Of course Kyoto but hotel will be expensive due to Sakura season.

Any1 wan plan Japan trip with me ya? so that can share accomodation costs together..

just back from osaka kyoto and tokyo

seems like JP is different from what i feel before
last visit is pre covid....

souvenir like not much being sold
food quality like strawberry sandwish at familymart and lawson also like drop abit...not so tasty as before.
local fish market like not that WOW anymore

but Disneyland is PERFECT~

Because biggest spender (Chinese) are not in Japan yet.
Those omiyage store biggest customer are Chinese, only Chinese willing to spend money during vacation.

Those US & EU & SEA tourist 90% see only, no buy

This post has been edited by RegentCid: Feb 14 2023, 01:54 PM

last visit i bought alot of souvenior

now i go, not much , especially like fridge magnet...
alot of shop like not fully open . i dunno is it because they closed during pandemic or what hmm

Its the best time to be in japan now. Hokkaido is relatively quiet except for sapporo due to the snow festival
Abashiri, akan and shiretoko is free from chinese tourist

Now if you buy from central or nijo dried seafood so much easier to get cheaper prices

Narita airport got 2-3 Omiyage store, so don't waste your time buying at Tokyo. Unless it is those limited edition tokyo banana with Pikachu or Doraemon.

You dont get the picture behind. If everyone only buy at airport. Those open shop lot in Tokyo City will go bankrupt. Every shop lot feed dozen of families.
My company also having hardtime, lucky got Television contract but it still no match for Chinese big spender "Bao" entire Helicopter for his vacaton trip.
Now ANA also got Helicopter division called All Nippon Helicopter (ANH) with all brand new Airbus H175 , now my company struggling even more as ANH are our No.1 Rival.

If you go Japan now compare to pre-covid time, totally diffrent. Alot small families run business are no longer in operation which is very sad. Bic Camera & Yodobashi & Matsumoto Kiyoshi are all suffering big time because no Chinese customer. If this 3 Gaint collapse or they closed any branch....thousand of people will jobless.


As tourist, no chinese in Japan are good but for Japanese which do service / sales sector, no Chinese tourist = mati soon.

This post has been edited by RegentCid: Feb 15 2023, 12:52 PM

But the store near Asakusa temple still doing well with lots of crowd.

When i'm at Takayama morning market and the old street, some store already close down and not like the one at year 2018. And after 8pm, the street is extremely quiet.

China tourist is really big spender which no country can match off for sure. Even current Japan hotel rate is much lower than the pre covid time despite the inflation over the years.

i travel to tokyo on 11mar to 21 mar.

wondering worth or not to buy jr pass. dont have any set itinerary yet.

effectively in japan for 9 full days .. any suggestions or recommendations

hnghh cant wait to fly to osaka on 2nd mar.

saw a post last year japan really prefer cash instead of credit card.
is it still the same now?

If you only stay at Tokyo and visit nearby area such as Hakone / Lake Kawaguchiko / Nikko.
You don't need JR Rail Pass.

Yes.

Anyone brought their family to Japan recently?
Does kids below 12 require 3rd vaccination to enter?

According to Visit Japan Web, if the kid doesn't have 3rd jab, He is not able to allow to upload the vaccination cert (although have 2 jab)
Does that mean he has to do PCR test 72 hours b4 flight?

Hi all sifu,
i m travelling to Tokyo on the 3rd to 13th April 2023. Would like to know how to go Narita Airport from Shibuya. My flight back to Malaysia is on the 13th April 9.30am flight. Is it possible to take the train from shibuya station and what time shall i depart from shibuya station to reach Narita Airport on time to catch the 9.30 am flight?? or is there another alternative way? Thanks.

6am Train (Narita Express) & reach Narita Airport by 720am
Shibuya Station to Narita Airport
If you missed this train, bye bye to your flight ticket.

Make sure you get Narita Express Round Trip Ticket when you reach Japan on 3rd April. Get it at JR Ticket Office.
Since you got return ticket, it will save you alot time at Sibuya Station.
6am Train, 5.40Am you must be in Shibuya Station.

This post has been edited by RegentCid: Feb 17 2023, 03:45 PM

Thanks for the info. we got 8pax in the group, am thinking of chartering a shuttle van. Is there any trustable shuttle company to look for? A friend of mine encountered problems when booking from KLOOK. The driver no show on that and they were forced to take a taxi or else would have missed their flight. The taxi fare is so expensive. Anyone here can recommend me a trustable shuttle van? Thanks again.

Driver are consider professional job in Japan. Charter a van will cost you approx. 50,000 including tax.

Narita Express round ticket only cost 4070 yen per pax. 8 pax still cheaper than charter a van for single trip. 8 pax are all adult?

Yes, 6 adults and 2 senior citizens. Problems is with trolling luggage if we take Narita Express. Some more the place we staying is around 15 to 20 minutes walking distance to Shibuya Station. That's why i would prefer to hired a charter van.

But come to think of it, taking Narita Express is more super cheaper than charter van. And the timing is just nice for us to check in our flight at the airport. Thanks again for the suggestion and recommendation. Great useful information.

Just in case bad weather.
Most Japan hotel got concierge. You can charted a van to Narita. Just let the hotel staff know by 12 April. Price from Tokyo to Narita are fix at 50-55k

This post has been edited by RegentCid: Feb 17 2023, 05:55 PM

hi all sifu, I got questions on Sagano Rail Arashiyama.

i will be visiting to Arashiyama this end of March. Plan to purchase ticket from jr-west 1 month ahead when the ticket start available.

randen line --> arashiyama station --> walk to bamboo forest.
1) my wife want to go bamboo forest earlier to avoid crowd, is 7.30am sufficient or need earlier?

bamboo forest --> 9am Sagano Rail
2) Will I miss any nice scene if I on board from Torokko Arashiyama Station instead of Saga Torokko Station?

Torrokko Kameoka Station --> Hozugawa River boat ride
3) Can I use suica card to tap on Keihan Kyoto Kotsu?

lastly any nice lunch spot to intro around Togetsu-kyo area? Since the boat ride will end around this area

Many thanks!!