im going to japan! give me some pointers =]

so its final. i just bought plane tickets to go to japan on july 21st to august 1st. i know practically nothing about living expense etc there so if anyone here has been there, or lives there now or ever, please answer some of my questions:

how much does it normally cost to eat out. how does it compare to eating out in the US (like 15-30$ per person)

what are some of the best places to visit, of course i know about akihabara. (sp)

whats the policy with transporting a lot of video games back to USA? lol

where else can i get good games/electronics are great price, outside of akihabara(sp) (or even in) and can i haggle? how much etc. what should i beware of. are US games in demand there? should i bring some to trade/sell.

where is it best to exchange currancy. here in a bank? or there in a bank? currency exchange places? airport? etc etc. is it better to pay with credit card where possible?

those are actually all the questions that come to mind right now...

however if anyone can please give me any pointers or suggestions about the place. anything i should be prepared about or aware of. ill be traveling with my parents, their friends and their freind's daugther. i am 21 and she i think will be 19. so are there any hotspot to check out ? we will be in tokyo but ofcourse can travel =]


i will be going to tokyo and kyoto. none of us speak any japanese nor have been there before.

as far as eating goes, we'll mostly be eating out, not making our own or cooking. was wondering about restaurante prices.

are mom & pop stores generally cheaper than larger retail gaming stores?

ill def spend a day or two at akiba.

anyone have any details on night clubs or anything? whats a good guide book to pick up?


thanks a lot guys.

 

Depends on the quality, Dinner? Anywhere from $5 (fast food) to thousands. The combini argument is valid, but not always the cheapest. McDonald's and other fast food joints have obscenely cheap foods. Of course they taste like shit, but at least it's hot. A bento will generally cost you more than a Big Mac & Fries. Eating a decent meal though is generally the same or sometimes cheaper than eating at a restaurant in the states. You can do it for 1000-1500 yen per person easily if you don't drink. Lunch is very nice... you can spend 800 yen and get a really good Japanese lunch in just about any part of town.

Akihabara, Meiji Shrine/Yoyogi Park (do this on Sunday afternoon for the freak show), Shinjuku Gyoen (beautiful -- my favorite park), Shinjuku/Kabukicho at night (mind the dodgy places), Shibuya -- summertime, slutty clothes, you'll like it. Asakusa is a big tourist trap. I think it's a waste of time. Ugly. Ueno park, Tokyo Tower, etc. etc.

There's a thread dedicated to that in this forum.

Again, other threads. Basically, no haggling, and US games not really in demand.

1: Change all your money in Japan. You will get much less butt-fucked. It's somewhat regulated, so the fees at the airport are pretty much the same as the banks in town.
2: Credit Card: Still many places don't take these, and some of the ones that do charge you 5%. Also, your bank will most likely bend you over on the exchange rate, so no, it's basically never better to use your credit card (unless you're out of cash).

Just google around. There are tons of clubs. Really depends on the events around that time. Metropolis is a good place to start.

There's a McDonald's in the area (although it's moved form the location which is denoted on the map on my site) which is fantastic if you have to take a shit. Just walk in, and go. Nice toilets, toilet paper -- it's almost like being in a real country.

They're getting better about this. Most major stations (including Tokyo & Akihabara) will have some sort of English display on their machines, and most major lines now have announcements in English (Yamanote, the only one I'm on these days, has English display & announcements on every train). Still, the biggest head scratcher of them all is why Narita Express tickets still have no English on them. Your cart, row, and seat number are all denoted w/ a Japanese charcter mixed w/ an alpha-numeric one. Good luck w/ that.

 

All very good advice ^

I went to Japan for the first time on my own at the age of 17 - I can say with no shame that there were moments when I was totally overwhelmed. The only thing I would say is that the days when I planned my day to every last second were many times better than days I set aside as free.

So just plan your time and importantly look at maps and information before you go.

Also I do not know what you are like with languages but try and get some basic Japanese sorted. I got a mate of mine to learn Katakana in a weekend before he came to Japan and it really worked well for him. Meant he could at least interact more with the urban space and find a beer on a menu!

But don't worry, you will have a good time! You just have to put a bit more effort in than if you were going to most countries.

If you are looking for specific shops/type of shops do say, as if you are looking for uber rare tokusatsu or doujin you are not going to just fall over it!

 

That whole lower righthand corner near Nippori and the like sucks. The only thing over there is a crematorium.

 

what is tokusatsu or doujin?

would i be able to buy a japanese katan somewhere? how do i get it back.

im thinking of loading up maps and dictionary onto my pocket pc. maybe get a gps addon...

i heard that the subway system is very expensive but there are special tourist passes one can buy that are cheap. any information on this?

again, thanks a lot guys, i really appreciate the help.


ill be in japan for 2 weeks, only thinking of dedicating one maybe two of them to hunting for electronics/games. i really do wanna see the country the most.

 

Postulio - wikipedia is a recommended point of reference.

Tokusatsu - roughly equals special effects film. Now that covers a lot, Godzilla, Henshin, basically lots of cult cinema and TV

Doujin - Amateur made stuff, books, vids and games. Games especially these days are begininning to fill the gap that modern developers are mostly leaving open.

But yeah, just google or wiki away, but if you need guidance to anywhere specific, better to ask now before you get there.

 

You can get a Japan Rail pass (outside of Japan) which covers at least JR & Shinkansen (it will pay for itself if you go to Kyoto and back!) but I don't know if it covers subways. I've never used one.

 

Try to learn some Japanese, even if it is only 10 phrases.

Resist the urge to buy everything on the first day, make a list of things you definately want and look for them. If you are going to a certain place more then once in the week then use the first time to check things like prices and the like, there isn't anything worse then buying something from say 5000 yen then finding it down the road for 2000 yen. If you price check and it's gone when you come back then don't worry it'll show up again, most of the time it will be there when you get back.

Think about how you will get stuff back, also useful to bring the cheapest clothes you have and then dump them before you return as you get more in your luggage that way.

Bonus marks if you avoid Roppongi in your travels.

 

guys i just wanted to say thank you for all the really useful information im getting. i really appreciate it. ive been a lurker here for a while and its wonderful to get positive responses.

Jamtex -- whats Roppongi?

i still have a few months before i go, if anything specific comes up in my mind ill be sure to ask. thank you guys again.

 

Roppongi is an area in tokyo (in)famous for it's club and bar scene but normally full of idiotic westerns trying to pick up women and it's one of the few places in Tokyo that you are gauranteed to see a fight and it's normally between americans, africians, etc.

 

Some things I found useful:

1. In train stations if u can't work out what ticket to buy you can buy a cheap ticket and when you get to the destination just put it in a "ticket correction" machine - it's usually next to the exit barriers. When you put your ticket in it tells u how much yen extra you have to pay. Pay it and then put the ticket in the barrier - I found this the stress free way to pay for tickets.

2. Pump money into the cheap vending machines and keep drinking. I went when it was hot and the machines are cheap and provide cold drinks. Avoid the cold tea stuff....yuuuuukkkk.....Japanese have strange taste.

3. Before you go find the Kanji for the stuff your looking for and print it out on paper. When you go into shops u can just show the kanji and they'll point you where to go in the shops. English speakers are not common.

4. Many shops in Akihabara are up narrow stair cases - don't be inhibited about going up into these places. Remember to keep looking up when walking around streets!!!...alot of stuff are above u!

5. Often there's stair cases at the backs of shops. They're not obvious so when going into shops walk to the back and check.

6. As said before - don't buy on first day. You'll be hyper excited and sorely tempted to buy like crazy. If you're patient you can check around first then go back and buy at cheapest prices. The money you save will pay for more kit!

7. Try the arcades..even if u've no interest. It's a completely different world that I've never seen in the UK, US, France or anywhere in the world.

 

Some other tips....

Use your hotel staff as much as possible. They'll speak English and they'll know a lot of the answers you're looking for. Once you leave your hotel you should understand that 99% of the people in Japan won't be able to converse with you, so load up on the info before you leave.

Bring a business card from the hotel with you. Usually it has a map on the back with the hotel location. And if you get really, really lost you can always hop into a taxi and hand the card to the driver to get back.

If you have to speak with Japanese people, use basic words. Don't try to give long sentences. Don't use idioms. If you're at a train station and you're lost don't go up to the window and say, "Yeah, I'm looking to get to Akihabara." Just say "Akihabara" and go from there. Ask for pen and paper. Use hand gestures like you're writing on your hand and they might understand what you want. They can read a lot better than they can speak. Same with game shops. Writing down "Radiant Silvergun" and showing it to them will be a lot faster than trying to get them to understand the words spoken in English.

You can actually hire a taxi for the day in Japan. It's expensive, can't remember how much, but if you have a group of 4 and if you're using trains all day it will add up. With a taxi he just waits there until you're done and then takes you to the next place. You can also just tell him to pull over if you drive by something interesting that you want to see. Ask your hotel staff.

All of the major train stations use English now. You won't have to worry about only having kanji. A lot of stations now have ticket machines that you can switch to English as well. The stations will sometimes have a dozen tracks, so even if you get your ticket you won't know which track to go on. Just take your ticket to the counter at the entrance and tell them where you want to go and they'll tell you the track number. Again, basic words only. Show them the ticket, say "Akihabara," then point to the big sign that has all of the trains and track numbers. They'll get it.

If you need a bathroom you can say the word "toilet" and they'll get it.

Food is easy. Personally, I prefer a bakery that will have a ton of baked items you can choose from. Try McDonalds just once just to compare it to the US.

I'll finish here so I can think of much more important things to write after I've left my computer...

 

Basically if you can't travel around Tokyo by Train or Metro then seriously Japan isn't the country for you.

Basically you can get a map that has all the JR, Metro and Private lines for Tokyo (you can get it from the Tokyo Metropolitan Governments Tokyo Tourist Information centre, there is one in Ueno at the Keisei Station), you can get normal Metro and Metro / JR maps quite easily from most large stations.

http://www.tourism.metro.tokyo.jp/english/
http://www.tokyometro.jp/rosen/rosenzu/pdf/rosen_eng.pdf

There are also websites to help you plan train journeys

http://www.tokyo-subway.net/english/index.html

The Metro system is numbered so it's fairly easy to get around, the JR lines have English on all the stations within the main parts of Tokyo. The ticket machines have a English option.

The most important thing is that the Suica card is now compatable with Pasmo, what this means is you can use the Suica card on the JR and now all the Metro and the vast majority of private lines within Tokyo (and that's quite a large area...). This map (in Japanese sadly) shows you the area you can now use a Suica card in.

http://www.jreast.co.jp/suica-co/area/popup_index.html

The white circular area is the area with the JR Yamanote line (the black and white stripped oval being the Yamanote line), so it gives you an idea of what you can do.

Unless you plan to travel more then 7 times in a day then the Suica card is the easiest way to travel as you just put the plastic card on the reader on the barrier and walk through, other useful things it can do is allow you to pay for drinks in any vending machine in or around a station and most convience shops around or in stations will allow you to pay for purchases with the card. There is a 500 Yen deposit to pay but it saves you having to mess around with coins or lose tickets, you can put it in a wallet and wave that on top of it. As you're likely to come back it's worth keeping the card (or you could return it for a refund minus handling fee).

At Narita go to the JR side and find the green machine that says Suica, press the button that says 'ENGLISH' and stick in 2000 yen and out will pop (after some screen presses) a card with 1500 yen credit (500 Yen deposit for the card). Simple!

If you are running low then top up by going to any Suica machine, pressing the English button, putting the card into the top left hand slot and then adding credit in Y1000 chunks or if you want to use the credit then use a fare adjustment machine (if you can't leave) or the credit to pay for a ticket (if you can't enter).

Also it's cheaper, quicker and not that much of a hassle to travel to Tokyo via the Keisei Skyliner rather then the JR Narita Express, the skyline is 1980 Yen and the narita express to tokyo is about 3,000 yen, Nippori is on the Yamanote line so you can get to most places quite easily and for about 200 Yen at most.

http://www.keisei.co.jp/keisei/tetudou/keisei_us/top.html

If you get lost or panic whilst travelling then you should find a more relaxing hobby like flower arranging or something.