Travel: Japan - General
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Travel around using their train is a good experience. They’re very efficient & very safe. We left our backpack & the station staff helped us retrace & we were so surprised that the backpack was found & left with the station master!
You can get the Narita Express direct from the airport to Tokyo station. Super easy. Taxis are expensive. Alternative is to use the Limousine Bus to yr hotel. No need to pre-book. Just get the tickets at airport. Staff are very friendly & speaks English.
TOKYO
Do visit the Tsukiji Market for Fresh seafood, beef and street food!
Explore the bustling streets of Shibuya & Shinjuku.
Visit historic temples like Senso-ji in Asakusa & Meiji Shrine in Harajuku.
Experience modern culture at places like Tokyo Disneyland or the Ghibli Museum.
Try to explore beyond Tokyo to places like, Osaka, Kyoto or take a day trip to Mt Fuji or stay overnight.
If u’re chasing Sakura within Tokyo or go to diff prefectures like DH & I did in 2019, u might hv to reschedule yr trip to March if u can.
Sakura - Yoyogi Park, Ueno Park, or along Imperial Castle
https://postimg.cc/MMJ5Vk5t
The flowers can be as dense as this tree in Yoyogi Park with no leaves in sight! It’ll be an absolutely gorgeous experience for 1st timers.
https://postimg.cc/vggJjKDm
Take a train to Hiroshima. Explore the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Hall & Museum and the Atomic Bomb Dome
KYOTO - visit Kinkakuji Castle, Kiyomizudera, Fushimi Inari Taisha, Kiyomizu-Dera, Ninenzaka/Sannenzaka, and Hanamikoji Street/Gion District, Bamboo Forest @ Arashimaya. My family took the Romance train through the Togetsukyo Bridge & did the rafting which was very fun.
OSAKA - Osaka Castle
Umeda Sky Building
Dotonbori
Shinsekai
Harukas 300
We love Dotonbori & had tried all the crab restaurants there, try local street food like takoyaki & okonomiyaki. We did lots of shopping in some niche shops.
HAKONE - Try a day trip to Hakone Checkpoint, Open Air Museum, and take the Hakone Ropeway to eat the famous black eggs. That’s where we found our backpack.
One spring, we did Mt Fuji & stayed overnight to wake up in the early morning to view the majestic Mt & went for onsen.
If yr hubby likes tech stuff, a tech day, do a visit to teamLab Planets or Borderless, Immersive Fort Tokyo, Kawasaki Robostage, and Tokyo Joypolis.
As we bought the JR Pass before our trip, it gives us lots of access across diff prefectures & last minute dropped by KOBE for its famous beef & discovered a beautiful garden there. It was such a lovely playground for me!
If u like farms & gardens, go for HOKKAIDO. We did all the Hakodate (seafood), Niseko, Chitose, Tomita Lavendar Garden.
You might like to choose just a few locations to hv a slow exploration & take in the sights & unique experiences like maybe combine Tokyo, Osaka & Kyoto or do Tokyo, Mt Fuji if u hv less time. Do Hokkaido separately as the travel fr Tokyo wld require a long train journey or like us, we took the domestic flight fr Tokyo into Hakodate & flew out of Chitose.
How many days are u going for? -
Thanks for the tips. Esteema - I’ll use your list for reference! But for this trip, we are probably going to go on a tour because I have no energy to research (too many things on my plate in the next few months, and we plan to go in May). My husband is not the kind to research these things. He will just give me a rough outline, and it’s always me that works on the details! But I really can’t look at trains, hotels, places to visit etc this time, so he said to look for a tour.
We are leaning towards taking a tour (9D seems the most common length) which covers the main central areas (roughly Tokyo to Kyoto), to give an overview of the country and let us have a taste of how things work there. We can then home in on specific areas in future trips.
I’ve been recommended Chan Bros, Nam Ho and EU so far by other friends. I know the tours will be rushed, and they will probably have more shopping than I like, but other than that, any comments? -
slmkhoo\" post_id=\"2129416\" time=\"1708346578\" user_id=\"28674:
It’s a bit of a contradiction, choosing Tokyo but wanting to visit small towns and historical sites, because the noteworthy ones are far from Tokyo (or at least require more than a day trip out). But i get your reason for starting with tokyo as a first timer. The plus side is Tokyo has 2 international airports (Haneda and Narita) so more choices for flights.
Asking for help - my husband are probably among the few Singaporeans who have never holidayed in Japan before. We would like to make our first trip in late May, for about a week. We don't really like big cities, but are prepared to see Tokyo a bit since it is the capital and it's likely to be where we land. Other than that, we like small towns and history, and some scenery.
Anyone with a suggested itinerary, and tips? I am really finding it hard to plan, and I don't want to have to do research till we've homed in on a few places.
Personally, I would choose Osaka as a base if want to see more interesting sites. That’s what we did last Nov, with day trips via train to Nara and Kyoto. Least fuss cos we stayed near a train station and planned every route via train + walk.
Tokyo is fine to start with if u’re leisurely. Day trip to Hakone, which is a hot spring area “next” to Mount Fuji. U can book the day trip via 3rd party platforms, or take a public bus (not easy with language barrier).
Getting around by train is “easy” cos signs are in English. I’m sure if you know the London Tube system then Japan rail system will be not too difficult for u.
I’d recommend spending a day in Ueno Park (pick a weekend if u like to watch more buskers) for the scenery and walking.
Imperial Palace tour comes to mind, but not sure how much of it is open to public post-covid.
U can check for other museums around tokyo to see if they interest u.
Tsukiji Fish Market is probably another dun-skip for Tokyo. -
zac's mum\" post_id=\"2129441\" time=\"1708388121\" user_id=\"53606:[quote=\"zac's mum\" post_id=2129441 time=1708388121 user_id=53606]
We like Osaka too & stayed twice near the park which gave us fresh morning view of the Sakura blooms!
It’s a bit of a contradiction, choosing Tokyo but wanting to visit small towns and historical sites, because the noteworthy ones are far from Tokyo (or at least require more than a day trip out). But i get your reason for starting with tokyo as a first timer. The plus side is Tokyo has 2 international airports (Haneda and Narita) so more choices for flights.
Personally, I would choose Osaka as a base if want to see more interesting sites. That’s what we did last Nov, with day trips via train to Nara and Kyoto. Least fuss cos we stayed near a train station and planned every route via train + walk.
Tokyo is fine to start with if u’re leisurely. Day trip to Hakone, which is a hot spring area “next” to Mount Fuji. U can book the day trip via 3rd party platforms, or take a public bus (not easy with language barrier).
Getting around by train is “easy” cos signs are in English. I’m sure if you know the London Tube system then Japan rail system will be not too difficult for u.
I’d recommend spending a day in Ueno Park (pick a weekend if u like to watch more buskers) for the scenery and walking.
Imperial Palace tour comes to mind, but not sure how much of it is open to public post-covid.
U can check for other museums around tokyo to see if they interest u.
Tsukiji Fish Market is probably another dun-skip for Tokyo.[/quote]
I agree with the Japan station, it was when we let our DH help navigate when he was 12 just after his PSLE. He was so delighted to toppo & help figure & so are we as proud parents to see him so confident. Ya, not that difficult la.
I prefer DIY trips as i don’t like to be rushed esp when i want to take nice pics or just wanna enjoy my food abit more & shop to my heart’s content. I tend to buy loads of Japanese stuff when at their markets or the like places.
I’ve enjoyed Kyoto & each time there, I love to walk thro the meandering shops & wld discover eateries & just wanna chill there. Sth a tour group will not afford my need to be leisurely. We bumped into our BS grp frds & ended up watching fireworks near the Gion area, and that was memorable as we bond & chatted. Can’t do when tour groups rushed fr pillar to post.
Hope you find a suitable trip to enjoy with yr hubby. Don’t know how many days u’re going but not difficult to research & google helps u pin down, incl hotels & places of interests. Stay near train station. Within a couple of hours, u’ll hv mapped out yr route.
Enjoy! -
I think we are probably going to pick a package tour, probably one starting in Osaka and ending in Tokyo or vice versa. I’ll reserve my research endeavours for the next time, when we home in on an area and want to see it in more detail. This time, I’ll let someone do the deciding and just go with it! Can’t rake up energy to do this additional thing right now. But thanks for the various suggestions - will archive for the next time!
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slmkhoo\" post_id=\"2129463\" time=\"1708401320\" user_id=\"28674:
Relax & enjoy yr Japan trip!
I think we are probably going to pick a package tour, probably one starting in Osaka and ending in Tokyo or vice versa. I'll reserve my research endeavours for the next time, when we home in on an area and want to see it in more detail. This time, I'll let someone do the deciding and just go with it! Can't rake up energy to do this additional thing right now. But thanks for the various suggestions - will archive for the next time! -
Estéema\" post_id=\"2129466\" time=\"1708403183\" user_id=\"66413:
Got to choose once first! And find a travel date that fits all the different constraints! We plan to go in May.
Relax & enjoy yr Japan trip! -
slmkhoo\" post_id=\"2129467\" time=\"1708404208\" user_id=\"28674:
Have fun! Tour group in May will prob be mostly your age group couples/females, or young working adults, sans kids.
Got to choose once first! And find a travel date that fits all the different constraints! We plan to go in May. -
slmkhoo\" post_id=\"2129440\" time=\"1708388012\" user_id=\"28674:
chan is prob the most Ex package, prob they give better hotels (?) or airlines.
Thanks for the tips. Esteema - I'll use your list for reference! But for this trip, we are probably going to go on a tour because I have no energy to research (too many things on my plate in the next few months, and we plan to go in May). My husband is not the kind to research these things. He will just give me a rough outline, and it's always me that works on the details! But I really can't look at trains, hotels, places to visit etc this time, so he said to look for a tour.
We are leaning towards taking a tour (9D seems the most common length) which covers the main central areas (roughly Tokyo to Kyoto), to give an overview of the country and let us have a taste of how things work there. We can then home in on specific areas in future trips.
I've been recommended Chan Bros, Nam Ho and EU so far by other friends. I know the tours will be rushed, and they will probably have more shopping than I like, but other than that, any comments?
there are others agencies, wts, ctc, lge, eu, or some smaller ones, natas is coming, so hope u are able to find good prmos and share with us
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MyPillow\" post_id=\"2129477\" time=\"1708408501\" user_id=\"70594:
I've given up on Chan Bros - their website is having problems, I think. Hardly anything listed, and keeps giving me blank pages. Just checked - NATAS is 1-3 Mar. Not sure if I can face the crowds.
chan is prob the most Ex package, prob they give better hotels (?) or airlines.
there are others agencies, wts, ctc, lge, eu, or some smaller ones, natas is coming, so hope u are able to find good prmos and share with us
Oh another thing I found - all the tours are conducted in Mandarin! I'm OK with that, but it does show the demographic they are targeted at.
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