Japan Trip

Raymond Lin said:
I've been to that, is it the largest? I can't remember, i've been to a lot of them lol
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Maybe. It’s certainly huge. When I went there before the pandemic the Japanese guys said it was the biggest but maybe there’s a few stores claiming that. It’s the one I would recommend if people are interested in anime.
 
delta0 said:
Maybe. It’s certainly huge. When I went there before the pandemic the Japanese guys said it was the biggest but maybe there’s a few stores claiming that. It’s the one I would recommend if people are interested in anime.
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There was one right opposite Akihabara station that has closed down that was quite big. But there is one still there with a yellow sign that is quite big, I remember spending like 2hrs+ there.
 
I went in 2008 and i still count it as my fav holiday of all time. I spent 2 entire days just at Akihabara, top tip, the best days are Friday and Saturday, especially in the evening as that is when everybody comes out in Cosplay. Such a great holiday.
 
robgmun said:
I went in 2008 and i still count it as my fav holiday of all time. I spent 2 entire days just at Akihabara, top tip, the best days are Friday and Saturday, especially in the evening as that is when everybody comes out in Cosplay. Such a great holiday.
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You will also get people dressing up in Shibuya.
 
Does anyone know what the most reputable place is to get the JR Pass from?

We almost pulled the trigger on jrpass.com last night but then looked at the TrustPilot reviews and they weren’t good.
 
usually a good website V

Japan Rail (JR) Pass questions (consolidated) - FlyerTalk Forums

Japan - Japan Rail (JR) Pass questions (consolidated) - Originally Posted by TravelDoorsOut What website is it recommended to buy it prior to coming? or Can I just get it upon arrival at the JR-Kyushu office at Hakata? bump
www.flyertalk.com
^Agree with this poster. If you buy it from the official site you get a number, an account, and you can start making reservations right away. Sounds like you bought from a third party and they will send you a voucher which you will exchange in Japan and THEN you can start making reservations.
 
jpaul said:
usually a good website V

Japan Rail (JR) Pass questions (consolidated) - FlyerTalk Forums

Japan - Japan Rail (JR) Pass questions (consolidated) - Originally Posted by TravelDoorsOut What website is it recommended to buy it prior to coming? or Can I just get it upon arrival at the JR-Kyushu office at Hakata? bump
www.flyertalk.com
^Agree with this poster. If you buy it from the official site you get a number, an account, and you can start making reservations right away. Sounds like you bought from a third party and they will send you a voucher which you will exchange in Japan and THEN you can start making reservations.
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At the time I just went to the desk at the train station and booked - never an issue.

PS. pay the extra for the green car
 
Absolutely no reason to get the green car. The standard one is much nicer than say Virgin trains here. Unless you’re used to first class flying, the standard train will be better than fine.
Remember to stock up on food at the station, you’re welcome to eat and drink on board.
 
thewanted said:
Even worse reviews than jrpass.com, eek.
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Reviews on what exactly? Just buy the ticket on a credit card to cover any risk across all sites. I didnt have any problems i must add.

At the time green car was more room, quieter, could book longer in advance...may have changed. I went during golden week with wife and child, so this was important to us.

Be aware of luggage rules if youre not already.
 
I leave tomorrow, been a hell (as in amazing) of a trip, lots of random stuff, will write full post later, got 18hrs left and want to make the most of every second!

Ps I got the JR Pass from the official site, the main advantage of that is you can start reserve seats the moment you bought it, even in the UK. Book everything in advance and save going through the JR counter. Trust me, 99% people don’t and there was a dude when I arrive to pick up the pass and all my already booked reservation seats talking and arranging. I went off to do shopping, came back 45mins later and he was still there. This wasn’t even at the airport or Shinjuku but ikebukuro JR East station.
 
If you get it from the agents which can be a little cheaper but you lose the ability to reserve online. Worth the difference in saving time tbh. You don’t really need the reservation ticket really as conductors seems to know which seats are reserved and which are not. I have never been asked for my reservation ticket.
 
Oh, a lot more places now take cash, all konbini has contactless, even to the point of the machine has a cash feeding slot if you pay by cash. The first few times I was a little confused, and if you choose to pay by Suica (IC card), there are so many symbols and options to choose in the touch screen facing you. But Amex and Visa and Mastercard are accepted in a lot of places, at least in the cities. If you go to a restaurant or small shops, still have cash.

Randomly, Starbucks Reserve (now need a QR code reservation to enter!) only takes physical card, they don’t have contactless.

I’ve burn through 30,000 yen in suica transactions in 10 days, from trains, buses and konbini.

Works all over the country, already had it installed in my phone before I left and watching people buying train tickets at the airport and figuring out and I just tap and went is a little too satisfying.
 
Thanks very much Raymond! We did actually buy the JR Pass directly from japanrailpass.net last night after we figured out that it was the only place that you could reserve seats online. It was worth paying the extra ~£48. Since we're taking our 3 year old with, it's better to spend less time trying to figure out how the tickets work in a busy station with zero Japanese.

Thanks for the tip about the Suica card. I wasn't aware that it was available in Apple Wallet. Unfortunately the Mrs has an Android phone so we'll still have to find her a physical Suica card when we get there.

Really looking forward to reading your write up. We leave on 28/04 for 3 weeks :)
 
thewanted said:
Thanks very much Raymond! We did actually buy the JR Pass directly from japanrailpass.net last night after we figured out that it was the only place that you could reserve seats online. It was worth paying the extra ~£48. Since we're taking our 3 year old with, it's better to spend less time trying to figure out how the tickets work in a busy station with zero Japanese.

Thanks for the tip about the Suica card. I wasn't aware that it was available in Apple Wallet. Unfortunately the Mrs has an Android phone so we'll still have to find her a physical Suica card when we get there.

Really looking forward to reading your write up. We leave on 28/04 for 3 weeks :)
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Quick point before I forgot as i have 20mins on the Ginza line subway to kill.

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When you tap the phone at the gates, until you tap out, a message like this will stay on the home screen at all times.

And esim - for data, I use Airalo, bought 20G for 30 days, I’ve been using a lot on discord and stuff, used 7.5G in the 11days trip. But I did turn off auto app updates. Everything works, ping is a little slow but always have signal. I believe it is on the SoftBank network.

Ps wear comfortable shoes! I thought I did, broken in a year old running shoes and still got 5 blisters! But I have worked average 20k steps a day, everyday and about 15km minimum a day, one day I walked about 23km. I think I’ve walked over if not close to 100miles since I’ve been here.
 
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