sooo Japan anyone?

jzarr

Hi All,

I am going on vacation to Japan this may 9th-21st. I have seen several threads here before about people living in japan so i thought i might be able to get some vacation advice.

We are doing a 9 day guided tour where we get a couple of "off days" in Tokyo and Kyoto. Can anyone recommend the sites not to miss while there, restaurants to eat at, things to try, etc.

My wife and I have the typical geek interests: Gadgets, anime, video games, etc. The guided tour should take us to several temples, gardens etc. Also, if anyone has had a particularly bad experience with GLOBUS tours that would be good to know as the deposit is due saturday.

Thanks!

MagicToaster

While in Tokyo, make sure to go to Tokyo Tower. Also Kaminarimon in Asakusa is pretty neat. You can also find 100 yen shops for cheap souveniers.

baudattitude

Agreeing with the above, Tokyo Tower and Asakusa are pretty much obligatory. Your guided tour will almost certainly take you to them.

If you like gadgets, video games, etc, you're going to wind up in Akihabara for at least some time. I'd also recommend Ikebukuro's Sunshine City area for more of the above, and you're going to need to go to Shibuya to experience the scramble crossing and get the requisite photo with Hachiko.

Look up the Yamanote line on Wikipedia, since it's the best way to get around Tokyo in a hurry. Buy a Suica from a vending machine, it's a train pass you load with cash and is much easier than fiddling with tickets. Then you can just get on the Yamanote loop and get off when you hit neighborhoods you've heard of.

BSullivan

I would hit up Harajuku. There's a street there lined on both sides by really cool street performers. You can see a bunch of fledgling artists and pick up a couple of free samples. Plus theres always the one corner of that area that has all the young kids dressed up in bizarre fashion. Do a google image search if you don't already know what I mean.

If you have cash and like sushi and would like to be spoiled from ever having average sushi again then check out Kyubeie in Ginza: http://real-japan.com/real/category/dining/ I had shrimp there that might still have been moving when I put it in my mouth.

Kabukiza, also in Ginza, is fun but if you're not a theatre buff or have don't have a real keen interest in traditional culture it may be a bit too much. I think its worth it, at least once, and if you go make sure you get an english headset. it makes a huge difference. You get information beyond translation that the Japanese people don''t even get.

Akihabara has a bunch of electronics markets if you are into that and it also has a cafe where all the waitresses are girls dressed up as french maids... I'll let you research that one, I've said too much.

I lived there a while and go back to visit now and then. If you have any specific questions you can PM me.

BSullivan

You should be able to buy a day pass for Yamanote.

Hypatia

Having just returned from a trip to Japan, as a tourist I'd generally say:

(For Tokyo)
* If you like Princess Mononoke, Totoro, Spirited Away, Howl's Moving Castle, etc, go to the Ghibli Museum, it was totally worthwhile! You might need to start looking now to procure tickets to it.
* If you like sushi eat sushi at the tsukiji fish market, mmmm
* There's a really good ten-don place in Ginza across from the toy park, super delicious
* There was a good tonkatsu place in Akasaka that we ate at, I can find the business card if you want, their fried oysters were the size of chicken fingers!

(For Kyoto)
* Your tour might take you there but the Fushimi Inari shrine is very cool
* Your tour might also take you there, if you go to see Kiyomizu fork up the 100 yen at the top before you read what you're paying for and descend into the pitch dark area. It's way more fun when you go in without knowing what's going on.
* I'm not mentioning Nijo and Kinkakuji because your tour is definitely going to take you there

(general advice)
* Bring a hankerchief or small towel, a lot of bathrooms and shrines don't have a way to dry your hands
* Try not to fly on ANA or JAL, their flights don't seem to have air jets and it can get really uncomfortable

baudattitude

BSullivan wrote: »

You should be able to buy a day pass for Yamanote.

Are you sure about this? I know you can get day passes for the Yurikamome, but I didn't think you could get them for JR lines.

If you can, though, that would save the OP a bundle for getting around town.

Taterskin

If you have a few days in Kyoto, take a day and hit up Nara. Its about 45mins by train. Most of the sites are in a park area (including the free roaming herds of deer) which is a 5-10 min bus ride from the train station.

Unless watching deer trying to eat a notebook out of Japanese schoolchildren's hands doesn't strike you as precious.

Killgrimage

Hypatia wrote: »

* Your tour might also take you there, if you go to see Kiyomizu fork up the 100 yen at the top before you read what you're paying for and descend into the pitch dark area. It's way more fun when you go in without knowing what's going on.

Limed for truth! Did this myself while I was there (I didn't know what I was getting into beforehand) and it was definately one of the more memorable experiences of the trip!