Itinerary for Japan

Hello,
am an Austrian backpacker and am traveling in Asia for about 2 years now.
I am on my way to China now and am planning to go to Japan in around January 2018 before going back from Vladivostok to Moscow in March 2018.
Will arrive in Osaka by ship from Shanghai and am planning to stay around 5 weeks in Japan...

Some questions:

Q1: Can anyone of you give me recommendations on where to go/places to visit in Japan at this time of the year?
Besides Osaka and Tokyo i would also be interested in Hokkaido and skiing/cross country skiing in general...

Q2: Does anyone of you know any good and cheap places to stay and eat in Osaka, Tokyo and Hokkaido? Or maybe you have a friend who is willing to give me a bed for a few days for some small money or I could give a hand and help someone with some work...

Q3: Is it possible to visit Mt Fuji also in winter time and if yes, how? Daytrip from Tokyo?

Q4: What is the cheapest way of transport, especially to go from Tokyo to Hokkaido?

Q5: Are there ships going at this time of the year from Hokkaido to Sakkhalin island in Russia? Or only in summer months?

Q6: Is it possible to buy warm and good clothes in Japan and if yes, where?

Q7: What other general recommendations/places to visit/food to eat can you give me for my trip to Japan in winter time?

Q8: Would also be interested in Suomi wrestling. Are there any tournaments going on at this time of the year and if yes, where?

Appreciating your answers, even if only one or two from the above... ;-)

Many thanks in advance for your help and looking forward to reading from you, Georg.

Hi,

I believe the ships from Shanghai to Japan run every...2 weeks? They alternate between Kobe and Osaka, but Kobe is close to Osaka, and it's easy and cheap to travel between the two cities.

You can travel most places in Japan in the winter. There's lots to see, and numerous options. Hokkaido is far. If you want to ski, you don't have to go to Hokkaido: there are numerous places to ski all over Japan, including close to Osaka, say.

There are hostels in Osaka, Tokyo, and many other parts of Japan. Hostels in Japan aren't that cheap - the cheapest places (mostly in Osaka) start from about 1500 Yen, but 2200-3000 Yen is more common. You can try couch-surfing. Some hostels will let you stay for free in return for doing work for them, but this is illegal, and you could potentially run into big problems.

You can't climb Mt. Fuji in winter. You can visit the region around it though, and yes, it's very feasible as a daytrip from Tokyo.

From Tokyo to Hokkaido, the cheapest options are probably either a (long) bus ride, or a flight with a budget airline (look into Peach, for example). If you want to save money, traveling less (ie. not all the way to Hokkaido) will help you.

I don't think there are ships to Sakhalin, but I'm not an expert - I've never actually been to Hokkaido. I believe the ships from Sakaiminato to Vladivostok run year-round.

Yes you can buy warm clothes in Japan. In any city, in numerous shops. You might do better in Shanghai though. I bought a lovely winter coat at Decathlon in China before my first trip to Japan.

The main sumo tournaments take place 6 times a year, and last for 2 weeks each. There's one in January in Tokyo, and one in March in Osaka.

Some questions:

Q1: Can anyone of you give me recommendations on where to go/places to visit in Japan at this time of the year?
Besides Osaka and Tokyo i would also be interested in Hokkaido and skiing/cross country skiing in general...

Dont spend too much time in Osaka. Tokyo is similar, but bigger and more interesting.
Do spend some time in Kyoto, 1 hour from Osaka it seems to have all the interesting bits.

No need to go to Hokkaido for skiing. The mountains in the Japanese alps are higher and the ski trails more beautiful. Also lots of small towns and villages in the valleys with Japanese culture.

Q2: Does anyone of you know any good and cheap places to stay and eat in Osaka, Tokyo and Hokkaido? Or maybe you have a friend who is willing to give me a bed for a few days for some small money or I could give a hand and help someone with some work...

How cheap are you looking? Food in Japan is pretty good for the money, but when you go below say $6 a meal it starts becoming prepackaged food or instant noodles(invented in Japan!)
Rooms or dorms can be had for $25-30. Sometimes less although the quality can start to suffer

Q3: Is it possible to visit Mt Fuji also in winter time and if yes, how? Daytrip from Tokyo?

What do you want to do at Fuji?
If it isnt cloudy it is easy to see from the railraod and highway that pass right beside it.

If you want to stand around and look at it, Fuji city fits that bill. It's on the rail line
If you want to do hiking activities near by with a view of it, but not actually on Fuji you could go to Hakone
Climbing actual fuji is not possible in January. It is too cold.

Q4: What is the cheapest way of transport, especially to go from Tokyo to Hokkaido?

Highway bus is usually the cheapest. If you take it overnight you save yourself a hotel.

If you are going all the way to Hokkaido you may want to fly. It's a REALLY long way, and discount airfare is competitive.

Q5: Are there ships going at this time of the year from Hokkaido to Sakkhalin island in Russia? Or only in summer months?

The ferries are summer only. You could try and hop on a frieghter, but probably better luck doing so in a larger port. That wont be cheap either. So you should consider flying.

Q6: Is it possible to buy warm and good clothes in Japan and if yes, where?

Probably much cheaper to buy in China, but Japan does have a wonderful second hand trade where you can buy lightly used things if you arent too large.

Q7: What other general recommendations/places to visit/food to eat can you give me for my trip to Japan in winter time?

Get a guidebook/research online and think about why you want to go to Japan.

Q8: Would also be interested in Suomi wrestling. Are there any tournaments going on at this time of the year and if yes, where?

The January tournament is in Tokyo. The March tournament is in Osaka.

I believe the ships from Shanghai to Japan run every...2 weeks? They alternate between Kobe and Osaka, but Kobe is close to Osaka, and it's easy and cheap to travel between the two cities.

Another option is to take one of the every other day ferries from Shangdong/Liaoning/Hebei/Tianjin to Incheon South Korea(of which there are a dozen) then take the train/bus from Seoul to Busan where there are daily ferries to Japan, and an every other day ferry that goes to Osaka.

Might be easier after you are here to ask for the nearest second hand clothing store. Most of my fleece for winter I buy for ¥300 or so! No need to spend money on new especially if you are backpacking.

Hi,

I believe the ships from Shanghai to Japan run every...2 weeks? They alternate between Kobe and Osaka, but Kobe is close to Osaka, and it's easy and cheap to travel between the two cities.

You can travel most places in Japan in the winter. There's lots to see, and numerous options. Hokkaido is far. If you want to ski, you don't have to go to Hokkaido: there are numerous places to ski all over Japan, including close to Osaka, say.

There are hostels in Osaka, Tokyo, and many other parts of Japan. Hostels in Japan aren't that cheap - the cheapest places (mostly in Osaka) start from about 1500 Yen, but 2200-3000 Yen is more common. You can try couch-surfing. Some hostels will let you stay for free in return for doing work for them, but this is illegal, and you could potentially run into big problems.

You can't climb Mt. Fuji in winter. You can visit the region around it though, and yes, it's very feasible as a daytrip from Tokyo.

From Tokyo to Hokkaido, the cheapest options are probably either a (long) bus ride, or a flight with a budget airline (look into Peach, for example). If you want to save money, traveling less (ie. not all the way to Hokkaido) will help you.

I don't think there are ships to Sakhalin, but I'm not an expert - I've never actually been to Hokkaido. I believe the ships from Sakaiminato to Vladivostok run year-round.

Yes you can buy warm clothes in Japan. In any city, in numerous shops. You might do better in Shanghai though. I bought a lovely winter coat at Decathlon in China before my first trip to Japan.

The main sumo tournaments take place 6 times a year, and last for 2 weeks each. There's one in January in Tokyo, and one in March in Osaka.

Hi Giora,
it is again you who brings me probably to the right path...
And thanks again for all your tips for Indonesia. I stayed the full 6 months and I loved it...;-)

The ship to Osaka from Shanghai runs every week or so to my knowledge and yes, the ship from Sakaiminato via Donghae to Vladivostok runs all year round, once a week. Just end of Feb/beg of March they have a 3 week maintenance period for the ship, so there is no ship during this time I was told. But otherwise all year round...

Will also think about it whether I really want to go to Hokkaido as in the Japanese Alps it is also possible for skiing, with even better slopes i could read from another response. Less travel time, and saving money...

And I will also take all your other tips into consideration...

Just one more question...
Which 1 or 2 cities did you like most in Japan? And why?
Do not want to tick them all off but just want to choose maybe 2 or so and stay a bit longer there...

Thanks again and take care, Georg.

Some questions:

Q1: Can anyone of you give me recommendations on where to go/places to visit in Japan at this time of the year?
Besides Osaka and Tokyo i would also be interested in Hokkaido and skiing/cross country skiing in general...

Dont spend too much time in Osaka. Tokyo is similar, but bigger and more interesting.
Do spend some time in Kyoto, 1 hour from Osaka it seems to have all the interesting bits.

No need to go to Hokkaido for skiing. The mountains in the Japanese alps are higher and the ski trails more beautiful. Also lots of small towns and villages in the valleys with Japanese culture.

Q2: Does anyone of you know any good and cheap places to stay and eat in Osaka, Tokyo and Hokkaido? Or maybe you have a friend who is willing to give me a bed for a few days for some small money or I could give a hand and help someone with some work...

How cheap are you looking? Food in Japan is pretty good for the money, but when you go below say $6 a meal it starts becoming prepackaged food or instant noodles(invented in Japan!)
Rooms or dorms can be had for $25-30. Sometimes less although the quality can start to suffer

Q3: Is it possible to visit Mt Fuji also in winter time and if yes, how? Daytrip from Tokyo?

What do you want to do at Fuji?
If it isnt cloudy it is easy to see from the railraod and highway that pass right beside it.

If you want to stand around and look at it, Fuji city fits that bill. It's on the rail line
If you want to do hiking activities near by with a view of it, but not actually on Fuji you could go to Hakone
Climbing actual fuji is not possible in January. It is too cold.

Q4: What is the cheapest way of transport, especially to go from Tokyo to Hokkaido?

Highway bus is usually the cheapest. If you take it overnight you save yourself a hotel.

If you are going all the way to Hokkaido you may want to fly. It's a REALLY long way, and discount airfare is competitive.

Q5: Are there ships going at this time of the year from Hokkaido to Sakkhalin island in Russia? Or only in summer months?

The ferries are summer only. You could try and hop on a frieghter, but probably better luck doing so in a larger port. That wont be cheap either. So you should consider flying.

Q6: Is it possible to buy warm and good clothes in Japan and if yes, where?

Probably much cheaper to buy in China, but Japan does have a wonderful second hand trade where you can buy lightly used things if you arent too large.

Q7: What other general recommendations/places to visit/food to eat can you give me for my trip to Japan in winter time?

Get a guidebook/research online and think about why you want to go to Japan.

Q8: Would also be interested in Suomi wrestling. Are there any tournaments going on at this time of the year and if yes, where?

The January tournament is in Tokyo. The March tournament is in Osaka.

Great, many thanks rpbourne,
big help your answers which will help me to build my route in Japan...

Sounds very interesting the Japanese Alps with small villages and Japanese culture...

Can you maybe recommend a few villages which are still authentic and nice to visit and in addition one or two villages where you would recommend for skiing?

Many thanks in advance for your help, Georg.

Right, am considering probably to go via South Korea to Japan, will decide later on this...

Thanks, Georg.

Good point renga, will take this into consideration...

Thanks, Georg.

I'm glad you enjoyed Indonesia! Japan's different, but also absolutely fascinating.

I've done some searches, and it seems there are actually two ferries operating between Shanghai and Japan at the moment! Both services are weekly, so there seem to be 2 services a week. One in four goes to Kobe, the others go to Osaka.

You can ski in the Japanese Alps. You can go to ski resorts that are not well-known out of Japan - like in Hyogo, for example - and ski with the locals. You can ski all over the place in Japan, it's a mountainous country that gets lots and lots of snow. Nearly every single prefecture in Japan has ski resorts. I have no personal experience though, and don't know if the better known places in Hokkaido and the Alps are indeed that much better than other ski resorts in Japan.

Personally, I like Japanese history and architecture a lot, so my 2 favourite cities are Kyoto and Nara. Tokyo - certainly one of the world's great cities - would be number 3. If you just want one city to stay in for awhile and explore, choose Tokyo or Kyoto, depending on whether you're more interesting in traditional Japan or modern Japan. There are lots of other nice places in the country too... I like the quiet Sea of Japan side, including some places in and around Sakaiminato (Matsue, for example). There's even some beautiful scenery very close to Sakaiminato, but it's difficult to access without a car.

Hello Giora,
Thanks again and interesting and good to know that there are even 2 services a week from Shanghai to Japan...

And interesting your views reg the cities, I might choose two, Kyoto and Tokyo...

Do you maybe have any recommendations for cheap and good places to stay in these 2 cities?

Thanks again, Georg.

PS: Where are you now? Also traveling?

The two services are run by two different companies, so the details of buying tickets and everything else may well be different for both.

If you're only going to visit 2 cities in Japan, Tokyo and Kyoto would certainly be the most obvious choices. There are numerous, numerous interesting daytrips you can do out of Kyoto too.

Kyoto and Tokyo both have numerous hostels - have a look online for the best deals. Note that prices often rise on the weekends, particularly Saturday.

I live in Japan these days.

Right, just also investigated, they go on different working days which gives me also more options...

Where in Japan do live now and would you be interested in meeting up somewhere?

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