Visiting Japan

[JokerD]

We're not the only ones who think that way, the latest review :

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by JokerD

We're not the only ones who think that way, the latest review :

Next time we go there, I am bringing her home with me.

[Haak]

Now I'm starting to feel sorry for that girl for having to deal with you lot.

[SaintessHeart]

Originally Posted by Haak

Now I'm starting to feel sorry for that girl for having to deal with you lot.

What the hell do you mean by that. SH-niisan is a good guy! And JokerD is only interested in booby traps - I apologise for his bad taste and lack of far-sightness in girls.

She is a genki dojikko type. Abit blur with lots of energy with her - guarantee to brighten someone's day. I can't remember if it is her or her cousin that is the same age as me, I pray not her though. That'd be outright heinous; I had enough of girls being older than me.

[Samari]

Hey there. Me and my girl are traveling to Japan in three days. This is the trip I was talking about a while back. We are both in our late twenties and looking to have a good time. We will fly in from Kong Kong to Tokyo on the 14th and then go to Kyoto on the 17th, and then arrive at Osaka on the 22nd. We'll be leaving from Osaka Kansai International on the 24th.

I'm having some issues with understanding the best methods to get around via transportation. The entire last week I've been thinking where to go and what to see in each respective cities given the limited time that we have. I've been to Tokyo and Kyoto before, but it was only once and I wasn't necessarily in charge of the logistics of the trip as I was with someone else who was living there at the time. This is essentially seven years later and I've forgotten a lot.

There are the places in each city that I'm boarding/staying at:

Tokyo: Nice place near Nankanosakaue Station. Close to Shinjuku Station and Nakano Station as well.

Kyoto: Kyoto Dai-Ni Tower Hotel. This is essentially right outside of Kyoto Station.

Osaka: Our place here is located pretty much in the middle of Kyobashi Station and Noe Station in the Joto Ward.

I'm pretty sure I know how to get to my initial place in Nakano from the Haneda Airport. But after that I'm still looking to getting from our place in Nakano to Kyoto and then from Kyoto to Osaka I'm not sure how to go about it. I didn't get a Japan Rail pass as I don't believe I was going to spend enough money on transportation to warrant the cost of it for two people. Also, I don't believe there is a pass that goes from Tokyo to Osaka. Unless I'm wrong. I think i would have had to purchase two separate passes per person, if that is even possible. There is still time I think to go to Hong Kong and maybe get a rail pass if it's a good idea. But I think I'd be fine. Let me know if I'm wrong about it.

Still looking into what I want to see and do each city. My girl wants mostly to do shopping and try food. She has a very modern sense of exploration I guess. For me personally I'm on the fence on whether I'd want to see more historical aspects of each city and/or just dive into what each city has to offer in terms of modern sensibilities. For Tokyo I think we'd just have enough time to explore central. I don't know. A few things in Tokyo I want to see are the biggest manga shop they have, biggest Gundam shop (friend wants me to buy him something), anime toy shop, best maid cafe, New Era hat store, Yoyogi Park and maybe any other cool public parks, Tokyo Tower, Tokyo University, anime shirt stores, and the best stationary/art supply stores. I'm hoping/guessing I can find that in mostly central Tokyo. Food for me is up in the air. I think my girl already has some good ideas.

As for Kyoto I know I want to see the Fushimi Inari Shrine. Still looking around as to what else I want to see. Again, I'm sure my girl wants to focus on food tasting and upscale shopping there. I know Kyoto has a very large history aspect as I went temple exploring last time I was there for like a day.

Osaka I have no clue.

Anyways, I know that is long, but I'm kind of in a rut. I'll be researching more in the meantime. I appreciate any helpful feedback you can provide. Thanks.

[Guardian Enzo]

You have a lot there and I'm kind of swamped at the moment, but as for getting from Tokyo to Kyoto you'll want to take a Shinkansen. You could buy the JR Pass (which you must buy in the US) for 7 days for about 285 per. If you had it run from, say the 17th it would cover your Tokyo to Kyoto and Kyoto to Osaka, plus any local JR trains you take. I don't know if it'd pay for itself in your case but it is convenient.

The other factor is that Kyoto and Osaka are only 14 minutes on the Shinkansen, and 30-40 by a regular express. Not super expensive or difficult as a stand-alone ticket.

[Samari]

Thanks. Looks like time ran out for me and the JR Pass. Hopefully everything breaks around even.

Quick question. I was thinking about getting a PASMO/SUICIA card. Can either IC card be used to board the JR East lines in Central Tokyo? I keep getting conflicting information. Or I just don't get it.

[Guardian Enzo]

Yes, either a Pasmo or Suica is fine on any of the local lines - you really only have to worry about which one if you live here and want to get a commuter or student pass. Depending on how you choose to get from the airport into Tokyo you might find a combo deal somewhere for airport transit and a Pasmo/Suica or subway card.

Out in Nakano you're going to be convenient to Nakano Broadway, which has quite a few shops that will be of interest - the Mandarake there has a huge manga and doujin selection. You'll presumably want to go to Akihabara, where Toranoana and Melonbooks will be the biggest manga/doujin shops. For T-shirts I'd go to the Cospa "Gee Store" in Akiba. Can't really help on maid cafes - I avoid them like the plague. For Gundam, you'd probably want to go to Odaiba and G-Front.

Kyoto is an endless list of can't miss sights. I'd certainly go to Kiyomizudera, Fushimi Inari, maybe one of the Imperial Villas (you need to reserve online). Mt. Hiei would be a good day trip, and if you want to see a bit of village life you can reach Ohara or Kibune in less than an hour from central Kyoto. Considering you have four full days there you might want to consider Nara, too, which is roughly an hour or a bit less from Kyoto (another half-hour to Horyu-ji, the temple with the oldest wooden buildings in the world).

As for Osaka, I like it but for me it's mostly about eating and just generally checking out the nightlife. The Namba area is the best-known spot for restaurants, izakaya and general nightlife.

[DonQuigleone]

I just got back from Japan, so I have a few tips:

1. Transport wise, you can pretty much get anywhere by train. I wouldn't worry overly.

2. If you want to eat fancy, make sure you choose LUNCH time. A lot of restaurants are half the price at lunch, so you can get real bargains.

3. Big cities in Japan like Tokyo and Osaka are way nicer at night. I'd leave wandering around Shibuya, Shinjuku or the like for night time. It's also easy enough to spend the day in Kyoto and the evening in osaka, as I found Kyoto didn't have much to do at night.

4. Kyoto is tricky to see everything in as all the major sights are ringed around the city. By far the best is the Fushimi Inari shrine. Definitely see that!

Have a great time!

[Samari]

Thanks for the information folks. We arrived in Nakano last night with medium difficulty. Things got easier as we got to our place. For our first day a lot of the activities, or places we looked into are close to Shinjuku. So we might spend a lot of the day around there. I would love to still stroll around at night with the time we have. Here is a list of things close to Shinjuku that I had researched. My girl doesn't really care other other than having an opportunity to go to stationary stores/art stores/general shopping.

- Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
- Japanese Sword Museum
- Omoide Yokocho
- Isetan Shopping Store
- Takashimayo Shopping store
- Odakyu Shopping store
- Sekaido Shinjuku: huge art store spanning six floors
- Yodobashi Camera
- New Era Tokyo (hat store I wanted to go to)
- Yuzawaya Shinjuku: craft store in Shinjuku

Stuff in Shibuya

- Meji Shrine in Yoyogi Park
- Hachiko exit with the famous Shibuya intersection
- Center Gai
- Tokyo University Komaloa Campus
- Shibuya 109
- Daiso Harajuku
- Oriental Bazaar

I'm guessing that will cover a lot of ground the first day and a half. Might switch it up midway and head east to go to Ginza which I want to do. Roppongi might be nice if I was a single guy LOL. Might go over there and check out Roppongi Hills. Anyways, I'm looking to have fun today. It's morning and I'm about to head out.

I will need to buy a Shinkansen ticket from Tokyo to Kyoto for Monday. So I'll have to figure that out and hopefully get it done by tomorrow. Thanks again for the comments.

[Guardian Enzo]

OK Oriental Bazaar is actually in Omotesando. But that's a very nice area to stroll and shop, so your partner will likely enjoy it.

As for the Shinkansen tickets, the easiest thing will be to just go to the ticket office at any large JR station (like Shibuya).

[Samari]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

OK Oriental Bazaar is actually in Omotesando. But that's a very nice area to stroll and shop, so your partner will likely enjoy it.

As for the Shinkansen tickets, the easiest thing will be to just go to the ticket office at any large JR station (like Shibuya).

Thanks. I'll look to do that tomorrow.

Went a lot of places today. Mostly shopping around Shinjuku, Harajuku, and Shibuya. My feet are killing me.

[Samari]

I need help trying to put together my plan for getting from Tokyo to Kyoto. I know I have to take a bullet train/Shinkansen. The check in time for my hotel in Kyoto is Tuesday at 2pm. So I will be leaving the city on Tuesday, not Monday.

I'm thinking about buying a ticket today which is Sunday. Maybe tomorrow, but I'll probably do it today. Right now it's about 10:30am. I've been doing some research and I think I'm fairly comfortable in terms of "how" to buy a ticket and "where", but I'm confused about the timetables and schedule. I tried going to a few different sites and I just can't make sense of all of the symbols incorporated with Kanji. It's really confusing for me. Even the "English" schedules.

When I go to purchase a ticket I think I'm going to go for two tickets that are reserved and in the non smoking section. That is all we really want. We would want to leave the station, whichever one we leave from, around noon I guess.

So I'm guessing we'll take the JR Central Tokaido Shinkansen to Kyoto from Tokyo. We're located right now near Nakano-Sakaue station. So we could take the M line to Tokyo Station and leave from there. Or we could take the M line to Shibuya and then take a JR train to Shinagawa. I think I'll just take the M line to Tokyo and have our train leave from there.

If someone could help me with figuring out the time table schedule I'd appreciate it. I used this site and I think I at least have us covered for our trip regarding all the details on when to leave.

http://www.tabi-o-ji.com/go/sche/result/?q=94snR0n

At the same time it would be great if I knew how to read the official PDF from the JR Central website. Just in case something goes wrong I could whip it out on my phone or look in the station and read it. Also for future purposes.

http://english.jr-central.co.jp/info.../westbound.pdf

[Guardian Enzo]

Just go to Hyperdia. It's in English and very easy to navigate, self-explanatory.

All seats are non-smoking so you don't need to worry about that. From your hotel the Marounouchi Line goes directly to Tokyo Station - that is indeed the easiest way to get there. I takes about 2:15 from Tokyo to Kyoto on the Nozomi, the fastest (and most expensive) Shinkansen. The Hikari takes about 2:45, and the Kodama about 3:45. Prices go down as you slow down.

[Samari]

Thanks. I went to an automated machine. Everything seemed to work out okay. Looks like I'm getting on the Nozomi according to the time duration on the ticket.

By the way I went to Harajuku Station today. It was a Sunday. Got there around noon. And I didn't see any kids in costumes! I was wondering what was going on. I remember the last time I was there Sunday seemed to be the day that all of the young folks went out and cosplayed. I was looking forward to seeing some cool costumes, but there wasn't anything. I went ahead and checked out the Meiji shrine. Came back and still nothing. Did it happen much earlier and conclude before noon? Or was there something else going on?

[Guardian Enzo]

That doesn't happen nearly as much as it used to. The big cosplay event now is at the Tokyo Dome, and you have to pay to get in.

[Samari]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

That doesn't happen nearly as much as it used to. The big cosplay event now is at the Tokyo Dome, and you have to pay to get in.

That is weird. All of the kids just decided to stop doing it? But why?

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by Samari

That is weird. All of the kids just decided to stop doing it? But why?

They were starting to get creeped out by being compulsively photographed by hundreds of gaijin tourists. Also, someone figured out they could make money instead of giving it away.

[Samari]

Originally Posted by Guardian Enzo

They were starting to get creeped out by being compulsively photographed by hundreds of gaijin tourists. Also, someone figured out they could make money instead of giving it away.

Thanks for the information.

Went to Kyoto. In Osaka now at a sharehouse. Great times.

[RRW]

Visiting Japan from 4 march - 18 march for study trip. accommodation already provided. Probably will stay on tokyo for most of the time. so yeah just need quick advice and some cost breakdown