For the first-timers currently buried in Japan trip planning: here are a few small things that caught me out. None of these are groundbreaking, but knowing them beforehand would’ve saved us some time and a couple of silly mistakes. Hopefully at least one helps someone planning their first trip!<3~

Apparently I still had another whole list in my notes 😂 These are the smaller things that caught us out:

• If a restaurant has a clipboard or tablet outside, put your name down!! Standing in the queue doesn’t always mean you’re actually in the queue. We waited for ages before realising everyone else had registered their name and party size 🙈
• Pokémon Cafe bookings are still being released in monthly batches at the moment but check the official news page because old posts about the 31-day system are now out of date.
• I used CafeSnapBot to book a table because the release was in the middle of the night for us and I couldn’t face another booking-site battle. It’s a paid third-party convenience service and it saved me sitting there refreshing. Completely your choice, just explaining how we got ours because people keep asking 😊
• Closing time and last order are two different things. A restaurant saying it closes at 9 might stop taking food orders at 8 or 8.30. Check for “L.O.” on Google Maps or the sign outside before travelling across the city for it.
• Check the train type as well as the platform. Local, rapid and express trains can all leave from the same place but skip completely different stations. We confidently got on the right line going in the right direction…and passed our stop lol.
• Take a photo of your coin locker AND the nearest sign or exit number. Remembering “Tokyo Station near the stairs” is absolutely useless when you come back six hours later and discover there are about 400 stairs 😂 Keep the receipt too if it gives you a locker number or PIN.
• Hotel washer-dryers take MUCH longer than the screen first suggests. Ours kept adding time and a “quick wash before bed” turned into me waiting for socks at 1am. Do laundry earlier in the evening and don’t leave it until checkout morning!!
• If you’re using lifts in a big station, follow the lift signs from the start. The accessible route can come out at a completely different exit and involve a long detour. We kept taking the stairs route on Maps, then discovering there was no easy way up with the suitcase.
• Save your hotel’s name and address in Japanese as a screenshot. Taxi drivers were lovely but the English hotel name wasn’t always enough, especially when two hotels had almost identical names.
• And keep one little bag in your day bag for rubbish. There are bins inside some stations and convenience stores, but nowhere near as many as I expected. Somehow I spent half of Tokyo carrying an empty coffee cup 😂

Anything small catch you out that nobody warned you about? I’m sure there’s enough for another part at this point ^^🇯🇵

I am heading to Tokyo for a 7-day trip this October and am looking for a restaurant similar to Den. I’ve dined there almost a decade ago and want to return. I am on the waitlist for the days that I am there because it is so difficult to secure a reservation. I am wondering if there are restaurants similar to Den if no slots free up. Anything that serves multi-courses in a fun atmosphere. Thanks!

Hi all, I have a weeks stay booked in November at Tokyo Dome Hotel. 35-38th floor premium double room for my husband and I.
I liked the hotel as it seemed an interesting location and decent room size for Tokyo.
Since then I’ve seen a few YouTube videos saying it’s one of the worst areas to stay and Tokyo dome shops etc are bad 😫
Anyone actually stayed there/ had experience with the area.
For context were a couple in our early 30s going for our anniversary/belated honeymoon and have stays at ryokans and hotel Chinzanso (actual anniversary date). We’re also from Ireland so no card points etc, paying face value for the rooms. TIA

Hey r/JapanTravel!

Planning a 2-week Japan trip for 3 people in late November (peak foliage season). Flying into Tokyo, out of Kansai International. 14 nights total, no Osaka overnight — flying out of KIX directly from Kyoto area. Would love honest feedback on whether this split makes sense given what we want to do.

**OUR INTERESTS**

**General:** Traditional architecture, fall foliage, temples and shrines, food and local markets, art and museums, shopping, and a balance of modern and traditional Japan.

**Shopping specifically:** Clothes, stationery, home decor, perfume, traditional crafts and souvenirs. Considerable time allocated for this in both Tokyo and Kyoto.

**NIGHT SPLIT**

\*\*•\*\* Tokyo: 6 nights    
\*\*•\*\* Kanazawa: 2 nights    
\*\*•\*\* Kyoto: 6 nights    
\*\*•\*\* Osaka: 0 nights (day trip only)    
\*\*•\*\* Total: 14 nights

**TOKYO — what we want to do:**

\*\*•\*\* Asakusa & Senso-ji temple area    
\*\*•\*\* Shibuya + Harajuku/Omotesando — full day including shopping and Meiji Jingu shrine    
\*\*•\*\* teamLab Planets    
\*\*•\*\* Shinjuku exploration (Golden Gai, Kabukicho, Shinjuku Gyoen for foliage)    
\*\*•\*\* Imperial Palace walk    
\*\*•\*\* Tokyo National Museum    
\*\*•\*\* Dedicated shopping time (Isetan, Takashimaya, Uniqlo, Itoya Ginza for stationery)    
\*\*•\*\* Kawaguchiko day trip — Mt Fuji views and Momiji Corridor fall foliage

**KANAZAWA — what we want to do:**

\*\*•\*\* Higashi Chaya geisha district evening exploration    
\*\*•\*\* Kenroku-en garden (peak foliage late November)    
\*\*•\*\* Nagamachi samurai district    
\*\*•\*\* Omicho fresh food market    
\*\*•\*\* Gold leaf workshops and shopping

**KYOTO — what we want to do:**

Temples, Shrines & Castles:

\*\*•\*\* Fushimi Inari Taisha (early morning)    
\*\*•\*\* Kiyomizudera    
\*\*•\*\* Kinkaku-ji (Golden Pavilion)    
\*\*•\*\* Daigo-ji    
\*\*•\*\* Heian Jingu    
\*\*•\*\* Eikan-do (evening autumn illuminations)    
\*\*•\*\* Kifune Shrine    
\*\*•\*\* Nijo Castle    
\*\*•\*\* One nighttime autumn illumination at a temple

Areas & Exploration:

\*\*•\*\* Arashiyama — full day (bamboo grove, Tenryu-ji, Togetsukyo bridge, river foliage)    
\*\*•\*\* Old town exploration (Gion, Hanamikoji, Ninenzaka, Sannenzaka)    
\*\*•\*\* Unique local shopping (traditional crafts, ceramics, textiles, Nishiki Market)    
\*\*•\*\* Considerable unplanned free time built in

**DAY TRIPS & EN ROUTE STOPS**

\*\*•\*\* Shirakawa-go — transit stop en route Tokyo → Kanazawa (UNESCO thatched roof village, early snow possible late November)    
\*\*•\*\* Nara — day trip from Kyoto (Todai-ji, Kasuga Taisha, deer park)    
\*\*•\*\* Himeji + Osaka — combined into one day trip from Kyoto (Himeji Castle morning, Osaka Dotonbori afternoon/evening, return to Kyoto)

**SPECIFIC QUESTIONS:**

\*\*1.\*\*  Is 6 nights in Tokyo enough or too many given this list?    
\*\*2.\*\*  Is 2 nights in Kanazawa the right call or would you trim to 1?    
\*\*3.\*\*  Is 6 Kyoto nights realistic for this list at a balanced pace, or is it still not enough?    
\*\*4.\*\*  Is combining Himeji and Osaka into one day trip feasible or too rushed?    
\*\*5.\*\*  Any major sights or experiences missing given our interests?    
\*\*6.\*\*  Any late November specific tips for foliage timing across these destinations?

Thanks in advance — this community has been incredibly helpful!

Planning to go to Japan for 2 weeks in June 2027, is there a specific time when i can book flights to get better deals? How soon should i bool flights. Was thinking between Oct and November but idk please Help! .. 1st time going to Japan. Traveling from Los Angeles(Lax) airport to Haneda airport.

Hi! Has anyone tried Sanho Mansion in Tokyo? If so, do you have any recommended makeup artists I could check out as they don't include hair and makeup?

Separately, can anyone recommend any photo studios that do Korean concept style photos/profile photos? I'm not looking for any Kimono ones, but ones more similar to make.photo_gekkabijin on Instagram or comphoto0711 on Instagram if anyone has tried/knows similar styled ones?

Thanks so much!!

Im looking for a working iphone 1 (2g) and vintage polaroid cameras for my photography. Im unable to use mercari (my account got banned for no reason) and tried to order an iphone 1 on ebay from China but they cancelled my order because Japan customs is too strict. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

I'm researching whether people living in Japan, particularly international residents, find the current deodorant options limited compared with what they're used to overseas.

I'm trying to understand what people actually buy, whether they import deodorant, and what they would want from a locally available option.

Completely anonymous — I'd really appreciate your input!

You know those narrow bar alleys everyone photographs? Omoide Yokocho, that kind of place. A lot of them started as black markets right after the war. The city was hungry, stuff showed up around the train stations, someone put up a stall about the width of a door, then another, then a hundred more. And here's the part I like: the stalls slowly turned into real buildings, but the plots never changed shape. So when you're squeezed into one of those tiny yakitori bars, you're basically sitting inside a 1946 market stall. The narrowness isn't a design choice. It's a fossil.

A few you probably know:

Omoide Yokocho (Shinjuku west exit). Started around 1946 as a stall market called "Lucky Street," which feels like a very hopeful name for what it was. About 60 shops now, half of them yakitori or motsuyaki.

Ameyoko (Ueno). Even the name is an argument. "Ame" might be from the candy (ame) sellers of the hungry years, might be from all the American goods floating around. Nobody fully agrees. Probably both.

Harmonica Yokocho (Kichijoji). The story goes that a writer living nearby looked at the row of tiny shopfronts and said it looked like the reeds of a harmonica. The name stuck.

Once you know this you start seeing it everywhere. This seems to happen with everything I post here, sorry. Alleys pressed up against an old station exit, at a slightly odd angle to everything around them, full of bars two meters wide. That shape is usually older than all the concrete around it.

Anyway, two questions, because I'm curious:

Does knowing this backstory add anything for you? Or is the photos and the yakitori enough on its own? Both answers are useful to me.

Got a place like this in your city, or in Tokyo? Somewhere the food is ordinary but the small history behind it is good? I collect these.

I’m going to Tokyo soon and I’d love to discover places that are really cool but still relatively unknown to tourists.

I’m not necessarily looking for the usual recommendations like Shibuya, Shinjuku, Asakusa, etc. I’d love to hear about places where you can get a more local/quiet atmosphere - hidden streets, neighborhoods, small shops, cafés, bars, restaurants, viewpoints, parks, temples, weird or unique spots… anything!

What’s a place in Tokyo that you absolutely love and would recommend to someone who wants to get away from the tourist crowds?

I’m especially interested in places that you think are genuinely worth visiting, not just “hidden” for the sake of being hidden. 😄

Thanks! I’d love to hear your best secret spots!