Soldato
- Joined
- 5 Feb 2009
- Posts
- 3,873
Our family of four (kids mid- to late-teens) are going to Tokyo for two weeks in August. I know it's going to be humid, but hopefully not too bad (we were there at the end of August 16 years ago and it was okay).
We're all crazy excited, and drawing up our plans.
So far on our list (which is likely more than we can fit in), we have:
Any experienced Japan travellers got any suggestions for things we can combine/things on the list that are not worth the time/things we've missed?
I'm trying my best to brush the cobwebs off my Japanese skills, which used to be okay (reasonable-but-not-great conversational level), but now definitely not so good and I am just going to have to accept I will suck at the language and that I've forgotten way too many kanji to read at any reasonable speed anymore. This is a bit of a kicker given it's the first time I'll actually be in Japan since learning the language after coming back from our previous trip, but such is life. (I'm listening to podcasts, using a kanji app and trying to read some basic folkstories again, but it's slow, painful going.)
So, basically, if that is relevant to any options, I will be able to make myself understood in a basic way and converse a bit if people speak slowly, probably make my way through Japanese menus and the like slowly and with some help from looking up radicals on my phone apps. Dunno if that opens up or closes off potential activities.
We're all crazy excited, and drawing up our plans.
So far on our list (which is likely more than we can fit in), we have:
Asakusa | Nakamise Dori | Sensouji | Underground street market |
Akihabara | Yodobashi Akiba | Namco Akihabara | GiGO |
Kichijouji | Ghibli Musuem | Inokashira Park | |
Harajuku | |||
Skytree/Tokyo Tower | |||
Shinjuku & Shibuya | Godzilla Café | Imperial Palace (Chiyoda) | Shinjuku Gyoen |
Fuji daytrip | combine with Lake Kawaguchi? | ||
Hakone daytrip | Onsen | Odawara Castle | |
Shinbashi | Karaoke | ||
Arakurayama | |||
Kamakura | Beach (Yuigahama) | ||
Lake Kawaguchi | Lake Yamanaka as alternative? | ||
Kawagoe | "Edo street" | ||
Ginza | |||
Yokohama | |||
Ito | |||
Nikko |
Any experienced Japan travellers got any suggestions for things we can combine/things on the list that are not worth the time/things we've missed?
I'm trying my best to brush the cobwebs off my Japanese skills, which used to be okay (reasonable-but-not-great conversational level), but now definitely not so good and I am just going to have to accept I will suck at the language and that I've forgotten way too many kanji to read at any reasonable speed anymore. This is a bit of a kicker given it's the first time I'll actually be in Japan since learning the language after coming back from our previous trip, but such is life. (I'm listening to podcasts, using a kanji app and trying to read some basic folkstories again, but it's slow, painful going.)
So, basically, if that is relevant to any options, I will be able to make myself understood in a basic way and converse a bit if people speak slowly, probably make my way through Japanese menus and the like slowly and with some help from looking up radicals on my phone apps. Dunno if that opens up or closes off potential activities.