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Q: Thinking of going to Japan for a few days. Any suggestions or advice?

Haven't been there but I know some of you have. Jnus, would you be kind enough to give me some ideas re: your experience there?

11 years 50 weeks ago in  Transport & Travel - China

 
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Well, it really depends on what city you plan to go to. If you're only going for a few days, like a week or less, maybe you should just go to Tokyo. There's a lot of fun stuff to do there, lots of modern things to see, but there are also some old things, especially if you take a day trip out of the city to certain places. If you like to see lots of old stuff, maybe you should go to the Osaka/Kyoto/Nara area. They are close together, Kyoto being the old capital, but all of them have some old stuff. Osaka also has some new fun stuff to do. There are a lot of temples in Kyoto, as well as a palace. Osaka has a castle with a museum inside. Nara is famous for the deer, but it also has a museum with Buddhist art and one of the biggest wooden buildings in the world with a giant Buddha inside, which you can actually take pictures of, unlike inside the museums. Actually, you can go to all of those places if you like, spend a few days in Tokyo, then one day in each of the other cities. Tokyo is maybe...3 hours from Osaka? It'll be a bit expensive, over 100 USD to travel that because it's the bullet train (called the Shinkansen), but I feel like that's a cool experience in itself. You should do some research on what you like, because as a young woman, I probably like doing different things, although I saw old and new stuff.

 

As for some practical advice, it would be really great if you could learn the hiragana. It's sort of like a version of their alphabet, and it will come in handy. If you can learn katakana too, I think that's an added bonus. Why should you learn hiragana? In Tokyo, it may not be a problem, because the trains are high tech and they usually write the subway stops in characters, and also in English. They often have stop announcements in Japanese and then in English as well. But there are times when they will not write it in English, but rather in hiragana. If you're good at listening for the name of your stop, you won't need to worry about it. You will be using the subway. Don't worry, there's a button to change the ticket machine screen to English. Katakana is a bonus because they often use that to write English words, so if you can sound it out, you can read it. The subway system can be tricky the first time, but after that it should be simple to use. Pay close attention to which direction you're going! If you go on the wrong side, you might have to go back up the stairs to get to the other side. The tricky part is when you take another type of ticket, like shinkansen, then try to switch it to a subway ticket. I always got that wrong and had trouble because when you put the shinkansen tickets in at the end, it ate them both! I think you're not supposed to put both when you get off the train. You can probably find something online about it? Honestly, the trains were the only part I really hated, because I never quite figured them out and never knew if I was getting the right ticket or the best deal, but I digress.

 

A lot of places do take credit, but it's still good to have some cash. You can use your Chinese card (if it has Unionpay) to draw money at the ATMs in 7eleven. They're all over the place, and you can find them on google maps, so I'm sure that won't be a problem for you. Some places even take Unionpay at the register, but then you might not be able to use it that way again on the same day. I only tried it once, and tried to do that again later and it wouldn't work. However, the next day I used it at an ATM and it was fine, so there's probably some kind of limit.

 

Try different kinds of food. I was too shy to eat at a lot of places alone, so I kind of missed out on that. However, I did go to the fish market (I think it's in Ginza) for some fresh fish. Chickened out on eating sashimi, but I did have some amazing grilled salmon. One thing you'll notice is all the amazing desserts they have there. How I missed real dessert. The burgers are good, although small. Be prepared to be shocked at how expensive everything is compared to China (except for a bottle of water, which was surpisingly similarly priced to back home). Believe me, you will have culture shock. People do not stare, cars wait for you to cross the street, employees are attentive and friendly. Remember that people there are super polite, even more than back home (in general, anyway). Hotels have hightech toilets and tiny bathtubs with really high sides (because they like to soak). If you like the hot springs experience, there are plenty of onsen around. If you want to see a show/performance like Sumo or Kabuki, you probably don't have to pay for a "tour package." Most of those shows you can just get a ticket once you get there, the "tour" is a waste of money. If you want to see a concert (I don't know if you like any Japanese bands) you can use a machine at a convenience store. I don't know if you're interested, but if you are let me know, I can find a link with how to use one. Plan ahead to get the most out of your trip, and have lots of fun.

 

I think I wrote enough for now, but if I think of anything else, I'll let you know. Here are some links to see what you can do in those cities I mentioned. It's a really great site.

 

Tokyo: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html

Kyoto: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2158.html

Osaka: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2157.html

Nara: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2165.html

 

This is a good site for finding hotels, if you're interested.

 

http://www.japanican.com/index.aspx

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11 years 50 weeks ago
 
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Shifu

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Go try to watch their sumo wrestling tournament. Also, it depends on certain times of the year they hold festivals throughout Japan. Some of the festivals are run by the Yakuza. You won't be able to get into one of those strip clubs they have their because most all of them are run by the Yakuza. I know the Pride org. was run by the yakuza and they went bankrupt. I heard they had really nice traditional buildings there. 

 

They don't call Japan electronic city for nothing. You should be able to find all sorts of electronics there. It's like an electronic paradise for those of you that like to play with or are interested in technology. You couldn't imagine the stuff they have built already such as robots and roads that light up and play music!

Jnusb416:

First of all, sumo tournaments are only held at certain times of the year. I was lucky enough to see it in January, but you'll have to look it up for specific dates, otherwise you won't see anything. Second, how can the whole of Japan be "electronic city?" Akihabara, a section of Tokyo, is famous for electronics. There are quite a few stores with any kind of electronic you can think of, from the newest camera to old video game cartridges. Of course, Akihabara is also known for anime/manga, maid cafes, and is the home of AKB48, the most popular girl group in Japan. There's a cool store called Don Quixote with tons of cute gifts and costumes, a maid cafe, a big arcade, and the top floor is where AKB48 often performs. Definitely one of the coolest spots in Tokyo.

11 years 50 weeks ago
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11 years 50 weeks ago
 
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Wow Jnusb416! That's way more info that I had anticipated. Thanks so much for taking the time to fill me in on all that.

 

I owe ya one.

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11 years 50 weeks ago
 
Posts: 747

Shifu

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When I lived in Osaka undoubtedly the best region in Japan (Kansai) as Jnus said you have Kyoto, Nara, Kobe all less than 1 hour away by train filled with old Japan. One of fave weekend trips in Osaka was Koyosan which is a village on top of the mountain just outside Osaka filled with buddhist temples and you can stay at one of the buddhist lodgings overnight which is an experience worth having.  

It all depends where you are going Tokyo is amazing nightlife, culture, fashion, electronics and everything in between you can find. Nagoya if you like cars I did a tour of Toyota was awesome. 

I have one word of advice is with the castles of Japan they are dotted all around the place but dont waste your time going to them go to one as they all look alike and have much of the same history the best one is located in Himijie 2hours outside of Osaka. 

 

There is so much to see and do in Japan just for one week but enjoy the most of it while you are in Japan the people are friendly and polite, food is great, lifestyle and culture. How I miss my days in Japan

Jnusb416:

I stayed overnight in a temple in Koyasan, but I didn't mention it because it is like a 3 hour trip from the Osaka/Kyoto area. The scenery is great, it's just the traveling time is a pain for a short trip.

11 years 50 weeks ago
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11 years 50 weeks ago
 
Posts: 1090

Shifu

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Go to Fukuoka down in the south on Kyushu Island. It's much smaller and less crowded than Tokyo or Osaka.

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11 years 39 weeks ago
 
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