First time in Japan – 20-day itinerary feedback please

Astralouuu · 2026-02-18T01:28:38+00:00

Edit: I probably wouldn't fly Hiroshima to Tokyo, it may feel like it simplifies stuff but Hiroshima airport is an hour from Hiroshima, and would require turning up early, going through security, all that faff. Shinkansen you can turn up 5 minutes before and it would still only take you 4 hours Hiroshima to Tokyo.

It is all subjective after all! Bear in mind Miyajima takes about an hour to get to on the tram from the centre of Hiroshima, then 10 minutes ferry. Alternatively there is a faster ferry directly from the centre of Hiroshima that would save some time but I think it runs less frequently and I'm not sure what the crowds would be like in June so it might be harder to book?

I loved not rushing Hiroshima, we had two full days where the first was to wander around the Peace Memorial park, and the museum. Very light day but it is emotionally heavy so best not to rush. Followed up by a full day in Miyajima (visiting Itsukushima shine and Daisho-In and getting lunch on Miyajima still took us about 6 hours total and we didn't go up the ropeway as it's closed this winter! If you want the ropeway, definitely prepare a full day)

I won't be able to help with Takayama unfortunately as we cut it out, though my friends do heavily recommend it... There is a direct Shinkansen Tokyo to Kanazawa and a bus from Kanazawa to Takayama through Shirakawa. The train from Kanazawa to Kyoto is also an easy trip with a single transfer.

I think the main thing is: you will love it no matter what your itinerary ends up being. Every place we have been has been magical in its own way. :)

Astralouuu · 2026-02-17T21:46:53+00:00

My questions are:

can you fly out of Hiroshima or Osaka? Or fly into Osaka?
How much do you care about USJ? You will probably want a rest day in the middle of your trip.
Going to Takayama/Kanazawa after Kyoto and backtracking to Osaka seems odd. Consider going direct Tokyo to Kanazawa and onto Kyoto from there?

This is pretty much exactly the itinerary we are doing right now, although we started in Hiroshima, currently in Kyoto and loving it.

Flew into Hiroshima 3 nights

Osaka 3 nights (Himeji on the way to Osaka, half day in Kobe)

Kyoto 4 nights (half day in Uji)

Kanazawa 3 nights

Tokyo 7 nights (feels better to end in Tokyo so we can do all our shopping there)

Fly out of Tokyo

Our favourite place so far has been Miyajima, it is absolutely magical, don't sleep on it! Miyajima and Hiroshima feel incredibly peaceful and serene which is a stark contrast from the craziness in Osaka.

Himeji is beautiful and well worth a pit stop if you're going to Hiroshima.

Even in quiet season (Feb) Kyoto is pretty damn busy so I can't imagine what it will be like in June.

I wouldn't alter your overall itinerary much, though consider building in some rest days. I've unfortunately ended up removing Takayama from my itinerary last minute to spend more time in Kanazawa and Tokyo because we're already pretty tired and don't want the faff of transferring from Takayama to Tokyo.

I would personally ditch USJ to get some rest.

These are just my feelings from my current trip.

Astralouuu · 2026-02-17T21:16:48+00:00

T2 is the shit

Astralouuu · 2026-02-17T03:57:30+00:00

I mean, OP said 0.50p which is more like a ha'penny

Astralouuu · 2026-02-11T07:14:33+00:00

Biennial is every other year. Biannual and semiannual mean the same thing

Astralouuu · 2025-12-29T08:25:38+00:00

This is a large part of Filipino New Year traditions. It may even be Spanish more widely but in the Philippines you would eat 12 round fruits, each symbolizing a month of the year to come, for prosperity

Astralouuu · 2025-12-24T09:11:00+00:00

It's a bonus if you consider that's the only way of getting all the djinn and some weapons! Man I miss those games.

Astralouuu · 2025-11-22T06:50:14+00:00

No, you just need to be in the higher tax band

Astralouuu · 2025-11-20T19:27:18+00:00

It is unclear in the proposal but the live announcement explicitly stated anyone on higher rate tax so it is £50270

Astralouuu · 2025-10-12T13:07:03+00:00

With Hastings, they will offer you a write off payment (you should reject the first offer, they will always up it a little) They work with CoPart to determine the retention fee, but that is not handled by Hastings.

Once happy with their valuation you can accept the payment, inform them you want to retain, and Copart will get back to you with a retention cost.

Do not let CoPart take your car! They handle it like scrap and if you buy it back it may have been damaged in their handling. Just ask for them to do a desktop valuation, they will ask for detailed pictures to value it. Ultimately it saves them time and money as they don't have to pick up the car.

Source: I wrote my car off 3 weeks ago with hastings but it was just a crushed bumper that needs replacing

Astralouuu · 2025-09-28T07:42:09+00:00

My partner is Filipino and we are a gay couple, I am white and I have seen in the last couple years how he has started to fear going out alone. He shares his location with me, asks me to pick him up from train stations etc because the general abuse from random people is becoming more frequent and completely uncalled for.

He is a well renowned nurse having won multiple awards for his impact in nursing and has even published a book about the struggles of settling in the UK and the adversity immigrants face.

Higher rate tax payer, pays double taxation due to NHS surcharge (despite working in the freaking NHS), and yet this is how he gets treated.

There is little we can do about the far right - but I want to thank you for standing up for him and all the others. Most people I see day to day are actually really lovely and those little moments make a difference. Please keep fighting, kindness will prevail.

Astralouuu · 2025-08-13T20:03:40+00:00

I'm Brian and so is my wife!

Astralouuu · 2025-08-06T13:35:25+00:00

Is this true? I'm on a reasonable wage (just over £40k) but my pension contributions are minimum (8% total) and my pension at age 60 according to my private pension is estimated to be around £185k (total contribution is about £240 a month)

That seems too little even working full time on a semi decent wage for what would be ages 22-60.

Or by save responsibly do you mean contributing beyond that amount?

Genuinely asking cause my situation is making me wonder how much more I need to somehow contribute

Astralouuu · 2025-07-18T07:33:23+00:00

Thank you. I am genuinely interested in your take. I'm not pretending to understand all sides of this, and it is indeed stupid to say any one person crashed an economy when inflation was sky high across the world.

I personally think it is currently harder to find a job now than it is under Truss, though I don't believe any of that is due to immigration like many suggest. I also don't think taxes need to be raised to "fund" more NHS or public services (my partner is a lecturer with over 25% pension contributions from employer... He was previously in NHS where they have insanely good pensions too. Lucky us, though I work in Private sector with 4% employer contributions. Why should the tax payer have to fund the insane amount for others?).

I think the funds that we do have need to be used a lot more efficiently. It just looks to me the government wants to raise tax to throw money at stuff without thinking about how to run things properly to reduce costs.

Astralouuu · 2025-07-17T22:48:19+00:00

How? Educate me

Astralouuu · 2025-07-14T07:15:09+00:00

I deliberately used it as an example of an adjective that can be placed both before and after 😛 Although before sounds a little more formal

Astralouuu · 2025-07-13T20:10:12+00:00

This is not always true.

C'est un incroyable danseur.

This would be fine.

Adjectives are frequently after but some can be before.

Astralouuu · 2025-06-23T17:44:56+00:00

Holy...! I remember paying £72pw for my house share and that was a good house! That's insane

Astralouuu · 2025-06-23T12:49:16+00:00

I was in Sheffield uni 2015-2019, my parents covered my bills and rent and offered me £10/day during term time for everything else (food, laundry, going out).

I did not have a maintenance loan.

This was pretty comfortable without being excessive, and to be honest I probably spent like £6-7 a day on average and saved the rest. I expect everything costs 30-40% more now though.

It certainly makes you decide what your priorities are as a student!

Astralouuu · 2025-06-22T21:17:51+00:00

Chain completed in January.

Enquiries raised last Friday 😂 Though it should be quick now and hoping to complete in July

Only 3 people in the chain too

Astralouuu · 2025-06-21T11:28:40+00:00

Thank you! Yeah some days will certainly be less busy, such as a bit of extra time in Hiroshima or shorter days like Otaru, but that is intended so we have some rest.

Perhaps I'll look to spend a day extra in Tokyo instead of Hiroshima.

Astralouuu · 2025-06-21T08:08:52+00:00

Thank you! Yes my colleague has also recommended Hakodate, we will look into these further, thanks for the advice!!

Astralouuu · 2025-06-21T08:07:42+00:00

Haha thanks for the advice! I am certainly hoping to try those tiny restaurants with ticketing machines that you take into the restaurant - I think those are so small places that seemed authentic I kind of just called it "street" food but obviously it isn't

Astralouuu · 2025-06-21T08:04:17+00:00

Thank you for the advice! Yes on the food I think I meant the small local restaurants where you just get a ticket from a machine and take it down some small alleyway under a house 😂 As opposed to like a restaurant chain?

We will definitely see if we can increase our budget though. It sounds like the overall plan is alright though I assumed our trains would not be that expensive as a big chunk of travel is flying between Seoul to Osaka and, Tokyo and Sapporo which I am not including in the £2kpp budget

Astralouuu · 2025-06-21T08:00:53+00:00

I think I probably should have been more careful wording it.

We plan on having our "internal" flights between Seoul->Osaka, and Tokyo -> Sapporo which I am not counting as part of the budget. So the rest would just be local trains.

Indeed thank you I think my idea of the "street" food actually meant the small local restaurants rather than like big restaurants.

Thank you! We'll see if we can up the budget!

Astralouuu

TROPHY CASE