Thank you VERY MUCH for taking time and explaining all this stuff to me.
I am just starting all my planning, so don't know much yet. But I started looking for information, found some videos on youtube (for example how to ride shinkansen
) etc.
In a way those videos make me a little afraid as I see how little of an info in English seem to be around Japan. But my daughter studies Japanese, so she would be able to figure out some things.
Also I am a planning type, so I am sure next spring I am going to be almost an expert
))
I don't like to travel fast, I rather try to sink the experience in. So I am not planning too much (hopefully). But I am starting to feel already that this would be a fabulous trip!
I get the planning type, I am one too. I keep checking various destinations to see when their hotel bookings will open up. (Kyoto has bookings open much much earlier than the rest of Japan aka 6 months or more out. Tokyo also has a lot of bookings open earlier. Outside of Kyoto and Tokyo it really varies. A lot of places are 5 months or less. )
Riding the shinkansen is actually really really easy. My first trip to Japan in 1999 there was a lot less English than now and my Japanese was non-existent. You do need to give yourself extra time at the station and just spend some time looking around. Most train stations in Japan have a lot of signs written out in English. All shinkansen signs will eventually give you a listing of stops in English. For smaller stations like Mishima or Odawara it is even more straightforward because there are more limited trains. I just wouldn't give yourself 3-5 minute transfers unless it is a very frequent train like the Yamanote line in Tokyo. Just always know where you are headed.
I actually found for luxury hotels, the TDR hotels had less English than their equivalent in Tokyo proper. Tokyo, Kawaguchiko, Hakone, and Kyoto (along with a lot of the Tokaido/Sanyo shinkansen line out to Hiroshima) have more English than many other parts of Japan. There are places where English is rarer. Generally, those involve infrequent buses/trains or needing a rental car to get to. Though a few harder to reach places have put out a lot more English lately to try to get in more tourists like the Kumano Kodo in Wakayama-ken/Mie-ken.
My favorite hotel in Tokyo proper is the Tokyo Station Hotel. If you can afford it, it's fantastic and the staff will meet your shinkansen/NEX and help you board your train on departure. I like paying for that luxury. They're also fluent in English and very helpful if you have any questions. But it is a luxury hotel and you are paying for it. Their breakfast buffet is also fabulous. I've stayed a few other places I've really liked in Tokyo as well. In general I don't like staying near Shinjuku, I don't like the station it can be a little confusing. I also am not into nightlife as a mother traveling alone with her elementary school child. (I am married, my husband just had no vacation time.
He has been to Japan 2x.)
The biggest problem with staying in a Machiya in Kyoto is you won't necessarily be able to take advantage of takyuubin. Takyuubin is a lovely paid service in Japan where you can send bags ahead of you to hotels so you don't need to travel on trains with bags. Finding room for a carry on size wheelie on a shinkansen or limited express train or highway bus is not a problem. Trying to carry anything larger than a purse on some local buses is a challenge. I like to shop in Japan, a lot. So I tend to bring a large suitcase to mostly fill up with purchases and will then pay to forward it on, while keeping a smaller overnight bag with me so I can mostly travel luggage free. Hotels will help you fill out the forms as will most ryokan. So as an example on my last trip in June 2017 I: Took my bags on a NEX to Tokyo Station and then traveled to the Keiyo line to go to TDR. I should have takyuubinned. The walk from Maihama to the Tokyo Disney Hotel is FAR easier than I expected. After 1.5 days in TDR I takyuubinned my bags to Kyoto and left for Kyoto myself. I arrived in Kyoto on Thursday and my bag on Friday. I stayed in Kyoto a few nights and then takyuubinned my bags from Kyoto to the Tokyo Station Hotel. I took an overnight bag and spent 1 night in Takayama and 1 night in Nagano before arriving in Tokyo to my waiting luggage. The staff at the hotel helped me board my NEX and I went home.
Buses in Kyoto can be very crowded and tight. I admit I try to avoid them and would never do them with bags. My current favorite place to stay in Kyoto is the Hana Touro. It's right in Gion and a short walk from the Keihan station, the subway, Yasaka/Gion jinja, and all rooms have private balconies. I found it rather by accident, though if I was a larger group I might rent their townhome and see if they would work with me for takyuubin. There are a few other really new properties that also look fabulous. Kyoto has really upped its game with accommodation options. I saw a lovely industrial looking place near Kiyomizu and a few other interesting places. BTW In June last year I got a special Anniversary Stitch at the Kyoto
Disney Store. My daughter adores him. The merchandise at Disney Stores in Japan is really different than the US sometimes and different from the parks as well.
I've not stayed there, but had Lalaca (
http://lalaca.com/english/ ) in Gora (a part of Hakone) recommended to me on Japan-Guide. As I mentioned to someone else on this board, if you can make it to Kawaguchiko for the Shibazakura Flower Festival, it sounds like it would be fabulous. I wish I could go!
I would spend some time reading through Japan-Guide, it's quite comprehensive and includes many locations and might help you sort through what you want to see and do. if you bus from Kawaguchiko to Mishima or catch the train in Odawara you might want to do the math to make sure a pass is worth it as one plus of Nozomi are they are faster and run more frequently. (Different types of shinkansen have different names generally based on how fast they are. On the Tokaido line you have the Nozomi, Hikari and Kodama, on the Sanyo which is the Tokaido line post Shin-Osaka, you still have Nozomi and Hikari as well as Sakura and Mizuho.)
Hope this helps!