Japan Travel |OT| One does simply not visit just once
- Thread starter hwalker84
- Start date
Tabimori and Hyperdia
super-famicom
Member
I like to use Jorudan for checking train routes. It might not be the best app, though, but it works for me.
Tabelog is a good restaurant app.
MikeHattsu
Member
You know it's still off season for climbing Mt. Fuji at the beginning of June, right?
He does now.
If you get lucky and the sky is clear you can sometimes see it from the plane when you land.
Haneda anyways. Never tried Narita.
Ah cool! Cheers 
Probably been asked a million times but does anyone have any recommendations and experiences with good ryokans in Hakone? Just wanna get Gaf's recommendations.
EDIT: we decided to stay in Osaka instead to visit universal studies and then check out Hakone for a day on our way back to Tokyo gonna be celebrating my birthday in Japan 
Probably been asked a million times but does anyone have any recommendations and experiences with good ryokans in Hakone? Just wanna get Gaf's recommendations.
EDIT: we decided to stay in Osaka instead to visit universal studies and then check out Hakone for a day on our way back to Tokyo
gonna be celebrating my birthday in Japan Thinking of subscribing to Skype Number for a month w/ Japanese number as a way for friends and family there to contact me while I'm there instead of renting a cell phone (I will get one of those mifi routers). Anyone here do this before and was there any issues I might need to be aware of?
Because I'm dealing w/ non-tech savvy people with whom I want to just hand out a Japanese phone number to which just works.
Mailenstein
Member
Cool. I may get the number a couple weeks early and try it w/ some relatives to make sure it works as intended. No use paying 300Y/day for a phone if this works for $3/mo.
Calling w/ Skype is fine, it's _receiving_ the calls that I'm wanting to do. Grandparents don't understand tech but they do know how to use the phone. Ditto w/ contact # for hotels and such.
Mailenstein
Member
The only two places I would advice against staying at is Roppongi and Kabukicho. Of course it's up to you, but if you stayed in Shibuya, you might be disappointed if you choose Roppongi. It's a very loud district and pretty much the only place in Japan I feel unsafe at.
Yeah thats true.
Ok I booked my flight, May 10th - May 18th!
So excited I'll have a full straight 6 days in Tokyo. I might decide to do a day trip out since I spent 4 days in Tokyo last time but I definitely know what I want to be doing this time around and won't spend so much time navigating as the 2nd time around is always easier when I travel to places again.
MikeHattsu
Member
Hehe. I'll be in Tokyo May 10th-15th.
I've stayed in kabukicho the last 2 times I've been in town and loved how busy it was, even the host bars are a laugh to look at as you walk by, I think I had *one* guy offer me an escort service in the whole time I've been there. It's a great location to strike out from and has loads of good eats.
Caveat is I live in London so I'm used to "scummy" areas.
I'll be traveling this Saturday to Tokyo and I'll be staying there until the end of August (doing an internship). I'm in a mixture of excitement and nervousness right now.
Been meaning to post here for the...er... last 3 months, but it never quite felt like I was really going to travel anytime soon with the whole waiting for the whole documentation and stuff, everything was done in short notice (going to pick up my Visa today after requesting it last week, here's hoping there wasn't any issues with it), rather nerve wrecking experience I must say. I'll have to give a better look at the thread soon.
For now I rented a room in Uguisudani via Sakura House, mostly because the area looked nice, it's about 50-60 minutes away from work on foot according to google maps, and the other person going via the program is staying in that area as well and I figure might as well stick in the same general area. We'll see how that goes.
How would one get around getting a local phone number for use? I'm guessing renting a phone service won't be worth for such a long period of time.
Been meaning to post here for the...er... last 3 months, but it never quite felt like I was really going to travel anytime soon with the whole waiting for the whole documentation and stuff, everything was done in short notice (going to pick up my Visa today after requesting it last week, here's hoping there wasn't any issues with it), rather nerve wrecking experience I must say. I'll have to give a better look at the thread soon.
For now I rented a room in Uguisudani via Sakura House, mostly because the area looked nice, it's about 50-60 minutes away from work on foot according to google maps, and the other person going via the program is staying in that area as well and I figure might as well stick in the same general area. We'll see how that goes.
How would one get around getting a local phone number for use? I'm guessing renting a phone service won't be worth for such a long period of time.
MikeHattsu
Member
Sounds like you should use this thread instead if you're there while working:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=884540
Robot Restaurant meetup!?
MikeHattsu
Member
Yeah, maybe. Which day?
Ah, thanks for the heads up, I had forgotten about that thread, will check it.
haven't decided yet. Preferably if theres a cheaper day but I barely booked my flights and have yet to find accomodations so still working out my daily guides.
MikeHattsu
Member
Ok. The price is the same no matter what day you're going. There's a discount if you get tickets from Japanican instead of getting tickets directly though.
DarkCronos
Member
so, my girlfriend is studying six months in japan at Kansai Gaidai in Hirakata, Just between Osaka and Kyoto. Since she will have a few free days at the end of march i'm planning a trip to go and see her and visit a bit of japan together.
I'll be staying from 20 March to 28 March and i've already booked the flight and a cheap hostel in Osaka.
I would like to ask some advices on what are the absolute must see in the Kansai area, what are the things that we should prioritize in those 8 days.
Also, i'm a bit confused about passes and discount tickets. JR Kansai Area or Kansai Thru Pass? Which one is better? Oh, and since my girlfriend has a student visa, she can't buy those discounted passes. Is there any option for her to save a bit during those days so that she doesn't spend a fortune in train tickets?
thanks for the help!
I'll be staying from 20 March to 28 March and i've already booked the flight and a cheap hostel in Osaka.
I would like to ask some advices on what are the absolute must see in the Kansai area, what are the things that we should prioritize in those 8 days.
Also, i'm a bit confused about passes and discount tickets. JR Kansai Area or Kansai Thru Pass? Which one is better? Oh, and since my girlfriend has a student visa, she can't buy those discounted passes. Is there any option for her to save a bit during those days so that she doesn't spend a fortune in train tickets?
thanks for the help!
MikeHattsu
Member
Which airport are you arriving at? KIX?
Your girlfriend might be able to get the Kansai Thru Pass actually:
http://www.surutto.com/tickets/kansai_thru_english.html
Depends on how strict they are about who counts as a 'guide'.
Is it actually worth getting though? Maybe if you're going to Himeji castle. If you're just sticking to Kyoto/Osaka/Nara/Kobe, then maybe not.
The JR Kansai Area pass is probably only worth it if you're going to Himeji castle (and then only get the 1 day pass), or if you're going to some of the more remote areas the pass covers.
Nara
MikeHattsu
Member
I'm thinking of going to Japan to visit my girlfriend during Golden Week since she will most likely get those days off. I would be landing in Osaka and taking a bus to see her in Toyama. Does anyone have any experience going to Toyama prefecture or Kanazawa? I'll be staying a few days extra so I can hang out with my girlfriend after she comes back from work, but that means I would be by myself during the day. I get a little worried when she says that the area is very "countryside" meaning there may not be so much to do. Anyone have any recommendations?
Anyone have experience buying concert tickets in Japan? All of the websites are in Japanese and are giving me weird error messages. I just don't want the tickets to sell out.
What siste are you using? And what error do you have?
TheBryanJZX90
Member
Hey, you can always ask for more, the only question is just whether or not they will actually give it to you.
You can get more noodles with regular ramen too, not just tsukemen, but yeah not every shop does it. But it never hurts to ask!
Eplus I believe? First it said I was taking too long to fill out the info, then it locked me out of everything entirely saying "access denied" or something. I might just ask who I'm staying with in Tokyo to order the tickets for me or something.
Make sure you use the Incognito Mode trick. A lot of airafare companies save your search and will increase the price if you go back and search. If you use Incognito Mode, they won't know how often you check the price, and it often ends up being cheaper.
MikeHattsu
Member
Worthintendo
Member
Hey guys, need some advice.
So even though I'm still 7 months away from my trip, just trying to sort out exactly what to when I get to Osaka.
There are 4 big things I want to do when I get there, go to Universal Studios, The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum, The Osaka Aquarium and finally Denden town.Now at this stage I'm only in Osaka for 2 and abit days. Arrive early Wednesday and leave early Friday.
So I figure I can do all of those things in the 2 days but would be rushed, Denden and Aquarium on the Wednesday and the risky one Osamu Tezuka Museum early in the morning and then try and be at Universal by 12 and spend the rest of the day there. I really want to do all of those, I would do the Museum on the Wednesday but thats not open on Wednesdays meaning I have to do it on the Thursday.
The other thing I'm thinking of doing is skipping going to Kyoto on the Tuesday and going straight from Nagoya to Osaka and spending 3 days there, but everyone tells me Kyoto is great and I shouldn't miss it, but I'm not really sure what to do there as it would only be for one day and not sure thats enough time to do anything.
So my question is what is there to do in Kyoto and is it worth skipping it for more time in Osaka?
So even though I'm still 7 months away from my trip, just trying to sort out exactly what to when I get to Osaka.
There are 4 big things I want to do when I get there, go to Universal Studios, The Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum, The Osaka Aquarium and finally Denden town.Now at this stage I'm only in Osaka for 2 and abit days. Arrive early Wednesday and leave early Friday.
So I figure I can do all of those things in the 2 days but would be rushed, Denden and Aquarium on the Wednesday and the risky one Osamu Tezuka Museum early in the morning and then try and be at Universal by 12 and spend the rest of the day there. I really want to do all of those, I would do the Museum on the Wednesday but thats not open on Wednesdays meaning I have to do it on the Thursday.
The other thing I'm thinking of doing is skipping going to Kyoto on the Tuesday and going straight from Nagoya to Osaka and spending 3 days there, but everyone tells me Kyoto is great and I shouldn't miss it, but I'm not really sure what to do there as it would only be for one day and not sure thats enough time to do anything.
So my question is what is there to do in Kyoto and is it worth skipping it for more time in Osaka?
EuricaeriS
Member
It really depends what you're interested in, but given you want to do the Osamu Tezuka museum and Den Den town, I'm going to assume we have similar interests. I did Kyoto once, but didn't really think it was worth the travel from Tokyo (though I did only spend a day there).
We went to the kinkakuji and while it made for some nice photos, there wasn't much else there that we hadn't already seen before. Osaka, on the other hand, was way more up my alley. Plenty to do there, although don't expect Den Den Town to be as big/diverse as Akihabara. The Aquarium was great, too. I assume you want to see the whale shark? Can't comment on the museum as I haven't been myself.
I'm sure there are others here who can give you more info on Kyoto, but just do what you want to do, don't worry about doing it because you feel you have to
MikeHattsu
Member
Hm... How about booking 3 days in Osaka and if you got extra time on the third day, just take the train to Kyoto and back? Costs less than 1200 JPY and takes an hour in total train time for a return trip.
Kyoto is good if you like more of the historical stuff like temples, shrines, gardens, you want to see geisha or visit a food market.
Tricky I Shadow
Banned
Here's some from my 2010 trip:
Happoen Garden in Tokyo.
Happoen Garden in Tokyo.
Matsumoto Castle.
A park near Matsumoto Castle.
The Golden Pavilion in Kyoto.
Kyoto.
