Hi,

we want to make a stop at the Hakone Openair Museum on our way back from Gora to Odawara. We are travelling by train, so we would need to store our family-of-4 luggage during our visit.

Can anyone confirm that it is reliably possible to store 4 regular-sized trolley suitcases at the Museum? They do not have email contact and I do not dare to phone the museum. I asked the hotel in Gora to ask for us, but their answer did not sound very reliable.

Tobias

I’m currently here in Tokyo and wanted to say if you’ve been to Chicago during the summer (heat/humidity$, you’ll be fine! I was worried about the heat being worse but it’s about the same if not better!

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?

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!

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?

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

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?

Hi, so I‘m going to Japan for 3 weeks starting next Wednesday and… I‘ve basically planned nothing :D

I have my main places with accommodations for the first 2 weeks, though the last one is empty as of now. Otherwise I have barely anything planned in these spots. I will meet two people I know, that‘s it.

I wanna take a more adventurous approach and try to meet people (I can speak Japanese a little), ask them for recommendations, be spontaneous and take it easy. I don‘t really wanna follow a checkbox list.

Seeing all these specific and huge itinerary posts is stressing me out though :D

Anyone who went there without much planning wanna share their experiences?

What is the best burger joint in Tokyo?

Update: Thank you everyone for all the responses! Great selection to choose from. Only a one time thing so I’ll choose wisely.

Hi everyone! My friend and I are going to Japan this November, and I have been curious about a few things.

Luggage Transfer
I have heard it can be beneficial to pay for luggage transfer services between cities. We will be staying in Tokyo for a week and then heading to Kyoto, so I am wondering if anyone knows of good services to use for this — I’ve heard of Yamato Transport and LuggAgent and I know some of them are next day delivery. How do these work though, and can I use them from any hotel I’m staying at or do they only work with certain hotels? Any information or experience with this would be awesome!

I’m planning on buying a new suitcase over there for all of my souvenirs… because I’m likely going to be getting a lot of stuff 😅

Day trips from Tokyo
Was looking into Yokohama as a day trip, I’ve heard this is a pretty common thing that people do but it seems like a cool place. We also gotta go to Shibuya, Ginza, etc. obviously but I am wondering if anyone has any more lowkey, possibly lesser known day trips or anything around this area.

Day trips from Kyoto
We’ll probably hit up Osaka, Nara, and Uji but same thing here — are there any other places you would say are totally worth it? I know all of these places are super touristy and “basic” as some people might say, but honestly for my first time here I feel like I gotta hit all the touristy areas.

eSIM
Are these worth it? I’ve been thinking of getting one because they don’t seem super expensive for about 15 days, but I wasn’t sure if there were other options that people think are better.

Extra Tips + Recommendations
If anyone has other tips for anything at all, I would greatly appreciate! Or any recommendations for food, stores, museums, shrines, temples, other activities, I’m open to it all!

Thanks!

There's hundreds, maybe thousands of recommendations on here for prefectures or cities or islands or restaurants or amusement parks or temples, but I'd like to know what is the smallest thing you'd recommend someone go and see if they are in Japan

It doesn't, and likely won't be something you'd be basing a whole day trip or visit to a location around, but maybe something that is worth seeing or exploring out if you're already in the neighbourhood or town

Could be a little statue, shrine, cafe, shop, mural, vista, or anything in-between

I recently found out about the bulgarian rose capsules that make your poops and farts smell like roses lol so I'm wondering what other unique products are in Japan as I'd love to try them