Hello all, after lurking here for many months leading up to our trip, I wanted to share how it went vs how it was planned in hopes it helps others...
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The original was posted on /r/japantravel by /u/jmcateer on 2024-10-20 19:53:49+00:00.

Hello all, after lurking here for many months leading up to our trip, I wanted to share how it went vs how it was planned in hopes it helps others with their planning. My partner and I (M, 30’s) had never been to Japan before so our visit largely consisted of hitting the big 3 - with a small detour to Izu on our way back to Tokyo. I really enjoyed u/professional-key2249’s recent write up format so I’m stealing that here for our own trip report.

Here’s a copy of our trip’s basics. Happy to answer questions on any place in particular or specifics about it if you have any!

General Impressions:

  • Positives: Japan was a fantastic trip and we will absolutely be back sooner than later. The food was amazing, the people beyond kind and ever-helpful, and there really is something for everyone and every interest. This sub and the JapanTravelTips pages were hugely helpful in not only planning our trip, but also setting expectations and helping us solve small problems and confusions as they arose while there.
  • Negatives:
    • Some places are for sure crowded as the day goes on. Plan accordingly depending on how much this might bother you.
    • I’m an early bird, so I struggled to fully adjust to so many places not opening up until 10/11am. It was hard to shake the feeling that time was being wasted - so I’d stress identifying what on your planned days can be done between those early hours of 6am-9am if you’re like me.
    • Rude travelers. You could tell quite a few visitors did minimal research into their visit - not understanding what side of the escalator or walkway to be on, not understanding basic phrases, etc. We also met two different older groups that made their trip using AI (WHAT??!) and one was SO rude to the waitstaff, I was in shock. They could use technology to make them an itinerary, but couldn’t be bothered to download a translator? Wild wild wild.

Tips for Future Travelers:

I won’t reiterate a lot of the normal ones (comfy shoes, booking attractions, etc), but here are a few things we found super important.

  • “Front loading” luggage is a must: Japan hotel rooms are on the smaller side. We got some pretty cheap front-loading luggage pre-trip and it was key to maximizing our room space vs clamshell-style. I can’t tell you how many people stopped us and asked where we got ours, complaining about how they weren’t prepared for how much space theirs took up.
  • Know your fellow travelers: This might seem like a “duh”, but what I mean by this is be prepared for how to assist them with potential needs or issues. My partner is prone to allergies and I wish we had researched some medications and information ahead of time just in case. The rain and warm weather ended up taking him out for multiple days - leading to a lot of disruptions to plans while we tried to find the right medicine to help him.
  • Suica card: It was super easy to grab one at the airport (Narita), and for iPhone users - take advantage of getting a mobile one but maybe wait to set one up until you’re there. Small niche issue - I upgraded my phone right before leaving and didn’t realize for my Suica that I set up on the old phone that in order to add it to my new phone, I had to have them both together to “transfer”. Found this out Day 1, so sadly had a mobile Suica that couldn’t be used at all.
  • Google Maps: I was most fearful pre-trip about navigating the train systems, but after a day or so of it, it was relatively easy to understand and honestly had us laughing for how stressed we felt going into it. Yes some stations are massive and overwhelming, but if lost, just look for any exit and find the station employee behind the glass. They were so helpful in sending us in the right direction just by looking at our phone and seeing where we were trying to go (especially when at a station under construction).
  • Buying things pre-trip vs upon arrival: A crossbody bag or the like is key for carrying essentials around (plus trash), and we purchased ahead of time so that we didn’t have to immediately go shopping Day 1. We probably could have skipped this as we hit Don Q hours after arriving and I wasn’t prepared for how much they’d have in this department. My partner also brought more toiletries than I recommended, and he ended up regretting it as he was basically using everything the hotel provided and/or what he picked up at Don Q. I also can’t stress enough once there, head to a Family Mart and grab a cheap hand towel. So few public restrooms have a dryer and that towel was our MVP (most valuable purchase).
  • Double check plans at the start of the month: Despite checking and re-checking what days restaurants and shops would or would not be open and making plans accordingly, I still hit a few snags in the plans upon arrival. I didn’t realize how common it was for a lot of places to post their schedule to Instagram at the start of the month. Thankfully this happened on Day 2 or 3 so we had time to double check the rest of our trip and fix where needed, but was still a bummer to lose a few hours showing up to a place that was closed that day.
  • Coffee: I’m a caffeine addict and while I am happy with Starbucks any day of the week in the US, I wanted to try new places here in Japan. My first couple stops/cups were…not good. Then someone shared with me to search “coffee roasters” not just “coffee” on the map when looking. This was so insanely helpful. Everything else I had from there on out was A+. In a pinch, the 7-11 ice coffee maker was also handy.

Day 1: Arrival in Shinjuku

  • Original Plan: Arrival at Narita, get to Shinjuku, find food and get to bed
  • What Happened: With a late (8PM) arrival into Japan, I knew we’d be getting in late and a 7am start the next day was risky, but I wish we had ventured a little out of Shinjuku to grab food OR that we had just grabbed konbini items. We went to Ichiran knowing it was open late (we weren’t eating until 11pm) but the one there had a long line due to nighlife proximity and we were too tired to problem solve another idea. We ended up not getting to bed until almost 3am - completely setting us up for a rough next day.

Day 2: Asakusa & Akihabara

  • Original Plan: Hit Senso-ji before the crowds, eat our way through Asakusa, and then slowly make our way to Akihabara to nerd out
  • What Happened: Due to how late we got to bed, getting to Senso-ji early and hitting Benitsuru for pancakes did not happen. Senso-ji was a wall of tourists so we ended up leaving and Benitsuru we didn’t try and come back to get an afternoon slot like they recommended. We did however eat a ton of great food from random stalls and Akihabara was a major second wind for us.

Notes: If you are arriving at night like we did, don’t expect the high of being in Japan to help you power through the next day like we assumed. Make that first full day something super chill or plan for a day of things you don’t care about skipping if need be. We put the chill days towards the end of the trip, assuming that’s when we’d need them most but that backfired a bit on us.

Day 3: Shibuya

  • Original Plan: Head to Shibuya to explore, eat some trendy foods & snacks, and do some shopping before coming back to Shinjuku for more game centers
  • What Happened: Allergies hit my partner hard and he had a terrible night of sleep, but he rallied as the breakfast spot was something he had been looking forward to. It took us some time by train to get there and a walk in the rain all to only find it was closed that day. This is where we started to feel really defeated about our plans and had to do a bit of a mindset reset. We also bailed early on shopping as the big stores (Nintendo, Pokemon Center, etc) were all just way too crowded for us to handle in the moment.

Notes: Always have back up food options - I was so thankful I had a list for each area we were hitting because this was the first of several times we needed that to pivot. We took the day to reset post-shopping and then ended the night early with a solid, hearty meal.

Day 4: Ginza

  • Original Plan: Hit the TeamLabs installations and do some shopping
  • What Happened: This ended up being a long but really fun day. We hit a buffet breakfast nice and early, then using this sub’s advice booked Borderless for the opening time slot and Planets for the night. We shopped in-between but also just took time to walk around. As it was a weekend, part of Ginza’s streets were closed off to cars so people could walk and hang out in the street. It was also music week and we came across a school’s choir singing Ghibli songs for their parents and overall it was just a nice day.

Notes: If you are doing Borderless, I might recommend you skip Planets. Sure there are a few more installations, but also some repeats and losing the ability to walk around freely just made Planets a less enjoyable experience. We both agreed that we wish we had used that time to stay longer at Toyosu Senkyaku Banrai for the footbaths or go back to Asakusa and try and re-do Senso-ji at night. If you do go to the Toyosu - we missed the towel purchase for 200yen. It’s right to the left when you get off the elevator.

Day 5: Shi…

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