Purchasing airplane tickets for a trip in March or April is quite cheap as of now, and the exchange rate is looking quite good, which is awesome for me. Nonetheless I haven't decided exactly the specific areas I would go to in Japan just yet but I did want to lock down a general date so I could purchase my plane tickets as soon as possible. I know I want to go early 2015, and also realize I don't think I could wait too much past April because I just need to go back to Japan at this point. With that in mind, what month would I get the most out of my trip? By the way this trip would likely last a bit more than 2 weeks (2 weeks off of work, leave on a weekend to maximize my days and get a few more out of it).

Some background info: I went to Japan in 2011 for a month, staying mainly in Osaka. I went on day trips to Kobe, Nara, and Kyoto. Returning to Japan I feel like I want to return to Osaka again for at least a few days. Assuming Osaka is the starting point, I can either take a shinkansen up North in the direction of Hokkaido, or West towards Kyushu. I'm not much of an active person and probably wouldn't be up for cramming my schedule so full that I have to run from place to place. I'd like to find a nice path that flows in a single direction, visit a few places, and maybe meet some people along the way. The one thing I'm relatively sure of is that I don't care to visit Tokyo. Never wanted to for some reason.

That being said I'd like to hear your suggestions. Feel free to ask any questions.

If you are interested in the cherry blossoms, and doing some 花見, you should consider that when choosing when to go there.

April.

That way you'll hit sakura season. Even if you're not into looking at flowers on trees, the cultural spectacle is really something. It's even better if you share a bottle of sake with a few friends under a cherry tree. Of course you'll run into much more foot traffic in those areas, but it's worth it.

And it seems I can go most places to see sakura. Osaka at the very least. I thought to spend at least half my trip in Osaka, maybe I could go a bit West after (or before) to Hiroshima, or East to Fuji.

I'd push more toward the April end of things. Hanami season, like others have said, though even in April you'll be a bit early if you're looking at Northern Japan. Most of Hokkaido won't even see cherry blossoms until Golden week or later.

March, you're likely to catch the tail end of winter weather, again colder the more north you go.

I definitely recommend experiencing hanami in Ueno Park in Tokyo. If you hit it at mankai, it is breath-taking. So try to time your visit for that.

If you plan on going to Kyoto around that time, book your hotel early as I've heard they get booked up solid.

yogert909 Wrote:If you plan on going to Kyoto around that time, book your hotel early as I've heard they get booked up solid.

Last time I just stayed at a business hotel in Osaka and went on a day trip to Kyoto. Not sure if I would stay there but I'd definitely attempt to plan everything as much as I can sooner rather than later.

Dude! I'm going in April too! I'll be staying the full month (two weeks vacation, two weeks work). I'll be in Tokyo the last two weeks (sorry), but plan on visiting Kyouto, Nagoya, and several other cities in the first two weeks. We should connect at some point if it makes sense.

gaiaslastlaugh Wrote:Dude! I'm going in April too! I'll be staying the full month (two weeks vacation, two weeks work). I'll be in Tokyo the last two weeks (sorry), but plan on visiting Kyouto, Nagoya, and several other cities in the first two weeks. We should connect at some point if it makes sense.

Sure, I'll likely be looking for a flight that departs the first Friday of April. So either the following week, or the one after, I'd be in the Osaka area. Can't decide if I want to frontload Osaka or not, because I already know it's a guarantee focus-point for me. I'll post back here with the final date after I talk to my boss to make sure I can buy the ticket. After that I'll probably make a spreadsheet with locations and solidify my schedule, start booking hotels and such, etc.

Bought my tickets over the weekend. Flying to Japan on the 10th of April, arriving in Osaka pretty late at night the 11th. Leaving from Osaka on the 26th and of course arriving back in America the 26th. I really took for granted how lucky I got the last time I went to Japan, where I had direct flights from Chicago to Tokyo, then a flight to Osaka with minimal layover; however, this time the fastest flights I got were 20 hours total each way including the layover, as opposed to every other option which was 30 hours with layover.

So now I pose a question about possibly going to Tokyo. Obviously I already bought my tickets, and yes I could change them but I'd have to take a 30 hour flight to Tokyo, doesn't seem worth it. I didn't initially plan to go to Tokyo but might see someone there. I could (a) after I arrive in Osaka the 11th it'll be night, so just skip a hotel and take a night bus to Tokyo from the airport, or (b) spend a few days in Osaka, take a night bus to Tokyo and stay a few days in-between, then return to Osaka a few days ahead to do whatever in anticipation of my flight home.

Any experience here with night buses? I'm pretty sure Willer Express is a well-known name, and that some go directly from Kansai. But if I plan my trip ahead of time, like right now, I don't think I can book and secure a bus that early. Maybe it's risky?

Another option would be to buy a JR pass and you could take a Shinkansen. It's about a 3 hour trip I think. A 7 day JR pass goes for 29,110 yen and would cover the rest of your train fare for the week.

Got my ticket as well. April 2nd (landing the 3nd in NRT) to April 29th. Direct flight from Seattle.

April 11th is just a bit late for cherry blossoms in Osaka, Kyoto, and similar latitudes most years--might want to go somewhere a little bit north if you want a really good view of the trees. Though with some luck the trees might be in full bloom until the 13th or so.

Even just a couple of hours north of Kyoto City like Amanohashidate or Kanazawa would probably be full bloom through the 16th or 17th.

Anyway, just about to go to bed so I didn't actually read this thread fully yet--not sure if I'm actually being helpful, haha.

I agree that cherry blossom season is gorgeous, but I loved visiting Kyoto in March. The crowds were small and the hotel deals were very good. I got there for plum blossom season, so it wasn't all winter.

I took the night bus from Tokyo to Osaka once. The seats only recline slightly, it's a bit of a rocking, bumpy trip, and they made a few stops at rest stations. They'll turn on the bus lights and open the door at each stop. Granted, it's really cheap compared to taking the Shinkansen, but it's a night of minimal sleep compared to just 2~3 hours watching the countryside blow past in comfort. I believe you can even use wi-fi and grab a bento to eat on the train. As someone mentioned above, if you get the tourist pass and are able to use it on the Shinkansen, or if you have the funds available, I would go with the Shinkansen.

Thanks for continued feedback.

@Gaias, if we really want to meet up we can discuss it closer to the trip. Obviously nothing to stress over in terms of details, but if it happens that'd be cool.

For those who mentioned the shinkansen I think that'd be a good idea. I mean the bus is probably $75-100 each way, whereas the shinkansen for a 7-day pass or something is around $300, covers both trips, is more comfortable and faster, and only a bit more. A worthwhile investment I imagine. So I just have to decide when to do it. Last time I went to Japan the jet lag hit me quite hard, but if I rent a place near the airport to use when I arrive, and my sleep schedule is off, then it's kind of a waste when I could've been on a shikansen or something. However if I take a shinkansen late Saturday night and arrive very early Sunday morning then what do I even do when I arrive at that point. I guess in the end maybe I just discuss with my friend in Tokyo and see what she thinks. Kind of holding off on figuring out places to stay in the meantime. Maybe do business hotels again.

I have a question for those who've used the JR Pass. Sure I can get it for just one week to cover my shinkansen trip, but is it worth getting it for 2 weeks? Which would cover almost my entire trip. Can it be used on enough trains that I could reliably get around? Or maybe better to just use it for my roundtrip Osaka to Tokyo and back. Also I'm a bit worried about purchasing JR Pass for a trip from Osaka to Tokyo, because it could be on the Nozomi shikansen. According to this FAQ that's not possible?

http://www.japan-rail-pass.com/common-qu...g-my-train

Japan-guide says there are different trains that run from Osaka to Tokyo that would be covered under JR Pass. What line did you guys take?

Whether a rail pass is worth it depends a lot on how much you plan to be traveling. If you plan to stay mostly around one area for several days or a week of your trip, then it probably makes more sense to try to get a 1 week pass, and schedule most of your major travel during that period, if possible.

Your best bet is to just go ahead and work out what the cost of your most significant trips will be, using a site like http://www.hyperdia.com/
Then you can see if it makes financial sense for you or not.
It looks like the hikari shinkansen also goes from shin-osaka station to tokyo, but less frequently than the nozomi.
Also, there might be a lot of times that you want to take other train lines or subways or things that are not covered by the jr pass, so you can still have additional travel expenses on top of what you pay for it.


I would also recommend taking a trip to Hiroshima if you get a chance. Its an amazing place, and created one of the biggest impressions on me from several places I have visited in Japan. You could possibly take a shinkansen from osaka to hiroshima, visit the atomic bomb site there, take a side trip to Miyajima, and then get back to osaka in a single day. Okunoshima is also a fun day trip from either osaka or hiroshima.

TheVinster Wrote:I have a question for those who've used the JR Pass. Sure I can get it for just one week to cover my shinkansen trip, but is it worth getting it for 2 weeks? Which would cover almost my entire trip. Can it be used on enough trains that I could reliably get around? Or maybe better to just use it for my roundtrip Osaka to Tokyo and back. Also I'm a bit worried about purchasing JR Pass for a trip from Osaka to Tokyo, because it could be on the Nozomi shikansen. According to this FAQ that's not possible?

http://www.japan-rail-pass.com/common-qu...g-my-train

Japan-guide says there are different trains that run from Osaka to Tokyo that would be covered under JR Pass. What line did you guys take?

Yeah, you can't take the fastest Shinkansen with the pass, but you can take the second fastest so it's not a big deal. I think it only adds like 30 minutes to the trip between Osaka and Tokyo. You basically just stop at three or four stations that you wouldn't stop at with the Nozomi.

How far in advance would folks recommend booking accommodations for April in Tokyo, given the season? There are currently tons of AirBnB opportunities available. I was going to wait until top of February to book as I just bought my ticket, but am worried about everything drying up quickly given that it's cherry blossom season.