Agreed, probably one of the most foreigner and traveller friendly places I've visited.
-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
Japan Travel |OT| One does simply not visit just once
- Thread starter hwalker84
- Start date
Mostly language barrier combined with social anxiety. I had two bad experiences in Europe that give me cause for concern. The first was immediately upon landing in the UK where some awful combination of jetlag/culture shock/inexperience led me to sulk in my flat for almost two days, and later when I was robbed in a hostel in Copenhagen. The problem in both situations was that I was petrified to seek out help, even though, in the back of my mind, I knew that someone could help me. It's been about two years since then and I think I've grown out of much of that excessive introversion, but part of me still worries about stuff like that when visiting new places.
It's good to hear your positive experiences, I suppose I'll just need to be a little more courageous than usual.
I don't mean to make light of the situation, but how did you experience a culture shock in the UK coming from the US? I've got to admit I'm sort of curious
Mostly because I was young and naive
It was simultaneously my first time abroad and traveling alone plus had quite a bit of trouble finding my flat, so I think that contributed to it. Once my flatmates arrived the next day I realized there really wasn't anything to fear and I acclimated to everything faster than most them did, it was just the initial burst of overwhelming freedom was too much for me. I suppose calling it a nervous breakdown is probably a more accurate description, with cultural differences being but a small part. Also do cat cafes live up to the hype or should I just spend more time at my local shelter?
LonelyGreyWolf
Banned
All of that besides the language barrier just sounds like a mental thing, like you're imagining people to be more different than they really are.
As for the language barrier, Japanese are typically terrible at speaking English, but of course they know very well what "thank you", "please" and "sorry" means, and that's really all you need. Public transportation is typically in both English and Japanese, and menus are often in English too, and if they're not, it doesn't matter as Japanese menus usually have pictures on them anyway. And at the end of the day, body language is all you need to survive in any country, no matter where you go.
Mostly because I was young and naive
Also do cat cafes live up to the hype or should I just spend more time at my local shelter?
He's asking what exactly in the UK was a culture shock to you. I think you're using that word a bit wrong; you're talking more about a general form of anxiety. Nothing here sounds like a culture shock, really
Cat cafés are just strange and awkward in my personal opinion, I tried it once but it's really not my thing, it totally depends on your interests, I guess. I don't know about other cities, but in Tokyo, a lot of people living in apartments aren't allowed to own pets, which is one reason why cat cafés are popular.
Worthintendo
Member
I speak barely any Japanese, enough to say thank you, excuse me, sorry, hello and can I speak english to you and I was soo fine on my own in Tokyo, Nagoya & Osaka. There is english everywhere and most people there have a small understanding of english. Plus Googlemaps and Google Translate on your phone are your friends, they will help you out soo god damn much.
As for being stuck or needing help, from my experience most Japanese people are helpful to a fault and will help you if you ask for it.
My first trip I went on my own and I was kinda terrified, I'm super introverted myself and have pretty full on anxiety. First day there I took a few steps out of the hotel and then went back to my room to try and psyche myself up to head out XD. Once I did head out I didn't stop and it was the great thing I've done in my whole life.
Laevateinn
Member
I only bowed 15 degrees once and was eviscerated by a katana.
Aurelius
Member
I should be posting here more often too. Im Dutch but married to Japanese wife. We go back to her hometown in Saitama once a year, since last year with two small children. I have been in Japan a dozen times now, and apart from Okinawa and Hokkaido have travelled extensively throughout the country.
Worthintendo
Member
Speaking of Okinawa & Hokkaido, if I ever get to do a 3rd trip to Japan sometime in the future those are going to be 2 places on my must visit list, Hokkaido looks breathtaking and I really do want to check out the aquarium in Okinawa.
Aurelius
Member
In a couple of years Ill be forced to go to Japan during the summer holidays, Ill save cool Hokkaido until then. But I definitely want to visit Okinawa before then. Im not so much interested in the main Island (Nara), but more in the southern Yaeyama Islands with their mangrove forests and beaches.
Patrick Bateman
Member
Hokkaido is amazing.
I've been to Sapporo and Hakodate and wish I could have travelled further north.
Okinawa, Nagasaki and Hiroshima are the places I definitely want to visit the next time in Japan.
Make it Halloween 👻
Tokyo to Kyoto travel question:
So I found this discount deal online for the bullet train to Kyoto because I just can't seem to justify getting a full blown JR pass since I really only have time for these two cities. Does this sound good?
Also, it says "the date for the return Shinkansen ticket may be any date within 7 days of the outbound trip, counting the day of departure as Day 1." That means I'm the one picking that date right?
EDIT: Belay that last question. I figured it out that I'm designating it.
So I found this discount deal online for the bullet train to Kyoto because I just can't seem to justify getting a full blown JR pass since I really only have time for these two cities. Does this sound good?
Also, it says "the date for the return Shinkansen ticket may be any date within 7 days of the outbound trip, counting the day of departure as Day 1." That means I'm the one picking that date right?
EDIT: Belay that last question. I figured it out that I'm designating it.
Thanks. I'll look into that and tour groups as well.
MikeHattsu
Member
Is that a bad thing? lol
Just came up in the middle of my digging.
I'm considering dropping the Kyoto leg altogether because I don't wanna sink more money than I already have (I'm in one of those post-grad unemployment phases after all) with just transportation, which really wouldn't have been that bad if the Canadian dollar wasn't so troublesome these days. More importantly, I really wish I had more time to make the most out of a JR pass.
Then again, I really fucking wanna go to Kyoto.
If the shinkansen is too expensive for you, you might want to look into night buses. They're not nearly as cool, but the price should be around 10k yen, which is much cheaper than the train. Flying can also sometimes be cheaper.
I found Kyoto really awesome so I would definitely recommend not dropping it.
MikeHattsu
Member
Nah, it just shows up as the affiliate in the link in your post.
shadow2810
Member
Got to Odaiba, then I remember they already took down the Gundam statue.
Worthintendo
Member
I'm kinda tempted to see if I have time while in Nagoya to head back to Tokyo for the day to catch up with you guys on the 15th of October ._.
2 and half hour train ride tho >_>
2 and half hour train ride tho >_>
MikeHattsu
Member
I'd be interested, though I wouldn't be able to confirm until closer to he date.
You can get night buses as cheap as 3500 yen if you book it for a mid-week day.
Unlike Shinkansen, buses prices vary wildly depending on date, sometimes as much as 3-4 times the cheapest price.
Willer express also has a 3/5/7 bus pass which can be used in non-consecutive days.
Too late for Original Gundam, too early for Unicorn Gundam
Yeah, I was basing the price on the Willer express pass, which is 10k for a return trip (+ one extra day of bus travel). I never could find anything cheaper back when I was in Japan, so I just went with 10k (5k each way).
MikeHattsu
Member
Cool.
So my two weeks have flown by incredibly quickly.
Wife and I chose Japan for our honeymoon because we considered the destination a "do it now or never" situation, and yet, not even halfway through our trip, we promised to each other we'd go back as soon as possible. One does simply not visit just once indeed.
Wife and I chose Japan for our honeymoon because we considered the destination a "do it now or never" situation, and yet, not even halfway through our trip, we promised to each other we'd go back as soon as possible. One does simply not visit just once indeed.
shadow2810
Member
Flying back tomorrow... I will miss Japan (not you though the slope in Hakone Gora).
I'm working on a plan for my trip. I'm going to have a bit of a theme tour of Sengoku sites. I was looking for a tour company that would do the heavy lifting for me and maybe include a guide but there were none exactly like what I was looking for.
I thought I'd post a prelim here to seek advice just in case I missed anything obvious because while I have travelled in Japan a bit this will be my first one with a bunch of almost daily train travel.
Thinking about getting a JR Pass for 14 days but I don't know if thatd be worth the money.
Preference would be to fly into Osaka, but it might end up being Tokyo due to price. If I land in Osaka, time would be spent checking out Osaka castle, maybe a few other historical sights not necessarily linked to Sengoku and maybe a day in Den Den I'd see this as three to four days tops
If Tokyo it'd just be a one nighter, as I'd plan to hit Tokyo a bit harder at the end of my trip.
From Osaka I'd head to Kyoto for two nights or so, check out the Onin war sights, Honno-Ji, Enryakuji. Then Nagoya primarily as a base of operations for a few day trips as a lot of things seem pretty close. Sekigehara, Okazaki castle, Okehazama would be my highlights. This is actually the section that worries me the most I'm researching and Nagoya looks like the most central big city to stay but I could be totally wrong. This could be anywhere between two and four days. Then Nagano for Matsumoto and Kawanakajima (one or two days). Then to Tokyo for modern stuff/shopping then home.
Or if anyone has any Sengoku sights they think are must see I'd be interested in hearing them.
As a total aside this is my secondary holiday plan. My first choice is going to PAX West at the same time (if I get tix) and this 18 day trip costed out with the JR pass and accommodation is cheaper than Seattle with cheap downtown accommodation for 6 days, who says Japan is expensive.
I thought I'd post a prelim here to seek advice just in case I missed anything obvious because while I have travelled in Japan a bit this will be my first one with a bunch of almost daily train travel.
Thinking about getting a JR Pass for 14 days but I don't know if thatd be worth the money.
Preference would be to fly into Osaka, but it might end up being Tokyo due to price. If I land in Osaka, time would be spent checking out Osaka castle, maybe a few other historical sights not necessarily linked to Sengoku and maybe a day in Den Den I'd see this as three to four days tops
If Tokyo it'd just be a one nighter, as I'd plan to hit Tokyo a bit harder at the end of my trip.
From Osaka I'd head to Kyoto for two nights or so, check out the Onin war sights, Honno-Ji, Enryakuji. Then Nagoya primarily as a base of operations for a few day trips as a lot of things seem pretty close. Sekigehara, Okazaki castle, Okehazama would be my highlights. This is actually the section that worries me the most I'm researching and Nagoya looks like the most central big city to stay but I could be totally wrong. This could be anywhere between two and four days. Then Nagano for Matsumoto and Kawanakajima (one or two days). Then to Tokyo for modern stuff/shopping then home.
Or if anyone has any Sengoku sights they think are must see I'd be interested in hearing them.
As a total aside this is my secondary holiday plan. My first choice is going to PAX West at the same time (if I get tix) and this 18 day trip costed out with the JR pass and accommodation is cheaper than Seattle with cheap downtown accommodation for 6 days, who says Japan is expensive.
MikeHattsu
Member
If you're flying into Tokyo with that itinerary then it's worth it at least
MikeHattsu
Member
Is Nagoya a good place to base myself if tom going to go see those sights?
Honestly that's the bit that's got me confused.
It seems close to Sekigehara and Okehazama but if you can think of a better location I might be all for it.
Trying to decide on which places to use as "hubs" (so I can start looking for accommodations) while I also travel out to nearby areas on day trips using whatever cheap train/bus pass I can find for that area. Any ideas on which cities I should stay at given those points? With focus on budget
So far I've got something like (no solid plane dates yet but somewhere around 10 weeks to&from Tokyo, mid September~end November):
Tokyo (2 weeks)
Kanazawa (1 week) around Takayama festival
Back to Tokyo (1 week)
Osaka/Kyoto (3 weeks) around Jidai festival
... Hiroshima? Fukuoka? Nagoya somewhere earlier? I'unno
Back to Tokyo (either another week or just for the flight home)
Was told about Kintetsu pass for the osaka/kyoto area. Also, should I stay in one place for Osaka/Kyoto and travel every day to the other, or switch bases once in the middle?
So far I've got something like (no solid plane dates yet but somewhere around 10 weeks to&from Tokyo, mid September~end November):
Tokyo (2 weeks)
Kanazawa (1 week) around Takayama festival
Back to Tokyo (1 week)
Osaka/Kyoto (3 weeks) around Jidai festival
... Hiroshima? Fukuoka? Nagoya somewhere earlier? I'unno
Back to Tokyo (either another week or just for the flight home)
Was told about Kintetsu pass for the osaka/kyoto area. Also, should I stay in one place for Osaka/Kyoto and travel every day to the other, or switch bases once in the middle?
MikeHattsu
Member
It's a good place to stay for those day trips, sure.
You should try to squeeze as much travel outside of Tokyo as possible into a 3 week JR Pass. Like use it for going Tokyo -> Kanazawa, Kanazawa -> Tokyo, Tokyo -> Osaka, day trips to Hiroshima, Himeji, etc.
Any particular reason why you're going back to Tokyo in-between Kanazawa and Osaka? Why not go directly to Osaka from Kanazawa?
Any reason for why you'd need the Kintetsu pass instead of any other pass?
1) just because I feel like I'd wanna spend more time in Tokyo, and I figured I'd frontload the Tokyo time and go south in contrast to lowering temps (and it'd be around the time of the travel-gaf meetup I think?)
2) Not really, specific passes I can always plan for later, the point is there needs to be a cheap way to check out some of the area so I can at least lock the area down
The 3 week JR passes are so expensive though, I figured I'd take the night bus from tokyo to osaka or something y'know
Thanks for the reassurances, I think I was mostly overthinking it anyways. I'm looking forward to the challenge and hopefully what little Japanese I learn before I go will take care of most awkwardness.
So I've put together an itinerary for either Mid March or November (still not exactly sure when I'll go, I need to coordinate with a coworker who is also going to visit Japan for his honeymoon)
Nagoya (1 day)
Osaka (2 days)
Hiroshima (1 day)
Kyoto (1 day)
Tokyo (3 days)
I would do all this on a 7 day JR Pass. For day trips it would include Nara from Osaka, Disneysea, and either Yokohama or Hakone.
So I've put together an itinerary for either Mid March or November (still not exactly sure when I'll go, I need to coordinate with a coworker who is also going to visit Japan for his honeymoon)
Nagoya (1 day)
Osaka (2 days)
Hiroshima (1 day)
Kyoto (1 day)
Tokyo (3 days)
I would do all this on a 7 day JR Pass. For day trips it would include Nara from Osaka, Disneysea, and either Yokohama or Hakone.
I've been there.
It's not as bad as something like TGS, but it still has a significant amount of people... with more kids than your average event.
Can't say it made a big impact on me either way, but it's a decent way to kill time.
NyMartin90
Member
So I've been looking into this for my trip in July.
Do you guys think its a necessity in Japan. I'm visiting alone and just not sure about the time it takes for it.
Would I be able to take a taxi or public transport to the 5th Station Yoshida trail?
I'm wondering whether booking two nights out of my 20 day trip is worth it in Kawaguchiko.
Also would do you guys think it would be better to instead go to the 5th station and also Arakura Sengen Shrine instead of doing the summit trip?
Thanks
MikeHattsu
Member
Well. Tokyo->Kanazawa costs like 28k JPY return trip. Kanazawa->Takayama minimum 5.5k, Osaka->Hiroshima 20k, so that's over 53000 JPY just there unless you plan to take night buses everywhere. If you're also going to Fukuoka or Nagoya it's going to be even more expensive.
You can take a bus from Kawaguchiko Station. A taxi from there would be over 10k JPY one way
I see what you mean, that stuff's so hard to plan out. I don't think I can squeeze all the long travel instances into 3 weeks though to take advantage of it since I have like double that time to see around (not including the tokyo segments)
NyMartin90
Member
You can take a bus from Kawaguchiko Station. A taxi from there would be over 10k JPY one way
Thanks
Anyone know a place in NYC where I can get my JR Pass before July.
I know I can't take the Nozomi from tokyo to kyoto but can you guys help me whether a national pass would allow me to do the following?
Tokyo to Kawaguchiko
Kawaguchiko to Kyoto
Kyoto to Hiroshima
Hiroshima to Osaka
Osaka to Himeji
Osaka to Tokyo
Edit: Also are seat reservations only for the green cars? I'm going to Japan for 20 days
Also I'm reading that it needs to say temporary visitor on my passport when buying the rail pass. Is the visa on arrival?
Thanks!
Ehh... I'll skip it then. Tokyo Big Sight is pretty far for me anyway. Thanks for chiming in!
MikeHattsu
Member
The JR Pass will cover almost everything on that list except the whole way to .
For Tokyo->Kawaguchiko you can take the JR Chuo line train to Otsuki which is covered and switch to Fujikyu Railway to Kawaguchiko which is not covered and costs around 1200 JPY.
For Kawaguchiko->Osaka you can take a Fujikyu bus to Mishima station which is not covered and costs about 2300 JPY, then go on a Shinkansen train to Osaka which is covered.
Seat reservations for the Shinkansen is for normal JR Passes as well. You get your temporary visitor stamp in your passport at immigration when you arrive. As long as you're there temporary of course, and are not going to school or getting work in Japan
Worthintendo
Member
Maybe, was planning on doing the Nagoya Zoo on that day but will see how things shake out there. The more I look at Nagoya, the more awesome things I see there are to do there.
I've found this for working out if a JR Pass will be worth it
http://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/
Put in where you are planning to travel to and from for all the trips you'd be using the train and it'll tell you how much you'd be looking at without the pass.
Thanks!
I'm pretty much ready to start booking things, just gotta wait on PAX tix and then inevitable disappointment
That site tells me that the JR Pass is not worth it for me (will be there for 3 weeks).
Tokyo -> Kyoto
Kyoto -> Kobe
Kobe -> Osaka
Osaka -> Hiroshima
Hiroshima -> Tokyo
About 43, 000 JPY for all those trips, and 59 000 JPY for the 21 day JR Pass.
Does the JR Pass let you ride regular trains and busses in each city as well? Or it's just the shinkansen?
Tokyo -> Kyoto
Kyoto -> Kobe
Kobe -> Osaka
Osaka -> Hiroshima
Hiroshima -> Tokyo
About 43, 000 JPY for all those trips, and 59 000 JPY for the 21 day JR Pass.
Does the JR Pass let you ride regular trains and busses in each city as well? Or it's just the shinkansen?