After this possibly being cancelled, I have taken up planning again. So, some Q's for the Japan experts out there (say,
@Seat0B ,
@rbjhan @drron - sure there are others! ). I've been to Japan a number of times, but only staying in Tokyo, and mainly on business!!
* If a hotel (western chain) specifies rooms as 'non smoking', 'smoking' and (doesn't specify either way), could the non-specified room be smoking?
If its unspecified it generally refers to non-smoking now, however I find for the most part they will specify one way or the other (more so for the smokers I think). Do note that there may be some hotels that converted their old smoking rooms to non-smoking and no matter how much deep cleaning there may still be some lingering reisidual smell years after.
* Is there a handy web site that deciphers Japanese hotel booking language/options ?
Are you trying to book through JP sites? Personally I find the western aggregates to be just as good unless you're booking very specific hot springs, ryokans which do not list (or greatly limit) their rooms. Often it's actually a fair bit cheaper than the rates advertised on JP sites or the hotel themselves. Your usual suspects of booking, agoda, expedia are the goto.
If you need to find specific Japanese places that are unlisted ,they're likely just off their own page and often has an "english" page or googleTL the page.
* What is the 'Toyota' rental car option?
Car rental run by Toyota company. More or less similar to any other car rental. You also get a gaijin sticker slapped on your car to warn other Japanese drivers to beware of you
There are other rental companies but this is one of the biggest ones I believe.
* I plan to use shinkansen Nagoya-Osaka (nazomi or kodoma) , Osaka-Himeji-Osaka (nazomi) and some local trains around Osaka for 2 days. Is there any 'card' that will be worthwhile? Unlikely to go back to Japan in the near future.
Personally, right now the JR passes are harder to make work. Buying individual tickets may work out cheaper - you can also now reserve these online and exchange it at a machine or counter.
I'd use a calculator to check if you're cost is going to be within range of a pass or not.
My gut says it's not cheaper to get a JR pass over just buying the tickets.
JR Fare Calculator - See how much you save with the Japan Rail Pass
As for IC cards, Suica at Tokyo is a bit tight, but they're still available at Haneda / Narita and some of the major Train stations. I'd say these are still well worth their value. You just tap on and tap off without thinking about how to calculate the train fares. Given all manners of shops accept suica as well as payment, any excess money on the card can just be used as cash (even at the airport). I'd try to get Suica or Passmo instead of the cards in other cities (Manaca in Nagoya, Icoca in Osaka), Suica and Passmo as I understand it is the only transport card that is universally accepted in Japan, some of the others still aren't properly integrated in outer cities.
