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Busy Bee posted:How bad is traveling during Golden Week? I have a friend arriving to Japan on the first week of May and wants to take the Shinkansen to Kyoto on Thursday, May 2nd or Friday, May 3rd. Tickets for the non-reserved cars don't ever sell out. During GW it is extra crowded (over 180% capacity in 2023) so even if he waits the hour+ on the platform to get a seat in the non-reserved, he'll likely have someone standing next to him in the aisle the whole time and have to push through like 50 people to use the bathroom. Not a wonderful shinkansen experience but not impossible either.
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Feb 9, 2024 22:02
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Please mail your suitcases or make a suitcase reservation when buying shink tickets.
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Feb 9, 2024 23:13
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peanut posted:Please mail your suitcases or make a suitcase reservation when buying shink tickets. From experience, that still won’t keep people from piling theirs in. We might do a day trip by Shinkansen in GW, would have to get reservations for that soon.
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Feb 11, 2024 11:42
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I was originally planning to go to Japan in late May, but then I noticed that Tokyo DisneySea is set to open a new area on June 6: https://www.tokyodisneyresort.jp/en/topics/info/fantasysprings.html The next possible time would be the last two weeks of June - how bad of an idea would it be to visit that place so soon after opening? The other possibilities would be September or November - what's Japan weather like then? The other important outdoor activities I was looking at are Rabbit Island and Nagasaki Bio Park: https://www.biopark.co.jp/en/
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Feb 12, 2024 04:19
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In general any amusement park will be super slammed for the first couple of months after opening and half the rides will be broken.
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Feb 12, 2024 04:23
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I'd do November for sure. Crisp and cool, fall leaves, typhoons unlikely. June is rainy season, September is likely to be almost as stifling as August. Plus typhoons.
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Feb 12, 2024 04:24
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Cockmaster posted:I was originally planning to go to Japan in late May, but then I noticed that Tokyo DisneySea is set to open a new area on June 6: Do you really have to go to DisneySea? Potentially Disneyland could be less busy than usual during the Fantasy Springs opening.
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Feb 12, 2024 05:08
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Cockmaster posted:I was originally planning to go to Japan in late May, but then I noticed that Tokyo DisneySea is set to open a new area on June 6: Late June is usually the start of rainy season, so you either have either pouring rain or horrid muggy heat or both every day. I actually went to the Biopark November 2022 and the weather was great.
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Feb 12, 2024 06:21
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Cockmaster posted:The other possibilities would be September or November - what's Japan weather like then? The other important outdoor activities I was looking at are Rabbit Island and Nagasaki Bio Park: November should be fine, it’s before there’s any snow in the cities. It was low 60s to mid 70s F in Tokyo around Halloween last year, even if it’s a little cooler that makes it good hoodie or light jacket weather. Also, just for confirmation, you’re aware how far away those three locations are from each other, right? BioPark especially is kind of in the boonies.
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Feb 12, 2024 12:06
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Are there any places you all might recommend that would be good for an out of the city day trip near Tokyo? I got recommended potentially Hakone but I think I kind of wanna be a little closer..something to just have maybe a hike or a more chill experience than walking around big buildings every day. Also I dunno if hiking is good in July to be honest haha.
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Feb 12, 2024 15:58
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Good Listener posted:Are there any places you all might recommend that would be good for an out of the city day trip near Tokyo? I got recommended potentially Hakone but I think I kind of wanna be a little closer..something to just have maybe a hike or a more chill experience than walking around big buildings every day. Also I dunno if hiking is good in July to be honest haha. Kamakura Close to Tokyo, all sorts of temples, no high buildings, next to the ocean. The Daibutsu hiking trail is short and sadly the amazing terrace on it closed down, but there are half a dozen different loops you can add if you want to walk more.
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Feb 12, 2024 16:07
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BioTech posted:Kamakura I was actually thinking of checking out Kamakura and Enoshima on our way back from Numazu. Will def look into it more since they look pretty close to each other and might be able to do both in a day before going back to our hotel in Kamata.
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Feb 12, 2024 16:20
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There are also mountains with hiking trails on the western edge of Tokyo province. Mt. Takao is the most popular one.
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Feb 12, 2024 18:54
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I went to Nikko during obon (mid August), but in ridiculous heavy rain, and thanks to the rain it was empty, cool temperature, and not even the mosquitoes were able to fly. A+++ would deliberately choose rainy days.
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Feb 12, 2024 23:44
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Nikko is a bit farther, and takes a couple changes of trains, so if you can find either a direct highway bus or car it'd be much easier. I've been looking at what to do when family visits again this year, that's why it's on my mind. Kamakura is pretty great, just absolutely take the train there and not a car. the little Enoshima Enoden train line runs between the different spots you'd want to hit, and goes from either Fujisawa or Kamakura station to get back to civilization. Enoshima and Kamakura would be a fun full day.
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Feb 13, 2024 01:19
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Kawagoe in Saitama.
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Feb 13, 2024 01:27
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bee posted:Do you really have to go to DisneySea? Potentially Disneyland could be less busy than usual during the Fantasy Springs opening. The plan was, one day at Tokyo Disneyland and one day and DisneySea. I'm mainly interested in the stuff that's not copied from the US parks, and it looks like much of that is in DisneySea (such as the Tangled boat ride that's part of the new area). harperdc posted:November should be fine, it’s before there’s any snow in the cities. It was low 60s to mid 70s F in Tokyo around Halloween last year, even if it’s a little cooler that makes it good hoodie or light jacket weather. Would Thanksgiving affect anything? It appears Japan also has a holiday called "Thanksgiving" on November 23, but it's completely different from American Thanksgiving. And yes, my plan was to take the Shinkansen from Tokyo to just outside Rabbit Island and then on to Nagasaki (which also requires transferring to a different train, as I recall.
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Feb 13, 2024 02:55
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Mister Chief posted:Kawagoe in Saitama. the Koedo section of it, specifically
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Feb 13, 2024 02:59
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Cockmaster posted:Would Thanksgiving affect anything? It appears Japan also has a holiday called "Thanksgiving" on November 23, but it's completely different from American Thanksgiving. Nah, it’s just a day off. It’s not the family travel holiday it is in the States (those are Golden Week, Obon in summer, and New Year’s).
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Feb 13, 2024 03:41
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Anybody know a personal stylist in Japan that can take me shopping to pick out cool and fashionable clothes for me to try on, while keeping the receipt to show customs for the tax return?
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Feb 13, 2024 04:57
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peanut posted:I went to Nikko during obon (mid August), but in ridiculous heavy rain, and thanks to the rain it was empty, cool temperature, and not even the mosquitoes were able to fly. A+++ would deliberately choose rainy days. A highlight of my last trip to Nikko was getting absolutely bucketed on right when we started the iroha road (on motorcycles, and you can't turn around).
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Feb 13, 2024 05:38
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Cheese Thief posted:Anybody know a personal stylist in Japan that can take me shopping to pick out cool and fashionable clothes for me to try on, while keeping the receipt to show customs for the tax return? Can't help you with the first part but as long as you have your passport with you and show it at the counter any purchase above 5000yen (I think) will be tax free. If you're into denim Japan is probably the best place in the world for it. Ameyoko in Ueno is great if you're in Tokyo (has great izakaya etc too)
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Feb 13, 2024 08:00
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field balm posted:Can't help you with the first part but as long as you have your passport with you and show it at the counter any purchase above 5000yen (I think) will be tax free. …if the shop is a Tax Free shop. Not all are.
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Feb 13, 2024 09:33
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harperdc posted:…if the shop is a Tax Free shop. Not all are. Fair enough! Never had an issue but I don't really buy poo poo except for clothes and second hand media lol
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Feb 13, 2024 10:45
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harperdc posted:Nikko is a bit farther, and takes a couple changes of trains, so if you can find either a direct highway bus or car it'd be much easier. I've been looking at what to do when family visits again this year, that's why it's on my mind. I don't think we have any plans to drive in Japan so it's good to know that getting around on the trains there will be a easy sounding experience. The only thing is figuring out what to do with luggage. I've heard of luggage forwarding services, could we have them get our stuff in Numazu and take it to our hotel in Kamata? Or would we be better off just having it around us all day?
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Feb 13, 2024 15:05
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Cockmaster posted:Would Thanksgiving affect anything? It appears Japan also has a holiday called "Thanksgiving" on November 23, but it's completely different from American Thanksgiving. Went to Universal Studios Japan on November 23, 2023, and it was pretty slammed. It is a day off, so it's more like a weekend day than anything chill. Really glad we had bought express passes or we wouldn't have been able to ride much at all.
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Feb 14, 2024 00:54
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Cheese Thief posted:Anybody know a personal stylist in Japan that can take me shopping to pick out cool and fashionable clothes for me to try on, while keeping the receipt to show customs for the tax return? Unfortunately, I don't think the rent-a-girlfriend services accept foreigners.
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Feb 14, 2024 01:02
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DannyHibiki posted:Went to Universal Studios Japan on November 23, 2023, and it was pretty slammed. It is a day off, so it's more like a weekend day than anything chill. Really glad we had bought express passes or we wouldn't have been able to ride much at all. This was my experience as well, we went on what was the last day of the school holidays in January and it was absolutely packed. We still had a great time, but we spent about 24,000Y per person to get express passes, this was in addition to the park entry. If we hadn't of bought this we would have only gotten to go on one or two rides the entire day and would not have gotten into Harry Potter and Super Nintendo world because it was SO busy. So if you go on a busy day and don't want to be stuck in a queue for the majority of the time you're there, you're going to have to pay. Book your express pass as far in advance as you can as well, because then you have more options into the combo of rides/times you can enter different parts of the park.
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Feb 14, 2024 02:26
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Good Listener posted:I don't think we have any plans to drive in Japan so it's good to know that getting around on the trains there will be a easy sounding experience. The only thing is figuring out what to do with luggage. I've heard of luggage forwarding services, could we have them get our stuff in Numazu and take it to our hotel in Kamata? Or would we be better off just having it around us all day? It's always worth it to mail your suitcases. Your hotel might be able to arrange it with Sagawa/Yamato, or you can just take your whole suitcase into a post office or (most national chain convenience stores). If you're doing Kamata → Numazu → Kamata you can also ask the hotel to hold your big bags during your side trip.
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Feb 14, 2024 04:10
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peanut posted:It's always worth it to mail your suitcases. Your hotel might be able to arrange it with Sagawa/Yamato, or you can just take your whole suitcase into a post office or (most national chain convenience stores). I'll definitely look into that because yea I could bring a smaller bag for just the 2 day journey and all. Thanks for the help and suggestions!
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Feb 14, 2024 05:20
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peanut posted:It's always worth it to mail your suitcases. Your hotel might be able to arrange it with Sagawa/Yamato, or you can just take your whole suitcase into a post office or (most national chain convenience stores). I don’t know if this is a common thing, but we had a real hassle shipping our bags from Tokyo to Kyoto. The reception at the hotel in Tokyo absolutely would not ship it to the station or to a shop in Kyoto ("they might steal it" which seems unlikely), and we were staying at a private house in Kyoto, which meant someone would have to be there to take delivery, which would be at a very approximate time of day. I would have been happy shipping it to the closest 7/11, but she absolutely would not. We were able to give the delivery guy the door code for the private foyer of the house and s/he dropped it off there contactless, but this whole thing took probably an hour of back and forth on the day of shipping and day of arrival altogether. It was super nice for our niche case use (spending a night on Fuji between Tokyo and Kyoto), but for normal point to point hotels I would definitely always just reserve a bag spot on the Shinkansen and bring it with me. If you just avoid being on local public transport during rush hour then it’s no big deal with a suitcase or backpack. Maybe if I were traveling as a solo adult with two kids I’d ship a bag, but for adults / older kids, the trouble of shipping seems greater than the trouble of rolling a suitcase. YMMV. Switzerland offers the exact same service and I’ve never heard of anyone using it except during ski season. Also what’s the minimum shipment time? We had 44 hours in between, but that was by choice.
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Feb 14, 2024 10:44
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Saladman posted:Also what’s the minimum shipment time? We had 44 hours in between, but that was by choice.
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Feb 14, 2024 10:54
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If I see you bringing your suitcase on the bus I will throw it out the door.
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Feb 14, 2024 12:22
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Absolutely, those people who take their bags to the airport instead of shipping their luggage are so rude, lmao. Just FedEx your bags to/from with a courier, it'll only cost like $500 on each end of the trip, and then you don't have to worry about potentially causing mild inconvenience to other people in case you happen to take a bus to/from your destination during a busy time of day. Your luggage might also spontaneously combust and destroy the bus, which would be another serious faux pas.
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Feb 14, 2024 14:19
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Like really the only stretch with our luggage moving much of anywhere would be like..Haneda to our hotel in Kamata (which is a like 15 or 20 min train ride, if that), Kamata to Numazu and back. Worse comes to worst, we could store it at a coin locker area or something in Kamakura for the day then pick it up on the way back to Kamata?
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Feb 14, 2024 15:05
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Trains with suitcases are fine, just try to look for spots near the doors where you can stand with the luggage more out of the way. Nobody puts poo poo on the luggage racks on non-Shinkansen trains. however, Charles 2 of Spain posted:If I see you bringing your suitcase on the bus I will throw it out the door. city buses are not built for that life. key point of comparison difference: you can walk into a train car with an open baby stroller, but that would not work (or take up the full width of the floorspace) in most city buses. This rule goes triple for Kyoto, where it seems like everybody only uses the buses to go from tourist spot to tourist spot. Saladman posted:Absolutely, those people who take their bags to the airport instead of shipping their luggage are so rude, lmao. Just FedEx your bags to/from with a courier, it'll only cost like $500 on each end of the trip, and then you don't have to worry about potentially causing mild inconvenience to other people in case you happen to take a bus to/from your destination during a busy time of day. Your luggage might also spontaneously combust and destroy the bus, which would be another serious faux pas. settle down, Beavis, that's not the point.
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Feb 14, 2024 15:35
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I asked a hotel (Mystays, an average no frills business hotel) to hold my suitcase for 4 days between legs of my trip and it was fine.
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Feb 14, 2024 15:36
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Just LOL if you bring luggage on vacation. What? Are you poors who don't just buy everything you need once you arrive and then toss it in the trash before flying home? Do you even know how to vacation?
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Feb 14, 2024 16:40
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Waltzing Along posted:Just LOL if you bring luggage on vacation. What? Are you poors who don't just buy everything you need once you arrive and then toss it in the trash before flying home? Do you even know how to vacation? I do but because I never buy off the rack like a filthy poor, all my clothes are bespoke and hand sewn and it takes a few days to have them all made. Luckily I can just hire people to walk around me while I am naked on the streets, and they block the peasants from being able to see me.
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Feb 14, 2024 17:18
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harperdc posted:that's not the point. Then, uh, what is the point? Anyone with luggage in places that are not serviced by metros/trains should either use taxis, or use point-to-point shipping? It's a really nice option to have but it's not always practical or convenient, and it's expensive if you're moving around a lot. Unless someone is going with 2 oversize suitcases I don't really see the issue, it's not like a suitcase really takes up any more space than a groceries shopping bag. I have recently been on buses in Kyoto, since the metro system there is only adequate.
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Feb 14, 2024 17:18
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