We flew from the US with a direct flight to Tokyo Narita from IAD (Dulles) with United Airlines (it took approximately 15 hours). We then flew right away to Osaka (Itami airport, the small one of the two, and much more convenient to the city) with ANA. When you go to Japan from the US you basically skip a day but at least we managed to arrive early enough in the evening (of the next day!) to have a nice dinner in Osaka before collapsing in bed.
Tokyo has two major airports: the bigger Narita, which is also the furthest, and the more convenient Haneda. If you can chose, I would try to fly directly into the latter. On the way back we flew from Narita to Chicago and then Baltimore. We found our tickets on Google Flights ($1080 round trip).
For the trip to Amami Oshima we bought two separate one-way tickets. The first leg (Fukuoka-Amami) was with ANA, the second one (Amami-Nokyo Narita) was with Vanilla Air. Note that the two main domestic airlines JAL and ANA offer special fares to foreigners if you can prove that you are flying from outside Japan. With JAL it's called Japan Explorer Pass and with ANA is called Experience Japan Fare.
From and to Narita airport there is a very convenient and cheap bus (for 1000 yen, half of what the train costs) that leaves from Tokyo Station or Ginza and gets to the airport in less than 45 minutes.
The currency in Japan is yen, abbreviated in JP¥, and the conversion is roughly ¥1 =$0.01. So ¥100 is $1, ¥1,000 is $10, ¥10,000=$100. Which makes the conversion on the street pretty easy. One thing to keep in mind though is that Japan is much less common to pay with credit card (unless is a Suica or Pasmo card in Tokyo, for example) so it's very important to always have cash with you.
Usually people going to Japan choose the classic 10-day tour Tokyo-Kyoto-Nara-Osaka, with the option of adding either Shirakawa-go, Hiroshima or Nikko if you have time -and never expand it much more than that. Given that I personally think that 15 days is the bare minimum to explore a country that is so rich in culture and so full of wonders, but nonetheless that is so hospitable and easy to get adjusted to, I would recommend to visit also other areas other than Kānto and Kansai and possibly other islands too.
Japan is not "just the same" everywhere: every region, every town or village, park or small island has a little gem that deserves to be admired, whether it's a shrine, temple, garden or old historic house, or a small shop, a market or a bridge. They are all different and all dated from different times and eras and the influence that they could have had from other cultures (for example by the Chinese, or European ones in Kyushu) make them sometimes really unique. Often the true, authentic Japan experience is better enjoyed not only in the famous spots in the big cities but also in the corners of the country off the beaten path... so I really suggest to spend at least a couple of days outside the big cities, ideally in one of the many mishuku (small, family owned, bed and breakfast) that are everywhere, especially in the countryside. In the same way, nature from an area to the other can be very varied and diverse and there are many great parts of the coast, mountains or volcanoes and national parks that are usually very well organized and maintained. Japan is also extremely easy to travel by train, and once you get the discounted JR Pass you should really try to use it as much as possible (for the same price): it's really worth it!
These are the lesser known parts of Japan that in my opinion deserve a visit:
- Around Tokyo: Nikko, Hakone and Kamakura
- Himejii castle
- The art islands of Naoshima
- Hiroshima and Miyajima island
- Shikoku and Tokushima
- In Kyushu: Nagasaki and Unzen but also Kumamoto and Kagoshima
- In Onshu also the Kapanese Alps and Nagano, Kanazawa and the coast of Matsushima
- The sacred mountain of Koya and the Kii peninsula
- Okkaido
- The Ryuku islands (not only Okinawa and the ones around it) but also Amami and Yoron.
Choosing when to go to Japan is not secondary, because depending on the time of the year your trip may really be different. We went in June when it is not supposed too hot yet, but in the second part of our trip we caught the last tail of an unusually long rainy season (called tsu-yu in Japanese) which was really annoying in Tokyo -where we barely saw the sun in three weeks- but it also cooled off the temperatures that start to rise a lot around mid July. Surprisingly we had less heat in the South (Kyushu) than in Tokyo, but we were also in the middle of a typhoon in Amami (end of June) so if you want to see these islands I wouldn't recommend to go at the same time.
Getting a portable wi-fi pocket for internet while you travel in Japan is highly recommended, because free wi-fi is not always available in public places and it's really convenient to have a connection when you need to check the map at the last minute or a train schedule or an address that is NOT in Japanese.
We ordered our wi-fi pocket with Ivideo (one of the cheapest on the market) and we were very happy with it. You can pick it up in all major airports (they have two counters in Tokyo and Osaka) or they can deliver it at your hotel for the day when you arrive. When you're done with it, you can drop it off in a mailbox in a pre-paid envelope before heading to the airport.
These are other companies that offers similar packages.
- Google maps has so far the best deal for directions and timetables. It's amazing to see how precise it can be when you need schedules for example with multiple train or metro changes, most of the times precise at the minutes! They even tell you which part of the cart you should be exit or the platform on if you want to get faster to the next connection. That's what we used and it's hard to beat!
- Hyperdia is the Japanese equivalent of Google maps and recommended by many
- Google translate has for the same reason the best language tools to communicate live with Japanese: you just need to record what they're saying (or you want to say with them) in the original language and it automatically translates it for you.
This website includes some other app, depending on what you're searching for.
If you plan to travel outside Tokyo (but in some cases you may need it also for it) more than three days and to visit at least Kyoto and Nara, you can't miss to purchase a Japan Railway Pass, that allows you to travel on pretty much all trains (including most shinkansen) at a much cheaper cost than if you bought the single tickets. There is a national rail pass which is the one that usually most tourists get, but if you plan to visit only one region (for example Kyoto, Nara and Osaka) you can get the regional one at a cheaper price. The pass can be purchased for one week or two or more weeks and it really allows you to save tons of money (they basically created it to promote tourism in Japan).
There are many agencies that sells it in the US that have all pretty much the same price (children over 12 pay as adults), we used this one, which is one of the most popular. They have a very good customer service and they ship it, together with a guide on how to use it, by FedEx very quickly -so you don't need to book it advance (also because from the moment your purchase it it is valid only 3 months), but remember that you can purchase it only outside of Japan! It is also important to keep in mind that you have to activate the pass once you arrive in Japan, and at that time you chose when you want to pass to start.
Once you have the pass, you can travel on all trains that belong to the JR system (easily recognizable by the logo) and in general you don't need a reservation. It is recommended though that you book the seats in advance for shinkansens, especially on the busy routes. You have to go to the JR office (there is one in every big stations) and they will reserve the seats for you for free, it's really convenient and fast.
When you are at the station you simply have to show the pass to the controller at the gates that lead to the platforms, and you can board any train (except the Nozomi shinkansen). Usually in the big stations every shinkanen has its one platform, so one you know which train you have to jump on, once you looked at the timetable, it's very easy to find the platform number.
We rented a car in Japan three times during our trip and I was surprised by how easy it was. Most car rentals require an International driver license, which we did here in the US with AA where it was very simple and costed only $20. You obviously have to keep in mind that in Japan they drive on the left side of the road and on the right side of the car (like in the UK) but cars are generally much smaller and very easy to drive!
We rented the car in Amami and Nagasaki with RentalCars.com (and we chose Budget both times) and the one in Tokyo with a local agency that has locations everywhere. In all three cases they had cars with English Gps (very important unless you can connect to Google maps all the time) and they provided us with numbers to call in case we were lost and couldn't communicate in Japanese. Renting cars in Japan is very popular as most people use public transportation for the everyday commute!