I got to experience Japan a little differently than most people get to this last week.

My band went on a little 6 show tour in mostly Tokyo but also a couple other places off the beaten path.

One of those places was Nagano. We played a punk show in a small venue that ended up being the best show of the tour. Everyone was really excited to talk to us, despite none of us knowing any Japanese and no one at this show knowing any English.

There was a guy who was a big fan of one of the opening bands, and he was particularly interested in talking to me and we did our best using Google translate. I noticed he left the show for about 20 minutes at one point, and when he came back, he handed me a little tin container.

"Famous Nagano souvenir", is what he told me when he handed it to me, and I used Google lense to read the ingredients and saw that it was like a chile type seasoning.

I thought, "oh cool", thanked him a bunch, put it in my bag and forgot about it until I was unpacking our bags today.

And I don't know why, but when I saw it, I cried a little bit.

This man is at a show to see his favorite local band and starts talking to me. Then takes his time and effort to leave, and go buy this spice (that I later looked up and has been being produced in Nagano since 1736), to give to some American band that he's been chatting up.

What an incredible gesture. It's such a small moment that I looked right past when it happened, but now that I'm home, I can't stop thinking about it. It was just an incredibly thoughtful thing to do, and has cemented Nagano, Nagano City as a place that I love and will cherish my memory there (the big crowd who chanted for an encore doesn't hurt either).

This isn't really a recommendation, more than it is a tale to not take any little moments for granted.

My band had an amazing tour and got to talk to so many locals in the local Tokyo/Yokohama/Nagano music scene.

And there were so many small moments like that, that I'm just remembering now that I'm home, that I wish I appreciated more while I was there.

Sorry for my niche little story in your travel sub!

A prominent payment processing service Zentoshin filed for bankruptcy the other week. This means, small private-owned restaurants are unable to get back the sales. And due to that, they are ver wary of using credit cards. So if you intend to goto a small restaurants, be sure to bring cash.

But, you can experience the weirdly technologically backward-ism we are famous for.

I been reading in the posts and comments that is not a very good area to be... is that the general option??? Did I shoot myself in the foot trying to get a nice/central place? Is it as chaotic as most people say??

Thanks for your time 🙏🏻!!

I'm trying to figure out what kind of bag I need for my trip, and am working backwards from what I want to plan to carry every day to determine the size. Would love some feedback on whether anything is unnecessary or missing.

I am going end of October through Mid November. Will be in Tokyo end of October and ending the trip in Kyoto and Kanazawa by mid November.

Carry list:

- small water bottle

- small umbrella

- wallet

- phone

- small hand towel

- Extremely lightweight jacket

- idk probably some bandaids and Tylenol just in case

- not sure if I want to bring a small camera??

ETA:

• Passport

• Small power bank

This list makes me feel like I need a backpack, but I also super don't want to be carrying around a bulky bag on my back. Ideal scenario is a small crossbody bag or sling bag.

I see a lot of people talking about just having a tiny fanny pack or crossbody bag even late in the year but how do you get away withiut carrying a jacket at minimum?

Hi everyone! I’m traveling to Japan this summer and am planning on staying at Yamagata for a couple days! During the stay, I also plan on visiting Ginzan Onsen for a little day trip! Google Maps recommend I take the train to Ashisawa Station before hopping on a bus to get to Ginzan Onsen. For buses in that area, would I need to buy tickets beforehand? How would you guys recommend I prepare for the trip there? Thanks!

I’m going to be going to Japan in August, gonna be spending 7 days in Tokyo before the second leg. I know that August is oppressively hot, especially for Kyoto, and that Hokkaido is cooler. I come from Houston born and raised so Ik how much that heat sucks. I do enjoy nature but everybody does say that Kyoto is a must see culture wise. I’m in my 20s so there’s a lot of time to visit Japan again. What’s yalls opinion?

Hello everyone!

I wanted to ask the hive mind for some advice.

I've been learning Japanese for almost a year now, and I've been to Tokyo three times. On my second trip, I traveled alone for 11 days. To be honest, I didn't enjoy the whole trip because I felt quite lonely, and I was too shy to talk to people in bars. My Japanese also wasn't good enough to have proper conversations.

That said, I still got to see a lot of Tokyo, ate amazing food, wandered around the city, and had a great time doing nerdy stuff.

So here's my question: Would you go to Osaka alone for 11–14 days, or would you wait until you have someone to travel with?

I've asked my friends, but the only person who's planning to go to Japan wants to visit Tokyo again. My friends think I shouldn't go because I didn't fully enjoy my last solo trip, but part of me feels like I'd like to give it another chance.

What would you do? Am I just being stubborn? 😄

Hi everyone! I’m planning a 12-night trip from Nov 8–20 and was wondering if these dates are a little too early for autumn foliage.

Current itinerary:
Kyoto
Kōyasan
Takayama
Magome
Himeji
Kawaguchiko

Possible day trips:
Ohara
Kurama–Kibune

Since some of these places, especially Kōyasan and Takayama, are at higher elevations, I’m wondering if Nov 8–20 is a good window overall, particularly for Kyoto.
Should I keep this itinerary as is, or would it be worth pushing the trip back by about a week? If I do push it back, will I end up dealing with significantly larger crowds that outweigh the foliage benefit?

Thanks!

Visited Kyoto, Tokyo, and Osaka a few years ago and fell in love with the temples in Kyoto. Hoping to head back and see more of Japan, but looking for recommendations on less touristy areas to visit/stay in if we are more interested in visiting shrines/temples

What's your top priority when picking a place to eat while traveling?

Whenever I travel, figuring out where to eat is honestly more stressful than it should be. I'm hungry and just can't decide where to go.

So I'm curious how everyone else picks. If you had to rank these five, what order would you go in?

1. Type of food (what you're in the mood for)
2. Ratings (Google, TripAdvisor, etc.)
3. Whether you can get a table right now (no wait)
4. Price
5. Distance (how close it is to where you're standing)

Personally I usually check ratings first, but then I show up and there's a huge wait and I end up bailing and going somewhere else. And even if a place has great ratings, if it's too far I just give up on it.

What order do you all go in? And if there's something not on this list that matters more to you, let me know that too.

Hihi!
I'm going on a family trip to Japan in 2 weeks. We're going to stay in Tokyo and visit Osaka and Kyoto. It's our first time there, and they have already made a whole travel guide on what we're going to do and such, but with my personal shopping, i dunno where to start. I want to buy cute clothing, like lolita fashion, platform shoes, and find nice street clothing as well. We're going to visit the big tourist areas like Harajuku (we're staying in Shinjuku unfortunately, the hotels are expensive). I know some stores are a bit expensive. Are there any cheaper options?

I'm also interested in buying a camera, planning on taking pictures and videos to avoid using the little bit of storage on my phone, but I don't want an expensive camera cause honestly, I'll be using it a lot on the trip, but once I get back, It'll be sitting on my shelf most days. I know of the stores in Shinjuku, but I know NOTHING about cameras, and I know walking into any stores and looking would feel intimidating..Any help on that would be sweet!

Of course I'm going to buy merch, like anime, Sanrio, and Vocaloid things, again I was thinking of just staying in Harajuku to buy all of those things, but if there's an alternative, please let me know. Thanks!

Hello everyone,

We need help deciding between train or rental car for a small duration of our trip. After departing Osaka for Hiroshima, my girlfriend and I want to stop in Kobe, and then stay somewhere near Fukusaki (possibly Kasai) for 2 nights. Then depart and stop at Okayama Korakuen before continuing to Hiroshima for 4 nights where we will also visit Miyajima Island.

Has anyone rented a car and visited Kobe, Fukusaki, Kasai, Okayama, Hiroshima?

I have no issues with the driving part, but mainly worried about parking. Without comparing price and going off convenience only, would it be worth renting a car or taking multiple trains? It will be for around 7 days including driving back to Osaka at the end to drop the car off.

Thank you all for any tips! Appreciate you

Hi!

I have booked to go to Japan early march, We are staying the whole of the trip in Tokyo for 8 Days. Currently in the process of sorting out some kind of itenary, but I dont want to go too overboard or it will just stress me out haha especially since this is also my first holiday abroad with my s/o 😅 Just looking for some reccomendations for any good areas for day trips from Tokyo, that are fairly easily accessible? e.g train only? We were looking at doing the area around Mt Fuji via an excursion express but I’m not too sure if it will be very visible around the time we are going.

Also, is it worth buying a rail pass beforehand, like one of those ones you can get unlimited travel for a certain area from? Or do those usually end up working out more expensive than just travelling with a suica card :)

Thanks!

I have my trip to Japan in 1 week and I have tried to buy the jr hokuriko arch pass but my credit cards do not allow it either by klook or by the official jr east website, does anyone know if it can be purchased at the offices in Tokyo?

I've been to Japan once before in 2016 and visited Tokyo for 10 days, Kyoto for 4 days and Osaka for just 1 day. I'm going back because it was my favorite trip ever, I dream of the sushi and ramen still and I want to see more of the places I missed but also more of the places I loved in Tokyo Kyoto Osaka. I went in July last time and it was unbearable with the heat, so I learned my lesson to go in Fall.

Would appreciate any advice on this trip, the cities and the route I am planning. Most important to me is just taking in all of the beauty, food, excitement, and amazing vibes that I felt last time, mixed with some photography of the beautiful fall foliage, sitting and having a coffee and people watching, walking/exploring and eating amazing meals. This would be a solo trip, male in his late 30s.

Tokyo (4 nights) → Kanazawa (2 nights) → Shirakawa-go  → Takayama (2 nights) → Kyoto (4 nights) → Osaka (2 nights) → Kinosaki Onsen (1 night Ryokan experience) → Tokyo (1 night before flight back)

Hello! I'm reaching out to see if anyone can provide their top 3 recommendations for places to stay between Tokyo and Osaka. We are traveling for 2 weeks at the end of October and have already been given a few areas to check out including, Takayama, Hakone, and Kanazawa. But we would love to get any more recommendations for any other places to check out!

Some of the things we like/are looking for include, fun local experiences to do and places to see. We like hiking, trying new foods, breweries, coffee/matcha, markets, and shopping. (29 years old so nothing too boring!) We also like cooking classes, any sort of experiences really that get us to explore.

A bonus would be somewhere that is easily accessible by train or has some good walkability!

My girlfriend and I are planning to take a day trip to Lake Suwa for the fireworks festival. Just wondering if there’s any late transportation options after the festival going back to Tokyo. The latest train unfortunately departs at 8:00pm. We don’t have time to stay overnight as our flight is at 2:30pm next day (Aug 16)

Hi,

me and my boyfriend are going to Japan for eight days in the last week of August. We’re both landing in Narita, and he’s flying out of there as well.
I have to get to Korea (Daegu) as early as possible on our last day.
Now here’s the thing: I’ve been to Japan before and I loved Hiroshima and know he would too. We are more than fine with skipping Osaka, but would like to see Kyoto and Mt. Fuji.
The most logical itinerary is Tokyo Fuji Kyoto Hiroshima, but that leaves us a bit stranded in Hiroshima on our last day as it’s so far from Tokyo (or any other major airport I could fly out of, he flies relatively late, so if he has to spend four hours on the Shinkansen that day it would be possible (but not preferred).

How would you advise we do this? Any advice on itinerary?

Thank you so much in advance!!

Anyone who has been in Hakone and somewhere in Izu peninsula? I'm wondering is it worth it to travel to Izu for 2 nights (Atami/Ito/Shikuoka) instead of Hakone before heading from Osaka to Tokyo. We are planning to use only public transportation and travelling in October.

My wife and I will be staying in Shimoda, Izu for 2 nights between our stays in Tokyo and Kyoto. Is it feasible/possible to forward our luggage from Tokyo straight to Kyoto and have our Kyoto hotel (Hilton Kyoto) store our luggage until we get there a couple days later and just bring overnight backpacks to Shimoda? Is this a strange thing to do or do you think it's a good idea?

Hi everyone! I’m visiting Japan next month and was thinking of visiting Ashinomaki Onsen Ookawaso! I was wondering if they offer dining options for non-guests? I don’t plan on staying at the hotel but am interested in just dining there for maybe lunch or dinner? Does anyone have any experience at the resort? Thanks!

Hey everyone,

My japan trip comes to an end and fortunately i have unused but unsealed bear spray and a small used can of camping gas.

I dont think i can get any money back from this, so is there any recommended way of getting rid of it before i fly back to Europe?

Can i donate it at some place near Tokyo Station for example?

Thanks for the help

Which shops should I consider for shopping in for bringing back gifts etc. Looking for somewhere reasonably priced and good quality. Primarily looking for food (such as snacks but also ingredients as I love cooking). But I hear Japanese stationary is good so things like that as well would be interesting.

Planning to go to Soy&Co Naturally brewed soy sauce Since 1879 for some soy sauce but open to suggestions.

EDIT: MEANT TO SAY FOR TOKYO

Hi! American here, planning a trip for late October. I will be flying into Osaka and slowly making my way towards Onomichi to do the Shimanami Kaido. Afterwards, I’m going to stay around that region (Matsuyama, Hiroshima, etc.)

I’m deciding where I should fly out of for my return trip back to the US. Hiroshima (HIJ) to the US is about $250-300 more expensive than flying out of Osaka (KIX). And it’s only about a 2.5-3 hour train ride from Hiroshima back to KIX, so very doable. The journey would cost about $70-80, so I’d still be saving $200. I’m leaning towards choosing KIX considering the considerable savings and minimal downsides. Does that seem like a good idea or are there any concerns that I’m missing?

We'll be travelling from Beppu on a highway bus.

Kumamoto or Nagasaki?

2 nights before heading to Fukuoka. As in 1 dat travellimg there, 1 full day for activities and exploring then 1 day for travelling back to Fukuoka.

Child aged 6.

If Kumamoto - would you recommend driving there from Beppu? Are there car rental companies thatll let us pick car from Beply and drop off in Kumamoto? Or the the bus still cheaper?