Dear Fodorites,

We are 4 teachers & friends from Bucharest, Romania, traveling in Japan in early June. We enjoy walking around in cities, parks, nature hikes, and visiting thermal baths. So we composed the following itinerary - and some questions:

Sat, June 5: Arrival in Tokyo at noon
Sun, 6: Tokyo
Mon, 7: Day trip: Kamakura
Tue, 8: Day trip: Yokohama
Wed, 9: Day trip: Hakone Panorama 1 day, http://www.odakyu.jp/english/qtours/hakone_course1.html
Thu, 10: Tokyo to Nikko, sleep in Nikko
Fri, 11: Nikko to Tokyo
Sat, 12: Tokyo to Kyoto (train) / (alternative: Tokyo to Nara by night bus)
Sun, 13: Kyoto
Mon, 14: Day trip: Nara
Tue, 15: Kyoto to Osaka
Wed, 16: Osaka
Thu, 17: Osaka - Departure in the evening

Please, help us with some information on the following:

1. We are not sure whether to buy a JR pass, even for 7 days. Since we have only one long trip (Tokyo-Kyoto), which we may do by the SHINKANSEN NOZOMI, I think that the JP pass would rather be a constraint, than an advantage. Am I wrong?

2. We omitted Himeji as we read on other posts that it is under renovation. Is it true?

3. Do you have any advice on adding or removing something in the itinerary?

Any guidance would be truly valuable for us!

Thank you for giving it a thought - and for all the helpful information on the forum!

1. You do not need a JR Pass for your train travels. Check www.hyperdia.com for train fares and schedules.
2. Yes, Himeji-jo is under renovations until 2014. Check this site for current status on construction: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3501.html
3. Look OK to me. I would not think of taking too many day trips from Tokyo as there is much to see there in two days without any day trips out of the city.

Read trip reports about Japan from regulars here on this site.

Aloha!

I recommend that you skip Yokohama and Osaka and possibly Kamakura. You could visit Kamakura and Yokohama on the same day. Have another day for Tokyo. On the 11th you could just go straight from Nikko to Kyoto. Have another day for Kyoto. Osaka is only 30 to 45 minutes closer to KIX than Kyoto.

Dear hawaiiantraveler and mrwunrfl - thank you for your advice!

Indeed we will travel directly from Nikko to Kyoto, it seems better. And we will give more time to Tokyo.

Would it be better to visit also a more distant destination, such as Hiroshima? (for example, to travel Nikko-Hiroshima-Kyoto)? I am not sure whether to include anything else in the itinerary, beyond Tokyo, Kyoto and their surroundings.

Best!

cosicuti,

You got some excellent advice in the previous posts.

I would not add Hiroshima. You'll be spending more $$$ (well, ¥¥¥ I suppose) and more time on trains, and it is not as if you could get a complete picture of any of the places you're visiting in a few days.

Unlike some places, visiting Japan is not about going to a bunch of famous places, taking a photo or two, then moving on to the next. (Eiffel Tower - check!; Arc de Triomphe - check!; Mona Lisa - check!; etc.) Instead, for me at least, visiting Japan is all about going to a place with a totally different set of culture and values, and gradually becoming aware of and marvelling at them.

<i>Caution!! Some people should skip the next paragraph!!</i>

It's sort of like one of them marajuana brownies that people used to have years ago. For the first hour, nothing much seemed different. Then, bit by bit, you became acutely aware of this, and of that, and then wave after wave after wave of amazement would sweep over you.

[/Caution]

So, it's really a good idea to plan more days in each Japanese place, and visit fewer places. (Please don't even try to find the logic there, just believe me.) If you get bored or put off by a place, you can always bug out a day or two early.

I definitely WOULD include Hiroshima. You can do it as a day trip from Kyoto. That was the highlight of my trip to Japan and it is a place I think everyone needs to see. And aside from some of the obvious memorial sites, it is actually quite a nice place to walk around.

I have no clue why you have Yokohama in the list -- it's just a random city that's part of the Tokyo-Yokohama megalopolis but has no real tourist value for your short trip.

You are short-changing Kyoto -- need more time.

If you go to Hiroshima, you'll need the JR pass and you can take a Hikari shinkansen to Kyoto (included in JR pass), which only takes 20 minutes longer than the Nozomi.

And although I liked Japan a lot, it certainly didn't bring me flashbacks like it did for rizzo.

cosicuti,

If you feel you have the time, Hiroshima would be of great interest to you with all of you being educators. Hiroshima does come at added rail expense though. You can figure your fares at www.hyperdia.com and see if it is worth it to you.

You might want to experience a night in a ryokan in the Hakone area. You can fit the one night between Nikko and Kyoto. Maybe at someplace like this to enjoy the hot springs you wanted with Japanese culture included. http://japaneseguesthouses.com/db/ha..._suimeisou.htm

Aloha!

Note to self: Oct in BOS make sure to eat the brownies if offered by rizzuto..... It may help in dealing with The Andy & Bob Show.....may actually make them funny,lol

Dear Fodorites,

Thank you for your time and support! It is great to receive advice when surrounded by uncertainty

Three other more-to-the-ground questions have come to mind:

1) about trains: can we actually buy train tickets on Hyperdia, or otherwise? We thought of booking our main trip, from Nikko to Tokyo, but I cannot figure out how.

2) about electricity: We are planning to travel with a laptop - since we live with European electricity of 220 V, can we use it in Japan? I have read that electricity in Japan is 100 V, but I don't know what it means for my laptop.

3) about the rainy season of June: Should we go armed with some special clothing or shoes/sandals? What would work best?

We have thought to focus our stay on Tokyo and Kyoto, with day trips to Hakone (the 1-day tour), Nikko and then Nara and Osaka. If the case may be, we shall do more, maybe also Hiroshima. We shall make our attempt to sleep in a ryokan in Kyoto, after getting a little bit used to the atmosphere...

Warm greetings!

Ciao cosicuti,

You cannot buy tickets online (except in a few instances, and then only if you can read Japanese), and you do not need to. For the trains where you need reservation (mostly Shinkansen and special express, such as Narita Express), you will be fine buying the tickets in Japan.

Pretty much all laptops purchased since 1975 operate on variable voltage, which means that they're fine anywhere in the world. However, you will need a plug adapter so that your Euro-style plug (two round prongs) will fit into a Japanese outlet (two rectangular holes). If you have a plug adapter that works for US/Canada, that adapter will work for Japan, as well.

Rain in Japan is very similar to rain in Italy. If you are out in it, you and your clothes will get wet. Umbrellas will be available, in fact they'll be for sale as if by magic in every shop, when it does rain.

Hi Coscuti,

1) no, Hyperdia is only an "electronic timetable." You will still need to go to a ticket gate to buy your tickets.

2) modern laptops are designed to be taken between countries with different voltage- all you need is the approriate adaptor for your plug.

3) not sure, I've always done with a newspaper over my head ha ha ha

As you said you are teachers, I think it would be very valuable to see Hiroshima. The Atomic Bomb museum is very informative, and I figure that viewing and seeing the exhibits and reading the accounts would help in your occupation (can't think of a better word.)

Oh my god I'm so jealous!!

I agree with some of the others, skip Yokohama, and I'd do less in Tokyo (too much sprawl for me, 2-3 days is enough). Then I'd go to Kyoto, Nara, Hiroshima and Miyajima. Try to get an overnight stay in a ryoukan in Kyoto if you can. You could do Hiroshima&Miyajima in 1 day.

I also like Beppu but it might be a bit far. A hidden gem that is a MUST if you are an art fan is Naoshima (go to Okayama>Uno>ferry), all I can say is wow. Best place I've been in my life.

I'd look at hyperdia for costs, but I always buy my Japan Rail Pass from here http://jrpass.com if you do decide to do that. They'd send to Romania for you I think.

Two things: (1) if you're going to Nikko and using train, you should look into the Tobu Spacia train and website. You can pre-purchase your voucher online and exchange that for tickets at Tobu's Asakasa station. The Tobu limited express RT ticket includes admission to all the main Nikko sites and runs FAR more frequently than the JR trains to Nikko.

(2) Consider only going to Osaka on your last night. We did a day trip to Himeji (morning, early pm) and Osaka (afternoon, dinner) and needed no more time at either place.