It was just after lunch time. We walked to the taxi rank and got into one of the taxis. My mother, wife, and child, tired from an early morning of sightseeing, were heading back to the B&B on the other side of town. The driver, a white-haired man who spoke no English, greeted us. I handed him my phone and pointed to our destination.

“I don’t know this place,” he said after several long seconds of scrolling the map.

“Is here okay?” I asked, stretching the limits of my Japanese.

He looked again, and after chewing on the silence, he finally agreed.

During my recent ten-day trip to Japan ( itinerary here ), this was only one of many challenges along the way. We visited Kyoto, Nara, and Tokyo, with the bulk of the time in Kyoto. We enjoyed the trip, but it was not without its hiccups. In this article, I explore some of those challenges with an eye to planning future trips better.

Getting around

Difficulties like that taxi negotiation were quite common as we traveled around Japan.

The Shinkansen was one of the easier modes to use. Taxis were also generally stress-free; we had no problems when I ordered taxis from ride-sharing apps. The most challenging was the subway system in Tokyo. Part of the problem involved peculiarities of Google Maps.

Shinkansen for inter-city travel

Shinkansen transportation was fairly easy to arrange. I was able to purchase my Shinkansen tickets from JR Central . Their website looks straight out of the 90s, but it was easy enough to navigate, even on my phone. The good thing was that I avoided a 10% service fee by booking directly from JR, instead of from other services like Klook.

My wife and I were late to pick up my parents from the airport. We got lost in the subway on the way. We got onto the wrong train, and then we couldn’t decide on the best way to get back to the right train platform. We fumbled around for almost half an hour before we were on our way. On the train, my wife’s earbuds fell out of her pocket. We called the train station and luckily, someone had taken them to the lost-and-found. It was a silver lining to a stressful experience.

I ended up having to reschedule our Shinkansen tickets because of all the delays. Even after rescheduling, we still stepped onto the train moments before the door closed. We were lucky that the lost-and-found was at Tokyo Station, where we were getting on the Shinkansen, but the lost-and-found retrieval process took almost 20 minutes—leaving us precious little time to get to the train.

This was certainly a stressful start to our journey. All this running around has taught me to leave much more time than I think I’ll need for transportation. It’s important to give yourself time to navigate—had we not been in a hurry to meet my parents at the airport, my wife probably wouldn’t have lost her earbuds in the first place.

Welcome Suica: IC cards for getting around town

While catching our Shinkansen trains was a fretful experience, getting around in each city was relatively smooth. My wife and I purchased Welcome Suica cards when we arrived in Tokyo. These allowed us to use the buses and trains, both JR and local, in each city that we went to. They were incredibly convenient. We even used them to buy things in convenience stores, but we eventually preferred to use cash on our grocery purchases so we didn’t have to top up our card balances so often.

One thing I didn’t anticipate is that my dad would lose his card. Unfortunately, the Welcome Suica cards can’t be replaced when lost, and you can only get a new one at airports. This is the drawback of getting this version of the IC card, which doesn’t require a deposit but is also non-refundable. We were in a bit of a hurry to get him a replacement IC card, so we got him a regular Icoca card in Kyoto. This card works just like the Welcome Suica, but it has a ¥500 deposit. On the last day of the trip, we found out that the Icoca card can’t be returned in Tokyo, but rather only in western Japan. We will hold on to the card for our next trip.

Taxis

Taxis were easy to use. I tried two different apps while I was there, Uber and Go Taxi. Go Taxi was quick and easy to set up, but they charge an extra foreign visitor fee. Because of that, I switched to using Uber, which didn’t have such fees. Didi, the Chinese ride-sharing app, was also available, but I didn’t try using it. I’m sure it’s a popular choice for Chinese tourists, though.

To control transportation costs, I tried to stick to public transport and call a taxi for longer distances or when we were too hot or tired—and the heat was oppressive in July. Considering the heat, though, I probably should have used more taxis. That way, we wouldn’t have been as tired. After all, taxis aren’t terribly expensive in Japan, with the daytime fare starting at ¥500 and averaging around ¥1,200 ($8.11) per trip. This isn’t that much more expensive than the ¥200–270 per person for the subway.

Maps

I’m not sure I really like Google Maps for getting around in Japan. The routes it suggested were good, but for some reason, I found myself back-tracking at least once a day during the trip. By mid-trip, it was a running joke to go the opposite direction I said to go, and everything would be fine. Only by the end of the trip did I start to get the hang of it. This might just be user error, but it was frustrating at times.

I found Google Maps to be unhelpful during certain points of each trip, especially when navigating Tokyo’s subway stations. They are huge and they have tons of exits. Google Maps doesn’t show you how to get to the South Exit of Shinjuku Station. You have to take an elevator to another platform, walk to the other end of the platform, and take two more elevators before you get there. It’s best to ask someone if you don’t see the sign posted somewhere in the station itself.

Types of trains

One thing I found confusing was the different types of trains on each line. Going to Nara from Kyoto, there are four different types of trains: a limited express, a regular express, a sub-express, and a regular train. Regular trains are the only trains that stop at every station. All the others may pass over different stops. Google Maps will show you the itinerary of all the scheduled trains, but the train Google said to get on wasn’t the one the attendant recommended on our way back from Nara to Kyoto. Rule of thumb: just ask someone.

Finding things along your route

Google Maps has a feature that allows you to add stops to your route. I didn’t learn until after the trip that you can only add stops to your route if the route isn’t using public transportation. So a difficulty I had during my trip was if I want to find something such as a restaurant or café during my current navigation, what do I do?

What I found works is to just save the current route, search for what I want, then return to the saved route. This way, I could search for restaurants or shops without losing my current navigation.

Activities

I planned this trip Kyoto-heavy because I knew my parents would enjoy the quiet historical feel of the city more than the bustle of Tokyo. I was right in this respect. However, the pacing of the first half of the trip was a little too fast, and it definitely included too much walking. We must have walked an average of two miles a day for the first three or four days of the trip, with my dad and I walking even more. We hiked to the top of the Fushimi-Inari mountain, accumulating over 20,000 steps that day. Other days were more moderate, with between 10,000 and 15,000. For an old couple and a one-year-old, that was too much, especially in the heat and humidity. It was nearly 100 degrees outside most of the days we were there.

Pacing

The most successful days were the half-day itineraries. We saw or did something interesting in the morning, had lunch, then spent the afternoon resting in our accommodations, sometimes going out in the evening for dinner. This more restful pace allowed everyone to catch their breath and rest their feet.

This same pace would have been more doable in the spring or fall.

On our last day in Kyoto, we walked the Philosopher’s Path, which sounds mysterious, but is just a tree-lined pathway along a canal running at the foot of the mountains. I thought it would be a relaxing activity, and indeed it was quiet, but the heat and elevation of the start of the path were difficult for my mother. She has asthma. I also didn’t anticipate that the path would be gravel, which was a little difficult for pushing the baby stroller. Had I known about these issues beforehand, I would have chosen something easier, like one of the many beautiful parks that Kyoto has to offer. That would have been a lot more relaxing for everyone.

The days in Tokyo were surprisingly more relaxing, despite the crowded streets and buildings. I had planned much less for our days there, which gave us some breathing room. One of the highlights was the last full day of the trip. In the morning, we went to the Meiji Jingū, a shrine surrounded by a man-made forest. The Meiji Emperor’s policies brought Japan into the modern era, and the shrine commemorates him and the empress’s divine souls. After that, we saw the famous Shibuya Scramble Crossing and had a great sukiyaki lunch at Nabezō.

Part of what made it successful was the fact that all of these places were quite close to where we were staying in the Koreatown near Shibuya Station. A quick bus ride to the shrine, followed by an even shorter bus ride to the Scramble Crossing, topped off with a short walk to an electronics store for some shopping, made for a great day.

Food and dining

We enjoyed many good meals on our trip, although my vegetable-loving wife had trouble with all the fried foods and meat. Most restaurants don’t serve many vegetable-focused dishes.

One thing that I had researched was Shojin-ryōri, or Buddhist vegetarian cuisine. Most of the restaurants which offer it require reservations, but we never settled on whether we were going to try it, so we skipped it. A similar missed opportunity was the traditional tea ceremony. We never made the final decision to go for it, so I never made the reservation. It was probably for the best, anyway, because only my dad and I actually like tea.

I had done some research about which restaurants to try in each area of the city, but it didn’t always work out according to plan. In one instance, the restaurant I had planned to take us to was closed on Thursdays. Luckily I found out before we got there and was able to make adjustments.

In situations like those, I actually found ChatGPT quite helpful for curating lists of restaurants. Tons of travel blogs write about what and where to eat. Their recommendations are helpful, but they can be hard to synthesize into a concrete itinerary. ChatGPT does that work for you, and at record speed. This will definitely be a tool I’ll use during future trips.

Summary

Overall, the trip was moderately successful. My plan covered all the basics of hotel reservations and tickets, with the exception of the Buddhist vegetarian cuisine. Navigation was stressful—especially in Tokyo—but we always made it in the end. For future trips, I’ll be more careful not to fit too much into one day.

This experience has shown me that I can plan an enjoyable trip for my family. With a few tweaks and slower pacing, I’m confident that future trips will be even more successful.