Ever since Matt and I got home, I’ve had a surprising number of people reach out to ask about our Japan trip. How did you plan it? Was it hard to get around? How expensive was it? Was the language barrier a problem? What would you do differently? What were your favorite places? Is Japan really as amazing as everyone says?
The short answer to that last one is yes.
Japan exceeded every expectation we had. It was one of the most fascinating, beautiful, welcoming places we’ve ever visited, and by the time we boarded our flight home, we weren’t talking about whether we’d return. We were talking about when.
This isn’t meant to be a professional travel guide. It’s simply what worked for the two of us, what we learned along the way, and what we’d recommend to anyone considering their own trip. Hopefully some of it makes your adventure a little easier. If you want the day-by-day version, that’s in three parts starting here: Tokyo, then Osaka and Hiroshima, then Kyoto and home.
Getting there
One advantage of living in the Pacific Northwest is that Japan is surprisingly accessible. There are plenty of flights from Seattle to Tokyo, both direct and connecting, and competition keeps prices reasonable. We got lucky: I’d been hoarding Alaska Airlines miles for years, and after Alaska acquired Hawaiian Airlines, our redemption options expanded considerably. We cashed in a big chunk of those miles, significantly reducing the cost of our airfare.
If you’re considering Japan, start watching flights early. Really early. Award availability changes constantly, and we began planning nearly a year before departure. The more lead time you give yourself, the better your options.
The flight itself wasn’t nearly as bad as we expected. It’s long, but between meals, movies, reading, sleeping, and periodically staring at the flight tracker wondering how much ocean is below you, it passes faster than you’d think. And the moment we landed in Tokyo, everything suddenly became real.
Don’t try to see all of Japan
The most important piece of planning advice I can give is this: don’t try to see all of Japan. You can’t, at least not in one trip.
When we first started planning, we were tempted to squeeze in every famous destination we’d ever heard of: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Nara, Hakone, Mount Fuji, Kanazawa, Sapporo, and Okinawa. Eventually, we realized we’d spend our entire vacation riding trains and checking into hotels.
Instead, we focused on a few key regions and built the trip around them. Our home bases were Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto, and from those cities we took day trips out to other places. That approach let us see an incredible amount of the country without feeling like we were constantly living out of a suitcase.
How we actually plan trips
People assume Matt and I travel with a strict itinerary. The truth is almost the opposite.
Don’t get me wrong, I do an absurd amount of research. Probably too much. Months before any major trip, I start building lists. I lean heavily on Wanderlog and pay for the subscription. By the time we landed in Japan, I had hundreds of saved spots: restaurants, coffee shops, parks, temples, shrines, museums, viewpoints, breweries, neighborhoods, and shopping districts. You name it.
But here’s the key: that list isn’t an itinerary. It’s a menu.
I don’t schedule every hour of every day. Instead, I pick a handful of things we absolutely want to see, and then we head in that direction. Maybe we stop for coffee. Maybe we discover a side street. Maybe we spend an hour in a park we didn’t know existed or stumble onto a restaurant that wasn’t on the plan. The goal isn’t checking boxes; it’s experiencing a place. Having a big list just means I always know what’s nearby. Some of our best days happened because we got distracted.
YouTube became our travel agent
I spent an embarrassing number of hours watching YouTube videos before the trip, and honestly, it may have been the single best resource we found. There are entire channels dedicated to traveling in Japan: navigating train stations, buying tickets, understanding etiquette, finding restaurants, and explaining things that feel completely foreign to first-time visitors. There are also Disney vloggers who seem to have devoted their entire lives to understanding Tokyo Disney. If you’re planning Disney days, those people are invaluable. Don’t underestimate how much that kind of preparation can smooth out the rough edges.
Our secret weapon: Chris and Shauna
One of the smartest things we did, though it wasn’t entirely intentional, was to overlap part of our trip with our friends Chris and Shauna from Maine.
Now, Chris and Shauna aren’t casual visitors. They’re obsessed with Japan, in the best possible way. They’ve been multiple times, know the train system, understand the culture, and somehow possess navigation skills that seem almost supernatural.
The timing was perfect: they arrived a few days after we did. By then, Matt and I had survived our first few days, figured out how trains worked, and learned how not to block traffic while staring at Google Maps. We’d found our footing, but having experienced travelers join us gave us an immediate confidence boost.
What amazed me most was how little they relied on technology. While Matt and I were constantly checking maps, schedules, reviews, and translation apps, Shauna could glance at a station map for ten seconds and immediately know where we needed to go. It was like traveling with a human GPS. I don’t think I ever fully appreciated the lost art of reading a map until traveling with someone who could actually do it.
They also helped us understand the little cultural norms that aren’t obvious to first-timers: station etiquette, moving through crowded areas, and simply navigating public spaces more naturally. We still looked very much like American tourists; there was no hiding that. But thanks to them, we at least looked like Americans who had some idea what they were doing. Most of the time.
If you’re planning your first trip and have friends who’ve been before, don’t underestimate how valuable their experience can be.
Hotels: book early, then keep looking
After airfare, hotels were our biggest expense. We booked almost everything through Booking.com, and I started about ten months out.
My strategy was simple: book early but stay flexible. Whenever possible, I chose reservations that met three criteria: no prepayment, free cancellation, and pay-at-property. That gave me tremendous flexibility, and every couple of months I’d revisit Booking.com and rerun all my searches.
Here’s the funny part: most of the hotels we originally booked weren’t the ones we ended up in. Prices dropped. Better options appeared. Our itinerary evolved. Sometimes a hotel we’d been watching suddenly became cheaper than our original reservation, allowing us to upgrade for the same price. Other times we found a property with a better location near a station. Booking.com made it painless to cancel one reservation and replace it with another.
The biggest lesson? Book something early. You can always improve it later. Just don’t accidentally double-book yourself.
One thing we specifically prioritized was staying near major train stations. After walking 20,000 to 30,000 steps a day, being able to get back to your hotel quickly matters. A lot.
Hotel rooms aren’t as tiny as you’ve heard
Americans love talking about how small Japanese hotel rooms are. Are they smaller than many American rooms? Sure. But not dramatically so, and we found them perfectly comfortable. We mostly stayed in larger chains and business hotels: comfortable beds, great bathrooms, good amenities, excellent service. The biggest difference wasn’t the size. It was how efficiently everything was designed.
The greatest travel hack: ship your luggage
If you take nothing else from this article, remember this: ship your luggage. Japan’s luggage forwarding service is incredible. Use it. Seriously, use it.
Matt and I shared one large suitcase for most of the trip, and each carried a backpack. Whenever we changed cities, we’d send the suitcase ahead to our next hotel, and it generally arrived within about 24 hours. Sometimes we’d ship it the day before traveling, and it would already be waiting when we arrived, occasionally even placed directly in our room. Other times we’d ship it the same day we left and just get by on our backpacks for a day.
We always packed those backpacks with a change of clothes, toiletries, medications, chargers, and anything else we’d need for one overnight. That way, if the suitcase arrived the next day, it was never a problem.
The system worked flawlessly. And trust me, after you’ve navigated a few train stations, you’ll understand why. You do not want to drag a giant suitcase through Japan’s rail system. Especially not through Tokyo Station.
The most underrated tip: do laundry
One thing we intentionally looked for when booking hotels was self-service laundry, and it turned out to be one of the smartest decisions we made.
Because we knew we’d have access to laundry every few days, we didn’t have to pack our entire closet for sixteen days. We packed enough for several days and washed clothes along the way. Almost every hotel had facilities available, and these weren’t sketchy machines tucked into some forgotten basement corner. Many were surprisingly modern. For a few hundred yen, you could wash and dry a full load, and in several hotels we could even pay with our Suica card.
The funniest part was how technologically advanced some of the systems were. A few hotels let us monitor the machines from our room’s television, showing which were available, how much time remained, and whether our laundry was done. One even sent text notifications when the cycle finished. The first time I sat in a hotel room watching my laundry status on TV, I remember thinking, “This is either incredibly convenient or incredibly strange.” Probably both. Either way, it was fantastic.
The combination of hotel laundry and luggage forwarding let us pack significantly lighter than we otherwise would have. It may not be the most exciting part of trip planning, but it made traveling around the country dramatically easier.
Staying connected: buy unlimited data
This is probably the most practical advice I can give. We used Obigi eSIMs. Setup was easy, and coverage was excellent throughout the trip. My recommendation? Buy the unlimited plan.
I originally bought a 20 GB plan, convinced there was no way I’d use that much. I was very wrong. What I didn’t appreciate was how dependent we’d become on our phones: Google Maps, train schedules, translation, restaurant searches, attraction info, social media, photo uploads, weather, and messaging family back home. Google Maps alone ate up more data than I expected. I ended up upgrading my plan multiple times. If I did it again, I’d buy unlimited on day one and never think about it again.
The cash question, credit cards, and Suica
Before traveling, I’d repeatedly heard that Japan was still a cash society, so we withdrew a large amount of yen upon arrival. In hindsight, we carried far more than we needed. Credit cards were accepted almost everywhere we went, with the main exceptions being some street vendors, smaller shops, and the occasional restaurant.
What mattered most wasn’t cash at all. It was the Suica card. Seriously. Get one. Think of it as your transportation card and digital wallet combined.
We chose physical cards rather than digital ones. Finding them is a small adventure because only certain machines sell them, so look for the black ticket machines. Once you have one, life gets much easier. We used ours constantly for trains, subways, convenience stores, vending machines, restaurants, and countless small purchases.
The first time you use a train
I’ll be honest, the first train station is intimidating. You tap your Suica to enter, then tap again to leave. Sounds simple, until you’re standing at the gate while thousands of commuters appear to be participating in an Olympic speed-walking competition. The gates won’t open if you don’t tap correctly, and I’m fairly certain my first attempt slowed down half of Tokyo. Don’t worry. Everyone survives. Within a day or two, you’ll be doing it without thinking.
Google Maps became our primary navigation tool, and it’s hard to overstate how useful it is in Japan. It doesn’t just tell you which train to take, it tells you which platform, which exit, how many stops, travel times, and transfer information. The level of detail is remarkable, and within a few days, using the trains felt completely natural.
Bullet trains are worth every penny
The Shinkansen is every bit as amazing as you’ve heard: fast, smooth, quiet, comfortable. One thing that confused us at first is that many Shinkansen trips involve two separate fare components, a basic fare and a Shinkansen fare. If you buy your tickets from an actual person at the station, they’ll make sure everything is correct. For your first few trips especially, I’d recommend buying from a human; it’s worth the peace of mind. We usually bought ours a day ahead and never had any issues. And don’t lose your ticket. You’ll need it to enter and exit.
Train stations are entire cities
Nobody adequately prepares you for Japanese train stations. They’re not transportation hubs, they’re underground cities: restaurants, shopping centers, food courts, markets, department stores, corridors stretching forever. Tokyo Station in particular is astonishing. You can spend hours exploring and still not see everything.
The first few times feel overwhelming. Eventually, something clicks. You start to notice the signs are everywhere, and everything is labeled. The train lines are color-coded, and the colored lines on Google Maps often match the colored lines painted on station floors. If the app says to take the red line, there’s literally a red line on the floor. Suddenly, what seemed complicated becomes surprisingly logical.
The challenge isn’t finding information. It’s slowing down enough to see it. When you feel overwhelmed, stop. Take a breath. Look around. The answer is almost always on a sign right above your head.
Convenience stores deserve their own section
I was not prepared for how incredible convenience stores would be. 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Lawson, they’re everywhere, and unlike most convenience stores in the States, they offer genuinely good food. Breakfast, lunch, snacks, coffee, desserts, drinks, and late-night food. The food was consistently fresh, affordable, and surprisingly delicious. By the end of the trip they’d become an essential part of our daily routine, and if someone told me they survived an entire Japan trip eating primarily from convenience stores, I’d believe them.
Our daily routine
One reason the trip worked so well is that we didn’t try to rush. Most mornings started exactly the same way: coffee. Matt would find a latte, I’d find a mocha, and only after that essential mission was accomplished would we begin exploring. Those slow starts, watching a city wake up over a good cup of coffee, became some of my favorite moments of the whole trip.
The places
Tokyo is unlike any city I’ve ever visited: enormous, modern, orderly, energetic, and somehow incredibly efficient despite its size. Highlights included Shibuya Crossing, Senso-ji Temple and Asakusa, Shinjuku, the Meiji Shrine, Ueno, and teamLab. Every neighborhood feels like its own city, and you could spend weeks there and still barely scratch the surface.
Tokyo Disney earned two full days, one at Disneyland and one at DisneySea. As many of you know, I’m a Disney nut, and I’d heard amazing things for years. DisneySea deserves special recognition. I’ve been to a lot of theme parks, and it may be the most impressive one I’ve ever visited. The theming, detail, attractions, food, and atmosphere are unlike anything else. Even people who aren’t huge Disney fans often rank it among their favorite parks in the world. Am I glad we went? Absolutely. Would I do it again? Honestly, probably not. The crowds were intense, far larger than I expected. If you go, buy tickets at least a month ahead and arrive early. People start lining up around 6:00 AM for a 9:00 AM opening. We thought 7:30 was plenty. We were wrong. Watch the Disney YouTubers. They’ve turned park strategy into a doctoral-level field of study.
Osaka immediately felt different from Tokyo: more relaxed, more approachable, a little rougher around the edges in the best way. Osaka Castle was a highlight, beautiful, imposing, and surrounded by grounds that are worth the visit on their own. And the food. My goodness, the food. Dotonbori at night is every bit as vibrant as the photos suggest, and some of our favorite meals happened here, including okonomiyaki, which quickly became our favorite thing in Japan. Half the fun was discovering that nearly every city had its own style of it, and we made it a mission to try as many versions as we could.
Hiroshima and Miyajima made for one of the most meaningful days of our trip. The Peace Memorial Museum and Park are powerful, emotional experiences, and it’s difficult to walk through Hiroshima without reflecting on history. Afterward, we traveled to Miyajima Island, and the contrast was remarkable: peaceful forests, historic shrines, friendly deer, and the iconic floating torii gate. It became one of our favorite destinations.
Kyoto was everything I imagined Japan would be: historic streets, temples, shrines, gardens, traditional architecture, lantern-lit alleys. It feels like stepping into another era. We spent several days exploring and still left feeling like we’d only begun.
Uji was a quiet surprise and one of my favorite days. We spent it hiking along the river, at a slower, more relaxed pace than in Kyoto, surrounded by greenery and the sound of water. Uji is famous for its tea culture, and it’s where I had my first real matcha. I’ll be honest: it was okay. I’m still a mocha man at heart. But Uji is also where I had the single best bowl of ramen of the entire trip, and I’ve been a ramen nut ever since.
The most fun we didn’t expect: street karting
One of the most memorable things we did wasn’t on any temple-and-shrine list. We rented street karts and drove through the streets of Tokyo dressed as Nintendo characters, and it was an absolute blast. Cruising through real Tokyo traffic in a go-kart costume, waving at pedestrians who wave right back, is one of those experiences that sounds ridiculous and turns out to be pure joy. The photos and memories alone made it worth every yen.
One tip: book early. Aim for at least six weeks out, since these fill up fast and you’ll want your preferred date and time. You’ll also need to sort out the proper international driving documentation ahead of time, so don’t leave it to the last minute. But if you’re on the fence, do it. It was easily one of the highlights of the trip.
Things that surprised us
How safe it felt. Japan may be the safest place I’ve ever traveled.
How clean everything was. Even the busiest urban areas were remarkably clean.
How helpful people were. Even across language barriers, people consistently tried to help.
How much walking we did. Bring comfortable shoes. Then bring even better shoes. We crossed 30,000 steps on many days.
The people
As incredible as the trains, food, temples, and cities were, what I’ll remember most are the people. Everyone we met was kind, patient, helpful, and respectful. Many spoke some English, others didn’t, and it rarely mattered. Whenever we needed help, someone genuinely tried. The culture is quieter and more reserved than what we’re used to in the States, but beneath that reserve is tremendous warmth. I cannot think of a single negative interaction during the entire trip.
What we’d do differently
Honestly? Not much. That’s probably the strongest endorsement I can give. If I were planning it again, I’d buy unlimited data immediately, leave a little more unscheduled time, pack even lighter, and stay longer.
Final thoughts
Japan somehow manages to be both ancient and modern at once. It’s efficient without feeling cold, busy without feeling chaotic, beautiful without feeling artificial. The food is incredible, the transportation is world-class, the people are welcoming, and perhaps most importantly, it’s a place that constantly rewards curiosity.
By the end of sixteen days, Matt and I weren’t talking about whether we’d return. We were talking about when. And that’s probably the best review I can give.
If Japan is on your travel list, my advice is simple: go. Start planning. It’s every bit as incredible as you’ve heard. And if you have questions about anything we did, where we stayed, how we planned it, or what we’d recommend, just ask. I’m always happy to share what worked for us.
— Patrick