Between 1999 and 2010 I went to Japan on average 2 or 3x a year. I've never lived in Japan, but I've been at least one day of every month and I have many friends who have either lived in Japan or still live there.
I've stayed overnight in: Aomori, Sendai, Towada City, an onsen near Towadako, Morioka, Sakata, Zao onsen, Tokyo, Hakone, Nagoya, Takayama, Kyoto, Osaka, Kainan, Tanabe, Koya-san, and Hiroshima and taken lots and lots of day trips.
Please feel free to answer any of the questions you feel like answering. I have a guide book and I'm researching other places as well. I'm just trying to figure out a basic itinerary, because there is so much information out there, and I don't have a cohesive idea of the order the trip should go in. So essentially, this is a fishing expedition. Also, I figure given this is Disney, there are likely to be fellow geeks here, so I was hoping for some pop culture ideas too.
I would highly recommend japan-guide.com People there go everywhere from the "typical" trip to Japan to some really out there places. They were terrific in helping me find buses between Tsuroka and Yamagata.
There are a lot of different types of pop culture in Japan. What sort of things are you specifically interested in. I keep wanting to go to the ninja village near Nagano, but we always run out of time. I've thought about the Iga-Ueno ninja village as well. I collect Asian fashion dolls, so I have made the pilgrimage to Licca Castle, have attended various doll events in Japan, have gone to Tenshi no Sato in Kyoto. I've also done some anime activities and attended a few events geared towards fans. I've been to the Toei movie park in Kyoto which has a very old time samurai movie flavor and we went to Osaka Universal last June. There are some great art museums. I wanted to go to the Open Air Museum in Hakone, but it was raining. The Miho Museum is supposed to be amazing, but I've never made it. Naoshima island is a huge modern art installation but again I've just not had time to make it there. Travel times in Japan can be longer than one would think because making train transfers can be harder than one would think. I wanted to visit the karst caves near Yamaguchi, but making the bus connections is just really hard!
I do know:
I don't want this to be just cities. I'd prefer an emphasis on traditional Japan rather than modern Japan, but I do like modern art and of course what to get a feel for the country as it is today. I like to shop and eat and hike. I really do need nature time.
There are great rural places you can get to. I really enjoyed Towadako, hiking Haguro-san, Hiraizumi, Hirosaki, and Takayama. I also loved all 3 of the big gardens of Japan, along with Ritsuin and Himeji's garden, I think it's Kokoin? Spectacular. Most places are a mix of old and new, very few places are just old unless they have very small populations. More rural places can be harder to get to. They also might be rural for a reason, aka barely accessible in Winter.
The Oirase stream hike is lovely, but can get crowded. I would love to someday climb all 3 Dewa Sanzan, I've only done Haguro. I've done the hiking trail down Misen in Miyajima. I've heard the Kumano hiking trail is superb from my friends. I am not a hardcore hiker though.
I probably have about a month.
Next you need to think about a budget. Some places are more expensive than others and particularly depending on what you want in accommodations. When I was younger, I was more willing to stay in tiny rooms with shared facilities, then I graduated to business hotels, and now I like a few luxury hotels.
One of my chief questions is about the time of year. I would like to experience one of the festivals but I don't know which one. Does it cool down at night, or is it more like Florida? What's the rain like? Drizzle or deluge?
In January, unless you are in Kyushu (probably)/Okinawa it's cold. Tokyo and Osaka are cold. They range from sort of cold to temperatures around freezing cold. Some places are well heated and some are not. Tokyo has been known to get a dusting of snow, same with Kyoto. Tohoku and Hokkaido are SUPER cold and snowy and lots of roads are closed.
In February, again it can be pretty damn cold. Sometimes it can get into the 40s and towards the ends of the month the 50's in the sun, but it can still be cold. At the end of February to early March the ume start to bloom. It's the start of hanami and the best ume viewing is Mito.
In March, it's generally quite pleasant. I feel like 50's and 60's. You get ume, momo and at the end of March sometimes sakura depending on location and elevation. Again, in Tohoku and Hokkaido this is still snow season and lots of roads are closed and you can ski. You can get rain but not torrential.
In April, sakura is blooming somewhere in Japan pretty much everyday. You can go chasing it, places in Tohoku will get their sakura at the end of the month during Golden Week, one of the big vacation times in Japan. However, higher elevations in Tohoku CAN get snow in April. I got caught in a blizzard near Towadako around April 25 in '09. You can get rain, but usually not torrential.
In May, I think the temperatures are also great and there are more flowers to view. I'd say 60's and 70's. You can get rain, but usually not torrential.
In June, you get the rainy seasons. If a typhoon comes through, yes you can get buckets like in FL. It happened to me, luckily we were doing karaoke that day. June can be really hot or cooler because of clouds and rain. It's a great time to see hydrangea. Temperatures don't vary much in lower areas.
In July, it can be hot, as in very hot, but the hot weather means snow has melted off most mountains and you can climb them. Fuji-san climbing season starts and lots of hiking areas are open to the public and super popular. It can also be rainy. The a/c is not like in FL or Houston, where you need to wear a jacket, no place I've been has been over air conditioned. And yeap more rain. It does not cool off at night in lower areas.
In August, it can be hot, like very hot. Not as bad as Orlando in August, but as bad as NYC. It's a popular hiking time. See July.
In September, it can start hot, like August but then cool down as the month ends.
In October, I think the weather is great. October tends to be dry and back to 50's and 60's. The snow hasn't come in too much and lot of things are still open. Plus it's the start of momiji season.
In November, it's like October and another favorite time to visit. It's usually dry in October and November. Momiji is in full swing.
In December, it starts not so bad but can get cold. I've had a dusting of snow in Kyoto at the end of December. I didn't enjoy being in Japan for New Years. Everything except a few areas near Harajuku in Tokyo closed down.. for several days. So no mail, lots of closed restaurants, lots of closed shops... I didn't think it was a lot of fun. I wouldn't do it again unless I was staying somewhere I could cook for myself.
If I remember correctly, there are festivals Spring-Fall, you just have to pick a festival and try to attend it. The biggest festivals, things like Takayama and Neputa in Aomori and some of the Kyoto ones can be insanely crowded. Hotels will book up. Someone on Japan-Guide last year was trying to find anything in Aomori for Neputa. Fukuoka also has a pretty awesome festival, I've seen the floats from it.
I've read that it's a cash economy and that many atms don't take US cards, so I'm a bit worried about that.
Credit cards are being used so much more now! You can finally use them for charging tiny amounts at convenience stores. They also now take Discover. ATMs can be weird about foreign cards, some have limits. In general, the ATMs at Post Offices tend to like foreign cards. I remember a touristy area of Kyoto had a machine that specifically took foreign cards. Cash is important depending on where you are shopping or eating. It is much harder to find ATMs if you are further out in the countryside.
Any ideas for a ryokan stay? Or other unique lodging? My budget is flexible but mostly plan to stay in hostels.
The best ryokans unless they are in a weird location cost a lot of money. I'm a picky eater, so a lot of ryokans are not for me. I have stayed in a disappointing one in Koya-san. The room itself was huge, but smelled like mothballs and the bath was nothing to write home about. The best ryokan I ever stayed in wasn't ridiculously expensive, it was in Oyu onsen I think, outside of Towadako, but I have no idea how you'd reach it without a car. I stayed in a not super fancy ryokan in Zao. I picked it for the baths. I've also stayed in a lower end ryokan in Hakone. If you have tattoos, you will not be able to enjoy the public baths unless they specifically allow tattoos. It can be hard to find a place that does. I don't have one, and my love of Japanese baths is going to keep me from ever getting one. Hakone is one of the best places to try a ryokan because there are a lot and they are all used to having foreigners. Hakone looks relatively traditional. I've always wanted to do a few of the hikes there. Japan-Guide mentions a ryokan owned by a foreigner between Nagano and Karuizawa in a small more traditional town.
Is the Hilton, as well as the parks in general, like the us parks in terms of pricing and crowds? That is, would it be better to go on a weekday, or would it not make a difference? What about fireworks and shows? (Florida does shows every night, CA only does some on weekends).
The parks are crazy crowded on week ends and holidays. I personally, think Tokyo Disney is a great value (as is Osaka Universal) compared to the US parks. Children's park tickets are significantly lower priced than the same ticket would be in the USA.
I would specifically love recommendations for museums. I know I'm going to the National Museum and Ghibli. But I'm lookin for any terrific museums to go to- I'm a museum nerd.
If you go to Osaka, the Osaka Museum of History is amazing and really well done. I admit, I am a big garden person, so I've done more of those.
I guess what I'm chiefly wondering is this: is it more like California in which I can show up and wing it, or does it involve ADRs and advance planning like Florida?
I've only done Tokyo Sea before, but from my limited experience I would say it's a combo of both? They've recently changed ADR policy, but it's still not crazy like WDW with the 6 month booking window. But it does take some advance planning just because it's very crowded. Part of it is just, well people in Japan love Disney and it is close to a city of 13-37 million depending on what you count as city borders. On the bright side, I went to Osaka Universal last year in June. I did pay extra ~4500 yen, for 4 Fps for specific rides. (They don't have a FP system otherwise) With two ~4500 yen cut to the front of the line passes for 4 rides each and tickets, the cost was about the same as 1 adult+ 1 child regular admission to Universal FL. I'd heard from two friends who had been before about insane lines and crowds, but we didn't have a problem thanks to going when the park opened and using our passes. I would go back, but my daughter was scared of most of the rides there lol I'd love to go Nagashima Spa Land but it is closed when I am near Nagoya this year. ~.~
I think CA might not have fireworks every night because they are in a fire prone area and until recently were in severe drought. Last year was particularly wet, at least in Kansai. I've never seen the Katsuragawa so high!