One thing of note, bring cash, Japanese Yen, and lots of it!
I am not sure how advanced it is now, but when I was in Japan about 10 years ago, many places were cash only, especially the mom and pop shops. They don't even take credit card or accept US dollars, let along accepting e-payment (although that didn't exist 10 years ago)...
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Went there in Feb with some buddies for skiing.
My first piece of advice is consult a travel agent in Calgary for tickets. My buddy did that and their prices were wayyyyyy cheaper than online options.
He used:
NIPPON TRAVEL LTD. 1111-6TH AVE. S.W. SUITE 118
CALGARY, AB T2P 5M5 403 294-0694
Just spent last week in Tokyo. Oh my god it was amazing.
Some things to know, if you're buying a Japan Rail pass - very useful for high-speed rail travel and somewhat useful for travel inside Tokyo- you DO NOT need to buy it from Canada. You absolutely CAN buy it within Japan at major stations. I bought a JR East (Nagano/Niigata) pass at the Ueno train station.
The best part of Tokyo was wandering around and finding awesome neighborhoods. Ueno is a great part of town to stay in, I would avoid Roppongi, it's all bars and expats. Shinjuku is pretty amazing and I really, really liked the neighborhoods of Daikanyama and Sangubashi. Highly recommend checking out a baseball game and just eat absolutely everything. The food is tremendous.
Just spent last week in Tokyo. Oh my god it was amazing.
Some things to know, if you're buying a Japan Rail pass - very useful for high-speed rail travel and somewhat useful for travel inside Tokyo- you DO NOT need to buy it from Canada. You absolutely CAN buy it within Japan at major stations. I bought a JR East (Nagano/Niigata) pass at the Ueno train station.
The best part of Tokyo was wandering around and finding awesome neighborhoods. Ueno is a great part of town to stay in, I would avoid Roppongi, it's all bars and expats. Shinjuku is pretty amazing and I really, really liked the neighborhoods of Daikanyama and Sangubashi. Highly recommend checking out a baseball game and just eat absolutely everything. The food is tremendous.
I love, love, love Japan. So weird to see those cute 100 pound Japanese girls carrying a freaking 15kg kegger of booze on their backs though.
And smiling like crazy the entire time. We saw a great game. Four dingers, two broken bats, two hit-by-pitch, a closer almost blowing the save, then getting the last out on a 161 kph fastball.
Also, free jersey! I'm now a fan of the Soft Bank Hawks.
Thanks for the advice so far everyone! Tons of great information, and it's definitely helping us plan. Our plan so far is to stay in Tokyo for about a week, then travel to Kyoto for a day or two, and end in Osaka. Part of our plan hinges on us being able to travel by rail to those cities, is this viable?
My wife also loves the idea of staying at a Ryokan now that it's been brought up.
Absolutely it's doable - the biggest and most frequent route in Japan on most classes of inter-city trains is Tokyo to Osaka, with Kyoto as a stop on the way.
I do still recommend getting the train pass in Canada - one less thing to worry about when you get there, and I believe it's also cheaper if you get it before hand.
Sign up for a ryokan, and if you had more time, you could also stay at a monastery in Kyoto, Nara, or the surrounding areas. The monks often let foreigners stay, be part of their evening activities, and go to a service in the morning.
Don't forget to do the Philosopher's Walk in Kyoto! That time of year will be gorgeous for it.
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Just spent last week in Tokyo. Oh my god it was amazing.
Some things to know, if you're buying a Japan Rail pass - very useful for high-speed rail travel and somewhat useful for travel inside Tokyo- you DO NOT need to buy it from Canada. You absolutely CAN buy it within Japan at major stations. I bought a JR East (Nagano/Niigata) pass at the Ueno train station.
Curious to know, was the option to buy a national pass available? Because you bought a regional pass. Those I was aware you could buy in Japan. It's the National one that seems to have questionable availability within Japan.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LGA
Thanks for the advice so far everyone! Tons of great information, and it's definitely helping us plan. Our plan so far is to stay in Tokyo for about a week, then travel to Kyoto for a day or two, and end in Osaka. Part of our plan hinges on us being able to travel by rail to those cities, is this viable?
My wife also loves the idea of staying at a Ryokan now that it's been brought up.
Thanks again CP!
Yes, very viable.
Use a national JR pass in between the cities. A 7 day pass goes for about 330. 14 day is 520 I believe. Based the days you've planned for Kyoto (I'm guessing your middle city), it at first glance looks like you should be able to get away with a 7 day JR Pass for Tokyo/Kyoto, Kyoto/Nara, Kyoto/Osaka and Suica/Pasmo the other days no problem.
My friend went for 2 and half weeks recently and he said his biggest regret was allocating too much time to Osaka and not enough to Kyoto. He said by the time he hit Osaka, a bit of the stuff was the same, so he and his wife hopped back on the train with their JR pass and went from Osaka back to do a few things in Kyoto.
The thing with "Kyoto" is that there are a few other destinations somewhat connected to that location. Nara and Hiroshima were the two that ate up two days of "Kyoto" for my friend. My wife took those two locations into account to ensure we have around 3 days in Kyoto.
My wife and I decided to pass on Mount Fuji. By most accounts, it's a full day trip. It's a location we felt was worth visiting next time we visit Japan, but not if we do a 10 day trip for Tokyo/Kyoto. Doing so we could add a day to Kyoto.
RE the sale of electronics. I asked around and my buddy told me that there's no restrictions on buy electronics, so that was my mistake. HOWEVER, due to the difference in voltage, the newest electronics are labeled as domestic and some shop owners are hesitant to sell domestic tech to a foreigner as they fear the voltage difference will fry the electronics. Export electronics with no voltage issues are available and recommended often by shop owners instead of the domestic electronics. However, they can be as much as 10 generations behind the domestic electronics.
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Also a note on electronics, most "domestic" products are in Japanese only - user manuals, on screen displays, etc. You can't even switch the language on some of the machines. So you can buy them, but you may not know how to use them, unless you can read Japanese....
At the major stations in Tokyo you can switch to English but it is correct that in the smaller stations that isn't an option. I recommend starting your day, so to speak, at a major station.
There are some good apps that have the Japan train system on it...put in your starting point and where you want to go. Pick the route that suits you best and hand that to the ticket agent and they'll get you what you need based on that. Some of the major stations have a similar thing by the ticket machines where you can plan the trip and print it out for the ticket agent. I tend to default to using an in person agent as I've purchased the wrong line a couple of times trying to do it on my own at a machine.
Now quite often your ticket is going to be Japanese...figure out which one is the track number. Then simply get on the train that shows up at the right time! It's bound to be the correct one. At least in my few trips so far it has been. One of these days I'll get screwed I'm sure.
I'd recommend a walking wifi unit which can prove useful to get you out of jams and find some of the better places to eat or some out of the way spot that makes your day (and for catching pokemon). It's about $75 for a couple of weeks I think and saves having to deal with switching phone plans etc which always seems to be a pain.
I echo the bring cash advice. A lot of places will not take cards. In Tokyo you will be able to find some North American ATMs (i.e english) to get some Yen but I am not sure how prevalent that is elsewhere.
Bring adapters for electronics though in most modern hotels you won't need them.
The Hyperdia website was amazing for train schedules
Get the pocket WiFi
In the big cities virtually everyone speaks English
In terms of a Ryokan, we stayed at the Kotono Yado Musashino in Nara. It was the best part of our trip by far. It's not cheap, you're looking at $400-500 a night with breakfast and dinner, but I'd pay it again in a heartbeat. I would recommend taking the train down from Kyoto, staying two nights, and then heading to Osaka.
Make sure you're checked in around 3-4 PM so that you have time for dinner.
One thing we did that I actually liked a lot was as soon as we landed in Tokyo, we hopped on a train and went straight to Hiroshima the same night. That let us work our way back to Tokyo and end our trip there, then when we were finished everything we didn't have to train back to Tokyo to fly out of the country, we were already there!
We flew United through San Francisco and it was sweet. The new 787's are amazing.
Last edited by malcolmk14; 08-02-2017 at 06:40 PM.
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Spent 10 days in between Osaka and Tokyo. Like some others have said, Tokyo is amazing just to walk around. Several neighbourhoods have restaurant/bar districts organized into city blocks. These blocks are buildings, which take up the entire block, and will have 3+ floors, with nothing but restaurants and bars in them, many will be open at all hours. The majority of the owners will put a great deal of pride into their establishment, so you could spend a lifetime exploring these places and be constantly finding new ones.
The Japanese get swept up in fads, so the themes of many bars and fashion will change. When I was there about 5 years ago, "Americana" seemed to be the fad of the day. A lot of clothes retailers and establishments were orientated towards this theme.
I'd recommend checking out the giant fish market. Even if you can't get in to see the market, which has very limited capacity, the surrounding sushi restaurants will put anything else you've ever eaten to shame.
I'd also recommend grabbing a drink from one of the fancy hotel bars located at the top of their tours. This the one from Lost in Translation:
The drink will set you back $20-50 for a simple mixed drink or beer. However, the experience is pretty great. Staff will come and pull your chair out when you want to stand up. It's a nice break from the constant go go go of the city below too.
Lots of good suggestions in here... Get the 72 hour Tokyo metro pass which allows you to ride all lines of the subway (there are multiple subway companies) when you arrive at the airport. You can only buy it at the airport so make sure you get 2 i guess since you are staying for a week in Tokyo. It's cheap.
Also try one of those restaurants that let's you catch your own fish and then the chefs prepare for you any style. Neat thing that's different.
Last edited by activeStick; 08-03-2017 at 05:56 PM.
Minor thread hijack, but does anyone know where to seek Japanese Whisky in Tokyo/Kyoto? Mainly around the Shinjuku area + 30 minutes ish transit or 30 minutes ish around the Kyoto main station? Specifically I'm looking for 12 year + Whiskeys from Hakushu, Hibiki or Yamazaki.
The special edition 21 year Hibiki for 50K yen or the special edition Hakushu 18 also for 50k yen at the Narita duty free is a bit expensive for me as I'm hoping to hop home with twice that volume for the same price (Not necessarily both 18/21 year). My wife will probably allow me to take small hour round trip detour at max to seek my refreshments.
I have been many times and would recommend taking the train north and staying at one of the on-sens (sp.. Hot Springs resorts) . Really relaxing atmosphere and great for a couple.
Was just there in April - tons of good advice in this thread.
Only a few nuggets I can offer:
1) Find and eat Garlic Ramen - sooooooo delicious
2) Sounds crazy, but eat the PASTA - yes, I am talking Spaghetti, etc. Best pasta you will ever eat.
3) Hiroshima is definitely worth it, and can be done on a day trip (leaving Kyoto), but most people recommend staying overnight. It is very depressing as well, so be prepared for that.
4) Rent a pocket WiFi - it is cheap, and then you have internet everywhere you go.
Other than that, Japan is one of the few places I have been to where I have NEVER felt unsafe - even on dark streets in the middle of the night. I love it there, and already want to go back.
It's a slow Friday so here's my pointless story of Tokyo:
I don't get embarassed easily, but this can be classified as one of the most embarassing stories of my life. A real "boy is my face red" moment.
My wife and I are in Tokyo for our honeymoon about nine years ago. I'm not a great traveller because my bowels fluctuate wildly between 'broken cement mixer' and 'Super Soaker 90,000' when abroad. This usually means I always scout locations for bathrooms like I'm Jason Bourne looking for exits.
We get to the Shinegawa train station to go to Osaka (or maybe it was Kyoto) after a week in Tokyo where I crammed nearly anything into my mouth with little disregard to meal times. Ramen, meat on sticks, green tea ice cream, normal ice cream, meat not on sticks, sushi, more sushi, sides of sushi... anything you can name.
To no one's surprise, when we get the train station my stomach begins to rumble. Hard. Like, an upside down Mount Vesuvius.
Japan's a beautiful place. It's people, landscapes, cityscapes. All of it. This also extends to public bathrooms. They're spotless... even in train stations and it's amazing. The level of respect its citizens have for public spaces is astounding.
I find a single bathroom (i.e. one room with one toilet and sink), lock the door, drop my pants and just proceed to destroy this poor toilet. I resembled something like this:
When I'm done, sweaty, and normal I look around. How do I flush? This doesn't look like my hotel toilet. I press numerous times what should be the flush button and nothing happens. So I look around and I see a handle with a piece of string attached up towards the ceiling and think, "hey this could be how you flush. My grandma's old place in Hong Kong had this."
So I pull it. It doesn't flush and nothing happens. So I shrug and like a total dbag, wash my hands and decide to just leave.
Within not even 2 minutes of pulling that handle I get a polite knock on the door:
"<Japanese>"
Me: "Hello. Yes?"
"<Japanese>"
I open the door and there are two uniformed station employees. I slowly make the connection between the string I pulled and these two poor employees at the door. I want to stress the mess I made in the bowl makes my Top 3. Possibly the GOAT.
Me: "Oh god. Please don't come in."
"<Japanese>" They start peering in
Me: "I think your toilet is broken, please tell me where the flush button is so I can make sure."
"<Japanese> It's ok, we look."
Me: "Please don't. You guys aren't paid enough to deal with this today."
"<Japanese>" They politely open the door and look around.
The look of horror on these poor men's faces is something I'll never forget. It was 95% horror and 5% impressed. I'm basically panicking at this point and don't know what to do. Your fight or flight response kicks in and all I manage to muster is:
"I'm... so... sorry. Also, I'm American."
And then I ran. I even remember the sound of the door click close behind them. Grabbed my wife, suitcases, took off to the train, and have lived with the shame and embarassment ever since.
I'm sorry I failed you Japan. I'm sorry kind train station employees.
Last edited by sketchyt; 08-04-2017 at 12:54 PM.
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Was just there in April - tons of good advice in this thread.
Only a few nuggets I can offer:
1) Find and eat Garlic Ramen - sooooooo delicious
2) Sounds crazy, but eat the PASTA - yes, I am talking Spaghetti, etc. Best pasta you will ever eat.
3) Hiroshima is definitely worth it, and can be done on a day trip (leaving Kyoto), but most people recommend staying overnight. It is very depressing as well, so be prepared for that.
4) Rent a pocket WiFi - it is cheap, and then you have internet everywhere you go.
Other than that, Japan is one of the few places I have been to where I have NEVER felt unsafe - even on dark streets in the middle of the night. I love it there, and already want to go back.
Have fun!
I've seen the pocket WiFi suggestion, where would one go about finding one for rent/buy?
Also try one of those restaurants that let's you catch your own fish and then the chefs prepare for you any style. Neat thing that's different.
Hahaha I went to this one... I found that I had more success when I just violently threw the hook into the water and ripped it across the surface at a high rate. The idea was to hook an unsuspecting fish through the back. It worked better than waiting for the fish to bite. The staff and patrons were mortified.
