4 minute read

Trip Itinerary

If you like to dive straight to my journey, you may check out this section. The rest of the pages will touch on how I make my research for the trip, preparations etc.

Preface

Having already visited Japan twice, I knew it was a place I would always want to revisit, especially with a solo trip in mind. However, the idea of travelling completely solo was a bit daunting, as it was something I had never done before.

Despite the nerves, I braced myself and bought the tickets back in January. This blog will serve as a mini-documentary of my journey, covering how I planned the trip, my experiences, and everything in between. I hope you enjoy following along! As always, feel free to reach out if you have any thoughts or questions. :)

Location Selection

I chose Niigata and Kanazawa because I had already been to Tokyo and Osaka twice, and I wanted to venture out into regional cities to explore a different side of Japan.

I had always heard that Niigata is famous for its exceptional rice and sake. Meanwhile, Kanazawa is renowned for its gold leaf production and rich artisanal culture, known for delicate crafts like gold leaf application and traditional porcelain colouring techniques. Plus, it offers a much more laid-back, relaxed pace compared to bustling hubs like Tokyo or Osaka.

Preparation & Planning for the trip

Apps

Obsidian

I used Obsidian to gather and organize all my trip notes, including budgeting, route planning, and boarding passes. It’s incredibly easy to drop PDFs and screenshots directly into a note and keep everything organized using clean heading structures.

Because the app uses standard Markdown, formatting my notes was a breeze. I also subscribed to Obsidian Sync, which allowed me to effortlessly retrieve and update my itinerary on my phone while I was out exploring.

Yahoo Transit

I use this tool to double-check routes alongside Google Maps. It makes it incredibly easy to look up alternative time slots and sort results by the fastest or cheapest options. This app literally saved me a few times on this trip, especially since train frequencies in some smaller towns can have gaps of an hour and a half to two hours.

I’m not entirely sure if an official English version is available, but I managed to navigate the website and app smoothly using my limited Japanese and Chinese.

NERV Disaster Prevention App / NHK World

A cheeky yet useful Evangelion themed NERV Disaster Prevention App for earthquake and bad weather alerts, and NHK World for general news in Japan like weather forecast.

Jsho / Google Translate

Jsho as dictionary to check on Japanese vocab meanings, and Google Translate to translate on phrases. Although I heard many people mentioned that the translation capabilities in ChatGPT is more capable. Regret that didn’t try on that more.

Websites

Google MyMaps

I absolutely swear by itinerary planning with Google My Maps. While it’s fairly bare-bones, it’s incredibly fun to pin locations and get a visual, birds-eye glance at all the spots I want to visit. I don’t believe in planning my days down to the minute; instead, I prefer to keep my itinerary open, pulling up the map on the go to choose restaurants, sightseeing spots, and activities depending on how I feel at that exact moment.

Kumamap

I used Kumamap from time to time to check the bear sighting, as I have seen bear attack news from time to time. Although I didn’t worry too much as I stayed in cities for most part of the times.

Japan Bus Online

Japan Bus Online is a great alternative for booking interstate travel at a lower cost than the Shinkansen. For instance, travelling from Niigata to Kanazawa by train requires a transfer, making the bus a simpler and cheaper option. It is also essential for reaching smaller towns, such as catching a bus from Kanazawa to Shirakawago.

My main gripe with the website is that you cannot book round-trip tickets in a single transaction. For my Shirakawago trip, I had to open two separate browser sessions simultaneously to check outbound and return availability at the same time. This proved to be quite challenging, as tickets sell out quickly for different time slots.

5489.com (Goyoyaku, JR WEST Online Train Reservation)

I had used 5489.com as Kanazawa > Osaka Shinkansen route is not available on the Smart EX App, and I would like to reserve this train ticket as it is very close to golden week holiday in Japan.

Visit Japan Web

To fill in for Japan Immigration usage.

Reddit, XHS

As a general research on places to go and things to eat. For things to eat, in hindsight I should try to use Tabelog, but didn’t really use it as don’t want to over-research on the itinerary.