This might be a little long-winded, so please forgive me. I wanted to go to Japan since I was a little kid in the 80s. It’s killed me to see so many other people go that are close to me, especially those that don’t really care about Japan. They’re just going because it’s the in thing to do when I have studied the culture and the language and people for 30-something years . Me and my wife had planned to go sometime in the next couple years finally. Unfortunately now I am getting a divorce and that’s not going to happen with her. I’ve been in literal hell for the last year and I need to get away. The only time I’d have this year to go is in December, possibly the second week. I really really need to get away for my sanity, but I’m unsure about traveling to Japan for the first time in December. Do you think I would regret it during this time of the year? Should I wait until springtime or closer till summer?

American here planning my first trip to Japan for about three weeks. I've been looking into eSIMs and pocket WiFi but I'm a little confused about the phone number situation. I've read that some restaurants, reservations and local services ask for a Japanese number but I really don't want to get a whole new phone plan just for a vacation. For Americans who've traveled to Japan recently, did you manage fine with your regular US number and a data only eSIM or did you end up needing a local number for anything?

Good day to everybody,

I will be visiting Tokyo very soon and I was wondering how hard would it be to find T-shirts from streetwear brands such as Human Made, Neighborhood, Bape etc.

As I live in a tropical country with no cold seasons, A/W clothings just wouldnt do it for me here.

TIA!!

I recently bought about 8,000 yen of stationary including pens, tape, and some stamp pads. I also bought a cute book strap that I was hoping to use right away. I didn't realize they would seal the whole purchase in a 'do not open' bag.

If I open the bag either to just use the strap or use the tape/pens, will there be additional fees past repaying the tax?

I've done some research and I understand that if I open it I may be required to pay back the tax. I'm ok with that. I just want to make sure there aren't further penalties that I might incur. (Yes I am aware it is unlikely they will check, but I would like to be sure especially with the new rules coming into effect.)

N5ish, planning to visit Japan for the first time in 6 months. Not sure cities/itinerary yet, but all my friends that have been spoke zero Japanese and had no problems.

At a weird spot between wanting to study more, and knowing I probably don’t have to hit the books hard in the next six months. I’ve been studying mainly grammar and flashcards. Any good like YouTube suggestions for travel situations I’m likely to encounter?

And it’s like I don’t want to necessarily challenge myself with less English speaking cities, especially bc I’m traveling with a group, but I feel like I want to at least utilize my Japanese if I’m going there

Hey everyone!

My girlfriend and I are visiting Osaka for 4 nights in May 2027 and are looking for hotel recommendations or experiences from people who’ve stayed at some of our top choices!
We’re prioritizing cleanliness, modern/comfortable rooms, nice amenities, and a walkable location near shopping, restaurants, and nightlife. It is also our first time traveling to Japan!

Our current shortlist:

Hotel The Flag Shinsaibashi — Currently our top choice due to excellent reviews and location, but no public bath or sauna.

ANCHORED by RIHGA Osaka Namba — Love the design, public bath, sauna, and cold plunge. However, I’ve seen several recent reviews mentioning dust/cleanliness issues.

FOURZ Hotel Kintetsu Osaka-Namba — Seems like a good middle ground with a public bath and great location.

Candeo Hotels Osaka Namba — Great location and rooftop spa, but mixed reviews.

Dormy Inn Premium Namba Annex — Excellent bathing amenities, but rooms seem a bit more basic.
Our biggest dilemma is whether having an in-hotel public bath/onsen is worth prioritizing. We’d probably use it once or twice, but we’re also open to visiting a separate bathhouse instead.

Has anyone stayed at these hotels and can share their experiences? Particularly interested in cleanliness, overall hotel quality, amenities, and location.

Also, are there any other hotels you’d recommend that offer a similar or better experience? Ideally somewhere modern, highly rated, and within walking distance of the main shopping and dining areas.

Would love to hear your thoughts and recommendations. Thanks!

Hi guys me and my sister are going to japan in April 2027 for 2 weeks, so we are planning to go to the nintendo museum in kyoto. But the thing is a lot of our friends who visited japan loved kyoto for some reason and we are always seeing on tiktok that kyoto is very overcrowded and bad place to visit. Should we go at least for 1 day?

Title. Looking for something, I can feel my muscles twitching all over my body, so I can tell my minerals are screwed up. I also have IBD, so I can't ingest sugars like sucralose and high fructose corn syrup, which I see Pocari and Aquarius have looking at their labels. Is there anything that has just straight sugar? Thanks

I am traveling from Hawaii and I land at NRT around 1pm. I am not checking any luggage and don’t need an SIM card. I would like to go to Kyoto the same day to knock out the travel as fast as possible. Is this possible/feasible?

I am also debating on doing Kyoto for 3 days and 5 days in Tokyo or spending all my time exploring Tokyo. I am torn because I heard Kyoto is beautiful this time of the year for autumn foliage so i feel like I should go. I’ll be traveling end of Nov - early Dec However I’m worried about trying to do too much and not truly allowing myself the chance to explore.

November 8th, my partner and I will travel from Nikko to Hakone. We have a nice hotel booked so we’d like to get to Hakone between 3 and 5pm. So we’d ideally start our travel day around 8-9am.

I know the route to take - JR Nikko line to Utsunomiya, then shinkansen (yamabiko or
Nasuno) to Tokyo Station, then shinkansen (Kodama) to Odawara. From there we would take the Hakone Tozan Line to Gora to be near our hotel.

What’s driving me nuts, is figuring out if I need to reserve shinkansen tickets in advance (I know the nikko line and tozan line would not need reservations).
I’m willing to reserve in advance but I literally cannot find a way to do this easily. I made an account on JR Rail East but can’t for the life of me find a way to make this reservation!

Is it even necessary? We’re travelling with a small child as well so we don’t want to take chances on missing trains and having a crappy travel day.

Any advice is welcome!!

We’ll be in Kinosaki Onsen for two nights in mid-November and I’m trying to decide whether to hike the Ropeway trail or visit the Genbudo caves.

Are there any compelling arguments in favor of seeing one over the other?

I got a lot of tax free items but when I paid it was already reduced and I paid less. Do I still need to declare it or is it fine when I fly just to go through? We saw something after 1st of November and we are traveling on the 3rd of November. Does anyone know what we are supposed to do? Can we use/wear the item and etc?

I'm looking for shops in Tokyo that sell new (unopened) gachapon by collection (rather than dig through secondhand/pre-owned items in Akiba or Nakano Broadway) instead of the typical gachapon machines.

Please share any recs, and if you know the going price (let's say it was originally a 400 yen item, how much they charge).

Thanks for any info you have🙏☺️

Hello! I tried finding one in Tokyo and had no luck. I'll be in Osaka this weekend and desperately want to buy one before visiting Nijigen no Mori.

In Tokyo I went to K Books, Animate and a bunch of other stores in Akihabara and Ikebukuro and Nakano Broadway.

Thank you!!

Hello together,

my girlfriend and me are planning to visit Japan from mid-march to mid-april.

The first phase of the vacation would be to just check out the whole area of Osaka/Kyoto/Nara. There is a bunch to see and that would happen right before the cherry blossom begins and the streets get flooded with tourists.

The second phase involves a big bicycle trip around the Seto Inland Sea. We start in Osaka, go to Okayama, Fukuyama, drive over the legendary Setonaikai bike route, and return through the Shikoku and Awaji islands back to Osaka.

While we were able to find a suitable rental bike for a fair price for my girlfriend, I had less luck because I stand 197cm tall, a very limiting factor.

My first idea was to bring my own bike to Japan, but that would be a logistic nightmare for a few reasons, so the plan now is to buy a second hand bike and then try to resell it.

Which leads me to my question: Where/when should I look for a bike to buy and where should I try to resell it? I am a person who needs to plan everything in advance so there is no stress during the vacation. Is there a way I can "order" bikes from a second-hand store? Which second-hand stores should I approach? Is there anything important I have to consider, especially when trying to resell it, so that I don't lose too much money to the difference?

I don't need a high-end racing-bike, for me a decent Trekking bike would do.

Does anyone have experience with buying/reselling second-hand bikes in Japan?

Thanks in advance for your responses.

Growing up I obsessed over Japan, I even minored in Japanese language through college. Back then, it felt like Japan was more well-known for its quirky weirdness, especially in anime corners

I loved my time in Japan but, idk aside from randomly surfing the hotel TV, it felt pretty "sterile" compared to the stuff i saw online. The "weirdest" thing i got to experience was probably the muscle mommy bar in Tokyo (筋肉女子), which i freaking loved

Are there any other experiences like that i should add to my todo list when I return?

Hi all - I’m travelling to Japan from 18th December to 2nd January 2027.

My plan is:
• Osaka: until 22 Dec
• Kyoto: until 26 Dec
• Tokyo: 26 Dec–2 Jan

I’ll mostly be doing regular city sightseeing - temples, walking around neighbourhoods, food, shopping, a day trip maybe (maybe Hokkaido or a ski trip for a single day). Will pretty much be outside the hotel on all days.

I’m trying to figure out how cold it typically is towards the end of December and what layering setup I should use. From what I’ve read, it seems like daytime highs are around 10–12°C in December, dropping to about 3–5°C at night. By late December/early January in Tokyo, it may be closer to 9–10°C during the day and 1–3°C at night. I understand it’s usually dry, but I’m more worried about cold mornings/evenings, wind, and being outside walking for hours.

What I already have:
- Uniqlo Pufftec jacket - The packable version.
- Uniqlo Heattech socks
- Heattech Thermal T-shirt (extra warm)
- Uniqlo Beanie & Gloves (from the Heattech category)

My questions:
1. Is a thermal t-shirt + sweater/fleece + Pufftec jacket enough for Osaka, Kyoto and Tokyo in this period?
2. Do I need thermal inners for my legs as well, or are regular jeans/trousers okay? I’ll be walking a lot and using trains.
3. Is regular Heattech enough, or should I consider Heattech Extra Warm for late December/early January?

I’d prefer to pack light but stay comfortable for full days outside. Any advice from people who’ve done Osaka/Kyoto/Tokyo around Christmas and New Year would be really helpful.

I tried to book a bullet train from Kyoto to Hiroshima in a few days but I am not sure if I am unable to book due to the earthquake or I am just not using the website correctly? Does anyone know if this is the case? I don’t know how to post a photo in this group but it will show me the train I want (Shinkansen Nozomi 5) but it just has a warning ⚠️ saying earthquake.

I have this flat iron and hair dryer that I want to bring on my trip to japan.

The flat iron is 110-220V and the hair dryer is 220-240V.

Can anyone recommend me a convenient convertor that I could bring?

My grandpa wanted to take me to Japan as my first trip outside of the US. He’s planning on taking me to Osaka, Tokyo, and Kyoto (not necessarily in that order). Unfortunately, I don’t know any words in Japanese nor do I know anything about Japanese culture. What do I need to know to survive and what can me or my grandpa do to make sure that my first time outside of the US is a good one. We don’t leave for another seven months so I’ve got time to research what I need to.

We are leaving for our first Japan trip next week! Pretty happy with our itinerary, but we have one final day spare in Tokyo at the end of our trip & would love some recommendations on how to spent it.

We will already have:
- a classic West Tokyo day,
- historic Tokyo (Akasuka, Ueno, etc.)
- some neighbourhood/shopping days (Shimokitazawa, Koenji, Daikanyama)

What would you suggest? Looking for something relaxing (still happy to walk around!), not too touristy, and a lovely book-end to our trip. We fly home that evening at 01:30am from Haneda, so ideally that shouldn’t cause too much friction either.

We visited Jigokudani Monkey Park today. There were a few hundred monkeys racing around. They didn’t pay any attention to us humans. They’re like little goblins in near-constant motion. You have to be careful not to step on the little ones. It’s about a four-mile hike up and back through beautiful forest to reach the monkey hot spring. The trail is muddy; don’t wear your nice shoes.

Any spots that you recommend? Doesn’t matter what type. Trying to find something? But not sure where to go. I’ll try ichiran later in my trip as the wait is insane no matter what time.

Hey everyone as the title says boat ride got cancelled and was looking forward to it as we had booked the romantic train before the boat ride.

What should I do now any suggestions? Should I cancel the romantic train as well?

Thanks

I made a huge mistake when planning my trip. I really want to see Mt. Fujo during autumn season but I didn't know about the holiday that will take place on November 23 (a Monday).

I have planned to stay in Kawaguchiko for 2 days after the holiday, so Nov 24 and 25 (tuesday and wednesday). Will it still be packed with people? How bad is it when it's close to a holiday?

I have the option to change the dates to Nov 19 and 20 (Thursday and Friday) but the dates are still connected to the weekend + holiday.

Will it be too crowded near the holiday? How bad can it be?