Japan next year?
Discussion
Hi all. Japan is my travel dream! The one place in the world I have to visit before I die. So I have decided... Next year = go time!
since I ve never been there before I wonder if people could send some advice my way?
Whats would two weeks there on average cost me?
What time of year do I want to go?
What part do I want to go to?
For the non adventurous in my group (GF) is there any western or not so extreme food for them to eat?
Language barrier, easy or hard to over come?
Questions like that really. Any advice is gratefully appreciated
since I ve never been there before I wonder if people could send some advice my way?
Whats would two weeks there on average cost me?
What time of year do I want to go?
What part do I want to go to?
For the non adventurous in my group (GF) is there any western or not so extreme food for them to eat?
Language barrier, easy or hard to over come?
Questions like that really. Any advice is gratefully appreciated
Feel free to email me - I went to stay with a friend from uni (Japanese) in May. I was on my own for a few days before he got back from a business trip and found it very difficult not having a 'guide' - you can still go round as an English speaking tourist, but with a guide you see so much more of the real Japan and it's no where near as stressful. The trains are easy to use as are the underground trains and it all links up very well.
You can get western food, like MacDonalds/Starbucks/Donut Shops (this was in suburban Yokohama), but anything else will be limited to the big urban areas and costs.... I was eating noodles in local noodle bars for £3 mostly...and sushi for £1 a plate.
I personally would get a Japan Rail Pass (google it) and tour round the country staying 1/2 nights at places along the main train stops.
As I said email me if you want to chat about places to stay/things to do.
You can get western food, like MacDonalds/Starbucks/Donut Shops (this was in suburban Yokohama), but anything else will be limited to the big urban areas and costs.... I was eating noodles in local noodle bars for £3 mostly...and sushi for £1 a plate.
I personally would get a Japan Rail Pass (google it) and tour round the country staying 1/2 nights at places along the main train stops.
As I said email me if you want to chat about places to stay/things to do.
Edited by dtmpower on Sunday 2nd August 12:44
I visited friends in Tokyo a few years back, was great!
Food shouldn't be too much of an issue, but make sure you do all the jap stuff - it's not all wierd! In Tokyo, I ate a lot during in the department stores during the day - many have a whole floor dedicated to food with different areas for Japanese/Italian/Chinese/American etc etc so you should always be able to find something familiar.
I didn't find that language barrier too difficult but then I was with a native speaker a lot of the time. It only took a day to figure out how to navigate the trains, so i found it pretty easy to get around.
Food shouldn't be too much of an issue, but make sure you do all the jap stuff - it's not all wierd! In Tokyo, I ate a lot during in the department stores during the day - many have a whole floor dedicated to food with different areas for Japanese/Italian/Chinese/American etc etc so you should always be able to find something familiar.
I didn't find that language barrier too difficult but then I was with a native speaker a lot of the time. It only took a day to figure out how to navigate the trains, so i found it pretty easy to get around.
it is fairly expensive count on a little bit more than the uk would cost you but alcohol can get pricey and stay away from any english themed places as normally most expensive.
there seasons are similar to ours but more extreme if that makes sense, winter very cold, summer very hot but all not consistant.
we went to
tokyo, very nice, very busy, very expensive. plenty to see for approx 3-4 days.
kyoto, very nice, quite quiet, enough to do for about 2 days. (think from memeory this is where the Todaji temple is absolutely mahoooosive wooden temple very worthwhile.
fukuoka, quite nice, have family there so probably wouldnt go otherwise, but still pleasant.
there is western food but normally along lines of hard rock cafe (they wear extremely short skirts in the one in fukuoka!!!) or steak joints. be careful of all foods ordered a simple egg fried rice no mention of anything else came with lots of little shrimp in it which did not please my veggie wife and her sister!!!
learn some japanese!! some speak english but definitely not the norm even in the large cities. first time we went we ended up ordering a meal in the middle of tokyo in german as they did not speak english, we did not speak japanese but managed to fathom that one of them spoke a little german, so honestly ordered 6 meals of different meats, and 2 meals of non meat and hoped between us we would all end up with something we could eat!!!
also look into the japanese rail pass http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en001.html as very cost effective way of travelling around the country, do not even consider hiring a car! but also shop around for it as different places charge different prices for it, i think we got ours from STA travel as cheapest but this was 2 years ago.
hope this helps and have a cracking holiday.
there seasons are similar to ours but more extreme if that makes sense, winter very cold, summer very hot but all not consistant.
we went to
tokyo, very nice, very busy, very expensive. plenty to see for approx 3-4 days.
kyoto, very nice, quite quiet, enough to do for about 2 days. (think from memeory this is where the Todaji temple is absolutely mahoooosive wooden temple very worthwhile.
fukuoka, quite nice, have family there so probably wouldnt go otherwise, but still pleasant.
there is western food but normally along lines of hard rock cafe (they wear extremely short skirts in the one in fukuoka!!!) or steak joints. be careful of all foods ordered a simple egg fried rice no mention of anything else came with lots of little shrimp in it which did not please my veggie wife and her sister!!!
learn some japanese!! some speak english but definitely not the norm even in the large cities. first time we went we ended up ordering a meal in the middle of tokyo in german as they did not speak english, we did not speak japanese but managed to fathom that one of them spoke a little german, so honestly ordered 6 meals of different meats, and 2 meals of non meat and hoped between us we would all end up with something we could eat!!!
also look into the japanese rail pass http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en001.html as very cost effective way of travelling around the country, do not even consider hiring a car! but also shop around for it as different places charge different prices for it, i think we got ours from STA travel as cheapest but this was 2 years ago.
hope this helps and have a cracking holiday.
Your costs will also depend where you want to go and where you want to stay (hotels or guesthouses). I went to Japan on my own in 2007 and did Tokyo, Akida, Osaka and Ishigaki for two weeks; total cost (excluding air tickets from UK-Copenhagen-Tokyo as I got those on air miles) was in the region of £2k! 
Although I did have a bullet train up to Akida and then back down to Osaka (a few hundred quid), flights from Osaka to Ishigaki and then back up to Tokyo (another few hundred) and a two nights stay at the 5* Park Hyatt in Tokyo + 4 or 5 other "reasonable" hotels, and car hire in Ishigaki (Mx5; loved it 
)
Saying all that, I had saved up for years to go on this trip; I found travel etc to be quite expensive, but every day commodities like bottles of juice etc where similar in price to the UK. There are also plenty of restaurants etc so all tastes catered for, and I didn't find the language barrier to be a problem, even in the most remote areas. Get a JR Rail Pass before you go though, it will make a big difference to train fairs. Also the transit/metro system in Tokyo is unbeleivably good, effecient and cheap!
Have fun; it's a beautiful country and Tokyo is breathtaking, especially the first time you see it at night!
Although I did have a bullet train up to Akida and then back down to Osaka (a few hundred quid), flights from Osaka to Ishigaki and then back up to Tokyo (another few hundred) and a two nights stay at the 5* Park Hyatt in Tokyo + 4 or 5 other "reasonable" hotels, and car hire in Ishigaki (Mx5; loved it )Saying all that, I had saved up for years to go on this trip; I found travel etc to be quite expensive, but every day commodities like bottles of juice etc where similar in price to the UK. There are also plenty of restaurants etc so all tastes catered for, and I didn't find the language barrier to be a problem, even in the most remote areas. Get a JR Rail Pass before you go though, it will make a big difference to train fairs. Also the transit/metro system in Tokyo is unbeleivably good, effecient and cheap!
Have fun; it's a beautiful country and Tokyo is breathtaking, especially the first time you see it at night!
Edited by Thats how I roll on Friday 7th August 16:25
I'm going to go to Japan in this autumn with my English BF. This topic is really interesting!
If you visit to Tokyo or Osaka, foods is no problem. As someone said, you can find a lot of restaurants and cafes which you might use to. You can use convenient store 24hours 7days. (e.g. Seven Eleven)
About the cost : (1 person)
Return tickets £600-800
Hotel £60/day x 12nights =£720
At least Flight & Hotels = £ 1300 - 1600 approximately.
and meals:
Sandwich + coffee = £4-5 (Starbucks)
A main dish + Drink = around £10 (Family restaurant, Denny's or Royal host)
If you go to Japanese pub (Izakaya), maybe will cost £30-40 for 2 people.
If you have license, it might be good to drive Tokyo highway. It is very unique - bent and a lot of high buildings!
It's so difficult to describe Japanese personality though, I think most of them are so friendly and shy. If you ask something, they will do their best even they can't speak English. But most of the sigh has English guidance, you would have no problems.
Just one thing
It is quite difficult to find Vegetarian foods!! (There are some though, the menu hardly say suitable for the vegetarian or not.)
If you go to rural place, little bit difficult to finds above situation. But Japan is so safe country - I recommend you to try! Japanese bath (Onsen) is fabulous! You can go to Kusatsu(Gunma), Beppu, Yufuin(Oita) then. If you need more particular information or anything, let me know (give me mail
)
If you visit to Tokyo or Osaka, foods is no problem. As someone said, you can find a lot of restaurants and cafes which you might use to. You can use convenient store 24hours 7days. (e.g. Seven Eleven)
About the cost : (1 person)
Return tickets £600-800
Hotel £60/day x 12nights =£720
At least Flight & Hotels = £ 1300 - 1600 approximately.
and meals:
Sandwich + coffee = £4-5 (Starbucks)
A main dish + Drink = around £10 (Family restaurant, Denny's or Royal host)
If you go to Japanese pub (Izakaya), maybe will cost £30-40 for 2 people.
If you have license, it might be good to drive Tokyo highway. It is very unique - bent and a lot of high buildings!
It's so difficult to describe Japanese personality though, I think most of them are so friendly and shy. If you ask something, they will do their best even they can't speak English. But most of the sigh has English guidance, you would have no problems.
Just one thing
It is quite difficult to find Vegetarian foods!! (There are some though, the menu hardly say suitable for the vegetarian or not.)If you go to rural place, little bit difficult to finds above situation. But Japan is so safe country - I recommend you to try! Japanese bath (Onsen) is fabulous! You can go to Kusatsu(Gunma), Beppu, Yufuin(Oita) then. If you need more particular information or anything, let me know (give me mail
)Use the search engine - I've answered a few posts about Japan in the last few months (we were there in April).
Best times = April (for cherry blossom, if you're lucky) or October (for autumn leaves). Summer = VERY humid, Winter = VERY cold.
Costs - agree with above - a little more than the UK at current exch. rates, particularly in the big cities.
Great place though - very interesting, and very friendly and helpful people!
Best times = April (for cherry blossom, if you're lucky) or October (for autumn leaves). Summer = VERY humid, Winter = VERY cold.
Costs - agree with above - a little more than the UK at current exch. rates, particularly in the big cities.
Great place though - very interesting, and very friendly and helpful people!
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