And you can do it too!
After years of dreaming about a trip to Japan, passing it over in selecting my vacation destinations, I am finally going to make that daunting trip and see what this mysterious country has to offer. I’ve chosen less expensive and more accessible locations time and time again, mostly in fear of the unknown that could await me in Japan. However, as a lifelong fan of video games, anime, and severe culture shock, it was only a matter of time until I made this trip.
You’d be lying to me if you told me you had no interest in traveling there as well, in fact, I doubt you’d be wasting your time reading this post if there wasn’t even a grain of interest in making the trip yourself someday. I have scoured travel books, YouTube and videos, and spoken to people with great tips and I this the most important info I’ve found so far. Through my own preparation and adventuring I want to show that you can definitely make the trip too.
I want to make it clear that during this post, I haven’t been to Japan! I am only a person that has travelled Japan through what Yakuza 4 has offered to me in terms of virtual tourism. I want to share my excitement of preparing to leave and my mindset before I get there, only with the hindsight of my future posts during the trip will I be able to confirm if I planned accordingly. Isn’t that exciting!?
Choose a trip time
Being on the other side of the globe, the majority of my expenses in this trip will be the cost of flight; my two-way tickets cost me about $1300. Don’t let the ever-changing cost of flight during particular times bother you selecting your timeframe of travel. The cost will differ by only a couple hundred dollars at max. Instead, choose a time to visit in terms of what you want to do and what you want to see. Let Google Flights do the rest in assisting you select the cheapest tickets. Winter is known as an easy time to travel without fellow tourists to battle in your journey. Just understand that snow and cold weather will limit the amount of time you can truly stay outside and I’m sure you don’t want to spend an entire vacation avoiding the elements. I’m from the Midwest and the last place I want to travel during the winter would be to a destination with similarly punishing weather. On the flip side, summers in Japan are known for being particularly hot and rainy; if that’s something you thrive in, all the power to you. Plants, trees, and flowers will be in full bloom and I’m certain the world will be alive and inviting. I’ve chosen to travel early April in order to see the cherry blossoms, but I’ll be leaving just before Golden Week, an increasingly popular time of tourism in late April, hits in full force. I’ve always enjoyed wearing pants and sweatshirts during my trips, and with the weather fluctuating between 50–70 degrees during this time, Spring was a no brainer for me to choose. Fall also seems to be an excellent time of the year to make the trip since the weather is very fair during that time of the year. Since the Japanese treat their green spaces and nature with the utmost respect, the changing leaves will surely present countless photo opportunities.
Pick a destination (or two)
Tokyo is the obvious choice amongst many tourists, BUT! understand the enormity of this city. 13.5 million people live here and that means I’m expecting to be totally taken off guard by the speed that this city moves at. I’m a man looking for tranquility and attention to details in everyday life, which I know I’ll find, but when there are hoards of people packing all sidewalks and parks, I’ll be looking forward to my next destination, which is Osaka. Osaka is a much smaller city, however it’s also quite large by its own accounts. My fellow travelers and I plan to use this as a home base to make trips to the more rural destinations in the country and we will be making a day trip to… which is… Kyoto! Another popular destination, home to countless temples and ancient a look into ancient Japan, however I hear that the blossoming city has taken over the quiet that the city was always know for. I won’t go in-depth on what these locations each has to offer as there are many other resources out there, such as a simple wikipedia search, in order to determine what is special about them. I only wish to make the point that you should attempt to include a quieter city in your itinerary, if only to see what the Japan offers in the countryside once you leave the urban sprawl behind. I’ve got a laundry list of spots that I plan to see, however outside of the specific destinations I need to get to, I’m going to absorb the culture and get lost. We all have so many maps and apps these days to keep us on point these days; I’m hoping to get lost a little bit and see what happens. I’ll resort to Google Maps if I get too far off the path.
Travel with people
I’ll be staying for just over two weeks, which is a lot of time to ask off for work but since airfare is so costly, my goal is to make that expense count. I’ll be traveling with three other guys and we have reservations in three different AirBNB apartments, (and one capsule hotel!) which decreases lodging costs by an enormous amount. We’ve chosen spots that will be easily accessible by train at all times, staying away from the busiest spots as the price goes up the closer you get to them. Capsule hotels are a moderately priced stay that does fill up on bookings from time to time, but is known for providing a last-minute beds for travelers that need to alter their plans or for businessmen that miss the last train home. I’m doing it for the strange appeal of the coffin beds. As a particularly tall human, I’m sure they’ll really suck to sleep in. The Japanese don’t always sleep on full beds, opting for mattresses that can be easily packed away to clear up room and many of our AirBNB destinations have fantastic looking mats to look forward to.
Packing stuff
I’ve been analyzing countless recommendations for what to travel with for luggage and there is no clear answer to this. I’d say you travel with only what you can fit in a moderately-sized backpack, which is a way I’ve travelled domestically and internationally for years. Since so many of the places I’m staying at have washers and dryers available, I’m planning to take a minimal amount of clothes with, enough for about 5–6 days so that I can shove everything into a backpack and avoid having to put my faith into the airlines as to not lose my checked luggage. I even plan to buy some of my toiletries while there as to reduce my load during initial travel. Since I’ll be traveling with all of my stuff from Tokyo to Osaka a couple times, I don’t want to have to lug a bunch of stuff during my time of homelessness while abroad. If I can fit it on my back and run to chase after a train I’m about to miss, I’m a happy man. I’ll also bring a small camera bag with me to house my mirrorless camera. If you’re going with intent to buy a lot of the trinkets that the Japanese have to offer, (after all, they are obsessed with collecting trinkets,) you may want to check a suitcase because I’m sure your action figures, novelty t-shirts, and rare video games won’t fit in that moderately-sized backpack.
Buy a rail pass
If you like the idea of traveling between cities, you’re going to want a rail pass to travel the Shinkansen, (the bullet train.) Instead of paying for about $150 per trip, you’ll have a pass that’s available for 7 (or 14 days) for less that the price of 2, one-way tickets. The JR Pass is the apparently the way to go and that’s what I’ll be using to get around.
Learn some Japanese phrases
I first set out to learn Japanese, or at least to possible start. That lasted for about three days. Now I’m setting out to learn some simple Japanese phrases to improve my ability to be polite to people, since I am after all from Minnesota and the last thing I want to do is be rude. I’ve downloaded this app, and hopefully the hellos, thank yous, excuse mes that I learn will be enough to initiate English with those that I can do so with, (or at least to make small conversation around the moments of me pointing at pictures and complicated kanji on menus.)
Wait until the day of departure
This last step is proving to be the hardest step. With the ease of online booking for all the things that you need in traveling anywhere these days, preparing for this trip has been easy and exciting. Everyone is a critic and you can easily use the resources and reviews that sites such as TripAdvisor, AirBNB, and Yelp can provide. There are, simply put, way fewer unknowns in trip planning than ever and I feel confident that I at least know what to expect during this trip. If you have been there yourself and have travel tips or unique destinations for me, I would love to hear your input! In the meantime, I’ll be here… waiting…