Hi There!

Thank you to all who have helped me over the past months to plan the perfect trip to Japan for my first visit! My husband and I leave in less than two months and I am getting so excited (and nervous - this will be my first time out of the US except for the Caribbean).

I have a few lingering questions... But before I get into that let me give a brief outline of my itinerary for reference:

Day 1: Flying
Day 2: Arrive at Narita Airport in late afternoon, check in at hotel in Tokyo-Shiodome (overnight Prak Hotel Tokyo)
Day 3: Full day Tokyo tour with guide (overnight Prak Hotel Tokyo)
Day 4: Evening Tokyo tour with guide (overnight Prak Hotel Tokyo)
Day 5: Day trip to Nikko (overnight Prak Hotel Tokyo)
Day 6: Lake Kawaguchiko (overnight in ryokan)
Day 7: Kyoto (overnight at 9 Hours Kyoto capsule hotel)
Day 8: Kyoto - explore Higashiyama (overnight at Hotel Mume Kyoto)
Day 9: Kyoto - explore Arashiyama (overnight at Hotel Mume Kyoto)
Day 10: Day trip to Nara (overnight at Hotel Mume Kyoto)
Day 11: Mt. Koya (overnight at Shojoshin-in)
Day 12: Fly out of at Kansai Airport

These are some of the remaining questions I still have:
1) What to do when we land in the airport? Is there anything we should plan on doing at the airport - exchange USD for JPY, pick up a SIM data card?
2) I'm nervous (and excited) about being in complete culture shock when we arrive. I'm worried we won't find our hotel which is located in a high-rise above the Shiodome station at the top floors if business building. Any advice? Will my phone GPS work?
3) Should we bring a gift for our guides?
4) I've read reviews that the staff knows very little English at the Ryokan we are staying at in Kawaguchiko. Any advice?
5) During our stay at 9 Hours Capsule Hotel Kyoto, my husband and I will be staying in separated male/female wings of the hotel. Has anyone ever done this before? What was your experience?
6) Do you recommend using takibahn luggage services? Is it eay and reliable to use? If I send our luggage from Hotel Mume to the Kansia Airport (so we dont have to carry around our large bags at Mt. Koya), will it be pretty easy to find?
7) What souvenirs do you recommend?
8) Carry around cash or use mostly travel credit card?
9) What is your number 1 Japan experience/activity that should not be missed?
10) How early should I check into Kansai airport before flight?
10) Any last minute advice, tips or recommendations?

I may come up with more questions in the weeks leading up to my trip and will post them here on this topic. Thanks again to everyone for your help!!

I'll try to answer a bit..

1) I use my no foreign currency ATM/Debit cards to get yen. Since my phone gives me free data I don't need a SIM card for data, but you should look into your options.

2) If you have data your GPS should work I guess - my phone is android and google maps work fine for me...

3) I don't know what kind of guides you are using - most of mine have been free - so I have sometimes brought small gifts or else usually you pay for their transport and meal - if a paid guide, I don't think a gift is necessary.

4) I'm sure it will be fine - I stayed at many places with little English and my Japanese is not that much.

5) The closest I stayed to a capsule hotel was First Cabin at Haneda Airport which was a tiny room...shouldn't be a problem.

6) I have sent my luggage from Tokyo to NRT - no problem but you need to do it at least two or three days in advance - check with your hotel and the takuhaibin as to where the luggage will be.

7) Souvenirs are sort of personal...

8) Travel credit card? Is that a regular credit card or one you put money on in advance? I use a credit card with no foreign conversion fees and cash as needed.

9) I have been to Japan ten times so it is hard for me to pick one of anything - just enjoy!

10) Check in according to what your airline requires.

Enjoy your visit!

Here aer a few of my answers. I don't have nearly the experience Mara has in Japan, but I might be able to add some info.

1. At the airport, use an ATM there to get some yen. ATMs at convenience stores and post offices (and the airport) accept foreign ATM cards, many other ATMs do not.

6. I absolutely recommend the takibahn luggage services - what a wonderful convenience! The concierge at your hotel can help you make arrangements.

8. I was prepared to use cash for many things, and found I needed very little cash. I had lots of yen I exchanged for dollars as I left Japan! I don't know what you mean by a "travel credit card" but I use a credit card that has no foreign transaction fees. I used my credit card a lot, used cash much less often. I don't recommend the cards where you load money onto them (pre-paid cards) as they have a lot of fees. Have cash with you, but use your credit card wherever you can. I used cash for taxis, for small purchases and at a couple of restaurants that didn't accept credit cards.

10. Enjoy!

You've already gotten some great advice. I'll just add my recommendation to take each and every experience as an adventure, even if that experience is getting lost, struggling to communicate, or encountering the unexpected.

Honestly, I found traveling in Japan surprisingly easy and extraordinarily delightful. So as Mara and Kathie have said, enjoy!

Try not to have fun. It will be difficult, so you should start practicing now.

Seriously,

the Fodors Asia board has fantastic Japan advisors. If you got planning help here, you are halfway there. I have only been once, so will limit my commentary:

2. do you mean the Royal Park (not Prak, sticky keyboard?) hotel at the Shiodome?
http://www.rph-the.co.jp/shiodome/en/

I haven't stayed here but the above says the airport limousine bus will drop you right at the door. Japan is the most organized country in the world, I think they even beat the Swiss, so dinna worry lassie.

4. The ryokan will know why you are there, to stay overnight and dine. My guess is that they will have a few stock phrases of English to help you but even if not, dinna worry, they know what they are doing even if the traveler doesn't!

5 and 10. I've not stayed at a capsule hotel. In the remote chance your spirit of adventure fails you, have a 'slush fund' for emergencies, like abandoning that (or any other plan) and finding an alternative on the fly. I don't think you will need to implement such an emergency plan but it may help you to relax about the culture shock.

1. get some yen at the atm machines then get your limo bus tickets to your hotel

2. Dont worry. The Japanese have been hosting us since the end of WW2. They are used us

3. Yes, a small nicely wrapped token from your hometown ie. keychain, charm etc.

4. My Japanese is very nil....honto des lol, but this will be my fifteenth time there this Dec....can't wait

5. no but dont be concerned just be considerate of others while there and you'll be fine

6. Yes we always use the takuhaibin services while in Japan. Easily located at any major airport though they do require the time Mara mentions above.

7. You will see so many you will be amazed. Come back here and recommend one to us when you return

8. Cash is king in Japan but cc are widely used too.

9. Check my travel reports on this site but if you ever get to the Shiretoko Peninsula the small boat rides around the Peninsula are unforgettable..... ichi ban

10. 3 hours for International flights is what I always allow at Kansai, Narita and Haneda

10a. Gambatte!

Aloha!

Thank you all for the positivity and words as encouragement as I count down the last few weeks to my trip! Great advice!

We visited Kyoto last December and there was one memorable dining experience our family really enjoyed. It was at Manzara Honten in the Gion entertainment district (I believe there may be a branch in Pontocho as well). They specialize in obanzai ryori, home style cooking using whatever is fresh and in season.

It's best to sit at the counter like a sushi bar, though tables are available. The counter is lined with large bowls of prepared food, you can point an choose whatever strikes your fancy to sample. There is also a menu of hot and cold dishes prepared from the kitchen.

It is a true Kyoto experience, not formal kaiseki as it is a more casual setting, but a great restaurant in a beautiful district. Recommend having your hotel assist with reservations and take a taxi as Gion can be a bit hard to navigate especially after dark.

http://www.manzara.co.jp/honten/cuisine.html

At Narita, get a Suica card which you can use on the Tokyo subway system. To experience Tokyo, you really have to travel around on the subway.

You've received many of my suggestions already but I will second kja's comment about how easy it is to travel around Japan. Don't worry-there will be cultute shock but it will be fun cultute shock and navigating around will be MUCH easier than you anticipate. The luggage forwarding service works wonderfully. I used it twice, including have my luggage shipped from my Tokyo hotel to Hotel Mume (which you will LOVE) while I spent 2 days in Matusmoto and the Japan Alps. My number one experience was seeing Mt.Fuji. Since that doesn't look to be on your agenda, you'll have to go back to see it. In Kyoto, my favorite visit was to the Fushimi Inari shrine.

Hello,

I, too, am planning to travel to Japan in November 2015, and have been planning/researching like fury since May.

A couple of points:

1. Please be aware that Museums in Tokyo/Kyoto close on one day a week, usually a Monday (if the Monday is a public holiday e.g Monday 23rd November, then they close on a Tuesday). They also close if there is no special exhibition planned, despite having extensive in-house collections. For example, I have been to Tokyo twice now since 2012 and have not yet been able to see the Ukiyo-e Ota Memorial Museum of Art yet because it has been closed on both visits.

2. There are a number of venues in Tokyo and Kyoto that are illuminated at night during autumn (you would call this, 'fall' I think), so this extends your sight seeing options and hours through until 9pm. The metro runs until 12 midnight in Tokyo.

3. It is the 400th anniversary of the RINPA school of Art in November 2015, so I anticipate that crowds and queues at venues such as the Kyoto National Museum and the Kyoto National Museum of Modern Art which will be holding special thematic exhibitions - will be huge and long respectively. I emailed the venues when I could not find how to purchase advance tickets on-line and was told that advance tickets can be purchased from convenience stores - e.g. 7Eleven and Lawson - there is no allocated time of entry on these tickets just the specified day.

4. Has anyone told you about the Kyoto Handicraft Center? If you are undecided what souvenirs to buy, this 3-storey centre is a very good one-stop shop.

5. My favourite museum in all of Tokyo is the Nezu Museum. I am really looking forward to seeing its gardens in autumn. It is busy, but not really crowded.

6. As to language barriers- well that comes with travel. A smile really does goes a very long way as does learning to say please and thank-you & excuse me in Japanese. None is very hard and would be in the 'essential phrases' section of your guide book.

best of luck, kind regards Kate

1) We withdrew money from an ATM, but we had a little with us so we didn't have to do that at the airport if we couldn't find an ATM there readily. We also picked up our JR Passes for train travel but looking at your itinerary, I imagine you don't need one. You may like to buy yourself a SUICA (double check on Japan-Guide that this is still the best option) which makes it far easier to use public transport not just in Tokyo but Kyoto and other cities too. Note it doesn't work on Kyoto buses, or didn't when we went.

2) Our first night of our first trip was similarly in a hotel that was floor 32 and above of a high rise and there was certainly culture shock but as others have said, it was good and not at all daunting, it felt amazingly different and exciting but not at all scary or intimidating!

3) We used one of the free goodwill guides in Fukuoka and although we did pay her travel expenses, entry tickets and all food and drink while she was with us, I also took a small gift of some English pickles (as I know Japanese love pickles but theirs are very different to ours, so I thought might be interesting - I already knew our guide shared my keen interest in food). I presented these in a pretty gift bag.

4) We found we got on fine even when this was the case, with the aid of translation software on our phones and a print out I made of key phrases and answers, written in romaji.


5) Capsule hotels didn't appeal to me, so never tried it.

6) Yes, they are so easy and so handy and so reliable and so affordable! Don't feel shy to use it but check how much time is required between drop off and the bag reaching the destination address.

7) Foods, ingredients, crockery, chopsticks and kitchenware (of course my bias is showing), including Japanese-made knives (which I've still failed to do), tea, I bought some hats, Japanese old lady hats I call them, ask me to elaborate if you like, and lots of the little charms on threads that are intended to hang on mobile phones or purses, oh and these Ema, from many of the temples: http://www.kaveyeats.com/2013/12/kyo...-ema-tree.html

8) We found the opposite of Kathie, although we could use our CC at the big western hotels and at SOME ryokan, cash was indeed king (as HT says) in most smaller restaurants and cafes, and even at some of the ryokans. We checked with each hotel in advance so we knew the big cash outlays in advance, the rest we covered by dropping into ATMs for more cash as and when needed.

9) Some foodies plan every meal in advance but I think one of the joys of Japan is grabbing a bite in the many smaller restaurants that specialise in different types of cuisine. I posted a long list of foods to try in Japan, if I can find the thread I'll grab a link for you. There are restaurants that specialise in sushi/ sashimi, in tofu, in tempura, in soba noodles, in ramen, in udon noodles, in katsu, in omelettes and rice, in curry and rice, in kaiseki ryori fine dining and so on. Wonderful to seek these out and enjoy whichever one you end up in rather than chasing the supposed best in city labels.

Hi Kate!

Thanks for your input. After all this planning, it is exciting that our trips are almost here!

1. Thanks for the advice. We aren't planning on stopping at many museums.

2. We are very excited for Fall Illumination, and will be visiting the Kiyomizudera fall illumination event in Kyoto! Are there are fall illuminations that you know of that are worth a visit in Tokyo/Kyoto?

3. Thanks, I don;t think we plan to visit these museums.

4. No, I haven't heard of the Kyoto Handicraft Center. I will definitely look it up!


6. Good things to keep in mind. I'm hoping to utilize takibahn services for some portions of our trip.

Have fun on your trip too!

Hi Karvey!

1) I think to avoid stree when we first land in Tokyo, we might plan to exchange some dollars for yen before our trip. I'm thinking we will just need yen for things like temple entrance fees and some meals. That's right, we aren't getting the JR pass, we will be getting the Kanto Area Pass though. I'll keep the SUICA card in mind. Maybe the Kanto Area Pass will cover all of our travel in Tokyo though?

2) Glad to hear that you had a good experience! I'm looking forwad to staying at the Park Hotel Tokyo high rise with views of Tokyo Tower.

3) Seems like small gifts of appreciation are common then. Maybe we will bring something from our hometown as well.

4) I do have Google Translate app on my phone, so maybe we will rely on that. I like your idea of having key phrases written down on a "cheat sheet"


5) Capsule hotels didn't appeal to me, so never tried it.

6) Now I feel better about this! We will defintely use the service then.

7) All great ideas, thanks! The Ema look like great souveniers!

8) Good to know, so maybe we will need to get more cash than I am thinking.

9) I have the same approach - I have a list of food types that I would like to try, and not any specific restaurants. I am hoping to ask the hotels for reccomendations based on food type.

Thanks for all of your answers, I found it all very useful!

You are welcome.
Regarding cash, if you can double check all your accommodation bookings and see which take credit card and if there are any that are cash payment only, that will help you work out a rough idea. We had a couple that we needed to pay cash, plus most of our meals were cash. Then again most of our meals were at regular local restaurants, often very casual ones so the amounts were small too.

Here is a Fodors thread in which I (and others) shared lots and lots of food suggestions:
http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...s-anywhere.cfm