Trip to Japan

[SilverTorch]

First of all I would like to thank (again) all of those who posted advice for my trip to Arizona.

Now for something outside the country, like Japan.

3 of my friends and I are planning a trip to Japan, we are flying out on March 16 of this year and flying back on the 27th. All we have done so far is plan out what cities to visit. We are going to start in Kyoto, spend about 3-4 days there and the go to Tokyo for the rest of the time. I think we planned on visiting Yokohama, but not stay there. We are going to purchase rail cards and besides our own feet we plan on taking the rail to go any where.

With that out of the way we need advice as I said, on places to visit in the cities we plan on going to. What kinda night life we should look for ... or stay away from Good places to eat or again to stay away from. Things to bring and not to forget on the trip, things of that nature.

Any advice that you can give us would be great.

Thanks.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

JR rail pass. Get one from a japanese travel agency. It pays for itself after like 3-4 bullet train rides. Actually I'm not sure if it'll be worth it for a 10 day trip. It was definitely worth it when I was there for an extended period of time.

 

[Aikouka]

As much as it sounds like a good idea when you're drunk off sake, don't hit on the school girls .

Although you may as well visit Shinjuku and bring me back some goodies .

Here's a little guide thing I found on Google that you might like!

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html

 

[SilverTorch]

Originally posted by: makoto00
JR rail pass. Get one from a japanese travel agency. It pays for itself after like 3-4 bullet train rides. Actually I'm not sure if it'll be worth it for a 10 day trip. It was definitely worth it when I was there for an extended period of time.

Yea, we went a travel agency and they have a 14 day rail pass, so we are going with that.

 

[ZetaEpyon]

You should know that all the subways in Tokyo are non-JR, so you won't be able to use your pass for those. I think you can still take the JR Yamanote Line around the city, but it won't be quite as convenient as the subways.

 

[Rumpltzer]

Originally posted by: SilverTorch

Originally posted by: makoto00
JR rail pass. Get one from a japanese travel agency. It pays for itself after like 3-4 bullet train rides. Actually I'm not sure if it'll be worth it for a 10 day trip. It was definitely worth it when I was there for an extended period of time.

Yea, we went a travel agency and they have a 14 day rail pass, so we are going with that.

Yeah, that rail pass deal was great. It was odd that I had to buy it from outside of Japan and then pick it up there... I didn't understand that.

Have fun!

 

[KarmaPolice]

I just spend a semester in tokyo so i should be of some help...pm me if u have mor questions..

From my experience I feel that 3-4 days in kyoto is too long. I went there basically on a one night, one full day, and then left in the morning. Its really just a lot of temples and such...gets boring after a while but its deff somewhere ushould go. Make sure to go to naga(i think thats the name) its a huge park a bit outsdie of kyoto...there is a cheap train there. Deer running around and the biggest wooden structure in the world. While your down there and have the money you can go see hiroshima or kobe to eat some good kobe beef.

It might be hard to organize but I would recommend going to Hakone for atleast a night. Its a buetiful place and its where the onsen(hot springs are) one of the best trips I ever went on...was just amazing. If you are scared of getting naked dont be..its so relaxing in there.

Tokyo...ah i miss tokyo such an awesome city. Where are you staying? There is a cheap hotel righ tin roppongi for like 100 bucks a night, thats not bad. There are also youth hostels in asakusa for 13bucks a night, but obviously those are two diffrent settings.

Night Life:
Roppongi is the foreigner party location and its pretty dirty and overrated. That being said there is a lot of fun to be had there. My favorite club is there. Its called Vanilla, if you go to the famous almond corner infront of the phone store you can figure out how to get there. Its free on the weekends if u get in before 11 and only 10 bucks plus two free drinks for foreigners and girls. Three rooms, one electornic, one rap, and one mix. Great times...The japanese girls there expect to see you there so they are all very friendly.

There are a ton of clubs there..basically every other place is one. I would stay away from Gas Panic tho, its a ****** hole. There are also a few all you can drink ones as well.

Shibuya: THe best part of Tokyo in my opinion..its just a really fun place. You can hang out there all night looking at strange people, eating good food, and going to clubs/kareoke. The clubs in Shibuya are a little dffirnet. There is Club Asia, Ruby Room, Atom, and a few tohers. Unlike Roppongi they dont really expect you to be there. I feel the crowd is A LOT less friendly and almost all asian. Atom does have the best electronic music in Tokyo in my opinion tho.

The Biggest club in asia(supposedly) is a bus ride from Shibuya. Its 4000 yen to get in and you should dress up but its really nice..swimming pool and all. Its all algeha i believe.

Kareoke is a great time..u should do it once. I recommend maybe going to kareoke and then hitting up a club..its a good mix of fun. You can also do an ALL NIGHT kareoke thing wher eyou can drink all night for one price. Usually its like 1500-3000 yen for the WHOLE NIGHT OF DRINKING.

There are a lot of all you can eat and drink places. They are hard to set up cause u usually have to reserve but if you can manange i would recommend it. There is an all u can eat shabu shabu in shibuya and a few diffrent ones in Rippongi.

Places to see in Tokyo:
Tokyo Tower
Imperial palace
If you like Anime go see the ghibli musuem.
Asakusa Temple...good place for shopping as well
Shibuya Obviously
Ginza(its a lot of shopping and very close to Asakusa)
Akihabura for all your geeky and porn needs.
Shinjiku just to see the busiest train station in the world.
Ayoyama Cemetery. Your in luck cherry blossums usually bloom the 21st of march. Its buetiful...

I gotta go but i'll thik of more.

 

[SilverTorch]

Originally posted by: ZetaEpyon
You should know that all the subways in Tokyo are non-JR, so you won't be able to use your pass for those. I think you can still take the JR Yamanote Line around the city, but it won't be quite as convenient as the subways.

Thats good to know.

 

[SilverTorch]

Wow thanks KarmaPolice, thats a ton of info.

We are staying at the Century Hyatt in Tokyo, I was able to find $135 a night vouchers

Once we digest all of this info and come up with questions, I will definatly PM you.

Thanks again.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Originally posted by: SilverTorch
Wow thanks KarmaPolice, thats a ton of info.

We are staying at the Century Hyatt in Tokyo, I was able to find $135 a night vouchers

Once we digest all of this info and come up with questions, I will definatly PM you.

Thanks again.

np sorry that its full of spelling and grammer mistakes and its all kinda gumbled together. I type like i talk sometimes and it comes out badly. Also..i Should be writting a paper.

 

[KarmaPolice]

oh yeah..deff go to skiji...my recommendation is go to a club all night and then go in the morning first train(5am)

 

[Darthvoy]

all I know is that they don't let Americans into some, if not all, the strip clubs

 

[uhohs]

you're gonna go to a soapland. admit it. :Q

 

[KarmaPolice]

Originally posted by: Darthvoy
all I know is that they don't let Americans into some, if not all, the strip clubs

I dont know about that but Ive heard the same thing. One of the guys going to my school owned three clubs in tokyo. One night he took us out. First to his salsa club..free drinks..and salsa! I got toasted..he kept on sending me tequila! Then he took us to a dark kinda gangsta club(as gangsta as it can be in Japan) drank more tequila and beer. Way too much. Last stop was a surprise. He owned a strip club! Again free drinks!

Needless to say it was a good time lol.

 

[SilverTorch]

Originally posted by: uhohs
you're gonna go to a soapland. admit it. :Q

Ummmmm
Google.com -> soapland
:shocked:
......
Maybe

 

[mrzed]

Yokohama is a short train ride from downtown Tokyo, it's basically part of the same giant city. Very easy to get around using the trains and subways though.

Check out the fish market early in the day

If you are a true nerd, you can easily spend a bunch of time wandering around Akihabara. Nothing like it anywhere else

I would check out a traditional Onsen (bath house), just learn a little about it before, and be prepared because the Japanese men will not beleive that you washed properly before entering, so some will move when you get in a pool. Also, if you have ANY tattoos, most onsen are out of bounds (keeps the yakuza out).

If you can, perhaps stay at a traditional Japanese inn (Ryokan) - somewhere in the mountains would be nice.

You may not plan to ogle the schoolgirls on the train, but you will. Trust me.

 

[absolu7]

vlad check pm.

 

[uhohs]

go to maid cafes

 

[absolu7]

buy used panties in vending machines

 

[ZetaEpyon]

KarmaPolice has a lot of good advice.

With Kyoto, unless you are really into temples and shrines and the like, 3-4 days may indeed be too much. I was there for two full days basically, and was able to visit about a dozen of them, along with the Kyoto Botanical Gardens, which was very nice. In particular, I highly recommend Kiyomizu-dera, Ginkaku-ji, and Kinkaku-ji. I'm not sure what the JR Pass situation is with the subway in Kyoto, but they also have a bus line that goes between the main tourist sites, and is very affordable. I think it was only 110 yen per trip or something like that. I'm sure you can get a map at your hotel or at Kyoto Station.

One option might be taking a day trip to Himeji Castle. I wasn't able to make it there due to time considerations, but you might fare better. Additionally, you should be able to use your JR Pass to get there, making it more worthwhile. Like KarmaPolice mentioned, another day trip could be to Nara, which is supposed to be fantastic.

There's also plenty of things to do in Tokyo, obviously. I'm not really into the club scene much, so I didn't do much of that, myself.

Definitely try to visit Tsukiji one morning and get some fresh sushi at one of the nearby shops. The temple and shopping arcade in Asakusa is pretty nice; I picked up a lot of neat souvenirs for family and friends there. The Imperial Palace gardens are pretty nice, though there could be a lot of people there if you do end up hitting the timing for hanabi.

There are plenty of places to do some shopping, depending on what you're looking for. Akihabara is pretty much heaven if you are into electronics, gaming, and/or anime. Ginza, Shibuya, Shinjuku, and Harajuku also have interesting stores of all sorts. Roppongi Hills is a really interesting shopping mall/complex that's worth seeing if even just for the architecture. Supposedly there are no right-angle corners there. If you go to Harajuku, I'd recommend going on a Sunday to see the street performers and Gothic Lolita fashion at Yoyogi Park.

For a somewhat different thing, consider visiting Yasakuni Jinja and touring the museum they have there. It's an eye-opening experience to see what is essentially the official Japanese view on the nation's military history, and will almost surely help you understand why China and Korea get upset when the Japanese Prime Minister visits the shrine.

We went on a day-trip to Hakone on my second last day in Japan. I'm not sure if you would be able to use the JR Pass for it, but there is a package deal that leaves from Shinjuku station and includes the train to Hakone and all transportation around the area there. There is a ropeway ride up to the hot springs there, and there are also some fantastic spots for viewing Mt. Fuji if the weather cooperates.

 

[Aikouka]

Hmmm reading all of this information makes me want to plan a trip to Japan. I've always had a desire to go. Should probably brush up a bit on my Japanese, so I don't look like toooo much of a Gaijin (although I think the whole tall and white will give it away).

 

[JEDI]

Originally posted by: SilverTorch
First of all I would like to thank (again) all of those who posted advice for my trip to Arizona.

Now for something outside the country, like Japan.

3 of my friends and I are planning a trip to Japan, we are flying out on March 16 of this year and flying back on the 27th. All we have done so far is plan out what cities to visit. We are going to start in Kyoto, spend about 3-4 days there and the go to Tokyo for the rest of the time. I think we planned on visiting Yokohama, but not stay there. We are going to purchase rail cards and besides our own feet we plan on taking the rail to go any where.

With that out of the way we need advice as I said, on places to visit in the cities we plan on going to. What kinda night life we should look for ... or stay away from Good places to eat or again to stay away from. Things to bring and not to forget on the trip, things of that nature.

Any advice that you can give us would be great.

Thanks.

universal translator
tattoos to look like yakuza. it gives better bargain power
stay away from guy w/tattoo that look like yakuza. or you might be missing pinki soon

and if you're non-japenese, forget about schoolgirls being your cuddle buddy. no small amount of cash will change their mind. it's just the culture. aceept it, and move on (maybe to thai land)

 

[qaa541]

Originally posted by: KarmaPolice
Make sure to go to naga(i think thats the name) its a huge park a bit outsdie of kyoto...there is a cheap train there. Deer running around and the biggest wooden structure in the world.

The name of that place is Nara and its about 45 mins by train from Kyoto. It was one of the most awesome places I went to on my trip to Japan. They had deer running around all over and the largest bronze statue in the world there (the Bronze Buddha). The town is small but the people are really nice and it is quite scenic there. Maybe a little over a day's worth of stuff to do and look at.

 

[qaa541]

I spent over 2 weeks traveling around Japan with my best friend and his family (who are Japanese). We had such a blast, we were traveling almost every other day using the JR RailPass.

We flew from LAX to Tokyo but we hit the following places using the RailPass and the Shinkansen:
Tokyo (obviously)
Nikko (1 or 2 hrs north of Tokyo) - Only slow JR trains go here, we took an Express Train from another company from Asakusa station
Kyoto
Nara (45 mins from Kyoto)
Himeji (Himeji Castle)
Myagima Island (great little island with a floating temple)
Hiroshima (A-bomb site/Museum)
Okayama (home of Peachboy, Japan's Johnny Appleseed)
You can see pictures from all these places at my webgallery here so you can get a preview of what these places look like.

Japan WebGallery

 

[KarmaPolice]

Originally posted by: qaa541
I spent over 2 weeks traveling around Japan with my best friend and his family (who are Japanese). We had such a blast, we were traveling almost every other day using the JR RailPass.

We flew from LAX to Tokyo but we hit the following places using the RailPass and the Shinkansen:
Tokyo (obviously)
Nikko (1 or 2 hrs north of Tokyo) - Only slow JR trains go here, we took an Express Train from another company from Asakusa station
Kyoto
Nara (45 mins from Kyoto)
Himeji (Himeji Castle)
Myagima Island (great little island with a floating temple)
Hiroshima (A-bomb site/Museum)
Okayama (home of Peachboy, Japan's Johnny Appleseed)
You can see pictures from all these places at my webgallery here so you can get a preview of what these places look like.

Japan WebGallery

yes nara was right.