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Going to Japan, brb

post #1 of 13
11/15/09 at 12:19am
Thread Starter 
So yeah, I don't know if these vacation advice type threads are usually done here, but I'm going to Japan for a few weeks and I figure, hey, might as well check if some chewers have been there and are willing to dispense some advice.

I'm staying in Tokyo for two weeks, plus five days in Kyoto. Of course I'm planning to do all the usual stuff - Imperial Gardens, temples, shopping, gorging on delicious food and weirdly named soft drinks. But I'd also like to geek out a bit, and that's why I'm fishing for reccomendations here - reccomendations for good japanese movie geek stores are very welcome, more outlandish ideas even moreso.

One thing I know I'm gonna go to is the Toei Theme Park:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3934.html

Walking around a samurai movie lot is basically one of my bigger reasons for going, so anything related to Mifune, Kurosawa, Nakadai, etc. I'm game for. I also love kaiju, and though I'm not a giant gamer I know and care enough to appreciate reccomendations in that department, as well. Not a huge manga/anime guy, though I do love some of the older stuff (Kazuo Koike, Doraemon, Tezuka) and some of the more comical stuff of recent vintage (Yotsuba, Sgt.Frog.)

And, y'know, if you have less geeky advice regarding restaurants, sightseeing, things I should prepare for, etc. that's all welcome as well.

Oh, finally, I am planning on taking advantage of the famed bullet train system to take some day trips to other locations - you know, leave in the morning, be back at Tokyo at the end of the day. I'd really like to see the more rural side of Japan; anyone have any tips in that regard?
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post #2 of 13
11/19/09 at 2:13pm
I spent two weeks in Japan and Korea on business, so I didn't have too much time to really look around. I have been to both Tokyo and Kyoto, so I can give a couple of recommendations.

Tokyo's huge. Unfortunately, most of my time there was spent in hotels, in meetings and in the various electronics and shopping districts getting gifts for people back home. The one movie-themed location I visited was for a dinner with some colleagues: Gonpachi restaurant. I believe it was the restaurant the inspired the Japanese restaurant in the first Kill Bill (yeah, I know.) It IS expensive, though. I remember paying a few bucks per piece of sushi.

This isn't the best advice if you tend to keep your food on the healthier side of the spectrum, but you should try the odd fast food burgers they've got. I generally stay away from fast food, but the Shrimp burger at McDonalds was just too intriguing. And I liked it!

There is a lot of cartoon porn in Tokyo. A lot. No, no, no, I don't think you understand: there is a A LOT of it. Four-story buildings that could pass for small plazas here are dedicated to just selling pornography.

Kyoto's got some INCREDIBLE views. Try and explore as much of that city as you can. I remember visiting a temple and I saw a traditional Japanese wedding ceremony. They have them in public places, and I thought it was fantastic.

If you're going to be doing the bullet train thing, and are looking for a trip that'll stun you... check out the Hiroshima memorial. Warning: that place is no vacation. It'll be an emotional visit.

Lastly, just enjoy the people, man. Everyone is very polite and accommodating (at least, in my experience.) You'll pretty much meet the entire English speaking population at your hotel, so be prepared to communicate with your hands everywhere else.

Have a good time, man!
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post #3 of 13
11/19/09 at 7:29pm
I was there with some friends for 5 days during the first week of October, had a blast but I definitely can't wait to go back.

One tip if you're going to be running around Tokyo: WEAR COMFORTABLE SHOES. I'm guessing you'll be getting around the city by subway during the day, but you end up doing so much walking without even realizing it.

Also, since you're using the subway I'd recommend getting a suica card, basically a little debit card that you scan as you traverse the subway instead of buying a ticket every time. It's really convenient and you can recharge the card pretty easily on some of the machines where you buy the tickets. We picked up that tip here. I bought mine at the Narita airport right beside the place where you go to board the train. Beware that the subway stops running at midnight and then doesn't start again until I think 5AM. There are cabs though, just be prepared to pay a little more.

Definitely try some of the fast food there. We stumbled across a Burger King which had an awesome Whopper with teriyaki sauce.

Oh yeah, no tipping is necessary, in cabs or restaurants, or anywhere else for that matter (at least in Tokyo, don't know about the rest of Japan)! It's already factored into what you pay.

Have fun!
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post #4 of 13
11/19/09 at 7:53pm
Tipping is actually considered an insult!

Is it a Suica Card or a JR Pass? We picked up a JR Pass (because cabs are fucking expensive. Although, they're dirt cheap in Korea) which allowed us to use everything on the JR line. I don't know where he'll be going, but that's all I needed when I was there.
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post #5 of 13
11/20/09 at 2:07pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the advice, everyone!

I will definitley be paying this big boy a visit, too:



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jacob View Post
Lastly, just enjoy the people, man. Everyone is very polite and accommodating (at least, in my experience.) You'll pretty much meet the entire English speaking population at your hotel, so be prepared to communicate with your hands everywhere else.

Have a good time, man!
The non english speaking population is part of what intimidated me about the trip in the first place (funny enough as I was neither born in nor live in a country where english is the official language - too bad the world couldn't work that esperanto thing out, eh?); happy to hear that my fumbling attempts at comunication will at least be met with some patience. I figure I'll just try my best not to do anything too stupid, and hope the japanese are well accostumed enough to bumbling westerners not to get too exasperated.
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post #6 of 13
11/22/09 at 7:49am

Just got back.

Just got back from my third visit to Japan a week ago. The best bit of advice I can give you is also about the bullet trains. For the shinkansen, get the coupon for the JR Pass as people have been recommending. You have to get the coupon outide Japan and you trade it inside the country for a JR Pass. Certainly worth it as a week long pass for all JR regions is about $300 - $400 for unlimited travel and a one way single use ticket bought inside the country to go from one city to another is often > $100.

You can get free travel on all JR trains and at least some JR buses and at least one ferry service. There is one important exception with the bullet trains though, the pass cannot be used on any "NOZOMI" bullet train. Which is slightly inconvenient as often the schedule is NOZOMI, NOZOMI, HIKARI, NOZOMI, NOZOMI, KODOMA (they are the most common) but not a major problem as the trains are quite frequent.

In terms of travel around Tokyo for example, a lot of the subway lines are not JR Rail, so you'll have to pay for those but you will still get free travel for the JR train lines in any city.

Hope that helps a bit.
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post #7 of 13
11/22/09 at 8:22am

The language.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DanielRoffle View Post
Thanks for the advice, everyone!

The non english speaking population is part of what intimidated me about the trip in the first place (funny enough as I was neither born in nor live in a country where english is the official language - too bad the world couldn't work that esperanto thing out, eh?); happy to hear that my fumbling attempts at comunication will at least be met with some patience. I figure I'll just try my best not to do anything too stupid, and hope the japanese are well accostumed enough to bumbling westerners not to get too exasperated.
In the cities and major areas at least, signs are also in English as well as announcements on the subways and the like.

When you go to convert your JR coupon into a pass, usually you'll find the people at that particular counter speak some English, interestingly enough just as much to communicate with the Chinese and other Asian tourists just as much as the Westerners.

At the counters where you then use your pass to get a ticket (which is the same for the regular Japanese commuters), the people there often have basic English at least where times are concerned. You can actually get away with just saying the name of the city you want to go to. They'll often point at the computer screen at a suggested train you can catch with your pass and then print you out a ticket if you're OK with the suggestion.

You can actually get away with minimal to no Japanese as English is the language often used to communicate with all foreigners from anywhere who don't speak Japanese. However, I'd actually recommend having a go at speaking some basic phrases as it's one of the easier languages to learn some useful basic phrases and more importantly, be understood when you say them. This is because Japanese isn't tonal like a lot of other Asian languages and the basic words you commonly need are usually fairly easy to pronounce. I would strongly recommend the Lonely Planet Japanese phrasebook.

In all fairness, I should declare that I spent about 3 years learning Japanese at Berlitz *but* my point still stands. Because my Japanese have never been very good and most of what I've always used was stuff I learned within the first few weeks. Also, I haven't been to a class in about 3 or 4 years so, it certainly hadn't gotten better before my last trip which I just got back from. Finally, I've generally been unable to manage with the most rudimentary basics of any other language I've tried to learn (including embarrassingly enough the language of my own parents) but Japanese proved to be an exception, I was at least able to get started.
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post #8 of 13
12/19/09 at 1:52pm
Thread Starter 
DANIELROFFLE'S ULTIMATE TALKING ABOUT GOING TO JAPAN PARTY 2009

So, this was fun.

Jacob is certainly right about the people - friendly, helpful, nice in every way, and it didn't feel like they were doing it because of pressures to conform to a millenia old standard of honour or anything like that, either. The stuff I imagined would end up feeling the most weird/Lynchian actually becomes pretty normal after you've been there enough time - the general perkyness and unabashed love for the corniest aspects of western culture (BOY DO THEY LOVE CHRISTMAS) doesn't grate at all, because there's nothing "put on" or false about it. LOved the hell out of the enthusiastic "arigato gozeimasu!" cries that one is showered with when leaving any restaurant, too.

(Uhm, there are rude/apethetic japanese people too, before it looks like I'm painting too rosy a picture.)

Also very impressed by the japanese attitude towards religion - the first few times I went to temples I still felt slightly awkward, as I do when happening upon people praying as a tourist in a western church, but what I ended up understanding is how they see solemnity towards religion as a totally optional thing - schoolkids running around, tourists taking pics and gabbing loudly, somewhere there's some person praying and there's *no* sign of antipathy towards the intruders whatsoever - wish things could be more like that over here.

The english speaking is a weird subject...you can definitley make your way around, with most people speaking some of the language (though not as many as you'd be used to from western countries), but what puzzled me most was the combination of almnost no one being truly well versed in the language and everyone seemingly being in love with it anyway. Signs, store names, fast food joints, etc. will almost invariably have english names, written in roman characters. The most baffling example of this I came across was a store selling exclusively japanese literature, which still had a huge sign saying "BOOKS & MAGAZINES" in english at the door.

They're a lot more worried about the swine flu over there, too (bad memories of the avian flu perhaps.) Every fifth person or so was running around with one of those masks.

A lot of absolutley gorgeous parks and temples, some great shopping to be done, and plenty of culinary delights - though sadly not every sushi bar was a hit. Still, I'd kill for some good teriyaki chicken or broiled eel on rice right now. Went to McDonald's twice, but the fast food highlight was Mos Burger - they specialise in these small burgers (not White Castle small, but close) and everything else they serve is pretty much ass, but the sauce on them burgers, hmmmmmm!!!

More specific and popcult related reports to come, along with some pics.
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post #9 of 13
1/7/10 at 12:40pm
About the people with masks on, the way I understood it or was told about it, a lot of times when someone is sick they themselves wear a mask in in an effort not to get anyone else sick.

Glad you had a great time.
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post #10 of 13
1/8/10 at 2:20pm
Wow man, you will love Japan! My wife and I went there last year for our honeymoon (my sister-in-law lives in Tokyo) and we both had an brilliant time.

Few things:

Don't worry about the language barrier, people are very friendly in Japan (especially in Kyoto) and heaps of Japanese know at least a little English.

The J Rail pass is worth it if you're taking a return trip by bullet train to Kyoto, and at least one other bullet train trip during your stay.

While in Tokyo (or before you arrive) familiarise yourself with the train system. The train you'll use the most is the green Yamanote line, which does a loop of the central burroughs like Harajuku, Shinjuku, and Shibuya.

Kyoto is incredible, but be prepared to do a lot of walking. However, the best sights are all accessible by bus from Kyoto Station.

Try the gyoza! Seriously. Yum.

If you're interested in samurai history, visit Himeji castle. It's an easy day trip by bullet train from Kyoto.

Check out Yodobashi Camera in Akihabara, Tokyo. 9 floors of geeky goodness, including robots, video games, and dvds.

I have heard that Toei Theme Park is a real tourist trap, but haven't actually been there.

For a visit to Japan's countryside, try a trip to Hakone or Nikko, both outside Tokyo. Or else head to Arashiyama in western Kyoto.

I am also pretty sure the masks are to prevent the spread of germs (the Japanese are very paranoid about that) and also due to pollution (although it never seemed too bad when I was there).

Have fun! I'm very jealous.
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post #11 of 13
1/8/10 at 2:21pm
Oops, never mind. You're already back! Glad you enjoyed it.
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post #12 of 13
2/4/10 at 2:56am
Daniel! Glad you had a good trip, man. Looking forward to your reports (with pics.)
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post #13 of 13
10/12/10 at 8:59pm
This is a long-shot, but are there going to be any Chewers in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto between October 21 and 28?
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