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Traveling to Tokyo...-age (two week trip) - tips?
- Thread starter Articate
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UnluckyKate
Member
Bill_Duke said:My wife and I were supposed to fly to Tokyo today for our wedding trip, but our flight got cancelled because of the volcanic activity in Iceland. So it's not going to happen now. Hopefully we can get everything arranged for a second try later this year.
I was about to land in Tokyo a this time...
There no room for me before next week on my company, from Europe to Tokyo. They can give my money back. But it's the only opportunity I got to visit Tokyo while I have some friends over there...
Fucking volcano
WasteLand Soldier
Banned
back in LA. greeted with a brown smoggy sky, the stench of piss in the bathroom, big stupid SUVs and beasty boys. OMG i may be ill.
foomfoom415
Member
jaxword said:
16 Days is a long-ass time to spend in Tokyo. Hell, 6 days is too many in my opinion. Even taking day trips to Kanagawa and the rest of Kanto. Get a train pass and see more of Japan. It's cheap and easy and well worth it.
Apologies if I missed a good reason for the long stay. I just skimmed the last couple of pages.
WasteLand Soldier
Banned
Srider said:
don't buy this at all. i people watched extensively. unless an entire restaurant was putting on a show truman show style for
Code:
[CODE]Bill_Duke said:My wife and I were supposed to fly to Tokyo today for our wedding trip, but our flight got cancelled because of the volcanic activity in Iceland. So it's not going to happen now. Hopefully we can get everything arranged for a second try later this year.
Be warned, Mid-July until September might be scorching hot, June soaking wet. October / November should be really nice though (5 months wait though...à.
Jack Random
Member
jaxword said:
Get this:
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/suica-nex/
It will take care of your trip from Narita to Tokyo, and then you'll have 2000 yen on a Suica card to use the trains. Suica is tokyo's version of NYC's Metrocard, although you can also use it to buy food, etc in many train stations (anywhere you see a Suica logo). Just recharge it as you go.
Edit: Beaten :/
Jack Random
Member
I went in October last year, weather was fucking amazing, go for it!Furoba said:
foomfoom415
Member
Vox-Pop said:
It's not the heat, (wait for it) it's the humidity. I'd take 100F and dry over 35C and 95% humidity any day.
Jan-May is a pretty long period. It's cold from January to March, while starting to warm up. It's pretty rainy though. Still, it's much better than June-September. I think the best time to visit Japan is easily October-December though. Especially Nov/Dec.
Valkyr Junkie
Member
Well, 15/16 days done in Japan and I'm back in Tokyo until my flight leaves Friday morning. I spent the first 3 days in Tokyo and took care of all the Sakura stuff back then, but now I'm ready to actually have a "vacation." Although I'm still definitely gonna hit-up some of the day trips from Tokyo. I made it a point to try out a lot of the local cuisine at the places I've visited, so now I'm just gonna focus on the best of the rest.
Here's a composition of my image geo-tags for those that are interested.
Here's a composition of my image geo-tags for those that are interested.
Valkyr Junkie said:
May I ask about how you planned out your Japan stay? I'm going for about the same amount of time and have the chance to do a lot of exploring of the country.
In fact, I'll just toss that out there: What things should a first-time Japan visitor simply not miss?
sasimirobot
Junior Member
Valkyr Junkie said:
that is fucking serious backpacker steez
WasteLand Soldier
Banned
As promised I was gonna give a write up and pics of my trip so here we go! Unfortunately I've been perm juniored so i'll be also asking some questions about japanese culture in general that probably deserve another thread but hopefully i can get some answers without pissing anyone off.
Flew in from LAX to Narita. Long flight and my first true international trip and it wasnt as bad as i imagined it would be. The First thing I noticed when I got to the airport was how clean everything was. Not only that but very organized. Getting money exchanged was a breeze and so was getting a pass for the limousine bus which i'd HIGHLY recommend for anyone traveling to a hotel in tokyo. Not only was it extremely fast but i couldnt imagine navigating the subways with luggage as someone mentioned there are sometimes endless tunnels and some of the trains run very deep underground.
Stayed at the New Otani in Toyko which has great subway access as well as an awesome garden and a park on the way to the subway with sakuras.
My for a week stay and hotel with an awesome room and service, with flight was less than $1500. Food and subway fare pushed it closer to $2000 total but i wasnt budgeting at all. Those looking for tickets, best prices are usually found at american express.com for ANYTHING. I'm pretty sure they are linked to travelocity but the prices are very close.
A friend of mine gave me a map to follow but screw maps. I mean yeah its nice to have a schedule but things are way more interesting when you go off the path. I didnt encounter many tourist except for the temples at asakusa/taito.
This place was AMAZING tho. Nice outdoor mall, excellent shops where you can get a nice feel of the people who earn a living there, and ofcourse the temple. There was actually a buddist ritual going on with the chanting and drums and the hole nine yards. You really feel at peace and a part of the whole human spirit being around others at a place like this.
Afterward I wandered further out tho and it got kinda seedy. Men in black suits, Expensive cars, Yakuza total. :lol I still felt safe tho.
more to come...
Flew in from LAX to Narita. Long flight and my first true international trip and it wasnt as bad as i imagined it would be. The First thing I noticed when I got to the airport was how clean everything was. Not only that but very organized. Getting money exchanged was a breeze and so was getting a pass for the limousine bus which i'd HIGHLY recommend for anyone traveling to a hotel in tokyo. Not only was it extremely fast but i couldnt imagine navigating the subways with luggage as someone mentioned there are sometimes endless tunnels and some of the trains run very deep underground.
Stayed at the New Otani in Toyko which has great subway access as well as an awesome garden and a park on the way to the subway with sakuras.
My for a week stay and hotel with an awesome room and service, with flight was less than $1500. Food and subway fare pushed it closer to $2000 total but i wasnt budgeting at all. Those looking for tickets, best prices are usually found at american express.com for ANYTHING. I'm pretty sure they are linked to travelocity but the prices are very close.
A friend of mine gave me a map to follow but screw maps. I mean yeah its nice to have a schedule but things are way more interesting when you go off the path. I didnt encounter many tourist except for the temples at asakusa/taito.
This place was AMAZING tho. Nice outdoor mall, excellent shops where you can get a nice feel of the people who earn a living there, and ofcourse the temple. There was actually a buddist ritual going on with the chanting and drums and the hole nine yards. You really feel at peace and a part of the whole human spirit being around others at a place like this.
Afterward I wandered further out tho and it got kinda seedy. Men in black suits, Expensive cars, Yakuza total. :lol I still felt safe tho.
more to come...
WasteLand Soldier
Banned
Another cool thing I found myself doing is wandering the back alleyways. Had some of the best sushi ever. OH speaking of sushi, in the outdoor mall in the last post there was a sushi place that served sushi on a conveyor belt all you can eat style. sooooooooo inexpensive and soooooooooo good. American sushi is such a rip off. geez.
I also found a spot, cant rcall the name tho. Bambi maybe? but you order your food from a vending machine and it printed a ticket then the chep makes it right there for you. AMAZING. Again very inexpensive and put the food here to shame. Again all this i would have never stumbled upon if i just stayed on some set course.
The gardens there are also amazing. In the middle of all this hustle and bustle i always found it amazing that they'd have places like gardens and temples mixed in with the new. It was nice to see that they dont just tear their history down like they do in the US.
I also found a spot, cant rcall the name tho. Bambi maybe? but you order your food from a vending machine and it printed a ticket then the chep makes it right there for you. AMAZING. Again very inexpensive and put the food here to shame. Again all this i would have never stumbled upon if i just stayed on some set course.
The gardens there are also amazing. In the middle of all this hustle and bustle i always found it amazing that they'd have places like gardens and temples mixed in with the new. It was nice to see that they dont just tear their history down like they do in the US.
WasteLand Soldier
Banned
Ofcourse I had to spend part of a day in akihabara. The places there are just insane. I mean 9 stories of electronics? Really? Best Buy seems horrendous in comparison. Ofcourse I had to visit the sega arcades but the coolest place by far was a retro game shop down some back alley. IIRC there were 3 floor of games but all old stuff and again priced very well. You could find ANYTHING. Neo Geos, Virtual Boys, Saturn games. The only thing that was insanely priced were the old game and watch games.
That Night was spent in Shibuya. :O WTF. I dont understand where all these people came from for one and that many people with the lack of tourist also suprised me. wtf do tourists do in japan? I mean really? do they all just visit temples? Shibuya was NUTS. The entire time i was there the city was already shaming NYC but this just took the cake. Again another place to visit if you just want to really feel the life of the city.
I'm skipping out on tons but now that i look at it i cant believe how much i crammed into 7 days. The last night I actually wandered down to yokohama and went to Nissan HQ and did some other sight seeing. I REALLY wanted a shot of the bridge so i walked, and walked and walked and ended up really close to it...and it seemed really seedy and i thought i was gonna die :lol wandered into a restaurant and was greeted by the nicest people out of the entire trip. the place was called Continental Tycoon. Relaxed atmosphere, excellent prices, food was good.
The Staff Went out of there way to help us. I'm gathering not many tourist make it over there. They all seemed so intrigued. Almost every staff member came up and asked questions. what we liked, where we were from, what kind of music we listened to and also seemed genuinely excited and happy about being able to interact with someone that wasnt from there. Afterward Our server asked why we came all the way over there and I mentioned I wanted a picture of the bridge. He's all "Boat?" HUH? "We have a boat!" :O "Free!" :O So basically your meal also includes a free boat ride of the bay in Yokohama. Now in the back of my mind i'm not gonna lie i was still having visions of being bumped off by the yakuza but i didnt happen. :lol
We rode, Got my bridge pic and were greeted by the staff again upon return. Fucking amazing. Fifty bucks! Dinner for 2 and a boat ride for 50 damn dollars. WTF.
ofcourse i had to get shots of the ferris wheel too
That Night was spent in Shibuya. :O WTF. I dont understand where all these people came from for one and that many people with the lack of tourist also suprised me. wtf do tourists do in japan? I mean really? do they all just visit temples? Shibuya was NUTS. The entire time i was there the city was already shaming NYC but this just took the cake. Again another place to visit if you just want to really feel the life of the city.
I'm skipping out on tons but now that i look at it i cant believe how much i crammed into 7 days. The last night I actually wandered down to yokohama and went to Nissan HQ and did some other sight seeing. I REALLY wanted a shot of the bridge so i walked, and walked and walked and ended up really close to it...and it seemed really seedy and i thought i was gonna die :lol wandered into a restaurant and was greeted by the nicest people out of the entire trip. the place was called Continental Tycoon. Relaxed atmosphere, excellent prices, food was good.
The Staff Went out of there way to help us. I'm gathering not many tourist make it over there. They all seemed so intrigued. Almost every staff member came up and asked questions. what we liked, where we were from, what kind of music we listened to and also seemed genuinely excited and happy about being able to interact with someone that wasnt from there. Afterward Our server asked why we came all the way over there and I mentioned I wanted a picture of the bridge. He's all "Boat?" HUH? "We have a boat!" :O "Free!" :O So basically your meal also includes a free boat ride of the bay in Yokohama. Now in the back of my mind i'm not gonna lie i was still having visions of being bumped off by the yakuza but i didnt happen. :lol
We rode, Got my bridge pic and were greeted by the staff again upon return. Fucking amazing. Fifty bucks! Dinner for 2 and a boat ride for 50 damn dollars. WTF.
ofcourse i had to get shots of the ferris wheel too
WasteLand Soldier
Banned
I've been back home for about 2 days now and I dont think i've ever missed a place so much. Getting around was a breeze. I never had trouble using the PASMO outside of the tokyo subway so i'm pretty sure that as long as it connects to the subway, you can use pasmo. I'm really going to try and learn japanese as i'm pretty sure i'm going to have many return visits. Can anyone recommend a good start? Learning japanese for dummies maybe? :lol
There are certain things I noticed there that kinda puzzled me so I was wondering if someone could clarify a few things.
-Work
What do all these people do? I'm originally from new york and not even in NYC do you see people like this. Full on business attire all day every day it seemed, from young to old. I mean I know everyone cant be a business man/women or are they?
-Women
First of all the women there are fucking HOT. Geez. Ties in to the first question but dammit skirts and heels all damn day was KILLING me. OMG. sogood.gif The question is tho, why do so many seem to be unmarried? Same with the men. I never noticed wedding rings unless the people were older and most women in their 20s/30s were unmarried if you go by the ring thing but they all always seemed so tired/depressed looking. Full work days with no marriage? whats that about?
-Children/Schools
Didnt notice many infants which may also tie into the other things. The younger kids were all in uniform tho. Is every school a private school or is uniform just required everywhere? I knew about the whole schoolgirl thing but it just seems like school is taken very seriously there. I also noticed younger workers. One of the subway conductors I saw couldnt have been older than 22-24. Very into his job too. It was amazing to just sit and watch him work. Do the kids graduate younger and then just go right into the workforce?
-Marrying Americans. UGLY ones.
OK this last one is something I just couldnt get for the life of me. You'd have this very pretty, docile looking asian female attached to a big, fat, not even attractive in the least american guy. I mean whats up with that? Does it tie into one of my other questions where the single woman just wanna get married and just do this or is there something i'm missing?
Anyway, the trip was amazing and i cant believe i saw so much in so little time. An amazing place to visit and i'm suprised that not many people think of it as a vacation destination. The People, the places, the food, the shopping all top notch and just SAFE.
I actually felt safer there than my home town of NYC or here in LA. Thanks again to all those here who answered questions and were helpful.
There are certain things I noticed there that kinda puzzled me so I was wondering if someone could clarify a few things.
-Work
What do all these people do? I'm originally from new york and not even in NYC do you see people like this. Full on business attire all day every day it seemed, from young to old. I mean I know everyone cant be a business man/women or are they?
-Women
First of all the women there are fucking HOT. Geez. Ties in to the first question but dammit skirts and heels all damn day was KILLING me. OMG. sogood.gif The question is tho, why do so many seem to be unmarried? Same with the men. I never noticed wedding rings unless the people were older and most women in their 20s/30s were unmarried if you go by the ring thing but they all always seemed so tired/depressed looking. Full work days with no marriage? whats that about?
-Children/Schools
Didnt notice many infants which may also tie into the other things. The younger kids were all in uniform tho. Is every school a private school or is uniform just required everywhere? I knew about the whole schoolgirl thing but it just seems like school is taken very seriously there. I also noticed younger workers. One of the subway conductors I saw couldnt have been older than 22-24. Very into his job too. It was amazing to just sit and watch him work. Do the kids graduate younger and then just go right into the workforce?
-Marrying Americans. UGLY ones.
OK this last one is something I just couldnt get for the life of me. You'd have this very pretty, docile looking asian female attached to a big, fat, not even attractive in the least american guy. I mean whats up with that? Does it tie into one of my other questions where the single woman just wanna get married and just do this or is there something i'm missing?
Anyway, the trip was amazing and i cant believe i saw so much in so little time. An amazing place to visit and i'm suprised that not many people think of it as a vacation destination. The People, the places, the food, the shopping all top notch and just SAFE.
I actually felt safer there than my home town of NYC or here in LA. Thanks again to all those here who answered questions and were helpful.
WasteLand Soldier
Banned
equap said:
this is in Asakusa right? near K's House?
no. in tokyo close to the hotel. probably a 1/2 mile or mile walk from Yotsuya station. The Tiger Pachinko place is the one lighting up the other building.
WasteLand Soldier said:-Work
What do all these people do? I'm originally from new york and not even in NYC do you see people like this. Full on business attire all day every day it seemed, from young to old. I mean I know everyone cant be a business man/women or are they?
-Women
First of all the women there are fucking HOT. Geez. Ties in to the first question but dammit skirts and heels all damn day was KILLING me. OMG. sogood.gif The question is tho, why do so many seem to be unmarried? Same with the men. I never noticed wedding rings unless the people were older and most women in their 20s/30s were unmarried if you go by the ring thing but they all always seemed so tired/depressed looking. Full work days with no marriage? whats that about?
-Children/Schools
Didnt notice many infants which may also tie into the other things. The younger kids were all in uniform tho. Is every school a private school or is uniform just required everywhere? I knew about the whole schoolgirl thing but it just seems like school is taken very seriously there. I also noticed younger workers. One of the subway conductors I saw couldnt have been older than 22-24. Very into his job too. It was amazing to just sit and watch him work. Do the kids graduate younger and then just go right into the workforce?
-Marrying Americans. UGLY ones.
OK this last one is something I just couldnt get for the life of me. You'd have this very pretty, docile looking asian female attached to a big, fat, not even attractive in the least american guy. I mean whats up with that? Does it tie into one of my other questions where the single woman just wanna get married and just do this or is there something i'm missing?
Anyway, the trip was amazing and i cant believe i saw so much in so little time. An amazing place to visit and i'm suprised that not many people think of it as a vacation destination. The People, the places, the food, the shopping all top notch and just SAFE.
I actually felt safer there than my home town of NYC or here in LA. Thanks again to all those here who answered questions and were helpful.
1) Keep in mind, Tokyo has 30 or so million people living in it. A lot of company HQ etc are based there, so a lot of people working in service industries. People working in finance or sales where suits, and also professionals like lawyers and accountants. There isn't much business casual here.
But the other thing is, a lot of people will dress up for any job. I've seen people who work at the convienece store in a suit and trench coat going to work. I think it's partly because of the uniform tradition at school, so those people are used to 'switching' close for different occasions. And part of it is pride and also homogeniety: I work at a kombini, I don't want to look like a loser, so I will dress like everyone else. Nothing wrong with it.
2) There is a lot of unmarried japanese women if you look at statistics. Probably not appealing to marry a japanese man who expects to quite your job and make babies once you get married. If you didn't see a lot of children, that's because you were in big tourist places. If you went out to setagaya, etc., you'd see lots of families. Shibuya attracts a younger crowd too.
3) Most schools require uniforms in some form even starting in early secondary school. It might be part of taking it seriously, but it also has to do with uniformity. People do tend to take their job seriously here which is great. Convenience store worker won't be sitting on a chair wearing casual closthes speaking in hindi to some friend on a cellphone. There are a lot of vocational high schools in Japan for people to go straight into agriculture, forestry or manufacturing.
4) It takes a special kind of westerner to come to japan. Good looking westerners aren't generally very common in that pool. But also part of it is different standards of beauty. You might like japanese girls glossy black hair and tan skin, and they probably like western guys who aren't waify thing and have course hair, etc. And yes there's probably other less flattering elements involved
WasteLand Soldier
Banned
thanks for the response! what do you mean a certain kind of westerner? you mean someone into japanese culture? oh i had 2 more questions too! I know Japan as a country is in lots of debt but what about people? I mean here in america people just buy dumb stuff. In japan with the whole "Look your best, do your best" attitude, which is great BTW, does it drive people into debt? I couldnt help but notice how just about every woman looked like a model. I mean thats gotta be expensive. Or does everyone just make a lot of money? What are salaries like?
The other one was Cell phones!!! OMG the US is so behind. While we seem to be fascinated with our touch screens, the majority of japanese used flip phones with large screens, seemed to be content surfing on text based sites, and used their phones from anything from TV to Math Formulas for their homework. They also work EVERYWHERE. on the streets, down in the deepest subways. How is the cell network so advanced?
Hell i'll throw one more out there. There seem to be different races of japanese within japan. is this correct? One that stood out most seemed to be a darker skinned japanese race that almost seemed indian/hindi but wasnt. i saw a chick like this that reminded me of michelle rodriguez. so hot. geez.
The other one was Cell phones!!! OMG the US is so behind. While we seem to be fascinated with our touch screens, the majority of japanese used flip phones with large screens, seemed to be content surfing on text based sites, and used their phones from anything from TV to Math Formulas for their homework. They also work EVERYWHERE. on the streets, down in the deepest subways. How is the cell network so advanced?
Hell i'll throw one more out there. There seem to be different races of japanese within japan. is this correct? One that stood out most seemed to be a darker skinned japanese race that almost seemed indian/hindi but wasnt. i saw a chick like this that reminded me of michelle rodriguez. so hot. geez.
bbsting120
Member
WasteLand Soldier said:
Japanese people are obsessed with brands. You'll see most of the guys with Louis Vuitton wallets sticking out of their pants and women with equally expensive clothes and accesories. Even people who don't seem to make all that much money somehow afford these crazy expensive brand names. I came across a book in my local library here in Japan and they had a book dedicated to Japanese people posing with all the expensive brand name things they had collected...it was called something like "Brand obsessed".
And the women here ALWAYS seem to be dressed up. I've seen women wearing high heels while hiking up a mountain and recently a woman came into the coin laundry wearing a kind of baggy sweatshirt and pants, but she still had a pair of big heels on.
I do love the cell phones here. The tech is just different from in the US, and certain features are better, but overall it's just very different. Japan has been weird about allowing their cell tech to be reproduced outside Japan, but I read that they're starting to cave on that a bit...so maybe we'll see some of their technology bleeding over in the future.
Valkyr Junkie
Member
WasteLand Soldier said:
Well of course there's going to be different races there; you were there.
Aside from the obvious Indian, European, and Hispanic tourists, I've encountered a lot of Chinese, Korean, and Thai tourists.
Mr Nash
square pies = communism
WasteLand Soldier said:
Usually people don't have a lot of debt there outside of maybe a mortgage. It's still a country of savers, at least for now, but the retirees are going to be dipping into that savings to augment their pensions, so we'll see what happens there (I don't see it being a problem for Joe Average, but it could case problems for the gov't since these people's savings often went into government bonds). Younger generations it's a bit more hit and miss since about a third of workers are temps now with lower wages and a lack of benefits, so they may be at greater risk of going into debt, or are simply not spending very much. That's not to say there are no debtors over there. Places like Promise and Aiful (or whatever their name is now) have enjoyed brisk business in the past lending people money at ridiculous rates of interest.
Valkyr Junkie
Member
Vox-Pop said:
I went with myself, and traveling alone certainly has its pluses and minuses. You have a lot of freedom to do whatever the hell you want to do when traveling alone obviously (the friend I was going with that bailed out at the last minute would not have been cool with all of the walking I've been doing in addition to the 50+ mile bike ride of the Shimanami Kaido).
On the other hand, depending on where you go you may be looking at a fairly extended period of solitude/loneliness if you don't know any Japanese. I didn't spend a lot of time in either Kyoto or Tokyo (yet), and went quite a while without any real human contact; quite a bizarre feeling. But that's not really a problem in Tokyo.
I say go it alone if you're gonna have to wait around endlessly for the timing to be right to travel with your friends. That's unfortunately why it's taken me so long to get here, and look what happened, I ended up traveling alone anyway.
You'll certainly learn a lot about yourself in the process.
WasteLand Soldier said:
Japan has the highest debt to GDP ration of any country. Most of that was through government spending. Most of Japan's money is tied up in postal savings accounts. That's why there was such a big deal when koizumi tried to privitize the postal service and was partially successful in doing it.
During the bubble economy, Japan was flush with money so it was easy to by brands as there is in general a high average level of income in Japan: There isn't ridiculous wealth billionares (or at least proportionately less) and less praise for splurging and being extremely wealthy like there is in other countries. That's why Shigeru Miyamoto is still flying commercial, hasn't tried to make his own gaming company etc.
After the bubble burst, there is a lot more economizing. Things lke uniqlo were one of those phenomenon. Still, brands are quite popular here. Louis Vuiton, Gucci, and the like are about as popular as things like American Eagle, etc are in the US. There are plenty of people who don't dress well here though. Consumer spending was part of what took Japan out of the 'lost decade' after the economy slowed down in the 90's.
Oh, and wearing heels is popular because they make you taller
As for races, I agree with you. Japan is kind of a melting pot of mongoloid and polynesian asians. In China, Chinese people generally look like Han for the most part. Japan has a pretty wide variety of Asian.
And what I mean by a certain type of westerner... well I thought that was kind of self explanitory.
And cellphones. Hmm well, i think it's just different. Japan has really missed a lot of good tech in the last decade or so. Sure you can watch TV on your phone which is awesome, but the iPhone is one of the top selling phones over here. I saw a show on NHK the other day about why they didn't pick up on all this. I personally prefer flip phones, but I digress. Cellphones in the US are kind of crappy, same in the UK. Pretty much if you don't have a iPhone or blackberry you have a crap phone it seems like. i do like the whole keitai friendly barcodes that have become popular. you take a picture of them, and you can access a website, etc. Pretty handy.
WasteLand Soldier
Banned
thanks again 
u answered the race ? perfectly as i wasnt referring to me but the people of japan. to vox, i went with my girlfriend but i'm definately going solo next time. as someone mentioned, lots of walking and as i was going on strong due to just being excited, she was getting kinda tired as the day went on. if you've ever been to NYC you'd be fine in japan alone. very similar in feeling but start learning some japanese. if i were completely alone i ould have felt like a tool at times but having a female with me made ordering things easier. it is insanely safe. you hear all these horror stories of people going to european countries and getting robbed or to mexico or other asian countries and getting kidnapped. I just couldnt see somthing like that going on in japan and highly doubt anything like that happens. so clean. everywhere. the public bathrooms are immaculate and at the sight of trash on the street someone is bound to pick it up.
u answered the race ? perfectly as i wasnt referring to me but the people of japan. to vox, i went with my girlfriend but i'm definately going solo next time. as someone mentioned, lots of walking and as i was going on strong due to just being excited, she was getting kinda tired as the day went on. if you've ever been to NYC you'd be fine in japan alone. very similar in feeling but start learning some japanese. if i were completely alone i ould have felt like a tool at times but having a female with me made ordering things easier. it is insanely safe. you hear all these horror stories of people going to european countries and getting robbed or to mexico or other asian countries and getting kidnapped. I just couldnt see somthing like that going on in japan and highly doubt anything like that happens. so clean. everywhere. the public bathrooms are immaculate and at the sight of trash on the street someone is bound to pick it up.The only scuzzy bathrooms in japan are the public ones in parks and subways. Lots of asian squatters there too...
you're pretty much safe at any convenience store or failing that a cafe/resturant/hotel or something. Even a random izakaya will almost always have a clean bathroom to use.
you're pretty much safe at any convenience store or failing that a cafe/resturant/hotel or something. Even a random izakaya will almost always have a clean bathroom to use.
WasteLand Soldier
Banned
i thought the subway bathrooms were clean tho. i mean compared to american restrooms. i swear when i got to the airport here in the US...the airport restroom, it smelled of piss. :lol and i'm already getting tired of the service people back here at home too. everyone was so nice in japan. so happy to be at work, so happy to be doing a job. in america some of these people are just lazy. and the attitudes...UGH. i miss tokyo
WasteLand Soldier said:i thought the subway bathrooms were clean tho. i mean compared to american restrooms. i swear when i got to the airport here in the US...the airport restroom, it smelled of piss. :lol and i'm already getting tired of the service people back here at home too. everyone was so nice in japan. so happy to be at work, so happy to be doing a job. in america some of these people are just lazy. and the attitudes...UGH. i miss tokyo
I guess the urinals are clean. Dunno, the certainly are the worst that the have here. i guess I just don't like squat toilets.
lol, I went to the UK for graduate school . Thought I was done with Japan, but was more than happy to come back here after my schooling finished.
There are lots of bad things in japan, but more good ones I think. Tokyo is pretty awesome, glad you enjoyed it!
WasteLand Soldier
Banned
thanks! and thanks for the great replies! these bad things in japan you speak of tho. what would those be? organized crime? debt? or just bad areas in certain places?
Valkyr Junkie
Member
Aight GAF, 2 full days left before I'm outta Tokyo. I've exhausted the Ueno area, Yokohama, Odaiba, and Kamakura. Any last minute suggestions for shopping and good eats? I still want a t-shirt for myself (maybe something electronic too, but I haven't been blown away by prices), a souvenir for my skater brother, and pharmacist step-dad :lol
distantmantra
Member
Valkyr Junkie said:
The Uniqlo in Harajuku has the best selection of their shirts.
Shimokitazawa and Jiyugaoka are great neighborhoods, as is Yanaka (Sendagi metro station or Nippori JR station).
So I'm a first timer who has to get himself from his airplane, to a train, to a hotel...
1. How do I go about getting a train ticket in the airport? I assume there'll be some signs in English, but will the desk be fairly obvious?
2. I'm probably gonna be lugging my big suitcase with me on the train...any tips on how to make this as inobtrustive as possible?
3. I've been told not to look around obviously while on the train, so as not to draw attention to my "weird foreigner" status. Is this so? I'd like to at least look at the scenery...
1. How do I go about getting a train ticket in the airport? I assume there'll be some signs in English, but will the desk be fairly obvious?
2. I'm probably gonna be lugging my big suitcase with me on the train...any tips on how to make this as inobtrustive as possible?
3. I've been told not to look around obviously while on the train, so as not to draw attention to my "weird foreigner" status. Is this so? I'd like to at least look at the scenery...
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
Just booked my flight to Tokyo. 15 May can't come quick enough.
jaxword said:
Trains are in the bottom of the airport. JR and Keisei platforms are right next to each other. very easy to find. Pick up the suica pass for a bargain on the narita express, or if the new keisei skyliner is running you can take that to nippori in 35 or so minutes.
Airport trains have places for luggage in the vestibules. no problem there.
Never heard about 'not looking around' before. Just act as you always would.
Aurelius
Member
Me neither. And since I commute daily in a train filled with tourists (among them Japanese) gapping out of the window Im not planning holding back when Im in Japan. Lets face it. Im a clueless tall blonde foreigner. Im never going to be mistaken for a native. :lolNatetan said:
Valkyr Junkie
Member
distantmantra said:
Thanks.
On a related note, where's a good place to start looking for luggage. It's become apparent I'm not gonna have room for everything, so I was thinking of buying a back pack and checking my original bag. Where's a good place to start looking? :lol
edit: Did some better Googling and found out about Mont Bell so I was able to score a really nice backpack there.
Templar Wizard
Member
im back in Japan on week 19 and I was wondering if anyone would have any pointers on some MMA events or some racing events on the weekend of the 15th or 16th?
industrian
will gently cradle you as time slowly ticks away.
Any suggestions for cheap guest houses in the Yokohama area? I think the one I was going for hasn't got any spaces left.
Zoe
Member
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