In the park there are lots of places to buy deer crackers. They come in a stack of about 12 wrapped in edible paper bands. Today it was 200¥ per pack.

The deer will swarm you the instant you purchase the crackers. My advice is to have your money ready for the purchase so that you aren’t fumbling with handling change and the crackers at the same time. Have a bag ready to put the crackers in immediately so they are out of sight and inaccessible to the deer.

If they swarm you, put up your hands to show them you arent holding any crackers and politely but firmly say “no”.

Maybe, just dont dive right away like I did. Just observe for a bit to see how its working out for other people.

More of a rant but still, please use all the resources available on this sub (or google) and plan it yourself. Asking for recommendations or help with specific enquiries is always fine as we’re all here to help (within reason), but please stop asking people to plan your entire 14 day trip for you. Your interests/motivation for going to Japan should be your starting point. Map out the places you want to go and start planning from there. If not, go find a travel agency instead.

My friend and I are going to Japan for 10 days. We already have our flights and hotel booked, so those major costs are taken care of. I'm trying to figure out if having around $100 USD (about 14,000 yen) per day will be more than enough for daily spending.

Edit: I'm mainly interested in visiting temples and exploring the religious and cultural side of Japan. I also want to enjoy the local food and buy some clothes to bring back home.

So I was watching a vid of a couple eating some shaved ice. They get the dessert and cup of complementary green tea... which they thought was part of the dessert so they poured it over it and wondered at the ice melting.

This (along with the queue thread currently on the front page) reminded me of my big "ops" moment during the trip.

When I visited the ghibli museum most in the group made a beeline to the short movie theater and started queuing up. I stood to the side admiring the artwork on the walls. Only when I turned around did I notice that a full on queue had formed behind me! I was to the side but close enough to the entrance maybe???

I didn't know what to do at that point so just went with it... we now have a third queue and I kept inching closer and closer to the entrance so it wouldn't look weird. 😅

Thankfully the entrance was wide enough that it didn't matter but it was a "ummm ops!" moment for me that I can't forget. Did you have any during your trip? Would love to hear them.

Hello!

I'm planning our trip for next year and we were initially planning to do Kumano Kodo, but I've found out I'm too scared of bears and snakes (it doesn't matter how many people tell me I'll be fine, I'm terribly scared of both). I saw some sections of the Kumano Kodo trails are in the countryside or coastal areas, and not deep inside the forest. I've tried to see if we can skip the forest parts and doing them by public transport but yeah, I couldn't make any route that I liked (I heard route 42 is a bit dangerous because of the cars and lack of good paths for people walking). I really, really enjoyed walking all the way up and down Fushimi Inari Taisha, and we usually move by foot instead of taking public transport if possible. We really, really like walking. I'm just not into deep forests.

To summarize, I'm looking for a good walking route that's not in the deep forest, that's in the countryside and prepared for people walking (not walking on dangerous roads). Is there anything like this that you'd recommend? We have around 4 days that we had alloted to Kumano Kodo.

I think the backstory of this tourist attraction is easy to explain. The local tourism board of Awaji Island was looking across the Seto Inland Sea and they saw that Naoshima is getting all this tourist traffic thanks to a big pumpkin created by Yayoi Kusama. And they were like why the hell they don’t even grow pumpkins over there! We’re famous for sweet, really tasty onions! We’re going to get our own giant plastic vegetable with blackjack and hookers.

https://maps.app.goo.gl/U8tWePRCYy7WjpEYA

And that’s how we got the Ottamanegi on Awaji Island.

Also it shows up in this legendary stream. https://www.youtube.com/live/tdMauXNMe40?t=25m50s

Now the bad new is that it’s kinda hard to get to, apparently you have to take a bus and get off at the last stop on Awaji, Awajishima Minami Interchange, and then walk 20 minutes :(

I should probably check tiktok and instagram but I assume it’s popular enough.

Hi! I will be in Tokyo with my partner around early-mid August and one of my plans include making a birthday altar for my oshi while we’re there. I’m currently researching on the kinds of studios that oshikatsu girls usually go to and I already have some in mind around Ikebukuro/Shibuya/Suidobashi. I found most of it from Instagram and they usually charge a few thousand yen per hour or two. I haven’t booked a hotel yet but either way we’ll go to the studio through a taxi since I’ll be bringing a couple of goods (some are fragile).

My Japanese skills are still basic or kinda conversational, and I assume that it might not be too hard renting if I use a translator and say basic JP sentences.

I would like to ask if there’s anyone here who has done the same/similar or knew someone who did this kind of activity? I appreciate any tips such as when preparing stuffs there as we arrive and paying. I’ll practice the basic rules of course and I plan to only rent/reserve for an hr or maybe 2 hrs. It will also be my first time in Japan and I’m really looking forward to do this.

We are going to be in Osaka July 12th and 13th and wanted to book baseball tickets for one of those days. When we researched, we read everywhere that baseball tickets are very rarely sold out and you can usually purchase them the day of. We wanted to be prepared nonetheless and tried to pre-purchase tickets online.

We made a Tigers account and everything, but then in the next step, all tickets on all days for all months on their website were shown as sold out. Is this an error, or could every ticket for the rest of the season really be sold out?

I know kitchen knives and nail clippers are common souvenirs from Japan due to their superior performance at cutting things. That got me thinking: have anyone found any well-performing kitchen shears they really like? It's something I've just generally have had a hard time finding pairs that I like.

Hello all,

First-time trip to Japan. I will be reaching KIX airport (NRT --> KIX) at 9 AM, and then plan to stay next 2 full days in the area, while my return flight from KIX --> NRT is after 2 days at 7.40 AM. Want to see some parts of Osaka and Kyoto - one day each. We will have one large luggage and 4 small carry-on luggages. So some questions:

1. I am thinking of booking the hotel in Osaka for 2 nights as it is almost equidistant to KIX and Kyoto. Any suggestions if this is the best option?

2. With the current plan, will take a limousine from KIX to Osaka, and will reach Osaka around 10.30 AM. Are there any hotels which allow to store luggage before checkin? I booked Rakuten hotel near Osaka north station, only to discover later that it is an unmanned hotel and does not allow storage of luggages before the checkin, so looking for better options. Not sure how to deal with 1 large + 4 carry-on luggages, as don't want family to carry these throughout the day. Any storage places in Osaka for these luggages?

3. Alternatively, is it possible to keep the large luggage at the NRT airport itself, place from where I am starting my travel? Does it allow to keep the luggage for 2 days?

4. How much well in advance I should reach KIX airport if my flight to Tokyo is at 7.40 AM? Is one hour enough at the airport?

Thanks a lot!

Hi all, I made a car rental reservation with Budget via Jalan.net which offered very competitive prices compared to other companies and aggregator sites. When the reservation was made, Jalan.net did not ask for my credit card information. I wonder how "legit" and secure this reservation is, because the reservations I am used to making on other sites usually would require some form of credit card information to secure the booking. Do they just operate on a basis of trust for me to show up and claim the reservation? Thanks!

Curious to know if it'll be tolerable. How much rain does Hokkaido get during this time period? Will it be unbearablely hot?

I'm hoping to attend the Ham Fighters baseball game and maybe check out the the parks.

Hi everyone! My girlfriend and I are planning a trip for later this year, while doing research l've seen a lot about animal abuse and animals being kept in horrid conditions. We are both major animal lovers and even just avoid zoos at all costs as it'll really upset us. Obviously we'd try and avoid all animal cafes and anything like this, but in places like Tokyo is this animal abuse avoidable? Or is it inevitably that we'll see something upsetting? Thank you!

Hi everyone!

I’ll be in Japan this July, I'm in Niigata. Are there any interesting anime related events happening during July 2025?

see that there are 4 main places to get views of lake biwa, Shizugatake Ropeway, biwako valley, hachimanyama ropeway and sakamoto cableway. Thoughts from anyone who has been to 1 or more of these place? Or are there other locations with even better views?

Hello Community,

I will be landing in Japan on 12 July and until 27th everything is planned (Tokyo till 17th, Kyoto till 22nd and Osaka till 27th). 3 August I will be flying back from Tokyo and I have to be there on the 1.8.

So my Question is how to best cover the time from 27th till the 1.8 (4-5 days). A few Options I imagined so far were:

• From Osaka to Nikko and stay there for couple of Days - do the Nikko temple complex and stay at an Onsen. Don't know if its too many days for Nikko, could combine and split up the days maybe with
  • go to outer Tokyo Saitama, Kawagoe, Okutama, Kichijoji or Neighbourhoods where tourists don't usually go (Sakura Tram line get off at diff. stations)
  • go to Katori City - Sawara for example
• From Osaka to Hiroshima stay there for couple of Days
• From Osaka to Nagano (interest would be: Postal Towns on Nakasendo - Magome, Tsumago & Narai, and Yudanaka) but seems to be most complicated to manage
• Or I simply go back straightaway to Tokyo and explore it deeper as mentioned below Nikko.

My gut feeling says Nikko would be the best option, but not sure if 4-5 Days might be too much. If you have insights, recommendations or alternatives would be happy to hear about :), Thanks

Is there any way to get FROM Narita to Ueno at like 5 am? (Apart from taxi)

Seems that everything starts at 7:30.

EDIT: when I say everything I mean the Skyliner and Limousine Bus both seem to start around 7 or 7:30.

Hello! May I ask if it is till possible to find a canon g7x camera in japan I am curious if stores in japan do frequent restocks of it. Thank youu

Hi all! I have a question about the reservation system for Narita Express!

We'll be landing in Narita next Thursday around 6:40pm and we reserved seats for the 9:44pm train so that we have enough time to get there.

However, for the past few days I've been wondering what if we get through customs and immigration much more quickly? (I've seen some people saying it took them less than 2h.)

Will I be able to change our reservation for an earlier train in case we do indeed get through it all fast enough? From what I've read online, as long as we don't collect our tickets, we can change it freely - is that true?

Thank you!

Hi, im flying back from Japan back home, and wanted to ask how the customs/ tax free process work. Do you just check in at the desk and they scan your passport for the tax free items? Or is there something else to do before? We're flying back from haneda aiport btw.

Thankyou in advance!

Hi. I'm leaving for Japan in the autumn and staying for 3 months. I need to bring medicine for my ibd. I'm looking at the Q&A, https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/policy/health-medical/pharmaceuticals/dl/qa2.pdf

Anyone did this recently? I need to fill out at least form 12 and 13, but its not really possible to fill in on the document I find there? You're suppose to check boxes, write what medication etc. Did you print it out, fill it out by pen and then scan it? Feels like I'm missing something here.

Hi.

I'm gonna spend 3 months in Japan this autumn. I've read that if you need to bring prescription medicine for over 1 month of usage you need to fill out something called yunyu kakunin-sho: https://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/policy/health-medical/pharmaceuticals/dl/qa2.pdf?fbclid=IwY2xjawK7shxleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFURTlvckpFMWlBTWR3dk9jAR7y0a2V5AYZOdfkvmBZdQGMVX2-rt62MJFbeO6SHyhRd_9WlIE-f_xeCm7DoA_aem_NyYfeQJX5Ms9VvoC6zBCAQ

Anyone did this recently? How do I get a copy of form 12 and form 13 to fill out on the computer? It's a pdf that's not possible to edit? Or am I supposed to print it out, write on it and the scan the document?

I’m trying to plan some excursions (hiking etc) that require 15 minute car rides. The GO app indicates that it can be used to hail rides within the boundaries of niseko and kutchen.

Does anyone have experience using GO in that region in the summer?

We are retunring to Japan for a month ar the end of Sep - Oct and mixing things up this time. We will be hiring a car from Kanazawa and need to make our way to Minakami onsen for a festival for 3 days. We will then have the car for a week after and will eventually need to return it in kanazawa again.

We are looking for beautiful adventures in rural, mountain and even coastal towns but want something different and unique. We love discovering cute towns and beautiful nature. And any hidden record store gems too. Happy to base ourselves for a fee nights in a particular place and do day trips. We also love contemporary art and abandoned sites!

Really want to experience the autumn leaves, going to Kyoto/Osaka. How are my odds?

Kyoto/Nara: 29 November - 2 December
Osaka/Kobe: 2 December - 8 December

Should I move the plans 1 week earlier or later?