General Tools
Hyperdia – your one-stop-shop for planning transport across Japan. Planes, trains (Shinkansen and local), buses, trams, they’re all there and they are all accurate! We would have been lost without it.
For those with an Android device, there is also Hyperdia Lite, which is a free stripped down version of the Hyperdia website, but gives you the most important bits for when you’re on the move.
I noticed there is also an iPad app called Hyperdia by Voice available for a free trial, but it will then cost you for either a 1-month or 12-month English language licence. I didn’t use this app so unfortunately I can’t comment on its worth.
Japan Guide – the most awesome website that we came across for exploring the various regions, cities and attractions of Japan. There is also a forum where numerous answers are provided to the various questions posed by fellow travellers.
Trip Advisor – normally our ‘go to’ website for holiday planning. However, for Japan we found the Japan Guide website to be more useful, predominantly due to the website being written in English, whereas most Trip Advisor reviews are in Japanese.
Japanese Guest Houses – we didn’t use this group, but if you are nervous about booking your own accommodation then these guys are very helpful in sorting it all out for you at no cost. However, we did find that the room rates they offered were a little higher than what we were able to source online ourselves.
Northern Road Navi – written specifically for driving a car in Hokkaido, there is still a lot of information in here regarding road travel that is equally applicable to the other regions of Japan.
ToCoo! – a great website for finding the best deal on car rental in Japan.
Tokyo
The Keisei rail website, with instructions on where to buy tickets, ticket prices, and a railway network map.
Some discussion regarding the rail transit from Narita to Asakusa Station.
Mt Fuji
Hiking options around the base of Mt Fuji.
Nikko / Yumoto Onsen
The Japan National Tourism Organisation has a very useful pamphlet outlining the various transport options in the Nikko region, including ticket types, prices, bus stop information and travel time between stops.
Asahikawa / Sounkyo
The Dohoku bus company have a pamphlet outlining the prices and schedules of their buses between Asahikawa, Kamikawa and Sounkyo.
Yakushima
The YakuMonkey website gives you fantastic information about everything you could ever want to know about Yakushima Island. Information regarding access to Yakushima Island from Kagoshima and other cities in Japan can be found on this page. The curator of the website also has a book that you can buy. While not essential, it provides more information than is provided on the website and was extremely handy during our time on the island, particularly for hiking.
Access and other information regarding Yakusugiland and Shiratani-Unsuikyo.
Ishigaki
The Ishigaki-Japan website gives you everything you need to know about Ishigaki Island, including transport options, beaches, tours and sightseeing opportunities. Thoroughly recommended!
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