ElectricKaibutsu
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Japan Travel |OT| One does simply not visit just once
- Thread starter hwalker84
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MikeHattsu likes to reply to questions. I'm curious how he's gonna handle this one. (・∀・
...
I have no knowledge about this one
Only thing I know is this pictorial on Kotaku about the subject:
http://kotaku.com/inside-japans-pleasure-hotels-892099090
As I said I know nothing about this. ¯_(ツ
Haha, thanks anyways--I knew that question was going to be a bit of a stretch.
We'll wing it.
...I won't even bother with my questions about Osaka Jail
Memento_Mori15
Member
Just curious, has anyone stayed in Japan for a month or 2? How much did it cost you in total? I was thinking of staying in a guest house. I do know a family in Osaka and a friend in Tokyo, so that might be better money wise but I want to see if a guest house is cheap or not(any recommendations too?)
Anyone know when is the cheapest time to buy tickets? I head November and sometime before April. OP just mentioned the months that are expensive to buy.
Many thanks traveling gaffers.
Anyone know when is the cheapest time to buy tickets? I head November and sometime before April. OP just mentioned the months that are expensive to buy.
Many thanks traveling gaffers.
Don't know about lodgings, but November is indeed pretty damn cheap as far as plane tickets go.
Hydrogen Bluebird
Member
Hey GAF, are there more stores like Konami Style and Pokemon stores in Japan. Stores from developers/publishers which sell merchandise (shirts, mugs/glasses, toys, posters, etc.) for their game titles/franchises. I know that there used to be a Capcom store in Odaiba but it closed about 6 months ago. My recent trip to some Akihabara stores made me think that the stores in the area are a little short on gaming merchandise that's not actual titles or hardware.
MikeHattsu
Member
A share house? Check out Sakura House in Tokyo then:
http://www.sakura-house.com
I know JulianImp stayed there for his visit.
I'm back from over a week now from my two week-visit from Tokyo and man, it was so great. Never been to Japan before and even though I've travelled before, I felt pretty tiny when I arrived and realised I was kinda cultureshocked. I adapt pretty easily, so it wasn't a big problem.
Some observations:
- I never met so many nice people. Not sure if it was people faking it but even if people didn't speak English, they always try to help out the best they can.
- Every store/restaurant/bar you get in, you're treated like a king. That was mind-blowing and a little bit awkward for me. It's quite the opposite here in Netherlands, where storeclerks are plainly rude a lot of the times.
- I love the ticketreastaurants. You pick out a dish (I'm a vegetarian so it's mostly just Soba or Udon with some vegetables or tempeh or something with it), pay like 350 yen or something, get a ticket and hand it out at the counter and in 5 minutes you have your meal. It's delicious!
- After going by train everywhere for two weeks I'm still puzzled about the subway-system haha! Still, I got everywhere I wanted to be so that's good I guess
- Visitied a lot of Gamecenters and got intimdated by these mecha-games Japanese kids seem to love. I'm intrigued though!
Some photo's:
Anyway, thanks Japan, it was awesome and I hope to visit again soon!
Some observations:
- I never met so many nice people. Not sure if it was people faking it but even if people didn't speak English, they always try to help out the best they can.
- Every store/restaurant/bar you get in, you're treated like a king. That was mind-blowing and a little bit awkward for me. It's quite the opposite here in Netherlands, where storeclerks are plainly rude a lot of the times.
- I love the ticketreastaurants. You pick out a dish (I'm a vegetarian so it's mostly just Soba or Udon with some vegetables or tempeh or something with it), pay like 350 yen or something, get a ticket and hand it out at the counter and in 5 minutes you have your meal. It's delicious!
- After going by train everywhere for two weeks I'm still puzzled about the subway-system haha! Still, I got everywhere I wanted to be so that's good I guess
- Visitied a lot of Gamecenters and got intimdated by these mecha-games Japanese kids seem to love. I'm intrigued though!
Some photo's:
At Gamebar A Button:
Walking to Tokyo Sky Tree:
Went to Odaiba and saw this:
Meeting Hirokazu Tanaka at Square Sounds Tokyo Festival:
Hanging at the Capcom Cafe:
Experience weirdness at the Robot Restaurant:
Trying to make sense of Japanese toilets is something every tourist should try. Tip though, DON'T push the wrong button, I did...
I could watch the globe in the Science Museum all day:
Anyway, thanks Japan, it was awesome and I hope to visit again soon!
Yeah, it's in Kabuki-cho or something? Even if you just hang around for a little bit some guy will walk up to you asking you to follow him for Asian women. Quite annoying.
Exactly. Once you got rid of on guy the next one will talk to you. I read somewhere that you should just tell them that you don't speak Japanese or English.
So I told one guy that I only speak German and he instantly starts talking in broken German with me. Guess they are starting to adapt to that trick.
But those guys didn't bother us too much. I found the whole district quite fascinating. There were even families walking around with their children.
So I told one guy that I only speak German and he instantly starts talking in broken German with me. Guess they are starting to adapt to that trick.
But those guys didn't bother us too much. I found the whole district quite fascinating. There were even families walking around with their children.
ThreePiMatt
Member
Definitely happened to me. I went down a road almost specifically because I saw a mother and her young daughter go that way thinking it was "safe". Sure enough some weasely looking dude asks if I want " sekusu Japanese lady." And this was at 9:00 in the morning no less.
Well, I was going to reply this morning in the way to the office and though ok i will do later,
so going to buy a coffee to a Starbucks near my office in Akasaka (7:30am) a guy approach me and told me in japanse "Hey friend, sexfu club open in the morning" And i was... ok.. but i need to go work.
Kabukicho, Thursday, walking with 2 spanish friends, even telling the guy "Hey man, sorry but this girl is my girlfriend" he still told me "Don't worry ladies can enter too"
Haha. It's totally cool bro, you can bring your girlfriend too! What a generous establishment
MikeHattsu
Member
Trying to make sense of Japanese toilets is something every tourist should try. Tip though, DON'T push the wrong button, I did...
Haha. What button did you push?
Memento_Mori15
Member
thanks, one of my friends also recommended that. So if a good amount of people did, might as well go with it too.
Thanks for the reply. November or some time in Jan-March is when I'm looking to buy tickets and go. Hopefully it's at least under 1k.
Haha. It's totally cool bro, you can bring your girlfriend too! What a generous establishment
Of course, point is she was not my gf
I usually use that tactic with my friends to avoid some "situations" I think he pushed the pink one..
Never got approached once. The trick is to be surrounded by women already.
It was mostly the foreigners there bringing it up and sort of creepy too at times. Was asking a group for some help and it was a joke at first. Three of the four saw we were just lost and needed a bit of help. One was really pushing it and kept making awkwardly sexual remarks to my friend.
I booked my tickets for this November a few months ago. It set me back right around 1k Canadian for a round-trip. I can't imagine any period of time between January-March being cheaper than November (and I should know -- I tried many different dates over the course of a year looking for the best deals
) . A lot of the priciest tickets seem to be around New Year's, Cherry Blossom season, and Golden Week. In other words, spring, and very early summer. Fall just seems like an ideal time to travel. Less chance of typhoons, you're not in the rainy season, humidity is much lower, etc.
CoachKevin
Member
Heading out on Tuesday for my 6th trip in 2.5 years. This time it is for 2 months.
Getting a little nervous knowing that I am going to be gone for so long. About 53 days.
Might be most bummed about leaving my dog with my parents for two months even though he loves it there.
Just hoping to make the most of the time there. Get out and do something everyday. Lots of travel through the country and experience new things.
If anyone is going to be near Tokyo let me know. Would be happy to meet up and show you around or vice versa if you have been there before.
Getting a little nervous knowing that I am going to be gone for so long. About 53 days.
Might be most bummed about leaving my dog with my parents for two months even though he loves it there.
Just hoping to make the most of the time there. Get out and do something everyday. Lots of travel through the country and experience new things.
If anyone is going to be near Tokyo let me know. Would be happy to meet up and show you around or vice versa if you have been there before.
MikeHattsu
Member
Last week of March till Mid-April on average.
Zoe
Member
Hmmm... So the week of April 12th might be pushing it?
MikeHattsu
Member
MikeHattsu
Member
You should plan to go to a park ASAP when you get there and there should hopefully be at least some trees with flowers.
If you look at my album of pics from this year I visited Osaka/Kyoto/Nara towards the end of the cherry blossom season and the Tokyo pics (the ones after the pic of the shinkansen train) are from after the season.
It depends on the season, like people said, but also where you are. Aomori was in full bloom this year, a month after Tokyo. Check out the average bloom dates:
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2011_when.html
They tend to be somewhat accurate, if you don't count the rain (which kinda ruined the dates this year). It mostly depends on weather.. if it doesn't rain during the blossom weekend, you might make it a bit north of Japan. But I would say April 12th (that's my birthday!) is too long for Tokyo. About a week or half too late, I think. D:
MikeHattsu
Member
I used GAC since I used the WiFi for both for a phone and a laptop.
ThreePiMatt
Member
I also used GAC. Picked it up at the airport, dropped it off at the airport. Pretty good speed and reliability, only time I didn't have coverage was when I was halfway up Mt. Fuji.
Hey, I recently got back from a trip to Japan, and partially thanks to the great advice in this thread, it was the best trip I've ever taken. Thanks everybody!
The Data-only SIM card was invaluable. Being able to pull audibles rather than sticking to set plans let me stay out and on the streets for ~12 hours a day, hitting site after site without having to go back to the hotel or having to plan things in advance.
The Skytree is awesome.
Akihabara is awesome.
The Miraikan is awesome. Paying to test the UNI-CUB is totally, totally worth it.
Tokyo was a lot cheaper than I was led to believe. I'm used to US cities where every touristy thing is, like, $15, but everything except the Skytree was around 600 yen. Meals outside of the "expensive" parts of the city were also cheaper than I'm used to paying in Chicago, and well beyond the difference for the nice exchange rate right now.
The Data-only SIM card was invaluable. Being able to pull audibles rather than sticking to set plans let me stay out and on the streets for ~12 hours a day, hitting site after site without having to go back to the hotel or having to plan things in advance.
The Skytree is awesome.
Akihabara is awesome.
The Miraikan is awesome. Paying to test the UNI-CUB is totally, totally worth it.
Tokyo was a lot cheaper than I was led to believe. I'm used to US cities where every touristy thing is, like, $15, but everything except the Skytree was around 600 yen. Meals outside of the "expensive" parts of the city were also cheaper than I'm used to paying in Chicago, and well beyond the difference for the nice exchange rate right now.
Has anyone done the Narita - to - Haneda airport transition here? I'm looking to get a flight in spring to see relatives, my grandparents live very close to Itami airport in Osaka but most discounted flights / award mile flights go Narita -> Haneda -> Itami. Looks like there's a shuttle bus service that goes between these airports, but I'll be guiding myself, wife and a ~1.5yrold at that time. Do I need to grab all my luggage from Narita and take it with me to Haneda or is that all done assuming I buy tickets for the whole trip?
MikeHattsu
Member
navii
My fantasy is that my girlfriend was actually a young high school girl.
I am visiting osaka for xmas and nye, I want to know what to wear in the winter over there so I don't freeze outdoors. How much should I layer up and how thick a jacket do I need? I'm from Australia so a scarf, cotton jumper and leather jacket is usually suffice.
edit; im a guy so I wanna know what do japanese guys wear, thanks.
edit; im a guy so I wanna know what do japanese guys wear, thanks.
Yup same question, going in Feb and the average temperature in Sapporo is subzero. Do I need to wear boots?
Everytime I visit this thread and see the photos everyone share I always get an itching to go back...and I've already been twice in one year. My dream of working in Japan is somewhat on hold after I checked job listings there and discovered that I barely know any Japanese. GF and I are planning to travel to somewhere and she isn't a huge fan of travelling to Japan or huge cities/popular countries in general. Hopefully I'll try to visit again on my own in March/April during cherry blossom season or during TGS season if I can find cheap flights and accomodation.
Planning on going back for the second time this year to spend New Years in Osaka. Is anyone knowledgeable with Amsterdam airport, though? I've got some questions that I can't really find the answers for.
The flights would be Birmingham UK to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Fukuoka and then Fukuoka to Osaka Itami. The first two flights are run by KLM and the last is ANA. From reading I can see that I'd have to pick up my luggage at Fukuoka, as International and Domestic are two separate buildings. But Amsterdam is confusing me, as they have Schengen and Non-Schengen sections. The UK and Japan are both Non-Schengen so I'm assuming I don't need to do anything with my luggage or go through check in again, seeing how it's the same section of the airport and the same airline? Is that right, anyone got experience with Amsterdam and KLM?
The flights would be Birmingham UK to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to Fukuoka and then Fukuoka to Osaka Itami. The first two flights are run by KLM and the last is ANA. From reading I can see that I'd have to pick up my luggage at Fukuoka, as International and Domestic are two separate buildings. But Amsterdam is confusing me, as they have Schengen and Non-Schengen sections. The UK and Japan are both Non-Schengen so I'm assuming I don't need to do anything with my luggage or go through check in again, seeing how it's the same section of the airport and the same airline? Is that right, anyone got experience with Amsterdam and KLM?
Usually you have to pick up your luggage when switching airplanes. I doubt there is a high chance you can get it sent all the way, but the best wat would be to ask.
I actually had to wait 6 hours in Schiphol on my way home from Europe. The airport is quite awesome. It has a hotel where you can rent showers or rooms with showers and bed. I managed to negotiate a really good price. KLM is great, aside from their seat pricing. They want to charge more for the front row seats on economy class. But at least that gives you a chance to get a great seat (I'm almost 5'10" and that seat had amazing leg space. Anyway, I find KLM very good in many ways. They actually let you use your laptop & other non-radio electronic during take off and landing!
Keep in mind that the security check in Amsterdam is very strict. Not US/Canada level, but still strict. There is also that full body scanner thing once you arrive to Narita. And they seem to run drug dogs after each Amsterdam flight, lol. If your first two KLM flights were bought on the same ticket, you shouldn't have to pick up your luggage until you're in Fukuoka.
Cheers for all that. I've never done a flight connection before. When my girlfriend came out to meet me in Narita she went via Finland and had to check in at a connections desk, but not pick her luggage up and it was sent onto the next flight.
Coming back on January 3rd I've got a 17 hour connection between Amsterdam and Birmingham. The site says about a lot of the nice amenities they have, but I might just use the opportunity to go into the city.
MikeHattsu
Member
As long as it's on the same ticket the luggage should usually be sent directly to the last airport on the ticket without you needing to pick it up along the way. Ask the airport staff you check in the luggage with to be sure.
I've done connecting flights both times I went to Japan, once in Finland and once in Denmark and both times the luggage got sent to Narita without me needing to pick it up in either country.
MikeHattsu
Member
Have fun. Take lots of pics and share them with us!
I've ended up extending my stay for the full three months of visa I was given just in case I manage to arrange something I've been looking into, so I'm now switching from a share house to a dormitory to keep living expenses as low as possible. I've set aside about 42K for my Sakura House room and around 60K for food, transportation and other small expenses, but you'd probably need more than that (about 60-75K, I guess?) if you were stopping at a share room or some non-sakura house place.
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
Okay so, literally just booked flights to go to Japan between December 28th and January 6th. This'll be my 4th time in the country but first time in terms of the season I'm actually going in.
Any advice on the best places to stay for the best prices around this time of year (in Tokyo), and also, would like to know which new year festivals/events I should hit up (doesn't have to be in Tokyo).
Any advice on the best places to stay for the best prices around this time of year (in Tokyo), and also, would like to know which new year festivals/events I should hit up (doesn't have to be in Tokyo).
Memento_Mori15
Member
So you're saying you saved up around $100,000 to use in the course of 3 months? An apartment room costs say 111,000 円 a month, that's around $1,038. A dormitory would land you somewhere close to $500 a month. This via sakura house. 42k for a room seems to be over doing it. Unless they're hidden fees or something I'm not noticing. Just curious since a friend of mine who stayed in Japan for a year spent around 42k back in 2012. Thus I want to confirm that the currency we're talking about is in USD.
MikeHattsu
Member
I'm pretty sure he's talking JPY there for the time he's extended his stay.