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[Billbofet]

Hello all,

I am in a unique/weird situation with my job. My company is being dissolved and I am left behind to shut it all down. While everyone else, except for four of us, is already gone, I have until the beginning of May until my severance begins.
I think this is a prime time for me to travel to Japan once my time is up. I have a wife and two kids (9 and 16), and traveling to Japan has always been a dream of mine. I also feel this is not a destination my wife and kids would appreciate as much as I would, so why not go alone?
I don't have another job lined up yet, and don't want one any time soon if I am being honest.

My wife thinks this is a great idea and fully supports it, so my questions are:

1. Where should I stay? Just Tokyo, or should I plan to move around a bit
2. What are the best ways to get around once I am there?
3. What sites/attractions would you all recommend?
4. Should I take cash, credit, debit cards, etc. Years ago I had looked into traveling and it was recommended just to take cash, but that was several years ago....
5. What else am I not thinking of?

I am at the very start of planning this, so any thoughts/ideas are appreciated.

Another dream trip would be to fly into either the extreme northern tip of the East or West coast of the US, drive down the coast, and take each day as its own thing - I live in Wisconsin.

Thanks in advance.

 

[NinjaMouse]

My wife would fucking kill me if I took off to Japan without her and the kid. Good on you, I guess.

1) That depends on how long you're looking to stay. You can kill a week in Tokyo. Any longer, get out to somewhere else.
2) Train
3) Google will tell you more than most folks can. Look up someone's TripAdvisor list.
4) Credit Cards with some reserve cash should be fine. Cash isn't as necessary as it would have been maybe 10 or 15 years ago.
5) If you do leave Tokyo, lack of Japanese proficiency will very quickly become an issue. Google translate is magic, though. The camera mode will be a life-saver for live text translation.

 

[Mikado]

5. What else am I not thinking of?

Japan Rail Pass

 

[kruis]

Start watching the Abroad in Japan Youtube channel, plenty of travel suggestions to be found there.

 

[kruis]

Japan Rail Pass

Prices have gone up substantially since last year, it's supposedly not worth it according to "Abroad in Japan". See video.

 

[belmarduk]

Lot of places still don't take credit cards... even in Tokyo.
The local trains are good enough that you can stay pretty much anywhere in town and not worry too much about it although I can't stress how much fun it is to just walk through the city. Its so densely packed and there is always something to see or an interesting shop or restaurant.

Outside of that.... Kamakura has some great historical sites. Its one of the oldest cities in Japan and, although its less than an hour by train, feels worlds away from Tokyo if you want a more traditional Japanese experience.

 

[What A Shame...]

1. Where should I stay? Just Tokyo, or should I plan to move around a bit

If you have the time, I highly recommend Osaka/Kyoto as well. The two cities aren't far apart so you can get away with staying in one and day-tripping to the other when necessary.

And definitely look into getting a JR Pass. I went in 2015 so I have no advice concerning the current price, but they made travelling around the country hassle-free. From what I've heard, catching the Shinkansen (bullet train) without one is a headache.

 

[Mistake]

I recommend checking out all the different theme cafes. There's owls, hedgehogs, cats, all kinds of stuff. Also go to don quixote, it's a big variety store and you can find funny things there. Try public baths too. Similar to hot springs, but they're everywhere. If you have tattoos, they might not let you in though. I went to one overlooking tokyo bay and it was great.

Food: yakitori, sushi, eel on rice, ramen, teriyaki burgers, yuzu highballs, plum wine.

Pay attention when taking the trains. There's a fast train, and a local train. If you take the wrong one, it will either take longer or you miss stops.

For places to stay I used the booking.com app. You can find nice places you wouldn't normally for a good price.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

I travelled to Japan by myself. But I was a single man. I don't think my wife would like me travelling abroad alone lol.

Anyway, it's a great place to travel to. A couple of notes:

- Akihabara isn't what it used to be. Like everywhere else, a lot of places that used to have regional differences are becoming homogenized.
- Don't go in the summer. It fucking suuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks dude. 90+ at like 98% humidity. It's dreadful
- Don't tip
- Exchange rate is crazzzy now. Gogogogo

 

[Hero of Spielberg]

If you're offered Shirako at a sushi restaurant, politely decline.

 

[EviLore]

Tell your wife you’ll be staying at a special themed hotel similar to Nintendo World, called Soap Land for your entire solo trip in Japan.

 

[Jaybe]

Here’s a prior NeoGAF thread on Japan travel. I put my advice in there from a 16 day trip in 2022. I also got a lot of advice from Reddit Japantravels with sample itineraries, rail, and mobile service help.

Friends, I'm close to finally taking a trip to Japan.

These days I am going to process through my work the days that I will have on vacation, depending on what they tell me, I will make my trip to Japan, it will probably be approximately 10 to 13 days.... It will be the first time that I will travel, so I am very excited, the bad thing is that I...

www.neogaf.com

 

[Celcius]

Visiting Japan is on my bucket list and I want to see:

Shibuya Crossing
The giant gundam in Yokohama
Tokyo Tower along with Tokyo in general
Sapporo Snow Festival with ice sculptures
Akihabara and check out the retro game stores
Hokkaido, Osaka, Odaiba, Kobe
Pokemon Cafe and Pokemon Center (I don't even play pokemon but they seem cool)
Check out a Seven Eleven (they're much nicer than in the USA)
Visit a Don Quijote store
Ride the bullet train (Shinkansen)
Buy a Japanese katana (I guess I would have to ship it back to myself)
Visit Disney Sea

...that's all I can think of off the top of my head

 

[Porcile]

Prices have gone up substantially since last year, it's supposedly not worth it according to "Abroad in Japan". See video.

If you earning Japanese yen and having to pay for everything in yen then things are more expensive. If you are paying for everything by converting from USD or UK pounds to yen then it's outrageously cheap.

 

[AJUMP23]

Camp outside of Nintendo hq and talk to miyamoto.

 

[Mikado]

Prices have gone up substantially since last year, it's supposedly not worth it according to "Abroad in Japan". See video.

Fair - the last time I used one was like 1998 as a starving-ass student.

That sucks, it was an amazing deal at the time. I set up camp in Kyoto and just did day trips all over the island.

Everything sucks now

 

[EviLore]

Fair - the last time I used one was like 1998 as a starving-ass student.

That sucks, it was an amazing deal at the time. I set up camp in Kyoto and just did day trips all over the island.

Everything sucks now

Everything doesn’t suck by any means really. The yen is still very weak so the whole trip will be reasonable. No need for the JR pass.

 

[NecrosaroIII]

Visiting Japan is on my bucket list and I want to see:

The giant gundam in Yokohama

Bad news friend... they just tore it down

 

[Durien]

Everything doesn’t suck by any means really. The yen is still very weak so the whole trip will be reasonable. No need for the JR pass.

I agree on the rail pass. They just jacked the price up to a point unless you are really going to go crazy traveling here and there it isn't going to save you all that much.

If you know no Japanese, goggle translate will be your friend outside of tourist areas.

Places to hit?
Depends on what you want to see.
As a first timer, some things I recommend:
Kyoto
Osaka
Himeji
Nikko
Kamakura
Shibuya
Akihabara

These are all touristy places so you can get by knowing little to no Japanese.

Check out Disney Sea which is a unique experience but just know all audible talking and singing is in Japanese.

I've flown into both Narita and Haneda. Narita is kind of out there a bit compared to Haneda.

I would not recommend July or August as it is hot and humid as hell. Our last trip was July to beginning of August. 90 everyday and with 80 to 90% humidity and everything around you is concrete, you cook...

Learn basic phrases such as hello, thank you, please, help. Showing you are making an effort goes a long way.

Watch youtube for ideas as well on where to go, what to do or not do. I am not sure if they are still doing them but get a Suica Card or passmo for tourists. It is a reloadable card you can use for a lot of things but we used it mostly for taking the train.

Welcome Suica IC Card Complete Guide: Easy Travel With This Prepaid Card - Klook Travel Blog

Explore Japan with the convenient and affordable Welcome Suica IC Card, your one-stop pass for seamless travel and shopping adventures.

www.klook.com

Check out this site as well:

https://roote.ekispert.net/

This will help you get around efficiently. If you know your starting location and where you want to go, this will tell you how to get there and how long it will take. Websites will tell you what station to get off at, so you just enter in your starting location.

It may sound funny but try places like McDonald's or KFC once. The menu is very different from the US. Also no tipping in Japan.

Hmm I think that is all I have. Ooh watch the exchange rate. We used local banks here to get yen but I exchanged a nice chunk of US for yen at Haneda Airport and got a great deal (way better than here)

 

[navii]

Japan Rail Pass

I dare say its become too expensive to be useful.

 

[Durien]

Visiting Japan is on my bucket list and I want to see:

Shibuya Crossing
The giant gundam in Yokohama
Tokyo Tower along with Tokyo in general
Sapporo Snow Festival with ice sculptures
Akihabara and check out the retro game stores
Hokkaido, Osaka, Odaiba, Kobe
Pokemon Cafe and Pokemon Center (I don't even play pokemon but they seem cool)
Check out a Seven Eleven (they're much nicer than in the USA)
Visit a Don Quijote store
Ride the bullet train (Shinkansen)
Buy a Japanese katana (I guess I would have to ship it back to myself)
Visit Disney Sea

...that's all I can think of off the top of my head

So funny story, I bought a katana pre 9/11. It was in a box that I was checking in. The people said, give them this paper, that says in a nutshell, this is ornamental, not the real deal. I give them the paper at customs at Narita and there were like 6 or 7 additional security people who came over to see if I was smuggling a national treasure out of the country. Thankfully my wife was explaining it all lol.

Also check out Skytree:

Tokyo Skytree Tickets: Panoramic Views of Tokyo & Mt. Fuji

Experience Tokyo from its highest vantage point! Secure your Tokyo Skytree priority ticket today, bypass the wait, and get swept away by 360° views.

www.triptojapan.com

 

[navii]

Try to watch a sumo match. Try to see a baseball game and try and go to a Matsuri (Festival)

 

[ghairat]

Hello all,

I am in a unique/weird situation with my job. My company is being dissolved and I am left behind to shut it all down. While everyone else, except for four of us, is already gone, I have until the beginning of May until my severance begins.
I think this is a prime time for me to travel to Japan once my time is up. I have a wife and two kids (9 and 16), and traveling to Japan has always been a dream of mine. I also feel this is not a destination my wife and kids would appreciate as much as I would, so why not go alone?
I don't have another job lined up yet, and don't want one any time soon if I am being honest.

My wife thinks this is a great idea and fully supports it, so my questions are:

1. Where should I stay? Just Tokyo, or should I plan to move around a bit
2. What are the best ways to get around once I am there?
3. What sites/attractions would you all recommend?
4. Should I take cash, credit, debit cards, etc. Years ago I had looked into traveling and it was recommended just to take cash, but that was several years ago....
5. What else am I not thinking of?

I am at the very start of planning this, so any thoughts/ideas are appreciated.

Another dream trip would be to fly into either the extreme northern tip of the East or West coast of the US, drive down the coast, and take each day as its own thing - I live in Wisconsin.

Thanks in advance.

I went to Tokyo Oct/Nov 2017 and here are my takes

1. It's completely up to you how you want to do it. If you are going to stay in Tokyo, consider finding a place near Ueno as it is close to most places. When my friend went to Japan, he first went to Osaka, stayed there for a couple of days, then to Kyoto (same thing there) and then ended with Tokyo.

2. Underground of course. Make sure to get a pass, preferably a Japanese railway pass.

3. Check TripAdvisor. There is loads of stuff to-do in Tokyo alone. Also, if you want to go to the Ghibli museum, make sure to book now.

4. Have cash with you but credit card works fine.

5.

 

[Chuck Berry]

Is Super Potato still around?

Japan is a dream solo trip of mine too, but Id be going mostly for the food and the retro game shopping

 

[Winter John]

“ also feel this is not a destination my wife and kids would appreciate as much as I would, so why not go alone?”

Yes. Yes. Get right fucking in there. Get the pair of them useless bums fucking told. I’m going to Japan and there’s nothing you can do to stop me you blood sucking, life draining bastards. You have ruined me. I used to be young. I used to have dreams. Not anymore. Thanks to you. Well fuck both of you. I’m off to Japan to find someone who appreciates me for me. I’m a man. I’m a man with feelings and love to give.

“My wife thinks this is a great idea and fully supports it“

What’s this? She fully supports it? Oh no. Oh No. No. No.

“I live in Wisconsin”

Abort. Abort. They’re trying to steal your dairy. They’ll run off with all your cheese. You’ll be ruined. A broken man. Cheeseless in Wisconsin. The ultimate nightmare.

 

[Tams]

[Insert wife and cuck joke here]. Though seriously, if you have her blessing, go for it.

Lots of great suggestions here, so I might repeat some.

1. DON'T GO IN SUMMER. The only good places then are Hokkaido and northern prefectures like Aomori and Yamagata. You'll miss out on the summer festivals (mostly in August), but they aren't worth the het and humidity.

2. Try to book as much as you can in advance (normal meals and things like castle trips should be fine to do on the spot). Japan has become hyper-touristified, and with the dense population means popular things are always packed.

I love Hokkaido. You've missed the snow festival this year, but it's stunning and there are the lavender fields in late June and early August.

If you go to Kyuushu, Fukuoka is good fun. Try the yatai, street stalls. Mojiko is a pleasant day trip and not too busy and if you do that go over to Shimonoseki.

Then there's Oita (hot springs), Kumamoto (volcano), Nagasaki (peace museum, ex-Dutch colony, China town, Glover garden, Battleship Island), and Kagoshima (volcano, and make a few days to go to Yakushima).

If you end up in Yamaguchi, other than Shimonoseki, please do visit Akiyoshidai, a karst plateau, and Akiyoshido, a big cave.

Also check out Skytree:

Tokyo Skytree Tickets: Panoramic Views of Tokyo & Mt. Fuji

Experience Tokyo from its highest vantage point! Secure your Tokyo Skytree priority ticket today, bypass the wait, and get swept away by 360° views.

www.triptojapan.com

I love the Skytree, but try to get there as soon as they open, otherwise the queue is just plain stupid.

 

[NahaNago]

• Visit sky tree
• Tokyo tower
• Akihabara
• shinjuku
• shibuya
• akihabara
• visit some arcades
• asakusa temple( ride a rickshaw around)
• disney( honestly haven't visited this one yet)
• maybe try a capsule hotel or that manga hotel

I would have said robot cafe and gundam but both of those are closed now. There is some fancy light show I've been hearing about but I've forgotten what it was called. I do plan on going again but I want to go for at least 2 weeks and visit Kyoto, Osaka,Disney, and that Ghibli village. I wonder if Capcom,,Nintendo, and Squareenix has like a museum tours.

 

[Tams]

The light show, is the typical of the Japanese nonsensically named, teamLab Planets. It's worth a visit.

The best place to go for a view of the city, without the crowds, is the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.

11 Best Places to View the Tokyo Skyline for Free

Check out this guide on the 11 best places to view the Tokyo skyline for free.

travelgressing.com

If you can get onto the high floors of a hotel, there are some good views to be had. There's a men's toilet in the Keio Plaza Hotel that has a stunning view from the urinals. Don't stay there though; there are much better hotels.

For a day trip from Tokyo, I recommend going down to Kurihama and taking the ferry across to Kanaya*, and then taking the cable car up to Nokogiriyama. Make sure to stop off at Pizza Gonzo in Kanaya.

*You can take just trains, but I recommend the ferry.

 

[Scotty W]

Camp outside of Nintendo hq and talk to miyamoto.

I legit saw Aonuma there, not even joking. Didn’t even have to camp.

 

[Krappadizzle]

I know this is kind of messed up question. But what race are you by chance?

When I was in Japan, my best friend at the time was this huge black dude and walking around Japan at first was cool, but then people started treating him like he was a unicorn and would walk up and just start touching him or his hair or taking photos of him directly in his face and it left us in some not so great situations considering the language and cultural barriers. It was very unexpected and it definitely soured his experience in Japan at the time. I only ask so you could maybe prepare yourself just in case.

Not to say that it was all bad by any means, but it made him feel like he was a sideshow every time we went out and he wasn't expecting that.

Overall though, Japan was awesome and I'd go back if I had the opportunity. There was a lot we didn't get to see or do due to time constraints and I wish I had planned it better to take advantage of the limited time I had. Definitely come up with a gameplan in order of importance of the things you want to see or experience.

 

[Ownage]

My wife would fucking kill me if I took off to Japan without her and the kid. Good on you, I guess.

1) That depends on how long you're looking to stay. You can kill a week in Tokyo. Any longer, get out to somewhere else.
2) Train
3) Google will tell you more than most folks can. Look up someone's TripAdvisor list.
4) Credit Cards with some reserve cash should be fine. Cash isn't as necessary as it would have been maybe 10 or 15 years ago.
5) If you do leave Tokyo, lack of Japanese proficiency will very quickly become an issue. Google translate is magic, though. The camera mode will be a life-saver for live text translation.

My woman would be cool with it. She'd also expect some quality her and me travel time too.

Damn, I wish I could recommend that you hop across the sea to Shanghai as well, but the border is a dice roll these days.

 

[Tams]

My woman would be cool with it. She'd also expect some quality her and me travel time too.

Damn, I wish I could recommend that you hop across the sea to Shanghai as well, but the border is a dice roll these days.

Do South Korea and Taiwan instead.

 

[Krappadizzle]

Do South Korea and Taiwan instead.

I did a trip to South Korea, Japan, and China and South Korea was definitely the most friendly and accommodating to our group. I had a blast in South Korea and would encourage anyone from America to check it out. They very much embrace a lot of American culturalisms and it was so fascinating and fun to experience it there.

 

[Porcile]

Travelling solo in Japan is way better than travelling in a group of two or three non-Japanese. No one bats an eyelid if you turn up solo to a place, but rock up somewhere with another foreigner and people just start behaving really awkwardly by trying to speak to you in bad English, even if you speak to them in Japanese, and not offering you the full service they offer to Japanese. Sometimes goes as far as just not looking Asian and they will treat you differently. It annoys the crap out of me when family and friends come to visit. So travelling wife-free is the way to go!

 

[Kurimao]

Going Mt. Fuji? Dont forget the suicide forest below it.

 

[Sleepwalker]

I am deeply disappointed about the lack of prostitution jokes.


In all seriousness, I'm planning a trip to japan next year with the wife (unlucky me?) So I look forward to hearing about your experience.

 

[ÆMNE22A!C]

Make lots of love

 

[WitchHunter]

If you don't wanna pay for an organized travel, then be a cheapskate and check on atlas obscura and other travel agencies, what their programs are and cherry pick the ones interest you. Japan is a great place, food is absolute god tier. Even the smallest establishments offer vastly superior food compared to other countries. spend 2 weeks at minimum there.

If you like the corpo obelisks/shopping districts with awesome neon forests, be sure to visit tokyo/ginza. Check Meiji shrine, imperial palace. Go sumida river, asakusa temple, check skytree tower, check the subway system.

then go kamakura, tsurugaoka hachimangu, kotokuin temple buddha statue, nikko.

Mt. Fuji, hakone national park, check/ride nozomi-shinkanzen bullet trains

kyoto, hiroshima, miyamija, osaka,

go to koyasan, and spend a night there with the buddhists.

I could go on...

If you don't like organizing and shit, go with a travel agency that offers lots of programs and sightseeing.

also buy buttloads of adzuki bean filled mochis and other chewy yummies/fruits/dried persimonns/etc there.

 

[kiunchbb]

Just a bunch of random things:

Like many said, it is good for solo travel, no one look at you weird, and easier to get seats.

Google map is your friend, it'll give you all the direction you need, tell you which train to take, which exit, etc.

If you have iPhone you can just add suica card to your Apple wallet to take trains (can't add funds with visa), won't work on Android.

You need to tell us how much you like anime, recommendation will different based on this.

I took around 1k usd cash with me for 2 weeks travel, also visa card.

Stay in Tokyo and Osaka, everything's are cheaper in Osaka. At this point for me the main attraction is food.

Walk around, enjoy the culture, it is safe enough to explore outside of the tourist area.

Eat wagyu/Kobe/fatty tuna/etc till your bored.

I am not sure about going to teamlab, instant ramen museum, etc solo.. since most people go as family.

Check out a lot of parks, Castle, Temple, hike nearby.

 

[Billbofet]

Just a bunch of random things:

Like many said, it is good for solo travel, no one look at you weird, and easier to get seats.

Google map is your friend, it'll give you all the direction you need, tell you which train to take, which exit, etc.

If you have iPhone you can just add suica card to your Apple wallet to take trains (can't add funds with visa), won't work on Android.

You need to tell us how much you like anime, recommendation will different based on this.

I took around 1k usd cash with me for 2 weeks travel, also visa card.

Stay in Tokyo and Osaka, everything's are cheaper in Osaka. At this point for me the main attraction is food.

Walk around, enjoy the culture, it is safe enough to explore outside of the tourist area.

Eat wagyu/Kobe/fatty tuna/etc till your bored.

I am not sure about going to teamlab, instant ramen museum, etc solo.. since most people go as family.

Check out a lot of parks, Castle, Temple, hike nearby.

This is all amazing advice. Really appreciate it from everyone.

I should have mentioned this in the op, but I am not really in to anime. I would be in to the food and exploring more than anything.