Trip to Japan Advice?

[Recyclable]

The best geek shopping is right off the train station in Nakano. Walk under the large arch till you see Mc'Donalds. Walk up the stairs....weep for joy

Please take a picture so I may commence the weeping.:198:

 

[Exo_Kopaka]

Oh, that sounds cool.

First questions I have are should I try for a tour package? Or try on my own (with maybe a tour thrown in)?

YES. By all means you SHOULD take a tour or two. It lets you experience Japan for what it is. A lot of tourists are afraid of things like Shinto shrines and stuff, but being with a guide DEFINATELY helps. When I went to Japan, I travelled with this one company called EF Tours. They really make the best for the budget, and allow a lot of flexability. But I have to warn you you're gonna be cramming.

My advice: Try and stay there for about a month. Japan has this "curfew" or something, where everthing literally dies at 9pm. So its kinda hard to do everything with that "curfew".

More advice: NEVER try to dodge bikes. They try to dodge you, and then you end up getting ran over, like I did. :laugh:

Even more advice: NEVER walk by automatic Pachinko Parlor doors. EVER. It smells and is excessively loud. You can identify Pahcinko Parlors by their consistant sparkly advertising.

Some more advice: If you end up in a McDonald's, buy the Japanese exclusive Teriaki McBurger. Again, I don't know how you'd order this without knowing Japanese, but if you (sorry if I'm a little racy) look foreign, as in, your skin color, then they'll excuse you and try to understand you at their best knowledge. I had A LOT of trouble in Japan, because I'm Asian, and you know how it is. :laugh:

On another note, if you do look foreign, I suggest NOT try to speak Japanese unless you're fluent. They'd laugh at you a lot. But if you're like me, they'd have this look like your in some sorta trouble or danger or being dramatic because of the speed you talk, and then they'll pull off this string of complicated Japanese. I had to stand there like an idiot because I didn't know what the heck they just said. :laugh:

Oh yes, and don't spend too much in Tokyo. It's not that exciting as everyone thinks it is. The more "Japanese" experience is in Osaka and Kyoto. You'll have the most fun there, IMO.

If you want to learn essential Japanese, I suggest you take a class on it. I took a year of Japanese so far, and got through getting lost and taking pictures. One time, I got lost, and I had to ask this old guy for directions. Once he pulled out that magnifiying glass, I knew it was over. :laugh:

 

[HenshinXherO]

LEARN SOME TAGALOG. lol

Learn how to say:

Need to go to the bathroom

and

I wanna go home now!~

 

[toranoko]

BTW, do you know any Japanese yourself?

I could probably understand a bit, but speaking? Uh, no. I'm hoping to study on my own, since there are no local classes. But don't talk unless fluent? Hmph.

I'll look like a foreigner, I'm only 1/4th Japanese and you can't really tell.

Okay, so, Tokyo not as awesome as Kyoto or Osaka. Will remember that.

And thanks a lot. I'm glad I'm thinking about this early, because... a month? I was thinking I'd be satisfied with maybe two weeks. Lot more money to save up. And EF Tours? Are they just for students? Because, I'm looking and it seems I'd have to sign on with an established tour set up by a teacher.

Anyone else have tour recommendations?

Also, if I were to go this on my own, how much money would be good daily budget? I'm sure you could never have /too/ much money, but what would be a safe daily budget for hotel, meals, local travel...?

 

[Igadevil]

Personally, I dislike guided tours* and having to stick to any kind of schedule- the first two times I went to Japan, it was in programs (1-yr study abroad and 3-month...puppet study. No, seriously) but the last two have been self-planned trips, and I find it a whole lot more fun having the freedom to decide if you want to spend an entire day travelling (at your own leisure), shopping, meeting friends, relaxing, etc. On my last trip there, I spent 3-4 days at a friend's wedding, and the last two days of that were tours in Kyoto and Nagahama, which were pretty breakneck- I had been to both those cities before, but for the people who hadn't been to Japan ever, it seemed really rushed (and they complained about it afterwards.)

But, I also 1) speak/understand Japanese well enough to get by on my own (which makes a big difference), 2) I already knew some people there (which makes an even bigger difference) and 3) have been there several times now (so I am super jaded about things like this.) If this is your first trip ever, a guided tour is probably the best way to go, unless you don't like guided tours even in America or anywhere else. The upsides to it are, as Exo said, you will get to see a whole lot more than you would on your own (unless you know specifically what you want to see in advance) and a schedule might help make things easier for you. Even if you go without a huge, comprehensice itinerary, you need to at least have some idea of where you want to go, what you'd want to see, etc. Tours make it easier to get to some places because they already cover transportation, arrangements, etc.

If you go it alone/without a tour group, your daily budget will depend on the hotel you stay at, how you travel (and how much), what you eat, and what you buy. I find, with me, it fluctuated: some days I would spend a lot of money (about $200-300); some days, not so much (Under $30; convenience stores are your friend.) It is possible to see Japan on a fairly tight budget, but it's not exactly easy, and my best advice is to save up a lot of money so you can splurge and enjoy yourself. You don't have to spend an outrageous amount, but it's nice to have enough so you can really have fun (and buy stuff!)

As for the language, the first time I went to Japan I had taken enough that I was somehow able to negotiate my way out when I accidentally bought the wrong bus ticket, so I can't really relate what it's like to go there and not have any clue what anyone is saying (unlike when I went to Europe, and that was on a guided tour.) I would recommend take a crash course of essential words, and bring a pocket dictionary/phrase book along. Keep in mind that the more you speak, the easier it will be to do things on your own, so if you feel totally overwhelmed at the thought than go with the guided tour for sure. It helps to have a few native speaker friends there you can get in touch with in emergencies; barring that, a fluent tour guide works pretty well.

Other things:

-It's rather expensive, but if you're just going for a few weeks I highly recommend getting a JR Pass. It'll make travelling a lot easier, and if you get a three-week pass and travel cross-country (i.e. from Tokyo to Osaka or Tokyo to Hiroshima) 3 or 4 times on the Shinkansen, it's basically paid for itself. On top of that, you can jump on any JR train without having to get a ticket; just show them the pass at the entry & exit windows. It's a great deal if you plan to be travelling around a lot, because the usage is based on time rather than how much you paid for it. I think a 3-week one runs between $500 & $600, but I managed to get about double that out of it just by going between Kobe to Tokyo several times.

-Go to Kobe. It is seriously one of the best places on Earth.

-The place only closes at 9 if you're underage. :laugh: Of course, if you don't find bars/clubs/etc. much fun, it may as well have shut down entirely. If you rise early and are out all day though, you may be too tired by then to care.

-Den-Den Town in Osaka > Akihabara, except where trading cards are concerned.

-Also, look for guide books to Japan; they'll help if you go with or without a guided tour.

*Unless they have the ladies in the cute uniforms with the pinned-on hats. :laugh:

Iga, what company are you gonna work for?

I will be working for JET in Fukushima-ken!

 

[Michael Joe Red Mask]

I will be working for JET in Fukushima-ken!

Damn, you'll be way too far from me!! I'll be in Miyazaki-ken. I'll be in the Tokyo area though for Shougatsu.:buttrock:

What? now we have two HJUers moving to Japan to teach english :laugh:

It's the cool thing to do...especially after graduating from college.:laugh:

 

[Bueno]

I hate teachin' English. The only thing good about it for me is getting girls' phone numbers behind my boss' back. Other than that, it's just a bunch of old businessmen who babble on boring **** about their company or some wiseguy/girl who wants to prove how good their English is by insulting me.

I wish I was able to do more live shows...

 

[Exo_Kopaka]

Yes, as Iga said, you should take a guided tour if this is your first time and you don't know much about Japan or Japanese. It's difficult to find a place to eat as well if you don't know how to read Japanese! :laugh:

Again, teaching yourself Japanese is a bad way to learn it. I highly reccomend a teacher. I mean, people publish books and stuff for reinforcement, and not for learning. If you can, try and get into a class or something that teaches Japanese. It'd help a lot.

As for budgets, my EF Tour all together (with hotels, admission fees, tickets, buses, DINNERS etc) was ~$3,000. I brought $400 for spending, and survived with $70 left over. Keep in mind that EF Tours does a little tweeking and stuff to get cheap prices. Yes, it is for students, but I mean, if you know anyone who's actually a teacher and would like to participate in it, you can get them to rally a few more people and I'm sure you could do it. An English teacher and some old people went with me. I have a friend who doesn't even attend my school, but she lived in Florida and met up with my Japanese teacher and got to go. I don't know how exactly, if you even can, get into an EF Tour unless you know someone who's in it, but I'm just using this as an example.

I do recommend using a few tour books. My friend (that I mentioned above) had a book and on one of our "free days" we were in Kyoto, we actually travelled where no tourists have gone before. We went to a bamboo forest and even that huge torii gate shrine with all those torii gates.

Again, it's very difficult to travel if you don't know a lot of Japanese. I remember one time I asked this one girl who was working at a McDonald's in a mall for directions to the ATM :laugh: . However, I know you could be passible, and the Japanese will try their best with their English. Be sure to ask if they know English before you start talking (say it in English :laugh: ).

In my tour, I seriously visited like 2 castles in one day, and all this other mess. I know if you aren't on a tour and it's your first time, you'd probably end up in a Karaoke bar or something and spending your time aimlessly wandering than doing things.

Oh yes, and if you go to Tokyo, one of the places I really liked was Odaiba. They have malls and everything there. Asakusa too! Tokyo does have everything you would want, like Akihabara. But if you're looking for that "Japanese" experience, Osaka and Kyoto is where you should go, but of course, you're gonna want to go to Tokyo anyways. It has a lot and visiting it breaks a lot of stereotypes. Besides, people are gonna ask if you went to Tokyo anyways. :laugh:

Yes, taking those trains really helps. BUT you need to know where you're going and how you're gonna get there. They do have English, and the officers working there know English. I used the trains non-stop in Tokyo, and spent a few minutes to really cool places. Again, my teacher was very experienced, so he knew places no one else would go, like Nippori. And it takes a lot of appreciation to go to a place like that.

As for more advice: High quality hotels in big cities like Tokyo have internet access and electric outlets made for Americans. (That's also what EF Tours offered, high class hotels).

Yes, convienence stores are really good, and help you make a friend or too, like I did :anime: .

And I'm sure your probably wondering about electricity. Japan uses those 2 prong outlets, sorta like what we have in America, just minus that little hole at the bottom. So, anything with 2 straight prongs SHOULD work in Japan.

Again, if you have questions, feel free to ask. As for a tour, I strongly recommend if it's your first time. I do have a photo album of when I was in Japan, if you would like to see all the places I crammed in 9 days:

http://picasaweb.google.com/exokopaka



-Oh yeah, forgot to mention: Security is NOT a problem in Japan. There's virtually no crime rate.

One time, I left my bottle of Calpis (and DON'T have it. It's really disguisting IMO. Bad after taste, like medicine) in a Sanrio store, and one of the girls actually went out and was walking around looking for me to give me back my bottle. I was fortunate I got my drink, but then again, it was Calpis. :laugh:

-Pocari Sweat = GOOD.

-If you see a noodle dish that either some guy is frying at a stand or is inside a plastic clear box, DON'T HESITATE TO BUY IT! As goes for all Japanese food. I missed out on a lot because I was like "eh, I'll get it later."

-And because of the small crime rate, do not hesitate to enter rustic areas and old Japanese streets (like Gion). Trust me, you're not gonna get mugged or jumped. Probably only by foreigners who've been there for a long time. Rustic areas are a great area to find food and stuff for cheap. You're not gonna find a lot of high quality restaurants as you find in America unless you look REALLY hard.

 

[toranoko]

Okay, so tours - good at seeing a lot, good if you don't know the language, and possibly cheaper. Not good if you want any freedom. :disappoin

Maybe, maybe, I could get in contact with some relatives over there. Then I'd probably feel more comfortable going on my own. But as of now, tour seems to be the answer.

Again, teaching yourself Japanese is a bad way to learn it. I highly reccomend a teacher. I mean, people publish books and stuff for reinforcement, and not for learning. If you can, try and get into a class or something that teaches Japanese. It'd help a lot.

I know, I know, but there's no other way around here. The university and community college here don't offer it.

I know if you aren't on a tour and it's your first time, you'd probably end up in a Karaoke bar or something and spending your time aimlessly wandering than doing things.

I don't mind aimless wandering. It's what me and my friends do. XD Although, it can also be done at home, so...

HAHA, nice pictures. Seeing the backpacks reminds me that some of my friends took their tours to Europe.

And thanks guys, I'll know who to bug with any future questions. (But if anyone still has stuff to say, feel free to!)