Holiday Japan

[dexters_lab]

hey everyone, i'm just booking a 2 week holiday to Japan with my partner in July/August.

Will be in Tokyo at the beginning and then heading out south hopefully as far as Hiroshima on the trains and then returning at the end for some car related stuff (Toyota 86 Day, driving some of the Skylines north of Tokyo, shopping, Toyota Megaweb).

Just wondered if anyone has any recommendations to see/do/eat??

[dexters_lab]

there are a few things we have kinda planned first few days will be in Tokyo somewhere around electric town. We will be getting a Japan Rail Pass so we can make use of the bullet trains.

We will then head south for where i think we'll have a factory tour at Tein (Yokohama), then we can stop at any of the places on the way to Hiroshima (Nagoya, Osaka, Kobe etc). We just need to see what there is and then plan it a bit... what we want to see and what we can do

Like to see everything from the crush of Tokyo to the more rural parts

thanks for the tip about the Yamanashi test track, that sounds 

[GK]

You booked too late to catch this:


http://zoomingjapan.com/travel/kanamara-matsuri/


 

[dexters_lab]

lol, looks like an amusing day out!

[BravoV]

Just wondered if anyone has any recommendations to see/do/eat??

LOL ... this reminds me of my very short trip to Japan last year, I know this sounds silly & weird,one thing I remembered is I put the "4th" generation Eneloop battery in my priority electronics related shopping list, cause it was newly released back then in 2013, and so difficult to find it outside Japan. 

[zapta]

You can buy nail clippers made of Japanese steel. Yodobashi sell them. The black type are my favourite. You won't find better nail clippers anywhere in the world.

We are using this Japanese clipper and it's top quality http://amzn.com/B003AKZCPU

When in Japan watch for prices. You can pay $100 for a single steak or having a great lunch in a noodle house for a fraction of the price.  Kyoto is a cultural center but can be a very boring place for some. Same goes for the traditional hotels (ryokans), for some they are cute, for other they feel like prison cells.

Overall it's a facinating country with the nicest people in the world

[Mr. Coffee]

Just wondered if anyone has any recommendations to see/do/eat??

I don't think Japan is open. I just got back from Honolulu and they are all there.

[dexters_lab]

Thanks for all the replies everyone.

Have found a site for train times with options to filter for shinkansen which is applicable to the japan rail pass so we should be able to start planning a bit for booking hotels.

The toyota museum near Nagoya is also on the list now

[zapta]

Have found a site for train times with options to filter for shinkansen which is applicable to the japan rail pass so we should be able to start planning a bit for booking hotels.

In one of our visits to Japan we booked a custom organized trip which was very interesting. It was from a large Japanese tour company, don't remember the name, but can ask.  You reserve hotels, daily tours, and train rides for N days and free days if you like. When you start your plan, you do every day whatever activity you reserved (e.g. a day tour to mt Fuji and the area) and when you need to move to another city, they drop you at the train stations and make sure you get on the right train. Even in transfer station they have local part timers that wait for you, take you to the connecting train and make sure you get on the right one. Extremely well organized and fully customized. My wife is native Japanese speaker but we found it useful nevertheless.

[EEVblog]

I've heard that Japan has some really fun canyons:
http://canyons.jp/en

[IanB]

If you're heading in the direction of Hiroshima, then Kurashiki is worth a look. A kind of "quaint" historic town with some well preserved old buildings, an art museum, and some souvenir shops selling local pottery at eye-watering prices  . The surrounding area is quite pretty too, especially over towards the Great Seto Bridge (but avoid the industrial port/manufacturing area of Mizushima nearby unless you like industrial scenery and giant smoke stacks).

In the same region, Kyoto is a major cultural centre with various historic temples, shrines, gardens and so on. (By the time you have finished touring Japan you will have come across more temples than you can possibly count.)

Try to sample as much local food as you can. There is a considerable variety of tastes and styles to choose from. Okonomiyaki is tasty, and also fun if you visit a "cook it yourself" restaurant. For a cheaper "fast food" experience, look out for yakitori restaurants where you will get grilled chicken kebabs with a glass or beer or two. But you might want to avoid some of the more "exotic" parts of the chicken at the cheaper end of the menu 

[dexters_lab]

fantastic thanks, it's going to be hard to pick and choose what we can do!

...which reminds me we need to buy our rail passes before the price goes up 

i am looking forward to the food, Hairy Bikers just did 2 episodes in Japan which was shown on BBC2 recently. http://www.hairybikers.com/shows/the-hairy-bikers-asian-adventure/1791

[GK]

Remember Flipper?

[dexters_lab]

Remember Flipper?

sadly all countries have their dark side

[mwilson]

I recently did the same thing -- 2 weeks, starting in Tokyo and going as far down as Hiroshima. Since you mentioned you're getting the Japan Rail pass, I highly recommend grabbing the book Japan By Rail by Ramsey Zarifeh. I didn't try to incorporate anything EE or car-related into my trip, so I don't have specific recommendations on that front, but the book is a great help if you're getting around by rail and want to know about the food, lodging, and activities near the stations. Also check out some castles -- in particular, stop in Matsumoto and tour the grounds and castle there. Really interesting to compare to European castle architecture and historical development.

[Kryoclasm]

So, during the work week do not try to get on the trains at 8am or 5pm.

I know this first hand, here is a video demonstrating why....



And yes, the train conductors will help you to "fit" inside the train because if the doors do not close the train will be late.... They really don't like to be late.

[zapta]

fantastic thanks, it's going to be hard to pick and choose what we can do!

Bunnies Island would be at the top of my list.

;-)

[electrodacus]

As others mentioned Akihabara is a must. Not sure how it is now since I was there more than 7 years ago.
And there was quiet a change between my last two visits about a year apart.

[dexters_lab]

will certainly go there yes... i will probably pick up some sd/microsd cards, maybe some gopro accesories

[lemmegraphdat]

Japan is an exquisite country.

[dexters_lab]

I recently did the same thing -- 2 weeks, starting in Tokyo and going as far down as Hiroshima. Since you mentioned you're getting the Japan Rail pass, I highly recommend grabbing the book Japan By Rail by Ramsey Zarifeh. I didn't try to incorporate anything EE or car-related into my trip, so I don't have specific recommendations on that front, but the book is a great help if you're getting around by rail and want to know about the food, lodging, and activities near the stations. Also check out some castles -- in particular, stop in Matsumoto and tour the grounds and castle there. Really interesting to compare to European castle architecture and historical development.

thanks, i will buy this on your recommendation, both myself and partner are car nuts i really want to see some of the historic sights, culture so things like castles sound like s great idea

I have been reading the restrictions on the pass for the Nozomi and Mizuho trains, other than getting the correct train was there any other additional charges? I'm thinking of specifically the route to Hiroshima.

I am trying to plan for unforseen costs etc!!

[IanB]

I have been reading the restrictions on the pass for the Nozomi and Mizuho trains, other than getting the correct train was there any other additional charges? I'm thinking of specifically the route to Hiroshima.

I seem to remember the shinkansen express trains have premium fares and a standard rail pass may not be valid. It's probably best to check current information on the Japan Rail web site (I imagine they have an English language version).

I have travelled on the Nozomi express from Tokyo down past Osaka towards Hiroshima and it's a very nice train. Much faster than the stopping services along the same route.

(There was a memorable time when I wasn't paying attention and forgot to get off a stopping service at Okayama to connect with the express service to Tokyo. Consequently I ended up catching a slower train from Osaka and arrived too late to catch the last train from Tokyo to Narita airport. Luckily I didn't have a plane to catch until the next morning and so I just ended up getting to my hotel rather later than planned. But it was quite an adventure figuring out what trains to catch from what platforms after my carefully designed itinerary went wonky...)

[dexters_lab]

thanks for all the great replies

have booked a hotel in Tokyo and Nagoya, will probably look at Hiroshima and the other points like Kyoto later in the week

couple of questions..

how easy is it to book/allocate the seats on the shinkansens after we have the rail pass?

and i have seen japan is often a cash based society, is it easy to use cashpoints/atms etc with foreign cards etc?

[IanB]

Train tickets are easily booked in person at main station ticket offices, assuming availability. (Possibly also the hotel concierge can make reservations for you if it's a larger hotel.) I'm not sure how often it may happen that services are full and need to be booked ahead. I found the trains had some reserved seating and some open seating. The reserved seating obviously guarantees a place to sit, but you have to carefully find the right carriage and seat when boarding.

My experience in Japan is that credit cards work fine for hotels, taxis, trains, etc, but getting cash out of cash machines is a different story. Most of them will refuse any card that is not issued by a Japanese bank. If you find a "tourist" cash machine in a big city, for example an Amex machine, it may be different, but I have never successfully got cash out of a machine in Japan. The easiest option for cash is to take travellers cheques. You can exchange these for cash at the hotel front desk (easy) or at a bank (which is less convenient due to various forms and ID checks and signatures to be processed). (And obviously take some Japanese currency with you when you travel.)

[elgonzo]

In case you have not yet booked flight tickets: Try to get a flight arriving at Haneda airport, not Narita. Not only is Haneda right next to the city, if you have a window seat and the weather is good you might catch a nice aerial view of Tokyo during the approach. You can then also take the monorail from the airport into the city (depending on your luggage handling capabilities it might not be a good idea, though ).

If you plan to purchase or print maps, pay attention that the map comes with the Japanese names (mostly in Kanji), which will help tremendously when communicating with taxi drivers (taxi is rather expensive), bus ticket vendors or "asking" locals for directions.

Apropos directions: if you need to ask and communication with locals is too cumbersome, you might want to look for the nearest Koban ("police box"). Most of them have large and detailed maps of their district on a wall (although in Japanese only, as far as i have seen). Having your own map (with both Japanese and Romaji spellings) will make it easy for the staff to tell you the way, or rather draw it onto your map...

Also important: Don't forget to practice your chopstick skills before your holiday. Really, sitting there eating your meal with a fork/spoon while everybody else uses chopsticks feels akward...

Otherwise, there is not much to add to what the others said. There is so much to experience...

Oh, and pet rabbits of course:

(picture made some years ago during the Sapporo Snow Festival)