marzman Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 (edited) My wife and I are off to Japan in April for a couple of weeks, hopefully catching the cherry blossoms while we're there. We'll be spending about 5 days in Tokyo and then the rest of the time in Kyoto and surrounding areas, with a potential trip to Hiroshima. I've not nailed down the itinerary yet but got a good idea of the usual tourist things to do - but does anyone have any nuggets of info or experience that might be useful? Does anyone know of any regular static car meets that take place, or is there a specific area of Tokyo for this for example? I'd quite like to see that one evening... Edited February 5, 2018 by marzman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRF4N Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 I was in Tokyo for a couple of nights on the way back from oz but all our research went there and we didn’t look into Tokyo much til we got there. All I can say is it’s s big place so find out as much as you can beforehand The people there are amazing Someone on here used to live there, can’t remember who? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irn Bru Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Coldel is your man I think mate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRF4N Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 I was thinking either coldel or tarmac so your probably right Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock_Steady Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 The wife lived in japan for 14 years, i'll grab her ear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 Yep lived in central Tokyo and it was FANTASTIC. And great memory guys, or do I just go on and on about it all the time? It was about ten years ago but pretty sure most of what I remember still exists in terms of tourist stuff to do. I also traveled around Japan a fair bit. In general learn to be patient, polite, smile - any display of bad manners is a big no no. Learn the word that's pronounced 'sumi-mas-san' it effectively means 'excuse me' and you will need to use it when in busy places and you bump into someone etc. Of course 'ari-gato-gozai-mas' is 'thank you' use it when you can it will get you a little extra special treatment in restaurants etc. Off the top of my head for Tokyo: 1. Meiji Jingu Shrine, its huge and if you are lucky and go on a weekend you may see a real wedding with everyone dressed up in ceremonial outfits 2. Right outside the entrance to this shrine is a place called Harajuku which is famous for a bridge where the Japanese youth come and wear outrageous outfits and pose for photos - its also a very cool and funky place to shop for all sorts of crazy clothes etc. 3. If the wife wants to do some upmarket shopping you will want to visit Ginza which is full of all the prestigious department stores and brands - this also has the Kabuki za theatre here where you can nip in on the afternoon and watch comedy drama in crazy outfits all in Japanese but its very visual so easy to follow 4. In Asakusa you have the Senso-ji shrine which is really famous for lots of things including the incense pot which if you breath in the incense it cures all ailments 5. Shibuya is a great place for evenings out, loads of bars and restaurants and has the multiple direction pedestrian crossing which has been in many movies - you can also find the karaoke bar from that Bill Murray/Johanssen movie - by the way, definitely do karaoke, its super cool to do it and it comes with all the extras you can go in sing and get served food and drinks as you do. You can book just 30 mins if you dont think you can hack the missus voice for that long! 6. Onsens are big in Japan, if you dont have any tattoos you can use them. It does mean going in the buff into a hot pool with strangers (gender segregation of course) but worth doing it (Japanese will really respect you for it too), maybe save it for Kyoto as the Tokyo ones are a bit functional 7. Jump on the tram that goes over Rainbow bridge to Odaiba - best done at night so you can see all the lights. Odaiba is an island which contains all the big Japanese corporations but you can walk around their buildings and of course loads of restaurants etc 8. I cannot remember the name (Tusiki?) but the fish markets are great if you like fish - you need to get there at 5am for when the boats arrive back from sea but you can buy and eat fish taken straight from the sea there you will never have eaten anything fresher 9. If you like gadgets Akihabara has literally hundreds of electronics stores you can shop in - beware though although electronics are cheap in Japan for the Japanese brands they often do not have an English language option, I ended up buying a fair few SLR camera lenses as they are effectively language redundant at about 1/3rd the price of them here in the UK. Although I hear the pound isn't so strong nowadays... Had a quick look and here is a copy of the metro/underground/trains https://www.tokyometro.jp/en/subwaymap/pdf/rosen_en_1702.pdf it runs perfectly every minute of every day. When I lived there once my journey home from work was delayed by something like 12 minutes because of an electrical fire in a tunnel. Trains were back to normal in 12 minutes, imagine here it would be out of action for a week. They run to a schedule that includes seconds i.e. trains arrive at 17:25 and 15 seconds its that good. Taxis are everywhere, like literally you only need wait a few seconds before one comes along, its tempting to use them all the time but they are pricey and you miss the experience of using public transport. Additionally, do ask for directions if you are lost in popular areas in Tokyo, most Japanese speak some level of English and they LOVE to practice it with real speakers. I got a tattoo done in Tokyo and I got a discount by teaching the artists daughter English whilst having it done haha. Also, dont be surprised it they walk you to the place you are looking for, its common for people to do this rather than point in the rough direction and send you on your way, dont worry they dont expect payment just your gratitude Do experiment with food, when I was there Tokyo had more michelin star restaurants than anywhere else in the world, they love cooking but are accommodating to non Japanese speakers usually with photos and even plastic mock ups of meals you might be ordering! Not sure if you have sorted out your travel to Kyoto yet but the standard approach is bullet train, if you can afford to upgrade get yourself in a green car to sit in absolute luxury. Other places which are pretty cool are Nara, I went to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki, they are lacking culture and the architecture is quite bland as you might expect for cities that were effectively leveled to nothing - I would spend one night in Hiroshima and visit the A Dome (building directly below the explosion epicentre that was the only thing that stayed up) and see the ever burning flame of peace (I think its called) its all very emotional and a great way to remind yourself the reality of war. I also visited Nagano for a spot of skiing and visited the mountain monkey park which was cool. In Kyoto you must visit Kiyomizu which is a mountain side temple (and a lot of walking!) also there is the Golden Temple near Kyoto another must see. 3 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 This is awesome Col, thank you so much. There are a few good suggestions on here that weren't on my list. My plan was to split my 2 weeks kind of 35% Tokyo 65% Kyoto and surrounding areas, but a friend of my wife's told her today that we should stay in Tokyo the whole time and just day-trip Kyoto, Nara etc as there's not that much to do/see there. Would you agree with this? Good tip for excuse me too - i'll brush up on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted February 6, 2018 Share Posted February 6, 2018 went to japan for 3 weeks in May last year. Best. Holiday. Ever. we were knackered by day three, but so much to see and do, would happily do it all again. we started off in tokyo for five days and did akihabara, ginza, edo, the fish market and the senso temple. then did 5 days travelling north to shibu onsen, then matsumoto, over the japanese alps, kanazawa and takayama. then a few days in kyoto, in which time we also day tripped to nara and osaka. then back to tokyo for another 5 days, this time seeing harajuku, ikebukuro, shinjuku, and also odaiba and tokyo disney. some of the highlights for me bonging a buddist temple bell nightingale floors crazy videogame arcades bunny cafes dog cafes riding the shinkansen (bullet trains), and flipping the seats round when the train reversed direction feeding deer by hand in nara seeing old neon signs in osaka tokyo disney (mickey speaks japanese, yet still sounds like mickey) sushi restaurants ramen shops exploring japanese castles riding double decker cable cars walking round stunning japanese gardens seeing local teens walking round who'd hired fancy kimonos for the day going up the metropolitan government building in tokyo at dusk seeing the snow monkeys plus about a billion more things. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 Sounds amazing... i'll check out your tips, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rock_Steady Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 No need to quiz the wife now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galaxyg Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 I cam back from my 7th visit a few days ago. The UDX Building in Akihabara has a underground carpark. If you visit level B2F on a Friday or Saturday night, you'll see some good stuff parked down there. Skylines, Silvias, Zs, Imprezas, Celica, all sorts. Often decorated in the Itasha style. B1F and B3F are full of the usual three-box cars that you'll see on the street. The side streets of Akihabara have some interesting stuff on them also on Friday and Saturday nights. Sunday not bad either for the streets and the UDX. Above was mentioned Odaiba Island. There is a large AutoBacs store there and there's often some decent metal in the car park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galaxyg Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 Oh also, Day triping Kyoto from Tokyo will result in a lot of the day on the train. Fast as it goes, it's still a long way. Kyoto is worth a few nights. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted February 12, 2018 Author Share Posted February 12, 2018 Brilliant, good info thanks mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted May 1, 2018 Author Share Posted May 1, 2018 Hey guys, Just wanted to drop in and say thanks to those of you who commented with useful info. We got back from Japan last weekend, and had an amazing time. Some of the highlights we saw, the majority of which were suggested by you guys were as follows, and Col, you were spot on with Sumimasen - this was the main word we spoke whilst there. Tokyo: Senso-Ji Temple Asakusa Akihabara Meiji Jingu Shrine Harajuku Shibuya (and scramble crossing of course) Government Metropolitan Building (for the views) Lost in Translation Bar (Park Hyatt Tokyo - it cost £75 for 2 drinks, but we were seated at the Bill Murray/Scar Jo table so worth every penny!) Kyoto: Nara, Todai-Ji Temple and the 60ft Buddha Nijo Castle Kinkaku-ji Shrine (The gold one) Arashiyama Bamboo Forest and Monkeys We also stayed in a Ryokan for one night, and had a few trips to the Onsen at a couple of our hotels. It was bloody brilliant. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Humpy Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 The more I think about it the more I want to go to Japan lol. Great Info all and something I may bring up with the Mrs. Whats the rough ball park figure for whole trip - flights, accommodation etc for 2 weeks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valy Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 you better get some pics up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted May 3, 2018 Author Share Posted May 3, 2018 3 hours ago, Humpy said: The more I think about it the more I want to go to Japan lol. Great Info all and something I may bring up with the Mrs. Whats the rough ball park figure for whole trip - flights, accommodation etc for 2 weeks? We stayed in fairly cheap places and ate at modest restaurants for the most part. Had a couple of nice meals and one nights in a posh place which wasnt worth it (£250 for one night). Total cost for us including spending money was about £4250 Flights - £1200 Hotels - £1200 Trains - £500 Spends - £1350 Don't go in summer though, it'll be unbearably hot. Spring or Autumn would be perfect. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted May 3, 2018 Author Share Posted May 3, 2018 3 hours ago, valy said: you better get some pics up Well, if you insist... i'll put some up (not taken them off my camera yet!). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted May 3, 2018 Author Share Posted May 3, 2018 I made this video on my phone on the flight home. Yes its a bit weird sharing all my holiday photos but its easier than picking out the highlights to upload... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LRF4N Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 Looks like a good trip but you look so bored Really wish my love affair with jap cars had started before I went not after Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted May 3, 2018 Author Share Posted May 3, 2018 16 minutes ago, LRF4N said: Looks like a good trip but you look so bored Really wish my love affair with jap cars had started before I went not after Ha ha. Yeah, I dont really do facial expressions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coldel Posted May 3, 2018 Share Posted May 3, 2018 Really enjoyed the video mate, so many pics where I was literally stood in the same spot over ten years ago and it all looks exactly the same I so need to plan that trip back now! Dug out a photo which had the view off my Tokyo apartment balcony looking over at Fuji... Also have a photo of me as a Samurai somewhere..! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted May 3, 2018 Author Share Posted May 3, 2018 Ah amazing...! That's the one thing I missed out on that i really wanted to do was to see Mt Fuji. I was pretty gutted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marzman Posted May 3, 2018 Author Share Posted May 3, 2018 Actually, i did want to put up a couple of pics... during the flight, somewhere over Russia, aurora borealis made an appearance for about 30 minutes. This is literally as clear as i could see it out of the window! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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