Just got back from Japan yesterday.

Overall it is one my more memorable trips.

Flew on AA and got business class upgrade on both ORD-NGO and NGO-ORD for free (being AA elite helps), sticker upgrade on the US domestic segments.

Visited Tokyo and Kyoto. From Kyoto, did daytrips to Nara, Himeji and Miyajima. In Kyoto, bus seems to be the best form of public transportation since it's easy to use and more coverage than the subway. For Tokyo however, subway is more useful eventhough I tried to use JT green line more since it's covered by JR pass. Shinjuku station is mad house for the uninitiated.

For lodgings, I recommend Toyoko-Inn. Their double room is not as small as I imagined. It holds a slightly larger than US queen size bed, plus a small desk with a small fridge underneath. There's a safe box in some location. All locations are very clean, though the bathroom takes some time to get used to it. Their fancy toilet seat feature is a must try.

For food, there's no planning at all, I have not had any bad food any where at all during the visit. But ramen is my favorite. It's kind hard to order ramen since most ramen places used the vending machine style ordering. You pick which ramen you want from a machine which gives you a ticket. Then you hand the ticket to the ramen store attendant. It's quite easy if the machine has a corresponding menu number with their window display or picture but there are machines display Japanese characters only. For restaurant food, almost all places we went had english menu or if you like your next table food, just point to the server that you want the same.

Got a glimpse of Mt. Fuji on Tokyo-Nagoya train ride, and also from the return flight NGO-ORD. The plane flew so close to the mountain on a clear day that it gave a perfect view, but the time I got my camera out, I managed only to take a half view of Fuji.

Had the Japan Rail, and use it 100% without seat reservation. I think one can use it on Nozomi in the non-reserved cars since I didn't see train conductor check for ticket in the non-reserved section. I was on paid Nozomi at that time. As for luggage, there's no need to use luggage forwarding service if your luggage is the carry-on roll-aboard size. There's room for that size on the self above the seat if the luggage storage at the end of the car is taken.

Oh, on the language. Well, I spoke no Japanese and there's hardly any english speaker when I tried to find them, but I got by somehow. There's enough sign to navigate w/o knowing Japanese.

So, enjoy Japan if you have the chance.

That sounds like a great trip..I have always avoided Japan because of the expense..But would love to go there one day..Stayed 2 nights on a connecting flight once, and we caught a glimpse of Mt. Fuji and ate some wonderful Japanese Food..The only place we visited was Narita..

Thank you for your trip report. I'm leaving on Sunday and am very excited!

e_t-glad you had a great trip. We just got back also and I agree with you about Toyoko Inns. They are top value and thanks to the people who recommended them on this board. Yes, the toilets & bathrooms are unforgettable! I had claustrophobia!The ramen and udon was great too! Esspecially the little stalls on the stations! The sushi & sashimi at the depato stores was excellent and the Chilean wine at 1525 yen was a real delight for us. Have fun!

e_t - I'm planning basically a very similar trip with my family in July. I'm very curious about what you wore for shoes, for example, were slip-ons necessary for visiting temples? Did you wear "walking shoes"? (These are questions regarding women's shoes and attire...if you're male, perhaps you noticed what the women were wearing?) What about clothing and the weather? What worked for you and what did you see others wearing? For example were women wearing capris or skirts or slacks? We'll be traveling in July and I want to look "appropriate" but I also want to be as cool as possible! Also, any tidbits you can pass on about Kyoto or Miyajima? Thanks!

It is the custom to take your shoes off as a sign of respect in many places in Japan, home, temples, museums (if they were once homes). So, slip on shoes are easier but not necessary. You might consider Rockport or similar brand loafers or the "no tie" athletic shoes. I had both on our trip to Japan, depending on if our day was more city or country. As for clothes, we were there in the early spring, but generally any casual comfortable clothes would be fine. Just like I wouldn't wear shorts in a big city at home, I wouldn't do it in a big city in Japan though (or Europe or anywhere else). Enjoy planning your trip!

for shoes wear something comfortable as there's a lot of walking to do.

Thanks! I completely realize that I'm obessing over the clothes/shoes! I always find some dumb thing to fixate on before ANY trip I take! Thanks for "grounding" me. I was thinking everyone would be dressed in business attire and that I would be terribly out of place - totally silly I know but that's how my pre-travel obessions are - they have a tiny grain of truth but by and large are alot of worry over nothing!

when visiting japan, more important than easy slip off/on shoes.....be sure your socks don't have any holes in them. .

jmday4:

Since others had their says on footwear and clothing, I'm going to pass on that. As for myself, I (am a male) wore hiking shoes so it was easy on my feet. My wife however wore regular running and Ecco walking shoes, at the end of the day her feet were very tired. Tips for Kyoto: there are too many temple and shrine, our fav is Kiyomizu. For transportation, we just bought 1-day bus pass daily since it's on 500 Yens while a single bus ride will cost you 220 yens. My tips of Miyajima, do go up to Mt. Misen and take the cable car both ways. We made a mistake of just buying one-way up thinking that going down would be easy. Well, it is not if you're not fit. Hope this info helps you in your planning.

Yes! Thank you that was great information! Since I'll be traveling with 2 teenage boys and my husband, I won't expect too much from them on the "visiting temples" in Kyoto bit! They'll most likely get "templed out"! We'll be staying overnight on Miyajima but I will take your advice regarding going up the mountain! Thank you! Since we don't speak Japanese either, we'll be "winging it"! One son is vegetarian but I've already warned him that he'll have to just go with the flow in Japan since our communication skills won't be optimal for getting him his meatless/fishless meals! We're planning on stopping at Himeji too. What did you think? How much time did you spend there? Did you stop at the Peace Museum? Thanks!

jmday4:

Initially we planned to do Himeji-Miyajima, then stopped by Hiroshima on the retun to Tokyo. So the night before the daytrip, I went to the Citibank branch on Shijo-Karasuma thinking I could get some cash. However, it turned out that after the office hour, you need a Citibank card to get to the ATM area. My non-citibank card couldn't open the door, neither did my wife Citibank mastercard. So, the next day we went back the next morning (around 8AM, they open at 9AM but ATM area was open at 8) to use Citibank ATM. Hence we missed the chance to do Himeji-Miyajima-Hiroshima daytrip as early as I planned. Of course, the fiasco of spending too much time to get down from Mt.Misen made us cancel the Hiroshima since it was really late. We caught the last Hikari from Hiroshima to Osaka and managed to catch the last train to Kyoto at around 10.20PM. You need to observe the train schedule closely. We didn't, thinking there are trains at all hours. At Himeji, we spent about 2 hours in the castle. On the way back to Himeji train station to go to Miyajima, we just took the city bus to conserve energy. The castle is not that close to the train station. On the language, I know no Japanese, so there was a lot of pointings when ordering food especialy when I saw something looked good on the next table. It is a wise decision on your part to spend a night in Miyajima, it looks so serene after most tourists have left. We were the last to leave. Good luck.

I am going soon with my two kids, ages 8 and 10 (we leave for China Monday morning, then go over to Japan 6/14). We were planning to take an early morning train from Tokyo, stop at Himeji, then go to Miyajima and spend the night. The next morning we planned to check out Mt. Misen, then do Hiroshima (Peace Park & Museum, A-bomb Dome) and then back to Tokyo that night. I know it will be pushing it, but can it be done? Should we do Mt. Misen the night we arrive, rather than the next morning?