Flight booked, but what about everything else?
 

Got in on the Delta deal and flying into HND on July 29 at 10:30PM. Flying out Aug 10 at 6:55AM, so about a week and a half.

Was hoping to catch the Sumida River Fireworks Festival, but they moved the date on that :(. Any other festivals going on during the my stay?

Anyway, need to figure out my first night accommodations.
Just booked a night with the $25 Expedia coupon at Hotel JAL City Haneda Tokyo since they are nearby and have a shuttle. However, I cannot figure out when their shuttle runs, appears to be till midnight?

Or else I could book one of the cheaper hotels or hostels and hop on a train. With such a late arrival and possible delays, I'm not sure I would make it before the trains stop running (might take the wrong train or something too).

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Haven't quite figured out all the details of what I went to to do yet. Maybe
Tokyo stuff
Osaka
Kyoto
Mt Fuji
Just wondering if the JR Pass would be the best deal for me or not. Looks like I will have to purchase before I arrive in Japan. Closest place that sells it is in NY, is the B&M cheaper than online? I could probably have someone pick it up for in NY if it's cheaper, but might as well get it shipped if it is about the same...

There was also another pass I saw, but cannot remember the name now. It's some thing like Young Person Pass that should also be available for the time I am traveling. I remember you don't actually have to be "young" to use it, but it doesn't work for the bullet trains.

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Usually when I have traveled in the past, I have a "home base" to leave my things. However, this won't be the case in Japan since I want to travel a bit and do not know anyone there. What the best way to do this? I'll try to pack light, but I think I will still end up with a suitcase. I see there might be luggage lockers, are those actually plentiful? Though I do worry I'll forget where/which locker I put my stuff in....

And I heard that addresses don't work the way they do here in the US (numbers are ordered by age rather than just being consecutive), would a handheld GPS be of any help? At least to mark down where my hotel/luggage locker is, if I am getting further or closer to my desired destination?

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Anyone know how early I can check in luggage for a 6:55 AM flight? Debating if I should book another night at Hotel JAL City Haneda Tokyo or maybe just get to the airport or there abouts to hang out for a few hours. Does not look like they have Priority Pass lounges :(, neither does DTW...

I probably have tons of other questions, but that is all I remember now. Thanks for any advice.

I won't even attempt to address the bulk of this post since I can't understand most of it. I will say that if you are planning to travel Tokyo-Kyoto-Tokyo plus any additional trains (perhaps Kyoto-Nara or Kyoto-Osaka or even further,) then the JR 7-day Rail Pass will likely provide good value for you. Just be sure to plan your train travel for during the 7 days the Pass is valid. An added bonus is that the Yamanote Loop Line around central Tokyo will be free with the Pass during those 7 days.

If you choose to purchase a Rail Pass, you are correct, the exchange order must be purchased before you travel to Japan. Once in Japan, you exchange it for whichever consecutive 7-day period works best for you at the JR office at the airport or one of the larger stations in Tokyo. If there is no Rail Pass agency near you where you can purchase in person, I suggest using one of the on-line sites to order it. That is what I do.

I can't help you figure out how to deal with the idiocy of Delta's late arrival/early departure HND schedule. I always use NRT and arrive mid-afternoon, depart late afternoon. Good luck on that.

If you have 10 days and nearly two months to prepare, start by reading a good guidebook.

That will help you decide how to allocate your time. Tokyo and Kyoto are musts, but the rest is up to you.

At the risk of sounding repetitious to fellow Flyer Talkers, I'd advise you against making a special trip to Mt. Fuji unless you want to climb it. It is usually clouded over in the summer, and if by some miracle it is visible, it will be visible from tall buildings in Tokyo or from the north side of the train between Tokyo and Kyoto. Your chances of seeing it are much better in the winter, though

However, you may want to read up on Hakone and see if that would appeal to you as a stop on the way between Tokyo and Kyoto.

For festivals, consult your guidebook or look at the Japan Times website under the Entertainment tab once you've arrived. It has monthly festival listings.

No reason not to stay at the JAL City Haneda. According to its Japanese-language website, the last shuttle is at 12:30AM, so unless your flight is really late, you should have plenty of time. In that event, it's only 2 miles from the airport, so a cab wouldn't break the bank.

The JR Pass is a good deal if you are at least making a roundtrip between Tokyo and Kyoto, which you would be doing. You do have to buy it at home, but any travel agent can arrange this for you if you're not near an official dealer. Exchange the voucher before you leave Tokyo for the maximum benefit.

The youth pass (Seishun Juuhachi) is not available at all times of the year and is good only on the slow trains, so it's not ideal for a first-time visitor with limited time.

Japan is small, only about the size of California. It is quite feasible to have only two "home bases," one in Tokyo and one in the Kyoto/Osaka area, and do day trips. The Shinkansen and the superb network of other rail lines make this easy.

I've never used GPS in Japan, and you don't really need to. Getting lost is part of the Japan experience, and the country is so safe that nothing bad is likely to happen to you. You can get English-language maps of major cities either at the Tourist Information Centers or at the train stations of those major cities. Carry a business card from your hotel when you go out so that you can ask for directions. (It's best to remember which subway stop or train station your hotel is near, so that when you're in a distant part of the city, where the locals may not know your hotel, you can just ask for X Station, which the locals will know.)

But first read your guidebook and then come back with more detailed questions.

When I have friends visiting for only ten days, I recommend that they consider visiting just Tokyo and Kamakura. While Kyoto has some pretty temples, there's an enormous amount to see in Tokyo, and an overnight trip to Kamakura will provide you with the charms of traditional Japan, beautiful temples, a big Buddha, etc. along with a popular beach as an added bonus.

It will also save you the problem of having a "home base" (just leave your luggage at your Tokyo hotel if you take overnight trips), and it will save you a lot of money that you can then spend on great food.

That seems to be a popular misconception about the Japanese address system. Addresses are, however, quite complicated. I've lived in Tokyo for years, and I find a GPS (attached to Google Maps on my mobile phone) very helpful when I'm somewhere unfamiliar.

Yes, lobsterdog is right. There's plenty to do in the Tokyo area alone. You could take day trips to Kamakura easily (I think there are four or five trains per hour from Tokyo Station.) Nikko is another possible day trip if you get up early. If you buy a city guidebook for Tokyo, you will find suggested day trips.

On one trip, I based myself in Tokyo for a month and made day excursions to Kamakura, Kawagoe, Nagano, Mito, and Aizu-Wakamatsu and one overnight to Nasu-Shiobara to stay with friends. I would have made many more trips, but the spring weather was unusually damp, cold, and windy that year, so I got in a lot of indoor activities, such as museums, performances of Kabuki and Bunraku, bookstores, and the National Diet Library (I used to be an academic).

Thanks for the help. I agree I could probably spend all my time in Tokyo and not run out of things to do there. I will be doing more research and figure out a more detailed itinerary. Just different than my past trips as I do not know the language at all (will be learning a few phrases before I go, thanks to this) and no home base means I need to figure out where I will stay, should I book in advance or just wing it when I get to Tokyo. I know about the capsule hotels, but looks like some are for men only :confused:. If not already apparent, would like to keep things on a budget, especially lodging since I hope to spend most of time out exploring and my money on some delicious sushi!

I would like to ride on one of the Shinkansen trains, just for the heck of it (JR Pass is not good on the two fastest ones it appears) and might as well take at peek at the places outside of the city.

Mt Fuji not super high on my list as I'm not exactly an outdoorsy person, but it appears to be climbing season during the time I am going. Be kinda of cool to say I climbed a mountain :).

My other questions are
Would a Verizon CDMA phone work in Japan? Verizon's site makes it look like it would and be $1.99/min though some sites say it won't work. Not sure which one to believe. I also have a SIM phone, but looks like that would be less likely to work. I only need to make 1 or 2 calls back to the states, basically let family and friends know I have arrived safely. (My mom is not on facebook and I would like to keep it that way ;))

Not a big priority for a relatively short trip, but are there cheap and easy data plans? My Dell Streak takes SIMs. Or is Wifi abundant enough that I should not need to worry about it? Or are the internet cafes abundant and cheap? Do they smoke in those? (I was in one in China and did not like smoking)

And then there is the money thing.
I plan on taking
Capital One credit card (no forex)
Citi ATM/Debit card with HSBC one as backup. As I understand it, the Post Office and 7-11s have ATMs I should be able to use with my Citi cards. Are there lots of 7-11/are they easy to find?

Thanks again!

A Verizon CDMA phone will not work in Japan. You need a "world phone" from Verizon such as the Blackberry Tour. Your SIM phone will work if it is 3G, probably not if it is just GSM. Verizon will generally loan you a phone that does work if you pay their ridiculously high roaming prices.

If you only need to make one or two calls to the US, why not just use Skype?

There are plenty of internet cafes in Japan but they all charge. They are reasonably cheap but are basically relatively luxurious places (for an internet cafe) that are also designed to sleep in or read manga. People almost certainly smoke in them.

All shinkansen pretty much travel at the maximum speed for each segment of track, even the "slower" ones. The slower ones are slower because they make more stops, and sometimes have to sit in the station for 4-5 minutes for a faster train to go by. If you just take the shinkansen from Tokyo to Odawara, you won't get the experience as they go slower on that portion of the route.

As Citibank operates the post office ATMs under contract, your card will work there. Also Citibank itself has a number of branches in Tokyo. 7-11s accept foreign cards but charge a fee on some.

The significant majority of capsule hotels are for men only, I would not rely on finding one that takes women. But since you can get a small but clean room with complete bathroom in Tokyo for Y7000 a night, hotels aren't that outrageously priced just now. I would recommend booking in advance, at least for the first nights and possibly also in Kyoto which can be a high-demand area year round. Most hotels seem to include free internet now.

Capsule hotels are not meant to be long-term accommodations. They're designed for (mostly) men who have stayed out drinking (or even working!--I once stayed in a hotel that afforded a view of a bank where people were still working at 11:00PM) till it's too late to catch a train home.

Tokyo is FULL of clean, safe "business" hotels where you can get a basic single room (sort of like a college dorm room) with a "unit bath" and free Internet (LAN cable), sometimes with a free or reasonable breakfast included, for between ¥7,000-¥10,000. Such hotels are even cheaper in the hinterlands, but we're talking about prices starting at US$87.00 a night in Tokyo. This is less than you would pay for a hotel where a lone woman would feel safe staying in most North American cities.

Post office ATMs are available only when the post office is open, but 7/11s are everywhere, and there are real Citibank ATMs in both Tokyo and Kyoto. (The Citibank website will have the locations.)

Sometimes the hotels that have only LAN connections in the rooms have Wi-Fi in the lobbies or public computers. I've seen this in a couple of chains. I'm sure you know that data roaming can be super expensive.

Climbing Mt. Fuji is an overnight adventure. You'll need to read up on it if you really want to do it. Basically, you take a bus part way up the mountain, sleep in a "hut" for a while, and then head off to reach the summit by sunrise. Don't expect to do it in summer clothing, by the way. It's cold at the summit.

If you make a roundtrip from Tokyo to Kyoto, a Japan Rail Pass is worth the money.

Also another good and free resource is http://www.japan-guide.com

Also I really do recommend using SKYPE to make international calls if you have a computer, ipad, tablet or whatever funny gizmos they are inventing these days.

Otherwise if you need to make one or two phone calls, then using a payphone with international phone card works too.

Finally you can rent a no frills mobile phone at the airport.

Some of the nicer ones (e.g. Bagus, Manboo) have non-smoking and/or women's only sections.

Japanese law requires manga cafes to make a copy of your ID and register you as a member before you can use their facilities. Some less-scrupulous establishments ignore this, but keep this in mind.

And the reasons they don't suit travelers are that they don't have a place to store luggage bigger than a backpack; define a "night" very tightly so you pay a lot extra if you check-in early or leave late; and, not uncommonly, consider 'leaving the hotel' to be the same as 'checking out'.

Thanks again for the feedback.

I'll probably end up using skype or some other voip type service, just that those rely on wifi/internet which I am not sure will be good/available.

http://www.japan-guide.com is indeed a very informative site, many of their pages have been coming up in my searches and I never even bothered to visit their main page, lol.

Will the manga clubs take a US driver's license? I really don't like the idea of them having a copy of my passport..

I definitely would not stay more than a night or two in the capsule hotels, probably just a night for the novelty.
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Still haven't had enough time to plan out my trip yet, but I see Expedia has the $150 prepaid mastercard for 4+ night stays that I probably want to jump on soon. How does this sound as a general plan?
Night 1 - Arrive in Tokyo, booked at Hotel JAL City Haneda Tokyo

Next day - Do some light exploring in Tokyo, get food and get my JR Pass and head to Kyoto or Osaka for 4-5 days (for Expedia deal). Which city would make a better "home base"?

After the 4-5 days, head back to Tokyo and spend time there for the remainder of the trip. Or head somewhere on train to explore, but going back to Tokyo before 7 days are up.

It looks like the JR Pass is for consecutive days, so I would like to maximize those 7days in the beginning of the trip and then use local passes or what not around Tokyo for the end of the trip?

Probably spend my last night before departure at Hotel JAL City Haneda Tokyo or just hanging out in the airport.

Osaka may have its charms but if you are going to spend time in Tokyo, then Osaka is just another big city. The uniform advice in this forum is to make Kyoto your base in Kansai.

It is rarely economic to have the JR pass valid while in Tokyo so, yes, you have the right idea -- use it in the first part of your trip when you are travelling long distances. There is plenty to do in Kyoto and Nara for 4-5 days but you could use your JR pass for a long day trip to Hiroshima and Miyajima.

If you are travelling as a couple, the Sunrise Tour Shinkansen + hotel package may offer some savings over Japan Rail Pass. You will have to pay the local transit fares out of pocket, but you will not be limited to JR lines.

The single surcharge makes it less worthwhile for solo travelers.

>> would a handheld GPS be of any help? At least to mark down where my hotel/luggage locker is, if I am getting further or closer to my desired destination?

Due to narrow lane ways and tall buildigns, GPS is not overly helpful for walking. I played with my iPhone and google maps (using local unlimited data plan from B-Mobile) and I always found my destinations visually before the phone did, or I was way past my destination before the phone alerted me to it. So using google maps street view before heading out for the day is much more useful.