In the past fortnight I have had at least 6 different people ask for some Japan travel tips! There must be a Qantas or Jetstar sale going on, OR maybe the exchange rate, OR maybe it’s the average age of my friendship / client group having kids at school age which means flights over 9hrs are a pain in the butt, and super expensive in 2024!
So, here is an updated version of a post I started over a decade ago.
Background
I have been travelling to Japan regularly since I was around 12. The back story on my connection and love of the country starts with the first visit I made in 1993 when I was in primary school. I studied Soroban which is a traditional way of learning maths using an abacus. I had always struggled with maths and something about this tool for visual learning clicked with me so somehow I ended up on a two week junket to Tokyo, Saitama and Tokyo Disney.
Anyway, enough stories, let’s get on with the tips... oh and if you just want a Google Map of a heap of stuff to consider visiting > here is our mega map archive of places we have been to / researched. There is ALOT in there.
Jump ahead
If you have been to Japan before and know how the trains etc work, then just skip to the more listy bits below!
Nerd burger, 1993
Short version
Flights are pretty direct from Australia. Jetstar & Qantas fly direct from Brisbane to Narita. If you are leaving from Sydney even better, you’ll be able to fly into Haneda, the city airport! There are always sales. If you go Jetstar would highly recommend spending the extra cash on Jetstar Business for the overnight flight home. They call it business but it is more like premium economy. By the time you add meals, baggage etc in JS economy the extra $$ start to stack up for the homeward bound leg (when you will be most depressed about leaving!). It is also worth considering flying into Tokyo or Osaka and then out of the other.
Rail passes have become a lot more expensive, even with the exchange rate parity. What used to be ~$350 for seven consecutive days across the whole country is now closer to ~$550/pp. The regional passes are worth looking at. JR East and JR Central have some great passes including the Hokuriku Arch Pass which takes you on a north eastern loop from Tokyo to Osaka via Kanazawa & Kyoto. Great if you are booking flights in and out of two airports.
Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto
Accomodation wise, if you are heading to Tokyo without a family, one of the places I have always stayed at is Andon Ryokan. It is in the north west of the city and makes getting to & from Narita via Ueno or Nippori on the Keisei line easy. Also, the more noisy ground floor usually cheaper than the upper floors. The other cheap options for staying in neighbourhoods closer to the centre of the city are business hotels such as the APA. Family sized accomodation is a whole other thing. Read on…
Budget wise I would allow the usual $100-150 a day for food and local travel. I think it is on par with the cost of living in Brisbane or maybe cheaper (these days). The idea that Japan is super expensive is a myth from two decades ago now! I never get cash out until I get there. Just go to a 7-Eleven ATM at the airport and get around $300 cash out to have some on you. These days you can pay for most things with a credit card. I use a Macquarie card for $0 ATM withdrawal fees and have a UP card as a backup (always have a backup!).
Navigation & language is made easy now via your phone with $5 roaming OR an eSIM ( 7L8R7LVV for 20% off), using the Google Translate app to read menus with the camera, and loading up a Suica or Plasmo card on your phone for local transport, convenience stores and vending machines.
Read on for more detail tips…
Transport
AROUND TOKYO:
English signage and ticket machines with translation buttions make it pretty easy. Rather than buying individual journey tickets for each trip, load up a digital IC Suica or Plasmo card on your phone before you leave home. The have stopped selling the old plastic IC cards. The new digital version can be toped up via Apple Pay using most credit or debit cards saved on your phone wallet. See my note in the section above using cards that work with $0 fees overseas. You’ll be able to use the credit on the Japan Rail services, Tokyo Metro, Osaka Metro, many of the private railways such as Keisei and Odakyu, bag lockers, convenience stores, and of the course vending machines.
Tokyo transport summary > Links to all the varying services
Tokyo Metro / Subway > English info + PDF map
JR East > Japan Rail English info. You’ll like ride the above ground circular Yamanote Line a fair bit!
Keisei Line - One of two options to get into Tokyo from Narita Airport. Most direct flights from Australia land int he evening so you want to get to your beed as soon as you can. If you do land early I suggest getting the 'local' Keisei line train. It takes quite a bit longer, but is an amazing introduction to Tokyo.
THE REST OF JAPAN:
One of the JR rail passes may be your best option if you are exploring outside Tokyo. It saves you paying for a ticket for each journey separately. If you are going to do more than a return trip to Kyoto via Shinkansen (~$300/pp), then it generally works out cheaper, and gives you an excuse to go somewhere else you weren't planning to go to. Honesly, there are so many less touristy / more interesting places to go!
Rail passes have become a lot more expensive, even with the exchange rate parity. What used to be ~$350 for seven consecutive days across the whole country is now closer to ~$550/pp. The regional passes are worth looking at. JR East and JR Central have some great passes including the Hokuriku Arch Pass which takes you via a north eastern route from Tokyo to Osaka via Kanazawa & Kyoto.
It is worth reserving seats if you are doing a number of journeys, particularly during peak hours. You can do that at the english speaking JR offices where you swap your prepaid voucher for the official ‘all of Japan’ JR rail pass when you arrive. I usually go to the office at Ueno Station. If you buy a regional pass you dont need swap any vouchers but do need to print out a ‘pass’ ticket.
Important to note that some passes are for consecutive days and some of the regional ones allow ‘off days’ when you don’t use the pass. Need to be strategic about when to activate you pass. It may be better to pay for tickets to or from the airport if you have a few days in a big city before travelling wider.
JR rail pass > covers the whole country with 7 or 14 consecutive day options + network map
Buy it directly which allows you to reserve seats before you go.
Buy it via a third party (simplier website), but you can’t book seats beforehand!
JR East regional passes > work considering given the cost of the full pass. Can also reserve seats online.
In terms of planning routes, looking up timetables, and identifing costs (without a pass), I generally use a combination of the follwing:
Google Maps > beforehand
JR East trip planner > covers outside of the ‘East’ rail company
Hyperdia > good at breaking up the cost of the ticket vs the seat reservation
Tripsy + Apple Maps > on my phone and watch when I get there
Andon Ryokan, Tokyo
Tokyo
Tokyo is the best. We aways end our trip with couple of days to do some shopping so we don’t have to lug it around the country!
If you've never been before spend a good 4-5 days exploring. I highly recommend contacting the Tokyo Free Guide service on your first trip. It's free as you are helping your guide practice their english skills. Just need to pay for their travel tickets, and it's probably nice to shout lunch!
One of our favourite things to do in Tokyo is walk in a single direction. Choose a train station across town 10-15km away and just walk there and expereicne the neighbourhoods of the city along the way.
ACCOMODATION:
We prefer to stay at places outside some of the bigger hubs where a lot of the hotels are centred > talking about places such as Shibuya, Shinkjuku, Omotesando & Ginza. All great places to visit, but it is nicer to stay somewhre a bit more local. Tokyo is of course a city of many many villages!
Some of these neighbourhoods or ‘villages’ that are great are around Yoyogi, Tomigaya, Yanaka, Shimokitazawa, Daikanyama, Ebisu, Hatagaya. Ueno is a bit busier but has a lovely park, zoo and university adjacent.
Over time we’ve taken three approaches to accomodation in Tokyo and sometimes do them in combination. A night or two in a fancy hotel; and then a longer stay in either an AirBnb or a lower key hotel in a nice neighbourhood, which is often further out of once of the city centre hubs.
Fancier places:
The Okura > One of the most famous hotel lobbies in Japan. The original low-rise building was demolished a few years ago, but campaigning lead that much of the internal character being rebuilt to match.
Trunk Yoyogi > in one of our favourite neighbourhoods, Tomigaya, not far for Shibuya. One of the few Tokyo hotels I think with an open air pool.
Muji Ginza > If you are a Muji fan this could be a fun place ot stay. On our list of trying soon.
Less fancy places:
Andon Roykan > in the north west of the city which makes getting to & from Narita via Ueno or Nippori. The more noisy ground floor usually cheaper than the upper floors.
APA > one of a number of cheap ‘business’ hotels used by out of town locals if you want to stay in neighbourhoods closer to the city ‘centres’.
Hanare > In a lovely neighbourhood north of Ueno Park called Yanaka
Ebisuholic > Terrible name, but nice rooms with views over another nice neighbourhood. We stayed here last trip and will probably book it again.
Weird accomodation:
NineHours Capsules > Have a set at Narita airport incase you are flying in late and don’t want to get the train into down.
Airbnb:
We have stayed at a heap of great ones over the years but they tend to come and go, so it is hard to recommend any specifically. Main thing is find a nice neighbourhood to stay (listed below) . Here is a link to our saved list > we haven’t stayed in many of these but it gives you an idea of the sort of thing you can find.
Tonki tonkatsu resturant, Meguro, Toyko
FOOD:
If you don't eat near big western hotels or in a fancy financial district then food should be way cheaper than back in Australia. A couple of favourites below:
Tonki Tonkatsu > near Meguro Metro Station has been operating be the same owners since the 1960. Simple fare in the form of Tonkatsu. Make sure you aren’t seated upstairs.
Ahiru Store > amazing little natural wine bar in Tomigaya
Newport > Same neighbourhood
Kasiki > wine and ice cream shop not too far from Yoyogi. Good for an evening stroll.
Afuri Ramen > chain ramen place, but great. In a few locations.
The Blind Donkey > Excellent produce
Caveman > Went here last trip, was an enjoyable space and meal. Kind of funny location but that’s ok!
Eatrip > I think it is closed now, but was amazing!
NEIGHBOURHOODS:
Below is a list of key districts worth exploring:
Ginza > shopping capital of Tokyo. On weekends the streets are closed off to vehicles.
Omotesando > quickly overtaking Ginza as the place to position your flagship store. There is a list of archi building that are worth seeing in this area in the architecture section that follows.
Meiji Shrine > a great place to escape commerce after your walk down Omotesando Dori (Street).
Harajuku > when your done recovering at Meiji, take a stroll though winding streets of Jarajuku to see some extreme teenage fashion!
Shibuya > this is where all the ‘cool kids’ hang and shop. Make sure you visit a Tokyu Hands . There are also a few large department stores such as Parco and Loft.
Akihabara > Known as ‘electric town’ this area was traditionally the hub of electrinics, video games etc. Worth exploring at night. There is a large Yodobashi Camera store right near the station (also a one in Shinjuku and other large hubs. It really is worth spending some time her eeven if you arent a nerd. About 12 floors of electronics, white goods, cameras, luggage, and one floor that is all TOYS.
Asakusa > originally a village outside Tokyo, Asakusa became an entertainment mecca not unlike Blackpool in the UK or Atlantic City near NYC were locals when to relax, bet on horses, take a ride in roller coaster all while making the pilgrimage to one of Tokyo's most famous temples, Sensoji. Infront of the temple the Nakamise shopping street lined with stalls full of Japanese tourist ticky tacky. Actually worth checking out to do your gift shopping for friends back home. The street you want to find however is called Kappabashi Street which is lined with stores selling amazing dishes, pots, pans, cooking utensils, stoves, tables, chairs, signs, lanterns aimed at restaurant owners, but perfect for visitors!
Daikanyama > Lots of small shops including the famous Hillside Terrace development, but the main drawcard here is the Tsutaya T-Site bookstore.
Nanyodo Architectural Bookshop > worth the trip to if you are an architect / student. Amazing array of new and old books and really well prices – Yasukuni Dori, Jinbocho, Kanda, Tokyo
GA Gallery Bookshop > another for archi nerds. Usually an exhibition happening there as well.
Antique / flea makets > this site has a schedule of where they are happening
Pottery focused markets > another directory
Google Map > We a google map that we have been adding to for a good 15 years. Some stuff may have come and gone, but there is ALOT on there.
Away from Tokyo
I started writing this section as areas ‘close’ to Tokyo then areas ‘further way’ but it jsut got too hard so I put them all together! Some of these are super easy day trips, and some require a fair bit of travel!
Pot Plants of Japan
A lovely little beach side area just south of Yokohama which happens to be just south of Tokyo. While you are there keep an eye out of the surfers in black wetsuits sitting on the boards in flat still water... just hoping for that wave. The other lovely place to visit in Kamakura is the Big Budda and its very large thing/flipflop.
Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil. A hill side area with an amazing shrine / temple complex. Look out for the three monkeys! Plenty of Onsen's to visit here. An onsen if you haven't heard of them before is a hot spring fed bathhouse. Almost all are segregated male or female. You basically get your gear off, wash yourself in the little shower area and enjoy the heated pools inside and outside (sometimes surrounded by snowy hills). It is a great way to get to know the friends you are travelling with!
This is the national park area that surrounds Mt Fuji. Plenty of opportunities for walking, boating in the lake or eating black boiled eggs on the side of the mountains. The eggs become black after being cooked in sulphur waters from the volcano.
About 3hrs north-west of Tokyo by train, this is one of many onsen towns setup as a series of hotels along the river river with male, female and private baths withing. Shibu onsen is known for the foor baths along its main street. Visitors get into a night gown and walk along sitting and chatting in the varous foot baths. Up the hill is one of the locations where you can see snow monkeys in colder months. We stayed here / here when we visited a few years ago.
Amber’s one true love is ceramics, so on a recent trip we went to the annual pottery fair in a regional town called Mashiko. We caught a train then hired a car to get there (2hrs ish). Hiring a car totally opening up anew side of Japan I’d not expereinced before, so highly recommend. Visitng her for a few nights we stayed in a town not too far away that had accomodation in a historic house. Breakfasts and dinners were supplied and well worth the experience. There is even some excellent regional Kengo Kuma a street away!
HOTSPRING RESORTS
A favourie thing to try and do each trip is stay a night in a (usually expensive) hotspring resort. Many you can get to by train and there will be a pickup service from the station (caus fancy). They are super relaxing with various places to bathe, either inside the resort or on the edge of the rivers, but the best part of expereince is the food. A traditional meal of many many many dishes is generally served in your room. A few places we have been to in the past:
Bettei Senjyuan > we drove here, deep up in the hills. Just lovely.
Kokuya Shibu Onsen > the other place we stayed in Shibu Onsen (mentioned above)
Fujiya Ginzan Onsen > similar to Shibu Onsen but typically the sort of place to go in full snowy weather. This place is designed by Kengo Kuma.
Takimikan Ginzan Onsen > the other place we stayed in the same town.
If this is on your kid agenda then consider booking one of the Disney Resort packages where you stay in a hotel adjacent the park. There is a place you can check-in to your hotel at the entry and your bags end up on your room. Disney Sea is a bit better for adults I think. We didn’t stay at a themed hotel, just at the Hilton which is still on the Disney Monorail loop.
If you are a My Neighbour Totoro fan then there are two Ghibli places to visit. The first is museum closer to Tokyo. The second is the ‘theme’ park closer to Nagoya (almost at Kyoto). Tickets for both a sold well in advance, so plan ahead.
Kyoto Machiya
3-4 hrs travel from Tokyo. I've been to Kyoto five times now and have never gone to the same thing twice! In saying that, it is VERY busy with tourism at the moment, so I would consider visiting other regional towns!
Highlights there include Arashiyama, the Fushimi Inari Shrine, Nishiki Food Market, the Ryoanji Temple, and the Kiyomizudera Temple. Bikes are also a pretty awesome way to get around!
Accomodation wise, the last time we stated there we found this fantastic Airbnb in an old traditional townhouse called a 'Machiya'. These traditional hosues are great for families or groups. Other places we have seen friends stay in include this one on the river and this one.
Our favourite restaurant experiencethere is a place called Monk along the ‘philosophers path’.
An amazing smaller town up in the hills known for wood working. The train journey there is fantastic. It is 4-5hrs travel from Tokyo and you can stay in this temple!
Benesse Art Site, Naoshima
A really interesting place for obvious historic reasons, but while you are these, visiting the island of Miyajima is a must, as is eating proper Okonomiyaki.
A bit involved to get here, but totally worth it for the art sites and Setouchi Triennale. If you leave it until later in your trip, you will be all over working out train timetables and connections!
Here is a big list of accomodation on the island. If you can save up the cash the oval rooms of Benesse House are amazing, included the funicular to get up the hill
Benesse Art Site, Naoshima
A good way to get all the value out of the whole of country rail pass is to train down to the very southern tip of the main island. It is a good day trip from Hiroshima and possibly Kyoto if you can make timetables work for you. The volcano is active and you'll often see ash in the gutters in the street. The volcano forms an island in the bay which you can visit and take a soak in the hot foot baths. Not far from Kagoshima is the subtropical island of Yakushima. We've not been there, but it is on the list.
ARCHITECTURE
Naoshima Ferry Terminal, by SANAA
AROUND TOKYO
Architecture Tokyo site with fantastic a Google Map
Our own Google Map has a whole architecture category with GPS plots for a lot of harder to find buildings.
Map of recent Tokyo residential architecture, by Tokyo Architect Alastair Townsend
Tokyo International Forum, by Rafael Vinoly > Massive.
Yoyogi National Gymnasium by Kenzo Tange > Fantastic to walk around.
Basically the entire Omotesando high street (Prado, Todds etc etc.) but make sure you checkout the back streets in this area for some little retail gems.
While you're exploring Asakusa, check out the Tourist Information Centre by Kengo Kuma.
Yokohama International Passenger Terminal > by Foreign Office Architects – A pretty short JR train ride from Tokyo.
T-Site Daikanyama > Klein Dytham Architecture > the first time I visited was during a tour by one of the Architects. During the visit there was an earthquake. Some crazy audio of the experience!
Archi-depot > Museum of architecture models
AWAY FROM TOKYO
Takenaka Carpentry Tool Museum > is worth jumping off the Shinkansen in Shin-Kobe for an hour and walking around the corner to visit.
Antique architectural hardware shop in Osaka > the most amazing and beautivul hinges, door handles, door runners etc
Suzuki House, Tokyo
SPECIAL PILGRIMAGES
Here are a couple places to visit that can be tough to find or involve train + bus + walking... so basically need a day / half day reserved to get to them.
Museum of Wood Culture by Tadao Ando. A big thank you to Louisa Gee and Hellen Norrie for helping me navigate to the place on my trip in 2011. This one involves quite a journey of exact timetable coordination …or just hire a car!
Tama Art University Library, by Toyo Ito is amazing. This one is a bit easier to get to. Just one train and a half hour walk. I guess you could cab, but you see so much more by foot. This place is amazing. You can't take photos upstairs and you kind of need to convince them to let you up (and they will if you say your an architect/student). I have never seen such precise concrete work in all my life. The point at which the arched columns touch the ground is literally 80-100 wide.
The Church of Light by Tadao Ando in Osaka – Note it is only open a couple of days a week and you need to book.
Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito – I've not made it here, but on my list!
Snaps
Other Resources
Below are some links to a few books that I think are worth a read and some other people with wonderful recommendations or guides to help with your research:
Craig Mod > Author / photographer who lives in Japan and has a number of wonderful books, mailing lists and blog posts about the country. He is know for the walks he does and putting together this great resource on walking the Ise-ji along the Kii peninsula .
Jenna Rowe > Sydney architect who has put this awesome PDF guide. Send her a message and she will send you bank details then flick you a copy.
Our Google Map > some stuff on here may have changed as alot was assembled before covid BUT there is a heap of good stuff to dig into. We have been adding to this for a good 15 years. As I say, some stuff may have come and gone, but there is ALOT on there.