Japan: Land of the Rising Sun - Travel Tips

Japan was amazing! We only went to three main cities - Nagoya, Kyoto and Osaka - but we had such a wonderful time. I will be posting about each day of our trip here in the blog, but first I would like to share my travel tips for those who are considering a trip to Japan. :)

Travel Tip 1: Save on airfare by watching out for seat sales and booking early

We spent less than Php 5,000/person round trip for our airfare in Japan. Our trip was from October 13 to 21, 2015 but we booked in April during a Cebu Pacific sale. I know Cebu Pacific has mixed reviews, but it really is a budget airline, and thankfully we had no problems during our flight with them. Our flight was from Manila to Chubu Centrair Airport (Nagoya), then going back from Kansai International Airport (Osaka) to Manila. 

Travel Tip 2: Book a trip arriving in one city and departing from another

For example, if you would like to visit both Tokyo and Osaka, I recommend that you book a ticket from the Philippines to Tokyo, then Osaka to Philippines. Since we decided to skip Tokyo, we booked our trip arriving in Nagoya and departing from Osaka. This is to save us a trip going back to the city where we already came from. It definitely saves time and money. 

Travel Tip 3: Utilize buses and trains, Japan's widespread Public Transportation

Riding the train from the airport

Taxis in Japan have a flag down rate of 700 yen, so you will typically spend 2,500 yen and up for a short trip within a city. Of course if you have a lot of budget, riding the taxi would be more convenient. Japan has a very efficient public transportation system of trains and buses though, and this is what we utilized going around the place. Train rides within a city will typically cost between 100 to 300 yen. 

Riding Japan trains can be very confusing, however, since they have so many different railways and subways. Their train system is much more complicated compared to Hongkong's and Singapore's. In addition, most of the signs you see are all in Japanese and many people in Japan don't speak English (or have difficulty expressing themselves in English). So it's important to research the train lines you will be riding on beforehand. Google maps is very helpful since it shows you the trains you need to ride.

This shows what train we need to ride in order to get to our hotel from the airport

Travel Tip 4: Get the Prepaid IC Card 

Japan has prepaid IC cards which you can use for practically all trains and buses in Japan. You can even use them in some shops and convenient stores. This offers a more convenient way of travelling via Japan trains since you don't have to buy tickets all the time when riding the railways and subways. The initial payment of an IC card is 2,000 yen, and this includes a load of 1,500 yen and a 500 yen refundable deposit when you return the card. You can easily get an IC card from one of their machines in the station, and it is also easy to load again using their machines. 

When we arrived in Nagoya, we immediately bought a Manaca IC card from the airport train station. Make sure to click the ENGLISH button first in the machine so you know what you're choosing. 

Manaca Ticket Machine

Though different cities offer different IC cards, it's good to know that you can use just one IC card even when you transfer to another city in Japan. This is because since 2013, the 10 major IC cards have become compatible with each other. You can read more about IC cards in this link: Japan Guide to IC Cards.

Travel Tip 5: About the JR Pass

You see a lot of advertisements about the JR (Japan Rail) pass when researching about getting around in Japan, but I would only recommend getting it if you plan to go back and forth far cities such as Tokyo and Osaka using the bullet train Shinkansen (for me, you should use the Shinkansen at least 3 times to consider the JR Pass value for money). If you're on a budget, you can actually opt to use slower trains instead of the bullet train. 

The JR Pass does not cover all of Japan's railways and subways - it basically lets you ride all the JR train lines and a few extras. But Japan has so many different train lines within a city (for example, the train line we utilized from the Central Airport to our hotel is the Meitetsu line, and we also used a lot of different train lines when we were touring Nagoya, Kyoto & Osaka), so you won't always be able to ride the JR lines. So even if you get the JR Pass, you will also have to buy tickets or get an IC card when touring a city. 

We did not buy the JR Pass since we didn't utilize the bullet trains in Japan. We were able to travel between cities using limited express trains - the train from Nagoya to Kyoto took 2 hours (cost around 2,000 yen), while the train from Kyoto to Osaka took only an hour (cost less than 1,000 yen). The 7-day JR Pass costs about Php 11,000 or 28,000 yen. 

Travel Tip 6: Best time to go to Japan?

Most people would say that the best time to go to Japan is during the Cherry Blossom Season (end of March to early May), since you'll be able to view the beautiful cherry blossoms for which Japan is famous for. This also means that you can expect a lot of tourists in Japan since this is the most popular season for visiting the country.

Sunny weather but still cool enough to wear long sleeves and hoodies

We visited this October 13 to October 21, which is close to the autumn or fall season. The weather was pretty nice, ranging from a colder 15ºC during the night, to a nice 21ºC during the day. So it wasn't hot nor was it too cold. We didn't have to bring winter clothes, only some long sleeves, cardigans and jackets. 

If you want snow, then it would be best to go during the winter season, December to February. Summer is July and August, and it can get very humid and hot in Japan during those times. 

Travel Tip 6: Do you need a guide?

Well, a guide can definitely be helpful when riding public transportation and learning more about Japanese customs and traditions, but I do believe that you can still explore and have fun in Japan even without a guide. We actually hired a guide in our 1st day in Kyoto - she was slightly helpful, but I believe not quite worth the price that we paid for in hiring her. If you already have a plan on where to go and what to visit, then a guide would just be an additional expense.

So those are my Japan travel tips for now. I may have additional ones in my next posts, which will start from our 1st day travelling to Japan. :)