Visiting Japan

Blinkz

Blinkz

Blinkz

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Joined
18 Oct 2002
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Frimley, Surrey or 38,000ft
Hey guys and gals!
I have 2 weeks leave coming up in June and so me and some friends are planning to head to Japan, I know a few people here have lived there and/or have visited so any info and advice you can give about the good/bad places are would be much appreciated!

Blinkz
 
Where abouts are you going, just Tokyo? or venturing further a field. Kyoto is great for all the touristy things like temples. Give it 2 days or so. Tokyo is obviously great. Stay in a pod hotel ( there is a great one in Kabukicho with added onsen abilities ). Go to Kabukicho any way as its a great place to walk around and be offered girls by large black men because of your large western penis. OOhh theres also a great little alley way near Shinjuku station which has great cheap food and also the best cigarette machine ive ever encountered

here she blows http://loverlyjapan.blogspot.com/2008/03/yakitori-alley.html

Rappongi seems to be the place to try and bag you a japanese girl, but it is western central
 
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Take lots of money. At least double what you'd think.

Japan is the most expensive country I've ever been to. Paying 10 quid for a pint in many places can leave a bitter taste in your mouth.
 
I'm off there in June too. I'm only there for 6 days though (I'm in Seoul for 15 prior to this). I'm taking the same amount of money for Japan's 6 days, as Seoul's 15 :(.
 
I went a couple of years ago for 2 weeks - stayed in Tokyo during that time. Plenty of cool things to see, fish market, electronics district etc. depends what sort of thing you're looking for.

I stayed at New Otani hotel which was nice , quite central and near a subway station - subway is really easy to use , just get off places and have a look around.

Unfortunately the currency has gone against us - the Yen is now twice as expensive as it was then :(

I didn't find Tokyo expensive at all , no worse than London - but then the exchange rate was a little different then! Obviously if you go to a bar to have an english beer you'll get ripped off :p
 
Hellsmk2 said:
Seoul is cheap dude - I'd put half your money from Seoul aside for Japan too (lived in Korea for a year - prices there are great).
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Aren't theey the second most affected country behind Iceland for money issues. they have huge Chaibol businesses which are struggling so maybe prices will be a little higher. Iceland is geenrally expensive as everything is imported anyway so Seoul's prices might not be so bad.
 
Oh man I am jealous!

Japan is my favourite country of all that I've visited. Wonderful, beautiful, bizarre, unique place.

We really didn't find it expensive. Mind, it was Y200 to the pound when we went, which it is nowhere near now. We had many thoroughly amazing meals and found them a bit cheaper than what we'd expect to pay here.

Try to learn some basic phrases before you go. The language isn't as hard as people make out, it's just really, really different to English, but if you work at playing with a few phrases you'll find it's not so hard to get by when you're there. Being able to communicate even very basically will make a big difference. English is widely spoken by the young, but there are many places it is not spoken by anyone, and some people are reluctant to use it if they can speak it ok.

Don't go anywhere else - don't waste time you could be in Japan! It's that awesome!
 
Oh, and make sure you always go out with cash on you. Travel over with a mixture of (dollars) traveller's cheques and Yen in cash. But always change enough traveller's cheques to make sure you won't be caught short.

Japan is a cash country. Don't expect to be able to make do with cards, because you won't be able to in most places, and if you're a way from somewhere that will cash a traveller's cheque for you (and outside of the bigger hotels you'll struggle to find somewhere), you're pretty screwed.
 
Stay in a ryokan at least once...it probably won't be cheap though. I stayed in one in Takayama and it was a great experience.

Personally I didn't like Kyoto much, but everywhere else was great. Here's my Japan flickr set if you want to peruse.
 
strumpusplunket said:
Oh, and make sure you always go out with cash on you. Travel over with a mixture of (dollars) traveller's cheques and Yen in cash. But always change enough traveller's cheques to make sure you won't be caught short.

Japan is a cash country. Don't expect to be able to make do with cards, because you won't be able to in most places, and if you're a way from somewhere that will cash a traveller's cheque for you (and outside of the bigger hotels you'll struggle to find somewhere), you're pretty screwed.
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What's wrong with just using an ATM? Most big banks will have ATMs that will work fine to withdraw cash from a debit or credit card.
 
I've been to Japan a lot, because I have relatives who live there, but everything is expensive there. And it does get very hot during the summer. I never had the cash problem, cards were fine there. Learning some Japanese is useful, as theres less people who know Japanese than you think.

Ireland was meant to be pretty bad as well, because of the huge boom they had.
 
I went around now last year for a few weeks ... was absolutely excellent. Went to Tokyo, Kyoto, Hiroshima and Osaka. In Tokyo we stayed at the Keio Plaza in Shinjuku.

Knowing a little of the language and customs helps but if you are in the big cities then you can survive with very little Japanese. It's best to learn a few phrases though as it aids communication and it's polite.

I actually found eating out a lot cheaper than expected. We were eating out pretty well on around £7-10/head per meal (including a large beer) for some really nice food .. but that was at 200Yen/Pound instead of the current ~140Yen/Pound. I think the most expensive meal we had was £36/head and that was a bit of a blow out in a nice seafood place on the last day in Osaka. Eating in hotels was a lot more expensive. Bento lunches from the food stores in the basements of large department stores are nice too.

Post Office ATM's are more likely to be able to handle non-Japanese credit/debit cards than Bank ones. But as people have said, make sure you have cash as it's very much a cash society.

I found it a great place to go to ... if I could afford to, and didn't have to go to work, I'd go back next week. As it is I'm going back next April.
 
If you are thinking of going from Tokyo to Kyoto, but don't want to take the bullet train (as it's very expensive), then you can travel by coach like I did. This site: http://www.123bus.net/ is great, as it's in English unlike many of them. Alternatively you can the coaches to visit other places from Tokyo etc.

If you like castles and Samurais, then I would definitely visit Himeji Castle (http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/travel/himeji_castle.html), as it's beautiful and could well be the pick of the bunch. If you are on a budget, then just use supermarkets and +1 for the bento boxes (especially at the end of the day when they are discounted). Sorry I'm a bit of a cheapskate ;).

Mount Fuji is also feasible from Tokyo and you should be able to walk up it in June (but use a crap pair of trainers). The toilets and vending machines are amazing. If you like tea, you must try Royal Tea. I still have dreams about it. :)
 
Definitely go to an onsen. But be warned - you will have to strip completely naked and wander round with everyone else gawping at you for being a Westerner. Especially if you've got a hairy chest. LOL. Shower before getting in and don't get soap in the water!
 
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