Hello! Our arrival to Tokyo (Haneda) is on May 3rd 4:45 AM and golden week is on April 29th to May 5th. Our trip is for 4 days only and I have read advice not to go to tourist spots if we don’t want crowd so we plan to go see Mt. Fuji on May 6th. We would also like to go to Hokkaido, Sapporo so my concern is, is it a good idea to leave Tokyo right away after we landed since we’re arriving early in the morning? I know 4-day trip is a very short trip, let alone during a golden week so we’re open/flexible for itinerary suggestions that would avoid the GW fiasco. Thank yooouuuu sm!

When would u recommend visiting Japan? Looking for a good weather and not too crowded streets and sights

Me and my partner are planning a trip to north Japan, including a few stops inspired by the ABroadInJapan channel- we hoped to fly from Tokyo to Sapporo, rent a car and drive down otaru-Niseko-Hakodate-Aomori-ginzan onsen-Echigo Sake Museum Ponshukan- snow money park nagano- and then return the car in Tokyo. We have 2 weeks total for the trip. When planning we have run into trouble online trying to find a car rental place that allows us to do this one way trip- and the trains seem like a much slower option due to remoteness of some of the stops. Any advice or information appreciated!!

My trip consists of the Tokyo > Kyoto > Osaka route and I’m undecided whether I should take the train from Osaka straight to the airport for my 3pm flight or if that’s too risky?

I’m leaning toward relocate back to Tokyo the night before my flight but it seems like so much travel. Thoughts? First time in Japan!

HI all,

So i am traveling to Japan between the 13th and 30th of Dec with the following itinerary

Landing in Osaka --> Staying in kyoto (13th to 18th)

Kyoto --> Kanazawa ( 18th -->20th)

kanazawa to Tokyo(Not entirely decided) -->20th to 23rd

Tokyo to leaving (23rd to 30th)

Had a couple of questions,

1. I am staying in AirBnBs throughout the journey, especially for the trip between kyoto to kanazawa i wanted, i wanted to know how i could move around without lugging around by luggage. Ideally I just want to send my luggage to Tokyo and collect it on the 20th/23rd? Any advice here?

2. feel like 2 days is enough in Kanazawa(is this correct?) what else would you recommend i could do which i close by?

Happy to receive any advice, thanks

I’m going to be staying in Tokyo from 20th of February through 2nd of march for the first time ever and I am looking for things to do as a solo traveler.

The only thing that’s on my list is going to Tokyo Disneyland but after that it’s kind of up in the air. Any suggestions I’d be cool with. Thanks!

What are good things to know about the area and how’s It like there

Hello everyone does anyone know any good spots for tide pooling near Tokyo?

I’ll be in Tokyo for the last part of Golden Week and I’m trying to decide if I want to depart for Hakone on Monday, May 5 (the last day of Golden Week) or May 6.

Is the last day of Golden Week still quite busy or is that generally when domestic tourists go home?

It makes much more sense in my itinerary to start Hakone on May 5 but if it’s going to be much busier than normal I’d rather delay it by a day. (This won’t change the number of days in Tokyo; I’d add the extra day to the end of my trip if I leave on May 5.)

Will be in Five Lakes region end of December and have already booked train ticket from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko. Do I need to reserve the sightseeing bus tickets to hop on hop off certain areas? Which website can I book it from? Anything else I should book in advanced around that area?

Hello everyone, I'm currently planning for my japan trip and still have a few doubts left. I plan to head to Osaka at the end of my trip (28/12-1/1) since I don't want to keep changing hotels back and forth, as I will fly out of Osaka. I want to make a day trip either to Koyasan (Wakayama) or Murouji Temple (Nara). However one of my friend mentions that the temples can be closed during this period as it is holiday. Does anyone visit those 2 places during this period before? Do they open normal on those days? I planned to head there on 30/31 of December. Thank you in advance for your help :)

the track # isnt shown for omiya station, while the track # is shown for other stations.

does that mean the track at which the hokuriku shinkan stops at omiya station for boarding will be only decided right before the shinkan arrives at omiya station?

So I am a 17M and my father is 45M. We both really like cars, mountains, etc. We are looking for recommendations for car enthusiasts as well as food locations, the best hotels, etc. Anything you would like to recommend is excellent! We will be in Tokyo for a week and will visit in February. We don't mind short rides to places like Hakone either, so anything helps!

Is it worth it? How far in advance do reservations start?

I entered the February lottery for Nintendo museum tickets and unfortunately didn’t get in. I thought I’d check in here to see if anyone knows if they generally free up other tickets through cancellations and the best way to go about snagging those. I see on the website that January tickets are “on sale” (although they are all sold out) so I assume that there is some number of additional tickets that free up, but I’m not quite sure from the website when exactly that happens.

1. after buying the hokuriku shinkansen tickets (non-reserved seating) on jr east/west website, I can only collect the tickets at the jr east stations?
2. Can I collect the non-reserved seating tickets from the Reserved Seat Ticket Vending Machine?
3. Is there any difference between buying the hokuriku shinkansen tickets from jr east vs jr west website?

 Suica:

1. Can I provide a non-japan phone number for the personalized suica?
2. theres an option for hokuriku shinkansen e-ticket, which requires an ic card. If I decide to only use paper tickets, can I convert this e-tix to a paper ticket? Where do i do this conversion

Trying to figure out best area to stay in to maximize my time in Tokyo and minimize time on the train. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

When do domestic flight prices go down? For some reason, and it's not just snow festival because every other day is cheap, the flights im looking at from cts to hnd on Tuesday Feb 11 are so much higher than the days before (I want to leave in the afternoon, but all the ANA flights are at least $192 USD then, and even morning ones are at least $125 USD). Do prices generally go down maybe 1-2 months before? I'm about 2 months and a week from my travel date.

I have looked at all the threads on here and there is not a single, clear instruction from Reddit, Klook, or USJ whether tickets are available or not for Jan 10th.

• Yes, I do have a studio pass for that day
• I just need the area-timed entry tickets so that we can go to Super Mario World & have express passes for the rides - hearing that the lines are way too long for just trying to stand regularly.

I could *really* use some help here! Overall, this is the engagement trip for my partner and me and I REALLY would like everything he wants to be perfect. Any recommendations are helpful, please!!

For Jan 10:

• Some websites say it is sold out; some say it is just not available
• I've seen commentary that tickets are released on specific days for the following two months??

Looking for a nice ryokan to stay at in Kinosaki Onsen from February 22-24th 2025. I'm currently looking at Tsuchiya main building "Kiri" room that includes breakfast, but I was looking for something a little nicer. My budget it up to $350 a night USD if it includes breakfast and dinner. Any recommendations are appreciated!

Curious if four days in Tokyo is overkill and should I be taking a few days getting out of Tokyo as much as possible?

Or is that a great amount of time to really get into Tokyo?

It's not my first time in Tokyo but last time I was there for two nights and crammed Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Harajuku all into those two days/nights.

I also would welcome any suggestions on things to do.

Will be there in December.

I am just learning about Golden week in Japan and am glad cause I was looking at doing a group trip there that would start on 5/4/2025, which around when it ends. So I am now looking to possibly do one that starts on 5/10 instead as there doesn't seem to be any thing major happening over there during that time.

Anyone have any input on this?

Hi everyone

Just wondering what is cheapest option in terms of public transport? is there a card i can buy somewhere? or can i use my wise card at the train stations?

there is 5 (mum, dad and 3 kids under 10) of us travelling for 6 days. we’ll only be staying in tokyo but would like to visit disneyland, some of the palaces, the famous crossing and LAB.

Thanks a lot

Hi all, we (my husband, toddler and I) had a very strange encounter at the Kagoshima Airport today, maybe you let me know if I'm being paranoid or not.

Tldr: random stranger offers us a ride and I can't understand why If he didn't have underlying intentions.

Now to what happened. We flew into Kagoshima this morning and made our way to the buses to get to Kagoshima city. As I was looking at the terminals, an old guy was standing there asking where we were going. I told him to town and said I think we need to take this specific bus, pointing to it on the sign. He said he wants to practice his English and he will help us. I thought he meant he'll help us by talking to the driver or helping us use the ticket machine.

He led us outside and went the opposite direction of where we needed to go. He said he lives near the airport and wants to practice his English and he will take us to town.

I was starting to feel super uncomfortable, some random stranger approached us and now wants to make a 90 minute round trip so he can "practice his English"?? Note, he was not a taxi driver.

We got almost to his car and he said he doesn't have a car seat, so I used the opportunity to say we need to take the bus then. We left basically without a goodbye. As I turned around a few meters later, he had already driven off.

I know Japan is relatively safe, but this just screams bad intentions. Is this common in Japan? I've been here before and never had anything like this happen. I just don't understand what innocent reason someone would have to drive a random family 45 minutes to town for free. And we've never been to Kagoshima before, so we likely wouldn't have known where he was taking us, if it was correct.

Am I overthinking this? Has anyone else had a similar experience?

Me and my husband are going to Japan from 28 March 2025 until 11 April 2025, I’d like to know will Hakone and the five lakes area be fully green during that time or not yet?

I’ll be in Tokyo mid-may 2025 for 11 days. I see a lot of people here and on different socials traveling to different cities during their trips, even when they have a shorter stay.

Would you all recommend staying in Tokyo the whole time? This is my first solo trip and I am an anxious individual overall. (This is my first trip ever actually lol, my family isn’t into traveling so I am quite inexperienced. 23F)

I’ve been making my itinerary and most of the places I’d like to visit are in Tokyo. I am interested in day trips as well, planning to go to Kamakura. But, if anything requires moving my luggage and switching hotels, it might be a little stressful for me. Plus, I feel that it would require additional meticulous planning.

I would love to visit Wakayama for the Tama Densha and the fish train. But is it worth booking a hotel there for a day or 2? since it clearly can’t be a daytrip.

Any advice and tips are welcomed, please recommend more places that are easy to day trip to from Tokyo - Any quiet towns or neighborhoods i can take a stroll in if I want to step away from the busy settings in Tokyo?

I always book hotels direct; but it seems people use booking sites in Japan. Is there a disadvantage to booking direct, or an advantage to using booking.com or Agoda?

I have only one night in Tokyo. I plan to treat myself to an upscale Dinner (Michelin Sushi). But what else? I heard that there is good Jazz in Tokyo. Any recommendation for a Jazz Club in Ginza? Thank you for taking the time and share your thoughts.

Hi everybody,

as part of an upcoming trip in ~1month, i would like to book a rental car for 2 days in Fukuoka (pick up and drop off at Fukuoka Airport). And for a total of 6 days in Kyoto (pick up in Kyoto and drop off at Hakone Station).

I was checking Toyota Rent a Car and Klook so far, do you have any experience with those providers, specifically for the mentioned locations? My japanese is not really existing to be honest, apart from the general phrases and Katakana / Hiragana reading. Might this be an issue?

Thanks for any suggestions!

I've been seeing so much conflicting information about when the Express Passes are being sold for USJ. Those that have bought them recently, when were the passes released? I don't want to miss out on buying passes because l've seen they kinda sell out on release day.

I've read that they're released 2 months out so February ones should be available now. Or they're released mid month, so February wouldn't be available until December 15th. Or they're released at the end of the month in batches (December 28 being for February 1-15 and December 29 being for February 16-28). Any insight would be super appreciated.