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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/wolfpaw68 on 2024-03-30 23:04:10.

My itinerary was a pretty standard Kyoto/Tokyo trip so I thought I’d share something different: the logistics for traveling through Japan that I would have liked to know ahead of time. I’d consider myself an intermediate traveler, but I can get pretty anxious and I like to know as much as I can about how to actually do/get to what I want to see in order to reduce micro decisions on the trip. Hopefully this write up helps other anxious planners like me!

I’m going to focus on a bit of what we did to prepare, how we traveled from major city to major city, general travel advice, and what we did in a day and how busy that day felt.

Disclaimer: This is what we did and the decisions we made. This is by no means the only way or even the best way to go about traveling through Japan, but it is a way that worked for us.

We are an American couple in our late 20s/early 30s. We’ve traveled abroad before but I wouldn’t call us world travelers or anything. We are very comfortable/familiar with public transportation. This information was valid for a trip at the end of March 2024.

Before the trip:

  • Learned some travel phrases
    • My biggest uses were excuse me (sumimasen), thank you (arigatou gozaimasu), please (typically onegaishimasu), and two people (futari desu). But I was also prepared with do you speak English? (eigo wa hanasemasu ka)
    • You can also watch role plays of convenience store and restaurant interactions on Instagram and Youtube which are super helpful, especially if they give keywords to listen for
  • Decided on passes
    • JR Pass - we did not get. I didn’t even expense it out, with the increase in price everyone was saying it was not worth, and traveling around the Kansai region I saw non-JR trains that were more convenient
    • With our trip to Kinosaki Onsen it probably would have been worth it to get the JR Kansai Wide Area Pass, but ultimately decided not to solely because we didn’t want to worry about picking it up and using it
  • Decided on data
    • eSIM/SIM
      • Pros: don’t need to worry about an extra item to carry/charge, do not need to pick up and return, the eSIM can be set up before traveling
      • Cons: evidently there can be some broadband/coverage issues with foreign phones, cannot use wifi calling or text (eSIM)
    • Portable wifi
      • Pros: better coverage, potentially faster, can do wifi calls, multiple people can connect
      • Cons: extra piece to charge/carry, cannot wander to far from each other or separate, have to pick up and return
    • For two people the prices were about the same for the trip, but you get more data overall with the portable wifi
    • We decided on the SIM cards for convenience, and because we are staying in the large tourist areas so we weren’t too worried about coverage. I used an Ubigi eSIM and my partner picked up a physical SIM from Narita
  • Packed efficiently!
    • We each had travel backpacks as our carryon which we packed two days of clothes in
    • We then packed 5 days into a carryon suitcase (resulting in 7 days of clothes for a two week trip with the intent to do laundry). I put that carryon into a trash bag then packed it into a large suitcase with extra shoes and two cloth overnight duffle bags
      • We ended up not needing the duffle bags
    • This reduced the number of bags we were shipping for the first half of our trip, but gave us a whole extra suitcase for souvenirs! We did have 2 checked bags per person for our flight, so keep that in mind
  • A tip for getting tickets ahead of time: they queue! I missed Ghibli Museum tickets because I didn’t realize they start queuing an hour before release… I only got on 15 mins early

General Info for Travel

Buses (Kyoto)

  • You get on through a door in the back of the bus. When you leave make your way to the front, pay by the driver, and leave through the front door
  • The buses take IC card, but if paying by cash you do need exact fare. There is a change machine by the bus driver
  • When looking for a bus stop, Google maps should give you a stop letter. You can double check the letter is on the stop and this should let you know you are getting the bus in the right direction
  • Multiple buses will stop at the same stop. Verify the number on the top of the bus is the number bus you should be taking. Some of the stops also have a little sign showing what bus was approaching the stop or was pulling up. It was helpful!
  • There is a screen on the bus showing the next stop as well as an announcement. The screen would always show the romanji of the bus stop, and the announcement was often made in English as well (at least for the major tourist spots)
  • When your stop comes up on the screen, you have to push the buttons littered along the side of the bus to indicate you want to get off
  • The buses can get busy, but otherwise I had no issues with them!

Subway

  • Similar to the buses signs/announcements are also in English
  • Personally I used Google Maps as more of a guide, rather than actually following its walking directions. Particularly it is helpful with determining which station entrance/exit to take, which lines you need to take, and what stops you need to transfer at, but for actual navigation through the station I found following the station signs the easiest
  • Sometimes the signs will not write out the whole name of the line you are looking for, especially if it is a larger station. Look on the far left of your Google Maps directions and it should give you a line abbreviation and a color. You should be able to find these on a sign
    • For example, the Yamanote line may also be depicted on signs as JY with a lime green border, or you may see a lime green line on the ground
    • If between the signs and Google Maps you are still having trouble, completely exit the station and load up Google Maps again to take you to the appropriate entrance, where you *should* now see signs for your line
  • Google Maps will often give you a platform number and will tell you which train you are taking (e.g., Yamanote line for Shibuya/Shinagawa Platform 14). Double check your train before getting on. Make sure the destination on the train (e.g., local to Shibuya/Shinagawa) matches what is on your phone. In Tokyo the platform was always correct, but in some of the surrounding areas the train may arrive on the opposite side
    • Another way to make sure the train is going the right direction for the platform you are on (at least in Tokyo) is to check the next stop number. If underground there should be a sign on the wall directly across from you indicating the name of the current station and the stop number. Underneath will be the next stop with its stop number. You can (1) expand out the stops on your Google Maps and verify the name of the next stop or (2) check whether the stop numbers are going up or down in comparison with your stop
      • e.g. for (2), if you are currently at stop 21, the sign says the next stop is 20, and your stop is 11 you are taking the correct train! If your stop is 25 you’ll want to turn around and take the train behind you
    • If you get on a train going the wrong way do not fret! You can simply get off at the next stop and cross to the other side of the platform to get the next train going the other direction
  • There are different types of trains, such as the local, express, rapid express, limited express, etc. Anything other than the local will skip stops. Double check with Google Maps which one you need to take
    • Be aware that some limited expresses require extra tickets on top of the base fare
  • When charging your IC card you need to do it in cash
  • Signs are in English! We had no trouble navigating the stations

In general the transportation system reminded me a lot of Washington D.C. Taking public transportation was very easy. I only went into so much detail because I saw many people having trouble at the stations, and I know many people who have never taken public transport before. Do not be intimidated, after the first couple trips you will have it down pat!

Itinerary

In general we would be out of the hotel by 8 and back after dinner (typically sometime between 7-9)

Day 1: Flight/at the airport (Narita)/Tokyo

  • Getting through immigration took about an hour I’d say. We filled out our forms ahead of time and had the QR code but paper forms and QR codes went in the same line so it didn’t save too much time
    • Note: you need to fill out and get a QR code for each person. You can do it on the same account, you can just toggle the name at the bottom to change the code
  • Dropped off luggage with Yamato (yellow with black cat logo) to ship to Kyoto
    • In Narita this was located on the first floor on the side opposite the info center
    • You will need your hotel’s address and phone number
  • Pick up money
    • There were ATMs near the info center
    • Interestingly, this is the only time a 7/11 ATM worked for us
  • Picked up the Pasmo Passport (tourist specific IC card - valid for 30 days)
    • Located at the Skyliner and Keisei Information Center on the same floor as the trains
    • Line was very long
    • Before going anywhere you’ll need to load it up with cash
  • We stayed near Tokyo Station for the night so we took the Keisei Skyaccess

Day 2: Travel to Kyoto

  • We woke up early (jetlag) and took the Shinkansen to Kyoto
    • We bought tickets at the station with no issue, the terminals were easy to use and had an option to change the language to English
      • Make sure you buy the ticket with base fare! It is just e…

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