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Kawaii Kinomoto Joined: 03 May 2005 Total posts: 166 Location: Canada Age: 21 Gender: Female |
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EnkiJoined: 16 May 2004 Total posts: 27 Location: Seoul Age: 24 Gender: Male |
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Kawaii KinomotoJoined: 03 May 2005 Total posts: 166 Location: Canada Age: 21 Gender: Female |
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EnkiJoined: 16 May 2004 Total posts: 27 Location: Seoul Age: 24 Gender: Male |
 Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 8:43 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0 |
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Gotcha. Well I've only been to Tokyo so I'll try to tell you what I know from there ^^ I'm planning to go to Kyoto or somewhere else this summer.
Personally, I stayed at a couple of places the times I went there, but my favorite place to stay in Tokyo was Ikebukuro. It's not as well known as say, Shinjuku or Shibuya, but it has a really big entertainment district (tons of video game arcades, pachinko parlors, karaoke places ect.) and the Ikebukuro metro is well connected to the other lines + trains. Plus it's cheaper than than the more well known youth/entertainment districts.
If you want to do the touristy stuff, I guess Asakusa is the best place to visit. The Asakusa temple gets tons of visitors everyday and there's other stuff around. In Ginza they have the Imperial gardens and the like, as well as a Kabuki theatre that gives you headphones which explains in English what's happening on stage 
If you plan on shopping, avoid Ginza like a plague All the cliches about Tokyo being an expensive city comes from people who went to Ginza Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ikebukuro has some good stores for clothes, books and CDs. Or go to Akihabara if you're into anime and the like.
err, I hope all this rambling was at least helpful ^^;
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YekielJoined: 12 Feb 2005 Total posts: 151 Location: Germany Age: 27 Gender: Female |
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Kawaii KinomotoJoined: 03 May 2005 Total posts: 166 Location: Canada Age: 21 Gender: Female |
| Posted: Thu Feb 01, 2007 9:14 pm Post subject: Post Rating: 0 |
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| Enki wrote: | Gotcha. Well I've only been to Tokyo so I'll try to tell you what I know from there ^^ I'm planning to go to Kyoto or somewhere else this summer.
Personally, I stayed at a couple of places the times I went there, but my favorite place to stay in Tokyo was Ikebukuro. It's not as well known as say, Shinjuku or Shibuya, but it has a really big entertainment district (tons of video game arcades, pachinko parlors, karaoke places ect.) and the Ikebukuro metro is well connected to the other lines + trains. Plus it's cheaper than than the more well known youth/entertainment districts.
If you want to do the touristy stuff, I guess Asakusa is the best place to visit. The Asakusa temple gets tons of visitors everyday and there's other stuff around. In Ginza they have the Imperial gardens and the like, as well as a Kabuki theatre that gives you headphones which explains in English what's happening on stage
If you plan on shopping, avoid Ginza like a plague All the cliches about Tokyo being an expensive city comes from people who went to Ginza Shinjuku, Shibuya and Ikebukuro has some good stores for clothes, books and CDs. Or go to Akihabara if you're into anime and the like.
err, I hope all this rambling was at least helpful ^^; |
yes yes!!! all this information was very very helpful:D THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
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kel-kelJoined: 02 Feb 2007 Total posts: 4 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 1:35 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0 |
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A really useful site to check out is http://www.jnto.go.jp
I used it when I was planning my holiday to Japan earlier this year (I was there for 2 weeks from New Year's Day). Click on the place(s) you are interested in and you should be able to see what are the "touristy" things to see and do there; although you can also probably find that out by looking through a Lonely Planet travel guide. (Personally, I thought the Japan Lonely Planet guide was useless, but that's just me).
Anyway, the really good thing about the JNTO site is that it sometimes has these walking guides which take you to all the sights in a particular area. For instance, the Tokyo walking guide takes you from Tokyo JR station to the Imperial Palace to the National Science Musuem, past the Budokan Stadium, and to some famous shrine (I forget the name, but it's the one the former Prime Minister used to visit... the one that supposedly is the resting place of some war criminals). Another good thing about the site is that it has a listing of all the festivals in Japan, so you can check if there's anything special happening during the time you are in Japan and try to incorporate that into your trip.
If you are travelling to between numerous cities, then get a JR rail pass. If you are just going to be based in one city, then don't bother; it'll be cheaper to just buy tickets at the ticket machines. The usually is one large map with station names printed in English at the station, so use that as a guide when buying your ticket from the ticket machines. Incidentally, the JR pass only covers JR trains, you will have to pay for the private ones (usually subway lines).
Something to consider if you are going to different cities, is using the baggage forwarding service. You can have your luggage couriered to your next destination (it's overnight, so you will have to carry a day bag with change of clothes etc) for about 1,300 yen. It's convenient if you have a large bag you don't want to lug around with you after checking out of your hotel or wherever you're staying at.
It'll be really, really good if you can speak Japanese, cause most people there don't speak English. Although, the people in restaurants and shops generally are quite helpful... just use lots of hand gestures and digital photos.
Umm... is there anything else you want to know?
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Kawaii KinomotoJoined: 03 May 2005 Total posts: 166 Location: Canada Age: 21 Gender: Female |
| Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 1:50 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0 |
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| kel-kel wrote: | A really useful site to check out is http://www.jnto.go.jp
I used it when I was planning my holiday to Japan earlier this year (I was there for 2 weeks from New Year's Day). Click on the place(s) you are interested in and you should be able to see what are the "touristy" things to see and do there; although you can also probably find that out by looking through a Lonely Planet travel guide. (Personally, I thought the Japan Lonely Planet guide was useless, but that's just me).
Anyway, the really good thing about the JNTO site is that it sometimes has these walking guides which take you to all the sights in a particular area. For instance, the Tokyo walking guide takes you from Tokyo JR station to the Imperial Palace to the National Science Musuem, past the Budokan Stadium, and to some famous shrine (I forget the name, but it's the one the former Prime Minister used to visit... the one that supposedly is the resting place of some war criminals). Another good thing about the site is that it has a listing of all the festivals in Japan, so you can check if there's anything special happening during the time you are in Japan and try to incorporate that into your trip.
If you are travelling to between numerous cities, then get a JR rail pass. If you are just going to be based in one city, then don't bother; it'll be cheaper to just buy tickets at the ticket machines. The usually is one large map with station names printed in English at the station, so use that as a guide when buying your ticket from the ticket machines. Incidentally, the JR pass only covers JR trains, you will have to pay for the private ones (usually subway lines).
Something to consider if you are going to different cities, is using the baggage forwarding service. You can have your luggage couriered to your next destination (it's overnight, so you will have to carry a day bag with change of clothes etc) for about 1,300 yen. It's convenient if you have a large bag you don't want to lug around with you after checking out of your hotel or wherever you're staying at.
It'll be really, really good if you can speak Japanese, cause most people there don't speak English. Although, the people in restaurants and shops generally are quite helpful... just use lots of hand gestures and digital photos.
Umm... is there anything else you want to know? |
THANKS a lot!! i'll check that site out! u helped a lot!!
just a question though... my friend says that if i wanna stay in youth hostels i should book them ahead of time... after googling youth hostels in japan i found this website http://www.jyh.or.jp/english/index.html do u think its a good site? it tells a bit about different youth hostels and stuff so i thought it might be kinda useful!! thanks again so much!! u helped a lot a lot!!
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kel-kelJoined: 02 Feb 2007 Total posts: 4 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:18 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0 |
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I don't really know much about the youth hostels, sorry. Although, I can suppose it would make sense that you would have to book in advance. If all else fails, though, you could probably stay at a capsule hotel - ?
One bit of advice, though. It is better to pay a bit more to stay somewhere that is close to transportation than to pay less and stay somewhere further away. I stayed at Ginza (sounds expensive, but it cost the same as an equivalent hotel at Shinjuku or Roppongi) thinking it'd be nice to stay in a upmarkety kind of place, but the distance I had to walk from the JR station to my hotel got rather annoying after a full day of walking about and lugging a bag full of stuff.
Also, trains stop running around midnight, so try to pick a central location to do stuff or you'll waste lots of time shuttling back and forth to get the where you want to go.
Shops open around 10am, so it's usually better to do sight seeing in the morning and the shopping in the afternoon. From memory, most shops close around 8pm... later for the larger department stores.
Err, visit Harajuku on a weekend... that way you'll get to see more of the "kids" playing dress in the park. I went on a weekday so there weren't as many people around. Although I was lucky cause there was a makeshift band performing there, so that was kinda interesting.
The clothes you can buy at Harajuku are kinda iffy. And by iffy, I mean gothic and lolita stores. But have a look around, you might find something in one of the other stores they have there. Harajuku crepes are a must... you should be able to see a couple of stores as you follow the crowd past the shops.
Since you're a girl, Shibuya would probably be a more interesting place for you to check out. The 109 store (right opposite the JR station, you can't miss it) is basically heaven on earth for girls... 90% of that building is dedicated to stuff for girls.
One thing I found when I was in Tokyo was that it was hard to get into a good place to eat, since there are so many people, and I didn't want to queue up and wait. This applies especially to cafes, since the people there (mostly girls I think) love having the desserts. But, if you are heading to Osaka, and you're willing to skip the desserts in Tokyo, head to the very top of the Yodobashi Camera store in Umeda. There's a "food court" just dedicated to desserts; and since Osaka isn't as packed as Tokyo, you're pretty much guaranteed a spot at one of the many dessert cafes in there.
Kyoto is a very quiet place compared to Tokyo and Osaka. Visit the Gion district to check out the shrines and temples, and visit Nijo castle and the Imperial Palace (you can't actually go in the palace, you can only walk around outside; it was a bit of a let down, really... Gion was good though). The Kyoto station is a pretty cool bit of architecture, and there's a bunch of ramen restaurants on the 10th or 11th floor that open til 10pm (they stop serving food around 9.30pm though).
... mmm, way too much to say, and I have to get back to work. I'll post more for you when I have more time. Or you just keep asking me stuff to jog my memory.
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Kawaii KinomotoJoined: 03 May 2005 Total posts: 166 Location: Canada Age: 21 Gender: Female |
| Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:36 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0 |
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| kel-kel wrote: | I don't really know much about the youth hostels, sorry. Although, I can suppose it would make sense that you would have to book in advance. If all else fails, though, you could probably stay at a capsule hotel - ?
One bit of advice, though. It is better to pay a bit more to stay somewhere that is close to transportation than to pay less and stay somewhere further away. I stayed at Ginza (sounds expensive, but it cost the same as an equivalent hotel at Shinjuku or Roppongi) thinking it'd be nice to stay in a upmarkety kind of place, but the distance I had to walk from the JR station to my hotel got rather annoying after a full day of walking about and lugging a bag full of stuff.
Also, trains stop running around midnight, so try to pick a central location to do stuff or you'll waste lots of time shuttling back and forth to get the where you want to go.
Shops open around 10am, so it's usually better to do sight seeing in the morning and the shopping in the afternoon. From memory, most shops close around 8pm... later for the larger department stores.
Err, visit Harajuku on a weekend... that way you'll get to see more of the "kids" playing dress in the park. I went on a weekday so there weren't as many people around. Although I was lucky cause there was a makeshift band performing there, so that was kinda interesting.
The clothes you can buy at Harajuku are kinda iffy. And by iffy, I mean gothic and lolita stores. But have a look around, you might find something in one of the other stores they have there. Harajuku crepes are a must... you should be able to see a couple of stores as you follow the crowd past the shops.
Since you're a girl, Shibuya would probably be a more interesting place for you to check out. The 109 store (right opposite the JR station, you can't miss it) is basically heaven on earth for girls... 90% of that building is dedicated to stuff for girls.
One thing I found when I was in Tokyo was that it was hard to get into a good place to eat, since there are so many people, and I didn't want to queue up and wait. This applies especially to cafes, since the people there (mostly girls I think) love having the desserts. But, if you are heading to Osaka, and you're willing to skip the desserts in Tokyo, head to the very top of the Yodobashi Camera store in Umeda. There's a "food court" just dedicated to desserts; and since Osaka isn't as packed as Tokyo, you're pretty much guaranteed a spot at one of the many dessert cafes in there.
Kyoto is a very quiet place compared to Tokyo and Osaka. Visit the Gion district to check out the shrines and temples, and visit Nijo castle and the Imperial Palace (you can't actually go in the palace, you can only walk around outside; it was a bit of a let down, really... Gion was good though). The Kyoto station is a pretty cool bit of architecture, and there's a bunch of ramen restaurants on the 10th or 11th floor that open til 10pm (they stop serving food around 9.30pm though).
... mmm, way too much to say, and I have to get back to work. I'll post more for you when I have more time. Or you just keep asking me stuff to jog my memory. |
SUGOI!! ARIGATOU!! i gotta write all this stuff down!! ur giving me a lot of great tips and places to go...
just another question... i'm really into japanese music, mostly Johnny's Jimusho groups like Arashi, NEWS, Kanjani8, Tackey and Tsubasa, V6, Kinki Kids and TOKIO.... other than HMV and the johnny's shops, do u know any good places that sell stuff like that? liek cds, posters, uchiwas, etc.
thanks again sooo much!! ur helping like crazy!!
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fuddleduddleJoined: 14 Aug 2005 Total posts: 72 Location: Toronto Age: 22 Gender: Male |
| Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:47 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0 |
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| never been to japan myself, but im sure you'll find music stores anywhere. popular stuff like that should be easy to find, don't worry. :]
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feedmeisterJoined: 07 Mar 2005 Total posts: 99 Gender: Unknown |
| Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 2:50 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0 |
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This may sound a little on the dorky tourist side but it's worth doing if your going to be in Tokyo.
Go to the TMG (Tokyo Metro Government) complex in Shinjuku. It is something you will probably want to see anyway. You can go to the top of the building (go into the building shaped like an H not the one shaped like three steps) and get a great view of the city that doesn't cost anything. This means you can skip going up Tokyo Tower which costs money.
More importantly, on the first floor of the TMG there is a rack of maps that are free. The single sheet "Tokyo Area Guide" ones will be the most obvious since there are about a dozen of them. They are single page sheets for specific areas (Asakusa, Shibuya, Ueno, etc....) Just don't forget to grab one of the little fold up maps. They should be orange in color (they were this past summer) and say "Welcome to Tokyo Handy Map" on the front. This is one of the best Tokyo maps I have seen. Make everyone you are with take one. I cleaned out the map rack and everyone I was with looked at me like I was a dork. Then the whole rest of the trip they kept bugging me for my maps.
The Handy Map shows the whole city (actually it shows the entire "To" which extends all the way into the mountains in the west and all those little islands to the south) but anyway this map is good for an overall picture. The area guide sheet maps are great for someone who has never been to Tokyo. There's one for all the major areas you want to see in the city so just grab one of each and look through them later at your liesure for ideas on places to go.
The cheapest places to eat are little mom an pop shacks tucked away where they can be hard to find if you are not local. So if you are going to be staying in one area for a while, walk the sidestreets and alleys around you. Yoshinoya is a restaurant chain which is easily identifiable and pretty cheap. You can fill up on a plate of curry rice for as low as 300 yen. After 9 or 10 at night most convinience stores slash the prices of their plastic wrapped meals so that can help too. If you see a sign that says "single coin" that means you can eat for under 500 yen (that's the largest coin size).
Speaking of coins don't go dropping any in the beer vending machines late at night. I forget the exact time, but after a certain hour in the evening they won't vend anything and will still take your money.
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Kawaii KinomotoJoined: 03 May 2005 Total posts: 166 Location: Canada Age: 21 Gender: Female |
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inochiJoined: 14 Dec 2006 Total posts: 78 Gender: Female |
| Posted: Fri Feb 02, 2007 9:18 am Post subject: Post Rating: 0 |
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| wow, this is becoming a great storehouse of information for me too. will continue to lurk on thread for more tips, they've been amazingly clear and useful thus far
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EnishiJoined: 03 Oct 2006 Total posts: 39 Gender: Unknown |
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and she also said that youth hostels are pretty good to stay at as well... but just incase does anyone know of decent and decently priced hotels as well?
