Travel Tips: Planning a Trip to Japan

Editor’s note: This post, “Planning a Trip to Japan” was updated in January 2024.

I have traveled to over 60 countries, and I must say Japan has been one of the most intriguing destinations I’ve experienced so far. My love affair with Nippon began over 20 years ago when I was stationed in Okinawa, an island south of the mainland island of Japan.  Given my work schedule and the high exchange rate of the Yen (Japanese currency), I did not have the opportunity to explore mainland Japan back in 2003. As of 2024, I’ve traveled to mainland Japan twice: in 2016, when I was pregnant with my daughter, and in 2022, when I participated in a culinary tour. I finally had the opportunity to fulfill my dream.  If you live in the United States or even Europe, planning a trip to Japan takes a bit of time, but a little forward planning makes it the trip of a lifetime.

Dining Traveler Tips:  Planning a Trip to Japan

Getting There

The easiest part of planning a trip to Japan is getting there.  Americans do not need a visa to enter; the entry process is quite simple, and you have 90 days to enjoy the country.  However, the flight is long and pricey. Plan between $900 – $1,300 for a plane ticket, and you’re looking at a 14 to 10-hour flight if you’re traveling from the continental USA, given you’re flying non-stop.  Flying Dulles (Washington, DC) to Tokyo takes 14+ hours.  Check out my long haul flight essentials post for tips on how to survive the journey.  Although getting there is expensive and time-consuming, don’t get discouraged!  The long trip is worth it!

Traveling within Japan

When planning a trip to Japan, I recommend taking a minimum of ten days to discover the country to be able to experience a handful of cities.  Japan has a great transportation system: the ultra-efficient Shinkansen (high speed rail) system to the abundance of low-cost Japanese carriers (check our guide here) that make it easy to travel around the country.  In our case, we flew a low-cost carrier, Skymark, to Kobe for $100 per person from Tokyo the day after our arrival in the country and worked our way back to Tokyo via Shinkansen.  As I was planning ahead, I found the train system website to be quite confusing. However, I was told by other travelers not to worry as it was quite easy to purchase tickets at the train station. 

We traveled from Kobe to Kyoto to Tokyo via high-speed train, and it was easy to book at the station.  The high-speed rail is ultra-modern, comfortable, and affordable.  It ruined me… I never want to ride on an Amtrak again! Highly recommend you buy an international data plan for your trip, as Google Maps and Translate got us to the places we needed to be much easier! I am a big fan of my T-Mobile Simple Choice Plan which allows me 5g data and free texts while I am traveling with no additional cost to my plan.

Where to Go in Japan

There are so many places to see in Japan that one trip doesn’t cut it (unless you’re lucky to stay the full 90 days!).  I recommend thinking about the theme of your trip. Is it food? Is it culture? Is it shopping? That determines which cities will suit you best.  In our case, we really wanted to experience the food and culture.  We started small at Kobe, moved to a larger city, Kyoto, and concluded our adventure in Tokyo.  Both the Dutchman and I agreed that Japan can be sensory overload: the lights, the crowds, the unknown language… We’re glad we started in a small city like Kobe and worked our way to Tokyo.

I regret not making it to Osaka, but we agreed that a three-city itinerary was perfect for a 10-day trip.  I ended up going on a solo trip to Osaka in 2022 and loved every minute of it.  People asked which was my favorite city in Japan. I  say Kobe to the surprise of others.  It’s a smaller city; we barely saw any Westerners, and it gave us a glimpse of quotidian Japanese living. Other cities/places readers recommend:  Nagoya, Nagano, Hokkaido, and of course, my beloved Okinawa. A website I found useful was Japan-Guide.com,   it has a lot of tips of what to see at each city.

Where to Stay in Japan

When I was planning my trip to Japan, we toyed with the idea of staying at a Ryokan (traditional Japanese guest house) or a hotel.  In the end, we went for hotels in all of our three stops. A Ryokan offers traditional Japanese rooms where guests have tatami mats and futons, which means you’re sleeping very close to the floor.  Also, the rooms in our price range were quite small.  During this trip, I was 4.5 months pregnant and was looking for a little more comfort and let’s not forget the Dutchman is 6’9”.  However, we did end up booking Japanese-owned hotels in each city:  Okura Kobe, Sakura Gallery Terrace in Kyoto, Park Hotel in Tokyo, and Hotel Chinzanso Tokyo.  I believe this gave us a unique glimpse of Japanese hospitality. We loved how every room had pajamas and slippers, generous amounts of toiletries, and an unlimited supply of tea!  Dining Traveler Tip:  Although my favorite booking site is Booking.com, I recommend doing a price comparison with Agoda.com, as it usually has better prices for Asian properties.

Planning a Budget for your Trip to Japan

Traveling in Japan can be pricey.  For a quality hotel, look to spend $175 a night or more in the smaller cities.  In Tokyo, $225+.  At this time (January 2024) the dollar is very strong to the Yen, so you may find some good deals. We did find the food to be not only of great quality but affordable.  One of the recommendations I got was to explore the food courts of the metro stations and department stores. These are not your typical American “food courts”. There, you can find everything from sushi to tempura to ramen, exquisitely made.  We had some great quality meals below several underground stations.  That was one of my favorite parts, especially at dinner time. Being in a crowded, anonymous Izakaya with a combination of young students, salarymen in their suits, and us, the Dutchrican couple trying to decipher the menu with Google Translate.

Impressions

Having lived in Asia (Okinawa and Seoul) for almost two years combined and traveling across the region, I find it to be a bit overwhelming sometimes, even for a seasoned traveler like me.  I attribute it mostly to the language barrier, despite the abundance of teaching English in Japan jobs now available in the country.  Although I can say  basic pleasantries in both Japanese and Korean, it can be a bit intimidating to enter a restaurant where there’s no English menu and the staff cannot communicate with you. 

The reality is that you will encounter many of these places, even in the large cities (usually those are the places with really good food!).  The beauty is that once I get over the fear, I love the exchange with a chef or a waitress, the smiles, their patience, and most importantly, how they genuinely care if you enjoyed the meal or not.  That’s the true magic of Japan: the people.  It’s not only a place where the ancient and the modern magically collide but also a place where you will experience unparalleled hospitality.  I truly hope to be able to return soon and explore other regions, especially in the north of the country.  Are you planning a trip to Japan?  Where are you headed to?