Hi all,
I have a trip to Japan in May for 2 weeks with my partner. We have started to look at planning and we are a bit blown away with the information (so much we dont know what to do)
Would love to hear from anyone who lives or has been to Japan!! Advice, Opinions, what to see, what to skip, where to find those little shops down a side alley that only locals know about. What exotic foods to try, how not to panic when you find the train you just got on is not going to where you think it is!!
Does anyone know about cheap options to ship goods (i already know im going to buy too much stuff)
Would be eternally grateful to anyoe who can chime in with anything, no matter how small or trivial you think it is!!!!
Alyssium
Holiday to Japan HELP opinions, recommendations, ANYTHING!!!
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alyssium
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Holiday to Japan HELP opinions, recommendations, ANYTHING!!!
xx alyssium xx
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Blaster
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A JR Rail Pass is a definate must. It makes things so much easier when travelling on the trains, and it saved me a heap of money too.
Trips to Tokyo Tower (during the day for the obervation platform - and a trip back at night when it is all lit up ^_^) and the Meiji Shrine are a good place to start sightseeing while in Tokyo.
Akihabara is also a good place to go walkies, and is very close to Tokyo. While in Tokyo he Yamanote JR line is your friend
It only goes in a circle, so you can't get lost on it, plus it has some great stops including Shinjuku (viewing at night is awesome, and some high-rises stay open until about 9pm so you can go up and take piccies) Shibuya and Shinagawa. Some great places to visit whilst you get comfortable with the trains ^_^
Jojakkoji temple in Kyoto is also a great plce to visit. They have some *amazing* gardens. one tip though - if you are going to be travelling to Kyoto on the bullet trains, try to reserve your seats well in advance (I'm talking days) otherwise you will find that all of the non-smoking seats will probably be all booked out. Riding for 3 hours with a car full of smokers is not much fun at all
If you have any other question (or if you want to see some pics of a couple of the places I mentioned) feel free to drop me a PM ^_^
You will have a great time - Japan is awesome!
Trips to Tokyo Tower (during the day for the obervation platform - and a trip back at night when it is all lit up ^_^) and the Meiji Shrine are a good place to start sightseeing while in Tokyo.
Akihabara is also a good place to go walkies, and is very close to Tokyo. While in Tokyo he Yamanote JR line is your friend
It only goes in a circle, so you can't get lost on it, plus it has some great stops including Shinjuku (viewing at night is awesome, and some high-rises stay open until about 9pm so you can go up and take piccies) Shibuya and Shinagawa. Some great places to visit whilst you get comfortable with the trains ^_^Jojakkoji temple in Kyoto is also a great plce to visit. They have some *amazing* gardens. one tip though - if you are going to be travelling to Kyoto on the bullet trains, try to reserve your seats well in advance (I'm talking days) otherwise you will find that all of the non-smoking seats will probably be all booked out. Riding for 3 hours with a car full of smokers is not much fun at all
If you have any other question (or if you want to see some pics of a couple of the places I mentioned) feel free to drop me a PM ^_^
You will have a great time - Japan is awesome!
Hey Alyssium
We had a similar subject before.
Here is a link with places I mentioned that are nice to visit:
http://www.anime-beta.com/phpBB/viewtop ... ht=#308559
It did have some other great places to visit listed throughout the post, so you might want to read through the complete post.
Is there any particular place (city) you will be visiting that you already know of? It might help to give you an idea what to visit and where to go while there. ^_^
Best bet would be though to ask somebody that is over there like Buttrfly, xeno or who lived there before for those "hidden" shops. They might know and also somebody that been over there and found one or more.
Shipping things cheap back home you might want to ask somebody that lives over there that ships things overseas since they might would know. I would imagine airmail (or was it SAL) would be cheapest but I might be mistaken.
I do agree with Blaster, if you plan on traveling around in Japan make sure you have a JR Rail Pass (but depends on how long you staying since it might be cheaper just to purchase tickets at station it all depends on how much you travel) and if you want to take Shinkansen or a fast train or travel throughout Japan purchase the ticket for that maybe even in your own country through a company since that might be less expensive (not sure about Australia but I know US and Germany are).
I hope you find your answers you looking for so you ready before you go to Japan. ^_^ I personally took my trips more of an adventure, especially my first time I went and even got lost at one point but it was fun since I found several things that I wouldn't of found if I hadn't. lol
We had a similar subject before.
Here is a link with places I mentioned that are nice to visit:
http://www.anime-beta.com/phpBB/viewtop ... ht=#308559
It did have some other great places to visit listed throughout the post, so you might want to read through the complete post.
Is there any particular place (city) you will be visiting that you already know of? It might help to give you an idea what to visit and where to go while there. ^_^
Best bet would be though to ask somebody that is over there like Buttrfly, xeno or who lived there before for those "hidden" shops. They might know and also somebody that been over there and found one or more.
Shipping things cheap back home you might want to ask somebody that lives over there that ships things overseas since they might would know. I would imagine airmail (or was it SAL) would be cheapest but I might be mistaken.
I do agree with Blaster, if you plan on traveling around in Japan make sure you have a JR Rail Pass (but depends on how long you staying since it might be cheaper just to purchase tickets at station it all depends on how much you travel) and if you want to take Shinkansen or a fast train or travel throughout Japan purchase the ticket for that maybe even in your own country through a company since that might be less expensive (not sure about Australia but I know US and Germany are).
I hope you find your answers you looking for so you ready before you go to Japan. ^_^ I personally took my trips more of an adventure, especially my first time I went and even got lost at one point but it was fun since I found several things that I wouldn't of found if I hadn't. lol
Kata
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jcaliff
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In general, don't stress out about trains. If you go the wrong way or miss a stop, just get off at the next stop and go back. Tickets are read going in and out of the station, so theoretically you could ride in circles all day as long as you don't leave the stations. Shinkansen are the only real exception, and then you just need to worry about the Green car - if you have a JR pass, you don't want to ride the green car since it's expensive reserved seating. Other than Akihabara, the main anime shopping area in Tokyo is the mall at the Nakano Broadway shopping center.
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cutiebunny
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I think that it might be best to know what you really want to do. There are some people that just want to shop while on vacation, others that want to see culturally important areas, and some that want to do both.
If you want to see culturally important sites, then, a stop to Nikko would be recommended. That's where the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate is buried and his tomb is quite elaborate. Also, head to up Takayama. It's up in the mountains(as the 'yama' would indicate) but there are some interesting buildings there. There's a temple(sponsored by Mitsubishi) that dates from the 9th century. Additionally, there's a nice long hike in the area that will take you by a variety of nice shinto and buddhist temples. I also recommend Miyajima Island and the walking tour there. There's a temple there with an Annapaman statue
I also recommend Tsumago(the town there dates to about 1500 years old) but it is difficult to access unless you have a car.
Shopping-wise, if you're looking for anime, then the Nakano Broadway section of Tokyo is the best. Just be forewarned that you can not take pictures of any of the items on display in the windows. It was also good because there's a discount clothing store(near the anime/dvd portion of the mall) that has a lot of nifty Engrish shirts at about 500 yen a piece.
As for shipping, imo, the best way is just to pay the additional baggage fee. Bring along an extra bag with you. I think most airlines charge US$50 to transport an additional bag, but you'll get your items the same day you leave instead of having to wait 6-8 weeks and pray that it gets to you in the same condition that it does. Just be advised - if an item says 'fragile', a baggage carrier will throw it extra hard. I work at the airport, and can tell you that the 'natural wear and tear' is not natural at all.
If you want to see culturally important sites, then, a stop to Nikko would be recommended. That's where the first shogun of the Tokugawa shogunate is buried and his tomb is quite elaborate. Also, head to up Takayama. It's up in the mountains(as the 'yama' would indicate) but there are some interesting buildings there. There's a temple(sponsored by Mitsubishi) that dates from the 9th century. Additionally, there's a nice long hike in the area that will take you by a variety of nice shinto and buddhist temples. I also recommend Miyajima Island and the walking tour there. There's a temple there with an Annapaman statue
I also recommend Tsumago(the town there dates to about 1500 years old) but it is difficult to access unless you have a car.Shopping-wise, if you're looking for anime, then the Nakano Broadway section of Tokyo is the best. Just be forewarned that you can not take pictures of any of the items on display in the windows. It was also good because there's a discount clothing store(near the anime/dvd portion of the mall) that has a lot of nifty Engrish shirts at about 500 yen a piece.
As for shipping, imo, the best way is just to pay the additional baggage fee. Bring along an extra bag with you. I think most airlines charge US$50 to transport an additional bag, but you'll get your items the same day you leave instead of having to wait 6-8 weeks and pray that it gets to you in the same condition that it does. Just be advised - if an item says 'fragile', a baggage carrier will throw it extra hard. I work at the airport, and can tell you that the 'natural wear and tear' is not natural at all.
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alyssium
- Eiketsu - Mastermind
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Arigato!!!!
Thank you so much to everyone who replied, i took notes for everything. Its great to see what other people consider (and what I might have completely overlooked)
Kaona I would love to meet up with you if we could tee it up.
We will be in Japan from the 14th-28th May and mostly staying in Tokyo (close to Ginza i believe) we got a fantastic price to stay at the Mercure hotel.
Chris (sacca) will be planning the history/architecture/Mt fuji day trips. I will be the crazy one wanting to go to every single mandarake, spend all day in Akihibara, and pretty much shopping nonstop.
Cutiebunny your recommendation to take an extra (empty) bag is a really good one, thanks I hadnt even thought of that and your right the extra baggage cost probably will be less then shipping.
The Ghibli Museum and Toei are musts on my list, though finding them has me a little more concerned. Chris found a japan Flea Market Book in Kinokuniya which he is pouring over at the moment too.
I think the hardest thing might be cramming in everthing into 2 weeks
Alyssium
Kaona I would love to meet up with you if we could tee it up.
We will be in Japan from the 14th-28th May and mostly staying in Tokyo (close to Ginza i believe) we got a fantastic price to stay at the Mercure hotel.
Chris (sacca) will be planning the history/architecture/Mt fuji day trips. I will be the crazy one wanting to go to every single mandarake, spend all day in Akihibara, and pretty much shopping nonstop.
Cutiebunny your recommendation to take an extra (empty) bag is a really good one, thanks I hadnt even thought of that and your right the extra baggage cost probably will be less then shipping.
The Ghibli Museum and Toei are musts on my list, though finding them has me a little more concerned. Chris found a japan Flea Market Book in Kinokuniya which he is pouring over at the moment too.
I think the hardest thing might be cramming in everthing into 2 weeks
Alyssium
xx alyssium xx
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Belldandy16
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