Visiting Japan for The First Time and Have a Few Questions

• 

  Shadowsfury on 16/01/2023 - 20:43

  +5

  Answers to some questions below

  Unless your itinerary is set in stone you still may be able to see cherry blossoms - my last trip in 2017 was in May and definitely saw it in a few spots - I purposely planned it as such though and made my way up north in the country where they bloom later (i.e. I hit Hirosaki, Hakodate, and Sapporo over a few days - https://www.japan-guide.com/sakura/). Also not quite the same but you can try check out some of these flower festivals - saw one around Mt Fuji in the same trip as I wanted a backup in case I completely missed the cherry blossoms. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6919.html

  2) Whats the weather like in May? Should we pack a lot of clothing to keep us warm? I heard that it gets a bit rainy toward end of May. - It did rain a few times but nothing overbearing - the best you could really do is look at average temperatures for that month in the places you will visit - readily available online

  3) Most accommodation places on Booking.com seems to say not available during May? is it because they just haven't opened booking for that month? - seems odd should be available already - try other similar sites? Also consider staying in a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) at least one night somewhere

  4) We're traveling from Tokyo to Hakone, then to Fuji. Is this all doable in a day? or rather split to 2 days. Possibly say in a place with a view of Fuji? - Personally wouldn't if you actually wanted to do something in Hakone. If you didn't then an alternative is go via Otsuki and stay in Fujikawaguchiko area

  6) Hows public transport around Nikko? We're thinking of doing a day trip there but unsure how difficult transport will be around that area. Current we have no plans to hire a car. - I went there as a (long) day trip from Tokyo - used public transport/walking around throughout

  7) How busy is Japan in May, tourism wise? I think we (luckily) will miss the golden week but how is the rest of the month. - probably a hard one to answer given 2023 will be their first non-COVID year and there's probably heaps of pent up demand.

  • 

    rentonc on 16/01/2023 - 21:01

    +1 for the Ryokan. We stayed most nights in these on our first trip in 2007. Excellent choice.

  • 

    Tazzaaa on 17/01/2023 - 14:58

    Thanks so much for your reply. The itinerary isn't set in stone but we don't necessarily have any plans to travel North. We'll definitely consider it but that'll mean i'll have to re work the entire trip haha..

    Yea its interesting, maybe there are a lot of travelers this time around so some places might be already booked! I'll try different websites! and yes! we are planning on staying in a ryokan near Fuji.

    After reading your comment we decided to stay a couple of days near Fuji so that we can get the full experience! Nothing special planned in Hakone but we do want to go visit the Torri gate near the lake and take the ropecar up the mountain.

    Thanks for the info about Nikko, i did a bit of research and the Nikko pass seems to be the way to go!

    I agree with you there, im sure there will be plenty of people around!

    Thanks so much for your response!

• 

  NotAnAudiophile on 16/01/2023 - 20:46

  As a person who's other half is Japanese I can share a few tips:

  May is not the best time to go. Its kind of hot/humid and Japanese people don't like it.
  If in the trifecta (Shinjuku/Shibuya/Ikebukuro) you don't need anything fancy, hotel rooms are tiny there. We always used to stay in business hotels, like the Super hotels chain.

  Hakone is a destination in itself, especially the ropeway. You can spend a couple of days there at least. If doing hot springs, ryokans are slightly more expensive there as tourists go there all the time from Tokyo. You can get special train tickets (lovers tickets if they still have them) for the train trips to and from Hakone/Tokyo.

  Nikko is doable even without a car, definitly spend a night at least.

  • 

    Tazzaaa on 17/01/2023 - 15:00

    Unfortunately May is the only time we can get some time off work…

    We decided to stay in Fujikawaguchiko for 3 days so that we can explore the area fully! Thanks for your input.
    I think we'll keep Nikko to a day trip, just because rest of our trip looks quite packed!

    • 

      Shadowsfury on 18/01/2023 - 10:55

      If doing so then I suggest considering hiring a car for your time around here - there is a bus that hits the main sites but its not very frequent. Can hire a car from Otsuki and return it back there

• 

  sockpuppy on 16/01/2023 - 20:49

  Ghibli: Make sure you prebook. My Neighbour Totoro is the best children's animation ever :)
  May Weather: Not so bad, not super hot yet, but warming up and variable. Pack Light weight Gore-tex raincoat and a light fleece , its not going to be cold, I was in shorts and polo in May last year.
  Accommodation: Sorry no idea, should be able to book in May. Lots of good Japanese owned inns https://www.booking.com/hotel/jp/onyado-nono-kanazawa.html has availability in May.
  Tokyo-Hakone-Fuji: Yes possible in a day, sort of a rush and my impulse is 1 or 2 nights to enjoy the onsen and food and relax :)
  Hakone by train: Yes, works well, very civilized, sorry don't know the details of the tickets, don't forget to get luxury Obento and booze from a Shinjuki department store station before you leave :)
  Nikko: Only did it by car, from memory there are bus's going around , if there are 4 of you some taxi's may be a good plan.
  May : Good enough time to visit, by July~Sep too hot. I was there in May last year, but it wasn't yet open to OS tourists, fantastic free range :)

• 

  bmxr on 16/01/2023 - 20:51

  4) We're traveling from Tokyo to Hakone, then to Fuji. Is this all doable in a day? or rather split to 2 days. Possibly say in a place with a view of Fuji?

  Not sure about adding in Hakone in a day trip. How did you want to experience Fuji? The easiest/best touristy way is to day trip via trains from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko, walk from the station down the main street, do a cruise on the lake and/or the ropeway and get the views of Fuji from the north, then walk back to the station and train back to Tokyo. Can be done in a 12-hour day, reasonably easily and is quite an experience!

• 

  sonicentropy on 16/01/2023 - 20:51

  Ghibli is a mission, unless your a fan i would skip it. It eats a day. Nikko is small to get around but expect to do lots of walking it will be warm in may. But wear comfortable shoes you will be walking a lot. There is a bus service in Nikko that easy to work out. We always head to Nikko if tokyo gets too much. You can do fuji start to finish in one day including the side trip. We are going next month after 2 years of not being able go. Cherry blossoms you can catch jan - late may but you may have to apend a few hours on shinkensen.

• 

  ForkSnorter on 16/01/2023 - 21:20

  Forget Nikko in my opinion. Overrated, super busy, and not much to see. The temples/shrines have been cleaned up too much with modern concrete. While I was there, I heard someone say, “I thought it would be more magnificent.” They were obviously disappointed too.

  If I was going to Japan for 20 days, I wouldn’t spend longer than a week based in Tokyo doing day trips. My favourite area of Tokyo is around Tokyo station and the imperial palace gardens, as well as the areas adjacent to them.

  I would spend about a week in Kyoto, including some day trips from Kyoto (pretty easy to get to heaps of places, including Himeji, Nara). Forget Osaka in my opinion, dirty big city with only Osaka castle worth seeing.

  Himeji castle is on my top 5 list of best places to visit, and should be seen by everyone in my opinion. Mt Fuji and the lakes around Mt Fuji are on my top 5 list, although they can get extremely busy during festivals (roads become clogged). You need a few days to see Hakone and Mt Fuji/lakes.

  Some of the quieter areas of Kyoto are well worth seeing. The most famous temples in Kyoto are often overcrowded, especially in holiday/festival seasons. Consider a one-day bus tour of Kyoto, they often take you to places you wouldn’t otherwise see, and even places you can’t normally visit. Avoid Fushimi-inari shrine, it’s the most overrated place in all of Japan.

  I do prefer the quiet countryside and smaller villages, but it’s hard to explore the countryside properly in a short trip.

  May is probably not a bad time to visit Japan, it shouldn’t rain too much and not too cold.

• 

  AustriaBargain on 16/01/2023 - 22:27

  You could visit the botanic garden, I think it's outside Tokyo tho.

• 

  ass3ts on 16/01/2023 - 22:40

  Summertime in Japan outside Hokkaido is hot and humid, I'd go there in summer for the various fireworks festivals (much more sophisticated than the fireworks here), but they have them mostly between June and August.

• 

  TasJacks on 17/01/2023 - 09:01

  Good spots to catch cherry blossoms in mid-May this year? We'll be around in Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Hiroshima and Kawaguchiko.

  • 

    dtc on 17/01/2023 - 12:00

    +1

    https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2011_where.html

    May is too late for the places you are going; you need to head north. You might just see a few blossoms still on the trees but unlikely.

    • 

      Tazzaaa on 17/01/2023 - 15:02

      Thanks for this info, unfortunately i don't think we have the time to head up North… Maybe next time! So many places we want to see since this is our first trip so we have to pick and choose…

• 

  Cheaplikethebird on 17/01/2023 - 09:11

  I'm assuming most people here are giving advice for Ghibli Museum not Ghibli Park seeing as it's only been open for two months.

  • 

    TasJacks on 17/01/2023 - 09:29

    which one is a must visit?

    • 

      Cheaplikethebird on 17/01/2023 - 09:31

      Not been to either, missed my ticket date for the Ghibli Museum when I went but from what I heard from others it's mostly a gift shop so I went to the Ghibli store at Tokyo Skytree instead. Really keen to go to Ghibli Park though.

• 

  kl2999 on 17/01/2023 - 10:00

  Nice visit to Japan, I did a 19 days with my wife back in 2012. I think I can share some experience. I personally been to Japan for 7-8 times.

  1) Gbhli park is extremely hard to book and usually need book 3 month+ in advance, even local can only book 1 month in advance. There is no show up and get in line, all access must be reserved and obtained ticket in advance. Unless you a massive studio ghibli fan, I would say dont change your itinerary for this.

  2) Yes May is raining spring period, depend on where you are in japan at that time, it can be wety and humid at the same time.

  3) Which area you looking for? May should be open by now. I was helping my brother with his September/October Japan trip and most places open up reservation to like Jun/Jul.

  4) If you visiting Hakone, it best recommend a night accommodation there but it's definitely doable in a day with Hakone pass/JR pass. For 20 days itineary you would like going around in Japan and hence i would recommend a 7 or 14 days JR pass, its well worth it. Check on Japan guide website under Hakone for more detail.

  5) Not recommend Fuji Hakone pass if you dont stay in Hakone and Mt Fuji area (fuji give lakes). Hakone pass is best fit you if plan do 2 days max. japan-guide.com/e/e2358_008.html . As for your question, the pass get to and back between Shinjuku and Hakone and Mt fuji are including the private rail/bus. You can also take the romance car which take you all the way from Shinjuku to Hakone-Yumoto station (you do need to pay extra even with the pass).

  6) Nikko is nice for a day trip from Tokyo. Transportation around Nikko is pretty good, there are buses right outside the station which take you major sightseeing locations. Toshogu Shrine is a must visit there.

  7) May is mostly not busy in Japan except the 3-5th May is golden week. Good that you going to miss that week.

  • 

    Tazzaaa on 17/01/2023 - 15:10

    Thanks so much for your reply.

    1) I agree, i've been looking in to it and it seems way too difficult to get tickets. I think i'll pass this time.

    2) I see, we'll pack accordingly!

    3) Our main bases are Tokyo, Kawaguchiko and Kyoto. I did a search last night and there seems to be spots open. I saw in a different forum that some places only allow booking 3 months in advance. I think we got some good hits last night so we might make a few bookings.

    4) I re-did the itinerary last night and managed to fit all the big trips in to a 7 day period (Fuji to Kyoto, days trips to Himeji and Hiroshima) so i think the 7 day pass works perfect for us! and yes, we decided to sty in Kawaguchiko 3 days so that we can explore the are a bit freely

    5) I see, at the moment our plan is 3 days, 2 nights in Hakone/Fuji and the pass gives us access to all the ropecars and ferries. I'll look in to it a bit more.

    6) Thanks for the info. we'll be getting the Nikko day pass to get around.

    7) Yep! we unknowingly missed it haha. Lucky. But there may be a lot more tourists around this time around.

  • 

    1bargain on 12/05/2023 - 13:19

    I’m looking to go to Japan in September School holiday for 10+ people. Have you had much experiences/stories with the typhoon season? It’s our first trip to Asia in more than a decade so want to plan well. How much did your brother get his ticket for during that period? Thanks.

• 

  kl2999 on 17/01/2023 - 10:10

  For 20 days in Japan, I would do something like Tokyo->Kamakura/Nikko day trip->Mt Fuji day trip (change date depend on weather)->Hakone 2 days or day trip->Takayama->Shirakawgo->Kanazawa->Kyoto-Osaka->Himeji castle day trip->Hiroshima plus Miyajima->Osaka (fly back) or Tokyo with 2 days rest + shopping.

• 

  Tazzaaa on 17/01/2023 - 15:11

  Thanks so much for the itinerary, ours look very similar to what you wrote! I'll look in to Takayama->Shirakawgo->Kanazawa, we dont have them in our plans atm.

• 

  loki niflheim on 25/01/2023 - 16:53

  1. Ghibli Park: if you're a fan of Ghibli, yes. If not, you can give it a miss. There are no rides in Ghibli park but lots of pretty and cute things for you to have photo op and spend your money to buy merchandise (some you can't get outside Japan).

  2. Depends on where you are from in Australia. I am from Melbourne so even though we see people in Tokyo wearing coats and suits, we were walking around in t-shirts and knee-length skirts. Some areas would have micro-climate, for example, if you're going to Nikko where the elevation is higher and lots more trees. It can be 25 C in Tokyo and it's 8 C when you walk around Nikko. Bring lightweight and warm clothes/beanies/scarf with you if you're going outside Tokyo so you can layer if needed.

  3. This one I'm not sure, I usually book through Japanese booking site jalan.com or directly to the hotel's website if they have better rates. Usually Japanese accommodation prefers bookings made far ahead of time and give you 10% discount for it (similar to hotels in some states in USA actually). This may just be something with booking.com.

  4. This is doable but I won't recommend it as you won't have time to see Hakone and Mt Fuji properly. Have a closer look at the things you can do around Mt Fuji area and Hakone. We spent three days there and we were driving. I guess it depends on what you want to accomplish.

  5. Skipping this as we never used this. We wanted to hit so many places around Hakone and Mt Fuji that PT wasn't going to cut it. The accommodation we wanted to go to was also not frequently serviced by PT.

  6. Nikko is a pretty established tourist area. Some areas will need more walking than others but the 'highlights' are 'close by'. It is a fairly large complex so leave early and back in the afternoon. If you have extra time, hit up Utsunomiya on the way back for some 'best gyoza in Japan'.

  7. This would be the first May after Japan opens for overseas tourists after COVID so it's hard to know. In the past, May was not too bad. As usual, you won't see many local tourists during the week and more on weekends and some tourist spots will be more crowded than others. From what I hear, right now, the numbers are increasing but still not up to pre-pandemic levels. To me this means the visit to the fish market won't be too unbearably crowded :D When we went to Nikko we got there at 9 AM and there were very few people until around 11 AM on a workday.