So I have a week to kill in Japan.

apart from beer and sluts, can anybody recommend an itinenary and some cheap places to bunk?

TIA


ps I dont speak Japanese lol

beer and sluts sounds rad

Japan is awesome... Osaka's aquarium is truly amazing. Make sure you get the unlimited (2 weeks?) bullet train pass and just jet around on that the entire time. There are lots of temples so pace yourself on that but otherwise, no itinerary is fun and engrish works fine! :)

I recall seeing some cool pics from a trip Trog did as well.

I have some stuff at http://trog.qgl.org

ps I dont speak Japanese lol

I personally think you should learn a little of the language before you go to any country.

Japan wouldn't be too bad though... they all speak english pretty much I think, but it couldn't hurt to learn the main phrases.

Just got back from an 11 day holiday in Japan. Japan first off is great.. Lots of trains that go everywhere and majority of them are cheap. As for the rail pass.. the JR rail pass is only decent if you're riding the shinkansen alot or riding trains the length of the country and back.

My suggestion is try and steer clear of the JR rail pass unless it works out cheaper. Majority of trips cost about 200 yen or roughty $2 bucks. For us the JR pass worked out cheaper in the last 7 days of our holiday cause we caught the Shinkansen twice and that adds up to about $280 for 2 trips (JR Rail pass for 7 days is about 283ish).

The bad things about Japan are the lovely aroma of wafting sewerage in nearly all the cities I went to, the f***ing sheer amount of people on public transport (In particular between peak hour about 7-10ish in the morning and 4-7ish in the evening) and the lack of decent food that is easy to find. (Yoshinoya is the win btw cheap bowl of gyu-don for 4 bucks).

As for places to stay.. There's plenty of places that are available I suggest busting into a travel agent and working out accomodation for all the places you wanna stay in. It works out cheaper and saves you alot of hassle (Considering you don't speak japanese)

Alot of people speak rudimentary engrish and you could get away with pointing at a picture of what you want and saying "Hitotsu" (One) for food. Alot of the more major hotels have alot of good engrish speaking bell boys and such which makes it alot less hair pulling.

But yea.. There's my suggestions. Osaka, Tokyo, Kyoto are some of the major cities. Kyoto is handy because it has a foreigner information center in the top of the Kyoto tower (Building over the JR train station).

Enjoy :)

My suggestion is try and steer clear of the JR rail pass unless it works out cheaper.

Yeh for only a week a rail pass might not be worth it.

and the lack of decent food that is easy to find. (Yoshinoya is the win btw cheap bowl of gyu-don for 4 bucks).

Wtf! I don't eat seafood and I found food easy to find everywhere. 7-11 has surprisingly good meals, especially in winter where they have those little pizza doughy things (name eludes me atm).

don't miss Hiroshima and Miyajima, which is an island off the coast of Hiroshima. Awesome stuff. Visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and museum.

JR Passes are brilliant if you're visiting more than one city, and they get you a free ride on the ferry from Hiroshima to Miyajima as well as the ferry is run by JR. JR passes also entitle you to 15-20% off JR hotel rates, which are pretty reasonable anyway.

oh yeah, stay in a ryokan at least once as well.

Meh, I'm talking a decent Chicken Katsu curry, or Gyu-don or Katsudon or non-dodgy Ramen. I never had access to a Microwave so hence my not knowing what 7/11 meals are like.. All I know is that in Osaka they had a like vat of floating s*** and cardboard bowls next to it that seemed to serve as food... I was instantly put of finding anything edible in 7/11. Maybe I was wrong.

Speaking of Ryokan's.. I spent a night in an awesome one in Oji. It's run by a english guy and his japanese missus.. Full japanese experience and awesome brekkie the next morning.

Guesthouse Youganda or something.. I'll look it up and find a link.. Found them through Hostelworld.com

I never had access to a Microwave so hence my not knowing what 7/11 meals are like.

Nah, we spent a lot of time in there buying little rice dealies and sandwiches and stuff. REally cheap easy travelling food.

Japan wouldn't be too bad though... they all speak english pretty much I think, but it couldn't hurt to learn the main phrases.

Hah I thought that people could speak English when I went there too... there was 1 guy in the entire hotel we stayed at who could communicate (not speak) in English and around town there was pretty much no one.

My granddad and I spent a night in Narito and we just caught a bus into town and walked around... it was like in a fkn movie: the most stereotypical Japanese street front with Jap shops of all sorts on either side of this tiny road... fisherman gutting their fish on the street and everyone wearing these awesome Jap clothes. The roads were so narrow that when there was a bend ahead you had no idea what was coming up. So we go around a bend, and no s*** we were at the foot of these steps that led up to a massive temple. So we go up the top of the steps and there is this amazing religious show of some sort with about 200 drummers doing those traditional drum beats - you know the ones with the massive guys with their shirts off smashing these car sized drums on their sides. It was fkn incredible!

Personally, I found Japan to be tedious and not really much of a holiday.. I mean the temples and s*** were great but getting there.. dealing with crowds, dealing with working out the train system and all that s*** was a hassle and took up 40% of the day. My missus is intermediate with Japanese (Did BA (Japanese)) can speak it fairly well and can easily read a number of Kanji, order and generally get her point across granted it's not eloquent some of the time but gets the job done

We had a hell of a time navigating, working out trains, working out where s*** was even with a lonely planet's guide to Japan. If I was a first time tourist, I'd highly suggest an english speaking country if you have no japanese experience.. You'll be standing around 90% of the time looking like a Gaijin and trying to work out s***.

I suggest Europe :P (Maybe it's Jet-lag and my dislike for Japan after the 10th day of being there)

last edited by Morsar at 11:40:48 29/Nov/07

apan is awesome... Osaka's aquarium is truly amazing.

I soo wanna go there! The whale shark tank looks frickin amazing :)

Yeah I went to Japan once and the girl I was sposed to hook up with over there(whom I met at a pub in Australia but couldn't 'close the deal') turned out to be this total nympho sex fiend who had an Aussie husband and a kid about 2 years old or something. Anyway the guy was really nice and I felt kinda almost bad for him but then I didn't feel so bad cos he was going away for a month's work and I was all set to bang his wife silly. It was so funny cos when I was drunk this chick asked me to get rid of this other guy that was hanging around hassling her and I said "sure" cos I totally roll like that y'know but then I ran into him without knowing it was him when I was drunk and told him how i hooked up with this chick who ended up being married with a kid and then lo and behold he was the guy!! Anyway I got pretty drunk and I can't quite remember what ended up happening but lol, y'know, lol!



last edited by IncrEdible_vEgetable at 11:57:52 29/Nov/07

ahahahah

Get some alcoholic, stinky, douche-bag friend to come stay and enjoy the booze and sluts with you :D

normally its not the language learning thats the problem.. its learning the accent. its like when a scot speaks to you, dunno what the f*** hes on aboot.

you'll be more likely to communicate with teenagers over there, basically all schools teach english there, but don't rely so much on adults having as much english language ability. but you should be fine.

I going head to Japan for my first time on February 2008 for skiing off sopporo on north Japan.

f*** yeah Japan rules.
Osaka aquarium for sheezy

I was pretty happy just walking around the place taking in how different it is. Next time I go I'd definitely like to go a bit deeper but for a first trip, just seeing the cities and country was pretty cool with me.

Akihabara I think its called. Its the city block full of electrical stores and porn shops. Perfect for ya buddy

haha actually now u mention that probably the single most underwhelming part of Japan was Akihabara :/

Probably cos its hyped by people that have never used the internet or something?

also I couldn't find any panty filled vending machines either. I did however find a vendy with ciggys or beer every like 20m tho. seriously! Bout $3 for a deck and Asahi is as cheap as XXXX <3 Japan.

ooh actually now I mention it... goto the Asahi brewery in Osaka!~! U get like 15mins of all u can drink at the end... AND complimentary prawn snacks :O

Panty filled vending machines.. I want to know if these actually exist.. I actually made a special trip out to the Toyko red-light district and couldn't find anything after an hour walk around.. I wanted dirty vaccum sealed undies for friends

yeah akihabara sucked. I got motion sickness from all the people walking past (probably cos they all looked the same). If you make it to Hiroshima have a look at the peace park museum and the genbaku dome which is a building that was left untouched after the bomb hit it (that is if you're interested).

Probably cos its hyped by people that have never used the internet or something?

heh yeh, I was completely bored about about 30 seconds there as well.

also I couldn't find any panty filled vending machines either.

b2 told me there's like only one of these left in all of tokyo

i was there overnight when heading to NL.. couldnt get out of there fast enough
nearly choked on the milk however did have a good time dressing up like a shogun and watching a ninja movie on tv (with pics)

like this?
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4363/img1442se4.jpg

Stop tap dancing aroung the real issues......

f*** some japanese bitches and make em scream kawaii or whatever the f***

haha reload I have a very similar photo of myself

I did Uni exchange in Tokyo for a year. Saw heaps of places in Japan.

If you are there for a week and have limited Japanese skills, best way to go is to get the week long rail pass. The way to get the most out of it is by using the bullet train. bullet train costs over 100 bucks per ride, so after 2 trips its paid for itself. you can get between Tokyo and Osaka in 2-3 hours and Kyoto is under half an hour away from Osaka.
Working on the assumption that you have 6 days, I would spend three in Tokyo, 1 each in Kyoto and Osaka and a final day in Hiroshima.

In tokyo, one day hit up the north east of the yamanote line (the main circluar train line in Tokyo. It includes akihabara (your own personal geekiness will dictate how many hours you will enjoy here) and also asakusa which has the best temple in Tokyo.

Another day could be spent on the eastern side of the yama no te line. First up Shinjuku, over a million people a day pass through this station, the west side of the station is the business district which has the tokyo metropolitan office, best view of the city on a clear day. East side holds the entertainment district and also the red light area, kabuki cho. although I would recomend steering clear with little japanese skills, it is the gangland of japan and the japanese idea of adult entertainment is rather different from our own, PM me if you want to know more.

then next station along is Harajuku, while it holds the stereotypical quirky fashion, it also has high end fashion right there (many of the high end fashion places have wicked architecture if it interests you) and some cooler stuff further down the same road. Also at harajuku station, on the other side is the best shrine (shinto temple) in Tokyo (meiji) which is definately worth a look.

Next station along is Shibuya from here which holds the worlds busiest street crossing (can get a good view of it from the starbucks) and some really cool places for eating and shopping. It is the other entertainment district with a slant towards 16 to 30 year olds and was my local hangout. it has the greatest 1 dollar sushi train place in all of japan for value and quality.

Ebisu is the next station again and it has the Ebisu beer factory/museum. It has a beer hall in the museum that you can get very cheap ebisu (premium japanese beer) in different flavours and saporro beer also, great gift shop with beer flavoured caramels and good steins etc.

I can give you directions to some of the cooler places to go in each district as there is no street names and it can be hard to find the good places.


3rd day in Tokyo, you could go to disneyland if thats your game. A day trip to Nikko, japan's national treasure. This place is amazing. When Tokugawa took over Japan in the 1600s he ordered this collection of shrines and other buildings be built up in the mountains with no expense spared. Its only a 2 hour or so train ride from tokyo and really is a magical experience you can just imagine ninjas jumping through the trees up there. Explanation doesnt really do it much justice but its truly cool. PM for more details if youd like.

Osaka, while tokyo is the main part of Japan, Osaka is the cheeky little brother of Tokyo, it is famous for producing many comedians, having a completely different dialect, different foods (takoyaki, okonomiyaki) and people stand on the other side of escalators in osaka. Massive rivalry between the two cities.
Here Nanba is worth a look, its the osakan entertainment area, but vastly different from tokyo's, really cool. Osaka castle is here too, the inside has been converted to an interesting museum that details the life and battles of the guys who lived there, which is a big part of japanese history. Also it has golden gold fish on the roof! There is a place called spa world in Osaka, which is one of my favourite places in the world, imagine an 8 story hot spring amusement park with with a water park on the roof! its the best example of japanese over spending in the 80s but is a seriously rad place.

Kyoto, one of the old capitals of Japan, it has a ridiculous amount of temples and a rad summer castle of a former shogun. I have been there a few tiems and the most efficient way to see the best temples is to take the philosiphers trail which has some good temples on the way. highlights include, the golden pavillion (guy took over japan, built himself a house covered in gold leaf overlooking a lake with man made islands of a minituare japan), the silver pavillion (ran out of cash, never got made silver, but great garden/view of kyoto). Best of all is Kiyo mizu dera (spring water shrine) best view of kyoto and breathtaking, honestly my favourite shrine in all of Japan. At night check out Gion, gives the feel of older style japan and if you get there aroound 5 you might just catch some geishas going to work, they look rad and its a pretty rad area.

Hiroshima, is another couple jof hours from kyoto/osaka on the bullet train. It is really good to go the awesome museum there about the atomic bomb, its a really great experience. and there is a german building there that was only 500 metres from the detonation point thats shell is still standing since the blast. Its a pretty sobering experience, but one you wont forget if you go.


Accomodation, In tokyo there are a few good places, if only males are going you can stay in a brand new capsule hotel in shinjuku (biggest one in japan, right next the station super convenient) for 35 bucks a night or so. this capsule hotel is really good and i have had a mate stay there before. If not there are a couple of other decent places that arent as central or cheap but you get a room (PM me). Osaka, you can stay at spa world overnight, if not there are places again.
Kyoto, I recomend a place called the gojo guest house, you can get private or shared rooms quite cheaply.Run by a rad guy and his wife, he lived in aus for a while. Downstairs in this place they run a cafe/bar and they will lend you bikes and generally really cool.

That is by no means a definitive guide but just what i would suggest from my own travels and seeing friends/family coming to visit in japan for shortt stays and what they enjoyed most. PM if you want any more details on anything.


last edited by aP at 10:29:28 30/Nov/07

last edited by aP at 10:30:25 30/Nov/07

last edited by aP at 10:33:56 30/Nov/07

for those interested, Im here. Thanks aP and others for the most raddest tips and the emails.

first, Japan rocks. Since Friday Ive been to Osaka, Hiroshima and now am in Tokyo where I am chilling for a few days.

Also to the dude who whinged that the joint stinks and trains were a hassle etc HARDEN THE f*** UP. So far its been a piece of piss. I have had everybody help me from random Canadians to Hong Kong Chinese to Japs.

I have had pretty much no problems communicating with locals and all I got is the little Lonely Planet 15$ phrasebook. I just say wakarimasen lol

I swear I havent smelt s*** all maybe the odd rotten prawn/trash smell and the food is ace. I just walk into random noodle joints (the ones with towels over the door) and point at what someone else is eating or point at the picture and say ichi kudasai ARIGATO fkn easy. and the stuff is cheap as I pay between 300-600\ and get an awesome feed.

Oh yeah and I skipped the JR pass cos I wanted to ride the NOZOMI but I say to others if u want to ride the NOZOMI just buy the extra ticket because JR pass is still way cheap. yes I am stupid. oh yeah beers are f***en 150\ a pop at the MFin 7-11. I been scoring Asahi draft it seemed like a good gaijin drop.

anyway Ive done this all fairly cheap (except for trains cos I didnt buy the JR pass) so if anybody wants some tips PM me.

so yeah the whole Japan is expensive myth is total bulls***.

I'm scheduled to goto Fukuoka in Janurary for a week then upto Tokyo.. perfect timing on thread!

I want to go so bad but I really cant speak japanese except for a few words i've picked up despite 6 years of lessons in schools. im going to do classes again in TAFE this year so hopefully in a year or 2 I can go over and have blast