Will be going to Japan next May with my boyfriend. We have 18 days and want to see as many things possible. Any suggestions of any kind would be greatly appreciated.( including best accomodation options) We have traveled a fair amount but never in Asia.
TIA

Get the unlimited rail pass

Following, also going next may

Watch James May Our Man in Japan on Amazon Prime. It’s very entertaining and shows some great ideas for tourists in Japan

I also recommend for anyone else going to watch departures I believe its season 1 episode 4 or 6 but its on amazon prime.

You need to purchase the pass before you get to Japan. The tourist offices are very helpful and can find deals for accomodation upon arrival.

Ethel is it not essential to book accomodations before hand?

We didnt but its probably a good idea.

Stay in shinjuku region while in tokyo for night life and food. I also found that Osaka was by far the best place for friendly people and had the most amazing food...

Shaun awesome thank you, I jave also heard great things about food in Osaka!

Kasha make sure to visit isakaya toyo in osaka. Toyo is the best! Hes such a great guy and makes amazing isakaya

Shaun thank you!

Same experience i had, Stayed in Kabukicho...never a dull moment

Danny
Danielle Christene

Chris nice!!

following

https://japanrailpass.net/en/

I lived in Japan for a few years, and travelled the whole country. IMHO the top must-see spots are:
-visit a beach in Okinawa
-monent of silence in Hiroshima (or Nagasaki if hiroshima doesn't work)
-spend aday exploring the city of Osaka
-feed the deer in Nara
-TOKYO (so many things there. Just go and explore. It's an AMAZING city)
-see the monkeys bathe in an hot spring in the north
-visit a TRADITIONAL onsen (nude mixed bathing and hot pool) great after a day climbing a mountain or hiking.
-Ride the Shinkansen. So fun and cool. They just launched a new earthquake-proof one!!
-go to a super early fish market in any major harbour city. You can watch a Tuna carved with a sword!!!!

Oh, and if you are so inclined, a ”love hotel” is an experience that shouldn't be missed.

Chad all of this is a yes!!

Chad thank you that is very helpful!

Jayme you should get in on some of this info as well!

Chad no Kyoto? Just curious?

Louise, oh yes!!! Kyoto!!! 100% the golden and silver palaces! Oh man. How could I forget?

Chad some great advise !!

Also make sure to get a international driving permit so you can do the go karting through the city.. we messed up on that, need to get it here before you fly there

Shaun driving in in another country makes me nervous!!! But will definitely look into it, thank you!

Kasha they make it ez and its litterally in go karts!! You dress up too, check it out. I was heartbroken when I couldn't do it

Shaun ooh that sounds really cool I will deffinitely look into it!

Kasha honestly it looked like the best time. Do it! Lol

Kasha its a go kart tour, you dress up like a Mario game and ride the go kart on the street, kinda cool, it’s not really driving tho.

Roy ooohhh ok thats fun!

Shaun how do you get an international driving permit? I did not even know you needed 1.

Arie just go to your registry and ask them for one. You need it for the go karts

Arie - believe they still do them at the AMA.

Arie can only to get one in AMA

following! Going next April for cherry blossom!
Ethan

Henry meee too

Following. Planning a trip there as well.

go to hitatchi seaside n ashikaga park, i did my tours thru viator

Stay in a Buddhist monastery if you can. A monk gave me a bracelet during breakfast in 2008 and I still have it on my wrist. I even wore it during our wedding. It was such a special experience.

Good info! Going in April! Bryce Hickey

Galvin Coutinho

We stayed at the Sunroute hotel in Shinjuku. Rooms are larger than your average room (not American large, but Japanese large). Was a stones throw from the Shinjuku train station. Most definitely a top area to stay in

Try to see sumo if you can. It is quite an experience!

I'm not big on cities necessarily, but LOVED Tokyo. Barely scratched the surface, but definitely check out the action in Shinjuku and Shibuya. I stayed in both parts of the city and there are plenty of reasonably priced hotels in the area. Stayed in one that was right above Shibuya Crossing and had an amazing view of the scramble.
A day trip (or even stay overnight) to Nikko is totally worthwhile. Really nice small mountain town. Fantastic brewery in town after a day of hiking. It's home to the Shogun who began the Edo system in Japan so there is some super cool history there.
I spent one night in Shibu Onsen and will absolutely go back and will spend more time there. There is a snow monkey park there where the monkeys are wild and you're just surrounded by them. They only really go in the hot springs in cold weather - it was a rather warm March and only saw a couple go in (and a couple others had a fight and both ended up in accidentally). If you go to Shibu Onsen, there are 9 free onsens and you can visit them all. I stayed at a Ryokan that had it's own rooftop onsen that was fantastic. It also had the best Izakya I came across with the friendliest chef and bartender. When he found out I was Canadian he ran to the back and came back with a photo album of his trip to Banff in the 70s.
Kyoto is a must see. The temples are unbelievable. The bamboo forest is beautiful (but soooo busy and this was even with a lot of tourism down due to Covid). The Nishiki Market is worth a visit and the knife shop in there is a great stop if Japanese steel is on your wish list for things to bring home. Kiyomizu-dera is a must-see temple. It's stupid busy because it gives you amazing views of the city, but the shopping district around it is fantastic. Steep, narrow streets that are incredibly picturesque with great street food around the area. Also great street food around the Arashiyama area (near the bamboo forest and kimono forest) as well as really good restaurants.
I had a really brief stop in Kanazawa and the train station there is beautiful, as well as the Kenroku-en gardens and the castle. I would spend more time in Kanazawa next time I go back.
18 days is not a lot of time to explore everything. I was there for 12 and would have extended my stays in just those cities/towns because there is so much to see and do. Almost every sushi place or ramen place you walk into randomly will be the best sushi/ramen of your life. You don't need to go to a Michelin star restaurant to get amazing food. Try the different styles - the conveyor belt places were cool. Get the fatty tuna anywhere that serves it. It's the best damn sushi I've ever had.

if you can get yourself to Hiroshima, make sure to visit Peace Memorial Museum and the Park. Be prepared to bawl your eyes out, and try to cross over to Miyajima; feed the deer, eat fried oysters. see the torii gate in high and low tide. If you can, try to stay in Ryoken, they are expensive now but worth the experience.
if you are planning to visit multiple cities, buy a train pass, only available for a purchase outside of the country (delivered to your address,) make sure you check out which lines you can use those passes on, they are restricted.

You will need 5 days in Kyoto! So much to see and do.
We were there 3 years ago and are headed back next April because we loved the country.
People are amazingly friendly, food is fantastic and the sights are beautiful!
If you want to PM me I can send you some additional info.

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Iseul Lee

Atlasobscura.com

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We stayed in Yokohama, absolutely beautiful!

We spent a little over 3 weeks in Japan and my personal favourites were the Spring Festival in Takayama - not to be missed! Kanazawa was amazing, we loved the old tea houses and the Samurai and Geisha districts.
If you have the time the hike between Tsumago and Magome (old post towns) is great too!
Nikko and Kamakura are also incredible.
I blogged our entire trip if you’re interested to have a look... lots of photos! We loved Japan
www.free2explore.ca

We loved Okinawa if you want to do a long weekend in a beach resort. Also if either of you have visible tattoos it’s worth checking policies of places before you go! I was unpleasantly surprised how many places I wasn’t allowed in. We still love Japan though and just booked to go back in April

Gemma that's a good heads up. I have a friend living in Japan tattooed up and he reminds me when I come to cover up. No tank tops or halter tops either, showing shoulders is not customary but showing legs are! Haha

Arie yeah one hotel I wasn’t allowed in any of the restaurants, pool, beach or lobby. We had to move. (I have too many to cover

Gemma he goes to the gym but had to shop around after being denied entry to 2.

Arie yeah it took a while to find an onsen that would have me

What kinds of places wouldn't let you with the tattoos? Just onsens and temples/shrines? Or less traditional places as well like Disney or simply walking around?

Jenna Disney was fine. Restaurants and stores sometimes didn’t. Nobody ever said anything to me on the streets

I have 3 but they are reasonably small so I can usually hide them pretty well

But thank you for the advice

They have restrictions right now currently for international travelers.... have you booked flights etc?

Aron i have but its for almost a year from now and i have no change fees

I highly recommend going to a baseball game - it’s quite an experience. And feeding the deer is not to be missed!

Definitely get a JR pass if you’re exploring other parts of Japan. If within Tokyo, get a Suica pass which is a reloadable card that you can use beyond transportation: you can pay for food and drinks at the convenience store with it and vending machines as well!

The bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto. You’ll have a glimpse of Mount Fuji nestled in the clouds along the ride if the weather is good. Kyoto’s temples are absolutely stunning.

Following going next April

Get the Japan Rail Pass. So worth it.

Denielle could you go on any train you wanted or did it depend on the line and the pass?

There are certain lines you can take but I think it was good for most of them. I believe some of them you didn't need reservations but we took the hi speed ones and you need to reserve your spot. I used it from Aiport to Tokyo. Tokyo to Kyoto. And then Kyoto to Osaka / Kyoto to Nara for day trips. My friend went onto 3 or 4 other places after. There was at least 1 or 2 options per hour between cities and sometimes even more.

Kasha the Japan Rail pass was good in Japan, could use their intercity train system. Kyoto has their own system so you have to purchase a transit card but that wasn't a big deal, like getting a metro card ie. add $2 or so more as you go. I highly recommend the Japan Rail Pass as well

I would also highly recommend renting a portable wifi. Some airbnb's offer them but getting a rental for the entire trip is the way to go. They deliver it to your hotel/hostel/airport post office (really wherever you want to pick it up) and you designate the amount of days you want to rent. When it's done you package it up in the mail envelope they provide you and drop it off in any mail slot. We kept ours right until we got to the airport. It's an absolute lifesaver having wifi and google maps in Tokyo as the train system can be overwhelming at first. Saves a lot of time and headaches.
www.econnectjapan.com/pricing

Danielle ohhh yes I highly recommend this too. We did this! We rented one right from the airport when we arrived.

Places:
1. Tokyo - amazing city, definitely stay a few days. Try a cooking class
2. Tokyo fish market tour - suggest if you're flying into Japan to book this for next day. Fish market opens at 5am and with your clocks still on mst it works out well, as you'll be ready to go anyway.
3. Kyoto - gorgeous temples, amazing food, could easily spend 3/4 days there.
4. Nara - beautiful temples and museums close to Kyoto, home to urbanized deer
5. Himeji Castle - an hour out of Osaka, cool ancient castle
6. Koyasan (Mount Koya) - little out of the way but an amazing experience. You can go stay overnight at a Buddhist temple in the mountains. Beautiful, peaceful and good food.
7. Hiroshima - beautiful city, great museums, it's a heavy day but very enlightening.
8. Sumo wrestling tournament or a sumo stable - very cool to see the tournament but I think they only run in Feb to late March. I'd take a look in any case, also suggest buying early if you can get to one as they sell out quick. BuySumoTickets.com
If you can't see if you can find a sumo stable tour, I'm sure it would be interesting.
Finally check youtube channels like Suitcase Monkey, they gave us a ton of ideas for places. This will also help you find things that interest the two of you.

Food:
The hole in the wall places are the best. Though we learned quickly that most japanese restaurants were quite small. Suggest booking a reservation ahead of time if you really want to try a place out. Be adventurous, Japan has a lot of amazing dishes if you take a chance on them. Ask the waiter what they recommend.
Monjayaki
Okonomiyaki - Hoytan in Tokyo was a great place
Japanese dumplings (gyoza)
Gyukatsu Motomura - deep fried beef cutlet
Japanese bbq
Sushi
Nishiki Market
Oysters at Miyojima
Ominiyaki - Hiroshima version
Dotonbori District in Osaka
Plum wine - a must try. "young plum" has a slight sour taste, while most plum wines are slightly sweet. They are specific to their location though so if you like it buy a bottle there. I messed up and waited, thinking I could get the one I liked back in Tokyo, no dice.
And of course, a sake brewery. You can find some very cool ones

Watch "Our Man in Japan" with James May on Amazon TV.
All kinds of interesting and off the wall things to see and do. Stay out of the Touristy Areas if you can. And learn a few phrases of Japanese.

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Write ahead and request to visit some of the imperial palaces. https://sankan.kunaicho.go.jp/english/guide/kyoto.html

I stayed at Royal Park Hotel in Tokyo. If you arrive in Haneda Airport, great! If you arrive at Narita, you can get a bus transfer for like $20. I found it extremely convenient because I had easy access to the train system (it goes through the airport) and to money exchange, restaurants, help if needed, etc. The ramen in the little airport spot was great, haha.
If you are a foodie, i would recommend the tsukiji fish market. I just booked a ton of different tours on viator and it was great because I did the things I wanted to do at my own pace! I also did ninja school which was really interesting. I'm very jealous of your trip!! Haha

Julian Apakoh following this

Following. Also going next may

We lived in Japan as well and all of these recommendations are fantastic....but...... it is a very expensive country to travel in so be prepared.

Kim thank you, could I pm you at some point if I have specific questions

We stayed in Ueno which was nice but fell in love with Azubu Juban there is a great cafe called Blu Jam cafe which has awesome food. We spent 12 days and I really wished I had spent more time in Osaka and Kyoto. If you get a chance go to Ueno park we missed it but wished we could see it. Also try the Mario go cart in Shinjuku. Plan your bullet train ticket ahead of time and be on time. The trains leave exactly when they say they are going to. Carry something to throw your garbage in as there are no garbage cans around and take a hand cloth for the bathrooms as they don't have paper. Walk in the direction as everyone else and bow to people.