First Time in Japan

[AntonyJ]

Originally Posted by Budmiester

We are on the BA005 departure at 13:00 as we fly down from Edinburgh, it’s a pity that we miss you as we could have met up for a refreshment 😀 . For getting into Tokyo we intend to use the monorail and then train to Tokyo Station. We are still deliberating wether to use “pocket wifi “ or an Esim.

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Hello from Motherwell!

Wave as you go over

[Budmiester]

Originally Posted by AntonyJ

Hello from Motherwell!

Wave as you go over

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We used to live in Paisley but moved to Fife last year, I do miss falling out of bed and being at the airport in 10 minutes 😂 One more day and we can get our tickets for DisneySea booked, we are going to purchase “Premium “ access tickets as it’s our last day in Japan and we want to make it the best time of our trip so Fantasy Springs is an absolute must 😀
I just hope that we have sufficient time to see and do everything we want in DisneySea or we might be forced to come back next year to finish the park ohh the absolute nightmare 🤪

[AntonyJ]

Originally Posted by Budmiester

We used to live in Paisley but moved to Fife last year, I do miss falling out of bed and being at the airport in 10 minutes 😂 One more day and we can get our tickets for DisneySea booked, we are going to purchase “Premium “ access tickets as it’s our last day in Japan and we want to make it the best time of our trip so Fantasy Springs is an absolute must 😀
I just hope that we have sufficient time to see and do everything we want in DisneySea or we might be forced to come back next year to finish the park ohh the absolute nightmare 🤪

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Yeh I quite like where we are for airports - 25 mins to Glasgow and about 40 mins to Edinburgh. If possible fly from Edinburgh as an easier trip to / from airport.

Fantasy Springs - I have found this Japanese Twitter / X account that tells you what time the paid / free passes run out each day for each of the rides in Fantasy Springs:

twitter/_fantasysprings

More become available during the day from what I read, but interesting to see when the initial lot run out. Frozen is the fastest to run out.

[Clydecruiser]

We are also in final planning. Flying BA7 out on the 27/09 for 5 days in Tokyo followed by a cruise From Tokyo to Muroran/Sapporo, Sakata, Kanazawa, Busan, Yatsushiro, Kochi, Osaka and back to Tokyo.

DisneySea is booked for the Monday in case we decide we need a second day there.

Calendar is marked up with when tickets go on sale for the other attractions. Will do a very short Shinkansen to Yokohama and back so we can say we did it. Looking at Shibuya Sky, Imperial Palace grounds tour and apart from that we will wander. Many places saved in google maps.

Added complication of wife being Coeliac so we have found some suitable locations but if we struggle we will eat in hotel.

The one splurge has been Private transfer airport to the hotel and then from Tokyo Cruise terminal back to Airport.

[Budmiester]

Originally Posted by Clydecruiser

We are also in final planning. Flying BA7 out on the 27/09 for 5 days in Tokyo followed by a cruise From Tokyo to Muroran/Sapporo, Sakata, Kanazawa, Busan, Yatsushiro, Kochi, Osaka and back to Tokyo.

DisneySea is booked for the Monday in case we decide we need a second day there.

Calendar is marked up with when tickets go on sale for the other attractions. Will do a very short Shinkansen to Yokohama and back so we can say we did it. Looking at Shibuya Sky, Imperial Palace grounds tour and apart from that we will wander. Many places saved in google maps.

Added complication of wife being Coeliac so we have found some suitable locations but if we struggle we will eat in hotel.

The one splurge has been Private transfer airport to the hotel and then from Tokyo Cruise terminal back to Airport.

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If you are interested have a look at TeamLabs Planets/ Borderless in Tokyo, it’s a visual effect show and it looks amazing, there are a few YouTube videos that show it off nicely and James May did a segment on it 👍 We have some tickets already booked for Borderless and are hoping to get some next week for Planets.

[AntonyJ]

Originally Posted by Budmiester

If you are interested have a look at TeamLabs Planets/ Borderless in Tokyo, it’s a visual effect show and it looks amazing, there are a few YouTube videos that show it off nicely and James May did a segment on it 👍 We have some tickets already booked for Borderless and are hoping to get some next week for Planets.

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Done both the TeamLabs - Boarderless in its orig location before it moved. There are a few similar rooms in both, but the overall differences make them both well worth doing.

One thing to note, one of the first rooms in Planets is basically a floor of "cusions" and you sink into them abouth thigh depth. I have some lower back issues and had to "cheat" by going next to one of the walls, to use as support. After that all the other rooms were fine for me until the very end when you go into the room of mirrors with the suspended flowers that come down.

They wanted you to crawl on the floor to get under the flowers, let them come down around you - but I did not do the crawling so just stayed "this side" and watched it all.

Looking forward to seeing the expended Boardless in its new location when we visit next May.

If you can try and book one of the first slots of the day (probably one of the last of the day too) as it can get very busy.

Finally, there is a "secret" Teamlabs in the Samsung Galaxy store in Harajuku -

samsung/jp/explore/g...ajuku/teamlab/

Free to go in, one room or possibly two - they give you a smartphone (the whole thing is a way to show off the phone) but it was good fun and we enjoyed the whole store - it has interesting things in there.

[Budmiester]

Originally Posted by AntonyJ

Done both the TeamLabs - Boarderless in its orig location before it moved. There are a few similar rooms in both, but the overall differences make them both well worth doing.

One thing to note, one of the first rooms in Planets is basically a floor of "cusions" and you sink into them abouth thigh depth. I have some lower back issues and had to "cheat" by going next to one of the walls, to use as support. After that all the other rooms were fine for me until the very end when you go into the room of mirrors with the suspended flowers that come down.

They wanted you to crawl on the floor to get under the flowers, let them come down around you - but I did not do the crawling so just stayed "this side" and watched it all.

Looking forward to seeing the expended Boardless in its new location when we visit next May.

If you can try and book one of the first slots of the day (probably one of the last of the day too) as it can get very busy.

Finally, there is a "secret" Teamlabs in the Samsung Galaxy store in Harajuku -

samsung/jp/explore/g...ajuku/teamlab/

Free to go in, one room or possibly two - they give you a smartphone (the whole thing is a way to show off the phone) but it was good fun and we enjoyed the whole store - it has interesting things in there.

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I have booked Borderless for 10 am on our first full day as I have no doubt we’ll be wide awake at 05:00 😂😂

[derenstar]

Hello, can I ask who and how you’re all booking your Japan trips with please? It’s been my dream to visit Japan forever snd I don’t know where to even start. Are you using a specific travel agent to design itinerary for you or doing them DIY? Amy tips would be great.

[Budmiester]

Originally Posted by derenstar

Hello, can I ask who and how you’re all booking your Japan trips with please? It’s been my dream to visit Japan forever snd I don’t know where to even start. Are you using a specific travel agent to design itinerary for you or doing them DIY? Amy tips would be great.

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I have booked directly with BA, I’ve always found them to very helpful and their prices are reasonable 👍 I use YouTube for ideas of where and what to do, I find that half the fun is planning on what you want to see and do on holiday 😁

[Gunna]

We are down to our last two weeks of planning as we fly out 31st August, all getting very close and excitement is building. Started my thread for the trip report but can’t see this being live more as we get back, i’ll make sure to complete for anyone else going.

Most things booked and sorted

- team labs planet Tokyo
- Dawn robot cafe
- shibuya sky
- Mount Fuji trip ( fingers crossed on weather but limited to a set day)
- bar crawl with a local private guide, he’s also meeting us the next day and sorted tickets to a Sumo stable to see a practise session
- capybara cafe - partner is mad on them
- sky tree
- yakiniku wagyu restaurant
- Shinkansen tickets
- day trips to Himeji, Nara & Hiroshima - self led.
- Universal Osaka with fastpass
- Disney package and sorting a couple of sit down meals too
- WiFi box
- airport transfers
- immigration done online
- plenty of yen bought when 200¥ to GBP plus fee free cards

It’s going to be pretty full on but I’ve spaced out the booked stuff and if an early start/late night tried a later one for the day after. Tried to keep Tokyo days more area based. Picked up some great tips on here, thank you to everyone who posts and suggests.

I’ll share how things worked when I’m back but feel free to ask any questions. Counting the days down now….