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Visiting Tokyo and Japan
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 2010-02-05 2:26 PM |
Regular  534   Philadelphia |  Subject: Visiting Tokyo and JapanAnyone have any suggestions for places to eat, places to say, and/or places to do stuff in Tokyo and Japan? One of my friends lives in Japan, currently in the boonies, but will be moving to Tokyo in a couple of months. I'm thinking of taking the week between the spring and summer terms to go visit in May. Edited by Silver Bullet 2010-02-05 2:27 PM |
| 2010-02-05 2:29 PM in reply to: #2657509 |
Champion 5376  PA | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan No suggestions but thumbs up for your opportunity to travel! Order Gen Tsao's for me.  |
| 2010-02-05 2:37 PM in reply to: #2657509 |
Member 276 San Diego | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan lucky |
| 2010-02-05 2:43 PM in reply to: #2657509 |
Champion 11989 Philly 'burbs | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan Is it possible to visit Tokyo without visiting Japan? |
| 2010-02-05 2:58 PM in reply to: #2657541 |
Extreme Veteran 961 | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan mrbbrad - 2010-02-05 2:43 PM Is it possible to visit Tokyo without visiting Japan? I almost qualify for it. Sum total of my visit was 2 hours in Narita and I managed to lose my passport while I was there. |
| 2010-02-05 3:12 PM in reply to: #2657509 |
Pro 4578 Vancouver, BC | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan I lived in Japan in 1995-1996, but I wasn't in Tokyo. I was in Kanazawa in Ishikawa prefixture. I spent a week in Tokyo in May 1996, then I went back with my partner to visit for a week in August 2002. Since it was so long ago, my suggestions for places to eat, nightclubs to visit etc. are probably all irrelevant. But definitely stop at a sushi place with conveyor belts where you grab sushi off of it and pay by the plate. We found a chain that the prices actually turned out to be fairly reasonable. In 2002, we stayed near Shinjuku station. There's a lot happening here, so it's a good headquarters. I had just finished school, so I was pretty poor, so we stayed in a really really tiny room, but we were very central, and we didn't spend much time in the room. Again 2002, I visited some of the car factory headquarters, Toyota and Honda. The Honda tour was pretty cool. The Tsukiji fish market was worth visiting as well. |
| 2010-02-05 3:15 PM in reply to: #2657509 |
Master 2802 Minnetonka, Minnesota | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan I was there last spring for a quick trip with my wife who had business there. Tokyo is HUGE! We were largely herded around by ex-pats who knew what they were doing. One place you should get to for dinner is Gonpachi in Roppongi, Tokyo. It is the restaurant where they filmed the scene in Kill Bill where she battles the schoolgirls. Fun atmosphere and good food. Here is a great link to a detailed blogger writeup: http://accidentalepicurean.com/2009/08/gonpachi-in-roppongi-tokyo-the-kill-bill-restaurant/ We also ate at the top of a big skyscraper downtown that was supposed to be "very authentic". It was - as in expensive and kinda weird food but served very traditionally. I think the best food was at our friends local eating place - kind of a Japanese sushi/sashimi fast food place where the dishes travel past you on a little conveyor and you grab what you want to try. You pay by the number and type of dishes you accumulate and you get to watch the chef prepare things right in front of you. No way I can remember the name as it was all in Japanese. Food was VERY fresh and good and realtively cheap. Link to a site that reviews them, etc. http://www.sunnypages.jp/search/tokyo_restaurants/conveyor_belt_sushi We did all the main tourist things and hit the various shopping areas, the Tokyo Dome (my son is a huge baseball fan so we got him a Tokyo Giants jersey), and the big park in the center of town. I have a pond at my house where I keep koi, so I wanted to visit a Japanese koi farm. There is one near the ariport that I visited http://www.narita-koi.com/english/ Another thing to do is visit a Shinto temple. We went to the "big one" near the old town and a really cool one tucked away just one block off the main shopping street. A wedding was going on so it was cool to see that. I was surprised that English was not spoken very widely. The subway is great though and you can get all over town on it and it is pretty easy to figure out. Oh, you can get just about everything you might want or need from a vending machine - including surprisingly good hot coffee in a can! Good luck and have fun if you end up going! One more thing: Get up real early one morning and visit the fish market where they bring in the fresh/frozen seafood and auction off the huge tuna for big bucks. Walk around and you can see just about every conceivable form of sea life! Edited by ejshowers 2010-02-05 3:21 PM |
| 2010-02-05 4:32 PM in reply to: #2657509 |
Champion 34263 Chicago | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan I've been there a few times (my mother was Japanese) and can tell you to visit the historical shrines, the pagodas on the mountain, Fujiyama and Tokyo Disneyland. OK skip the last one, but see the rest. I thankfully had tour guides everywhere I went. Have fun, bacha gaijin! |
| 2010-02-05 5:11 PM in reply to: #2657509 |
Regular 215 Kirkwood, Mo. | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan X2 on Roppangi and Sushi!!! Took my son there for his high school graduation present. If you get a chance see Kyoto. It is well worth the trip. We also climb Mt Fuji. |
| 2010-02-05 9:41 PM in reply to: #2657617 |
Champion 5376 PA | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan jeng - 2010-02-05 4:12 PM I lived in Japan in 1995-1996, but I wasn't in Tokyo. I was in Kanazawa in Ishikawa prefixture. I spent a week in Tokyo in May 1996, then I went back with my partner to visit for a week in August 2002. Since it was so long ago, my suggestions for places to eat, nightclubs to visit etc. are probably all irrelevant.
Besides, if you went to a nightclub in 1995 and stayed sober enough to remember its Japanese name in 2010, it was NOT a good nightclub. |
| 2010-02-06 12:22 AM in reply to: #2657533 |
Regular 534 Philadelphia | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan mr2tony - 2010-02-05 5:32 PM Have fun, bacha gaijin! sumimasen ga, chotto...  Great tips all! Thank you! I really hope this comes together... ! I'll have the benefit of a native and a two-year expat resident leading me around when they're not at work. My friend is crazy for sumo, and the week I'm eyeing is in the middle of the summer tournament, so I'm probably going to end up seeing sumo at least once. |
| 2010-02-06 2:55 AM in reply to: #2657509 |
Extreme Veteran 1175 Langley, BC, 'Wet Coast' Canada | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan In addition to some good ideas posted already, be aware that Japan has a series of National Holidays called Golden Week, beginning IIRC on April 29 til about May 5 or 6... Travel is expensive and crowded during that week, so it might be a time to avoid. |
| 2010-02-06 7:21 AM in reply to: #2657509 |
Master 1565 SMIBville | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan I was there in 2008. In Tokyo I went to Roppong, Aksuksa, Ginza, Odaiba, Shinjuku, Harajuku, and Shibuya. All different neighborhoods/areas worth checking out IMO. A lot of those districts are known for different kinds of shopping (fashion, electronics, etc). Meiji shrine is worth checking out and so is the areas around the Imperial Palace. I highly reccomend going to Tsukiji fish market (gotta get be there at like 5am) to see all the action and then have some fresh sushi for breakfast. Shinjuku at rush hour is pretty amazing, just because of the mass of humanity (3.5million ppl pass through that train station every day!). Outside of town, for day trips, I'd look into Kamakura and Enoshima Island, but there are tons of other places to go. |
| 2010-02-06 7:47 AM in reply to: #2657509 |
Master 1289 Franklin, TN | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan Konichiwa... I was on the main island on the northern tip at Misawa in the Air Force for 2 years (88 - 90). I climbed Mt. Fuji in cowboy boots - so it isn't that hard. 12,300 feet. The paths are wide and zig-zag up the mtn about 50 yards each way. The Tokyo zoo is rather large. It is the only place I've ever heard a male lion roar. That is a sound I will never forget. Unreal! Hiroshima and / or Nagasaki could be interesting, or getting down to Okinawa or Iwo Jima. |
| 2010-02-06 10:55 AM in reply to: #2658350 |
Regular 534 Philadelphia | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan Lots of great ideas! Hearing about the fish market is making me hungry... nothing like seafood that just came out of the water :) triosaurus - 2010-02-06 3:55 AM In addition to some good ideas posted already, be aware that Japan has a series of National Holidays called Golden Week, beginning IIRC on April 29 til about May 5 or 6... Travel is expensive and crowded during that week, so it might be a time to avoid. I will just miss Golden Week, actually -- the earliest I could get out there is May 7th. My friend lives in Ibaraki, and before that he was in Gunma. |
| 2010-02-10 8:40 AM in reply to: #2657509 |
| Veteran 124 Minneapolis | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan It's been a while since I was there but have a few suggestions: 1. Eat at a noodle shop in the back alleys of Tokyo. They are everywhere, the Udon noodle soups are outstanding and you cannot get anything like it here in the states. You will be the only tourist eating there, the locals will think it's the funniest thing they have ever seen especially if you use chopsticks to eat your noodles and slurp them. Pretty much guaranteed you make some friends there. 2. Go to Tsukiji Fish Market but get there about 5am. Have sushi breakfast there, I know that does not sound like breakfast food but it will be the freshest tastiest sushi you will ever have. 3. If you are interested in nightclubs/partying kind of night go to Roppongi. 4. Visit a traditional Japanese bath house, try to find one with a natural spring that supplies the water. There are even some in Tokyo. I went to one that was on the 6th floor of a building a little ways from Roppongi with brown water bubbling into the cypress wood bath from an underground hot spring. 5. Stay at least one night at a Ryokan. If you want a day trip go to Kyoto, there are a ton of them there and the town is full of history. 6. The Japanese may be the most polite and helpful people you will ever encounter on the globe. They will help you with anything they can and are more than happy to help a lost tourist find their way even if you speak no Japanese and they don't speak your language. Just be polite to them and be sure to bow to say thanks. Last thing, carry a small notebook and a pen in your back pocket. Most Japanese can read English but finding someone who speaks it is much harder. If you write down what you are trying to ask they can read it and will help you. Most of all have fun, it's a great place. I am jealous, I want to go back |
| 2010-02-10 9:05 AM in reply to: #2665277 |
Pro 4612 MA | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan Sensoji temple (built 400 years ago) is a good place to spend a morning. Take the Ginza subway line to Asakusa station, cross the street and you're there. From the main street toward the temple are lined with shops selling traditional Japanese good and snsacks. Harajuku, the trendy shopping district. Akihabara Electric Town, with the most up-to-date electronic gadgets. If you want to get out of the city, go to Hakone, stay in one of thos hot-spring inns, and take an easy hike around the dormant volcanic crate of Owakudani. Hakone is about 1.5 hr train ride from Tokyo. |
| 2010-02-10 11:41 AM in reply to: #2665372 |
Expert 1149 CenTex | Subject: RE: Visiting Tokyo and Japan Must sees: |
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