for my own enjoyment, not to care what someone else thinks about me. I've seen some on reddit downplay this like it doesn't exist, it definitely does. Japan is just very good at hiding it. Not something I let ruin my trip. It's definitely a vibe check though, going from the Land of Smiles (Thailand) to Japan. Night and day mood swings that I noticed very quickly. But for the most part, many Japanese were friendly and were appreciate I could speak basic phrases.
Don't overthink your hotels…you can cheap out a bit – Focus on how far the hotels are from transit. That is what is most important. Don't focus too much on booking a 5 star hotel since you won't even be in your room that much besides when you're done for the day. I would however recommend booking the breakfast add on.
Japan "business" hours were a bit of a shock at first – This is why I frequented places like McDonalds and 7-11 in the AM since I wasn't entirely aware nothing really opens up until 10-11AM. Things close around 8PM-9PM. Being from NYC, wasn't entirely used to this kind of thing but it was a major inconvenience.
Highly recommend Apple Suica – More convenient, and it took less than 30 seconds to refill the card while I'm about to board a train and pass through a gate. It beats having to fill up a card constantly. I got the personalized card primarily as a souvenir.
I didn't spend as much time in Kabukichu as I expected – The bars are meh, very overpriced compared to what I was used to seeing, and I didn't care for the "girl" bars or whatever they call them. Touts run rampant. Holy shit they are so goddamn seedy and annoying.
I cannot recommend enough to fill out your "Visit Japan" entry form BEFORE you arrive – Again reddit's advice, I filled this out before landing and got my QR code. HOLY SHIT that line was insane. If you don't fill this out, it is very much a MANUAL ANALOG PROCESS THAT TAKES WAY TOO LONG. I was through airport security and ready to hit the onsen within about 30 minutes because I skipped this line. Don't get caught doing this when you land and lose hours of time.
Total Spend Check:
Flight (JAL Business Class) – $4,480 (Discounted from Capital One Travel Credit)
Hotels – $1,700
Transit, food, and all Shopping Together: $2,450
Total Cost: $8,630
You can ABSOLUTELY get away with spending less, I just like to buy things, so don't mind me. I will likely make minor edits since this took so damn long to type out but I hope this helps you all out in planning your future trips. I will most certainly be returning to Japan with my brother in law in 2028 or 2029. Vietnam will be next year and I'd like to gather some opinions on other places in Japan to visit for my next go around. Thanks for reading!
Please expect updates as minor details come back to my memory.
by PrimitiveAK