kerkie

I will be traveling to Japan for the first time in November. This will be my first international trip EVER, so I'm trying to gather as much information as possible. I'm going to fly into Narita, of course, but have decided to stay in Kyoto for a few days before heading to Tokyo. I'll be staying in Japan for a total of 12-14 days (happy birthday to me, huh?) and my budget is pretty good, so I would be greatful for any advice on what I HAVE to see. My real question is what is the best way to get my luggage from Kyoto to Tokyo? I saw another post that tried to answer a similar question, but I could not for the life of me understand the answers. They were all over the place! Any help would be greatly appreciated.

glorialf

Japan has a fabulous system for sending luggage. The day before you leave Kyoto you can fill out some forms at your hotel and your luggage will be picked up and delivered to your hotel the next day. A couple of years ago it was $20 per bag but that may have changed. You can then take the train with just a small carry one. It's a great system which I wish other countries would have.

glorialf

First spend as much time as possible in Kyoto. I would stay at least seven days. There is enough to see there to easily last the full two weeks and it is also a great place for day trips such as Nara, Miho Museum (must see). Umeji Palace, Uji and even Hiroshima.

mrwunrfl

You should fly into Osaka (KIX) or Nagoya (NGO) and not Tokyo Narita. Both of those airports are much closer to Kyoto. You could return home from Narita airport.

As glorialf mentioned, use the baggage delivery service to send your luggage between cities. The staff at your hotel will know what to do.

The leaves will be turning colors (from Tokyo south) during the second half of November (about the 18th for peak color in Kyoto). The colors are gorgeous in Kyoto and Nara at that time. A bit later in the month a prime spot would be Momiji Dani (maple valley) on Miyajima island near Hiroshima, though that may be very (too) popular.

Visit Meiji Jingu in Tokyo on a Sunday in November. Families will be celebrating an event called Shichi-go-san where they dress their children (ages 7 - 5 - 3) and visit the shrine. You would also probably see a Shinto wedding party.

November is the time of the Kyusho Bassho, the November Grand Sumo Tournament in Fukuoka. This is a good venue for sumo since you can get up close to the wrestlers as they enter/exit the arena, unlike Tokyo.

You should stay one night in a traditional ryokan. You should visit a public bath at an onsen.

mrwunrfl

they dress their children in beautiful kimonos. The 7 and 3 -year olds are girls and the 5-year olds are boys, IIRC.

It's Kyushu, not Kyusho

moxie

As the others said, send your luggage on by "Takkyubin".

How: When checking in, say you would like to use the takkyubin service to ship your bags to x. Ask when you should do it for arrival on x date. They will fill out the forms for you. It helps to have biligual labels (hotel address, phone number your name and check-in date)ready for the person to fill out the forms and also to tape to your bags.

I used the service twice this month:
Tokyo - Takayama: 2 bags 4200 Yen;
Takayama - Kyoto: same 2 bags 2200 Yen.

At both hotels they said that if they had the bag before 5pm it would be in the new location by 5pm the next day.

Overly confident, I did not ask in Kyoto until 36 hours before needed and I was unable to forward my bags from Kyoto to Narita since they needed 48 hours (?).

In the end, we had no trouble travelling with the bags on the train.

What are the dates for your trip? Maybe you could fit it some flea markets?

I loved Tokyo and would suggest that you spend a few days there.

gard

Hi

My wife and I went to Japan for the first time in May last year. We went to Tokyo and Kyoto and we used the train to get around. I have posted a trip report with pictures and links on my homepage http://gardkarlsen.com/japan_tokyo.htm . Maybe you can find some useful information there. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions. We just brought our luggage with us when we took the train by the way.

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

kerkie

Moxie, you are my kind of traveler. I am very much about flea markets!

Thank you everyone for all your help thus far and please keep it comming. My trip will be at the beginning of November. I originally said that I was flying into Narita because I didn't decide to spread my trip out until the day that I posted my question. Just before I asked, I decided 'Hm, instead of taking a day trip, I think I need to spend a few days down there.'

If there is anything anyone could think to see that is out of the norm (the Optical Illusion Museum in Nara, I believe, or the Parasite Museum in Tokyo, for example), I'd love that.