Going on a trip...

[Ikuzou]

By pure luck, I was granted the chance to goto Tokyo since a co-worker (that I work with at a Japanese restaurant) had to go back to Japan and get another VISA. She knew I really liked Japan, so she invited me to go with her during winter break. I accepted and after much begging from my parents (im only 17 afterall) and saving money, I was given approval from my parents...

Problem is, what the heck am I going to do there? Even though I know a bit about Tokyo from anime and random news articles, is there any really note-worthy places to visit? Has anyone been there before and really explored (I've been there once on a tour and really didn't get to see much)? Or any general tips on traveling to Japan?

This is going to be the first time traveling alone, and into a foreign country. Somewhat scared, somewhat excited. She said that she'll be able to guide me around for the most part, but for some days, I'll be by myself.

[Ani_MaSTeR]

well, first thing i suggest is that u:

*****GET a JRpass for JR railways******
this is your best friend while touring japan.
it allows u to ride trains and shinkansens all over japan as long as they are operated by JR.
depending on how long you opt to put on the pass, it can cost around 200$ at least.
sounds like much, but going from tokyo to kyoto by shinkansen, the fast train will cost you around 1oo$ one way.
with this pass, u can ride both shinkansen AND local trains. free.
so u can jump in line and take a train from tokyo to say, niigata, where i live and it wont cost u as much as it would anyone else.
thats cheap, i highly recommend you get it before u leave

well:
akihabara is a MUST for anime and manga readers.
its the otaku and electrical centre of japan.

if u are looking for anime figures and what not, find places called "asobit A", "Asobit B" or "asobit C". they are big 5 + level stores in akihabara.
there are also, plenty of hobby stores, toy stores and pawn stores that sell second hand collectors items.
otherwise: at least try out a maid cafe if u are interested.
nothing special, but depending on where u go to, there are subtle differences in the service and what u get.
i went to Mail-lish in akihabara. fairly decent, honestly wasnt expecting much. delicious cakes and whatnot and cute girls. thats just about the diss of it.

sightseeing: go to asakusa, see the old pagoda and the giant temple there.

designer shopping: go to Ginza. lots of fashion and stores there.
Roppongi has that stuff too i think. pricey however last i heard.

Mt.Fuji. u should climb it on a day that u are by yourself or with your friend. it'll only take 8 hours last i heard.
the imperial palace is in tokyo somewhere

if u want to see more, then u may have to travel outside of tokyo.
Kyoto has serenity and is peaceful. i quite like kyoto, its big, but not tokyo big, and not as busy. theres a perfect mix of traditional tourist sites all over the city as well as the downtown hip areas.

in central kyoto u should see the golden pavillion, theres also a traditional samurai tokugawa era mansion and the imperial estate.

others:
if u are looking for pressies for family and friends, i suggest u search out Hard-off, off-house, book-off,garage-off and hobby-off stores.

In general, any store with an OFF in it. either OFF-house or Book-OFF or just any second hand store.
they are second hand stores that deal secondhand merchandise.
HOWEVER, because japanese are somewhat collectors and perfectionists, just about what ever they have in store will be brand new condition or damn close to it.

u can buy anime figures and stuff in the boxes from some of these stores and u would only be paying around half to 3/4 of the brand new store price.
these stores are very worth the rummaging through.
ill explain the differences:
Off-house : household goods. washers, furniture, clothing, cutlery and sometimes bikes, sporting stuff etc.
Book-OFF : manga, magazines, photobooks, CD's, DVD's and sometimes games.
Hard-OFF : hardware. computers, video games, guitars and instruments and sometimes CD's and DVD's too.
Garage-OFF : automotive enthusiasts dream. car parts, magazines, accessories and wheels, rims and springs and things. I dont know.
Hobby-OFF : hobby. anime figures, statues, little capsule things, cards, toys, collector items, model kits, display cases.

food: uh, just anywhere i guess...
in kyoto i like to eat at a place called 'Nakau".
but, just find any little store thing like a "yoshinoya" or something.
something with a bar and seats.
they serve food, but sometimes limited to certain items like ramen only or curry only etc.
cheap, hot and delicious

well, thats all that i can think off the top of my head.

PM or post here if you or anyone else has any questions about japan.

oh, read up about japan first, theres new customs clearing requirements now and just read up about how things work in japan just to be on the safe side.

take care, enjoy yourself and post piccies when u get back
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[Ikuzou]

Wow, thats a nice guide. Thanks.

Actually, the biggest question is if anyone knows of a place to stay. Though she invited me, her house is really too small to really let me crash in it for 2 weeks, so I have to find my own living quarters. And finding a family to take care of me is sort of out of the question since this is happening in 2 weeks.

[Ani_MaSTeR]

a place to stay huh...

hmmm

your best bet is to stay at a hostel. usually they are cheaper than hotels, but the only downfall is that you may have to stay with strangers in the same room.

this is the place i stayed in when i was in tokyo.
http://www.sakura-hotel.co.jp/sakura-hotel_location.html

its a pretty popular hostel.
its located in Jimbocho, about 3 minute train ride from tokyo.
theres different packages for rooms.
the cheapest is to share with others i guess. only worries are u may not be able to choose who are stay with so always keep your stuff close.

i stayed in this hotel for about 4 days. its a good night's sleep, but shame theres no breakfast.

i guess it really depends on how much u wanna spend per night.

if i were you, i'd probably just heckle your friend to let me stay at her place.
either that or sleep at the station
....but thats just me
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[spankit]

haha nice.
i'm going to japan during winter break too~

uhh in march i stayed at
"shinagawa prince hotel" its pretty hot
http://www.princehotelsjapan.com/shinagawaprincehotel/

there's an arcade there and everything.

erm being 17, i dunno it was pretty fun just bumming around
and just listen to ani. the JR pass is your friend<3


expensive piece of shit though
_________________
"The basis of optimism is sheer terror."
(,,#ﾟДﾟ):∴;'･,;`:ｺﾞﾙｧ!!

[xenocrisis0153]

Ani served you well with the Akihabara stuff. Other suggestions would be to see a maid cafe and to visit Animate (another famous geek-store). Since you prolly don't wanna do just anime things for 14 days, try also going to Odaiba (it's the waterfront district with cool shops and attractions) and Harajuku (go on Sunday, bring your camera, that's where all the fashionistas hang out... though I'm not sure if they still do it in the winter). You'd probably want to go to Tokyo Tower, too.

Hot springs!! visit one... you know you wanna!!
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GTX: Great Teacher Xeno... my daily blog about teaching in an elementary and middle school in Japan (see right-menu)

[spankit]

xeno - for the most part i believe they do.
you can even see ganguro/yamambe girls in winter.

shopping-wise you can go to ebisu too.
(tokyo tower was boring, sorry xeno)

and yes, NAKED ONSEN~
_________________
"The basis of optimism is sheer terror."
(,,#ﾟДﾟ):∴;'･,;`:ｺﾞﾙｧ!!

[LeperX]

shibuya is always fun(at least for me) ueno has some cool stuff, good for souveniers. When I was in Tokyo I spent most of my time in Sangenjaya or Shibuya, tons of stuff to do in Shibuya. could always run into random people who would take me out clubbing and so forth, and if you're there you should at least see the hachiko statue (the place where everyone meets). overall though tokyo isn't that great, Osaka and Kyoto are far better, I even had more fun in Fukuoka. You can find some pretty cheap places to stay, at least in Osaka I know you can for around 2500 yen a night(roughly $22 a night). But, whats your main goal while you're there? Anime? clubbing/partying? girls?
if its anime Ani_MaSTeR covered it (and I would really have no idea)
clubbing/partying, for me shibuya was the best, but if you want to club and pick up girls, easiest place for you to do that in tokyo is roppongi. I know a lot of people who sweared by roppongi for girls(never tried going there) I had more fun flirting with the girls in the clubs in shibuya like club atom, they were more fun, more into the music, not just there to talk to foreigners.
places to eat, well you definetly need to get some kaitensushi, a decent cheap place to eat is sukiya. Or even just grab some from any convenience store. Theres some really good ramen shops around too theres oine across the street from the Mita campus of Keio university, but if you go there go early, or the line will be too long and you might not get in before they sell out. Theres another one in shinagawa near the monorail down a side street that has some damn good chashu ramen, kinda hard to explain how to get there, but you could ask around if you're really interested.
if you wanna drink, go to a karaoke place with some girls and do some nomihodai, you pay by the hour for all you can drink, and its pretty cheap.

go to an Izakaya if you can, any izokaya, all food at izokaya's is good in my opinion, Japanese bar food is the best. If you make it to Osaka go to a place called fuugetsu(The kanji for it is 風月) and get some
Okonomiyaki, they have the best Okonomiyaki around, you can ask anyone there in namba area and they can direct you to one.
if you wanna drink, go to a karaoke place with some girls and do some nomihodai, you pay by the hour for all you can drink, and its pretty cheap.
If you're going to Osaka or Kyoto thats a completley different world.
look up business style hotels in tokyo, they will prolly be cheaper, and ask for a japanese style room, they are always cheaper then western style.

[xenocrisis0153]

[LeperX]

lol, I never stayed in a capsule hotel, but in some pretty small rooms in some japanese style business hotels near namba in Osaka, fukuoka is a beautiful place, oita-ken too
when I was in Fukuoka I stayed in the mountains in a little village of 1000 people, was a lot of fun, did some mountain climbing through some temples.. hung out with people form the village, they were cool, they got mad if you spoke too polite of japanese. Shibuya is busy, so many people there, hence busiest intersection in the world, but there are some good clubs there and some decent places to shop. I don't care where I go I'll find something to do anywhere in Japan, but tokyo is prolly my least favorite place there. Oita-ken and beppu were pretty nice too, went to a few onsen's in beppu.
As for music I went to a concert in Osaka while I was there, called Otodama, so many people, something like 15,000-20,000 people. people kept looking at me and my friend though since we were the only non japanese people there. The people in Osaka are more chill then the people in Tokyo which is why I like it, same goes for fukuoka.

Fukuoka is by far the most beautiful place I've been to in Japan, they have this one pimp onsen there in hita, its on a river bank you can sit in the bath closest to the river reach out and put yopur hand in the river, best onsen I went to, even better then the ones in beppu.

[Ikuzou]

Haha, a trip to Japan without a onsen is like a sin. Of course Im going to go.

Well, thanks everyone. Im mostly going to stay in the Tokyo area since that is where all the co-workers at the restaurant I work at sort of center in. Akihabara is going to be a MUST for me then. Been saving for over half a year just for spending money on this trip (I knew saving a few thousand would be helpful even if I didn't know I was going to Japan).

Anyways, from what I have gathered:

Akihabara = anime central
Shinjuku = electronics
Kyoto = sights
Asakusa = sights
Sibuya = in general everything
Izakaya = food
Fukuoka = beautiful area and music central

I also hope to improve the little Japanese I know there. You know, being immersed in culture and stuff, though I really doubt it. Btw, Xenocrisis' Japanese tutorials are quite good to reinforce what i know, so keep it up.

[Ikuzou]

Yay, been back for a few days, but my trip to Tokyo was AWESOME. I knew that Akiba was anime/electronics central, but one will never understand the true awesomeness (if you are a otaku) of it until one actually goes there. I am sort of lazy in terms of pictures, so I didn't take too much, but here are some vacation photos. Also, I was alone except for my friend who guided me around a few times and her sister and friends.

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I got there around 17:00, but it was already pitch black that I thought it was already sometime like 21:00. Anyways, i didn't really feel like doing much, so she explained to me convenience stores and how they were a bit different in Japan. Well, at least they were exactly how they are portrayed in anime. I got green tea and my first onigiri (flavored tuna and mayo).

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Akiba. Where to start... I love it. It has everything I love. Anime goods, Gundam models, cheap cameras, games, hobby materials, maid cafes, and so on. Coming back to America, its so depressing to see games like Devil May Cry 4, SSBB, FFIV, Ace Attorney 4, and Gran Turismo so far away when I was actually able to try them out on the streets of Akiba. -.-

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Overall, some not included in pictures, I got:

GAMES
Super Robot Taisen Original Generations Gaiden (PS2)
Patapon (PSP)
FFVII Crisis Core (PSP)
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yakusoku (PSP)
Minna no Golf Portable 2 (PSP)
and a Felicia Blue PSP slim. Hey, I was planning to get a slim in the states anyways, might as well get a color not avalible in the states.

Hobby Stuff
1/100 Exia Gundam
1/100 Dynames Gundam
1/100 Master Grade Strike Freedom Full Burst Mode (sqeal! Comes with custom base to pose the dragoons too!)
1/4 Keroro Gunsou model
1/4 Giroro model
1/4 Dororo model
Saber figurine (Fate Stay Night if you didn't know)
Lining markers (stocked up)
modeling clippers (cheaper over there)
Some basic Gundam markers

Literature
Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu manga volumes 1-5
Mx0 manga volumes 1-4
Mirai Nikki volume 1
Melty Blood volume 1
Latest Shounen Jump (DUDE, just like I thought its cheaper over there, 2.5 times the size of ours, and is WEEKLY)
Newtype (came with free calendar with custom Lucky Star, Code Geass, Clannad, Gundam 00, and others I have no idea what they are; plus a planner with themed Gundam 00 pages)

Music
Gurren Lagann Best Sound (awesomeness in three CDs)
Lucky Star Remix 002
Live Tribute to Azumanga Daiyo
La[star]letee

Random Other Stuff
Konata figurine that is around 2 inches. Really well made I must say
Tsukasa also
Keychain that says "Soldier Class First" (from FFVII Crisis Core)

Anyways, my trip was... weird. The guide book I had sucked since I didn't really have the money to eat at the places that they recommended and the maps lacked good markers to tell me exactly where I was. Heck, I wandered into a park in Harajuku trying to see whats inside of it and the stupid book actually made me walk around 2 miles on a SIDE ROUTE on the outside of the park, so I saw nothing. Then, the book never mentioned that there was a freaking temple there.

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Other cities were pretty much the same. Though I actually ran into a bunch of arcades in Shinjuku and I finally realized how far arcade games have come. There are tons of Tekken 6 machines, Gundam Seed Destiny Rengoky vs. Zaft 2 Plus, Melty Blood, and Guilty Gear machines everywhere. I even got into this card based arcade game called MSGundam 0083 Card Builder.

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Its not a card game either. Its a RTS. The cards are just used to outfit your mech with a pilot, weapons, and customization, but when actually playing, you are moving the cards on the playing field around in real time and attack other MS, whether it be human or CPU.

Another high point on my trip was being there on New Years. I went to one temple right in front of the Tokyo Tower.

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Yah, the balloons were to represent mass wishes and they were to fly into the heavens to grant their wish. Too bad there were a bunch of dead trees around the temple to pop or trap the balloons. Also, there was this dove balloon things that came out from under the 2007 -> 2008 sign, but got stuck under the sign, so a monk had to come over to push them all out. Then came the hour wait in the freezing cold to throw some money into the offering area. Seriously, its a sea, freaking SEA, of people. If you enjoy your personal space, do not goto a temple on new years. Though, afterwards, I enjoyed some oden, takoyaki, and ikayaki.

Also, the people who helped me around.

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from left to right: Oniishi, Ota, me, Masami and the one holding the camera is Masami's sister, Hiromi. But they are twins so they look alike anyways. Ota rules. When they asked me which anime I am interested in (Masami, Hiromi didn't know anime period, and Oniishi only knows about Gundam before the Seed series), I mentioned the new generation of Gundam. Then I mentioned Suzumiya Haruhi no Yuutsu. All of a sudden Ota just yelled "YAH!" and gave me a huge thumbs up. It was hilarious, as we were eating the Japanese pancake things (dang, forgot the name).

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We, Ota and I, basically bonded on that, since he loved that anime too. Then we sort of talked about how he loved Mikuru and my favorite character was Yuki. He also took the group to a maid cafe, supposedly the best in Akiba and he frequented to. I wasn't expecting too much, I was really surprised when I saw someone that I saw on TV there eariler. Dang, she was cute. We got to play a game of darts with her and got custom coasters with her signature and I got mine in Hiragana since she knew I wasn't Japanese and I could at least understand if it was written in hiragana. I also got the group's CD too, with a picture included and signatures from everyone in the group.

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My friends also told me to get in with a bunch of Haruhi coplayers.

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Yah, its a stupid pose, but it was hecka fun.

Overall, I learned some Japanese, mostly recognizing kanji to complement my Chinese knowledge. Going there also reaffirmed my theory on those idiots that claim that the characters in anime and games seem to have over exagerating peronalities and responses. No, you retards, thats just how people really act in Japan. I hope to go there again in the Summer where I can show everyone my Japanese as it will (hopefully) improve enough to have a conversation.

Btw, you can get through Japan without anyone knowing any better that you aren't Japanese simply with these 3 simple things:

1. You have chinese or japanese genes (image)
2. You know the phrases: arigato, sutsureshimasu, and gomen and a basic understanding of Japanese
3. Do something to your cellphone all the time or play on a DS or PSP.

[spankit]

you were probably like there, when i was there.

i didn't have as much fun this time around but seems like you
enjoyed yourself ^^. and did lots of shopping...

i hate akiba arcades. its SO friggin' smokey its not even funny...
<_______<;;

so did you end up doing onsen?

cause i did, and it was...interesting haha
_________________
"The basis of optimism is sheer terror."
(,,#ﾟДﾟ):∴;'･,;`:ｺﾞﾙｧ!!

[Ikuzou]

I agree. When I first walked into a arcade in general, I almost choked from all the smoke. But getting a drink or ice cream really helps. Also, if I was going to spend my day in a arcade, I went to Shinjuku where at least there was some ventilation.

And, unfortunately, I was unable to get into a onsen. Dang. Well, at least the baths they had in the hotel were really nice.

[kevinchaosvs]

Man, now Im sorely tempted to go there ! Shall consider going there for a holiday this year end or something