Japan for two weeks

Going to Japan for two weeks in June. Any tips? Looking to avoid crowds if at all possible. Scenery, food, architecture main goals I guess. Thanks!

 

June will be very hot weather and Tokyo will be crowded as always and pretty hot and humid. I was there Halloween 2023 and even that time of year it wasn't that cool temp-wise. I was mainly in Tokyo, but I preferred Nagoya (day trip) as it was quieter and less crowds...bullet train ride there was a cool experience with same day roundtrip we still did a lot. They are known for their eel dish, Hitsumabushi, which I loved the most. I love eel and that dish has a huge amount and is better imo than eel sushi. We went to the place basically connected to the Nagoya train station so probably can be easily found on Google Maps. We also hit up Nagoya Castle and Old Town.

https://www.nagoyajo.city.nagoya.jp/en/

https://www.nagoya-info.jp/en/course/detail/46/

I don't have much recommendations food-wise other than that. McDonald's was interesting for some options haha? I wanted to try at least one Michelin 3 star restaurant next to Tokyo Station that I read great things about, but the booking process was a joke. They opened reservation system months in advance online which is fine, but it gets flooded and freezes and by the time you can do anything it's already fully booked. I even got to the page to select a date and it wouldn't let me. Same thing happened a month ago trying to book sumo wrestling semifinals later this month...we ended up getting stubhub resale, but think it will be a scam. Our friends in Japan couldn't get it either online or via phone so I guess it's not discriminating against foreign IP addresses. I heard best bet to book like that is contact your hotel concierge, asap when you book a room, and see if they can do something for you...never tried that myself. Japan is old school really...credit card not accepted at a lot of places and still rely on hotel concierge to get a restaurant seat.

I'm going again end of this month and will try skiing and going to Tochigi area after a couple days in Tokyo (for sumo only). Car-wise will only try to go to Honda Collection Hall in Motegi. Last time I did a lot of car related activities in the 5 days I was there. Nismo Omori Factory in Yokohama, R's Meeting at Fuji Speedway (and a stay at the Fuji Speedway Hotel which was amazing), and then visited a lot of car dealerships in Aoyama (Minato) in Tokyo.

Edit: Taxi drivers at Nagoya train station are older guys from that area and dont' speak any English so it may be hard to communicate where you want to go. So download Google Translate on your phone and download offline Japanese to communicate. Tokyo is pretty flexible with English speakers although I still tried to speak Japanese or use translator if possible.

 

If you want to avoid crowds, Tokyo is not the place you want to be. However, I really like Tokyo. People are great. Not the best walking city because its really big and the street numbering is non-sensical. But the subways and trains are packed with people. There are some very nice temple areas particularly in Asakusa. Each district of the city is a bit different and has its own culture. Very friendly to foreigners and very safe.

A friend of mine hiked Mt Fuji. Many go to Kyoto. I've been to Yokohama and didn't find it much different than Tokyo. Other friends go farther north in winter to ski.

It is hot and humid in the summer.

Lots of places to eat. Western and any other culture you can imagine. Easy to order from pictures. Two things I remember quite well. I was with someone at work and we were walking he side streets in Ginza. We decided on dinner and in a Japanese restaurant window there was fake food. Looked really good so we walked in. No one spoke English. Sat on the floor in traditional Japanese style. They took really good care of us. Had an excellent meal of many dishes, including Sashimi. So, don't be afraid to walk into a place you think you might want to eat in.

Another time we decided to go to the Tokyo fish market at 6AM for the fish of the day. Really quite interesting as you walk through an actual market of fish brought it to be sold. There are several restaurants that serve these exotic delicacies. People waiting to get in. You're in and out in maybe 10 minutes. You order how many pieces you want (5, 6, 10 etc) and the chef makes what he wants and serves it one by one. Don't ask what it is. They speak no English anyway. But its quite good. I know it sounds weird to eat raw fish for breakfast but you have to try different things.

If you take the subway it can be extremely confusing to read the maps. But I've always found a subway worker / info booth who can help tell you what ticket to buy. Tokyo has above and below trains. You'll notice on the subway and trains no one talks. Taxi drivers are very friendly and really know their jobs. I do suggest writing down where you want to go or show on an Iphone.

Haven't been there since Covid so things may have changed a bit. Still, one of the most interesting places in Asia to visit. Japan, Thailand, and VietNam.

 

I would be curious as to if there are still a zillion Nikon dealers in Tokyo/Japan like there was in the past.
I knew guys that would actually pay the expense to fly there and buy high-end camera gear and have it shipped back here,
they would save a lot of money doing that - enough to pay for the flight there, and the vacation they took while there.
I'd imagine the internet has probably killed off most of that, but still, I look for excuses to go places...

 

Head north! I lived in Tohoku (northern region of Honshu, main island) for 3 1/2 years and the summers are great.

Sendai is a sizable city with a population of about 1M - but considering Tokyo is about 14M it will be a LOT less crowded and it's easy to get into the countryside and farther up the coast.

To me the highlight of living in Japan was the rural areas as it was more "native".

Kevin

 

Thanks for the tips!

 

thanks so much mayor. you are making me hungry!

 

Thanks Kevin. I was considering going south to end the trip in Okinawa or Ishigaki. I am open to going North though!

 

That was always my logic when visiting cities - yeah, I may spend SOME time
in the 'tourist trap' areas, but I always try to got where tourists seldom go, it could
be 4 blocks over, or a mile over, but away from the traps.

 

Yes its always a balancing act. I have been to some tourist traps that were worth it as the sights are that incredible. I have been to others that are mostly hype. I do like to balance a trip with more authentic and less traveled areas if at all possible. It's hard to find that in travel books or shows so forums (like this and others) often lead to some great tips. I got some real great insights on Fchat on my last two trips!

 

I'm still really mad I could not go back to the ice hockey store a few blocks off Old Towne Square back in 2015. (Czech Republic)
A really dinky store in basically an alley, I looked thru the windows and they had ORIGINAL USSR and Czech Republic
sweaters, sticks, equipment - all looked used and very authentic. I would have spent a fortune in there.
I saw it just after it closed on a Saturday, and we were flying out on Sunday AM. Damn.
The place no longer exists, Covid killed it.

 

In some of the places I went, they’d never seen blonde hair “on real life” - only on TV.

I had an 18 month old daughter with me - and they kept patting her on the head to touch/feel blonde hair!

Kevin

 

no way when is that? my kid is half asian but he has blond hair

 

early/mid 90s - right at 30 years ago...

Kevin

 

I just got back from Japan a few months ago. June is actually pretty great timing, you'll miss the crazy cherry blossom crowds but it's before the brutal summer heat kicks in. You should the popular spots super early (like Fushimi Inari in Kyoto - go at 7am and you'll have those orange gates almost to yourself). Also, check out some lesser-known temples instead of just the famous ones. Honestly, they're just as beautiful but way more chill. In case you need a guided day trip or so you can check https://gowithguide.com/ Oh, and get a rail pass BEFORE you go. It's way cheaper than buying it in Japan.

 

I got back from Japan Friday. I saw more places accepting Visa credit cards, but still not many imo. I was able to use it to get my Narita Express ticket to leave Narita airport via the ticket counter...I asssume the kiosk would accept it too. We couldn't use credit cards to replenish a Suica card for the metro + other places you can use Suica. That became an issue departing from Haneda airport as we took the monorail they have and lots of people didn't have enough balance left to get through the terminal turnstiles and the self-service kiosk was broke and the currency exchange counter and help desks were closed (this was like 3PM Friday). People were jumping turnstiles to get to their flights.

Other than that issue the rest was fun. We watched Sumo wrestling last Saturday, which was my favorite part and got to see the 74th yokozuna named this past week compete right before that was announced. Went to Motegi Speedway to see the Honda Collection Hall, which was disappointing imo. They had two Senna McLaren F1 cars there (MP4/4 and MP4/6), but they were fake/show cars and not the real deal as I could tell by the chassis plaques. Would not recommend that unless you're in the area and have time to kill.

As far as historic places we went to a couple shrines with the Nikko Toshogu Shire being the most famous we did. It was not crowded at all as my friend told me in summer it is extremely packed. Parking was easy as was getting a ticket and going to all the parts of the complex.

 

awesome advice thank you!

 

thanks so much. i heard rumors about the credit card thing but wasn't sure if it was true

 

Funny enough we went to Costco once last week after Motegi (membership card works worldwide) and they had MasterCard-only there so I had to have my brother cover me at checkout lol. I did see Amex listed at a lot of places that didn't take MC or Visa so if you have that it may be better. There are loads of ATM in Japan and hopefully your bank/broker reimburses your ATM fees globally with fair exchange rates. I just don't like carrying cash and coins.

 

One last thing as I'm assuming you're a US citizen and don't need a visa to enter Japan. Use the Visit Japan Web site/app (I think it's a website only but you can link it on your phone). https://www.vjw.digital.go.jp/main/#/vjwplo001

In there you register your passport info, flight info, and address you will be staying (at least first night address). When it gets closer to departure like when you board I fill out the remainder info with customs declaration that I'm not bringing anything crazy with me. Once you submit that, it gives you a QR code. You will use that two times upon arrival at the airport. First is at regular immigration where you scan it and they look at your passport (before baggage claim). Then you do it again after bag pickup when you declare if you have anything. This is waaaaay more convenient than what I did the first time in 2023 I had to fill out paper forms in person and look up addresses and phone numbers of my hotel on Google etc. This time I just scanned the QR code and quickly got through both lines.

 

great thank you will do

 

This is what i got so far:

Night 1 - Tokyo
2- Tokyo
3 - Tokyo
4 - Kanazawa
5 - Kanazawa
6 - Kanazawa
7 - Shikoku (not sure exactly where yet)
8 - Shikoku
9 - Shikoku
10 - Shikoku
11 - Okinawa
12 - Okinawa
13 - Okinawa
14 - Okinawa
15 - fly out

 

Consider Gran Class seats on the shinkansen rather than regular reserved seats or even Green Car. We took Gran Class on the last train trip for us to Tokyo and it was almost entirely empty and lots of room. Ticket prices weren't much more than regular reserved or Green Car. It seems it's offered on the Hokuriku Shinkansen for Kanazawa, but not all train departures have it.

https://www.jreast.co.jp/granclass/en/

https://journeyrambler.com/my-hokuriku-shinkansen-gran-class-experience/

 

very helpful thank you!

 

Well, if you go to any main cities, IF you have the time, see if you notice any big camera/Nikon stores,
and if you go into one, price a D850 for me..... pleeeeease..... I'm just curious.