My best friend Tea and I made a trip to Japan in 2019!!! This trip was taken back from 23 May – 6 June 2019, so early enough that we wouldn’t have to deal with the summer heat and still cool enough to enjoy. We decided on exploring Kyushu, mainly with Fukuoka as the base for day trips, then moving up to Osaka, Kanazawa and then finally Tokyo. It was my first trip in which I got the JR Rail Pass and it was definitely worth it! We could hop on and off Shinkansen whenever we wanted so day trips were easy enough to plan. If possible, MORE DAYS!!! More days to explore everywhere….
Our days were mainly quite flexible, we would loosely plan the places we would want to go to and then change based on how tired we were etc.
Feel free to use our itinerary as a guide as well, hopefully the accommodation section will help. We mainly stayed in cheap hostels/capsule hotels but splurged a bit for Kanazawa (with no regrets!!!!).
All prices are listed in Singapore dollars and were based on the prices when booked back in 2019.
Cost breakdown:
Flights: Singapore Airlines, direct flights from SG to FUKUOKA then flying back from HANEDA to SG, $760.90 per person round trip
JR 7 day pass: from Klook, $345 per person
North Kyushu JR Rail Pass: from Klook, $100.11 (after some discount) per person
Wifi: Wifi egg rented from Changi Recommends, $51.50 total
Travel Insurance: from FWD, $37 per pax
Itinerary:
Day 1: Arrive in Hakata, Fukuoka. Explore Hakata
Day 2: Kumamoto Day Trip
Day 3: Nagasaki Day Trip
Day 4: Shimonoseki Day Trip
Day 5: Explore Hakata (Tenjin/Canal City)
Day 6: Arrive in Osaka. Explore Dotonbori
Day 7: Himeji Day Trip: Himeji Castle & surroundings
Day 8: Kyoto Day Trip: Arashiyama & Kyoto Station area
Day 9: Tennoji & Takoyaki/Dumplings Party with friends, Shinsekai/Tsutenkaku
Day 10: Arrive in Kanazawa. Explore Kanazawa & enjoy festival events
Day 11: Toyama half-day trip, explore Kanazawa at night
Day 12: Arrive in Tokyo. Harajuku & Ikebukuro with friend
Day 13: Tsukiji, Harajuku (again), Shibuya
Day 14: Ikebukuro (again), Roppongi, Akihabara, Fly back to Singapore
Accommodation:
Hostel Spica in Fukuoka
Room type: Dorm/capsule style beds on a female only floor
Cost: $63.20 per night (for two)
Nearest station: JR Hakata (15min walk from the station)
Nearby amenities: Family Mart
Facilities: Coin Laundry, Bicycles available for rental, kitchen, fridge (in sleeping area), Shower cubicles (in sleeping area/same floor)
Cons: Reception is not open 24h (only from 10am – 11pm IIRC), Check in is only at 5pm, distance from train station is quite far
This is me inside my little capsule in the hostel. Most capsules in dorms/hostels are like this and only have a curtain for privacy. It can get quite stuffy because the ventilation isn’t great.
Hotel Shin-Imamiya in Osaka
Room type: Capsule rooms
Cost: $37 per night (for two)
Nearest station: JR Shin-Imamiya (2min walk from the station)
Nearby amenities: Family Mart, 24h budget supermarket (Tamade), Tsutenkaku/Shinsekai is about a 10 – 12 minute walk away, 24h mega Donki store is about 10min away
Facilities: Coin Laundry, kitchen, fridge, shower room (on certain floors only)
Cons: Rooms are not soundproof and thus can be very noisy at night due to inconsiderate people, the area may not be what you expect due to being in the poorer area of Osaka. Reception was a bit rude when we went to ask for new towels and just said there were none because they were being cleaned. Told us to come back and try asking again in the morning for towels.
This is what the room you’re given looks like – it’s really a room with a capsule inside…for whatever reason.
Ryokan Murataya in Kanazawa
Room type: Japanese style twin room
Cost: $153.10 per night (for two)
Nearest station: JR Kanazawa (take a bus from the train station)
Nearby amenities: multiple convenience stores, shopping mall, multiple eateries all within 5 to 10min walk
Facilities: public bath (closes at 12 midnight), shared toilets
Cons: None. I really, really loved this place and it’s great for if you want the ryokan experience but are broke and can’t afford to spend a lot. Really lovely owners that go the extra mile such as cleaning your luggage before bringing it to the room and sharing good food spots etc. Add on breakfast for about 800yen per person, order when checking in.
We LOVED our room!!! It was a good respite from all the tiny capsules. We had proper air con!!! Amazing service! Comfy futons! There was tea and a Japanese sweet waiting for us in the room. They also provided yukata to wear as loungewear and it was so comfy too.
This is the small female bath. I managed to take the picture because there was no one else using it but us at the time.
nine hours Kanda in Tokyo
Room type: capsule hotel for women only
Cost: $53 per night (for two)
Nearest station: JR Kanda (5 – 7min walk away from the East Exit)
Nearby amenities: Family Mart, many eateries all within 5 to 10min walk
Facilities: showers, lockers for luggage
Cons: No coin laundry within the premises (nearest one is 10 – 15min walk away), storage lockers are VERY SMALL so your suitcase will probably not fit, a troublesome system of having to check out every day at 10am. Best for short term stays
The row of capsules in one floor. Can be quite stuffy. The showers are on a different floor (which was very clean, spacious and great).
beanmylife 