Hello all, I've always wanted to visit Japan and since I'm now in a position to do so, I was wondering if any of my fellow Bit-Techers had any advice. Here's what I want to do: 1) Stay for two weeks. 2) Stay in relatively nice accommodation (traditional Japanese style welcome, think 3-4 star). 3) Eat my own body weight in sushi every day. 4) Experience at much as I can of Japan (ANY activity welcome). 5) Eat more sushi. I may or may not be going with my brother (he's 26, I'm 29) so bear that in mind. We're not aiming to go and get hammered every night - I'd like to wake up each morning refreshed and looking forward to another day of exploring / doing something Japanese! I'm aware that travelling to and living in Japan isn't going to be cheap but I'd like to keep the holiday to under £2000 if possible (though a bit more is okay if worth it). Oh, forgot to add that I'd like to take this holiday mid July IF it's a good time to do so tourist wise. Thanks in advance!
If it were me, i would be aiming for a trip or two on the Shinkansen (Bullet Train, not that they look or are called that any more) And i would most certainly would make some sort of venture to Mt Fuji. Sam
Been a couple of times, brain dump incoming. Getting about is easy, especially post world cup (you can now read the signs!) You can get a 2 week rail pass that covers shinkansen and local trains (@£250 iirc). You must get it here before you go. We did 2 weeks - into Tokyo then straight down to Hiroshima on the train (~4 hours but you're knackered anyway). We then snaked back to Tokyo via Nara, Kyoto etc. I've also been to Hokkaido on another trip, but you can easy spend 2 weeks on the route we did and see many of the must sees. It was 200yen to the £ when we went and we found it positively cheap compared to London. Yen is stronger now so expect things to cost roughly the same as here. Everything good value (food especially). £2000 should be plenty. On the last trip we stayed in a mix of western and traditional places, paid 30-70 a night for the rooms (5-6 years ago, mind). Mix of tourist class and 4 star business places (I tend to avoid these on purpose as it reminds me of work...). Look out for golden week, not sure on when it is but you *really* don't want to be there then (everyone is on hols). I think mid july will be hot (possibly unpleasantly so in places) - check the guide books as i'm speculating a bit here (i've been in December and Feb). Drinking in Japan is fun, lots of bars, locals brilliantly friendly, very safe. Just simply a lovely place to spend time. I'm very jealous.
We have a Japanese Exchange student coming to stay for 9 days from Saturday so maybe I can glean some info from her
fukushima is a really bad issue that you do have to put on your horizon if you are going to that small country. its been pumping +200 to an unknown higher upper tonnage level of highly radioactive water into the pacific soon after the 11th March 2011 event. I have been following it and its not a good story on several fronts to say the least. If you are going to Japan, do know that there was a recent change in the law basically stopping any freedom of press regarding talking about fukushima and details of radiation, if a member of the press talk about it "wrong", the law allows them to be put in jail. Personally I would not go to Japan now, I think some 700k of them have left japan, a lot of have gone to Thailand, investments are moving out of the country because there is not a clear path to resolve the fukushima problems, our greatest minds admit there should have been a international conference straight away to deal with the challenge, tepco is in over their heads. If I was going to Japan I would stay well away from the eastern coast line not even venturing to Toyko. Personally I would be more favourable to visiting Toyko, "earth quake capital of the world", than the western coast line of the united states of America who will soon be realizing the massive quantity of radioactive water against their coast lines which will be a slow killer vs a huge issue straight away. If you wanted to have fun, I would go ahead and get a inspector plus geiger counter. Also for ref: I really love the Japanese language and can not recommend this enough for you: You will get good Japanese effortlessly in only a few hours! (if you have an iphone ideal!) also cd is available. https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/michel-thomas-japanese/id486778066?mt=8
@loftie: Ha! Made me grin! I'm a relatively shy person so as much as I know this is a mainstay of Japanese culture, I may have to give this a miss . @samkiller: Mt Fuji and the bullet train sound good. Can Mount Fuji be climbed in a day? I'm not a climber but my fitness levels are good. @gagaga: Rail pass, check. Would love to visit Hiroshima just because of the historical significance and as you say there's plenty of places on the way back to Tokyo! Considering the distance, that's damn fast as well! @CrapBag: That would be greatly appreciated! Does anyone have suggestions on how to actually get there (preferably involving some sort of aircraft ). Economy class preferred. Oh, and are there any local customs I ought to be aware of? I don't want to offend the locals!
July is going to be REALLY hot and expensive to fly. You'll blow 1000 quid easily just getting out here (and don't use Expedia, try Zuji), May is lovely, June is also cheap but getting hotter. I'm not sure about other times of year sorry. Brain dump of my ~5 trips: Tokyo - ton's to do. You could spend a week there. Last time I stayed in Ikebukero in a normal hotel relative close to the Sunshine tower and main subway station. Subway is generally confusing as different lines need different tickets (no Oyster card for everything afaik). Don't bother looking for a traditional guest house you'll be too far out of the city or they'll be far too touristy/expensive. Also, this: http://www.engadget.com/2014/03/12/sony-archives-tour/ Kyoto - GO THERE. Fantastic and beautiful city. Extremely traditional. Easiest place to stay in a Ryoken guest house. Osaka - I didn't really like it but many people do. Almost completely opposite to Kyoto in its fashion-centric youthfulness. Also, more obvious mafia/strip clubs/host bars which are interesting to see from a cultural-socio perspective but I don't enjoy being among those kinds of people on the street. We stayed in the city center in a normal hotel and it was - to me - offensively noisy at night. Nagoya - Difficult to get to up north, but a very nice city all the same. We went in Feb which was ****ING FREEZING and made it quite miserable when you're used to a sub-tropical climate, but I still enjoyed the place all the same. If you're into cars, interested in manufacturing and some Japanese history the Toyota museum is an absolutely MUST see imo. I had to rush through in 2 hours but I could have spent all day there. I WILL go back! https://www.toyota.co.jp/Museum/english/ I've also heard Hiroshima and Kobe are worth visiting but I haven't got there yet. I wouldn't bother with the Shinsanken as it's really expensive (plus we have one in Taiwan anyway ). You can get between Tokyo and Kyoto for a fraction of the price on the regional 'fast' JR train. Look up JR passes for train journeys. Outside the city (or anywhere off the tourist path/in traditional shops) don't expect anyone to speak English. It's quite offensive to some. Practice some Japanese and they will be more accommodating (goes for all East Asia tbh). Take a translation book to point to if you can pronounce stuff. Local customs - you can read up on it but generally be polite and smile when possible. If they nod their head/bow, do the same back, it's generally respectful. Tom Royal (another UK tech journo) has done some good guides to travel: http://www.tomroyal.com/tag/japan/ Btw - you can get equally good sushi in Taipei (if you know where to go) at a fraction of the price Make sure you go for Ramen, BBQ, Udon as well. Since you're coming out this way anyway and spending a lot of time travelling - look at spending time in (flying via) HK, Taipei and Singapore. Expose yourself to the contrasts of society, architecture, food and people. Depends how long you can tolerate your bro I suppose
Buy all the mechanical keyboards! especially the topre ones - bring them back here, sell for great profit
If you have satellite TV, NHK World have some good Japan travel documentaries. See Sky 507, Virgin 625 or Freesat 209
Cheers for all the advice! @rainbowbridge: Bah, not fussed! Besides, I might get super powers. I will check out the language course thing - I'm not a natural linguist but simply saying 'nice to meet you' (domu?) and 'thank you' (origato?) go a long way in any culture. @Bindi: I can switch to mid June then if it really does get that hot. I'm a cold weather kind of guy (think still wears shorts and t-shirts when it's snowing) but am not adverse to hottish climates (I once visited Egypt during the hot season ). I was thinking of stopping off for a day on the way, so those other locations sound good! I'm not a nightlife kind of person, so I think Osaka will get a fleeting visit then. I'm more interested in the traditional culture. Toyota does interest me (engineer after all) so I'll be keen for that. @Margon: Hah! Well, if you're keen, maybe I can pick one up for you. No promises. @IanW: Cool, will check out. @bawjaws: I'd be more inclined to wrap it around my man-parts...
*Wonders what that is and heads to Wikipedia* I may have to visit one for research... *Scrolls down further* Heh, the world is a strange place! The holiday may be shifting later in the year now. I was thinking August but from the looks of it that's the hottest time of the year. October's looking promising, as is November.
I had the opportunity to visit on business once. Our colleague took us to the seafood market in Tokyo. You have to get there very early in the morning, but it's a cool experience to see the seafood industry at work, and the fish auctions are a sight. Japan was a beautiful country, but as someone who doesn't like seafood I had a hard time eating. Sounds like you'll be just fine.
Focus your time on Kyoto, Kobe, Hiroshima, Nagoya and searching backpacking sites and Tom's website for some mountain villages to visit (where you really will need to speak Japanese). Since Nagoya is close to the mountains you can probably do it on the way through to save time. Androgeny is pretty fashionable in some Japanese/E-Asian niches afaik. Features quite a bit in Manga. To ignore all political correctness - my ex-coworker and I used to regularly play "bird or bloke" on the Taipei MRT.
I know Honda has a museum too, which is apparently really good. Probably not worth going out your way for, but would be good if you're in the area.
All I know is I'd have to go and see the Ghibli museum, Okinawa (I hear the dive spots there are gorgeous), Tokyo for Akihabara, Osaka and Kyoto for the culture/history.
God damnit! Now I'm gonna have to see that one too! Ghibli museum needs to buy tickets in advance. Worth going more if you have kids really.
