Few questions about a November trip to Japan

Hello there!

We will be going to Japan in November. It will be our third trip. We would like to prepare for it as best as possible, especially due to the COVID countermeasurements. Because of it, I would like to ask you few questions:

1) It is said that from 11th of October we can enter Japan same as before pandemic if we got atleast 3 vaccine shots. We were vaccinated 3 times, but our European COVID passport will expire by the end of October, though we are planning to get a 4th jab mid-month. How it will be checked on border that we do meet the requirement? Is european COVID passport (in form of application/QR code) enough or we need to prepare any other sort of document?

2) I have read an article about COVID manners and there is written that an increased number of sightseeing attractions have introduced optional or mandatory advance reservation system. Do you know which popular attractions use that system or maybe it might be discontinued?

3) We will need to bring many different medications with us (prescribed, OTC, vitamins). I read that we cannot take more than a 1 month supply for prescribed and 2 months for others if they do not have banned ingredients. But is there any limit on number of different medications? We will need to bring in total 16 different types of it. Do we need to prepare some sort of list/documentation/prescribtions for them? Do we need to transport them in original package or we can place them in a string bag with a leaflet?

4) We will be willing to rent a car for a few days. I know that I need to bring a IDP according to Geneva Convention. Is there anything else I need to know as a foreigner apart from what is written at japan-guide?

We have also a draft itinerary for our stay that will look like this:
• 2 full days in Tokyo to see new stuff
• Full day trip from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko, activating 14 days JR Pass
• Trip to Karuizawa, renting a car, going for a night stay in Kusatsu Onsen
• Driving by the road 292 to Snow Monkey Park and then to Nagano, returning the car, spending the night in Nagano
• Travelling to Shirakawa and spending the night there
• Travelling from Shirakawa to Kyoto
• 2 full days in Kyoto to see new stuff
• Full day trip from Kyoto to Amanohashidate – last Nihon-sankei on our list
• Full day trip to Nara to greet the sika deers (we do it each time we visit Japan)
• Moving from Kyoto to Beppu (kinda reversed 5d4n Kyushu itinerary), staying the night
• Renting a car, driving to Kurokawa Onsen, staying the night there
• Going to mount Aso, then to Kumamoto to drop the car, transfer and night in Nagasaki
• Sightseeing Nagasaki, going on a Gunkanjima boat trip, in the evening transfer to Fukuoka and spening the night there
• Transfer from Fukuoka to Nagoya, visiting Ghibli Park, night in Nagoya or transfer and night in Tokyo
• 3 days 2/3 nights in Tokyo before departure

As for the mentioned itinerary, I also would like to ask:

5) Is it worth seeing Shirakawa if we have seen before Takayama and it�fs Hida Folk Village? Especially if we are not sure if we will get a spot at gassho-zukuri since most of interesing ones seem to be already reserved? Maybe it will be better to go from Nagano to Kanazawa? We have been there last time on a half-day trip and saw Kenrokuen, The Castle, Ninjadera and Nomura-ke. Is it worth going there again and staying the night? Or maybe there is other hidden gem on the way from Nagano to Kyoto that is worth discovering?

6) The reverse Kyushu itinerary is due to the fact that if we stick to the original Fukuoka -> Nagasaki -> Kurokawa -> Beppu itinerary (https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2403_3.html), our stay in Beppu will happen on 23rd of November – 4th Wednesday of the month and Beppu Beach Sand Bath will be closed. Maybe you have and idea how we could reverse the itinerary better if we will have 4 full days and 4 nights to spend there?

Sorry for the long post :) I really appreciate any answers, even on one of my questions. Thank you in advance for replies!

Hi!

Be aware that going to Kawaguchiko on a Nationwide rail pass entails paying an additional fee, which in the case of limited express trains is nearly the same cost as the bus. I would look into whether the bus round trip from Tokyo might make more sense and perhaps start your rail pass the next day or possibly looks into whether other passes or transportation options make more sense.

I would think the attractions with new reservation systems would say on their websites. While it's not a popular attraction, I know one of the doll shops I plan to visit now limits entries and limits how long any group can stay within the store. I would check websites for places you want to visit since they will have the most up to date information. While this doesn't apply to you, I know Tokyo Disney has changed their ticket procedures. I also know that some of the company's doll events have a reservation system to keep crowds controlled. This website also should have information on timed entries for various attractions.

I personally was not a fan of Shirakawa Go and much preferred Hida no Sato. I was there in February 2010, and the snow looked lovely, but you're going much earlier (November.) If you don't go to Shirakawa Go, you can look at other things to do in Nagano? Have you been to Kiso? or Matsumoto? You can take the train from Nagano/Matsumoto directly to Nagoya and from there go to Kyoto. I keep meaning to go to Togakushi when I am in Nagano, but my next trip is in December. I guess if you are in Nagano early enough you could even overnight in Kamikochi before it closes for the Winter, but it would depend on the actual dates, which is also something to be aware of with rte 282, since it closes in November for the Winter as well. It really depends on your interests.

Good luck!

@rkold

Thanks for all the information! I will take them into consideration. If I saw correctly, I would have to pay for the train from Otsuki too Kawaguchiko (from Tokyo to Otsuki I can take the Fuji-Excursion Limited Express Kawaguchiko is covered by JR Pass) 1740 JPY per person one way instead around 2200 JPY per person one way for bus. So it would be around ~2000 JPY cheaper with JR Pass. In Tokyo we would probably mostly use undeground, so having active JR Pass won't be any help, or am I wrong here?

Instead of Shirakawa-go I though about taking Alpine Route from Nagano to Toyama, what might be much more fun. It would take up whole day but will cost similar to staying in gassho-zukuri. Do you think it is a good idea?

I also dropped the idea of going to Ghibli Park as well, just noticed that the ticket system is similar to Ghibli Museum and the tickets were available from 10th of September so way before announcement of reopening ... Maybe next time ...

While waiting for the post to be approved I searched around a little and am thinking about changing some days.

Right now it would look something like this:
• 2 full days in Tokyo to see new stuff
• Full day trip from Tokyo to Kawaguchiko, activating 14 days JR Pass
• Trip to Karuizawa, renting a car, going for a night stay in Kusatsu Onsen
• Driving by the road 292 to Snow Monkey Park and then to Nagano, returning the car, spending the night in Nagano
• Travelling through Alpine Route and finishing day either in Toyama or transfering to Kyoto
• 2 full days in Kyoto to see new stuff
• Full day trip from Kyoto to Amanohashidate – last Nihon-sankei on our list
• Full day trip to Nara to greet the sika deers (we do it each time we visit Japan)
• Moving from Kyoto to Beppu (kinda reversed 5d4n Kyushu itinerary), staying the night
• Renting a car, driving to Kurokawa Onsen, staying the night there
• Going to mount Aso, then to Kumamoto to drop the car, transfer and night in Nagasaki
• Sightseeing Nagasaki, going on a Gunkanjima boat trip, in the evening transfer to Fukuoka and spening the night there
• Transfer from Fukuoka to Nagoya, seeing some most famous spots and transfer and night in Tokyo
• 3 days 2/3 nights in Tokyo before departure

Regarding question #5
- I think Ainokura is tge best of these villages. I saw that first before visiting a few years later tge oprn air museum in Takayama. Its a long trip.
- other alternatives might be Kurobe gorge, Okuhida (if you are into onsen!),Matsumoto, Obuse, Biwako (all somewhere between Nagano and Kyoto)

Overall to me it seems you are moving around too much. But you have previous experience in Japan so you know what is doable for you.

Check here for new facilities in Tokyo.
https://www.enjoytokyo.jp/feature/newspot/open/
https://www.timeout.com/tokyo/attractions/new-tokyo-attractions-that-o...
Beppu Beach Sand Bath
http://www.shinkoucenter.jp/onsen/onsen.html
Closed: 4th Wednesday of every month (next day if Wednesday is a holiday)
Since November 23rd is a public holiday on Wednesday this year, they are closed on November 24th.
https://www.city.beppu.oita.jp/sisetu/shieionsen/detail9.html
By the way, November 3rd is also a public holiday.

@haro1210

Thank you for the information about 23rd of November! I made mistake and haven't checked it before and I already rebooked the hotels. But I think the reverse way will be better. It's 4 hrs trip from Kyoto to Beppu, so we will arrive there around noon. Enough time to store luggage at the rest place and venture into the city. The next day we might continue discovering the city, then rent a car, see Mount Tsurumi and then move towards Kurokawa Onsen so that we will reach it a little before dinner time. Next morning set off towards Kumamoto while stopping to see Mount Aso. In Kumamoto we will drop the car, might see something near train station and move to Nagasaki so we would be able to stay the night there - maybe we will check the nightview from Mount Inasa? In the morning we will explore Nagasaki, for sure we will take a 3hrs trip to Gunkanjima and go to Nagasaki Peace Park. In the evening we will transfer to Fukuoka for the night and for sure visiting yatai at Nakasu Island. The next day will be the longest journey from Fukuoka to Tokyo (where we want to spend the night). Is there any worth stop that we might take during that transfer, where we would have probably around 6 hrs at place? We were already in Himeji (castle+garden) and Hiroshima (Hiroshima Peace Park) so I was thinking about seeing a little of Nagoya. But maybe there is a better stopover there? Or we should take some more time to discover more Fukuoka?

Hi! Kurokawa Onsen is a tiny, pretty town which you can see in probably 10 minutes. If you are mad on onsen, then go. We stayed a few nights at one ryokan (cant remember the name) and one at Hozentai which I will never forget, probably the best ryokan we have stayed in ever, just fantastic. All great if you want to soak and do not much else*, but not a lot of sightseeing.

Personally, I thought Yufuin was a much, much more interesting town, it reminds me a little of Karuizawa or maybe Kinosaki Onsen. Lots of Japanese tourists having a good time, and an absolutely amazing owl zoo.

*i should mention I suppose that we went not long after the Kyushu earthquake in 2016 and some of the roads were closed. but if you walk a bit out of town there are the rice paddies that are riddled with bullfrogs, the sound is insane. I speculate that is where the name Kurokawa comes from, that speculation may be misguided but dont correct me because I like to think it is true.

I would recommend Kurashiki over Fukuoka.
To go to Kurashiki, you need to get off at Okayama Station or Shin-Kurashiki Station and transfer to the JR Sanyo Main Line.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5750.html
Bitchu-Takahashi seems to have a better reputation, but access is a little inconvenient. (The castle remains from the old days.)
If you stay one night, you may be able to see the sea of clouds early in the morning.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5775.html
http://takahasikanko.or.jp/modules/spot/index.php?content_id=1
Okayama also has Korakuen Garden.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5701.html
The castle was rebuilt after World War II.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5702.html
Other spots in Okayama
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5700.html

Alternatively, you could take the JR Tokaido Main Line from Maibara and see Hikone Castle, but I prefer Himeji Castle.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e7000.html

From Nagoya, this place looks good.
https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3316.html

@haro1210

Thanks for so many suggestions! Will be pretty hard to decide on what to see with so limited time there :)

I also got two new questions that we got during planning the trip:

1) We would like to rent a car twice. Once from Karuizawa to Nagano and second time from Beppu to Kumamoto. As for the first one there is no problem at all (easily available, no drop-off price) then for Beppu - Kumamoto there are very limited options and usually the price for drop-off in other city is much higher than renting price. I've seen that Ekiren/Eki Rent-a-car/JR Rent-a-car has reasonable tarrifs and 10% discount for JR Pass holders. They have offices near both train stations so it would be ideal for me. But their website (https://www.ekiren.co.jp/phpapp/en/) is down since I first tried to reach it two days ago. Do you know if the company still operates? Are those just temporary problems?

2) We decided to take the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route from Nagano to Toyama. For it we would like to use Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Ticket as it combines all the tickets in one pass and allows for some savings. The pass is supposed to be sold by JR Central, but I can't find any information on it. Can anyone confirm if the pass is still being sold and if so, where to get it? Will Tokyo Station JR office 3-4 days before the trip will be ok?

Thanks in advance for the answers!

Hi!

According to this website, it is unclear if the discount Kurobe Alpine ticket is coming back. There have already been some permanent changes to both JR East passes (it use to be 5 flexible days within a 14 day period, now it is 5 consecutive days) and no one knows if all the driving passes for foreigners are coming back. It's even possible the pass will come back in April 2023 but not before then.

Be aware in November, sometimes the Kurobe Alpine Route can not be completed as per the Kurobe Alpine Route website: https://www.alpen-route.com/en/seasonal-attraction/winter.html The good new is you are coming from the recommended Omachi side, but there are no guarantees.

Good luck!

Hi
I am very welcome that you come to Japan!!
I would like answer about 3, about medication.

I high recomend to get contact with your country's embassy in Japan. They will know or the find the way to get the information.
If you have like insulin, would be good to ask your flight company, too.

I used to worked in a pharmacy next to a big luxury hotel in Japan and sometimes travellers didn't have thier medcine reflet and doctor's letter to show us.
I remember one non-Japan residence's amount of medcine looked like over dose for us... But we don't have the way to know their regular treatment except what the person said and took time to make sure it was okey in pharmacy ...
Original reflets and doctors letter etc would be your help, just in case too.

Hope enjoy your trip!!!

@rkold

Thanks for the information. I wrote just in case to JR to get to know if maybe they will relaunch the ticket soon. If no, then what will be our best best with JR Passes?

If the snowfall will be heavy, then we will go up to Murodo and turn back to Omachi and venture to Kyoto using other way. I see that if we take a morning train from Nagano (8:15) it will be possible to get back from Murodo to Omachi around 16:00, so we will still have time to get to Kyoto via Matsumoto & Nagoya.

One thing that I realized just now is that we will have to take care of our luggage. Normally we could forward it to Toyama, but without knowing if we will be able to get there, it will be wiser to forward it from our hotel in Nagoya to hotel in Kyoto.

@Yuki

Thanks for the advice! I just sent an e-mail to embassy regarding that issue and I hope that they will answer me rather quickly :) Most medications are from natural ingredients but there are some prescribed ones. I took 2 of those prescribed last time and there was no problem, but regulations might have changed and there is a way longer list than last time.

Hi!

Just remember the discounted ticket is one way and I don't know if you then have to pay out of pocket to turn back around if the course is partially closed due to weather. I would honestly make a separate thread with just that question in hopes someone with knowledge on that specific subject sees your thread.

Good luck!

I agree with the post from @haro1210

If you only have time for a short stop-off then - my choice would be the gardens at Okayama.

But gardens are our 'thing' and we would suggest finding a way to get to Matsue on one of the trips.

BTW. Given that you're heading far west I also thought that Kitakyushu had more interest than Fukuoka. The lucky town.