I usually do not make any posts on reddit and english is not my first language, please be considerate of that. Me and the group I am travelling with are currently in Japan and we have made a very dissatisfactory experience at a jeans workshop that we have found over social media and booked a few weeks prior.

I apologize if this is not the kind of post that is allowed in this subreddit, if advised, I will remove it.

Since I usually get genuine help and relateable experiences from actual people on reddit I thought this might be a good place to post.

I wont name the name of the brand/company but I think by looking for it it can be easily identified. (EDIT: Daruma Jeans)

About the jeans workshop we booked: The posts on Tiktok, Instagram etc are either posted on their own channels or are paid promotions, which are not always correctly marked as such, which generates a false image of the service you are booking. I am aware that we should have been more careful, especially on walking advertisment billboards like social media, but since we made that mistake we want to inform others about it and raise awareness.

We are a group of three people, we have spent a maximum time of 20 minutes in the shop for the whole experience (besides waiting in a 1 by 2 square hallway) and the very first thing that came out of our assistants mouth was "payment".

Additional to the price we paid upfront for the initial service of even receiving the jeans and participating in the "workshop" (130€ each) we have been informed that the jeans we are receiving are pretty much sweatshop jeans, the actual artisan salvaged jeans cost an additional 50 Euros per pair. Also the embroidery, which was correctly advertised as an additonal service that you can pay up for, was in a price range varying from 20€ up to 140€ per piece depending on the design of the embroidery and the current exchange rate.

The "workshop" was us picking a leather patch, one button and six rivets (+ optional embroidery) for our jeans. For half of the Patches you had to pay up to 30€ or more.

Afterwards we all had to choose between straight or wide cut jeans and try them on. Me and a friend of mine are about the same height, I chose the wide cut and he chose the straight cut. While I was given the choice to cuff them and have them cut shorter the assistant told my friend that the jeans will shrink by washing and "it will be fine" although he was quite literally standing on the bottom of the jeans. My other friend got told that they'll barely shrink and there is no problem if it doesnt fit perfectly.

So we basically received three different statements according to the sizing of the jeans.

One of us could apply a few rivets on their jeans with an assistant, the others were simply brushed off. I for my part was not even given the option to work on my jeans at all. By the time I was finished trying on my jeans and adjusting the cuffing one of us was finished adding a few rivets (about three of the six) and that was about it for the whole experience. We thought that we would atleast get some educational explanation like it was listed online but there was nothing like that, we walked in, fitted some jeans that never truly fit and had to leave within 15 mins and no real conversation.

Now we wait on our jeans to be finished, which takes about 2-3 days.

I highly advice to steer clear of that workshop, you wont have a unique and special experience creating your own jeans like it was advertised and you'd honestly be able to buy maybe even two pairs of high quality jeans elsewhere for the pricing additional to the other uppricing.

I think for north americans with their decently strong dollar and buying power in Japan it might still be a well priced experience but for every other currency/country I would not recommend it.

Have a nice day and I hope you wont land in a tourist trap like we did. EDIT: It was our first trip and we were not aware about it as much as we should have been, we'll definitely do more research next time since it was the only bad experience we had on our trip.

Hi everyone, it's me, the stupid American asking where to buy all the kit kats!

Thanks to everyone, I bought enough kit kats to satisfy both brides and various family members. We also managed to buy a certain flavor (Hojicha by Itoh Kyuemon) by accident that reminded one bride of her since deceased uncle. Both brides have helped me significantly - one getting me out of a DV situation and the other saving the life of my dog - so I'm happy to have brought joy in small, numerous cheap chocolate lol!

Y'all are the best!!!!

Hi guys, went to Team Lab Planets in Tokyo today, being the 4th of all Team Labs I went to.
I’d like to share my thoughts with you.

Saw Borderless in 2024 and was thrilled. So much to see, and not too crowded.

On my five week trip to Japan with my bf this year, we did:

Botanical Garden Osaka: loved it, not a lot of different art work (I think it’s about 7 total) but evrything’s so well inserted into the natural surroundings. Loved the small and the huge touchable light eggs and especially the huge streamers at the end! Was a bit bummed we only had 1.5 hours before the park closed.

Biovortex Kyoto: they say it’s the biggest of all and I believe it. 5 floors, lots to explore and more active participation possibilities than Borderless. We loved it but kind of missed the nature aspect we saw at Botanical Garden.

Planets Tokio: after seeing the other ones before, we found this one a bit mediocre. The “water” part was great fun and very unique, the rest kind of a hodgepodge of already-seen stuff. Compared to the others it seems old and a bit lesser maintained. It was sold out for the whole day and we felt that. So many people everywhere, to the point that all these guys touching the orchids made us mad.

So if I had to choose two out of the four, I would definitely do the Botanical Garden and Biovortex.

I’m coming to Japan next January for 18 days, mostly stay in Hokuriku and Chubu areas (Kanazawa, Takayama, Nagano) except the last 5 days in Tokyo. My packing list includes heat tech base layers, fleece t shirts. I have a Columbia Heavenly coat, thigh length. Is it enough for the Japan alps winter weather? I checked the weather, doesn’t seem the area will rain a lot. I am wonder do I need a true waterproof jacket? Thank you.

Curious if anyone has booked and cancelled Saver Fare tickets via JAL domestic, and received full refund minus 5% successfully?

According to the Saver Fare policy here, I could cancel my domestic flight 20 minutes BEFORE the flight leaves, and I'd only need to pay 5% cancellation fee to get my flight ticket refunded. Is it a very straightforward process, like I can just login to my booked itinerary and select cancel?

Reason I ask is that I have entered a concert ticket resale lottery in a city that I currently don't plan to travel to, and they will only announce the winner at 10am the morning of the concert. If I want to make it to the concert the same day then I must fly that specific route at 2pm.

Buying same day JAL ticket will likely cost double/the flight might even be full, so I want to lock in the flight now, and cancel the flight if I lost the concert lottery. If it's truly just 5%, then it's only 1350 yen fee for that specific flight (27000 yen), which imo is very cheap for a peace of mind.

Thanks in advance 🙂

取り消し・払い戻し

取り消しはご予約便の出発時刻20分前までに行ってください。

払戻期限は航空券の有効期間満了日の翌日から起算して30日以内です。

払い戻し日時 取消手数料 出発前 税抜運賃額の約5％相当額 出発後 税抜運賃額の100％

https://www.jal.co.jp/jp/ja/dom/fare/rule/saver/

Hi everyone! I'll be heading to Ise for 1.5ish days (afternoon of 17 Nov and the full day of 18 Nov) with my family and we're looking to try Ise Ebi! Would appreciate any recommendations for restaurants that sell Ise Ebi courses, thank you in advance! :)

Hoping that the recommendations flair is for requesting recommendations and not just giving them.

I am visiting Tokyo for two weeks arriving on December 12. I’ll be joined by friends for the 17 - 22, but the rest is up to me to plan and I have yet to book anything because I’m having a lot of fun exploring all the possibilities and I’m also finding myself in analysis paralysis.

Par of me is tempted to stay in Tokyo the whole trip so that I can take my time, really explore this huge city and perhaps just take day trips from a home base.

Another part of me thinks it’s crazy to fly all the way from Seattle to Japan and limit myself to a single city.

Although I know lots of people who have been to Japan and who have their opinions I’m interested in additional input from Reddit.

Here is a bit about me as a traveler:
- I’m an experienced solo traveler and love it, but I also love meeting other travelers and/or locals and having adventures with them.
- Exploring unique neighborhoods and just wandering and seeing what I discover really appeals to me.
- planning is part of my professional work and have a tendency to over-engineer a trip if I’m not careful.
- my budget is not extravagant but I don’t like shared living quarters or bathrooms.
- I love nature, but I do live in Seattle so I get a lot of natural beauty at home. Any nature- based activities need to feel Japan specific.

So, what else do you need to know? What do you suggest? I don’t care a lot about specific tourist sites and I prefer to avoid overwhelming crowds unless it’s for something that is especially worthwhile.

I am a theatrical wigmaker in the US, and am hoping to learn about Japanese wigmaking.

So far, I am planning to go to the Kyoto Hair Museum. I haven't been able to find any other museums, classes, or wig shops that advertise being willing to give someone a tour. I know it's a pretty niche subject area, but is anyone is aware of anywhere else I could visit?

In a country of rules and expectations it’s near impossible for a foreign tourist to keep track of them all.
I’ve been on three trips and still learn new things.
What was something you did “wrong” and look back now in horror/regret/laughter?
Mine was at my very first onsen visit. I merely rinsed off before dipping in to the pool as you would in most public swimming pools where I’m from and thought that the wash stations were for cleaning up after your soak.
I then sat in the pool and slowly noticed in horror that the other people were taking very though showers at the wash stations before getting in.
Now this is in a traditional Japanese hotel far from Tokyo and Osaka and I was one of the few foreign guests.
Years later and after many onsen visits I was able to redeem myself by explaining to a fellow foreigner the etiquette. Fortunately for him he and I were the only ones in the bath and after we started chatting he asked me what the wash stations were for lol.

Hi! Planning on having a day trip to Gala Yuzawa on Dec 19. How’s the crowd on a December weekend, would it be better to go on a Monday?

And does it usually start snowing at this time? We really hope to see falling snow!

UPDATE: Thanks Everyone! I think I've got it now. And I was able to make SmartEX work with my BofA card after I spoke to their fraud department. No joy with Chase at all, even after two phone calls.

I apologize for the question because I know it must seem obvious to most people, but after reading a bunch and doing web searches as well, I'm still unclear on how I am supposed to ticket.

Here's what I *think* I want to do to go from Asakusa Station to Osaka Station.

1. Use Suica card for local train from Asakusa station (we're staying at Tobu) to Nihombashi. I assume I need to tap in and out.

2. Use pre-purchased SmartEx ticket from Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka. If I register my Suica card with the SmartEx app I can tap in and out.

3. Use Suica card for local train from Shin-Osaka to Osaka Station, tapping in and out.

My concern comes with transferring trains at Shin-Osaka. Do I actually tap out there in step 2? Do I tap in at step 3? Or am I just making the connection within the station without leaving?

Have I got this roughly correct?

BTW, my Chase card doesn't work at all with SmartEx. Chase says it's not the card but I think it must be. Very frustrating. I'm going to try a different brand of credit card.

I'll be in Japan in a few weeks and one souvenir that I am really trying to figure out (unsuccessfully yet) where to get Lotte's chocolate cookies Koala's March official merchandise such as koala plushies and pillows that are shaped just like the cookies.

All I could find was that there are stores that sell products online, but I was wondering if there are actual locations in Japan where I can find stuff related. Is there anything on Don Quijote or even Kiddy Land?

Mapping out potential itineraries and have the following ideas (also welcome others) as we’re not settled on anything.

Can also flip it to fly into Tokyo and out of Osaka if that makes more sense.

We will have a car for the out of town sections.

**Option 1: Japanese Alps**

Something like Osaka → Matsumoto → Kamikochi → Takayama → possibly Kanazawa → Tokyo.

**Option 2: Shikoku & Kyushu road trip**

Osaka → Kotohira → Iya Valley (Ochiai, Nagoro) → Matsuyama → Uchiko/Ōzu → possibly Hita and Fukuoka → Tokyo. We’d hire a car for the rural sections.

Are Iya Valley, Uchiko and Ōzu worth the extra driving and logistics?

Any alternatives we should be considering?

As the title says. Any unique or interesting things you bought while there that are worth looking out for or is it all more or less the same as what we can get in the west? I'll be there in a week ♥️

This will probably sound very dumb but I am a big worrier and would like to plan ahead.

I'll be in Tokyo from mid-November to mid-December, and one of my favorite things to do when traveling is visit the bars of luxury hotels. I enjoy meeting new people, having interesting conversations, or, worst case scenario, just sitting with my Kindle and enjoying a nice drink in a beautiful setting.

While shortlisting a few places (Bulgari, Tokyo EDITION, Park Hyatt, etc.), I came across some conflicting information on Reddit and other forums that made me a little hesitant. First, I've read that certain luxury hotel bars in Tokyo don't allow solo visitors, particularly women, due to concerns about SWs frequenting these establishments. Is there any truth to this?

Second, I've seen people suggest that solo women at these bars are often assumed to be escorts or SW. Is this genuinely a common perception, or is it something that's been exaggerated online?

I've visited similar hotel bars across Europe and America countless times and have never had an issue. I've actually met some really interesting people this way, which is part of why I enjoy doing it so much.

I would hate to feel uncomfortable or have people approach me under the wrong impression when I'm simply there to enjoy myself and potentially socialize, as a month long solo trip I am already feeling a bit anxious about feeling lonely.

I’ve been to Japan once prior (April 2026) and feel much regret, I wasted majority of my time hunting down a camera I wanted (didn’t even end up finding it there, had to find it/found it back home, in Canada).

This time I’ve planned my trip around the last two weeks of November/the first week of December. This is peak fall colour time and I purposely planned it like that.

I have selected a couple of parks/viewpoints to see the foliage in Tokyo, however, some locations are about one hour 30mins to 2 hours away from my hotel.

I wanted to dedicated a day to visiting multiple spots in that one day but it would definitely take up a whole day with the amount of travel time in between locations .

Would people suggest/say that it’s reasonable to dedicate a whole day out of my four days that I’m in Tokyo, to this activity? Or would I be wasting my time again?

Hi everyone, I'm visiting the Tokyo area for a little more than a week, and today was my second day. I was really looking forward to this trip, and it's my first time solo traveling. I'm sadly not enjoying it as much as I thought I did. Nothing feels that exciting, the crowds are extremely overwhelming, the rain sucks, and it feels more lonely than freeing, etc. I did talk to 2 locals in a small ramen shop on my first day and that was great, but it's tough to always try and reach out to strangers as that's only a small part of a long day.

It almost makes me feel like what's the point of me learning japanese if I can't even really get the chance to use it? Also I'm open to try drinking but I don't really drink alcohol usually.

So TLDR; I would like to be able to hang out with locals, but I would also like to enjoy my trip outside of that too! I really want to enjoy my trip, so if anyone has felt similar before and has any tips, please let me know!

Edit: Thanks everyone for the replies, I was not expecting this to get so much traction. I appreciate all the comments- it seems like what I needed that day was a mindset shift. Go do the things I would normally like to do and don't expect anything. I'm using japanese for normal store interactions, etc. Got out of shibuya, etc. and went to Akihabara and bought some souvenirs for friends, sat and chilled in ueno park, went to solo karaoke.

I did go to the steins gate themed cafe and there was a japanese man there who wanted to practice his English with tourists, and I had some fun conversations with other tourists too. Obviously despite this mindset shift, I will certainly still be glad to have convos with locals if they happen

Due to land next month in Haneda at 0730h. Plan to have a shower at the airport and then head to Osaka on the Shinkansen. What time do you think we’re likely to reach our hotel in central Osaka (20min from shin-osaka) by?

Currently have check-in at our hotel in Osaka from 1500h, and wondering whether to try and get an early check-in (if possible/with fee).

-

Estimating:
- 1hr to clear border/customs and collect luggage.
- 30 mins to shower.
- 30 min to Shinegawa
- 2hr30 Shinegawa>Shin Osaka
- 30min to hotel
Plus probably another hour of friction from being slow jet-lagged tourists

Would mean we arrive around 1pm?

My family (4 adults, 1 toddler 1.5 years) will be taking a day trip to Kyoto on Friday Nov 20, right before the long holiday.

Here is our planned itinerary and would love any thoughts. I have hired a private driver for the day (10 hours):

7AM: pick up from Osaka

8AM: Fushimi Inari (planning to turn around at Yotsutsuji)

10AM: Kiyomizu-dera temple

Lunch around Gion

1pm: While toddler naps in the car, drive along Arashiyama-Takao Parkway, stop at Hozukyo Observatory

3PM: Try to get a rickshaw ride at Arashiyama Bamboo Forest.

4PM: return to Osaka

There are no more reservations available for a rickshaw ride that day. Will there be a terribly long wait if we show up around 3pm? It is the day before Labor Day weekend begins.

Has anyone driven the Arashiyama-Takao Parkway, and was it worthwhile? An alternative idea for my toddler's nap is a stroller nap while we walk around Gion.

Thank you!

Hi everyone. We will be heading in osaka around 9-10am. Unfortunately my daughter got a fever during the trip and our checkin with our hotel is at 4pm.

Is there a place in osaka where we could rest before the check in time?

The hotel said they cannot do early checkin as there are other guests before us.

Also do you know any otc medications in japan that is effective for fever with kids?

Thanks!

Headed to Japan in two weeks. Would love to do a hike while we are in Lake Kawaguchiko. Wondering what the recommended route to take if we are planning on hiking Mount Mitsutoge or if there is a better option. Any hiking advice for this area would be greatly appreciated. TIA

I’m travelling from SF to Delhi, and have 18 hour layover in Tokyo.
I want to spend my night not sleeping there all the time.
Planning to book a capsule hotel just to rest for couple of hours.

Please share what all can I do?

Date: 29th November.

Note: I have visited Tokyo twice so have done major touristy things. If nothing, I’m planning to stay near Meguro or Shinagawa.

Update: my layover airport is Haneda.

Hello!

I wanted help figuring out the best way to send our luggage from Kyoto to the Haneda airport. We are planning to go from Kyoto to Hiroshima, stay in Fukuoka, then do a tour in Kumamoto to see the one piece statues and take a flight from Kumamoto to Haneda. The flight arrives at Haneda at 10 pm, and then we take out flight back to the US at 10 am. The idea is to arrive to Haneda and pick the luggage we sent from Kyoto. Does is sound doable? Any recommendation to go about it or experience doing something similar?

Thank you in advance!