Touring Tokyo

Fizban140

I am going to be in Tokyo for five days next week with my friend and I have no idea where we are going to stay or what we are going to do. Any suggestions? We are trying not to spend $250 a night on a hotel

Seanron

I know I say this everytime someone asks what to do in Tokyo, but AKIHABARA!

mooshoepork

What are you into? There's plenty to do in Tokyo, if you give us an idea of your interests.

strebalicious

If you are the adventurous type, you could just wander around and when you get tired, just sleep at your nearest Love Hotel. Most of the ones in my area are about 8000-9000 yen for a full night.

Of course, you could do the otaku thing and go to Akihabara. Plenty there to do.
Sightseeing, all the shrines in Kamakura are great, as is the shrine in Harajuku.
Probably too far for you, because it's a 4000 yen train ride for even me, but the giant Gundam is back up in Shizuoka.
Tokyo Tower is a tower, though the surrounding Roppongi area is hit or miss (people getting drugged kinda miss).
The shady side of things is Kabuki-cho. Buy-me-drink bars and stuff like that.
Ginza area is high class and expensive.

Food: the Yoshinoya's, Sukiya's, vending machine ramen places are all going to be fairly cheap. Convenience stores have awesome onigiri rice balls that are 105-150 yen and give me a decent fill.

That's what I can think of right now.

Fizban140

I am into a lot of things, I want to see the country. Getting wasted and hooking up with Japanese chicks isn't my goal, but I wouldn't be upset if it happened. I would like to buy some stuff, are there any sort of flea markets or that sort of thing in Japan? Some paintings that don't cost $100s would be great.

MagicToaster

The 100 Yen shops are pretty cheap. I would try Asakusa, not really a flea market, but lots of stuff to buy!

Limp moose

if you still have a military id you can stay at the new sono. in tokyo it is 50 bucks a night for military and a 5 star hotel and pretty awesome. If you plan on getting a cell phone for the 5 days you are here feel free to give me a call. Or PM me and I can hook you up with some stuff to do.

I live in tokyo.

strebalicious

Limp moose wrote: »

if you still have a military id you can stay at the new sono. in tokyo it is 50 bucks a night for military and a 5 star hotel and pretty awesome. If you plan on getting a cell phone for the 5 days you are here feel free to give me a call. Or PM me and I can hook you up with some stuff to do.

I live in tokyo.

Yeah, have fun trying to get a room at the New Sanno at the last minute. They fill up rooms a year in advance.

Too bad I'm leaving town this week or I could help you out more as well.

Fizban140

I doubt we will get cell phones since we are only there for 5 days and just dropped a ton of money on a Thailand trip (currently in Thailand). How hard is the subway system to navigate? We are trying to figure out transportation and I am assuming that taxis would end up costing quite a bit of money.

Reiten

Mass transit in Tokyo is simple. Just pick up a map and you'll be good to go.

Weretaco

The mass transit looks imposing at first but the train system in Tokyo is simple enough once you just connect the dots on the line you want.

Chances are you'll spend most of your time on the Yamanote line which does a big circle of the most common touristy type spots you'll want to hit up.

Synaesthesiac

I registered just to to do what I think is my duty.

I highly, highly, HIGHLY suggest Ninja Akasaka. It is a gourmet ninja themed restaraunt located across the street from Akasakamituke station. It is totally ridiculous, and it was one of my fonder memories of Japan. It's a little pricey, excect to spend 60 bucks plus a person, but the food is great and it is all ninja themed. They also have english speaking waiters and service. Their website is http://www.ninjaakasaka.com and I suggest just calling them to make a reservation.

You can find capsule hotels all over the area, which are cheap (30$) and men only. I recommend the one in Shibuya, it is hard to miss, and within walking distance to both stations and an excellent club scene. If you like house and trancy music, check out The Womb.

Other then that, check out the usual. Akihabara, Imperial Gardens and Palace (tour required for inside the palace I think), and Tokyo Tower. The extra money for the special observatory (top deck) on the tower is worth it imo.

The subway system is all color coded, so as long as you are on the right line you will get to where you want to be eventually...haha.

MagicToaster

Not to hijack the thread, but is there a good zoo in Tokyo?

strebalicious

And another place to go to is an izakaya. They are basically small little bars that serve finger foods. Every time we go to one, we wind up spending 2 or 3 hours there just snacking on random crap and downing beers and having some great conversations.

ED!

MagicToaster wrote: »

Not to hijack the thread, but is there a good zoo in Tokyo?

Ueno Zoo. There are numerous. . .animal parks - but if you want a ZOO zoo, Ueno is your best bet. Like (most) anything in Tokyo, easily accessible by public transportation.

metaghost

MagicToaster wrote: »

Not to hijack the thread, but is there a good zoo in Tokyo?

Zoos are all variations of "depressing as shit" for me, but Ueno has what some may consider a "good zoo".

At the very least, they have some Red Panda and a Monkey Mountain.

mooshoepork

Their regular panda died a while ago though...

Bartholamue

Shinjuku Government Building. Post haste.

Fizban140

We just got here, where is a good place to go drinking? And will there be anyone on the weekdays or just the weekends?

metaghost

Um, you should ask for directions to a good Izakaya, as someone mentioned earlier. I'm not able to remember any locations offhand from years ago, but there should be some good ones in places like Takadanobaba, Meguro, and Shimokitazawa.

Oh, you could also go to the ridiculous Yebisu Beer Musuem in Meguro. They serve some nice European beers on tap, as well as your typical assortment of Kirin and Sapporo brews.

EDIT: Apparently no one mentioned Izakayas. Maybe I'm remember a different "I'm going to Japan thread!". Also, flea markets are commonly held at temples on Sundays. Or least, that was the case in Osaka. I can't remember the word for that kind of thing though...

mooshoepork

Trashy bar - gas panic

Club - Womb, muse or code

classy bar - level 52 of the park hyatt (lost in translation)

classy jazz bar - blue note

strebalicious

Fizban140 wrote: »

We just got here, where is a good place to go drinking? And will there be anyone on the weekdays or just the weekends?

Drinking is always going on in Japan. But good and cheap are usually mutually exclusive. If you feel like dancing as well, Ageha in Shin-Kiba is a personal favorite.

Toefoo

Please avoid Roppongi, and ANY Gas Panic, regardless of the district; drugging is very rampant in Roppongi (had a friend get drugged the last time we went) and pick-pocketing seems to be a problem at Gas Panic (not to mention overpriced drinks and the fact that you must be seen with an alcoholic beverage at all times or risk being asked to leave.)

Clubbing/nightlife is better in Shibuya anyways, as it is home to Womb (Mooshoe mentioned it), as well as Atom which is a decent club as well. Shinichi Osawa is DJ'ng tonight at Womb, if you read this in time.

I'm not sure if you saw my link from your first thread, but if you are trying to determine train routes and costs then definitely use www.hyperdia.com

Megalomaniageek

I recommend stopping by Ikebukuro. I had a lot of fun there. If I recall correctly Ikebukuro was the location of a pretty awesome little bar called Bobby's Bar.

Satsumomo

Gas Panics are horrible horrible places, for the reasons mentioned and also because strangely, the one in Sakuragicho doesn't allow dancing. My best nights were had in Ikebukuro as well.

I'd recommend the Lemon House in Shibuya, but friends that have been there recently have told me it closed business a while ago

baudattitude

If you want to buy souvenirs etc, I strongly recommend going to the Senso-ji temple complex in Asakusa. It defines "tourist trap" (well, not the temple proper, but the shopping arcade leading to the temple), and you can follow a visit to Senso-ji up with a sumida river cruise (take the Himiko if you are at all into cool science fictiony looking vehicles) down to Odaiba, from whence you can catch the yurikamome monorail to Hamamatsucho and walk to Tokyo Tower.

That should just about cover your sightseeing needs, after which you can get back to finding bars.

Fizban140

We are having trouble finding bars that are open past 11pm or midnight. We wandered around after the Izakaya closed rather early and found a bar owned by some people from Cameroon with pretty pricey drinks.