We got back from our Japan trip on Saturday night. We flew from Edinburgh to Tokyo via Heathrow with BA and were there from 11 May to 25 May.
We stayed 6 nights in Tokyo, 5N in Kyoto and another 2N in Tokyo at the end.
Flights
We flew premium economy (a first for us) and I must admit i don’t want to go back to economy now! I actually ate the food which was a first for me as I normally never touch it and take food on with me. We were given a first class meal on the way back as they had run out of our choice. All flights were on time.
JR rail pass
We bought the two week pass and for us, it was well worth the money. We used it to travel around Tokyo on the Yamanote line every day we were there as well as several day trips.
General
We loved Tokyo and found it really easy to travel around. By day three I was confident enough to ditch my husband and travel to Nippori which has a street full of fabric stores and spent a few hours buying up everything I could.
. My husband meanwhile was on the other side of Tokyo at golf and guitar shops - perfect!
The people we came across were lovely and the few times we asked for directions they went out of their way to help.
Language
I had been worried before we went about language problems and had learnt a few words in the months prior to travelling. I must have done a good job though because when I was asking how much something was in Japanese for example they thought I could speak the language and replied of course in Japanese which I then had to say wakarimasen (I don’t understand).
they really appreciate when you try some words and I was praised quite a few times. Our waiter at the hotel would test me each morning lol.
All transport on trains and buses was in English as well as Japanese. The stations are well signed although we hardly used the Metro so can’t speak for that.
Day Trips
While in Tokyo we took the Shinkansen to Hakone. This was a great day trip and the only disappointment was that although we were almost on the doorstep of Mt Fuji we didn’t see it because of cloud cover.
We decided to only allocate one day at Disney and chose DisneySea. We had a great day there and it was not anywhere as busy as I thought it would be.
In Kyoto we went on day trips to Hiroshima, Nara and Himeji. I recommend all these trips and in fact we found the day trips the most enjoyable part of the holiday.
Because of the day trips we did not have a lot of time to spend in Kyoto itself but managed to fit in a few things including a market at a temple where I bought quite a few unusual things - and they were quite cheap! Kyoto station at night is fantastic.
We loved our holiday so much we are determined to go back. We want to see more of Japan - especially a trip to Nikko which we had planned to do on our second last day but because of lack of sleep and all the walking (around 25,000 - 30,000 steps most days) we were exhausted and decided it was one trip too many.
If you have any questions I will be happy to try and answer. I picked up some spare Disneysea maps - if anyone wants one send me a PM and I’ll post one.
Edit: I had read before going that all the JR stations (eki stamps) and tourist spots have unique stamps (the wooden kind you use with ink pad) so I bought a notepad from Paperchase. It’s a great souvenir to have. I have stamps from Hiroshima, Ueno Zoo, temples, Tokyo Govt building - you name it have it! It’s free and if you can’t find the stamp someone will always help.