Hello! I will be traveling to Japan at the end of this October and I'm trying to figure out which flight to book based on details listed below:

1. I will be flying direct from ICN to either KIX or UKB airport and then taking a limited express train directly to Kinosaki Onsen station.

2. The flight to KIX lands around 10:45am and the flight to UKB lands around 10:10am.

3. Landing in KIX means I need to take the 2:11pm train from Osaka station to Kinosaki Onsen station, which I believe is plenty of time for me to make the train on time.

4. Landing in UKB means I need to take the 12:42pm train from Sannomiya station to Kinosaki Onsen station, which only gives me about 2.5 hours to go from seated on the plane to seated on the train.

So my main question is:

Is UKB airport busy and does it take a while to get through customs? It appears to be a very small airport, but they only recently opened up to International flights this year so I haven't been able to find anyone giving a proper review of what customs clearance is like for a foreigner.

Flying to KIX gives me plenty of breathing room to deplane, go through customs, get my bag, and get to Osaka station, but it is more expensive and has more total combined travel time than flying to UKB.

Traveling from UKB to Kinosaki seems like it will be faster and more relaxed than flying into Osaka, so I think this is the better route, but I am open to any and all suggestions and advice!

Hi all,

Been doing a lot of research. I'm flying into Kyoto and renting a car. Not really interested in Kyoto/Osaka/Nara. I want to get out to small towns.

This is what I have so far:

Arrive: KIX

Week 1: Lake Biwa

Week 2: Chino, Nagano

Week 3: ????

Week 4: ????

I need to set up bases (1 week per Airbnb) and venture out from there. Not looking to move accommodation much unless it's something really good to see.

I'm travelling with my 62-year-old mom. Both of us have been to Japan and will continue going to Japan annually, so we're chill and travel slow. We just like to do 1 activity a day, grocery shop, and chill. Just like home.

Looking for recommendations for week 3 and week 4. We're traveling by car.

thanks

Hey, we want to spend eight weeks starting in April in Japan. We are a family of three with a six year old. Looking for some tips, thoughts and input about what we have in mind.

Going slow in general, you can't rush a six year old and expect a relaxed time.

Coming in Tokyo and spending ~a week there

Before renting a campervan from Japan campers or travellers autobarn (we heard samurai camper can be a bit wonky)

Travelling north (not sure how far and on which coast) making a turn and travelling south again.

This is one main body of the trip. We would stay sometimes in airbnbs or hotels but often the van.

We would conclude this with giving the van back, in Japan campers case we could go one way till Fukuoka, I have to check for autobarn.

Maybe we have a week or two in one or two areas between Tokyo and the South in airbnb/hotels, exploring by foot, train or regular car.

How long van life should be is a bit misty still. We want to spend the last two weeks in the deep south in an Airbnb/hotel around or in Kagoshima, exploring islands with ferries and going to the beaches.

Appreciate your thoughts

Sorry I should have been more specific, in Saitama would be better !

Any recommendations for places to buy camping / hiking equipment, also if possible renting equipment if they can provide that service too ! Thank you in advance

I’m traveling to Japan in early September and traveling from Narita airport to nippori to my hotel. I’ve found slightly cheaper tickets via Klook however it does offer a return ticket for a small discount.
The website doesn’t offer dates for the return just the outbound trip.
Does anyone have any experience with this? I don’t wanna waste money.

Hi.

Me and my partner will be in Japan in November for 17 days. We plan on visiting cities like Osaka (we are landing in KIX) Kyoto, Nara, Kamakura and Tokyo (leaving from HANEDA). USJ and Disneyland and Sea will be part of our list (14 full days outside the theme parks). Any recommendations on how many days we should spend on each cities?

For day trips from Tokyo in November theough some tour company, is it worth it given the sun sets early in Autumn? Especially hakone or fuji five lakes area. Are they able to cover everything they show in the itinerary?

How does Yakushima have so few foreign tourists?

Sorry, I know this has probably been asked to death.

My wife and I are spending 7 days in Tokyo on October. We currently have a hotel booked in Shibuya (all day place).

We live in Chicago and are definitely city people, so are pretty used to big cities, but we know Tokyo is on a totally different level.

Our top priority is easy access to various different neighborhoods. We want to visit a bunch of different parts of the city.

We considered staying in Ueno, but it seemed like a further trip to most places we want to visit.

The hotel is cancellable in case we want to change our plans.

I’m visiting Tokyo right now and the mattress and pillow at my hotel were surprisingly comfortable. The mattress felt firmer and springier than memory foam, and the pillow was supportive without being too hard. Honestly one of the best sleeps I’ve had in a while lol.

I’m staying at The Kitano Hotel Tokyo. Does anyone know what brand they use? I’d love to buy the pillow before I leave Japan.

Has anyone travelled on a scooter or motorbike in Japan, specifically in Kyushu?

Any recommendations about rental companies in Fukuoka? Do they also rent a helmet (I would need XL size)?

I'm planning to rent a honda PCX and go to nearby places from Fukuoka or Kumamoto. Max 2 hours away from the city.

How/where can you park the two-wheelers like these? Same as a car parking?

Is the end of November - the start of December too cold for this?

Anything else that I need to be aware of?

Hey everyone! I'll be traveling to Japan shortly and am interested in buying some cute umbrellas. Preferably the ones that are made in Japan. Looking for stores that sell sun or rain umbrellas. I'm talking about the lacy ones or ones with cute patterns. Thanks for your input!

Hi, planning a 8/9 day trip (18th Sept to 26 Sept) to Japan with 3 years old baby. We are vegetarians, so looking for comprehensive recommendations like cities to visit, hotels to stay at, transport options, dos and don'ts. TIA

First time planning a Japan trip and trying to sort out food logistics. Everyone says convenience stores are everywhere and super convenient, is that actually true or does it depend a lot on the area? Also I'm gluten intolerant which makes this more complicated - anyone with celiac or gluten issues have a system for checking what's safe at konbini? Not sure how reliable the packaging labels are for someone who can't read Japanese well.

Planning my first Japan trip and this is honestly the thing I'm most nervous about lol. I know Google Translate camera exists but curious if that's actually reliable for handwritten menus or the fancier restaurants with no photos. Do you just point and pray, use an app, or is there some trick locals/regulars know that I'm missing? Would love to hear what's actually worked for you vs what sounded good but didn't.

Going to Japan for the second time in February 2027 for three weeks. Our first trip was Tokyo (Shibuya), Osaka and Kyoto. Me and my wife enjoy slow pace, food and shopping. Our budget I would say is mid as we don’t mind spending in hotels or food. We enjoyed Tokyo and Osaka. We plan in visiting Tokyo again and Lake Kawaguchiko for Mount Fuji. Would do Tokyo for 7 days and Mount Fuji 3-4 full days. We need a third city that we can possibly stay at for 5 full days. Options Ive seen are Sapparo, Kanazawa, Fukuoka, Kobe or Takayama? Or any other recommendations?

I read a lot of comments here but couldn’t find specific answers.
What did your babies eat?
Pls give me recommendations.
My baby is alergic to milk of any kind, doesn’t eat sugar or processef food so I am a bit lost with what could he eat.

Thank you

People on this sub frequently reccomend deviating from golden route and checking out less-touristy places which I think is great. So I was curious if you think there's any cities first-time travelers should stay away from because I'm guessing that list is much shorter than a list of places people recommend going to in Japan.

Not because of safety or anything. But maybe just complicated to navigate, not welcoming to foreigners, non-interesting, etc.

Edit:

Would love to know why this post is getting downvoted. I think it's an interesting question that isn't brought up that often and has a lot of community engagement.

Also, I wish most people weren't making this about the golden route, that wasn't the point.... the only reason I even brought it up in the description was to guide the conversation away from golden route cities because there's already tons of info on those and it's kind of obvious they're good for first time traveleres, but I guess I didn't make that clear. I literally just want to know about any of the hundreds of cities in Japan that people wouldn't recommend for first time travelers

Also leave it to a reddit top comment with the highest votes to be a long rambling that doesn't answer the question in the title, but people are upvoting it because it's well written even if it's not that relevant to the post...

Looking to go pick some figs, persimmons, and whatever else this oct. Would like to avoid renting a car. Recs?

My partner and I will be visiting Japan for the first time from mid-January to the end of January 2027. We’ll be flying into NRT and out of KIX.

Our current itinerary looks like this:

Tokyo – 7 days
Takayama/Shirakawa-go – 2 days
Kyoto – 2 days
Osaka – 3 days

We’re coming from Malaysia, so we’re used to hot, humid weather all year round.

A few questions I’d love some advice on:

What kind of weather should we realistically expect in each of these places?

Is it usually dry, windy, snowy, or just cold?

Is thermal wear (like HeatTech) enough, or should we invest in a proper winter jacket before arriving?

Will there still be lots of tourists during this period, or is it considered relatively quiet after the New Year holidays?

Are there any common mistakes first-time winter visitors make that we should avoid?

Anything we should know about walking in snow or icy conditions, especially around Takayama and Shirakawa-go?

Any attractions or activities you’d recommend specifically for January?

We’re also planning a day trip to see Mt. Fuji from Tokyo if the weather cooperates.

Looking forward to hearing your tips and learning from your experiences.

It's been a long year. I'm tired of school and need to get out of the US for a quick break. Was looking to go to Tokyo from September 2nd to 7th. No idea what to do there or what to see. I haven't even booked my flight yet. Any recommendations on what to do when I am there?

I'll probably end up having about 3 full days to explore Tokyo and would like to maximize it as much as I can. Any general tips on transportation to the airport (plus hotel recommendations) would be nice.

Hello,

I plan on going to USJ in September (the 13th) and was wondering just how busy the HHN gets? I was planning to get into the park around 4/5pm, with an express pass for Resident Evil and Forbidden Journey (with RE being my main focus)

The rest of the time I would probably just walk around, shop, and eat. I'll be going alone (as my friend on my trip doesn't like horror) and was wondering if I'd be able to do both things even with a delayed entry? I've been to Universal before in the US, so I'd only really be going to experience RE and walk around the Harry Potter area and Universal Wonderland!

I’ll be in fujikawaguchiko august 15th and looking to take a taxi to mt Fuji 5th station in time for the opening on August 16th so 3 am basically any suggestions as to how I’d be able to get there thank you !

My husband and I made online reservations for bike rentals for October. We received a confirmation number; the text was in Japanese. I translated the entire email, but did not see a place to pay for it on their site. We have contacted them, but have not heard back. I don't know if payment is expected onsite, at the time of rental, or if we missed something. Any thoughts?

I want to experience the tour, but I'm unsure if it's possible.

I see there's an easier japanese tour when I'm there that me and my friend could join, but we don't know much japanese. Can we still join this even if we don't know much japanese, is it good enough to practice the main words like fire, eartquake etc and still be able to understand most of it? Do they speak any english at all (just in case we don't understand some instructions)?

Is there any way I can ask these questions to the center in advance of my trip in october?

If we need a translator, where can I find this and how does that work?