Lessons Learnt from the Japan trip

• The main cities in Japan are hot and humid in the summer. If you or your companions suffer from the heat, you will be able to visit only two or three places a day instead of six to seven places in a typical daily plan found in most guide books.
• If you travel with small children, expect to spend a day or more in a doctor's office or hospital.
• If you travel with small children or somebody who suffers from motion sickness, you should avoid long travel by bus and most organized tours. You must have the flexibility to alter the plan if somebody feels sick.
• Pick hotels near or on top of train stations. For example, Hotel Granvia Kyoto which is located on top of the Kyoto train station. We could reach the train platform in 8 minutes from our hotel room. Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel near Shibuya station in Tokyo was also convenient.
• You need to visit alternating kinds of attractions to keep your children interested. For example, you cannot visit 5 shrines and temples in a row, which is the typical plan in Kyoto.
• You can save a lot of money and keep your dietary restrictions by eating store-bought food in your hotel room. There are many convenience stores in major cities, and the minuscule minibar refrigerator in the room has enough capacity to hold food overnight. You will need to restore the content of the minibar in the morning to avoid being charged for missing items.
• Before you visit any attraction, pay attention to the days it is closed. It is written in the guide book.
• Pay attention to the exit number from the subway/train station of the attraction. Some subway and train stations have more than 10 exits, and they point at all directions.
• Two triangular rice balls and a yogurt are a satisfying dinner after a day full of activities.
• Have a person in the hotel write your dietary restrictions in Japanese, so you can show it in restaurants and food shops. Once you recognize the food you can eat, it is easy to do your own shopping.
• Buy a Japan Rail Pass if you travel between cities or have frequent side trips. It will save you the hassle of buying individual tickets, and it enables much flexibility. You can just hop on the next train and sit in the unreserved car just by showing your pass at the entrance to the station. The ordinary pass is sufficient if you avoid the peak travel period (around the Obon festival and New Year).
• Your hotel concierge team can help you much by recommending restaurants and events, making reservations, and finding medical help as needed.
• There is no single best guide book for Japan. The two best books that I found are Frommer's Japan (by Beth Reiber) and Lonely Planet's Japan. The Frommer's book ranks the attractions in each area and across Japan, which is essential for preparing your own trip plan. The Lonely Plant book contains more up-to-date information based on the personal experience of a large team of authors that live in Japan. However, it does not rank the attractions. I found that the combination of these two books to be extremely useful.
• You can ship your luggage from one hotel to the next or from your hotel to the airport. It takes one day. It reduces the hassle of carrying luggage on the train. I did not use this service in this trip.
• If you rent a phone in Japan, you should use a discount call rates and not the default call rate. Otherwise you will pay ¥5-6 per minute. You need to program the discount call prefix into your phone. The company that you rent your phone from will typically give you this information.
• A netbook or a small laptop is useful during the trip to keep in touch with your friend and family and to get information about attractions. You can also download the photos and videos from your camera to the netbook or laptop to make room for new pictures and videos. If you have a teenager, he or she are likely to use your netbook or laptop extensively.
• Buy a few simple souvenirs representing your country before you start your trip. Postcards of famous locations or magents with similar pictures are handy when you want to thank a person in Japan. Since Japanese do not accept tips, this is a good way to show your gratitude. In addition, people on the street may help you, and you may want to thank them this way.
• Get good street maps. The maps in the guidebooks are often inconvenient or lack details. Get the "Bilingual map of Tokyo, Yokohama, Tsukuba, Makuhari Messe by Shobunsha Publications, Inc". Print the Tokyo subway map from their web site.