heywood on 16/10/2009 at 16:15
I used to travel to the Tokyo area for work. Been there 7 or 8 times.
I can vouch for the Shinjuku area as a good place to stay. Shinjuku station is the second busiest in Tokyo (I think) and from there you can get anywhere. There's also a lot to do in Shinjuku. Lots of shopping, lots of restaurants, Kabukicho (red light district), the observatories in the metropolitan government towers, etc. Both the Washington Hotel and the Hilton are a short walk from Shinjuku station, they both a shuttle, they should be within your $2k budget for lodging, and they're nice.
If you don't like Japanese food, you'll still do fine within Tokyo. Roppongi has the biggest ex-pat population and the most western tourists, so that's where you'll find the most western restaurants (Hard Rock, Tony Roma's, etc.). There's quite a few Italian and Chinese restaurants around Tokyo, if either of those work for you. You may also like Yakitori (grilled chicken on a stick) and there's a ton of Yakitori restaurants in Tokyo. There's a whole alley of them in Kabukicho for example. Also consider Korean barbecue. You can also get pub style food here in some of the Roppongi bars, and there's two chains of British pubs, The Hub and the Hobgoblin. I can't help much with nightlife because we tended to be out with our Japanese colleagues at places I can't remember. But I did take a liking to an Aussie shot bar in Roppongi called Geronimo's.
While in Tokyo, I don't think you'll have any issues with language. The street signs had English, the subway maps had English, and most restaurants and shops had someone on staff who spoke English. The nicer ones had English menus too. And a lot of the people speak some English. When you're going to be out late, take a business card from your hotel with you. The subway stops running early, and if you can't converse with a cab driver just give them your card and they'll get you home.
The only times I struggled a bit with the language barrier when I was outside of Tokyo. For example, on my way out to climb Mt Fuji, I had to memorize a few Kanji & Katakana to make sure I got off at the right train station and got onto the right bus. But if I ever looked lost, usually someone would offer to help.
driver on 16/10/2009 at 18:03
Quote Posted by RocketMan
1 more thing.....my taste in food is abysmal. I don't eat fish, most vegetables or anything multi-syllabic. I've been looking for something edible in the country and all i can find is a couple of restaurants (for dinner) that are affordable and have Italian and American and BBQ. Aside from that, just fast food but I'll die if I live off that for 7 days. Super Size Me anyone???
I'll hold off on commenting on how people who travel to foreign countries only to eat food that they already have at home should be shot (deep breath) and recommend you try (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramen) Ramen. It's a big bowl of noodles in a thin soup with a slice or two of meat, bean sprouts, fried seaweed and sometimes other small nibbles. Dirt cheap, widely available and very satisfying. Also, if you're shaky on your Japanese, most Ramen bars work on a ticket machine either out front or just inside. The machine will have rows of buttons with pictures (usually) of each dish on them. Push the one you like, enter cash and take the ticket to whomever is serving inside. Easy.
RocketMan on 16/10/2009 at 23:08
Quote Posted by driver
I'll hold off on commenting on how people who travel to foreign countries only to eat food that they already have at home should be shot
:D
I feel guilty about it but yeah, I don't like much...my tongue thinks everything but steak and potatoes is toxic. That shiskabob chicken sounds good...maybe the ramen if i fish out the "nibbles".
Heywood what were you saying about shuttles for the Washington? Whether I stay in Ginza or Shinjuku I like the washington so this shuttle thing might be important to me.
Random question. When the hotel says it has a "bath" does that mean shower? I hate taking baths....I'd probably tolerate it though. Also do the bidet toilets also have toilet paper in case you DONT like a jet of water up your ass? Maybe they do anyway and i just don't know enough about high class ass care.
Regarding "asagohan", how easy is it to put together your own breakfast (like fruit, milk, some bread or cereal) manually? Is that more trouble than it's worth? Most of the stuff I've been hearing about so far is more lunch/dinner style.
Something we haven't really touched on yet and I'm hoping will I will not need to use but: What sorts of things will get me in trouble with either the law or a bad group of ppl or generally piss someone off...what should I NOT do while still having fun?
Oh....and WIFI. I have a PDA that I plan to use as my chief navigator and planner and also for skype and email. How easy is it to get a signal either in the hotels or outside? In Toronto I can usually borrow a signal for a few minutes to check my email or w/e if i'm near an apartment building or something. I know the hotels have wired internet but i'm specifically talking about open wireless.
driver on 16/10/2009 at 23:35
As a compromise, you could try (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mos_Burger) Mos Burger: Japan's equivalent to McDonald's.
All toilets have paper, the water jet thing isn't as common as you might have been lead to believe. Hotels that advertise 'baths' might be referring to communal baths or possibly even 'Onsen' (Hot springs) depending on where you are.
There are convenience stores every 3 feet in Japan, so if you're looking for milk, cereal, bread etc, you should be able to pick something up there. Supermarkets are uncommon in Japan (I found only one in all my time in Tokyo), so Lawson, Circle K and the like will be your friend.
As far as pissing people off, most Japanese will be very tolerant of foreigners and will expect you to be rude, uncooth or just plain uncivilised, so any faux par you make will be either overlooked or politely corrected.
RocketMan on 17/10/2009 at 01:10
Actually I'm very polite and conscious of mannerisms etc. I'm more worried about hitting on the wrong girl or landing up in a place that isn't my turf or doing something illegal that I didn't know was illegal or something that I would equally have no clue about beforehand.
Raph: A little late but yeah I took a look at Digi's thread and it's pretty good..lots of the same questions in there !
demagogue on 17/10/2009 at 01:55
About the most "dangerous" place you could possibly find, like the aforementioned Kabukicho, is probably about as risky as a Boise suburb around noontime. Seriously, a woman once got her purse nabbed and it made front page national news because it practically never happens. You're at much more risk of finding yourself in a boring neighborhood than a dangerous one.
They enjoy drinking and make drunk asses of themselves, in fact it's something of a social duty, so they're used to giving some people leeway in the nightlife scene. They say you should stay clear of yakuza types, but to be honest yakuza types like Americans and we've gone to bars where they come to us to buy us drinks, hang out, and tell us stories about the wild life of petty crime. Their drug laws are very harsh, but you wouldn't be asking questions like this if you were that dumb.
They say there are Member Clubs that exclude Westerners, but chances are you couldn't find them anyway. Tokyo has sort of an interesting scene where the best clubs are like speak-easy's ... there's no sign, it's just a non-descript door in a back alley, and someone has to actually lead you there; but you get inside and it's crazy popular. You can actually google to read about how to find some of them; it is actually sort of cool to try to find one (if it's on Google, it'll be friendly to Westerners); I recommend you look it up.
Edit: To get more to your concern, the one thing you don't want to be is a jerk, a typical "loud arrogant American" (edit: sorry, Canadian, but you know what I mean). Even if something bad happens and you think you're right and another guy is wrong, don't be a jerk about it and insist loudly that you're right. You don't have to roll over, but just be calm and patient, say your piece, but don't shout at everybody; it only makes the situation worse. They are all about keeping the "harmony" of a situation and always keeping their cool. That's the "when in Rome..." thing to remember.
driver on 17/10/2009 at 02:56
Quote Posted by RocketMan
Actually I'm very polite and conscious of mannerisms etc.
I'm sure you are. ;) I was just playing on the impression a lot visitors get about the Japanese, that they're very patient with foreigners because they think they're dumb.
Example: If you can use chopsticks, you'll get high praise from those with you at the table, despite the fact that Japanese children are experts from age 4 upwards.
There is a certain low level of xenophobia in most Japanese (Especially amongst the older), it's subtle and certainly not intentional rudeness but it's there if you look. One thing I noticed while in Tokyo was when I was traveling on the subway, the seats either side of me (and other foreigners) were always the last to be taken, even on crowded trains.
RocketMan on 17/10/2009 at 03:28
Yes I've heard about this in the older generation. It's ok I understand I'll be a bit alienated but I think I can get around that...it's hard to look at someone with disgust when they're smiling and being nice.
I don't do drugs of any kind or flagrantly make a centershot of myself either so I hope I'll be ok. I do like the idea of having some late night fun though so that's why I asked. I think I'll check out 1 ward per night including Shibuya, Rappongi, Shinjuku and Machida for starters. Once I get a taste of what each place has to offer I'll go back to my favourite ones later on.
Bit of an anecdote from my parents' friends....apparently they went on vacation in Japan and had people approaching them in the street to either make completely idle conversation in English, giggle and leave or to ask if they could "touch" them....like on the head or something, I guess to see what a Canadian / American feels like? Weird but kind of cool how you get treated so differently.
RocketMan on 17/10/2009 at 21:26
My appologies guys for the double post but I just remembered something important I need to know and I can't find the info on the phone so far or on the net.
I heard you need to book seats on the trains from the airport to Tokyo in advance. I plan on taking the NEX express train with the Suica card included for 3500 yen. I can't figure out how to arrange for a seat though. Any info on how to set this up? Many thanks.
demagogue on 17/10/2009 at 21:49
By "advance" they mean buy your ticket in the station before you get onto the train, 5 or 10 minutes is probably easily enough, but the earlier the better. It's not good to run in moments before the train leaves like you can with a normal subway. But especially since it's not a holiday season there won't be a rush on the train, though, so you're safe just buying the ticket from the station when you get there.
Edit: Worst-case, if the train is full (I just remembered it did happen to me once), then either you wait for the next train (30 min to an hour) or you take a standing-room ticket and have to stand for 15 minutes before someone leaves and you can take their seat (which wasn't so bad when I did it). I think there is an online place to reserve a seat if you really want to cover your bases.
Edit2: Looking at their (
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/suica-nex/) site, it looks like they really want you to buy them at the station too, and don't give an alternative. So there you go.
Quote:
Purchase at
Narita Airport Terminal 1 Travel Service Center
Office hours: 9:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (open 365 days a year)
Airport Terminal 2 Travel Service Center
Office hours: 10:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. (open 365 days a year)
* Office hours are subject to change or discontinuation without notice.
When the Travel Service Centers are closed, the tickets can be purchased at the JR Ticket Offices (Midori-no-madoguchi) in Narita Airport Terminal 1 Station and Airport Terminal 2 Station.
And from (
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/nex/suica_nex.html) here:
Quote:
The Suica & N'EX package is available at the JR East Travel Service Centers at Terminals 1 and 2 in Narita Airport. The Suica & N'EX package can be purchased after arriving at Narita Airport. They are not available for reservation or purchase from overseas.
