Planning Your Own Trip to Japan

Going on your own to Japan ? Why not ?

Fushimi inari shrine, Kyoto

  

Here are some tips!

People might be scared of going to a foreign country without tour or on their own because of language barriers, getting lost, not knowing what to eat. 

AFRAID NOT - for in Japan, there is no need to worry about all of those things. You can use google maps to go anywhere, delicious food everywhere, and easy public transportation!

In fact, I always prefer traveling on my own as I can choose the places I want to go, how long I want to spend my time there, and how much money I am going to spend (of course, the lowest budget possible). So without further ado, this is how I plan a tight-budget but wonderful trip to the land of the rising sun.

1. Look out for plane tickets on SALE!

Look out for travel fairs like from Garuda Indonesia, Singapore Airlines or from Airasia's website. They almost always have promos for cheap tickets to go to Japan. To get a cheaper price, go on seasons that are not high seasons such as Christmas. But if you want to go on specific seasons such as during spring when the cherry blossoms are blooming, you're going to have to buy the ticket months (more than 3 months) before going, or it'll be more expensive.

 2. Do Research! Make a list of the places you want to go

This maybe the reason why people buy tour packages, because it's too much of a hassle to research and make your own itinerary, however, for me this is one of the most fun part of planning a trip.

I find that www.japan-guide.com is a VERY useful website to do research on the places you want to go. They have a list of the top places to go to for each city, including the prices of each place and the access and transportation to take to go there. 

For example: I am going to Tokyo, so I make a list of the places I want to go. I like going to temples and picturesque landscapes, and I am not really into museums.

Tying my bad fortune away at Fushimi inari

My top places to go for each city:

• Tokyo: Akihabara, asakusa, harajuku, shibuya, shinjuku, Disneysea
• Osaka: Dotonbori, Namba station, Shinsaibashi, Owl family cafe, Umeda sky building, Universal Studios
  
• Side-trips from Osaka: Nara and Kyoto  
• Kyoto: Fushimi inari shrine, higashiyama district, kiyomizudera temple, Arashiyama, Gion 
• Nara: Nara park, todaiji temple, kasuga taisha

These are the places that for me is a must-go, but if you have other preferences like more museums or shopping, in the japan-guide website you can click the museums in that particular city.

 3. Making your own itinerary

Now here is the tricky part. After making a list of all of the places you want to go, go to your google map and search each destination and mark it (or favorite it) in your google map. Why? This is so that you can zoom out on the area of the places you want to go, and see which destinations (the one you marked) are of closer distance to each other so you can put them into one day trip. 

For example: Shibuya, harajuku and shinjuku are very close to one another, so we can put them into one day.

Day 1 in Tokyo:

1. Shibuya

2. Harajuku

3. Shinjuku

After making a list of the places you want to go to for each day, put important information you need in each number, such as how to get there, and entrance fee. Then you can write down the time you want to go there. I usually use google maps and write down the train stations I need to go to, what line I need to take and how much one trip cost.

A river in Arashiyama district

Day 1 - Tokyo

9.30 – 9.35      Tokyo st (Yamanote line) - Akihabara st

9.40 – 11.30    Muter-muter Akihabara

11.35 – 11.50 Akihabara st (Yamanote line) - Ueno st(pindah ke metro subway Ginza line)- Arrive at Asakusa, walk - Sensoji Temple

11.50 – 13.50  Muter2 Asakusa, makan di sekitar asakusa

14.00 – 14.15 otw Asakusa station

14.15 – 14.45 Asakusa st (metro Ginza line) - Ueno St (Yamanote line) - Harajuku st

14.50 – 15.50 Harajuku st - Tokyu plaza omotesando,

15.55 – 16. 00 Harajuku st (Yamanote line 1 stop) - Shibuya st - kluar station ad Hachiko statue

16.00 – 18.30 Shibuya crossing (street photography till sunset at 18.00)

18.30 – 19.15 Dinner at Shibuya Sushi Daidokoro (conveyor belt sushi)

19.15 – 21.30 Hikarie shopping mall and visit the Sky Lobby on 11th Floor

21.30 – 22.00  Go back to hotel

A cute traditional house on the streets of Nara

4. Transportation in Japan

Public transportation in Japan is easily accessible as long as you understand how to read the map of the train lines. Hence, it is very important to download the map and understand it before going there. If you are planning to go to Tokyo, and Osaka, you can download JR station maps in here: http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/routemaps/bystation.html

I usually download it and keep it in my phone so I can open it anytime when I am there.

For Kyoto you can also use JR train, but they usually have more public bus, you can also use google maps to look for the bus number you have to take. They also have a one day bus pass.

If you are going to travel to different cities such as Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto all at once, I suggest you should buy a JR pass. It is a one price pass that you can use for all JR trains, including shinkansen (fast bullet train usually to travel from Tokyo to Osaka). 

JR pass for 7 days costs around IDR 3.800.000, which is actually cheap if you are traveling to different cities that need shinkansen. As one-way trip from Tokyo to Osaka can cost around IDR 1.500.000, and JR pass can also be used for going on the JR trains inside the city.

5. Budgeting

The picture above is an example of one of my trips to Osaka and Kyoto. I counted that I need around 1000 yen per meal (if you're not going for fine dining places), hence 3000 yen for 3 meals a day. Then I list down all of the entrance fees I need to go into the destinations I want to go to. Then finally counting the transportation fee needed for each trip which I have searched before in google maps while making the itinerary. 

Since this is only rough budgeting, I brought an extra 50000 yen for unpredictable fees just in case.

6. Rent a mobile wifi / internet package

Since we are going to use google maps a lot, especially to know where to walk after arriving at the train station, we need internet!

So rent a mobile wifi before you go on the trip or call your service provider if they have a roaming internet package overseas to compare prices.

I used https://pupuruwifi.com/  to rent mobile wifi. You can pick it up at the airport and after using it at the end of the trip you can just put it into the envelope they provide you with and just put it inside any mailbox on the street to return it.

And voila! You are done with your own tour to Japan!

Don't worry if you can't speak Japanese, you can use body language and they understand a little bit of English there. Japanese people are very nice, some would actually show you the way there if you don't understand their directions.

Oh and Japan is a very safe country where if you left or lose your bag, you'll probably still find it at the same place or with the police if you come looking for it.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comment section below! I'll be happy to help!

 

Getting lost in Nara

Don't be afraid to get lost! Getting lost while you travel is one of the exciting part, finding hidden gems while you are at it. 
So don't be so tight as to follow everything on your list, but be flexible and you'll find the joys of traveling with freedom in your hands.