Hi Everyone,

My husband and I will be in Japan for the month of November for our second visit, our first doing all the planning. I was wondering if there is a wifi router company that you have rented on your trips? The only recommendation we've had is to rental from Ninji? Are there others you liked or would recommend?

We are trying to decide if we should buy train tickets before hand or just when we get there? I believe November is still leaf viewing time, so I assume trains can be crowded? Our route includes Tokyo, Nikko, Minakami, Nagano, Matsumoto, Kanazawa, Kyoto, and Tokyo at the end. We are not using JR pass and will be buying tickets to each place. Any advice would be welcomed.

Maybe one of the passes for smaller areas would be helpful - you can check on the different ones on japan-guide.com. https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2357.html
I used two during my recent Japan trip - one for the Kumano area and one for Nagano and Niigata...

As far as a wifi router, my US cell phone works all over and most hotels have wifi as do so many other places ....I don't quite know why a router would be necessary.

I have always just picked up a SIM at the the airport or loaded an eSim onto my phone on arrival. That phone can then be used as a personal hotspot for other pieces of ket you may have. I see little point in renting a separate router. For any data heavy activities , I use public wifi via a VPN for security.

Right, sim or eSIM. Saily was ok except in central Kyushu
docomo / ntt

See Nikko World Heritage Pass at Japan-guide dot com
sest res when you get to Japan or earlier if you want
advance reservations for nikko to nagana esp the Shinkansen part
nagano - Matsumoto last minute

if going back to nagano then get reservations for Shinkansen from there to Kanazawa in advance

could get Kyoto seats when u get to Kanazawa
kyoto to Tokyo Shinkansen are crazy frequent and high capacity

idk about mishima

Thanks everyone. The last time we were in Japan (on a small group tour), our wifi router was delivered to the wrong hotel, so we didn't have it for a few days and used our phones. The tour recommended getting one as we were in remote areas where wifi wasn't available in ryokans. It was a hassle to use and we only used it when our phone data got really slow (our phone plan has unlimited use, but it slows down after a certain level). Most of the places we will be staying should have wifi, so you are probably right, we won't need it. Thanks for saving us $$$.

Also, thanks for answering my train questions. We are planning on taking the bus from Narita to Nikko since we won't have to change trains in Tokyo, but if the bus isn't available, we'll figure out the train. We just wanted to make our initial journey as easy as possible. Does that make sense to take the bus?

Thanks again everyone!

Bit of a long bus trip but good if it works with your arrival time and your check in time deadline
some ryokan want check-in by 7pm but hotel later

i looked into airport bus to Utsunomiya for a night then on to Nikko next day. Bus was best way

Utsunomiya is gyoza capital of Japan/world
great place ekimae

train schedule U to Nikko is tricky