Quote:
Originally Posted by kdogg
Would anyone suggest going to see Mt. Fugi?
I was hoping see stuff about Samurais. Would I get a flavour of that in Toyko? It seems like it is very modernized. Would anyone suggest me leaving for a daytrip to see a traditional Japanese village or something?
Thoughts?
|
I never visited Fuji, but I heard that unless you hit the perfect time of year, the hike up is generally, cold, windy and wet, and if you're only there for 3.5 days, it's a bit of a waste because it's an entire day-trip in itself.
You can catch a lot about Samurais if you go to the Tokyo National Museum. They have really cool displays that show old katanas and samurai armour. The Edo-Tokyo Museum I mentioned earlier also gives you a really good feel of feudal Japan and the whole Shogun regime and is incredibly informative. Again though, if you wanna see Hiro(?) Castle (the Shogunate palace) or any other castle of historical significance, you'll have to go to Kyoto. And if I recall correctly, Kyoto is also where the grave of Tokugawa Ieyasu (the first Shogun emperor) is located. I also remember the train station closest to Hiro Castle had a really good katana shop.
If you're a history buff, you're much better off going to Kyoto, as it's the historical capital of Japan. Fortunately I'm not, so I'm a huge fan of Tokyo and it's modern-day zaniness!