Japan is one of the countries, where many things need to be prebooked before travel, if you don’t want to miss out. This includes sights, trains, cafes, restaurants and more. If you are overwhelmed and have no idea what to book in advance for your trip to Japan, I have made a thorough list for you.
Definitely note, if you are planning a last-minute trip and can’t manage to prebook everything, you will have plenty of things to do still, so don’t consider this, as something that will ruin your trip. You may just not manage to visit some of the extremely popular spots, but that’s perfectly fine, as Japan has so much to offer, you wouldn’t be able to exhaust everything in a lifetime.
You should particularly consider pre-booking, when planning a trip during the high season. Well, honestly, nowadays anything is high season in Japan, but there certainly are times, when most tourists flock to the country – this includes most of spring through Sakura season in March-April, May’s Golden week and festivals, throughout Autumn you find very busy periods too, particularly the Momiji season mainly in October-November. Then you have summer festivals, silver week, New year season and what not. So practically low season is difficult to find. That said outside the Sakura season, Momiji season and golden week you can probably be more relaxed with your advance bookings.
Transportation Tickets you Need to Book in Advance
Train Tickets
If you are taking the local slow trains, you hardly ever need to reserve anything. However, with Shinkansen whether you need to reserve train tickets or not depends on the season you are travelling in and on how popular the route is. Most of the time you may be able to just show up and get the ticket on the spot, but there are times, when tickets for the times you want may be sold out or you may have to stand in an unreserved carriage. So, if you are travelling during particular peak times, consider prebooking your seats.
When it comes to the sightseeing trains, such as Sagano Scenic Railway, will definitely need to be booked in advance. I have a list of these sightseeing trains in a separate article.
Here is a detailed article about the trains in Japan, the booking system and all details you need to know.
Bus tickets
Most bus tickets, like in case of trains, don’t need to be booked in advance. However, if you are travelling in the popular period, you need to have a look in advance. Examples include a day trip to Shirakawago from Kanazawa or Takayama. Bus tickets to Shirakawago in the morning hours, when you would want to leave for your day trip, might be sold out, unless you book in advance. Given that there is no other form of transport in that area, this definitely is important. We didn’t encounter such need for bus ticket reservation elsewhere on our two trips, but if you are visiting any remote areas with no train links, you might consider to check the bus tickets in advance.
Accommodation
Absolutely prebook accommodation, if you are on a budget and visiting Japan not only during a busy season. You definitely can find last minute hotels, but chances are very high that you will be paying a lot for far worse options. This is especially important in Kyoto, where prices tripled closer to my trip compared to what I booked for. I personally booked accommodation about 5 months in advance, and changed a few of them, when I changed my itinerary a bit and found some good deals in other cities about 2 months before my trip, but never in Kyoto. Definitely book that city very early in advance. Later than this prices just kept going higher everywhere.
Here is the accommodation guide for Japan
Also find a detailed article about the Japanese business hotels, which I consider the best option for budget to mid-range travelers to Japan.
Attractions around Japan you Need to Book in Advance
Depending on what type of attractions you want to see in Japan, you may or may not need to prebook. Most temples and shrines (with few exceptions in Kyoto), museums and most viewpoints can be accessed without any advance reservation. However, there are a number of popular spots you need to prebook. Some of them, like Ghibli museum don’t have access without advance reservations at all.
Here is the examples of the attractions you will most probably need to book in advance. Of course, this is not the exhaustive list, but it includes most of the very popular attractions. Otherwise, with less popular ones, you will probably be fine getting tickets on the spot/on the day.
What to Book in Advance in Tokyo
Shibuya Sky
Given that this viewpoint became very popular in the last few years (thanks to social media, of course), tickets for popular times especially before sunset are frequently fully sold out. You may be lucky and still find some tickets on the day you are visiting, but the chances are pretty low if you are traveling during the high season. So do book a couple of weeks in advance. That said, if your main aim is seeing the sky deck – open top area (which is the one worth seeing), it usually closes, if the weather is bad. So if you prebook your tickets, you are taking a chance that you may only be able to visit the windowed area below the sky deck. I personally didn’t want to take the chances and pay without being sure I would see what I want. So we just skipped this entirely. If you do decide to book them online, you can do so on their official website. Alternatively, I used Klook very efficiently for a number of similar attractions.
Ghibli Museum
Booking this museum is an absolute hassle. The bookings open on the 10th of every month at 10am for next month tickets. If you are in Japan already that much in advance, you should be able to get physical tickets at Lawsons or other convenience stores. But this needs to be done in person.
Otherwise, you will need to buy a ticket online. There are separate online booking options for those in Japan and international visitors. You can’t use the Japanese version, unless you have a local bank card and phone number. The international option of the website is a nightmare.
I was online and entered the website from three different devices immediately at and slightly after 10am Japanese time. I was about 7000th in the queue (don’t remember exact numbers). After about 2.5 hours (again don’t remember exactly, but it was crazy long), I finally managed to get to the screen, which told me that all tickets on the dates I wanted were sold out. There still were a couple of tickets on several dates left though, so some people would have been lucky. In the past people were able to pay someone in Japan (through Fiverr) to have their tickets bought for a certain fee. However, now that is became even more complicated, as the ticket reservations require a phone number.
Teamlabs Tokyo
There are currently two Teamlab exhibitions active in Tokyo – Teanlab Planets (open at least till 2027) and Teamlab Borderless (just reopened in February 2024). They don’t require reservations, as such, but they often sell out. So consult the respective websites linked above to get tickets for your desired time. There are other Teamlab exhibitions in Osaka and Fukuoka, as well as the pop-up versions, such as in Kanazawa in autumn 2023, however, those aren’t as extremely popular and there’s less chance they will be sold out.
Note: Teamlab Planets requires you to take off your shoes and socks. People have said it does smell of feet during the second half of the day due to this. I myself skipped it mainly because of this. I will definitely visit the Borderless though, as soon as I get a chance.
Tokyo Disney resort, including Disneyland and DisneySea
Reservations are required except for the Disney hotel guests. They aren’t as difficult to buy though, as the tickets for previous attractions listed here. Here is the website you can consult for relevant reservations.
Warner Bros – The making of Harry Potter
You can’s get tickets for this at the door. You will need to reserve in advance online. You can purchase your tickets on their official website or the third-party sites.
What to Book in Advance in Osaka
Universal Studios
This one doesn’t require advance reservations, however tickets often sell out, so it’s recommended to pre-book on their official website or on Klook, especially during the high seasons.
What to Book in Advance in Nagoya
Ghibli Park
These tickets so far are not as difficult to get, as those of the museum, but you still have to make sure to buy when the reservations open. The tickets go on sale about 2 months in advance on 10th of every month at 2pm Japan time. Make sure to check on their website exactly when the tickets you want will be available.
What to Book in Advance in Kyoto
Saihoji (Kokedera)
This temple has an advance reservation system. You can’t visit without a reservation either online or by mail. As an international visitor clearly doing it by mail is complicated, so look on their official website for reservations. This temple is quite popular, despite its high price, plus they limit number of visitors, therefore, in high season a couple of weeks advance reservation in recommended. At the time of writing though, in May, you can get a reservation a couple of days in advance.
Katsura Imperial Villa
While this site is not one of the most popular ones and most people visiting Kyoto for a few days skip this, it’s especially popular during the spring or autumn. Exploring this villa is not allowed without joining a tour, so the tickets are limited. You will need to book tickets in advance via the Imperial Agency official website – the site is not very easy to navigate, so I provided exact link, where you would need to book from. It’s best to book at least a couple of weeks in advance, otherwise, you will probably not manage to get tickets.
Alternatively, you can also book the tickets on the day, but you will need to show up at 8.40am with your ID and hope that you will get a reservation for later in the day.
Shugakuin Imperial Villa
While tickets for this villa are not as difficult to get a hold of, as in case of Katsura, I still advice to book it at least a week in advance. It’s also available at the Imperial Agency Official website.
Note: there are also a few temples in Kyoto, which need reservations during some of the season. One example is Enkoji, which normally can be visited easily, but you will need to reserve for the Momiji season.
Shows and Performances you Need to Book in Advance
Of course, as everywhere popular shows sell out early. In addition to any music shows and concerts, you will need to reserve theatre tickets, for example Kabuki theatre, any geisha/maiko shows, as well as tea ceremonies.
Cafes and Restaurants you Need to Book in Advance
Many popular cafes and restaurants are fully booked in advance (it can often be a month or months in advance even). Others have queues outside, where you may have to wait half an hour, an hour, or who knows how long 😊 So before going, do check if the café or restaurant you want to visit requires reservation.
That said, don’t feel the urge to book unless you really want to visit a specific café or restaurant. It’s not like these are amazing attractions, like Kyomizu-dera, which you absolutely can’t miss. Granted, some cafes and restaurants are unique and awesome, but don’t feel disappointed, if you don’t get a reservation. You inevitably will find many other places, where you can get in with a short queue. We hated losing time in queues, so usually left when we saw one. We only queued a couple of times, and that really wasn’t fun.
I personally only booked one café a couple of days before our visit. Other than that, I didn’t want to have specific timed reservations, as it’s very difficult to be sure you will be at that spot at the time.
Do check out my Guide to Japanese food culture
Also see my Guide to Japanese café culture
Of course, here I just give examples – it would be impossible to put together all the hundreds of cafes and restaurants that need reservation, however, here is the list of a few very popular spots you will need to pre-book:
Pokemon cafes in Tokyo and Osaka
Reservation at both branches of Pokemon cafes – in Tokyo and Osaka – are difficult to make. The reservations open 31 days before the desired date at 10am. So if you have several days to work with, you have more chance to grab the reservation on their website. I decided it wasn’t worth the hassle, so I can’t report on the process from my own experience. But from what I see on different forums, it’s pretty hard to get this reservation.
Kirby Café in Tokyo or Fukuoka
If you like character cafes, you have probably heard about this one and it’s notorious reservation policy, which is no less than that of the Pokemon café. I honestly didn’t want to reserve weeks in advance, while I was not as interested. So we did skip this. But if you do want to visit, you have to book it on the 10th of each month for the next month. Here is the relevant website. I have also seen the information in various travel groups that some people managed to get a last minute reservation by showing up early in the morning before the opening time, but as I understand you have to be very lucky to find a spot this way.
Final Fantasy Café in Tokyo
If you are a fan of the game and absolutely would love to visit this café in Akihabara, advance reservations are required. However, as I understand you can easily book for the next day.
Kichi Kichi Omurice in Kyoto
One of the most famous restaurants. I guess if you have Instagram or TikTok, you absolutely must have seen the presentation of this egg-based dish. As a result, this restaurant is very hard to visit. You absolutely must make a reservation and I personally can’t figure out their website, it’s a mass.
There are just a few examples of cafes and restaurants you would need to book in advance, but there are certainly hundreds of them. My suggestion would be not to stress about them, if you can’t get a reservation. This is especially true, if you have a short time in Japan. You will love less crowded locations as well, trust me.
Hello I am Ket.