Hello Fellow Travelers!
My husband and I traveled recently to Japan. We loved it and are now planning a second trip for later next year.
I've been reading this forum on and off for several months now and have learned much. I especially appreciate the comprehensive account of progol.and advice from mrwunrfl and tripplanner001.....Thank you.
Here's my question: What's the best method of reserving hotel accommodations for a trip 9 months (or more) into the future. The websites of the hotels we're interested in only display a calendar that's 6-7 months out. Is telephoning or writing effective?
Thanks, Z

Hotels in Japan open for reservation at various times. Some don’t open till 3 months before the date you’re interested in, some are 6 months out, and some seem to have reservations available as far as a year out.

I would write to the places you’re interested in and ask them what their policy is. Most will get back and let you know when and how you can make a reservation. I’ve been told explicitly to contact places on a certain date because reservations for my time frame wouldn’t be available until that date.

PS - I’m thrilled you liked my trip report!

For decades some hotels in Japan have customarily been limiting there reservations to 6 months or less, but it is now even more so the case (and probably increasingly more common) due to the weakening yen and growing inflation in Japan (even minor inflation in Japan was almost unheard of for a couple decades up to just 2 or 3 years ago). So while it would of course be advantageous for you to lock in a price now, it is hard to predict what the true costs would be for the hotel so far in advance.

Also, it has historically been very commonly the case that hotels (along with most Japanese businesses, including non-tourist related ones) will adjust their prices if ever doing so at the beginning of the year at some point between January and the end of March (April 1st is the widely accepted start of the domestic fiscal year).

So if you somehow can make a reservation for 9 months from now by directly writing a hotel, it shouldn't be surprising if it includes a caveat about a potential price adjustment which may occur in the interim.

Thank for your suggestion, Progol. I'll write to the hotels as soon as we firm up our dates.
And, yes, your travel details - and wonderful pictures - are great! I'm curious: what type of camera do you use?

To Wilk67: Good information.The cost of accommodations that far in the future is something I wondered about. We expect that everything will be a bit more expensive next year. I appreciate that you mentioned the possibility of price adjustments.

As progol suggested you can always just ask.

To me, booking a hotel in Japan 9 months in advance means booking a chain hotld, probably an international one.

I use my iPhone these days! I was a professional photographer for a long time but now I just use my iPhone. It’s not perfect but it sure beats carrying around a lot of equipment. I’ve used several good point and shoot cameras over the years, but find the one that’s in my pocket - my iPhone - is the one I use.

We guessed that you might be a professional photographer; the photos are just great!

From personal experience, even hotels that do list rates so far in advance will often adjust them and provide cheaper rates closer to the time and general release of availability.

Not sure why you want to book so far out in advance?

Thanks,THR! Good to hear the part about hotels adjusting rates (downward) closer to the time of availability. I guess we're just antsy to get the fundamental elements in place sooner than later, but - given what you've said - we'd just as well wait.

>> we'd just as well wait

Book what you want when it becomes available as long as the cancellation policy is acceptable. You can expect (but verify) a cancellation penalty that increases closer to the booking date. They are usually pretty good terms. Then check back later for a lower rate and IF it is lower then cancel and rebook.

I like the pay-now with options to cancel for a refund later because the exchange rate is so good right now (paying with a no foreign exchange fee credit card). You are going to pay in yen and maybe the rate could drop 10% but the cost of the yen could increase by 15%

My point is simple and I think obvious: don't wait for a price drop.

The yen was 161 to US $1 on Wednesday. It is 156 today and could be 141 tomorrow,

Mrwunrfl - Thank you for this excellent advice! We are interested in keeping costs down, so having a strategy such as this could definitely help.

On the topic of costs: We are dumbfounded to see that the hotel we stayed at two months ago in Kyoto now quotes (for roughly the same time period next year) prices TRIPLE what we paid last MAY...egads! So, yes, any and all tips on ways to save money are appreciated!
Z

If you're looking at May 2025 now it’s quite likely they haven’t released all of their rates. This happens with many hotels in Japan - where they only release rates closer in.

Right. The competition is not in the market yet, so they can just put up their rack rate for now. Best to assume high demand and then cut as necessary when they see what the competition offers.

The World Expo in Osaka might have something to do with it. Or another special event like a meeting of some international organization.

I believe that hotels in Japan allocate a number rooms to tour companies before public sale. The companies then, prior to public sale by the hotel, return the rooms they don't think they will sell.

Like a group booking. The hotel offers a number of rooms at a certain rate that have to be purchased some period of time in advance of the event. After that date the hold on the rooms is released. This happens elsewhere but I think Japanese love their group tours and it is more common there.