3 guides
JR sells a seasonal ticket giving three consecutive days of unlimited travel on local and rapid trains for under ¥8,000 — no bullet trains, no reservations, and no requirement to be a tourist. Here is how it works, the Tokyo-to-Shizuoka route worth using it on, and where to stay beside each station.
6 picks · Updated 2026-09-01
Many Japanese hotels charge per person, not per room, and enforce strict occupancy limits — so a family of four can be quoted four times the price, or told they cannot book at all. Here is how room pricing works near Tokyo Disney, and the hotels that handle families properly.
6 picks · Updated 2026-08-29
It is possible to cross the 550km from Tokyo to Osaka on local trains alone, for a fraction of the shinkansen fare, in about ten hours and eight changes. Here is how the day actually goes, the two sections that break people, and the station hotels to stop at when you decide you have had enough.
6 picks · Updated 2026-09-06