4 Our Health

Question:

I’m finally getting to go to Japan for the first time this winter, and I need recommendations for pretty much everything: lodging, dining, attractions, night life, transportation, shopping, etc etc. I have an idea for a very loose itinerary, but there are plenty of gaps to be filled in. I’m also hoping the experienced expatriates/travelers can tell me if I’m doing too much or too little.
Also, I haven’t forgotten about the excellent advice from or Slim’s
For a bit of background, I'm 23 and a student (no money!), and I've never been out of the US before. I'm going to be traveling with one friend, and neither of us speaks any Japanese.
Schedule
I suppose the most important question to ask is how many cities should I visit? Having only eight full days, I have been intending to spend most of that time in Tokyo, with a day or two devoted to going to a more out of the way, possibly rural area for the traditional Japanese experience. But will I get bored with a full six days in Tokyo? I’m sure there is plenty to do, but I wonder if some of that time might be better spent elsewhere. That said, I’m definitely not into moving at a frantic pace to try and cram everything into one trip.
Attractions
My first priority is a trip to an onsen/ryokan. Ideally, I’d like to find one in the mountains. Not too crowded, with outdoor pools, and the colder the weather of the area, the better. I don’t mind venturing outside of Tokyo. I would prefer to spend the night in a ryokan, but a hotel with a traditional/rustic feel would be ok too.
As for other attractions, the only things I have in mind currently are the Tokyo National Museum and the Japanese Sword Museum in Shibuya. I would like to see some temples, a Japanese garden, maybe a Kabuki play. This is where I need the most help. It’s probably worth mentioning that my interests skew toward the nerdy (anime, videogames, historical Japan). I also want to visit some bars/clubs, especially those that cater to the young (and the foreign).
Lodging and Dining
At Slim’s advice, I’m going to try and stay at the Hotel New Koyo for the duration of the time in Tokyo. What I really need is a place to stay during the trip outside of Tokyo, preferably a ryokan. For this, I can go as high as $150 or $200 for a night, if it means a more authentic Japanese lodging.
For food, I’m afraid I’ll have to eat cheaply most of the time, but I can probably swing a couple of better restaurants while I’m there. I like most Japanese food, but I’m not very adventurous.
Transportation
I’m flying into Narita. I suppose I’ll need to take a train into the city? There was some debate over rail passes in the last thread. Will I need separate passes for traveling within and outside of Tokyo? Do I get both? Should I buy them in advance?
Shopping
I’m sure some of the SW&D guys can help out with this one. Aside from streetwear boutiques in Tokyo, I’d like to visit some videogame stores (Super Potato?) and anything else that’s cool or weirdly Japanese or whatever. Also, where can I buy souvenirs for my family?
...
Any help is greatly appreciated. If anybody's going to be in Tokyo during these dates, let me know if you want to have a drink or something.

Answer:

As you've said, I'm sure that other members will chime in with some good suggestions.
I love Tokyo - I've always felt very much at home there, and there is always something new to see. However, that being said, it is a great idea to get out and to go somewhere else.
How far you go outside Tokyo really depends on your budget - the further you go (and the faster you travel), the more expensive it gets...
For a taste of a somewhat more traditional and less frenetic Japan, take a brief trip south to Kamakura. Kamakura is one of the former capitals of Japan, and has several nice temples and a large, bronze statue of a seated Buddha. It also has some nice houses and pleasant streets to wander around. You can get to Kamakura on the Yokosuka line for about Y800, if I remember correctly, and the line runs through a number of stations in Tokyo, including Tokyo station itself, or Shinagawa or Shinbashi stations. It only takes about 30 mins, although it's best to avoid rush hour.
Whenever I've been to Kamakura, I've always hopped off the train at Kita-Kamakura (North Kamakura), pottered around a couple of temples, cafes and art and craft shops (there used to be a lovely little place that sold hand-made Japanese dolls, a family-run affair where the little old lady could tell you all about who made a particular doll, what their family speciality was and where they lived), and then walked through the hills and forest to Kamakura itself (about an hour at a leisurely pace). The walk winds downhill past a couple of small temples and shrines and thence to Kamakura itself.
I also suspect that you'll have better luck finding a "genuine" ryokan in Kamakura than in Tokyo. Although the word "ryokan" tends to conjure up images of a small building with a thatched or tiled roof and plenty of exposed wood that has been polished with age, a lot of ryokan in major cities are now large, concrete buildings with many rooms and somewhat impersonal service. Certainly, the rooms are in Japanese style and you sleep on a futon laid out on tatami mats - but they're not the ryokan that you're most likely thinking of.
There's a couple of sites that you could look at to help with finding a ryokan:
- The Japan Ryokan Association ( http://www.ryokan.or.jp/english/ryok...ory/index.html)
- The Japan Ryokan and Hotel Association: ( http://www.nikkanren.or.jp/english/kanto.html)
Both are in English and have sites that are pretty easy to navigate so that you can narrow down the area of your search.
There are a number of other brief trips that could be very enjoyable - Mito, Nikko, Hakone and other such places - all of which are simply limited by the time that you have and your budget.
If you were doing a lot of travelling around Japan, I would recommend that you purchase a Japan Rail Pass - you can get 1, 2 or 3 week passes. They're not cheap - the last time I bought a three week one was about ten years ago, and it cost about $50000 (which was about $700 in Australian dollars at the time). However, it allows you limitless travel on all JR trains in Tokyo (ie not on subways but on pretty much all other trains barring a couple of lines), and limitless travel on all bullet trains barring the very fastest. If you're aiming to travel from Tokyo to Kyoto/Nara and back again, it's probably worthwhile buying a one-week JR pass as the cost of going to Kyoto and back via Shinkansen will basically be the cost of the JR pass. You'll therefore get at least some of your daily travel around Tokyo "free" via the JR pass. Whilst the subway systems aren't covered by a JR pass, from memory you can buy daily passes for the subway systems. There are actually two subway lines in Tokyo - Metro and TOEIC. Regrettably, I don't think that you an buy one pass for both systems, but you can buy a daily pass for Metro and a pass for TOEIC for about Y700 each.
There are plenty of attractions in Tokyo - from large shrines such as Meiji-jingu to the shopping streets of Harajuku, Aoyama, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ginza; from the fish markets of Tsukiji to the electronic superstores of Akihabara; parks such as Shinjuku-gyoen, Yoyogi koen and Ueno koen, to plenty of art and cultural museums (many of which are either in, or gathered around Ueno koen).
It's a great place to visit - have a great time!

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To book a ryokan, check this site: http://japaneseguesthouses.com/index.htm
I haven't used the service but I know the guy that runs this business and he is legit and very helpful and knowledgeable. Drop him an email and he will give you some suggestions.

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For your first time out of country Japan is a weird choice.

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RE: Tokyo train system. Its really not that complicated.
There is the subway system, and the light rail system.
The Subway system is called . It consists of about fourteen different lines, will get you damn near anywhere (or close to it) And you can find more info on it HERE.
There will be a map with pricing(usually in Japanese, occasionally in English) above the ticket machines. If you are smart, you will take an English subway and JR map with you everywhere you go. Any useful guidebook will have them, and you can find/print them online if you don't want to look like a complete idiot. If the map is in Japanese, just cross reference your map against the Japnese map or look for a English table of destinations posted on the wall for pricing.
The cheapest ticket (usually this means getting off within 1-6km of where you start from - usually about three stations) is 110-170 yen depending on the line.
Usually, going from point A to point B on Tokyo Metro is going to be either 190, 230, or 270 yen. Sometimes transferring from one line to another, you'll need to pay a "transfer fee" which you need to buy a seperate ticket for.
This is what the new ticket vending machines look like.
Note: The big button that says "English" is your friend.
This is what your ticket will look like.

A one day pass is 710 yen. This will allow you to travel on nearly all the Tokyo Metro lines with the exception (I think) of a waterfront street car and maybe the line that crosses the rainbow bridge to Odaiba. You don't have to worry about going further than you paid for and having to use a "fare adjustment" machine. Also, you don't have to worry about transfer fees. As far as I can tell, there aren't any when you use the day pass.
When you go through the automated gate, find one with a green or orange arrow, put your ticket in the slot, walk through, and retrieve your ticket as it pops up on the other side. If you are using a one-way regular ticket - the gate will eat your ticket when you reach the destination (assuming you've paid enough to get there).
If not, the gate will "close" a buzzer will sound, and you'll have to A: back out, grab your ticket, and find the fare adjustment machine (usually right next to the exit gates) and pay the difference OR B: Gaijin Smash through the tiny little paddles that try and block you, start speaking in loud English, and walk briskly away. 9 out of 10 times nobody will bother trying to stop you.
Here's a youtube video of some big frat-type guy with horrible hair telling you how to buy a one way ticket on an old metro machine (which you might also run into)
The light rail or "JR" system is run by Japan Railway East Sometimes its more convenient (especially the Yamanote Line - which goes to nearly every major area of interest in the Tokyo Metro area in a loop) but its usually also more expensive. IIRC the "day pass" inside the Tokyo Metro area is 910 yen.
The ticket machines are pretty much the same as for the metro - but there a lot more prices because many of the JR lines go waaaaay out into the countryside. This is how you want to go if you are heading out of town at all.
Here's a map of the JR East rail lines in Tokyo
The JR and Metro lines are not transferrable (except with a new pre-paid PASMO card, which I'm not sure you can get right now)

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*cancels flight*

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LOL, I'm just saying that most people go to europe or latin america, somewhere were english is more common and the culture is more similar. I'm sure you'll have fun just be prepared for intense culture shock.

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You're right, but I think it will help staying in or around Tokyo for most of the trip as I hear it's a lot easier for those who don't speak the language. Maybe Japan would be an odd choice if I were just looking to get out of the country, but I've been fascinated with Japanese culture for years and have wanted to visit it for nearly as long.

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Japan's a great country - for Westerners, it's both comfortable and alien at the same time. Totally foreign in many respects, but also very easy to get around and with the creature comforts that people from the US, UK and Australia typically expect and take for granted.
Despite the language barrier, I suspect that it's a much easier "first-time" country than places such as India or much of Indonesia, for example. I've been to both and despite the fact that I'd been travelling overseas for years at that point, I still felt quite a bit of "shock" in both India and Indonesia. Of course, that one of the aims of travel - to take yourself out of your comfort zone - but it's perhaps a good idea to ease into it a little for a first-time international traveller.
I've met a lot of people whilst in Japan who have come for a holiday almost on a whim - they like the architecture, like Zen, like the writing and poetry, and so they decided to visit although it was expensive and they knew no Japanese. All of them , without hesitation, said that they had a great time.

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Japan is a wonderful place don't worry that you don't speak Japanese many foreigners there don't speak Japanese fluently and do fine. Japanese recognize you are a foreigner and will help you out or just igore you if they don't speak english.
You can take the train in to Tokyo from Narita just make sure you know which station your hotel is nearist to or for $30 you can take the Airport limobus if they stop at your hotel.
8 days is actually not that long and you can spend the entire time in Tokyo or you can take the Shinkansen to Kyoto or Osaka. In Tokyo you are a geek than Akihabara is the place for you and a good place to pickup stuff for your family. Check out Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Harajuku for fashion and youth culture. Asakusa for old Tokyo, Tsukiji fish market, and Roppongi on a Friday or Saturday night :laugh:
You can take the Yamanote train line which is a loop around Tokyo to get to many of the places.
Don't worry have fun, Japan is a great place.

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Bump for more recs?
Journey and Alter: Extremely helpful links, thank you.

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Jeez...
go ahead and not thank me.
:)

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Well I was working on a hand-written letter of thanks which I was going to send you with a bouquet of flowers and restaurant vouchers, but if I can do it over the internet: thank you slim.

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Jeez...
Go ahead and not send a card and vouchers to anyone but slim.
:devil:

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Can anyone recommend a good whale meat restaurant? Sushi restaurants as well? Last time we did something of a ramen tour, and I think this year we want to hit really good sushi joints. The last day of our trip last year we got omakase at a small sushi place near our hotel, and even though it was pretty inexpensive, it was far superior to sushi (for the most part) that I've had in the US.