Hi guys,
I am planning to go on a trip to Tokyo by myself, and as I have never been there, i have no idea what to expect. I plan to just go to Tokyo, and maybe Yokohama for a day, and want to stay for a week, or maybe two. Do you think this is enough time? Or too much time? I plan to just go to big tourist attractions or shopping malls, and just experience city life.
Also, I plan to stay at a youth hostel, cuz the other big hotels are just way too expensive. Is it a good idea? Is it also a safe place for a girl to be? Also, the hostels that I am looking at are mostly in Asakusa, and it is a bit far away from Tokyo, so do you think it is not worth the money, because it will be too time-consuming and expensive to ride the bus to the center of the city everyday? Just how long should a bus ride from Asakusa to Tokyo take anyway?
Anyway, thank you for helping me.
Not knowing Japanese will be a slight handicap, but there's plenty you'll be able to do without needing to say a word. You'd be shocked at just how many things you can buy by putting coins in a machine - lots of cheap restaurants use a vending machine system rather than having staff handle your money, similarly with a lot of tourist attractions that require tickets, and even in the middle of nowhere I've never had to interact with a human being to buy a train ticket. That said, I would recommend learning all the katakana (the Japanese letters used to transcribe foreign, usually English, words). You should be able to commit them to memory in a couple of hours, especially with the help of something like Slime Forest Adventure (http://lrnj.com/), and they'll come in very useful. Even without any Japanese vocabulary, knowing katakana will let you read a good few menu items at non-english-friendly restaurants and any number of useful signs. It's equally useful to familiarise yourself with the most basic Kanji, so you'll never find yourself standing outside a public toilet looking confused because you can't tell which door is which.
If you don't have a local person on hand to help you out, you're going to want a good guide book. I've been using Lonely Planet's Japan guide, and it's served me very well indeed. They do a more specialised Tokyo guide as well, which I imagine would be even better if you're not venturing far beyond the city.
If you're going in July, be prepared for it to be very hot. Like, regularly topping 37C. Maybe you're from Arizona or something and this isn't a problem, but if you're a northern european like me you might find it pretty draining.
Clothes shopping: buy clothes in Tokyo. Seriously. If you want cool clothes that none of your friends have ever seen before, Japanese labels can't be beat. Running from the northern end of Shibuya up into Harajuku is a rich seam of fashion gold, where anybody with (nearly) any budget will be able to find something awesome. I'm a big fan of Beams, Beams T, Graniph and Mono Comme Ca, so if you're male I recommend going out of your way for them. If you're not, LaForet, F*ret and Shibuya 109 will either cause your credit card to spontaneously combust, or provide you with an entertaining freak show free of charge.
When you're travelling around Tokyo, JR (or any other surface railway) is usually cheaper than the subway, and using the subway is usually cheaper than using a combination of the two.
You don't need to tip for anything.
A lot of people recommend getting a Japan rail pass. It's very good for what it is, but you have to travel a hell of a lot to get your money's worth out of it. If, say, you want to see the whole country in three weeks, it's a good idea. If you want to make a couple of middle-distance excursions and use it to commute the rest of the time, it's not. Getting the Shinkansen without one is very expensive, though, so consider other means of transportation - Tokyo to Kyoto is far cheaper if you take an overnight bus, and you can get to many places faster and cheaper than the train by renting a car.
Another alternative to the rail pass is the Seishun 18 ticket. It won't get you onto Shinkansens or express trains, but it'll give you five days (any five days you like, not necessarily consecutive) of unlimited travel on JR local and rapid services at certain times of the year. Not the ideal choice if you're short on time, since it'll take you a while to get anywhere, but it's a fraction of the price of a rail pass - Y10,000 compared to Y30,000 for a 7-day rail pass - and it'll get you anywhere if you don't mind the leisurely pace. Bring a book, look out the window, it'll be nice.
I can't think of anything else right now.
test
http://kshouse.jp/index_e.html
k`s house Tokyo,it is 1of the best hotel in kyoto
>>14
When you (non-japanese) speak to Japanese,Japanese may avoid to help you. But don't be mad,they don't have oppotunity to use English there,so some people can't speak English well. However,most of japanese are very kind,so they'll help you.
:o sage didn't work. lol it works on 2ch japanese board though. I must learn more about 4ch. :P
anyway,I hope you'll visit Japan & enjoy!!
sage goes in "link" field, just like 2ch, >>19.
oh. Thanks Heaven!!
I've personally heard that the Japaneese are among the most racist people on the planet, especially towards Black folks. Is this true?
Yes, of course a sweeping generalization about the entire population of a country is completely true!
>>22
That's not true.
Black people and white people are basically the same gaijins.
Who they discriminate against is non-Japanese Asian people.
Japan being the wealthiest nation in Asia for some 100 years, they tend to think they are the ruler of Asia the rest of Asian people should follow.
Well, you've probably heard this a billion times.
First of all, Japanese people are generally bad at english conversation. It's not their fault since most of the TV-shows and movies making its way to the land of the rising sun are dubbed. Fear not, however, there is hope.
First of all, I'd get a good point-and-speak book. The one I'd REALLY recommend, which saved my ass countless of times, is the JAPAN - English Edition. The name is a bit hard to look up, so try to find the author Toshiya Enomoto. There's a VERY large mall at the Shinjuku station in Tokyo, I don't remember the name for it though, and there's a very large book-store in it. They stock english-languaged books and you're bound to find JAPAN - English edition there. This book was actually recommended to me by a Brit I met purely coincidentally while riding the subway to Shinjuku.
Secondly, although it seems you found yourself a hostel, I'd recommend looking into New Koyo Inn. This place has most likely been brought up already, but if not... it is THE place to live in when you're staying in Tokyo. The fee is insane, it's somewhere around 20 bucks a night for a, albeit small, bedroom with a traditional japanese fuku and tatame-mats. The floor was just big enough to hold three of me, and the walls are thin as paper, but overall it's a comfortable place.
Also, they have hours where you're free to use the bath... do it, it's a great experience (but don't miss out the larger public bath-houses though, they're awesome). Just don't do my mistake and think you can't pour cold water into the tub. For five days I pained myself through hours of boiling-hot bathing until one of the regulars asked me if it was too hot. Sufficient to say, it's a lot nicer to sit in water that doesn't scald you.
Thirdly, plan your trip. Seriously. I was in Tokyo for nine days and I mostly went around town visiting parks, gardens and the fish-market... that is all fine and dandy if you like that, but consider Akihabara. A trip there could either take several days or a few hours, depending on your interests and ability to comprehend japanese. If you have the time and money, I'd really recommend a visit to Kyoto, it's awesome, but sadly the farther you get from Tokyo, the worse the english becomes.
Oh, and one thing... try not to ask people for directions unless you REALLY need it. It's customary to help people who request it, and you can, even if you don't intend so, really put the stress on someone if they don't know where you're going. I had people calling up friends on their cell-phone, desperate to show that they knew directions.
Tokyo is NOT an easy city to find your way in, but it is tons better now than a couple of years back. The subways all have signs both in Japanese and English and one can easily figure out where to change trains and so forth...
Anyway, hope your trip will be fun and exciting, I know mine was. :)
Oh, and one more thing.
Don't panic.
It's frightening how useful that advice is.
And always know where your towel is.
No, seriously. Lots of bathrooms don't give you any means to dry your hands. It's pretty annoying.
The shop in shinjuku is kinokuniya.
It is biggest in japan.
Hey why would you just stay in tokyo!?!
Tokyo is something that way to similar to places around here in America you gotta check out other citys in japan or it isn't any fun! You should goto a traditional japanese style hotel with the hotspring its very cool and soothing to the soul. While there you just can't stay in tokyo it's may be the most talk about but it isn't the best city to goto if you want to see scenery and see how japan really is like. And you need to ride the bullet train!
(<^.^>)
>>28
That book store in Takamaya? -- Uhh not true. ;;
Here is my list of reccomended visits:
Akihabara (Tokyo) - given you are on 4-ch I am guessing you are into electroics/video games/anime which would be all Akihabara is composed of. Make sure you get to the main Akihabara street (it has Sega GIGO, Sega Club, Hey Entertainment, Taito in terms of arcades and trillions of computer/game/anime stores).
Would you recommend I go to Tokyo Disneyland or Tokyo Disney Sea?
I’m going at the end of July
there are more bigger shop in tokyo now
No. Tokyo Disneyland is exactly the same as the one in California. Disney Sea is very slightly more worthwhile because it's not a direct copy of somewhere you've probably already been, but it's not very exciting.
If you want a good theme park near Tokyo, go to Tobu Zoo on a weekday. I went on a Friday in April, and my girlfriend and I basically had the park to ourselves. It's quite a small park, but it's a lovely place to be and has a far more relaxed atmosphere than Disneyland. It's also got a few really great rides, not least of which is the mighty "Regina", a real old-school wooden coaster which is worth the admission price on its own. And it's also a zoo, obviously.
thank you :D
[it will be too time-consuming and expensive to ride the bus to the center of the city everyday?]
dont worry about that. the train access is perfect there, and it wont take so long from asakusa to the center. also, trains come every 5min
>>27
i hear that you have to bring your own toilet paper as well, as alot of public toilets do not have toilet paper >~<
>>37
oh :o yes,almost every toilets have toilet paper!!!
Is Japan Expensive for Tourists?
http://www.theworldisnotflat.com/is_japan_expensive
this is a good site
hello! everyone,i find a good site
another one
see, this thread is relevant to my interests, as im going there next summer, and i don't want to fuck up my trip.
Agreed Akihabara should be the only thing in ur mind!!! ^_^ All jokes aside just visit as much as you can Japan is very exciting.
The problem with youth hostels is that you need a nightly reservation and if it's full your out of luck and will need to find a hotel so have backup plans if you don't have reservations. Many will let you leave your luggage at the hostel but you may need to either carry or use a train station locker if they don't. Most are dorms and you can't return to your "room" till a certain time. You can easily spend $10-15 a day on train tickes going around the city. If you stick to the Yamanote-sen (green train) that circles tokyo you will tend to not get so lost and there's lots to do at the major stops. Check out Harajuku (on a Sunday), Shibuya, Shinjuku, Akihabara, Ueno, and Ginza areas. Need to use subways to get to Odaiba, Roppongi, Asakusa areas.
Buy or check out from the library a travel book so you are not cold turkey when you land at Narita. Narita to Tokyo station is an hour by express train or direct bus and will cost $30. There is a slower regular train that is $10. Narita is far away from the heart of the city. Do a little research online like at the Japan National Tourist Organization travel site, Japan Rail, Tokyo Q, and others.
You can also spend and easy $10/meal too so it's not a cheap city. Learn some japanese menu items so you can order something. A fall back id that many restaurants have plastic models of their menu in the window so you can point.
It would help to pick up a phrase book so that you can buy a train ticket, ask for directions, order food, buy something, etc.
It will be scarey to be lost so do research for where you want to go. There is a JNTO travel office where they speak english and will give you good directions. The first time I was in Shinjuku station I was lost inside the station and it can be like that so be prepared. Japan is very foreign even if you see a few english words. There is a homeless problem in Japan too and a lot are at Tokyo Station.
If you're spending $10/meal then you haven't discovered ramen yet.
How much is a good hot bowl of ramen ? I'm not talking about those bricks you cook for 3mins.
Im Japanese.
The word "ramen" you said is like this?
http://alma.skr.jp/mtblog/archives/eat/bunzo1.jpg
if so,ramen is $6 or so.
Not OP, but: this is a reassuring thread as I took three years of Japanese and still was a little worried I wouldn't be up to par.
Also, I never thought about going during the cherry blossom season, that's an awesome idea.
and >>29 is right - Tokyo is very Westernized, you should probably check out more than just it.
>>52
lol at people going to japan to try to find authentic "japanese-ness".
If you're interested in history, definitely visit the historical sites, but don't think BIC Camera store isn't Japanese, or that incredibly ugly post-war architecture either. I fucking love that architecture, it's so fugly, and clashes with everything next to it.
remember that japanese men have a very hard time accepting that all girls are not sex toys,
expect to take part in some kind of sex act involving excremates at the youth hostel you're visiting
If going to Harajuku, it's very worth it to plan to spend a lot of time - and find out where your favorite labels' shops are BEFORE you even go to Japan! Sumire's Tokyo Gothic & Lolita Shopping Guide (http://hillieras.ld.infoseek.co.jp/gothloli/shopguide.html) is good if that's what you're going for.
Also, Akihabara. I did not spend enough time there. You should! Explore. The place is a jungle - it's one of the most labyrinthine areas of Tokyo. It's also a paradise for nerds like us. :3
Oh, and convenience store food there is much better than convenience store food here in the US, and is a good way to eat inexpensively.
Hostels seem to be okay-enough places, yeah. Then again, I was with my family, so I never had the experience of staying at a place alone.
go its cool
HELLO JAPANESE
I AM HAPPY YANKEE
Can someone tell me how canned oden became an otaku food staple? Is it because you can have a meal without talking to a human?
cool :D
Harajuku
