1 Month stay in Japan, To do List?

Hello!

So I want to spend a month in Japan, but it leaves me stumped everything i have to think of to get done like; a place to stay, transportation, food, events, stuff to buy...and other stuff i can't think of. Anyone know a guide book or something, im in the dark about this :/ also on how much it all cost, a rough estimate that is.

Just go to a bookstore and look in their travel section. I personally prefer Lonely Planet guidebooks; they're a bit more expensive but they contain so much detail! Their most detailed ones don't contain many pictures, mostly information; but they do have more picture-oriented ones that you could search through for ideas before buying one with more detail.

It's hard to estimate a cost without knowing what kind of traveller you are. Hostel or 5 star hotel? Make your own food or dine out every night? Travel in style or rough it?

You can also search around Japan Guide for places... it's really hard to recommend anything if you don't explain about yourself, what you like and what you don't, a rough budget, but generally speaking, a first visit to Japan should include some City life (specially in Tokyo, but Osaka is very enjoyable as well as smaller cities), Temple sightseeing (Kyoto, Nikko and Kamakura being some of the most popular destinations), some Nature (aplenty across the country, from easy hiking to scenic views, diving or alpinism, you have plenty of options), a glimpse of Mt.Fuji, Hiroshima & Miyajima, and depending on the season Cherry Blossoms, Autumn Colours or Festivals are very recommended activies, but it mostly depends on you and what you like. For example, some people may consider a week in Kyoto esential; I had enough with 2 days. Others only want to spend in Tokyo 4 days; I spent 3 weeks and I'm yet eager to discover more areas of the city... So a bit of info about you wouldn't hurt.

Thank you for all your responses, I was thinking of renting an apartment, is that possible? i would like to cook for myself and well not to keen on 5 stars but something really good. I dont spend too much b

Before you book a place to stay make sure what you want to do and see. Stay on one place can make you locked to a area. I booked the hottel first and now i cant travel arund so much. Iam going for the first time tomorrow and will stay for 3 weeks. Hottel whas cheep so thats why i booked it first. But it can be nice to have a apartment to just to get the feeling of living there. Just take your time and plan your trip first. :)

Ok, here's how I usually do it.

First of all, I make a list for each place I want to visit and all the sightseeing spots there. Once the long list is done, I know about how many days I'll need at each place.

Next, I need to figure out the best route and order (where to start, where to go next etc.) - that's usually based on available public transport, seasonal events, etc.

Once I know where I start and how long I'll stay, it's time to start booking accommodation.

Last but not least, you might want to book other things that are necessary such as ferries, domestic flights, boat tours etc.

http://zoomingjapan.com/category/travel/

Hope that helps a bit. :)

Similar to the previous poster, we mark all the places we want to visit on a google map that we create. It's easy to do and you get a good visual of where you want to be.

Also, in terms of rail passes, group days of most cost together, I.e. not which you're in one place for a week. A lot of people come on here asking if particular rail passes would be worthwhile for the itinerary, but we always do it the other way round: what's the most travel we can get out of this pass?

Good luck with the planning

Buy a guidebook.

Read up on the net (you'd find it hard to come across a better resource than the main Japan Guide pages. If you find one, please let me know. I haven't been able to find anything anywhere near as good as JG).

Make a list.

Get familiar with Hyperdia, and do some costing for your journeys. This will help you work out if a JR Pass pays for itself. It may also help you to plan the timing of your trips (i.e. you might want to bring blocks of travelling together in order to do them all within the space of, say, 14 days, in order to get best value from a JR Pass).

Come back to this forum to find out answers to specific questions.

It's not that difficult.

As suggested by some other posters, planning a trip to Japan is ideally an iterative process. Too many people leave their rail pass decisions until very late in the planning stage, in many cases after they have booked flights and even hotels. Also, a lot of people book flights before they do anything else, only to recognize that they could have saved money or had a niftier itinerary if they had booked an open jaw (e.g., arrive Tokyo, depart Osaka) or adjusted their dates a bit.

One thing that comes as a shock to many people is that it can cost a fair amount of money to get around Japan. They are prepared to spend a lot on flights and hotels, but when faced with the price of a rail pass they experience sticker shock and place serious constraints on their holiday in order to avoid getting a pass that in reality is one of the best Japan travel bargains available. (Japanese people would just LOVE to be able to get the rail passes that foreigners can buy.) I'm not sure why so many people are aghast when they discover that travel within Japan costs money, but it's definitely something to be aware of from the early stages of your planning, so it doesn't take you by surprise.

As for where to go and what to do, the sample itineraries on Japan Guide are a good starting point. Other sections that are good to read at an early planning stage are the pages on budgets, transportation, and types of accommodations. You might be actually be better off with a package of low-cost business hotels and some Japanese-style accommodations than with an apartment. For single travelers, hotels in Japan can be quite a good buy in comparison to some other countries. Japanese hotel pricing structures favor singles because you generally have to pay a lot more for double occupancy (except at high-cost hotels).

One thing not to worry about, unless you have special dietary restrictions, is food. At practically any budget level you will have lots of options. If you do have restrictions (allergies, vegetarian needs, etc.) then you have to plan more carefully, of course. As for cooking for yourself, if you really want to make full meals you will need an apartment with a kitchen. Otherwise, keep in mind that nearly all hotels have small refrigerators in the room, and a hot water heater (for hot water only; you cannot cook with it). A few have microwave ovens either in the room or in a public area. For simple self-catering to save money, this is often enough. Most tourists do not want to spend a lot of time searching for supermarkets and cooking on their holidays. A month may seem like a long time, but it will pass very quickly. There are so many things to do in Japan!

Uma's input was excellent. I must add that during my first visit to Japan, which was a month long, I rented an apartment in Tokyo and, after a visit to the supermarket on our 3rd day, we decided it was not worth cooking in our apartment as eating out is cheap, delicious and convenient. So don't think of an apartment as a wholy grail for your visit.

Heyyyy!! I'm embarking on exactly the same thing as you!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=326PIthEg_Y

1 month in Japan! I'm starting in Narita and wanting to travel around Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo, Hiroshima-

I've just uploaded a vlog of my first day- I went to Shinshoji temple- such an amazing experience:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=326PIthEg_Y

This is my video if you want to share experiences- I'd love to see what you're upto too!

Regarding the planning of your trip, you give no info as to what your interests are or your budget.
A month is quite a chunk of time - enough to see a large swath of the country. But you have to know where you want to go. Some travel books are fine, and actually you can probably find them in your local library so you don't have to buy anything. This website has tons of info too, although it too has some gaps for a few areas and probably no website could cover all that Japan has to offer.
BTW the Japan Rail Pass is not for foreigners only - Japanese residing abroad can use it too. Some regional passes are reserved only for foreigners though.
Nor is it true that you're locked down to travel by rail! There are many low cost carriers like Jetstar, Peach, Vanilla, Skymark etc - you can fly across the country for as low as around $60!
Most people go to see the Tokyo area (Kanto) and then the Kyoto/Osaka (Kansai) area - but that is usually for time periods of a week or two. All the main islands and Okinawa are wide open to you, so start researching on what you want - you'll probably find that in the end you'll think a month was just too short.

there is just soooo much to see! I'm just back from Osaka and I went to Kyoto everyday just for the temples and to see the Geisha tea rooms. You get the JR line train which takes around 30 mins (but make sure you get the fast one!!)

It is around 500yen and well worth it. Don't bother getting a hotel in Kyoto- there is so much to see in Osaka- and you can just head to Kyoto for the day trip. ALSO make sure you check out the teacup petshop in Osaka!!

I've found this video about what to do in Japan in such a short period: Hope this helps-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=326PIthEg_Y