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Interesting to read about the Knot hotel in Tokyo. I’ve just reserved the Yotel as it looked decent in term of price and location but reviews seem thin on the ground. Anyone have any expert or thoughts? The knot does look materially cheaper…
I’ve stayed at The Knot three times now, and have been happy with it. The rooms are small by Western standards, but the larger rooms at 20 sq metres are a decent size. Storage space is limited though. Plan on living out of your suitcase.
Decent location, about 10/15 minutes walk from Shinjuku station. Near the Hilton.
About £5 in a “black cab” from Shinjuku station.
The New Indigo in Hakone looks nice
Stayed there last October, loved it. Very well looked after as IHG Diamond. Only one night and wished we’d stayed for 2.
I’m not sure you *need* two nights in Hakone, especially if you’re tight for time elsewhere, but I think you could easily fill two full days there (the open-air museum is well worth a morning), and take things at a more relaxed pace.
Hello, I’m off to Osaka and Tokyo in the second and third week of April.
Need some opinions on jackets and coats.Just come back from 2 weeks in Japan. Mostly it was T-shirt weather or a light coat. Light coat sufficient on most (early) evenings. A Rab-style light down jacket was invaluable.
Yep, it’s getting into summer weather nowadays.
I was forced to buy a beige denim jacket.
As the weather is currently borderline hot and very sunny in Kyoto and Osaka, I’ve managed to avoid wearing it in the daytime.Just in case anyone actually cared about my outerwear dilemma.
I was forced to buy a beige denim jacket.
As the weather is currently borderline hot and very sunny in Kyoto and Osaka, I’ve managed to avoid wearing it in the daytime.Just in case anyone actually cared about my outerwear dilemma.
Update: Got away with carrying a hoody in my bag for the first week or so.
The denim jacket was only needed a couple of times in West Japan – luckily one of those occasions was during the Expo opening day when the weather was pretty bad (literally the only bad weather day in our 16 days in country).Didn’t need anything other than a t-shirt in Tokyo, though it did get slightly nippy on a couple of the evenings.
I feel not enough people (in general) talk about Himeji Castle (appreciate it did get mentioned here a couple of times though).
Seeing the place in full bloom was something special. Spent half a day here. A quick journey up from Osaka (think it was under 40 minutes on a limited express train of some sort) so absolutely do’able as a day trip – possibly in conjunction with Kobe.Here is an amateur photo I took. The Cherry Blossoms honestly make a difference.
I don’t get why cherry blossom is such a big draw. The trees outside my window look just like that right now.
@Aston100 when was this taken?! Looks beautiful
@Aston100 when was this taken?! Looks beautiful
10th April.
We were so lucky with the Sakura in West Japan.
Had scenes similar to that at the Osaka Mint, Osaka Castle, Kyoto, Hiroshima, Miyajima Island etc
There were some still hanging around in parts of Tokyo e.g. the imperial palace and Gyoen Park last week.@Aston100 I have the same pic without the cherry blossoms and you are absolutely right in that it does make a big difference to the composition. The castle is definitely better on the outside than inside.
I don’t get why cherry blossom is such a big draw. The trees outside my window look just like that right now.
I think you should install a bouncy castle in your garden and charge an entry fee.
@TJ, I am inclined to agree, however I don’t feel that there will ever be a mad scramble at 1 am to get award flights to MAN to see our cherry blossom here 😂 🌺
I have to say that a trip up to Skye this weekend had a show of yellow gorse to rival any wimpy cherry blossom!
ps To keep “on thread”. I’ve booked the Spacia X train from Tokyo to Tobu Nikko, is it really the 5,880 JPY (ie £30) for the two of us one way in the fancy lounge/cafe carriage? It seems incredibly cheap!
”The castle is definitely better on the outside than inside.”
Are you thinking of Osaka Castle, which is a modern building made to look like an ancient castle?
Himeji Castle is one of the best preserved castles in Japan, and well worth visiting.
Maybe I should have posted it here originally… but I’ve written a trip report about my recent trip to Japan…
I don’t get why cherry blossom is such a big draw. The trees outside my window look just like that right now.
I felt the same… until I went to Japan and experienced the Sakura season myself. There are cherry trees everywhere, and when they blossom they bring a complete change of feeling to the place. Seeing Japanese people enjoy picnics beneath the trees in parks, looking across lakes towards Fuji with blossom all around – it’s hard to describe how it feels, but in my view it’s worthy of the hype!
For those recently back from Japan – did you have any issues topping up your Passmo/Icoca digital wallet using Barclaycard Avios Plus Card behind Curve? Worked fine in previous years but payments now getting blocked. Other yen payments going through fine. Thanks.
@Steven guessing Curve see this as a cash like transaction? Did you have “fronted” enabled? Are you on the free/basic plan?
I had a free trial for Curve Pro on my recent trip, but it would have been worth paying for, as I got 1% cash back, plus Avios on the underlying Barclaycard. Had planned to use Chase Debit, but it has lost its appeal. However, I’m an Android user with a physical Suica card, so can’t answer your specific question.
I still don’t get why the functionality afforded to iPhones isn’t replicated to Android.
Did feel a bit backwards (in an otherwise very advanced country) having to use cash to top-up a physical card.@Alex G, the issue seems to be with the underlying Barclays credit card as Curve works with other cards for the same transaction.
I have the paid Curve Pro version. Fronted is on. Worked last year no problem so seems like Barclays have marked this type of transaction as one they aren’t prepared to accept. As you say, maybe treating it as a cash advance.
Can withdraw the cash using the Curve and then redeposit it but bit of a faff.
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