20 full days in Central/Western Honshu
 

I'm really looking forward to my 20 day trip to Japan in late March during cherry blossom season.

I'm still in the process of deciding what I want to see but I do know that the trip will only be to Central-Western Honshu.

I'd appreciate any input regarding the following questions:

- Which travel guide did you find most helpful? I have The "Eyewitness Travel Japan" and "Tokyo" guides as well as "Lonely Planet Japan" and "Lonely Planet Tokyo Encounter".

- Any specific recommended maps?

- How many days would you recommend I spend in each of the places mentioned? At the moment I'm thinking:

Nikko - 1 day

Hakone - 1-2 days

Tokyo - 7 days

Kyoto - 2-3 days

Nara - 0.5-1 day

Iga –Ueno - ? days - Supposed to be a ninja museum here. Anyone been here?

Osaka - 1-2 days (Is Osaka very different than Tokyo? Is it easy to spot Yakuza here?)

Mount Koya - 0.5-1 day

Himeji - 0.5-1 day

Hiroshima - 0.5-1 day

Miyajima island - 0.5-1 day (including 1 night). Does the great torii gate of Itsukushima shrine appear to be in water during this time of year?

Iwakuni - few hours - 0.5 day – Is it worth coming to see the bridge?

- Where would you spend the night to visit these spots? I was thinking Tokyo (for Nikko as well), Hakone, Kyoto, Osaka, Mount Koya (heard it's nice there at night) and Miyajima island.

- Any other place in Honshu you'd recommend?

- My cousin and I are thinking of flying into Tokyo and leaving the next day to other spots on our tour in order to leave Tokyo for last. We figure that we can always find something to do there where in other spots on our trip we should have a more fixed timetable. Do you think that this is a good idea?

- Good Hotel/Ryokan/accommodations you can recommend from experience in these places? Has anyone spent a night in one of the monastaries at Mount Koya? Miyajima island? Hakone? Good Ryokan in Kyoto?

- While my budget isn't limitless and I would prefer to spend the night in places that would cost less than 100 USD per night per person (I'll be travelling with my cousin so we'll share a room) , I would like to spend at least one night in a 5 star super modern luxurious hotel in Tokyo. Any recommendations? I was thinking of the Park Hyatt as an option. Oh, if you have recommendations for exceptional accommodations (places you think are worth to stay in a more expensive hotel/ryokan) in my other planned spots, I'd love to hear about them.

- Should I get a Suica card or PASMO card while in Tokyo?

- Would you recommend a 14 day JR pass for such a trip?

- This may sound like a weird/stupid question but I’ll ask anyway. I don’t speak Japanese and since I’ve heard that English isn’t understood by many locals outside of Tokyo, I’ve bought the Berlitz Japanese phrasebook. Has anyone used it? Let’s say I use it to ask a local a question. Even if he/she understands what I’m asking, how will I understand their response?

- Is it worth buying a DSLR camera in Shinjuku-Tokyo or are the prices not THAT cheap?

Finally, I've checked out a few Ryokan to try and book online but they don't seem to accept bookings for April at this time. I read that Japan starts the new year in April yet I was wondering when will it be possible to book for April in these places. Anyone ran into this problem?

Thanks for your help!

First off, speaking from the perspective of a photographer :) Cameras in Japan are not all that cheaper than those in North America. So if you are from the State or Canada (Sorry didn't check your info), you might as well get it there.

Iga-Ueno - Yes there is a ninja museum. Its interesting if you are really into that Ninja culture, but the theme is more mythical and legend centric, it doesn't truly represent the ninja culture in the old days

7 days in tokyo seems a bit overkill, does it also cover Yokohama? I would recommed spending at least 1 days in Yokohama.

Hakone for 2 days sounds good

2-3 days in Kyoto should also be ok. But if you planned on completing the route for Fushimi Inari, do expect that will take at least another half a day. So maybe you can spend 1 day in Nara AND Fushimi. If not, still plan for 1 day in Nara. THere are enoguh to see and do there.

Koya is nice, a bit remote and it will take you a full day.

I will let other comments on their experieince with the "language barrier". It is true that many Japanese don't speak or understand english, but some JR station have attendant that do, so you maybe able to get some help from these guys....

Good luck and have a lot of fun :) Do take pictures and post it up :)

Thanks for the input godwine!

I think you actually have a pretty good itinerary. I agree with Godwine to give yourself at least a day in Yokohama.

Hiroshima is pretty far, and a half day in Himeji is probably enough. I would add a day in Nara and maybe a meal in Kobe.

Ask anyone from Osaka and Tokyo if the two cities are that different and the resounding answer is yes. I think the two cities have very different styles and personalities.

The guys that look like yakuza probably aren't and the true yakuza look like normal guys. I would take that off your list of things to do unless you want to lose that brand new camera of your.

I personally didn't find much to see in Hiroshima, so maybe he can even skip that and just hop over the MIyajima, but the best bet is to stay in or around Hiroshima, as Miyajima really can't qualify as a day trip?

Osaka is fun... lots of food, lots of shopping...... ... but I still like Yokohama more :)

you seem to have a fairly good idea of where you want to go, and what you want to see.
the only thing i would suggest is give yourself one full day to recoup from Jet Lag at the beginning..
it took me a little while when i first arrived; but then, by the time we'd got off the plane, had a meeting in Tokyo then got the train to Kyoto, then another to out friend's village (and the car journey back) we'd been travelling for at least 40 hours solid (including the plane journey / getting to the airport in the UK)
:ywave:

hope you have fun; and please post up some pics when you get back :p

I agree with the jet lag thing. For those of you who traveled from the Americas, should I try and stay awake during the flight to Japan, thus arriving really tired so that I can sleep in the hotel? Or, should I sleep on the plane? It's going to be a looooong day. 2 flights, a few hours in Los Angeles (heard the airport sucks) and a Singapore Airlines flight to Tokyo. Total of about 18 hours and 16 time zones.

Since I'm arriving in Tokyo a day before my cousin, I'll have a full day for myself. I could use it to rest or go see something by myself. What would you recommend I do on my own on the first day in Tokyo, something that my cousin won't miss out on or that is interesting enough to see twice?

Once he arrives and sleeps at the hotel at night, we'll head out in the morning towards Hiroshima and make our way up the coast to Kansai.

I won't worry too much about the jet lag.... but if you really want, you can try pushing yourself to do short naps on the flight, and then you can sleep when you get there

I slept my way through the entire flight and sleep again when I arrived everytime I go

You guys have mentioned Yokohama. What's there that you recommend it so highly?

Regarding Kamakura. Is it a must or going to Nara is kind of the same?

A meal in Kobe? Where would you recommend? Does a good meal of Kobe beef cost a lot?

What time do you arrive in Tokyo? That really determines whether you should sleep on the flight or not. If you are arriving at 5pm Tokyo time you should try and prepare your body for it being 5pm. For me I always try and stay awake through the flight so I am tired at night when I arrive at my destination. However, because you have a nights sleep before needing to go anywhere don't worry about it.

I will second LAX being a bad experience. I flew through there on my last trip to Japan. Unless your flight into LAX is on Singapore Airlines you will have to travel to a different terminal and go back through security. There are something like 8 seperate terminals and it takes around 20-30 minutes to get all the way around on the airport shuttle. The international terminal is old and was undergoing some renovations when I was there in late September. It was dark and uncomfortable with no wireless and poor cellphone access once past security.

Yokohama is the second largest city in Japan after Tokyo. There's tons of stuff to do there.

If you're into ramen, I'd definitely recommend the ramen museum. Yum! :)

Second that, Ramen museum is great. It also has tones of shopping and sight to see.... Yokohama isn't something that will last you more than 2 days, but its definitely something that will give you a great experieince in the 2 days

If you had a day in Yokohama, what would you see/do?

- Ramen museum
- Chinatown
- Minato Mirai (cosmo world amusement park, Landmark tower etc)

I recommend the Sankei-en, the beautiful Japanese garden. With the three places you mentioned, it will make your day complete.

You should be able to do all 3 in one day:

- Half of your morning in China Town, second half and part of your afternoon at the museum, Minator mirai late afternoon, landmark tower at night :)

Thank you all for your input so far.

I've been working on my itinerary and have come up with a few more questions.

I mentioned that my cousin and I want to leave Tokyo once we both arrive and head south to begin our trip around Hiroshima. This is a potential outline of our itinerary:

March 26
Arrival in Japan during evening.

March 27
Tokyo by myself until my cousin arrives in the evening.

March 28
Leave Tokyo on the shinkansen in the morning, we'll probably arrive in Hiroshima during the early afternoon (4-5 hour train ride). Take train and ferry to Miyajima island and spend the night.

March 29
Leave Miyajima and head to Hiroshima, see the atomic bomb memorial and then take the train to Iwakuni and then back to Hiroshima to spend the night?

March 30
Leave Hiroshima and take the train to Himeji, spend half a day there, take the train to Kobe for an authentic Kobe beef meal (any recommendations of a place in town?) and re-board the train to Osaka to spend the night?

March 31
Spend the day in Osaka. Sights to see (recommendations please):
Umeda sky building (view during day or night?)
Spa world
Dotombori (clubs you recommend?)
Aquarium (worth a visit?)

April 1
Leave Osaka in the morning and…
Is it possible to see The ISE shrines/Futamigaura beach as well as travel back to Osaka and from there to Mount Koya (spend the night) in one day or is it too much?

April 2
Mount Koya and travel to Nara (spend night)

April 3
Leave Nara and travel to Inari Fushimi shrine. From there, continue on train to Kyoto.

April 4
Day in Kyoto (sleep)

April 5
Day in Kyoto (Sleep)

April 6
Leave Kyoto and travel to Hakone. Spend night in Hakone. Is there a direct train to Hakone from Kyoto?

April 7
Spend most of the day in Hakone and travel to Tokyo

April 8 – April 12
Tokyo sightseeing

April 13
Kamakura and back to Tokyo

April 14
Yokohama and back to Tokyo

April 15
Tokyo and then travel to Nikko (sleep)

April 16
Nikko and travel back to Tokyo later in the day

April 17
Tokyo until time to leave for airport and end of first trip to Japan as an adult.

Is this a good itinerary? Too many days in Tokyo? Would you add subtract days in some of these places or add another sight at the expense of a certain place?

I'm also in the process of checking out places to stay in. Any recommendations for:

- Osaka
- Mount Koya
- Nara
- Kyoto
- Hakone
- Nikko

If you want to stay overnight on Miyajima Island, you might want to book ahead. There are limited spaces and it's often full.

As for seeing Ise and the beach in Mie prefecture and then going to Koya-san, it should be doable, but you shouldn't need to head all the way back to Osaka. According to some maps I found online, there are buses from Mie prefecture to Gojo in Nara prefecture, which is 1 stop away from Hashimoto in Wakayama prefecture, which is at the base of Koya-san. Just change trains in Hashimoto and from there you'll be in Koya-san in about 35-40 minutes. You can also take a train to Nara, and from there go through the Yoshino valley to Hashimoto.

http://www.tb-kumano.jp/en/transport...tion-Times.pdf

http://www.tb-kumano.jp/en/transport...cess-chart.pdf

Finally, if you want to take a while longer to explore the Kii peninsula, from Mie prefecture you could take the scenic train ride around the whole thing. There are lots of places to stop if you are interested, from the tallest continually flowing waterfall in Japan at Nachi Katsura, to the whaling museum at Taiji, to the white sand beach at Shirahama, to the rocks marching into the ocean at Kushimoto, etc. The area is famous for its produce and in the right seasons you can get fresh mikan oranges, homemade soy sauce, Japanese ume plums, ume wine, and salted umeboshi, etc. Ride all the way up the line to Wakayama City, and then head east to Hashimoto from there.

Oh, definitely stay at a temple while you're in Koya-san, there are many to choose from.

For the first 2 days after arriving in Japan/Tokyo, I'll try and find a mid range hotel that is vey easily accessible from the Narita express train since I'll be dead tired and don't want to start changing multiple trains/long walks/Taxis to the hotel. Some options are:

- Sunroute plaza Shinjuku
- Sunroute Asakusa
- Ginza Capital hotel Tokyo
- Monterey Akasaka
- Comfort Hotel Tokyo Higashi Nihombashi
- Grand Prince Hotel Akasaka

Any other possible recommendations for hotels that I can book online, are close to the Narita express train line, are easily accessible to the Shinkansen to Kyoto?

With regard to more budget options (most of my days in Tokyo will have to be in a hotel in this range):
- Tokyo hostel
- Toyoko Inn hotel chain

Any other recommendations?

I also would like to spend 1 night in a 5 star hotel. I want it to be super modern, not old/classic and with a great view. Some options are:
- Park Hyatt
- The Peninsula
- The Conrad

Any other ecommendations?

The Keio Plaza Hotel is very nice, it's where the JETs are put up for Tokyo Orientation

You had mentioned a ryokan a few posts back - have you found one in which you wanted to stay? My little sister stayed in one called Ikeda in Atamai, so I was trying to do some research on it. Which ones do you have in mind?

I havent decided yet on a Ryokan but will definitely stay in one, most probably in Kyoto. I'm also looking into staying in a ryokan on Miyajima island called Iwaso. there are 3 places during my trip that I want to spend a night in very nice accommodations: Miyajima island, Hakone (I'll try and book the Hyatt Regency since I simply cannot afford to stay in the Hakone-Ginyu Ryokan which looks amazing) and Tokyo (probably the Park Hyatt).

I've finally booked all of my travel spot accommodations. 34 days to go and I can hardly wait!

I read somewhere that there is a direct boat ride from Hiroshima peace park to Miyajima? Has anyone taken it?

Any large lockers to keep luggage in Himeji train station?

My plan is to travel directly from Mount Koya to Nara. Does anone know how long the trip takes? I'll try and see as much as possible in Nara that day. After spending the night in Nara I'm wondering whether I should continue seeing sites in Nara or travelling to Inari Fushimi shrine and spend most of the day there. What do you think? Apart from that day. I'll have 2 more full days to spend in Kyoto.

What are the best sites in Hakone? I'll have about a day and a half there.

The boatride from the A-bomb domb to Miyajima is called the "World Heritage Cruise". I haven't taken it myself so I don't have any advice, but the place to catch the cruise is just south of the A-bomb dome and next to a cafe on the east side of the river. There is also a boat from Hiroshima port that goes to Miyajima island, again I didn't use it.

Is there anywhere in Tokyo where you recommend I exchange foreign currency into yen or would I get a better rate by bringing yen with me to Japan?

The currency exchange desk in Narita is probably not a good deal, is it?

I find the ATM at the postal outlet give me the best daily rate. Some suggest taht CITI bank also have the same kind of international ATM....

Thank you for the info

Hello from Osaka everyone!

I arrived in Japan last Thursday and ham having a blast up until now.

I spent 1 day in Tokyo, went to Ginza and the imperial palace area. Ginza was very cool yet I only looked at stuff in the shops since the prices were crazy, 5th ave prices.

The day after that I took the bullet train to Hiroshima and spent half a day at the atomic bomb peace memrial park and museum, a powerful experience.

The next morning I took the ferry to Miyajima Isalnd and spent the night in a hotel on the island. It was an amazing experience that I'll never forget!

Yesterday, I stopped at Himeji on the way to Osaka. The Himeji castle grounds were very nice with all the cherry blossom trees. Lots of Hanami parties. With regards to going into the castle itself I think that it's not really necessary. I was there on a Monday and there still was a huge crowd.

I'm currently at J Hoppers hostel in Osaka. The location is good in my opinion, 1 train stop from Osaka station. Lots of restauarants nearby. Every place that I've eaten in Japan so far was very good, even the sushi packs I bought at the grocery stores.

Today, I went to the Umeda sky building with some fantastic views of Osaka. The Osaka Aquarium was amazing! I stopped at Den Den town which is a geeks dream, especially the Super Toy Land stores :-)

Tomorrow I'm off to Universal Studios and Dotombori districts in the evening.

Using the train system so far in japan is very easy. It takes a very short time to get used to it. I managed very well to get by with some very basic japanese which includes greeting/thank you/excuse me words.

I'm loving every minute here!

Well, I'm having a fantastic time so far in Japan. Since Osaka, I've been to Mount Koya, Nara, Kyoto, Hakone and now I've just arrived in Tokyo for the next 7 days. Every place I've visited was great and special.

I have a million pics already. I'll upload when I'm back home.

Does anyone know where I can find a coin laundry place in the Akasaka district in Tokyo, preferably next to the Grand Prince Akasaka hotel? The laundry service in the hotel is way too expensive!

What did you think of Koya-san? And you didn't, by any chance, stop for lunch or something in Hashimoto, did you?

By the way, you passed within a few feet of where I lived in Japan... just after Hashimoto station, the train does a wide turn before crossing a bridge, and my apartment was right there, next to the tracks.

Well, I'm back home after an amazing 3 weeks in Japan. I had so many great experiences there that I can't think of one specific experience that surpassed others by a long shot. Some highlights that come to mind are (order doesn't matter):

1 - Miyajima Island
2 - Okunoin graveyard on Mount Koya, especially walking there by myself with nobody around at night. One of the most magical and surreal places I've been to and probably will ever be in.
3 - Various restaurants I've eaten in. The Kaiseki dinner at Iwaso, The tasty sushi packs at the grocery store and other tasty bento box meals, Okonomiyaki meal in Hiroshima, various Yakitori eateries, The Manchinro Honten Chinese restaurant in Yokohama Chinatown, The New York Grill restaurant at the Park Hyatt and many more.
4 - Osaka aquarium
5 - Hotels/Ryokans that were an amazing experience were the Iwaso Inn on Miyajima Island, The Ekoin Buddhist Temple on Mount
Koya, The Hyatt Hakone resort, The Park Hyatt hotel in Tokyo.
6 - Japanese women and their fashion taste.
7 - Japanese hospitality towards guests and their willingness to help a gaijin.
8 - Japanese train system, best in the world hands down.
9 - Helicopter ride during dusk over Tokyo.
10 - Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo in the morning.
11 - Sensory overload in Akihabara electric town in Tokyo at night.

And many more...

It will take some time to go over the 1500 photos I took during my trip, not to mention the 30+ hours of video footage. I will post pics though, I promise.

I'd like to thank everyone who has posted suggestions/tips prior to my trip.

I remember Hashimoto station, I switched trains their on the way up the mountain. I didn't stop there for lunch though. It took a while to get there. I was wondering during my stay how it is to live right next to the train tracks?

Koya-san was beautiful and an amazing experience. Cold though in the morning while going to attend the morning budhist prayers. Okunoin graveyard was one of the highlights of my trip.

First train of the day always rumbled past at 5:30 AM, shaking the building and rattling my single pane sliding glass balcony door, waking me up for the first month. I eventually learned to sleep through it most days, but then I developed the problem of sometimes sleeping through my alarm clock too, which was not as loud as the train and rattling door... Living just a few blocks walk to the station was convenient though.

I completely agree about Okunoin, it's one of my favorite places in Japan. The O-bon festival there is great, as is just walking through it on a misty morning at sunrise.

I've posted a few videos of my trip to Japan. As much fun as it was making them, it brought back fond memories of my trip.

I can only hope that these vids will convince people to go experience Japan for themselves.

YouTube - Flight to Tokyo from Los Angeles

YouTube - Landing in Japan

YouTube - Welcome to Tokyo Japan

YouTube - Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY0SffI3Wl0

YouTube - "Lost in Translation" on Park Hyatt hotel window

YouTube - Shibuya Crossing - Tokyo

YouTube - Returning to Tokyo