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.
Well I've never been there myself, but everyone I've talked to about it always say one thing: Make sure you have a lot of money.
I was looking at going to Tokyo, and I noticed there's a very cheap youth hostel in Yokohama, right near the landmark tower. Maybe you want to check that out.
do you know the name of that hostel? thanks
http://www.jyh.or.jp/english/kanto/kanagawa/index.html
I found it on http://www.jyh.or.jp/english/, which is pretty useful.
Doesn't really matter where you stay, transportation is expensive anyway. Asakusa is basically on the edge of Tokyo, Yokohama is a little farther but you can get to Shibuya in 30-40 minutes by train.
As for what to see... well, I guess the usual places would be Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku, Asakusa, Imperial Palace, Akihabara, Roppongi, Tsukiji, Odaiba, Ginza, plus in Yokohama there's Chinatown, Minato Mirai etc. You can probably cram it into a week, or take your time.
Akihabaraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!! :D
If you're only going for a week, blow off Tokyo for at least one day and head out to Kyoto. Tokyo's just a big city. Kyoto's drenched in traditional Japanese coolness.
If you use NARITA airport,
Kyoto is too far to go from Tokyo.
I think it seems good to go "NARITASAN"temple
that is near from airport.
My Jap friends told me that Tokyo it's a safe place, so don't worry and enjoy your trip ^^
From Tokyo to Kyoto,you will pay about 100 dollers and 2.5 hour by shinkansen express.
but you should go to Kyoto.
There are a lot of very wonderful place in Kyoto.
Altogether, I've spent about two months in Japan over the last year and, being a student, I think I can help you out as regards enjoying Tokyo on a budget.
If you've only got a week and you're strapped for cash, there's not too much reason to leave Tokyo. It's a huge and amazing place, and you can very easily spend days and days wandering around, window shopping and enjoying the general ambience. Strolling through Shibuya and Harajuku on a sunny Sunday is about the best way to introduce yourself to the place, and it doesn't cost a penny to do. The east side of Shinjuku is a little seedier (if one of those pushy 16-year-old guys with the impeccable hair and the monstrously expensive suits tries to "recruit" you, take it as a compliment!), but just as interesting. Akihabara has been mentioned a number of times, and if you've got anything in common with the average *chan user then it'll be more fun than any amusement park; Animate and Gamers are great fun to look around if you're an anime fan, and there are more places to buy and play games than you can ever hope to count. Odaiba is great too, but it's more fun with a significant other (if you're there with someone special, make sure you ride the big ferris wheel just after sundown, it's expensive but it's worth it).
>>13 Whoa really intresting, thanks ^^
I'm going to go to Japan this July, so I'm very intrested in those "random thoughts"...
But what about English in Japan? I don't know Japanese at all @__@
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.
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.
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.
Oh, and one more thing.
Don't panic.
And always know where your towel is.
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:
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.
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?
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.
cool pics,Harajuku,Tokyo
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.
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.
>>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.
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
