Help me plan a Japan trip (please)
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Anonymous
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We are thinking of trip to Japan in June 2025, 10-12 days with two teens. I know June is not the best time to go but it’s really the only time we can.
I am a little intimidated by Tokyo — I don’t tend to like big cities for vacation and get overwhelmed with a lot of crowds, screens, flashing lights. I’d like a way to see some smaller towns or some of the natural beauty but in a way that the teens will enjoy. My older teen is a huge anime fan … has read literally thousands of volumes of at least a dozen different series over the past decade. So we’d like to build some of that in but without making this an anime pilgrimage which the rest of us won’t enjoy. He particularly mentioned Kumamoto — has anyone been there? I’m thinking: Tokyo — 3 days including studio ghibli tour, some of the fun shopping districts, maybe disney Tokyo Day 4 — travel to hakone and hot springs and maybe lake ashi Day 5 travel to Kyoto Day 6 and 7 in Kyoto And what else? We don’t speak Japanese and one person in our family doesn’t eat fish or tofu, if that makes a difference. I think we’d also like to take a bullet train for the experience — is there someplace pretty to go on a bullet train? Maybe someplace that won’t be too hot/muggy in June? |
Anonymous
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I've only been to tokyo, but managed to get around just fine as an english only speaker. I also dont love cities, but I really liked tokyo! And some of the best food Ive ever had.
There are other things besides fish/tofu, but is it an allergy or preference? There is soy in a lot of things and fish sauce in a lot of things, so if its an actual allergy they may be in for a more difficult time, but if its just preference (ie they eat soy sauce or miso but not tofu) it should be fine. |
Anonymous
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We did a 11 day spring break trip to Japan. Our itinerary was:
Tokyo: 5 nights, 4 full days, including a guided group tour to Hokane (full day trip). Tokyo is very big. We felt 3 full days were not enough. For example, Tokyo has amazing shopping districts, but we did not have time to shop. However, teen DD managed to carve out some time to buy skincare and teen fashion clothes, but she did that on her own. Japan is super safe and DD went to shopping by herself via metro/walking (had to skip some activities). Kyoto: 3 nights, including self-guided full day trip to Nara. Hiroshima: 2 nights including almost full day guided tour to Miyajima island (amazing!) Osaka: one night Between cities and for the day trips, we used bullet train (very comfortable and efficient). We booked all the guided tours at GetYourGuide. Very pleased with all the tours. For anime fans, spending sometime in Akihabara is a must. Teen DS got several anime themed t-shirts and hoodies, which was really one of the highlights of the trip for him. We also did studio ghibli (amazing!) and team lab in Osaka (just okay). If you are going in June, you need to buy studio ghibli tickets on the 10th of May, I believe. The tickets are gone as soon as they go on sale. In terms of food, you can find all kinds of food in Japan and food standards are very high. We enjoyed grabbing snacks/lunch or sometimes even breakfast from Family Mart, Lawson or 7-11. In Japan, not only Japanese food, but also other cuisines are very good. One of our favorite meal was at an Indian restaurant in Kyoto. We did not experience any language barrier. Japanese people understand English but seem shy to speak. They used Google translate to respond in many occasions. We also used Google translate at times when we had to make somewhat complicated tweaks to food on the menu (e.g., can we replace chicken with fish? Or no meat but fish or seafood is okay). Everyone was very accommodating and helpful. Japan is amazing. You’ll enjoy it. |
Anonymous
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The Japan rail pass can save you lots of money potentially, but I think you might have to buy it before you arrive there.
Google translate is your friend. Point the phone at some text and it translates for you. I liked Nara. Nikko is pretty spectacular. With the Japan rail pass it's an easy day trip. You have lots of time to research so go get a few guidebooks from the library. Hida Folk Village near Takayama is quiet and shows how Japan looked in past centuries. |
Anonymous
+1 And if you need a guide Inbound Travel Expedition Japan they are amazing. We used them for some day trips. |
Anonymous
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You could take the train to Matsumoto, see the famous “crow” castle, and then take a bus to Kamikochi in the Japanese Alps for ~2 nights (stunning natural beauty, less hot/muggy, roaming monkeys your teens might enjoy).
Or bus to Magome and walk to Tsumago, using the tourist offices’ luggage transfer service. Both towns are on the old post road (samurai vibes if your teens are into that), very charming, don’t need more than a night in either. |
Anonymous
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My family of five with three boys (12, 14, and 18 at the time) did something incredibly similar to this last August! Pardon the long post but I'll give you lots of info...our boys are not into anime or Studio Ghibli so we didn't do that, but I think this itinerary and things we did were great for teens. Also, yes, it will be VERY hot in Japan in the summer. Nothing can prepare you for it. Seriously. Hottest place I have ever been. There are NO random drinking fountains or bottle refilling stations, so be prepared to buy drinks at vending machines constantly. Try to mix in some inside and outside things in each day. And I would recommend buying little tiny hand-held fans (rechargeable ones) as you will absolutely use them. Also everyone there carries around little handkerchiefs for sweat-wiping and drying hands after washing them. This also means you cannot re-use clothes. You either have to find a place with a washing machine or bring new clothes for every day.
I typed the below details out for a friend who went a month after we did and saved it to use for others. So here you go!! ---------------- We spent a total of 8 days in Japan — we arrived on a Friday afternoon (8/4/2023) and departed on a Saturday night at 9 pm (8/12/2023). We spent 4 nights in Tokyo, 1 night in Hakone, and 3 nights in Kyoto. Things to Do Tokyo I highly recommend hiring a daylong tour guide for your first full day in Tokyo. We booked him through Viator. It was really helpful to have someone do the trains and buses with us and generally orient us to Tokyo. He even made the Shinkansen reservations for us which was super helpful. He also had a piece of paper he left with us with key Japanese phrases to use on our trip. We stayed at the Palace Hotel which was a 15-20 minute walk from Tokyo Station. It was good to be near a big train station. Some of our Tokyo highlights were: Big Echo Karaoke: these are all over town. We had a private room, ordered food (like bar food), and did karaoke for 2-3 hours. It was super fun. TeamLabs Museum: really a unique experience. Well worth it. Meiju-Jingu Shrine: really beautiful shrine; right in Tokyo (this was part of our first day tour with the guide) Asakusa neighborhood: sort of old-Tokyo - touristy with lots of souvenir shops etc but definitely worth a visit Hakone We went to Hakone to stay at a Ryokan (we stayed at Mikawaya Ryokan) which is a traditional Japanese inn with Onsen. We rented a room with a private bath as we weren’t sure if the kids would be ok with the all-nude public onsen! We did both, actually. We also went to the Hakone Open-Air Museum, which is like a sculpture garden with a Picasso exhibit as well. It was worth the visit. If we were staying in Hakone for 2 days, I would have done the Hakone Free Pass and gone down to Lake Ashi and explored more of the area. Booking Ryokans is tricky. Ours didn't take a deposit, I was so worried that we'd show up and they wouldn't have our info. The food at ours was OK - not awesome but ok. Loved the experience though. Kyoto We stayed at a guest house in Kyoto, did a one-day day trip into Osaka, and went to Nara on our final day before leaving that night. The night we arrived we did a Samurai class - it was a little cheesy but fun. You get all dressed up in a Samurai outfit and learn some basic sword stuff. We scheduled a bike tour of the Arashiyama neighborhood but the night before our guide cancelled due to illness. We rented bikes on our own and did our best to ride around the area — I highly recommend booking a bike tour and doing a long bike ride around Arashiyama through the bamboo forest and visiting hidden away shrines. Doing it on our own was probably my favorite part of the entire trip, and it would be even better with a guide. We went to the Arishayama Monkey Park while on our bike trip — it is quite a hike to the top, where you see tons of monkeys just running around. You can feed them. It was great. We also did a guided evening walking tour through Gion (the Geisha district) which was well worth it. It’s really beautiful at night and the guide knows exactly where to take you - through the neighborhood and two a shrine and temple. Our day trip into Osaka was to go to the aquarium where they have a whale shark. It’s a nice aquarium if you are into aquariums. We also went to Dotonburi bridge and had lunch near there. On our last day, we had hired a van to take us to Nara — this allowed us to leave our luggage in the van while we went around Nara and then departed out of Osaka (KIX). We walked around the temple and saw the deer. This is also worth a trip - I don’t think you need a guided tour, though. Food Yoshinoya - this was our kids’ favorite place to go for breakfast — it was delicious; they’re a chain and you can find them all over. Our Tokyo guide took us for the first time which was helpful - these are not touristy places so it was good to have someone guide us towards what to order. Convenience Stores — find some YouTube videos on what to eat at Japanese convenience stores. We ate several meals from convenience stores (7-11, Lawson, or Family Mart). Delicious!!! In Tokyo, we were able to find places to eat pretty easily, although it would have been easier if were less than 5 people. Many restaurants are incredibly small. A few times we had to split up into two separate tables. I wish we had made a dinner reservation or two in Kyoto. We often had trouble finding a restaurant that could accommodate us. There are a bunch of restaurants along the river but we couldn’t get into any of them. I think many reservations have to be made on the phone in Japanese, so perhaps a tour guide or concierge can help with that. In Osaka we went to a conveyer belt sushi place - Kura Sushi - super fun. Logistics The train system is great but can be challenging to figure out and understand because there are several companies that run the rail system. So, for example, when I was figuring out how to get from Tokyo to Hakone, a lot of websites and even the Google Maps service suggested one route that would have required us to buy the Hakone Free Pass ticket rather than take the Japan Rail which was free because I bought the Japan Rail Pass. So when we went to Hakone, we took a Shinkansen line to the Odawara Station and then took a 30 minute bus into Hakone. If you want to use the Japan Rail Pass, you must buy that before you leave. You’ll get a voucher, essentially, in the mail, and then you have to take it to one of the exchange offices to get your actual rail pass. (Note - this is where a tour guide on your first day can be very helpful. We spent over an hour looking for the exact right office in Tokyo Station (which is not really a station, it’s more like a several-block neighborhood) the night we arrived. It would have been much easier to go to the office with the tour guide on our first day there). We bought the green pass which is a higher class and allows you to make reservations. If you are going to take the Shinkansen you should make reservations, which you have to do in person. The Japan Rail Pass covers MOST of the Shinkansen lines (there is one super-fast train that the Japan Rail Pass does not cover) and some city lines in Tokyo. For the majority of lines in Tokyo, however, you have to pay separately. Getting a Suica card is critical. A Suica card is essentially a debit card that you can use for trains and at many vending machines around town. I read that you can buy them at airports and train stations, and when we arrived at Haneda our driver was there so we just went to our hotel and didn’t get a Suica card, but they weren’t selling them at ALL in train stations (apparently there was a problem with the chips and no one was selling them). I don’t know if they were available at the airport. Luckily, our guide had some Suica cards he gave us and then we paid him the $5.00 per card at the end of the day to keep them. Do whatever you can to get your hands on a Suica card - having to pay cash for every train ticket is a huge PITA. Google Maps was very helpful for figuring out which line to take to get around in Tokyo. I suggest playing around with it prior to leaving - you can plug in your hotel and your destination and say you want to use transit and it will help you figure it out. The Japan Rail app is also helpful. Kyoto’s rail system is different than Tokyo’s — they basically have two lines, one runs North-South and one runs East-West. I also found that the apps were not great at planning rail travel in Kyoto. They were constantly telling me to take the bus even though I could see on a transit map that there was a train option. Bottom line - the trains are great, the apps work well in Tokyo but not as well in Kyoto, and signs are in English so you can figure it out. Figuring out stuff before you get there - plotting out routes and such - will be helpful. We also used the Papago App for translation. We would type something and translate it and show it to a restaurant server or store clerk. I was told it is better than Google Translate. The luggage service in great in Japan, too. When we left Tokyo, we sent our bags ahead except for a backpack/day pack for everyone, then we could go around Hakone and be in the Ryokan without everyone's suitcases. When we arrived in Kyoto the bags were waiting in our guest house! Try to pack light - every hotel room is smaller than you are used to, guaranteed. There's an app that helps you plan for time zone changes, we followed it pretty closely (made the boys put sleep masks on for part of the 14 hour plane ride there) and I think it helped quite a bit. I was very nervous about the entire first half of the trip being a disaster due to jet lag, and luckily everyone did really well. If you have any other specific questions please feel free to ask! |
Anonymous
| The basement food courts at major department stores such as Takashimaya and Isetan are amazing. |
Anonymous
| This thread is amazing. We are looking at spring break 26 and this is so helpful! |
Anonymous
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Tokyo — 3 days including studio ghibli tour, some of the fun shopping districts, maybe disney Tokyo
Three days in Tokyo is probably enough if you don’t love bug cities. Places you might like to visit: Kichijouji area for the Ghibli Museum and the nearby open air museum (where you can look at traditional Japanese houses from all over the country — very chill and quiet) Akihabara area — this is the home of anime/manga stores for books and merchandise; it’s likely your anime obsessed teen will want to visit. It’s also fairly near as Asakusa which is a gorgeous temple with a ton of little shops around it — very touristy but fun nonetheless for visit. Odaiba — you get there by monorail, there’s a giant gundam statue and a Ferris wheel and a traditional Japanese bath house geered at tourists that I loved to take visitors to when I lived in Tokyo Yamanote line — this is the ring line around Tokyo and is a nice place to sit and relax and watch the world go by in air conditioning; you can pop off at any stop that appeals, poke around the neighborhood, then get back on and eventually get back to where you started. It goes through Harajuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, Shinkuku, Ikeburkuro, and Ueno among many other stations which your anime-loving child might enjoy. Day 4 — travel to hakone and hot springs and maybe lake ashi Highly, highly recommend Hakone — super non-Japanese speaker friendly and offers a lot of things to do. I would recommend spending one night there so as not to be rushed in going around the loop. Day 5 travel to Kyoto This should be on a Shinkansen (bullet train). Buy a bento box at the train station; that’s half the fun. Consider looking into JR rail passes for tourists; often they’re easier and more affordable than buying tickets while you’re there. Day 6 and 7 in Kyoto I haven’t spent enough time in Kyoto to make recommendations but I’m sure others have e/will weigh in! And what else? I always make this recommendation because it is hands down my favorite part of travelling in Japan: peruse this website https://www.japaneseguesthouses.com/ and spend one night at an ryokan in or near one of the areas you’re visiting (my favourites are the traditional ones way off in the mountains with hot springs but that may not appeal to your family) — this will take roughly a day in your schedule including travel; usually you would plan to arrive mid afternoon and leave mid morning. We don’t speak Japanese and one person in our family doesn’t eat fish or tofu, if that makes a difference. I think we’d also like to take a bullet train for the experience — is there someplace pretty to go on a bullet train? Maybe someplace that won’t be too hot/muggy in June? A lot of Japan will be muggy in June — that’s the rainy season in Tokyo and the beginning of summer farther south. You could go north (I love sado island for example) but I wouldn’t recommend that given that you already are planning to head south to Kyoto too. You could go stop (or day trip from Kyoto) is Ise: I once visited the Grand Shrine in the morning and went to Mikimoto Pearl Island in the afternoon and really enjoyed it. The Japanese character for for is 魚 and you say it “sakana”; tofu is 豆腐 (prononciation is the same lol). If you get the printed or use google translate to print out “I can’t eat fish/tofu” (it would be さかな/豆腐は食べられません but get that from a more printable source than DCUM) on a piece of paper to show people at restaurants. If it’s an allergy not a preference, get that written down very clearly; a lot of Japanese cooking uses fish broth and bonito flakes and they’re not generally treated as “real” ingredients which can cause problems with allergies. It’s not impossible; my mother has enjoyed travelling in Japan without any of the language and with a fish allergy, just something to be aware of. |
Anonymous
| I’m from Japan. June is a rainy season and it could rain for a few days without a break (all day every day). So I would be prepared for that. |
Anonymous
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For Tokyo, I recommend this book of walking routes: Tokyo Maze – 42 Walks in and around the Japanese Capital: A Guide with 108 Photos, 48 Maps, 300 Weblinks and 100 Tips https://amzn.asia/d/hUO04MN
Also, look up people’s itinerary |
Anonymous
Meant to say join Reddit r/Japantravel and /japantraveltips |
Anonymous
| My tween loved Kyoto, Nara, and Osaka and only liked Tokyo. The main thing he liked was the The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation |