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Travelling - How to - Japan
mooshoepork
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I went to Japan in high school a few years back with my Japanese class. We had a planned itinerary and a few Japanese teachers with us who organised the trip, so you can imagine the trip was quite easy on us students, having everything planned for.
Having recently saved up some money, and left high school, I am extremely eager to go back, but realised I have no idea how to travel This might seem a bit strange, but hopefully some of you know what I am talking about. Is it best to go through a travel agency? (I live in Australia for reference), or just try and find the cheapest flight and book it? Once I arrive, how do I get out of the airport? These questions seem so stupid, but whenever I have traveled, I have been following someone.
I am completely taken back with the amount of information I have to get before I do something like this, and I don't know where to start. Obviously I want to get the most out of the trip, so I want to go to all the right places. I have searched around "travel Japan" internet sites, which have helped somewhat, but for a first time traveler, don't exactly explain everything in enough detail. Lucky I speak a bit of Japanese, or I'd be in even more trouble.
PA, where do I begin?
Having recently saved up some money, and left high school, I am extremely eager to go back, but realised I have no idea how to travel This might seem a bit strange, but hopefully some of you know what I am talking about. Is it best to go through a travel agency? (I live in Australia for reference), or just try and find the cheapest flight and book it? Once I arrive, how do I get out of the airport? These questions seem so stupid, but whenever I have traveled, I have been following someone.
I am completely taken back with the amount of information I have to get before I do something like this, and I don't know where to start. Obviously I want to get the most out of the trip, so I want to go to all the right places. I have searched around "travel Japan" internet sites, which have helped somewhat, but for a first time traveler, don't exactly explain everything in enough detail. Lucky I speak a bit of Japanese, or I'd be in even more trouble.
PA, where do I begin?
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Japanese immigration have a thing about wanting to know where you will be staying while you're in the country, so you may want to book at least a couple of days in one hotel so you have an address to give at first. Booking hotels over there via the wonders of the internet should be possible.
Also, it sounds like you'd do well with a Lonely Planet Guide. They tend to be quite thorough, just check the date of publishing as things change very quickly.
Thanks! I totally forgot about them. I'll pick one up and read it before I go to clarify some things
The best place to start is here. It's an excellent resource for starting out planning your trip, one of the guys on here recommended it to me before I went over to look through. You can pick out where exactly you are looking to visit and it'll give you both maps and a run through of tourist attractions around there. It also links you to hotels and backpackers in that area. Also gives you a run through of the transportation system, Narita airport, local customs, food and bus/train fares.
You can easily spend a week in Tokyo alone wandering around seeing the sights. Back to what you were saying about what you need to know, if you can let us know some details we can probably give you some more info. Unless you're uncomfortable organising things yourself on your first trip, I'd recommend not booking with a travel agency outside of your plane ticket since you can organise accommodation much cheaper on your own. My airfare with QANTAS was just under $2000, but I was booking at the last moment so you should be able to get it much cheaper. Also, this might seem obvious but make sure you're competent with chopsticks before you head over, very few places have forks.
Are you traveling with friends or by yourself? How much are you looking to spend and how long do you intend to stay there? Are you happy to stay at a hostel/backpackers (cheaper) or a hotel.
In regards to general info; (spoilered for wall of text)
Regarding the Airport, if you're disembarking at Narita you're about an hour and a half out of Tokyo proper by train. Unless you've got money to burn it is far cheaper for you to take the train into the city than catch a cab or bus. From memory I think you're looking at about $32 for the ticket. It departs from Narita and will take you through to Shinjuku station. Which brings us to the next point.
In Japan all train lines lead to Shinjuku. Well the ones in Tokyo anyway. Its a huge hub far far bigger than anything we have in Australia and you will most likely get lost there the first time you go through. So you'll gradually find your way around there and become more familiar with the train lines. Thankfully, they're all colour coded and there is a english version of each of their names on all the signs and the station platforms. When you first exit customs walk through the barrier, you'll see an information booth to your right hand side, head over there and look for a the train station guide (Tokyo Metro Travel Guide I think it was called.) this will be your lifeline while you're in Tokyo. It gives you a map showing all the train lines and how they link up to each other along with transit time between each. Its worthwhile grabbing a couple actually in case you lose it.
Unlike Australia, you pay by distance travelled rather than by the hour so you'll find yourself buying a lot of different cards. There is a card available for tourists that gives you unlimited travel for both local trains and the Shinkansen. (Basically the intercity/country line train) You can only purchase it while you're overseas and then you either have it delivered to you or collect it once your arrive in Japan. While its probably not worth while if you're just planning to stay in Tokyo, if you're considering taking the Shinkansen a few times then its worth having a look at.
For accomodation check out Hotel Asia. You can got through the list of hotels, pick one out and they'll get back to you with its availability and book you in. You can print out the reservation slips which have the address of the hotel/backpackers in Japanese, so you can just hand it to your taxi driver. If you're staying in Tokyo though, I really have to recommend the Ace Inn Shinjuku. Its very very cheap, has showers/washing machines/dryers, free internet access on the computers there, no curfew hours and is only two stops away from Shinjuku station (Which is about a 5 minute trip) which makes it excellent as a base for wandering around. Also has a common room to meet up with other people travelling around and makes for some great nights out. Excellent Sushi place I can give you directions to as well.
Other places outside of Tokyo I'd recommend:
- Mt Fuji
- Hiroshima
- Hakone Open Air Museum
- Nara
- Kyoto
If you can give us some more details we can probably help you out more. Some links for some recent threads.
Thanks a lot
I'd say perhaps a week for Tokyo?
When are you leaving? Maybe spend the first 4-5 days in Tokyo, then go to Mount Fuji and the Hakone. Thats a two day trip and you can stay the night at one of the inns between the two. Many of the areas around there have hot springs available, some are in house. Warning in advance, you're most likely going to run into a bunch of wrinkly old guys. I was with a girl I met at the hostel and we went into the mixed springs and found exactly that. Try and go at a time when there isn't going to be too many people there since it can get uncomfortable to have a bunch of people ogling you the entire time.
The Hakone Prince Hotel has hot springs available for the guests, but they're closer to knee deep baths. Also, there aren't mixed ones available so you'll have to sneak into one or the other. But there are several restaurants available and lots of places to visit locally. You can take the bus to Mt Fuji, then a bus to the lake's edge and a ferry for a 10 minute trip to the hotel and stay there the night. From there, you can get the ferry back the next day and take a cable car overland to Gora train station which will take you to the Open Air [URL="http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh187/Kelor1/IMG_0346.jpg]"]Museum[/URL]. You can check out how to get to the hotel here.
Then you can head back to Tokyo for the rest of the weekend and then on Monday head down to Kyoto for two to three days. Here's a link to Kyoto, Nara and links for some guided tours of both Kyoto and Nara. If you do it that way, you'll then be able to head back and a few more days in Tokyo to do any shopping and sightseeing before heading home. Getting back to Tokyo just requires you to get back on the train that is heading right, then get a ticket for the Shinkansen back to Tokyo and get off at Shinjuku.
Staying in Tokyo during the middle of the weekend has a couple of advantages, you'll be able to see some more of the night life over the weekend, Harajuku is a much better trip on a Sunday as you'll see more people there on that day since its the day kids get the day off and you can wash all your clothes rather than pack a full fortnight's worth.
Within Tokyo, I'd suggest visiting Sensoji Temple, Ueno Park, Akihabara for all your geeky needs, Harajuko, Tokyo Tower, Tokyo Fish Markets. (Has a sushi place that serves sushi fresh from that morning: get there around 5/6 am.)
"we can't give exceptions even though you probably wouldn't cause a problem, we have a no tattoo rule"
A snowy onsen, there might be a few left in upper nagano this time of year, but honestly most of the snow and stuff is gone from the tourist snow places.
Some newer hotels have 'private couple onsens' you can rent for an extra fee I think when I got one we got it for like 2 hours and it was only an extra 5000 yen so its not a big hit.
Anyone know of a Yakuza friendly hot spring? (joke)
I too am planning on doing this as soon as I have money saved up which will either be this time next year or if my girlfriend and I want snow (yus plz) probably a year and a half.
Looks amazing :P
edit: It's hard to find actual web sites for these places hmm...
The sleeve would probably cost you more than the legs. Both my legs are done up pretty well and I've never actually had anyone say anything to me, but I live in a part of the country where I'm still sort of "Wow someone from another country lets hang out with him as much as possible and ask questions of the most mundane to see how different he is."
I can has cheezburger, yes?
anyone have any suggestions for crazy 'wtf is wrong with japan?' destinations?
stuff not in your lonely planet.
https://medium.com/@alascii
Hey, I think I went there when I went with my school, as I did buy one of those boxes. I went on a ferry to this island where they were sold. They are awesome
Does anyone know of a site where it lists the top 10 ryokan or something? Most of these sites are in html, or completely Japanese. How would you even book something like that? I was looking to stay in a ryokan with an onsen for a night or two (a high budget one).
It will also show you useful things like any possible language barriers.
I can't recommend it highly enough.
Oh. My. Gourd.
Thank you so much for posting this - this is ridiculously awesome!!
http://forums.penny-arcade.com/showthread.php?t=31731
Maybe there's something in there you could find useful.
And just in case it interests anyone here (HIJACK), or if you helped me in that old thread and want some feedback, I took a bunch of pictures and put the best ones on a site (french language alert)
All expenses taken into account, it costed me $4500 CAD for 12 days. Then again, I bought for about 600 bucks worth of souvenir and japanese games/CDs/etc. Also, the hotels were pretty classy so that might be another factor for the price. If you have a good travel's agency, 4-5K can totally give you a few weeks of fun in Japan.
I visited Tokyo mainly, and Kyoto a little. I cannot recommend this place enough. Kyoto is beautiful. You really need to go spend a few days there.
Also, in the vicinity of Asakusa in Kyoto, there's a small leisure cruise that you can take.
http://www.suijobus.co.jp/english/cruise_e/index_su_line.html
I took the ride from Asakusa up to Hinode Pier and back to Asakusa. So relaxing and soothing.
Also, if you're in Tokyo late on a Saturday evening, go to the Shibuya station and walk around the Shibuya Crossing. Your head will explode.
Yeah, I heard it was pretty lax. Last time I was there I was 15, and my 15 year old friend was buying alcohol from the supermarket. It's in vending machines anyway, so I guess it isn't a big deal.
edit: A lot of these ryokans I am finding seem a bit run down. I'm looking for something fairly nice, any ideas? Or am I better off just going to hotels.
I'm the kind who always go for nice hotels because, after all, this is the place in which I will sleep, wash and leave all my luggage. This is never the cheapest solution however.
You'll get a much nicer western hotel for the same money as a ryokan. I don't mean ryokans are bad - they're just more expensive, partly because they usually have onsen, and usually offer some kind of gourmet meal served in your room.
I usually recommend that people stay in western hotels (called business hotels in Japan, often) most of their trip and then splash out on a good ryokan for one or two nights.
Oh and alcohol vending machines are getting rarer and rarer, for obvious reasons. But buying from shops is probably easy.
Really? When I went there a couple of years ago they were EVERYWHERE. Most of these reviews say the ryokan is really good, but from the pictures it looks pretty low budget. Has anyone here stayed in nice one they can recommend?
Tell me the link or name or website of this ryokan and I'll have a look - I stay in ryokan all the time, I think I can tell you if it's rubbish or that's just your perception.
On Tokyo: The train and subway system looks daunting at first, but it's not too hard to figure out. You should be able to find versions of the maps written in English, and hotel front desk staff should be able to give you directions to any major stop. I would suggest a suica card as well, so that you don't have to keep buying tickets everywhere. It's basically a prepaid card you swipe in place of a ticket, so you'll have to recharge it every now and then.
There's a lot of information about where to go and what to do out there, and I can't say that I have anything really different to offer. My only advice (well, request) is that you not get swept up in the Akihabara craze too much. Seriously, foreigners in Akihabara give other foreigners a bad rep--many people decide it's some sort of nerd Sodom/Gomorrah and decide to behave as obnoxiously as possible. And you might not want to tell any Japanese friends back home that you went there, unless you want them to look at you as one of those people.
The Tokyo train and subway system was really intimidating on day one, but it's actually incredibly easy to use. All you need is a map of the train that's written in Romanji. TO THE OP, if you can't find one, I'll gladly scan mine and send you the JPG. PM me if needed.
Once you are at a station, all you need to do is look at that map, find your station, locate it visually on the huge-ass map above the ticket dispensers, check the price by the station, and buy a ticket of that value. It's that simple. Oh, and keep the ticket. You consume it as you leave, not as you enter (though it does get punched when you enter).
VS
I live near Tokyo so I never have to stay in hotels near there. And I rarely go to the same place twice, so I don't remember the ryokans I've stayed in.
Oh when you visit the side stores and see walls upon walls of hentai and hardcore porn (HARDCORE!) you'll get that feeling.
It is simple, and yet not. It is VERY easy to get "locked out" if you do not ride the CORRECT train line, and you may find yourself walking blocks to get back to an entrance. Make sure you understand the subway system and who owns what and what tickets work on what train lines before you get down there. Same with if you plan to go outside Japan.
I would recommend Hakone, but only as a DAY trip getting back that same day. Sure theres a ryokan with an onsen you can stay at, but Hakone is kind of like Reno. . .nice for a minute, very touristy, and gets old after awhile. The cablecar ride is awesome though, as are the "Sulphur Mines" (thats the only way I can explain it).
I don't know why no one has suggested staying in a hostel. Generally they are VERY safe (I've left laptops laying around and freely let people use it when I'm not there. . .) and have never had any shit stolen when I've stayed at the particular one I was at. No there is no privacy (unless you rent private rooms which are STILL cheaper than the hotels), but you acually get involved with OTHER travelers and make friendships with the people who are there. The three times I went I stayed in a hostel each time and wouldnt think to do otherwise.
Depending on how long you are staying you can hit up both coasts (Tokyo and Hiroshima) so long as you budget time correctly. Also, I may be in the minority, but I found Kyoto positively BORING. Maybe 2/3 days to see the temples (after awhile the temples get old) and the Imperial Palace turned into a park - but other than that. . .meh. I enjoyed Hiroshima much more, particularly a day trip out to Miyajima.
I'll link some of the hotels I was looking at.
http://web.travel.rakuten.co.jp/portal/my/info_page_e.Eng?f_no=9518&f_ptn1=
http://web.travel.rakuten.co.jp/portal/my/info_page_e.Eng?f_no=2946&f_ptn1=kaigai
I may just be missing it but you notice that neither of those rooms like a shower right?
Part of the Ryokan is totally public shower, that's also part of the fun. I've made more friends showering with drunk old men than probably anywhere else in Japan (I honestly don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing) 8-)
holy shit, so you are right. I swear I read shower. Why wouldn't the actual HOTEL have a shower? Doesn't even list a public one, unless I'm blind. I'm going with my partner, so a public shower isn't optimal.