A little history. I did Japan, those parts of it I had time for and could afford on a low budget for my six months in SE.Asia, in October 1974. Correct, fifty years ago. Half a century. Much of it ancient history, but I hope a few things will be relevant.
Anyway, in that time passed I expect a few things in Japan have changed.
In the 1970s Japan had a reputation as being hyper expesive for foreign tourists. I was travelling in SE Asia on a n amazingly tight budget, so I had to plan with utmost care.
I was in Malaysia, and at the last minute an affordable airfare came up, from a travel agent I was friendly with in Kuala Lumpur. On very short notice off I went to Tokyo for ten days of fast-track wandering around the country.
With only a little money and four months more in Asia to budget for, I had to maximise all my options. After much reading of brochures and intense conversations with Malaysian friends who'd been, I made careful plans for two days in Tokyo on arrival - my familiarisation time - and then on by train, in those days affordable, now not so cheap as then but likely faster.
Customs and immigration in Tokyo were painless. At the airport I handed the customs officer on duty my plastic bag of boxed 120 roll films and this gentleman, having expressed a positive comment about my Rolleiflex TLR, kindly handed me all my films, saying, "thank you sir, welcome to Japan." Now even in our digital age with a little planning and a good attitude, you analog photographers will breeze through without any films being heavily scrutinised.
Now I was in Tokyo. A casual talk with a Japanese businessman on my flight led me to a small but entirely adequate US$20 a night hotel in the city centre, sadly now demolished.
My itinerary was Days 1-2 Tokyo, Day 3 Tokyo - Nagoya (340 km) and overnight there, Day 4 Nagoya - Kyoto (135 km) for two nights, Day 6 Kyoto - Osaka (55 km) for one night, Day 7 Osaka - Kobe (100 km), my last onward stop. Then Day 8 for my return from Kobe to Tokyo with two more nights there to meet up with local friends I'd made, see the urban sights and fill myself to the ears with legendary fast food.
I planned an early departure from the Tokyo central rail station so as to see Mount Fuji along the way, sadly the day was overcast with heavy rain along the way - as my train raced past the Fuji view point I was keenly disappointed to see the entire landscape clouded over and a huge downpour wetting down everything.
Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe were pleasant enough but essentially nondescript. I now look at my Kodachrome slides and see little difference between the three cities. Now in our internet-everything age so much more information is available and my visits to these places would surely be vastly different.
Kyoto I fell in love with the minute I arrived at the rail station. A small taxi with a charming driver who spoke basic but entirely correct English took me (at his suggestion) to a small ryokan on a narrow side street a little out of the way but entirely walkable to all the glorious temples and parks. I was totally enchanted by everything I saw, and I walked miles and wore out my legs to take in as many of the temples as I could locate on my city map - there was at that time a kiosk for tourists at the station with one English-speaking staff person who loaded me up with good brochures on the city, admittedly most in Japanese but with detailed maps and the main street names in English. Which saved my skin.
Ultimately in Kobe, at the last minute and after my time of such intense cultural immersion in Kyoto, I decided to do an extra day-night stop there, and on Day 9 a fast rail trip to Tokyo. Which I did.
Looking back at my archived images now I see I used up about half my stock of 120 Ektachrome in those ten days in Japan. Fujicolor negative film was available in many local shops but Kodak films were expensive and beyond my already stretched budget. Alas, I did buy and use a lot of color negative film and all my negs have faded, altho' most can be saved with archival scanning.
My own impressions now. Fifty years is most of a lifetime and much in Japan has changed. I try to avoid sepia-tinted memories viewed with rosy-coloured spectacles, and write about 'now' things, with the help of my friends who've been to Japan recently.
Back then few Japanese spoke English. Now many do, mostly the young and of course students. Some will come to you to introduce themselves and have a pleasant chat about general things. Do indulge. Ten or twenty minutes of pleasant conversation will give you a chance to ask about local things of interest.
Japanese are polite but they can be exceedingly formal. In my time I had several odd experiences of asking people on the street for directions, only to have them look horrified and scuttle away at a rapid clip, like mice running across a floor. Now it seems this is no longer so. Being me, if I were lost or needing assistance anywhere in Japan I would now go to a police station or to any policeman on the street, and ask. There seems a Japanese code of behaviour to help someone who asks, and this is a good thing.
Accommodation can be found everywhere. Hotels are easily booked online. Ryokans, well - I stayed in only one, in Kyoto, a unique and unforgettable experience in late autumn with a garden of European trees fast changing colors to reds, yellows and golds. A ryokan I will happily and even eagerly do again if and when I return to Japan (a two week trip later his year is planned), but at what cost, I no longer know. Expensive, likely. And worth one or two nights. If food is included in the ryokan rate you will be well fed with sometimes even sake - usually heated to blood-warm temperature and a soothing drink on a cold night - included.
Lovers of Japanese food, even fast food, will be in Seventh Heaven. Even the supermarkets sell it, all freshly made and in seemingly endless varieties. In the GODs any leftover sashimi, sushi and even cooked packets were sold at half price in the late afternoons, but this may no longer be so. Small cafes and restaurants are good places to eat in more comfort, most post their dishes and prices in their windows. Check prices carefully and do your calculation. Friends who visited in 2023 said out of Tokyo many small eating-places still want payment in cash and not by card.
Most alcohol in Japan is expensive. A notable exception is sake, which not everyone has a fancy for. As a sake lover during all my evenings out of Tokyo I was never heavily drunk but I have to say I rarely drew a sober breath. Foreign tourists can take in three bottles duty free. Be careful to not exceed this limit, the over the limit tax is stiff.
Rail is the way to travel in Japan. In the '70s booking trains was more complicated and tedious, with visits to rail stations and standing in line in polite but long queues. Now rail tickets are easily booked online. back then I used off-peak rail discounts, but nobody I know confirmed if these are still offered. Maybe ask at a rail station out of Tokyo where usually the line-ups are shorter (I hope).
I would go in May or mid October - early November, to avoid the huge summer tourist crowds and (maybe) get the advantage of some discounted hotels and travel.
In the '70s and '80s I travelled with cash and AmEx TCs. Now it's a credit card, a debit card and for emergencies $500 in AUD $50s. I used money changers in Tokyo and Kyoto, but now I've no idea how these work or what they charge as commissions. Most tourists nowadays use debit cards and ATMs, but watch the fees. If someone reading this knows, please advise.
Security throughout the country is excellent. Most hotels rooms have lockable safe deposit boxes, large enough to hold cash, cameras and laptops.
So much for time past and what it was like. My recent information is from six friends who did Japan post-Covid, so it's surely quite accurate. I've tried to keep everything general, as others here have posted in detail far more (and better) than I ever could.
Cameras? In 1974, a Rolleiflex and 20 rolls of film. Now a Nikon DSLR or Fuji mirrorless and at most two or three lenses. Less gear is best. Film camera users need have no fear, there are ample film supplies in the cities at prices similar to Australia.
In my time there, Kyoto first and foremost and also Tokyo won my heart - the first for the incredible culture, the beautiful gardens and the memorable temples, the second for the sights, the food, the people, and the zip of urban life. I hope to return to Japan this year while I still can and renew if not relive my old adventures, with some nostalgia and with eyes open to see - and capture in pixels - all the beauty, the exotic, the unforgettable, the everyday of a cultured and most unique Asian country.
(Too lengthy as usual, apologies for that. not to be overlooked are the so many good online threads and the memorable books written about Japan, that say it all far better than I can.)
