Japan Must Do Things While in Japan?
My mates Me are planning a trip to Japan hopefully in early Jan 2010.
And I wanted to know If there’s something we must do while where there. We already have the snowboarding box ticked. Any advice would be sweet.
Definately spare a few days for Tokyo… that city is amazing. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting the different areas of Tokyo. A favourite was Harajuku, really cool (the Burton store is there also). Even while you are in Tokyo you can still go snowboarding at one of the indoor snow domes. Ride in the morning for a couple of hours, then go exploring.
Thanks man do you know of any old temples or other cultural things to do in tokyo
I wish I had more time in Tokyo, two days was not enough. I didn’t get to visit any temples… but I’m sure a few people on here will be able to give you good advice. Make sure you visit a natural Onsen while in Japan.
I agree with natural Onsens, brilliant and allow you to recharge and shred every day.
The other one I’d suggest is to stay at a traditional Ryokan for 1-2 nights. So much more character than a hotel - think a room with bamboo mats on the floor and a futon that they bring out for you each night. Get a traditional brekkie of dried fish down you, too!
Hakuba! Moshimoshi. About 1 hour from Nagano station and well worth it.
ooh ..I saw a good travel show on TV today..I would climb Mount Fuji…You can buy oxygen and candy bars on the way up..
and you have to hit up the 99 yen shops in tokyo
At least a few days in Tokyo. They have funny little box hotels if you’re on a budget, amazing shopping for clothing, electronics and just about everything else and the nightlife in Rapongi is the business.
oh and Onsen hot springs!
A ride on the shinkansen, get a rail pass, it’s great value. For those of you used to terrible rail systems like in the U.S. or Britain, and for those of you used to good-to-great ones like in Switzerland or Germany, this one will blow you away. The trains run every ten minutes or so between Tokyo and Osaka, and the average delay is measured in seconds (not minutes, not hours).
Another recommendation is to spend a day away from your mates, and navigate the system and language on your own.
Zenkoji (sp?) temple was good, as were the snow-monkeys.
best decision mates and i made when we went was to avoid tourist spots as much as possible. dont let the language barrier scare you - avoid tourist spots, grab a good pocket phrasebook (lonely planet worked well for me) and just get out there - you’ll have a blast.
I agree with natural Onsens, brilliant and allow you to recharge and shred every day.
The other one I’d suggest is to stay at a traditional Ryokan for 1-2 nights. So much more character than a hotel - think a room with bamboo mats on the floor and a futon that they bring out for you each night. Get a traditional brekkie of dried fish down you, too!
This.
I took the shinkansen to kyoto and stayed at a Ryokan for a few nights. The ryokan had been in that spot for a number of centuries (i forget how many but i think it was 3 or 4).
Not a cheap option (and not luxurious) but definitely a unique experience.
The place I stayed at provided traditional breakfast and dinners (with whatever cooking required taking place in our single main room (the living/dining/bedroom for 3) and I think this is common practice. The traditional breakfast is a culinary experience I will never forget and despite our best intentions to be true to the experience we were all on the alternate “western style” breakfast by day 2.
I wish I had longer to explore Japan and I hope to go back sometime soon. Its an amazing place and I’m sure you could spend a lifetime there and still not get through all the must do’s.
Have fun!
I dug those breakfasts, I could basically stick with the fish and miso and rice every day!
I’d say that Japan is one of the most contradictory, most difficult cultures to really get a handle on, even to people from Asia (China, Korea, Taiwan, etc.). Utterly fascinating place. I’d also recommend checking out Osaka, it’s very lightly touristed compared to Kyoto, and the food is distinctive. Tokyo is a bigger city, but Osaka is regarded as the culinary capital of Japan, with all sorts of crazy dishes.
Heres a few tips.
Avoid the street hustlers, best way to do it is to just ignore them completely.
They’ll try and take you to a club/bar which will generally be crap then hit you up for cash.
If you go out in shinjuku at night just be weary theres a few shady characters about, just as you would in any city though really
Nothing to worry about, just good to know.
and eat a herb dog from subway
yeah, shinjuku is a must, the train station at rush hour is utterly crazy. heck, trying to figure out which exit to take is half the fun. plus, the district is hopping at night, i guess it’s something like king’s cross meets times square.