JapanTravel

Our flight is scheduled to land at Haneda at 10:15pm on a Friday in April. Our hotel is about a 32 minute train ride from the airport and located right near the station. The hotel has a midnight check-in cutoff, so we’re trying to figure out if this is realistically doable. We...

I just discovered something pretty stressful and I’m still trying to figure out what to do. A few months ago I booked roundtrip tickets to Japan for me and a friend through Priceline. When I first paid, there were a bunch of weird separate charges showing up on my card like $27,...

I arrived in Japan yesterday and have been really enjoying Shinjuku so far. Tonight while walking back to my hotel I ended up going through one of the adult entertainment areas. While walking alone, a man approached me asking if I was okay and if I wanted anything. I said no and...

I recently lost my job and realized this might be the first time in years that I actually have time to travel. I’ve never really done much traveling before because of school and work, but I’d love to finally visit Japan for about a week sometime in the next month. Most of the...

I’ll be landing at Haneda around 1AM for a trip to Tokyo and staying near the Tokyo Station area. From what I can see, most of the trains and buses have already stopped running by then. The only options I’m seeing are taxis or airport transfers and they seem pretty expensive for...

Looking at booking a flight from Milan to Tokyo Narita with Air China, with a stopover in either Shanghai or Beijing. There have been reports of Air China cancelling some flights to Japan, and it’s unclear if those cancellations are already reflected in the current booking...

I’ve finally decided I’m going to Japan, sometime between September and December, for over a month. Planning to backpack around solo and trying to figure out a realistic budget (not including flights). Would love suggestions for cheap but clean and decent places to stay. Hotels,...

Just got back and wow… I loved it. But I wish I had relaxed way sooner. Japan is not a checklist country. I tried to optimize every hour at first. The best moments weren’t the big “must see” spots. They were wandering down random side streets and stumbling into tiny restaurants...

Arriving March 5 around 5am after basically 23 hours of travel with 2 stops. East coast to west coast to Japan. I’ll be fried. My loose plan was to hit First Cabin to freshen up, then head to my capsule hotel and drop bags before 10am check in. I know most things won’t be open...

I kind of agree with this. Luggage forwarding is great in very specific situations, like the classic Tokyo to Hakone to Kyoto one night stop. That’s exactly what it’s perfect for. But it’s turned into default advice even when people are just riding a Shinkansen once and staying...

I’m based in the US but will be traveling around Southeast Asia for a few months. I was looking at travel vaccines like typhoid and the prices in the US are wild. I was quoted close to $1k for everything. I noticed Japan seems way cheaper for a lot of these vaccines and was...

Hi! I had a flight departing from Narita with ZIPAIR. Original departure time was 16:35, and on the day of travel it was delayed to 18:30. My main concern was baggage drop timing. With the delay, was the cutoff still based on the original time (15:35) or the new departure time...

Since getting to Japan I’ve been surprised by how hard restaurant reservations can be. A lot of places want phone calls or use Japanese only booking systems, and walking in without a reservation doesn’t always work, even when the place looks empty. Has anyone else run into this?...

Just wrapped up a stay at the Hiroshima Hilton and wanted to say thanks to everyone who recommended it here. Really lovely property. Staff was exceptional, lounge was solid, location was convenient, and the rates felt very reasonable for what you get. One of those stays that...

Booked an apartment in Shibuya for two weeks and prepaid. Price was insanely good, €900, which should’ve been my first warning I guess. Host sent welcome messages, everything looked fine, then a few days later said the place is suddenly unavailable due to maintenance. I...

Totally get wanting to dump bags and go soak, especially with a bad arm. Unfortunately Hawaiian is usually pretty strict internationally. In most cases, they open check in about 3 hours before departure at HND, sometimes 4 if it’s a busy day. Seven hours early is almost...

This has been a whirlwind and I’m still processing it. My wife and I flew from Houston to Japan for a two week vacation. Shortly after landing at Narita, her water broke. Ambulance to a nearby hospital, and she delivered our baby three months premature. Baby is in the NICU and...

I was supposed to stay at an Airbnb in Kyoto starting Oct 6. Four days before check-in, the host messaged saying there was a “water leak” and asked me to cancel the reservation. He claimed he couldn’t list the “identical replacement room” on Airbnb because it takes 3 months for...