Facial mask feels to me more like a Korean souvenir, no?

For me I just buy snacks. Flavored kitkats, hiyoko, etc.

Some Japanese mask also quite famous
KitKat used to be rare but now available in msia

Buy some of the pastry like Tokyo Banana or matcha 1

When I got this for my GF she's very excited as she never seen these before. All masks made in Japan.

I am visiting tokyo and kyoto.

My aim is to fully utilize JR pass on train and bus.

I have planned transportation for Kyoto:
(1) jr train route, and
(2) jr bus route (based on route maps under http://www.arukumachikyoto.jp/bus_search.php?lang=en)

I am currently planning the route for tokyo.
(1) I have found the jr train route;
(2) But, I can't seem to dig out the jr bus route map. Anyone can assist on the jr bus route map?

It’s much more convenient to use other buses (in Kyoto), subway or private railways rather than just relying on JR train alone.

Assuming you are flying in and out of Tokyo (or Kansai), then ur JR pass should already pay off for round-trip between Kyoto-Tokyo.

For Tokyo, I would say avoid buses and take the subway. You have JR Yamanote circle line to cover quite a few places, but some places are more accessible via subway.

Dear Admin;

Just provide summary based on my backpacking trip for 10 days Tokyo trip concluded on 4th Feb 2019.

Day 1:
Morning: Asakusa + Kappabashi
- Lunch at Daikokuya recommended by sweetpez. Slightly pricey IMO but definitely worth the short queue in cold weather.

Afternoon:
- Ginza Pedestrian Paradise + Police Museum + Itoya + Uniqlo Ginza + Tokyo International Forum
The pedestrian paradise is something behold and fun to walk along the stretch. Uniqlo Ginza visited 11th Floor as per sweetpez recommendation to check out their LE Shirts.

Evening: Caretta Shiodome Night Illumination & Observatory + Tokyo Tower
Purposely arrange to see Tokyo Tower on Saturday to see the special light pattern shown only on Saturday 8pm - 10pm. The Tokyo Tower photo taking spot pointed by RegentCid were super long queue and the locals looking at the ppl why we are queuing up there.





Day 2:
Morning: Ueno Park + Ameyoko Street + Imperial Garden Palace + Tokyo Tower + Zojoji Temple
Sadly when I visited Ameyoko Street around 10.30am only a handful of it just open so can't really feel the crowd. During Sunday apparently there's a stretch of road from Hibiya Park to Imperial Palace closed off for vehicles so can see Tokyoites exercising around the park on Sunday. Revisit Tokyo Tower again to climb up Tokyo Tower via stairs as it's only Sunday event and will gift you a small certificate when opt for the climb.

Afternoon: Akihabara
Streets at Akiba closed on Sunday 12/1pm - 5pm so basically arranged such that can explore around Akiba after having lunch at Kanda Yabusoba recommended by Chinti. Mostly dining there are locals from the looks of it. But damn the Soba is really good and really regret that I ordered only a set instead of 2.

Evening: Ebisu Garden Place + Observatory
Enjoyed the quiet surrounding and the observatory tower at Level 45 is nice to enjoy night view as little to no tourists around the area. The illumination is not as beautiful as Carretta Shiodome ones but definitely has its own charm.

Day 3
Morning: Nikko
Bought 2k yen World Heritage Pass to Nikko. Took the WH bus from Tobu Nikko Station to Futarasan Jinja and visited temples around it including Toshogu Shrine. There's a path behind the Shrine that leads to the Tokugawa Ieyasu tomb which provides greater vantage point. Still I felt is very pricey to pay 1300¥ to visit the shrine. Didn't visit Rinnoji as is full of scaffolding when I'm there. From there walk all the way down to Shinkyo Bridge and back to Tobu Nikko Station. Would love to have a meal at Hippari Dako but shop not open yet when I walked past.



Afternoon: Kinugawa Onsen
Visited Kinu Tateiwa bridge and had footbath before return to Shibuya on late afternoon.

Evening: Shibuya
Checked out the Shibuya crossing since sweetpez recommend to see it at night which then had dinner at Sushi no Midori recommended by Chinti. Spent the rest of evening checking out Tokyu Hands.

Day 4
Morning: Yasakuni Shrine + Tokyo Metropolitan Observatory + Meiji Shrine + Harajuku + Omotesando
With help from fellow forummer VinceLee, I activated the highway bus reservation to Lake Kawaguchiko and bought Fuji Hakone Pass at Odakyu Tourist Information Center. Visited Harajuku and tried their crepe. But cant really feel the atmosphere when I'm there probably due to weekdays. Will give it a pass if I going to visit Tokyo again. Wander deep into Harajuku and ended up at Omotesando street. Skipped Yoyogi Park as wind was blowing seriously hard and literally nobody around the park.

Afternoon: Nakameguro + Daikanyama
Went to check out Meguro Sky Garden and didn't regret it. The park provides great viewing spot around Nakameguro and relax place to hang around. Afterwards visited Shukuyama Bridge and move to Daikanyama. Had a short walk around Daikayama Tsutaya Book Store and Log Road before boarding train to Nakano.




Evening: Nakano Broadway + Shinjuku
I would say if looking for old stuff, figurines and tokusatsu this place is worth checking out, else Akiba is good enough. Tried their multi flavoured ice-cream though. Hostel I stayed at Shinjuku is the worst. Checked in around 8pm after which go to the usual suspect spots. When I return to the capsule bed there's one guy bottom naked sleep on my bed. The bed sheet is wet and my bags kena. Dont know if is pee or not I dont want to know but I just quickly informed the receptionist and asked him to change me to new bed and had quickly have a quick wash. Midnight TV show is interesting though



Day 5
Morning: Lake Kawaguchiko + Mount Kachi Kachi + Lake Saiko
Boarded bus from Shinjuku to Lake Kawa. Due to poor time planning, visited Mt Kachi Kachi when visitor at its peak and missed Chuureito Pagoda. When boarding bus to Lake Saiko got off the wrong station end up walked 7km to reached the destination. The walk mercifully is view rewarding and even more so at Lake Saiko as shown below.



Afternoon: Natural Living Centre + Lake Yamanakanko
Had Hoto Fudo as lunch before head to Natural Living Centre. Park is really crowded and Mt Fuji view is not really spectacular IMO. Definitely would swap this for Chuureito Pagoda if I were to do it again. Boarded bus to Lake Yamanakanko and walked for 3km plus before reached the photo shooting point. Definitely must give it a visit as per sweetpez recommendation, at least up until the photo viewing point.



Day 6:
Morning: Chuureito Pagoda + Oshino Hakkai Village + Venetian Glass Museum
Borrowed hostel's bicycle ride to Chuureito Pagoda. Sadly the cloud covered the entire Mt Fuji so . Oshino Hakkai is a good place to visit but the zen is totally broken when tonnes of C/K visitors are there and shouting around the area. Venetian Glass Museum nice place to walk around but still little pricey IMO even after the Pass discount.

Afternoon: Owakudani + Moto Hakone Shrine
Took bus from museum to Gora Station head to Owakudani. Weather is really cloudy and windy that day but nevertheless tried their black noodles and black ice cream. After that from Togendai to Moto Hakone port and visited Moto Hakone Shrine.



Evening: Shinjuku
Before leaving Hakone exchanged the souvenir at Hakone Yumoto Station. Basically collecting 4 and above chop at each main tourist spot and get exchange for free for a limited time. Wandering around Shinjuku including playing baseball before boarding overnight bus to Kanazawa.

Besides Harajuku, which place is famous for sneakers?

Day 7
Morning: Kenrokuen
I booked my tickets via Bushikaku instead of Willer Express and JapanBusOnline which I found some are more expensive by more than 50%. If fellow forummer need help on this let me know. Kanazawa is snowing that day so is really fun for someone never experience snowing before Took the conventional commuter bus instead of Loop Bus since I'm at Kanazawa station early. The garden itself during winter is really majestic, worth the second visit.



Afternoon: Takayama
Booked Nohi Bus via JapanBusOnline from Kanazawa to Takayama. Tried their rice cakes, walk around the old streets and visited some shrines. Went to Harada Sake Brewery to try their sake. For 300¥ they allow visitors to try 12 kinds of sake once and let you keep the cup.

Only regret is didnt take train to Hida Furukawa visit around and take the photo at the train station.

Day 8
Morning: Miyagawa Morning Market + Shirakawago
During Winter market opens at 8am, but only 5 stalls when I visited on Saturday. Street itself is very nice to photograph though at early morning. Took bus to Shirakawago walk around village and visited the Outdoor Museum. The museum is a must visit if you want to see the collection of Gassho Zukkuri. There's little to none tourist here yet this place offers one of the best photo taking spots in Shirakawago.





Afternoon: Suganuma + Ainokura
Took Kaetsuno World Heritage Bus to Suganuma and is quieter than Shirakawago. Final stop at Ainokura check in Yomoshiro as per sweetpez recommendation. Host were very courteous, the second best after Hana Hostel at Fujisan Station.



Day 9
Morning: Shirakawago
After wander around Ainokura Village and took photo at the viewpoint, took bus back to Shirakawago explore remaining of the area and took bus again to Takaoka Station for Light Up Tour.



Evening: Shirakawago Light Up
From Takaoka I joined the Kaetsunou bus tour to Shirakawago for Light Up. Apparently the Shiroyama viewpoint usually open for public to ascend during daylight is closed during light up and only allow descend. Anyway the viewpoint is crazily crowded during the light up but the view is really magical so can see why so much ppl flock to there. After that return to Takaoka from Shirakawago I took overnight bus to Tokyo from Toyama.



Day 10:
Morning: Tokyo Station + Yushima Tenmangu
Mainly visit area around Tokyo Station and went to Yushima Tenmangu to see plum blossom. No tourist around and plenty of room to check out the plum blossoms. Absolutely gorgeous to look at.



Afternoon: Akihabara
Revisit Akiba to reconfirm prices, item availability and souvenirs shopping. For plastic models, I noticed Radio Kaikan AmiAmi is the cheapest, followed by Yellow Submarine. Tools/accessories wise Yodobashi Camera Akiba definitely got more choices and cheaper than RadioKaikan.

Had lunch at Kasugatei as per Chinti recommendation. Have to say such ramen is refreshing to chow. Love every bit of it.

I did check the Kitkat store forummers mentioned here, sadly apart from Tokyo Banana the rest of the Kitkats can be found in Don Quijote at cheaper prices.

Evening: Odaiba
Quick stop at Odaiba area to see Tokyo Bigsight then to Oedo Onsen Monogatari finally to DiverCity and surrounding area before concluding the trip.



Dear Admin;

Kindly inform if the posts are violating the rules and will remove accordingly at notice. Thanks

I also back from shiragawako too and the view just amazing. We were lucky there wasn't much cloud and got a clearer view. Also light snow too

Is a great itinerary you have there with details with it.

Agree, especially when you have a group of people travelling together. With multiple number of people to take care including your luggage, it's not going to be easy.

So the option is to stay put in 1 or max 2 place without having the need to move accommodation too much. Usually in Tokyo I just stay in the same place for 1 week or 10 days if possible; unless the plan is to do 2D1N side trips. Then that'll require the big luggage to be moved to a coin locker or baggage storage counter.

If you don't mind staying put throughout your trip and worried about the round trip from airport and back, there's option of shuttle van that pick you up and drop off right in front of your Hotel/ accommodation. No doubt it's pricier than taking the subway but if you don't mind paying a bit more for the convenience, no harm there are people who prefers hassle-free travel and Japan is a heaven that gives you plenty of options from budget to luxury.

In Dec i tried their service to airport (and my cousins who joined me in Tokyo few days later experienced the pick up from airport) and it was really good. Easy to book (it's in English), on time and one of the cheapest I can find on the internet:-
https://www.airporttransfer.jp/

Concur on facial mask!! Personally I enjoy looking at masks and buying few that seems to be unique. Japan has so many stuffs with nice packaging and convincing selling point that im easily persuaded also bought masks for friends as souvenirs and be it male or female, they love it.

As for other items, i sometimes get special flavours of Calbee chips (if my bag allows, due to space), special flavours of kaki no tane (eg. cheese, ume etc that you can't find in Malaysia), Atsugiri chocolate cake (in convenience stores), ramen like ichiran (but so far only bought once because it's pretty pricey), special flavour kit kats etc. Kit Kat is because it's small, light thus easier to stuff in luggage. Last round came across miniature bottles of plum wine (size of a 500yen?) that costs less than 200yen each, so I bought about 10 of them. Also saw miniature bottles of Kirin beer which was too adorable to pass (about 50ml sizee?) and grabbed a pack of 6.

Love all the special stuffs they have. Reducing my KitKat purchase as it's getting a bit boring, but i still buy them for some colleagues and acquaintances.

Wonderful trips and details! Yes Daikokuya is a bit pricey but totally worthwhile. There's so much good food in Nakamise that I'll need to update the front page when I have time. There's also a very good Taiyaki store that I'll never fail to visit at least once!

So you stayed in Ainokura!!! That's so exciting! Isn't the scenery breath taking? Not sure if the snow was too heavy when you were there, but it was amazing when I was there.



Since you took the time to do such a detailed summary, I'll input your post links on page 1, post 1 for others as reference if you don't mind

This post has been edited by sweet_pez: Feb 7 2019, 10:00 AM

i going shirakawago on april, too sad no light up on april

I have 3 1-day Osaka Amazing pass to let go (physical cards with their brochures), unfortunately I couldn't use them when I was in Osaka. Ticket validity is until April 2019. I actually don't have any price set for it but we can use Klook's price as base (negotiable)

Edit: sold

This post has been edited by Puteih: Mar 6 2019, 01:33 PM

Last trip to Kyoto/Osaka I had similar problems so this time whenever I visited that particular area (eg. Nikko/ Owakudani) I try buy the local products there especially handmade ones. During last day at Tokyo I also what to buy so end up buying daifuku on top of rare KitKats.

By all means please do.

I picked Ainokura because I saw your reply to another forummer on area to stay. It was not snowing that time but weather is cozy to have leisure stroll around the village. Personally I liked Ainokura way more since it is so much less people and commercialised. The viewpoint offers breathtaking view and I waited until the sun shines on the village which I think presents the best majestic view of the entire village.

Also would suggest if you know you will be travelling back and forth between Shirakawago and Ainokura, check the Kaetsuno World Heritage Bus Fare as getting the pass may be worthwhile @3.5k¥ else don't bother getting it.

I did try to look for the Taiyaki store you mentioned sadly it was closed when I was at Ginza. Definitely will go for look it that time if there's post about it but no regrets on Daikokuya since the queue move very fast and within my acceptable time limit in queuing.

Kobe is nearer if go from kyoto

I am planning to go for winter holiday in asia by end of this year during school holiday (2 adult + 2 kids aged 7&12) and decided to go to hokkaido to enjoy the snow after considering yongpyong and hokkaido. Can any one recommend good tour company? School holiday stars from 23 Nov 2019 until 31 Dec 2019 and i believe i should travel start from mid Dec if to enjoy thicker snow, right? This is my first time to enjoy the snow. Ha Ha

I search google and found out the tour package is quite expensive ranging from 5k+ to 6k+. How much savings can i get if to do DIY? I never do DIY tour before and not sure how to go about. Any sifu can give me a good guide?

I just did my Hokkaido trip just last month. Was there for 5 days and went to the following: Hakodate, Noboribetsu, Lake Toya, Sapporo, Susukino and Asahikawa. If you're going on December you will miss all the snow festivals (Jan - Feb). Lol I probably only spend RM 1k+ when I'm there since I spent RM 3.6k for my 13 days trip in Japan.