Japan Travel Thread

alan280170

Next trip is the rugby world cup, I wanted to go for xmas but the bird was having none of it, to cold for her.

sophiadeni

don't forget Play RC car

Foster

Its begun just booked the flights and the first hotel (Kyoto)

rfield

Whereabouts have you booked in Kyoto?  

I was living in Tokyo until April this year, but have now moved down to Kyoto for a few months - so if you want any local hints and tips then I'll help if I can.

Foster

Gran Ms Kyoto,Nakagyo Ward.

rfield

Good location - you're a few mins walk away from the intriguing Teramachi shopping alleyways, and close to the Pontocho restaurant / Geisha area - where there's more restaurants than you could get through in a year!

Saying that, it doesn't hugely matter where you stay as Kyoto is pretty compact.  It's easy to walk anywhere within the city, even down to the station / tower area (which is handy as the taxis are really expensive, plus the city has an annoying one-way road system)

Thought from your avatar you might appreciate this btw - found in Yodobashi camera last week.
Yep, the Japanese view him about the same as the rest of the world do...

                                                                       

Foster

Thanks for that, yeah our intentions are to do a week in Kyoto, a week in Osaka and a week in Hiroshima. Couple of day trips aswell.

rfield

Day trips - Kyoto makes a fantastic base camp.  
28 mins to Osaka (faster if by Shinkansen, but I don't have a JR Pass unfortunately!),
45 mins to Nara.
Mount Koya is a bit further away, but awesomely photogenic.

I'd also strongly recommend Arashiyama (within Kyoto prefecture). It's famous for it's bridge, bamboo forest and temples, but if you like monkeys then there's a brilliant 'monkey mountain' there too.  Bit of a hike but dozens of them are just wandering around, no enclosures.

Personally, I find there's not that much of historical interest in Osaka, so a week there might be quite a while, but the food and shopping are both great, especially near Namba and Dotonburi area (the river   neon signs I'm sure you've seen pics of).

Hiroshima - it's pretty small, but certainly interesting - and again, acts as a decent base.  
From there I'd recommend Miyajima, easily accessible from Hiroshima, and the ferry is covered by the JR Pass.  It's an island famous for it's huge Tori gate in the water, but also loads of mildly insane deer, wild life and walks (with some serious mountain treks if you're keen!)

Miyajima:
                                                                       

Foster

Thanks for that, yeah Miyajina was on the list as was Nara, just need to work out if the JR Pass is worth it, if not i'll get an IC card when I get there.

rfield

True, JR pass might not be worth it if you're mainly staying in the kansai area, especially as you'll be there for several weeks.  

There are quite a few other kansai / JR west passes available though, one of which might do the job!
www.westjr.co.jp/global/en/ticket/pass/

IC card, if you're referring to Suica, Pasmo, etc - they're certainly useful for day to day use, but dont save you much money.  

If youve got an iphone 8 (only works with iphone 7 if its a japanese model), its possible to set up and preload a digital suica card before you go, which is rather handy!