029 - 3:25:26, 16.18

[00:00:00] I am John and my goal is simple to visit all 47 Prefectures of Japan. The only reason that goal is even possible is because of points and miles turning everyday spending into flights, hotels, and experiences across Japan and the rest of Asia. This is rewarding routes, a podcast about making travel like that realistic and repeatable.

Each episode I'll share what I'm learning so you can plan smarter, travel more often, and feel confident using points and mouths without feeling overwhelmed. From booking award travel and choosing the right credit cards to build a meaningful itinerary and exploring regions, traditions, and moments that just make Japan so special, we'll figure it out together.

If Japan is on your bucket list or you want to keep going back and explore Asia along the way, you're in the right place. Let's build your rewarding route, one trip at a time. Hello and welcome back to another episode. And in today's episode we're going to [00:01:00] be talking about what to book in advance for your trip to Japan.

So with Japan. There are a lot of things that, you know, require you to plan ahead for. There's a lot of activities that are very popular among a lot of people in social media. So in this episode, we're gonna go over some of the most popular activities to book ahead of time, as well as some activities that we plan on booking for our trip in 2027.

Uh, we have an idea of where we're gonna base ourselves out of for the trip. So I'll go over that. For anyone who might have similar trips and yeah, we'll just be covering those things. Of course, it's not going to be everything because there are thousands of things to do in Japan, but these are just some of the more popular ones that I know a lot of people are very interested in and you know, some of 'em.

Um, we've done ourselves in our first two trips to Japan, and a lot of 'em are things that we want to do in the future as well. Before we get into [00:02:00] the episode, I do wanna highlight if you are looking to, , visit Japan during the springtime, especially cherry blossom season or golden week. Just expect things to be very busy.

Uh, prices to be a little bit higher than normal and just. If you're not able to book some of these things, that's probably why. 'cause there's just so much more demand during those busy times of the season. So just wanted to throw that out there. Um, yeah, if you're going during cherry blossom season, just have that mindset already, um, going into booking these activities because you're going to be going during the most popular time of the year in Japan.

So just wanted to put that out there and let's get into the first segment of this episode. It's a tip that I used during our last trip, uh, to South Korea and Japan, and that's booking tours, guides, any kind of cultural activities, especially with [00:03:00] locals. So the reason I say this is because it gives you a chance to really talk to locals who live there, , within the city that you're staying in, and it gives you a.

An opportunity to ask what they recommend for you to do throughout the rest of your trip, and that's why I recommend doing this at the very start of your trip, if possible. So what I did was we had, uh, a baking class in South Korea kind of towards a little bit. In the middle of our trip, not very beginning because we weren't able to get those dates.

Um, but it was a really unique opportunity and we were really happy to talk with a local, someone who was from Suan, and give us recommendation what's their favorite place to eat, what are their favorite things to do, and. Most times it won't be something that you've researched or found on social media.

It's something that is, you know, very personal to them. It's something that they enjoy very much. [00:04:00] So this is just a unique opportunity to really connect with locals who live in these areas that. Know a lot about the city that you're visiting and it just gives you a unique perspective. We also had a photo shoot and a matcha making class, and this was fairly early into our Japan trip as soon as we came to Japan from South Korea, and it just gave us an opportunity to really talk to the person who lived in these areas.

And see what were their favorite places. So that was a really unique opportunity and I'm glad, we were able to do that. I'm not sure where I got this hint from. Um, I heard it in the podcast maybe about two years ago and decided to add it into my itinerary in the way I book things. So this is something I book early on and I'm going to book early on for all the trips that we take, , just to start our trip off really well, and we can use those recommendations throughout the trip since we're going on these guides and, and tours [00:05:00] and whatever other experiences that involve locals. Um, the opportunity to, you know, enjoy some of their favorite things and some local eats and such.

So I think this is a really good good. Opportunity and a good way to start your trip. Whenever you're booking tours and guides, you should do that way in advance. Um, maybe a few months. I know for a photo shoot, it was about three months in advance for the matcha making class, maybe a month in advance.

And for the baking class, I believe it was around two months to a month in advance. Um. Some dates are gonna be a little bit tricky because photographers are sometimes only available on certain days of the week. Sometimes it doesn't align with your trip exactly in the early parts. So yeah, you're just gonna have to play around with it.

But I do recommend, um, booking one of these, . Local tour guides, um, any kind of activities like that, cultural early on in the trip. That way you can enjoy those [00:06:00] recommendations throughout the rest of your trip. Also, before I move on, I wanted to highlight, this is a great time to ask maybe any questions that you may have.

Um, that's on your trip itinerary. Say like you're kind of indecisive between two places, or maybe you want to know how something is pronounced correctly in their language. This is a good opportunity to talk to the local and ask them questions. Ask them anything that you may be confused on or you wanna learn more of, because I'm sure they will be just happy and fulfilled to help you, um, be.

You know, as you're being curious to learn more about their culture. So this is something. Like I said, it's a a unique opportunity to really, you know, to pick the brains of these local guides and, and whoever's giving this experience to you. And yeah, it could make your trip even more unique and it really elevate your experience.

[00:07:00] So I just wanted to put that out there. Alright, moving on. Now we're gonna be talking about what we are looking to book in early 2027. I think this will be an interesting insight kind of on how. I build out our itinerary and just kind of see how far in advance things get booked

so we are planning to base ourselves out of Kyoto, in Osaka, and we're going to be doing a lot of day trips out of these. Areas. So what I plan on booking quite a few things, and I'm gonna go over each individual thing. So number one is a photo shoot. We did a photo shoot in Tokyo in our last trip.

The pictures came out stunning and. It was really great to have these moments captured for us. So especially with our child's first international trip being this trip to Japan, uh, we would love to do another photo shoot like I just talked about. I believe I, I booked that photo shoot in Tokyo about two.[00:08:00] 

Maybe three months in advance. So I would try to book it as in advance especially since some photographers are probably a little bit more popular than others, and maybe you found one on social media that you really. Enjoy their work. Well, maybe a lot of people are looking at those same photos, so if you really know you want a certain photographer, definitely book as far in advance as possible.

Also have in mind photographers tend to maybe have only a few days a week available. So I know for our photographer, he was only available for, I think Tuesdays. Thursdays and maybe some weekends. So just keep an eye out for those things too. Um, because it might not line up exactly with. Maybe other things that you have booked.

So definitely keep that in mind. But there are a lot of photographers. What we used was Airbnb experiences. There's a lot of photographers on there. You can also check [00:09:00] out Fly Photographer. That's another website that has photographers and I believe like. 350 cities around the world. So it definitely gives you variety there.

Social media is a very good place to look at photographers. YouTube's a good place to find photographers. I know some, uh, photographers on YouTube that I follow, especially in Kyoto. So there, there are a lot of ways to find photographers and there's a lot of good photographers out there. So do your research and just know to book in advance if you really want a photo shoot for you and your family.

So another thing we're gonna be looking into is doing day trips out to UJI and ji's, not too far from Kyoto. And it's definitely day trip possible. I believe we're gonna make two days out of UJI and on one of the days we're going to look into tee tours because.

It's really known for its high quality matcha, and there's a lot of like tea tastings, the way tea is [00:10:00] processed. A way to learn about the traditional tea ceremonies. So this is something that we really want to do and experience. We look to book some kind of tour out there. Uh, it looks like booking should be around one to three months in advance.

A lot of people visiting UJI are also looking into these t tours and, and learning about the tea ceremonies and all these cultural activities. So this is something you'd have to look at booking in advance. We're definitely gonna try to book it as far in advance as possible. And, you know, once you start booking these activities, then you're, you can kind of start building your itinerary out because some of these things require quite a few months in advance.

You're gonna start having a better picture of how. Your trip is gonna be laid out once you start booking these, uh, activities.

But yeah, for the T tours, we're gonna be looking quite in advance, um, for these, because I'm sure they're gonna be very popular and we're [00:11:00] really excited to visit uji. So moving on and staying within UJI is the Nintendo Museum. This is something I. Really want to do, I really wanna, uh, visit the Nintendo Museum.

It looks fantastic and I wanna see if I can get my hands on one of those controller pluses, but this is something we have to book very in advance. It's three months in advance and it is a lottery system, so no guarantees here. So with the Nintendo Museum, you're going to sign up for the lottery three months in advance on the first of the following month. Lottery winners are notified by email giving you a chance to purchase if you don't win the lottery than any unsold tickets from the lottery winners that don't.

Bye. They just get released to the public. So there's no set schedule for this. You're just gonna have to be on the website every day trying to find a slot that works for you. So hopefully when I go to do this process, I just win the lottery system so I don't have to be on there every other day just checking.

It's probably [00:12:00] every day I have to be checking to see if there's any spots that work within our timeframe so. Yeah, we'll, we'll see how it goes. I'm really hoping that I can land this and I'll let you know, when that time comes and we start making these bookings, I'll always make sure to update you and just kind of go through the process with you.

So that's something we're doing. As well in UJI and in Kyoto we're going to be looking at the Team Labs, Kyoto Bio Vortex. So we are really excited for this because we have been to the Team Labs planets in Tokyo and absolutely love that experience. And from what I've seen of the Kyoto location of Bio Vortex, it looks phenomenal.

So I'm really excited to, visit this, , team labs and this is something you would. Have to book about a month to two months in advance. Tickets get released three months ahead of time. Team Lab is is just a, like a visually stunning experience. There's like immersive art [00:13:00] installation.

So it really is something unique I've never been to. Anything like this in my life and I just was blown away by the one in Tokyo. So we are really excited to visit this team labs in Kyoto. So, like I said, tickets are released three months in advance. I would recommend if you wanna book your three months in advance, you can, because those earlier time slots, especially in the early mornings, are the first ones to go.

And normally those are the best times to go because it's a little less crowded. Less of a cue to get in. Um, for, for Tokyo, it was a good experience for us because we had one of the first time slots and there weren't many people there, but as we were leaving, the line was just massive to just get in. So, uh, if you wanted to avoid that, you do have a time slot so you don't wait too long.

Um, but it's, it's probably easier just to manage to get in and get out without. Large crowds 'cause these are very popular. So yeah, just know those early [00:14:00] morning slots do sell out pretty quick and those are the first ones to go. But normally I was just on the website, you can find plenty of time slots throughout the day, uh, even just a few days out.

But I would just book it ahead of time, especially for those early mornings. 'cause that's when we would. We prefer to do our activities just in the morning to knock it out and have the rest of the day to enjoy and relax and explore any other places we want to explore. So yeah, you can buy it on the website.

You can also check out Klu. Kluk is like a third party website that you can buy other activities, you can buy transportation tickets to Universal. We'll get into all those things, but. Klu is a great app. I would recommend downloading and just like scrolling through it, see, seeing what activities you can book on there.

'cause there's some really good ones and the deals are really good. I mean, maybe it's a few dollars more, but it really is, most of these activities are really affordable. And that leads me to the next. Activity, and that is the [00:15:00] Pokemon Cafe. There's one in Tokyo, there's one as well in Osaka.

And we do plan on visiting the Pokemon Cafe. Osaka because even though Tokyo like the food was okay, and we weren't that impressed, you're really not going there for the food. You're going there for the experience. And we thought the experience was really cool. So since we did Tokyo already, we would like to experience the Pokemon Cafe in Osaka as well.

Um, this is something you have to do in advance and it goes really fast. Um, I, I remember doing this for the Tokyo location and I was up somewhat in the middle of the night because all of these reservations are Japan time. Forgot to mention that in the very beginning. But you're gonna see JST just know it's Japan time.

It's not. Your local time, whenever the time slot on the website says that tickets are gonna go on sale. So be aware of that. Don't, don't get too confused because then you'll completely miss when these tickets drops, [00:16:00] and that'll be a big bummer. But what I do recommend before I talk more about the Pokemon Cafe is maybe doing some trial runs.

So. Maybe a few months before it's time for you to book for these activities. You can just see how the process goes. And that's what I did a few times, so maybe six months in advance I would just like practice a. A few months in a row just to see how the drop goes and what I should be doing, what devices work better.

Most of the time I was on my laptop. But this gives you kind of an idea of how this whole process goes. So for the Pokemon Cafe, reservations are required. You can't really walk in, I know in Tokyo they have a little sign outside the door with like availability in case there's. Any cancellations, but it's a, it's a very low chance that could happen.

It's better to always have your reservations. Official tickets for the cafe released 31 days in advance on the official website of [00:17:00] Pokemon cafe.jp. They go really fast. I mean, they go. Very fast. So whatever availability you see on a day, you maybe have a few days in mind. So you keep yourself a little bit flexible and just go for it.

And if it doesn't work, if that time doesn't work, then go for the next one because they go really fast and a lot of people are on these websites trying to book up. So it can be a little bit competitive and, and you're trying to find those slots and you're getting rejected by. Keep trying, keep trying and you'll hopefully get a slot, if not it.

It's just unfortunate this happened to me for the Kirby Cafe. We really wanted to go, but you know, it had something similar. I think it was like 30 days in advance and I just could not find a time slot. Whenever I clicked one, I would just get rejected and I'd just keep going and then. All of 'em, all of a sudden were just sold out.

So it, it does happen. Um, I think there are third party booking services for the Pokemon Cafe. It's something you have to [00:18:00] research. I, I briefly read about this, but I've never done it myself. Um, so if you're curious about this, maybe Google it and see what people are saying, uh, about third party services.

Make sure they're, they're legit. And I, I, I'm pretty sure I've heard of people doing this that way. It just saves them the headache. They pay a little bit more. To book these experiences like the Pokemon Cafe, but you know, if something, if you just don't have the time to be waking up at like 3:00 AM because it's the time that the tickets get released, then yeah, just maybe it's best that you look at third party services to book some of these activities.

Now this next one's very popular, and that is Universal Studios, Japan in Osaka. It's very well worth it if you haven't been to Universal, and even if you've been to Universal. I live in Orlando and I've been to Universal many times. I was an annual pass holder for Universal. My wife and I, we love it. And the one in Osaka, it's fantastic.

Universal Studios, Japan, [00:19:00] it has the original jaws, right? Like that, that alone is, is just worth going to. But they also have, you know, super Nintendo World. They have anime collaborations. So, during different times of the season, it'll be like Jujitsu kaizen, or Demon Slayer, or they had attack on Titan.

Right now I believe it's Chainsaw Man. So yeah, they have different collaborations. If you're into anime like we are, yeah, that. That's also like a selling point to like visit Universal Studios, Japan, for those, you know, limited time events that they have. Um, with this, you don't really have to book in advance, but you could.

They get released 60 days in advance, express passes if you are. I'm interested in Express Passes. They get released 60 days in advance. I know a lot of people highly recommend this. I believe we had express passes 'cause we wanted to experience the rides on Super Nintendo World. But now I think about it, I don't think we did.

I think we had express passes for Disney. Uh, we'll talk about [00:20:00] that in a little bit, but yeah, you, you have the express passes if you want 'em. Um, there's some really great YouTube videos. Just do your research about 'em, see if they're worth it for you. And yeah, I mean, I think Universal Studios Japan is a great time and you know, it's a little bit different from the one here in Orlando.

They have some different stuff and, you know, I love the anime collaborations they have out there. So yeah, it's definitely worth booking. We booked it on Klu, uh, I believe. There's some kind of issue if you try to book with a foreign card on the Universal website. So I just went on Klu and bought it there.

I believe it was like $56 for a ticket, which is really great. I mean, compared to here in Orlando where tickets are a above a hundred dollars, maybe closer to 1 20, 1 40. So yeah, um, definitely, definitely well worth it. So. At the moment, that's about all the things that we have in mind for booking in advance.

I'm sure some other things are gonna come up, and as we build out our itinerary, [00:21:00] then we'll start understanding what other things we can book. We're, we're trying to keep it kind of light because we're traveling with a 1-year-old, um, during this trip. But yeah, you know, we might tag some things along here and there.

Um, I know we're gonna do some day trips to Nara, maybe a day trip out to Cobe or Ji. So yeah, we'll see how it goes. But, um, I wanted to talk about other very popular bookings. So these are just popular bookings throughout Japan, and one of the most popular bookings is the gli. Park and the Ghibli Museum.

Uh, I know it could be Ghibli or Ghibli. I, I say Ghibli personally. Um, but there's the Ghibli Park. This is in the Goya. You booked this two months in advance. Tickets drop on the 10th of the month at 2:00 PM JST, so 2:00 PM Japan time. So you're gonna have to go on Google, type in 2:00 PM JST, and then convert it to what.

Time zone you're in. So this is two months in [00:22:00] advance. They sell out really fast for the Ghibli Park. So best of luck and I hope you get it. If you really wanna visit the Ghibli Park now, don't com. Get confused with the Ghibli Museum because the Ghibli museum's in Tokyo, and that's booked one month in advance.

And this. Was something I was trying to book for our previous trip, and I practiced months in advance trying to get Ghibli Museum tickets, and I just could not, I could not get it. So unfortunately we weren't able to experience the Ghibli Museum, but. I do recommend going to the area that Ghibli Museum is in, and it's Kiichi.

It's a really cool area in Tokyo. I believe those names one of the best places to live in Tokyo, and I can see why. 'cause there's a lot of great, it's just like small, charming, a lot of great food options, a beautiful park out there. It's just really relaxing to walk around and explore. So I would really, you know, if, even if.

You don't get tickets to [00:23:00] Ghibli Museum. Definitely make some time to go out to Kiichi and, and experience the, um, that area out there 'cause it's really well worth it. But hopefully you do get the tickets if you do plan on visiting the museum. Uh, it looks awesome. I, I wish we could have, uh, gotten the tickets, but maybe in the future we'll try again and we'll get lucky.

So next we're talking. About the brand new park. The pokey park canto. So this is booked two months in advance for international visitors, brand new park. And this is a park like an extension of Yo Modi Land Park, which is the main theme park. So the pokey park is just an extension of Yo Modi land and. It looks like a great time.

A lot of great photo ops you can have at the Poky Park. Canto. Of course, it's brand new, just opened up in February of 2026, so it's very popular and I'm sure it's a little bit hard to get your hands on tickets. But, um, tickets do get released at 6:00 PM JST Japan [00:24:00] Standard time on their official website.

They just go really quick, so just look two months in advance. Go on at 6:00 PM JST. Well go on before then, just so you're prepared with your laptop. Maybe have your tablet, your phone ready, and, um, and, and try to get tickets that way. So hopefully you're able to, uh, secure some. So, you know, something I'll probably do in a, in a couple years from now.

Not right now. Um, but definitely interested in visiting Pokey Park Con 'cause it looks awesome from the videos and photos that I've seen. Something we have done though is the Shibuya Sky in Tokyo. This is booked about two weeks in advance and even though it doesn't sell out completely, the sunset time slots do sell out pretty quickly.

So. If you want the transition for sunset, you know, see Tokyo during the day, you see the sunset and then you can see Tokyo at night. There is no limitation of how long you can be up there. It's just the time that you can get in. So whatever time of year you're visiting, [00:25:00] just go on Google and type in what the sunset time is during the time you're visiting.

And then from there you can try to book. In two weeks in advance for Shibuya Sky trying to get, trying to get the time slot that best gets you in for that sunset kind of time. So I think Sunset for us was around six 30. So I booked the time slot for 5:00 PM that way, you know, we had time to just relax and see of views and.

And just see Tokyo during the day a little bit. Watch the sunset and then watch the as the lights kind of come on. And, and Tokyo just becomes so beautiful at night and, and illuminated. So I would highly recommend booking for Sunset. But if, if you don't want sunset, you can find other time slots like a few days in advance.

It's not too hard to get, um, up to Shibuya Sky, but definitely well worth it. So something you should look into. Next we have the Tokyo, Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea. You can book this [00:26:00] 60 days in advance. We bought our tickets on Klu.

So once again, most of these activities you can find on Klu, um, maybe the ones that are more time sensitive, like the Pokemon Cafe, Kirby Cafe. Any kind of ca, uh, popup cafes or themed cafes that you're interested in, those will most likely be on their specific website at a specific time. So just know, you know, if there's anything that interests you that I'm not talking about, definitely do your research.

Um, but for Tokyo, Disneyland, Disney Sea, you can book that 60 days in advance. You could do it on the website, you could do it on Klu. Um. It's not always necessary to like book it right away. 'cause it, I mean, it doesn't really sell out like that. Um, but if you wanted to get maybe Express passes and such, you could look into that.

I know we did express passes, but that was when you go within the park, so you couldn't buy. I'm not completely sure about this. I'm, I'm, I [00:27:00] know TDR Explorer on YouTube has fantastic videos and guides about, express passes and just Disney and Universal and all the theme parks. Um, so I, I'll definitely le leave a link for TDR Explorer Chris, uh, in the show notes.

But I know when we went on the app, once you go into Disney Sea or Disneyland, then you can start. Pre-booking things and experiences and start paying, um, for express passes. So we, we were able to do a lot of rides that way. And, you know, we were ordering our meals at restaurants because some of 'em require you to use the app to order your food before you go in.

So yeah, just um, do your research on that. But 60 day in, in advance for Tokyo, Disneyland, Disney Sea, same thing for Universal. So. Overall, they were a great experience. We went to Disney Sea. We didn't go to Disneyland. We'll go to Disneyland eventually, but Disney Sea was fantastic. It was probably my favorite Disney Park that we've been to.

We've been to a few. [00:28:00] Went to one in Hong Kong. Of course, we've been here in Orlando. We've been to the one, uh, Disneyland in California. Uh, but Disney Sea was a, a truly amazing park and, and, you know, definitely worth visiting if you're into theme parks like that. Next we have the Tokyo Imperial Palace.

Something I would love to do that we haven't done yet. You booked this about one to two months in advance. They do offer free guided tours on the official website. Tickets are available at 5:00 PM on the first of the month before you visit 5:00 AM JST. You might find some availability in person. But those are pretty limited.

So I would just book in advance if you really want to visit the Tokyo Imperial Palace. I would love to see this and walk the garden grounds and such. So I think it would be a really, cool experience to go to the Imperial Palace. Now, let's talk about some events and experiences that you can book.

There are a little bit more cultural experiences and something that I highly recommend that we did during [00:29:00] our last trip was go to a baseball game in Japan. What an experience that was. Baseball culture in Japan is insane. The energy is high. The food is fantastic. The atmosphere is incredible, and it's something that I'll do if I'm going during the season.

The season runs from late March to October, so if I'm ever visiting between March and October, I'm going to a game like no doubt, because the experience was so good. It was very affordable to do. And yeah, I, I think it's just very well worth it. Even if you're not into sports or baseball, it gives you a chance to just sit down, be in environment that has energy, that you can try different Japanese foods in the, in the concessions.

Or you can bring food from outside into the stadium. Really depends on the stadium you're going to. But from what I was reading, most stadiums let you do that. They have vendors outside, you know, they have yakisoba that they put [00:30:00] in a little. Plastic container with an egg on top, and it just looked fantastic.

I didn't have that because I, I wanted to try something within the stadium and they gave me a cool little card with the mascot from the Tokyo Alt Swallows, and this was, it was just a really good experience. So I, I highly recommend going to a baseball game. You could book this one to two months in advance.

Um, either go on the official website of the individual teams, maybe the team that you're going to be in the city of during your trip, and you can see that way. I know there are some places that sell tickets at comb beanies, like Lawson seven 11, so you're gonna have to do your research for us that your cult swallows had a website online.

So I was able to buy tickets there and it was really affordable, not expensive at all, and the experience was phenomenal. So highly recommend doing that. There's also other events going on. There's Grand Sumo tournaments. There's six official tournaments a year. This [00:31:00] looks really cool to attend. Uh, you could book this one to four months in advance.

Um, you can buy it through the official websites, buy sumo tickets.com. Um, other things are like cultural experiences and workshops that I mentioned in the very beginning of this episode because. Honestly doing something, um, like a cultural experience, like having a tea ceremony or, you know, watching sumo wrestling or going to a cooking class and making Japanese food. Making knives. There's so many experiences that you can really immerse yourself with the culture, uh, of the country you're visiting. And in this case it's Japan. And you can talk to the locals and you can ask them questions, and it, it's just. I think it's a phenomenal way to really immerse yourself within the country and the culture that you're visiting.

So I highly recommend just researching things that interest you, that you know you can possibly do. [00:32:00] I know one of the things I wanted to do in our last trip, but we didn't get to book, was some, uh, learning some calligraphy and doing that, and that's something that you could have booked through Airbnb experiences.

Uh, I know there's some other. Websites that you can book experiences through. So just do your research and see what interests you. And then, you know, you could book those maybe a month to three months in advance just to kind of work into your activity schedule and you're building your itinerary out this way.

So for activities that was the more of the popular activities and some of the, activities that we plan to book in the future. And I'll go over those as we book 'em, um, down the line. But I'm gonna talk about now restaurants, because we did talk about this in a, a previous episode, but booking reservations for restaurants in Japan, it's something you can do, especially if you know of the restaurant that you want to visit and you know that it's very popular and they [00:33:00] have the opportunity to book.

But for the most part, you don't have to. There's a lot of good like apps. There's VE log that you can use for, you know, finding restaurants, or you could use Google Maps. OpenTable shows you different places that you know, accept reservations. But in the most part, you don't really have to book reservations unless you know it's a popular spot.

It's fine dining. It's uh. Oma Casa, which is like the chef's selection. So yeah, you could definitely book in advance and reserve these places that you saved and you know, you wanna visit for the most part. You don't really have to have reservations for most restaurants, but if you are a big party, say you're maybe six or more, maybe four or more.

Then you would have to look at, um, and possibly reserving, because most of these restaurants and places tend to be a bit smaller and don't hold large groups like that. So that's something you would have to look at. If the restaurant only speaks [00:34:00] Japanese and you can't really talk to them on the phone, you know, talk to the people in the staff at your hotel or your accommodation, and they, for the most part will.

Definitely be willing to help you book these reservations, so that's a great way to approach it. Now for, of course we talked about it themed cafes like the Kirby Cafe, Pokemon Cafe. You're gonna have to look at booking one, two months ahead of time on a specific day to get tickets to get. The opportunity to eat at that cafe because it's themed and it's very popular.

So that's the only time where you have to really be on top of booking a, um, a restaurant ahead of time. So just wanted to cover the restaurant portion of that for hotels. You already know I, I'm going to be booking our hotel for our trip fairly soon. Uh, we have about all the points for the Hyatts that we need.

Uh, Hyatt lets you book about a year or more in advance, so we'll [00:35:00] be booking those soon. Um, we already have kind of the idea of where we wanna stay in Kyoto and Osaka and the points uses are pretty low. So once I have those officially booked, I'll go over those with you. Um, but you can book, you know, accommodations.

Six months in advance, eight months in advance. Um, it kind of depends if, when you're going, if you're going during the Cherry Blossom season, again, book even further out as far out as possible. Um, if you do look into booking like a Rio Con, which is a traditional inn. Definitely look in booking those as far and advance as possible, maybe eight months in advance or so, especially if the Rio Con has a onsen or even a private onsen.

So if you have tattoos, definitely check the policies for the onsens. Um, when we stayed at the Rio Con in Miyama Island, it was tattoo friendly, but at. A certain time. So I had to go after 10:00 PM to the [00:36:00] onsen because it was a public onsen. It wasn't private. But if I was to book a Rio Con, I would book private just to see how that experience is.

And it sounds kind of nice that way. My wife and I, we, we can enjoy this onsen together. Um, and then eventually when my child's a little bit older. You know, he can enjoy the onsen as well. So, you know, a private onsen sounds really nice and that's something you would have to book in advance. There are some very, very popular areas.

I know Ginza, onsen, um, that area needs to be booked way in advance. I would say about eight months, six months, eight months in advance. So something to consider, especially if you want that, you know, onset experience. Now the last thing I wanna talk about is transportation. You can book transportation, honestly, a week or less in advance.

It's not much, you don't have to book too far in advance for this. Um, portion, which is more of like public transportation, like for us was the, um, [00:37:00] the bus from the airport over to our hotel. In Tokyo. So it took us from NTA airport over to Tokyo Bay where we were staying for a night. Um, if you're looking at the Shing send, and you can book that 30 days in advance, most times you don't, you don't have to book that far in advance for the Shing Send Un unless you're going during golden week or something crazy.

Um, but. You should be fine within a, a few days or even a day of. You can book and reserve your seats if you want, but, uh, you could book it in advance if you already know exactly when you're gonna go and the exact time you wanna leave. If you know you're not gonna wanna roam around the station that your shong sends leaving out of.

So you can do that in advance if you wanted to, but you don't have to worry about that honestly. Um. There are really cool sightseeing trains that are throughout Japan that some of them require you to book a month or more out in advance. If there's something that you've seen or have in [00:38:00] like an interest in maybe.

Trying out and experiencing, um, definitely do your research on it. 'cause there's so many different rails and so many different scenic trains throughout Japan. So if there's something that you know, you, you want to experience, uh, especially for sightseeing trains, I know some of them can be months in advance.

Um, so yeah, definitely do your research on that part. Um, make sure you have your sweeter card on your phone. If you have an Apple phone, you can have it in your wallet. Um, if you're, if you plan on driving, make sure you have your international driving's license. Um, due this in advance, due this a few months in advance because you know, your rental car company will ask for that.

Um, this is something I haven't done yet, but I am excited to drive in Japan. We're not gonna be doing it this trip, but it'll most likely be the next trip where we kind of venture out from the major popular cities. Were just kind of finishing the things that we weren't able to experience our first. Two [00:39:00] trips to Japan and, you know, doing day trips from those popular cities like Kyoto, Osaka.

And then, you know, for our fourth trip we'll be doing something more in the countryside and something off the beaten path a little bit more, um, just to experience, uh, the other side of Japan. I'm just, I'm craving to, to really experience. Um, and this is why, you know, my goal is to visit all 47 prefecture just so I can experience.

All the, the, the sheer variety that Japan has to offer, um, throughout its beautiful country. So that's about it for, you know, things to book and look for in advance when you're, you know, preparing for a trip to Japan. Um, make sure your passport's valid, make sure it's not expiring in a few months. Um, just keep up with like your bank cards and.

Um, if you want free stamps because you know you can collect some awesome stamps, make sure you have a stamp book before you leave or plan to get one early in your trip when you land. [00:40:00] And you can find us at bookstore and stuff. So this is, something's free, is something that you can bring back as memories.

And I have a stamp book. I bought mine at Loft in Shibuya. Uh, I think it's like a sketch pad. But it's a small little sketch pad and it works perfect for stamps. And you know, I collect stamps at different train stations, or maybe there's events with stamp rallies, and it's just a free memory that I can bring back home with me.

So yeah, just put it on your little checklist because it's really fun and it's well worth having those memories. And remember. Um, through stamps that are free. So I hope you enjoyed this episode. I hope you got some kind of insight on things to book in advance. There's a lot of things to book in advance.

Of course, I didn't cover everything 'cause there's so many different. Things to book and experiences to have, but just find what interests you and maybe some of the popular things I covered for you, and then you can do your research and hopefully, I wish you the best of luck. I'm booking these [00:41:00] things because I know some of 'em can just.

Be gone in an instant. Um, but I, I'm sure it's gonna be just fine and, and, you know, don't sleep on booking. Just be, be, be prepared. Practice a, a few months out just to get, you know, a feel for it. And if you found this helpful, subscribe and share. And if you have anyone planning a Japan trip, um, I'll be. You know, talking about more of my trip planning and itinerary building as we get closer to, um, our trip in 2027.

But, uh, thank you for listening and I'll see you on the next one. See ya.