Hey guys,

I'm a Canadian citizen and new to this site but I've always had a passion to travel to Japan. The problem is that I've never planned a trip in my life nor have I travelled much. I need some help figuring out how to go about planning a trip to Japan. I want to explore and see and experience traditional style Japan like the temples and castles of Kyoto etc. I'm also very heavy on the old samurai culture and would love to learn and see as much as I can. In addition I would like to experience modern Japan and learn and see what I can about it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as well as help with figuring out what kind of budget I would have to look at for a trip like that.


Cheers!

Kyle M.

Hi Kyle, welcome to the forum

I can give some information and advice, but was just curious how long you were planning on travelling to Japan? And what type of money would you be able to set by for it?

The 'man on the scene' from Japan Channel has done a Video on comming to Japan for a trip, it is very worth watching and informative, but I would offer some differing opinions in terms of accomodation (e.g I would suggest Hostels over Hotels)

To give a rough idea, for the bare essentials to stay in Japan (accomodation, 3 meals, travel and a few extras like tourist places) you will roughly be looking at average of 7,000 yen per day (depending on where you stay). So works out about 85-90 canadian dollars. But that includes hostel accomodation and also no shopping expenses or things like that. So I would save that much in mind and then save a bit more if you wanted to buy stuff ( which you will, trust me! )

As I said above, depending on where you stay the costs can differ per day. This mainly comes down to the accomodation. But if you mainly stick with hostels it cuts costs down. I did stay in traditional Japanese housing a few times but it costs more (definitely worth the expense for the experience) so you can plan those also.

If you plan on visiting many parts of Japan I can't recommend a J-Rail pass enough. It is a pass (which you get in your own country) that allows you unlimited use of any J-rail service within Japan, be it a Bullet Train(shinkansen),Trains, Buses, Ferries etc. You can get the passes in 1,2 or 3 week periods. The 3 weeks one will cost about 650 canadian dollars but it IS worth it. You have to activate it in Japan though when you arrive (Shinjuku if I am correct). The pass will allow you to make quick travels to many parts of Japan.

Getting here will be down to your own devices, since airlines operate differently in many countries so costs will differ to you than for me or anyone else in that regards.

I can't really provide much more info unless I knew how long you might be planning on travelling for. But if you take the 7,000 yen per day (make it 10,000 just for comfortness) & if you include your J-Rail pass, a 3 week trip would cost in or around 3,000 canadian dollars? (roughly). Then include your flights on top of that.

You know... I thought awhile about accommodation, and I got into dilemma...

First thing, hostels is a good thing, but if you're alone, you know nobody there, it's kinda a problem...

So I thought about Host Family, it also looks good, here you might meet new people, *probably* even go with them to places where you can enjoy, or at least they can suggest you some.

Moreover they can meet you new people, so actually it's looks better. But here comes "however", if host family then you don't have all the "free to do stuff" since you are a guest there, you must keep their house rules, and many other things which you don't want to ruin something there.

So as you see, I don't know what to choose, and what is the right answer...
Probably everyone has their own opinion what is better for themselves, so suggesting to others would be from their point of view, and might not be the same for you/me.

But lets say that if it's my first time going to Japan, what should I take? A hostel or family host?
I mostly looking into how to meet people so I won't be there alone, meaning friends to enjoy the time there (just because I going to a trip alone).

I still have one year before I will take the trip. But I want to know the answer now, so I will know what to plan, and to where take tickets... =\

Thanks in advance!

How good is your Japanese and how much practice have you had with Japanese people?

@Cravez:

Thank you very much for you the detailed response I think I will look into staying in an inn. Unfortunately I don't have any further details planned I'm working on finishing off my college program and getting hired so this trip still has quite a bit of time before I take it. Any other details you could or anyone else could help me with would be very much appreciated.

@Everyone:

On a slightly off topic note related to buying souvenirs, does anyone know what the laws are like in Japan to buys authentic (if they still exist) Japanese swords and bringing them back home?

@Petina:

About the level of knowledge of Japanese language, how hard is it to get around in Japan if I don't know any.