Trip with lots of flexibility

Hello everyone,

I'm flying into Tokyo on the 6th of August. I am really looking forward to the trip but I am a person who does not like planning. Meaning I don't want to have to follow a strict itinerary, but just want to go where it takes me and want to stay longer in places that I enjoy, without having to rush on to the next destination.
I am aiming to have a trip of about 5 weeks, which brings me to my first question: I haven't booked a return flight, but I believe I have to have proof of a flight out of the country or there might be issues with entering? I would book an onward flight then in the next few days to avoid this issue.
My most important question is about the rail pass. As I understand the longest the pass could be for is 3 weeks. But I want to stay at least 5 weeks. And I want to take my time in different cities and locations. I cant't say yet in which places I would like to stay longer. Would there be any point in getting the three week pass or would I just waste money, because I will need to pay for 2 more weeks of getting around after that anyway?
Might the overnight busses be a cheaper and better option in this case, if I want to stay for 5 weeks?

Also would you recommend going to the North Island and what would be the best transportation option to get there and around?

I would also like to go to Okinawa.
I'm just very confused about how to prepare for the trip, as I basically want to go everywhere and don't want to be restricted by any certain plans, but this mission seems impossible at the moment.

Do you think it unwise to just arrive in Tokyo and see where it takes me or do I really have to plan the route beforehand? Any places that I definitely have to see?
The most important question would be about the rail pass or if it would be better to take busses ( I don't mind long bus rides).

I would be very grateful about any advice, sorry for the confusion!

Kind regards,

Julia

I have taken 2, 4, 6, and 8 wk trips to Japan. The longer the trip the more flexible one can afford to be. But I recommend having a rough outline at least (like north to south, or south to north) so that you wonft be zig zagging or back tracking a lot. Start marking must visit places on your map first, then go down to secondary places (if time and money permits), and soon you will have an outline.

As for rail pass or not, nobody can answer that until you come up with your outline. You can buy multiple passes, but you might not get your moneyfs worth.

Also be aware that obon is in August (I don't know the exact dates), but almost everyone will be traveling to their hometown. Train tickets and seats (even with rail pass) might be hard to get.

Since you dont like planing ahead. I would doubt a railpass will work for you. You need to plan your trip well to make it pay off. And as you say. You dont like to plan ahead.

The trickiest part of your trip is that it's right in the middle of the most crowded season in Japan, and in fact, the most hottest. If it's in 2020, it would be even worse with the Olympics being held. So booking accommodation and flights can be difficult to do on the spot. For example, the only way to go to Okinawa is by flying. And you don't really want to end up lost or having to walk a lot in the August heat when locals are encouraged to stay indoors for your own health (and Okinawa would be especially hot).

But it is indeed possible to travel on rail (which means excluding Okinawa and most other islands) and take your chances on the non-reserved sections or just stand inside the trains. If you travel to less popular places during weekdays, you are more likely to find accommodation even on the spot. Traveling on boat to less popular but closer islands is also a good option.

Maybe you're more of a Seishun 18 ticket person. Each ticket of this set will allow you unlimited travel for a day on any of the slowest JR trains. And JR trains go almost everywhere in Japan.
https://www.jreast.co.jp/e/pass/seishun18.html

Meanwhile, you can start using (validate) the Japan Rail Pass on any day you like, and if it's a 21-day pass, it will last for 21 days from the day you start using it. So once you've decided to do a lot of long-distance train travel, you can squeeze that into 21 days and then start using your pass. Do your math and see what ticket/pass suits you best. You don't even have to buy any tickets/passes in advance if you don't intend to save money.

Anyway, one idea is to book accommodation for the first few days in Tokyo, study possibilities of areas with vacant accommodation (either by looking at booking sites or asking tourist info counters and travel agencies), and head for that direction. If accommodation isn't available, you can enjoy day trips.

I'm a local Japanese resident who always enjoy sudden traveling, seeing where a train window can lead me to. If time, money and accommodation isn't a problem, it's perfectly do-able. I've often phoned accommodation in the morning to book, so that I can start my trip (but I speak Japanese).

Just keep in mind that it is against the law to randomly sleep outdoors in Japan, and that you can't board flights unless you are secured a seat.

As some PPs said, I think that also for a more spontaneous travel style you should be well prepared to know what interesting spots exist where. Right now it seems you have only booked a flight to Japan but have no idea about what you can visit (eg you call Hokkaido the gNorth island g which just sounds like you LikeBike Irokesen briefly at a map but have no idea. Thus I would read through a guide book or this webpage to have some general idea what is where and what interest you.

Regarding your return flight, assuming you are from a visa waiver country (I donft know about others) you need to write you intended duration of stay on the embarkation card. However I have never been asked to show a ticket. Nor does it really matter if you change your plan, as long as you return within 90 days.

Youfll need an address at least for the first night to put on the embarkation card.

Also read up on weather. For me August is way too hot. The only place I could enjoy Japan in August is Hokkaido and the northern prefectures of Tohoku and even there it would be quite hot for me. But thatfs me. You might have a better humid-heat tolerances than I.

Regarding train passes. It again shows that you need to do a bit more homework. There are many more train passes than the 21 Day JR pass. There are a lot of regional passes that have different conditions and could work way better for you. You can buy the passes in Japan. I think some of them are a bit more expensive but buying a pass and then not really using it that much is more expensive in the long run.

Bus is obviously also a transport option.

Regarding accommodation I travelled by bicycle through Japan 2 years ago and while I had a plan I was flexible about it. So only booked accommodation last minute after I knew about weather and where I could reach the next day. I did skip all the major cities. (Because I had been there before on other trips or could go more easily) But specially in the smaller towns there arenft that many hotels. I always booked the accommodation for tomorrow before going to sleep to have a plan for the next day. And never just arrived in a town without a booking. Now if you are on public transport you are more flexible and if in city A there is no accommodation you can go somewhere in the vicinity to an other town. On bicycle thatfs not so easy. In the more rural places it might be also more difficult to find a hotel on English booking sites. I normally used Jalan which is a major Japanese hotel booking site.

If you are traveling alone be prepared to pay more for accommodation than in 2.

Alternatively you could obviously look into camping. But it kind of depends on your rough idea of destinations. Eg if itfs mainly cities donft bother with a tent. But if you have some hiking or very rural places camping can be an option (I personally donft camp though).

Enjoy your trip to Japan!

Generally, most airlines would probably not let you board unless you have a return ticket. But therefs been a few posters online who reckoned they beat the system by not buying a return ticket. Ifve also read recently a couple who booked false return tickets meaning that they can cancel once theyfve got their boarding pass to Japan only to find out that wasnft the case and had to pay considerably more. So I guess itfs up to you to assess the risk factors.

Travelling in Japan is not like travelling through SE Asia where you have the flexibility of bunking in cheap accomodation. In Japan, booking accomodation early provides choices and better rates.
If you select flexible rates that allow cancellations, perhaps thatfs one option.

Some airlines/airport (maybe all) may not let you board a flight to Japan without proof of an outbound flight from Japan.

During my March 2019 trip, i was asked fairly detailed questions pertaining to names of hotels, phone numbers, addresses, duration of stay in each hotel etc. I visit every year and have never encountered this sort of interrogation before.
Not sure whatfs going on and I certainly have never overstayed during my previous trips in the last 6-7 years. Anyway, I have a return ticket and hotel bookings so was happy to provide that to the immigration agent.