Amazing destinations, tips and travel guides - helping you to experience Japan better.
Hi, I'm Andrew. I live in Japan and I love taking the train to explore the country. Sometimes I take my Brompton folding bicycle on my journeys.
I especially enjoy visiting underrated, overshadowed and hard-to-reach destinations. I also like finding out about the hidden stories behind the destinations.
I've travelled extensively here, and I've visited every single one of the 47 prefectures. My favourite destination is Lake Towada and the Oirase Gorge in Aomori Prefecture.
People often think that it's difficult to travel in Japan, but that's not true. It's remarkably easy, almost all of the time. On this channel I want to share my trips with you, as well as my best tips and tricks to help you while you travel.
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Hi Andrew,I am visiting Japan with my son for the first this October. I contacted another you tuber who lives there and was criticised for booking a hotel in Kyoto and was told it's cheaper to stay in Osaka. Well we want to stay inn Kyoto and despite booking early I found cheap accommodation in Kyoto. It's not like we're going to sit in the hotel all day! We booked a hotel close to the centre for £405 for 5 nights including breakfast. I think this is pretty reasonable. I agree with what you say about too many people saying don't go here and there but a couple of other good you tubers like yourself have really helped us with really good advice which has helped us plan our itinerary. As we're on a budget we have 5 nights in Tokyo for about £500 and two nights in a capsule hotel in Hiroshima for £60. Thanks for the great videos and advice. The planning ahead makes things so easy and removes a lot of hassle.😊
I'm glad to hear I was helpful! Not sure about these prices. As I haven't been traveling this year I'm not sure what's happening but I expect demand is pushing prices up. But the yen is dirt cheap for you! Anyway yes, I'd stay in Kyoto over Osaka any day of the week. Hope you have a great trip.
I've only ever ridden in the Green car on the Shinkansen. Just last week (May 15, 2024), I rode in the green car to Tokyo from...Utsunomiya lol! Less than an hour, could have easily taken a non-reserved or standard reserved, but no had to be Green Car!
Hi Andrew! This video is great! I was thinking of visiting during early to mid october this year. Trying to miss the summer crowds but before the leaf changing crowds. Its my 5th? time going and so even if I end up in Kyoto again I dont plan on any tourist hotspots. Is it really a lull in tourism or has the bounce back after covid kinda thrown all that conventional wisdom out the window? as it just seems to be trending up and up and up.
Thanks! October is definitely an overlooked period for travel, as obviously most of the autumn visitors target November for autumn leaves. Across the board visitors are up, but it's most noticeable during the peak seasons. It's a post-covid, cheap yen thing. Just imagine a graph for a normal year, and push every month up. What I'm hearing in many comments though is that if you avoid the hotspots, you don't notice much difference. It's certainly been my experience too.
I loved Kyoto, my friend and I visited 50 sites in 6 days (yes you read that right). We walked about 8.5 miles per day... Did a lot of random places with no one there, plus the main ones. There is still another 200 sites I want to visit. For next time I guess :)! The most empty place we visited was Daigo-ji, grand total of maybe 5 people the entire time we were there (for 3 hours). Anything away from the Gion/Kiyumizu/Arashiyama main areas are empty.... I think its the "2 day tourists" that hit up the large places and never see anything else (thankfully!).
Oh wow - that's an impressive feat! Yes, I think once you get outside perhaps the top 10 places that literally every single "Kyoto must see" video features, you're ahead of 99% of visitors who are all down for 2 days after spending the other 12 in Tokyo pretending that they are seeing Japan. Do you have any particular recommendations for people from those 50 sites?
I have resisted going in Summer because my body is made for colder weather however, I have come to realise the only con of Summer is the weather. The amount of events, festivals, galleries and pop ups I am missing due to the weather during Summer has eroded my resistance to near zero. Summer almost seems like the season of fun
I like the title of your video. Thanks. From my perspective I would say visit Japan whenever you can. And be prepared at least. I cannot travel during the Cherry Blossom season or Golden week or the matsuri festivals. In the end, I tend to avoid traveling during the summer seasons to avoid the heat and mosquitoes 😅. I cannot travel during the winter time while I would love to soak in an outdoor hot bath while seeing the snow falling. So I only have a limited time slot to visit in late spring and in fall.
Thanks! Yes, I've never come across advice that just straight up says 'come when you can, it will be great whatever.'' But it's true. Do you foresee a day when you can visit in winter?
That's really good info. I like to add something that people might like about "bad times to visit Japan" from my experiences. Summer - It is very hot in the major cities such as Tokyo and Osaka, maybe too hot to be able to enjoy walking around. BUT, there are a lot of Firework festivals (Hanabi) in the evening. These events might be very crowded, but most of people love Hanabi! Raining Season - A Nature escape. Raining makes fresh air and trees more green. Book a luxury onsen on any nature places or onsen cities will be much cheaper in a raining season. ... February is actually good to visit any parts of Japan because Flight tickets and Hotels are cheaper this month (as well as November). Tourism places are mostly less crowded than other months.
A lot of truth in this video! That said, while I have travelled Japan twice in summer (mostly Hokkaido and Tohoku), do keep in mind it is still pretty darn hot, just slightly less unbearable than in Tokyo. But all of the matsuri made it worth coping with that. Same with Golden Week, perfectly doable if you plan a bit and be flexible, and again so many events and matsuri. Winter might actually be my favorite time of year to visit Japan. Okinawa is indead pleasant, mainland Japan isn't too bad (and it's the driest time of year!), and Hokkaido and Tohoku in winter is just an amazing experience (and yes, so many matsuri!). Nevertheless most of my travels have been either in spring or autumn. But that's kinda for two reasons: 1) lots of matsuri (did you notice I really like those?), and 2) with generally two trips to Japan each year and trying to avoid summer, April/May and October/November are just the most practical way of splitting the year...
great video! yes, it's amazing how limiting most of the messaging around this issue is 🌿 thanks for expanding the possibilities! i did exactly those hokkaido and okinawa options at different times when it was too hot or too cold for me in honshu 😊👌🏼
We went to Japan for sakura viewing this year and missed it in many places because we got there too early and there was a delay in blossoming this year... not to mention it rained about five days out of the two week trip. 🤷♂ Still a fun trip when avoiding the tourist traps. Thanks for some of your suggestions on off the beaten path places to see. 👏
There are hundreds of varieties of Sakura and they don’t all bloom during the same period. I was there during the predicted peak bloom this year as well, and when I saw that the main variety wasn’t going to bloom yet, I went elsewhere in Japan to catch full blooms.
Great video! Love the humor and mnemonics. My favorite part was the “sort it out yourself” 😂😂 Daijoubu also comes in handy if you’re into clubbing and happen to be clumsy 😅 I’ve fallen down the stairs more than once at my favorite bar (stupid Japanese ladder stairs! *shakes fist*) and daijoubu’d about a million times 😂😂 Also for shopping and stuff I’ve found doumo is the most common thank you people give to cashiers and staff. So I say that a lot… And if you stick around long enough or are at least observant, you just randomly pick phrases up from paying attention to those around you and eavesdropping 😅 Oh my, I’m coming back next week and I’m not sure I’m ready to be thrown back into Japanese all around me. Especially at my in-laws 😅 I haven’t spoken Japanese with my husband/at home in probably 6 years!
@@japanunravelledwhen I got married 7 years ago😅 Back next week for 2 months on a home location scouting expedition, then moving back next year probably, not sure. I don’t think that’s enough planning time, but my husband is one of those jump before thinking people 😅😂 or jump when you think of it so you don’t back out… 🤔
I do my long trips during the summer between May-July. Thanks for the weatherspark tip, the compare feature explained to me why even though “it’s so humid and hot” I still typically need a sweater coming from Phoenix Arizona 😂 it’s still up to 20°f cooler for the “perceived temp” compared to home. And I absolutely love the rainy season. Japan has the weirdest and thinnest rain that I’ve ever seen (I’m used to “big fat rain”) it’s its own experience basically. Like a mister that’s gone haywire. And inside out umbrellas are cool to me too because I watched way too much Mary Poppins as a kid. 😅 I don’t recommend bringing or buying an expensive umbrella for visiting during rainy/typhoon season. Your videos are refreshing because of those videos that are all the same and showing the same stuff. I’m not big into the mainstream tourist “you have to do XYZ in Japan” BS I just like walking around and exploring.
I'm glad you liked this one. Like you, I got a little tired of hearing the same repetitive nonsense. Rainy season is a lovely time I think because gardens and nature looks fantastic in the rain. Thanks for your comment!
Thanks for this eye-opening video. Despite the chance of potentially having winter weather, my wife and I would love to go back to Japan, and experience the New Year’s Day traditions, like the Fukubukuro shopping frenzy, and other things like that.
oooh! Thanks for recommending weatherspark! I was looking for a easier way to search of weather trends besides flipping between chrome tabs. I definitely agree with your sentiment. I was feeling down when I found out I was traveling during typhoon season but it just gave me a chance to explore a different part of Japan instead!
Hello Japan Unravelled. I am planning to go to Japan in February for two months. I would like to choose my travel destinations relatively spontainiously. Is it possible to find accomedation with around 3-4 days booking in advance. Or is it more difficult outside of the big citys?
Another Google Translate alternative is Immersive Translate, which I recently discovered. I downloaded it before my trip to Cancun last October and couldn’t be happier. It smoothly translated everything for me and made the language barriers nearly non-existent.
Thank you for your very informative and good quality video, by the way, me and I will stay near the shin Osaka station, what transportation you recommend us to take for us to go to Kansai Intl airport as we both carry one big and one medium size luggage
I loved the error of staying in Tokyo because Japan has a lot of hidden gems but people mostly go to the same cities (Tokyo - Osaka - Kyoto - Nara and maybe Hiroshima).
Fancy seeing you here! It's a nice experience but I'm not joking about never wanting to ride ordinary again - you won't ever be able to afford those kids!
Can you do some videos or advice which shop sells food for long distance Shinkansen rides? How can you tell? The shinkansen doesn't sell food, but eatting is allowed on board? Thanks
Thanks for the idea! Yes, you can totally eat on board, but only green car passengers can buy on board. In stations you'll find shops with bento boxes like the one in the video - the shape's a giveaway. Of course you can eat anything you like.
