Off to Japan today! Hopefully I'll be able to put what I've learnt into action :3 - Feed Post by MintyHippo
Off to Japan today! Hopefully I'll be able to put what I've learnt into action :3
posted by MintyHippo
Comments 26
If you have enough time, make sure to spend a good chunk of it outside of the usual suspects for places that will cater to your English crutch (Tokyo and the surrounding areas, Osaka, Kyoto). I would suggest something totally 田舎. But you'll certainly get good use out of your language skills if you let yourself. Have a great trip! A month back would have been a better time, with the cherry blossoms and whatnot, but I suppose escaping Australian winter is nice, too.
I was thinking it must be soon that you were going. Hope you have a fantastic trip!! How long did you say you were going for?
My original plan was to go on holiday to Japan around this time, early-mid May, for a couple of weeks, because I knew it would take me a long time to get a passport. I my passport only four days ago though, and will take a few weeks to be able to go. I think it's getting a bit close to rainy and hot season now, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do...
Would have been funny if it had worked out and we happened to both be in Japan at the same time! ^^
頑張ってね! 気を付けてお願い。what part are you going to? I live.here currently, its pretry fun :)
@Arachkid we probably won't go out of the main areas that much I imagine, but I'm glad too hear that I'll get to use my Japanese :) We were originally planning to go for the cherry blossoms but stuff happens lol.
@Mog About 3 weeks. Tough choice depends what you want in your trip I guess ><. It would be awesome to meet you in japan :D- I went for 4 weeks. I got that kind of time from my workplace (much better than you'll get in a row if you ever move here) paid, and it takes a good 3 or 4 days to get used to being here, so I thought might as well make the most of it. Yeah, June will be the rainy season. Might be tricky for you coming in, actually, as we're scheduled to get a typhoon tomorrow. Not sure if you're coming in from Haneda or Narita, but for those who have yet to make that choice, go Haneda. It makes the time after arrival that much easier til you get to your hotel, and I only wish I had been able to do that when I first came here.
- @deadmo I'll do my best ^^ Tokyo/osaka/kyoto/Nara, just around the middle of the main island.
@Arachkid typhoon 0_0, pretty sure were going in by Narita...
another thing will be experiencing earthquake lol, they don't happen here in aus. - It's not super regular, you may go by ages without actually experiencing one. I had been here for a grand total of a year and a half before experiencing one. That said, that first one was 3.11.2011... the last one I experienced was last fall, I think the first week after summer vacation, so the first week of September. You may feel one, but more than likely not. Do you have any rail passes sorted out? If not, and you come in at Narita, you should get the Kanto Area Pass - it's a three day thing within Kanto, covers bullet trains, and is 8,000 yen, and covers the train in from Narita to Tokyo proper, which is 2,400 yen anyhow, so as long as you don't plan to sit around for the first two days, you really can't lose out.
- I hope your flight isn't affected by the weather at all and goes smoothly without any delays. ^^
I've thought about going to Hokkaido instead, since it should be cooler up there and less affected by the rainy season. But I'm more interested in the mainland really. I might just go during rainy season. I'm pretty used to rain lol, how bad can it be? At least there'll hopefully be less tourists, making it easier to get hotels and such. Maybe cheaper too? :P - I'd only count on cheaper if there's markedly less tourists - it also depends where you're staying. If you are planning on an extended stay like MintyHippo, you're probably thinking of a cheap hotel or hostel, in which case you'll just end up with less people about, the cost'll be the same. If you end up here in the rainy season, it won't be bad, it's not a... cold rain, it's a humid rain. If you end up here after that, it's just humid heat. Hokkaido does get a lot less heat - I recall the highs generally being around 24 daily up there, or something like that - but I'm not sure I would be able to find much to keep me interested for more than a couple of days up there. I still want to go, but when I do, it'll be a round trip so I can hit up Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, Hokkaido, Akita, Yamagata, and then come back home, having hit six more prefectures than I've been to now.
You can go to Hakone, doable from 東京 round trip in one day, and your Suica card works there. I went for boat trip to the other side of the lake and then came back in cable car, there is interchange in the middle with nice view on 富士山。 You can also check weather in Hakone using few webcams in the area from your hotel so you don't waste time / money on going there when weather is not perfect.
Plus over there your chances of using Japenese are much higher than in 東京。
@mog86uk - i went to Japan for 花見 and then late October - imho best time as weather is much more bearable those times, at least for someone who lives in the uk.
Hope you have a great time :D
I hope to visit sometime this winter.
have a nice trip
がんばって ^-^ tell us all about it wont you and share any good pics and advice for us who have yet to go- The volcanic pressure is... relatively high in Hakone lately, to the point that some resorts have experienced closures. I would suggest not going there if possible, or double/triple checking information on the area before going there. freaky, if you're coming in winter, I would suggest a stay which includes the new year's period if you can come and leave here not during that period (prices will be higher during that specific time, but if you come mid-December and leave mid-January, you'd be doing great). A lot of cultural opportunities during 正月.
@MintyHippo: If you want to use your Japanese, go to a bar where you can sit at the bar. The bartender will definitely talk to you and when others around start getting drunk, they will definitely start talking to you. This method hasn't failed me yet!
@Arachkid: Do you live in Kanto? I feel an earthquake at least once a week. It may not be very significant, but you can definitely feel it. There was one this morning!- Koukyoshi - I do live in Kanto. I'm also walking, driving, or generally on the move more than not outside of work, so of course that lowers one's chance of feeling anything, unless it's a big one. I also sleep like a log. I work in public schools, and even if there's a minor earthquake, everything grinds to a total halt as we hike to the evacuation point after cowering beneath desks, and the last experience with that was the quake last year. It was embarrassing, as apparently that is the only time manner mode means diddly. BWEEEEET! BWEEEET! Ah... yeah, I might be carrying my cell.
- @Arachkid We would probably only go for a week around mid december of this year but we wanted to try and hit up a few places during that time :D
- @freaky - a few places in a week? Are you talking Kanto only, or other areas? I suffer slightly from jet lag, so yeah, I tend to make as much time as possible when I did come here for visits. It also doesn't help that almost from anywhere, it's at least 10 hours to get here.
- @Arachkid We haven't decided exactly where we're going but I only have enough vacation time for a week :P
- I would suggest hanging around Tokyo or the Kanto area, then. Travelling to Japan in itself is hardly relaxing, so to be shooting back and forth across the country for a week is hardly optimal. :P
I second Jadore, would love to hear about it. :)- Back! Mmm, I hope there's not a comment character limit ><
:Responses:
@Arachkid, I left right after that post so I didn't get to read it till it was too late. But we go 'pasmo' cards which worked everywhere except local buses(Nara). Though it would have been nice considering the price of 新幹線(Bullet train). Also I noticed 2 earthquakes, both nothing more than a gentle sway. I have to say the surrounding peoples reaction took me by surprise. I looked around watching things sway for the duration(maybe 15sec) while everyone else looks up for a split second and continues like nothing ever happened 0_0
@mog86uk, Thankfully our flights were all unaffected :) The weather was amazing the whole time with only light showers a morning or two.
@Arachkid, Since I went with my family we mostly stayed at mid/upper tier hotels so no price changes really. If I traveled by myself it would be hostels but can't say if that would change. Can't see why it would really...
@black_cat, Hakone was a bit out of the way and hard to fit in to our schedule but I'd really like to go there next time. As a side note I have to say I'd love to go for 花見 because lots of places we went to had 桜 lining the sides(koyasan for example would have looked breath taking).
@Koukyoshi, I'm just a few months shy of drinking age in Japan... wish it was 18 like here. Anyway, I definitely want to do that :) There were more than a few chill bars and nightclubs I'd love to go to. The night life(especially in Tokyo) looks really amazing, much bigger than here in Perth.
@freakymrq, I'm with Arachkid. A few places in only a week is impossible XD
@All thank you for the kind wishes :D
@Jadore_Violet and Whinzer9, anything specific? ^^
:General:
First of I'd like to say it was amazing. Each of the main cities we visited had completely there own atmosphere.
First off, I'd forgot how exceedingly, amazing, incredibly boring flying is... Also I'd suggest going though Taiwan or China if you have to do a 2 part flight and have the choice. They have less harsh import and carry though rules than somewhere like Singapore.
Soon as you get off the plane you have to deal with customs which if you have no Japanese could be a little difficult if you have something to declare, but doesn't take long.
Once you've got that done time to get a train pass(unless you want to buy tickets all the time or not travel). Depending on where you're planning to go there are a million and a half different passes not all accepted everywhere(Lots of fun to research :P).
The train line looks SUPER INTIMIDATING, but really is pretty simple once you read it, might take 10mins or so though. I sat down and studied it for a while ><
We took the train/s to our hotel as taking a taxi would have cost a small fortune for the distance. Taxi's are pretty cheap really though, compared to Perth at least.
Standard hotel stuff, have papers ready, arrive after the set time, etc... No problems there. If you've every been to a hotel ever it's just like that but in Japanese ;) All the plugs are different voltages though so you should take a couple of adapters.
Outside walking around there are lots of bikes so watch your step. There are literally vending machines and コンビニ every block or two in populated areas. Tokyo for example might have 3 or 4 on the same block and a dozen vending machines 0_0 Obviously the amount of people depend on where you are. Main streets have people everywhere. They also tend to walk on one side(changes on location, left for Tokyo). And escalators have a standing and walking side. If you're not in a rush you stand and if your in a rush you walk up the other half of the steps. It looks really strange to see 30 random people organise themselves so well XD Unlike here at least they leave trash out just in bags to be picked up, here we have bins to stop the smell too. So if you're not used to it, it can get pretty rich sometimes. Particularly small streets and back ally's.
Sure there's lots of stuff I missed or just got used to... Everyones generally really well mannered and in the cities almost everyone wears a suit which REALLY makes others stand out(i.e casually dressed tourists like me ^^). The have super high denomintation of money as coins too, 500円 as a coin really? Also they have a 2000 note that I never even saw once...
:Final:
As for my actual trip we went all around the place and did all kinds of things. It would take me 5 more pages to explain I'm sure. It really was an awesome trip ^^ - sounds great ^-^ glad you had a good time. I didn't know about the different voltage sockets I wonder if that's a standard thing or if its like that just for hotels (you know as travelers from different places might need different power)
- for their foreign gadgets and such
- You're back, Minty! I didn't see a notification until I looked in read messages. I was wondering how much longer it was until your holiday ended. I'm glad it sounds like everything went smoothly and that it sounds like you had a great time. ^^
I really wish I had got myself organised with passports and stuff a bit quicker, as I planned to go at that time of year too. I don't think I'd cope with the heat and humidity of mid-summer Japan though, since I struggle enough with just the UK's summer (which really is saying something! haha).
Reading your post makes me even more determined to go now though. Can't wait.
Did you take any interesting photos to show? :)
@Jadore_Violet, I think Minty meant that the plugs are all 100V & 50/60 Hz in Japan, unlike over there in Australia and back here in the UK which both are 230V & 50 Hz (Australian mains sockets are a different shape to ours though). And, of course, Japanese sockets are also a different shape to both of ours.
@Minty, Did you experience any problems recharging your electrical stuff in Japan. Did you take your own adapters with you? - @mog86uk - I have older model of this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mudder-Universal-International-Adapter-max1750w/dp/B00KWRRE32/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1433967082&sr=8-5&keywords=universal+plug+adapter+usb served me in Japan, New Zeland, Hong Kong and everywhere else I went last 10 years. and do not have to take mobile chargers as it has usb ports :)
