Japan? Japan!

You consider visiting Japan? We offer advice and information! Travel reports are welcome:

OCAU residents in Japan:

• ewok85 Tokyo
• Proffesso Tokyo
• Omigod Tokyo
• Boneman Tokyo
• chainbolt Tokyo
• Taceo Corpus (see his Japan photo blog) Osaka

Your route planner:

• a777

General Guides and Advisories:

Australian Embassy Tokyo

http://www.japan-guide.com: Very detailed, highly recommended guide for basically all aspects of traveling in Japan, probably the best starting when planning a Japan trip

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/: Japan National Tourism Organization

http://japantourist.jp/ Tourist portal by "metropolis" - a publication for and by foreigners living in Japan

http://www.snowjapan.com/e/index.php Tons of information about winter sport in Japan

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/00000000091.html: Japan earthquake and disaster situation + official weather forecast/ advisory


Accommodation and hotel reservation

http://travel.rakuten.com/ Japanese site providing discount accommodations


http://travel-japan.jp/eng/: Hotel guide

http://www.tokyuhotelsjapan.com/en/index.html Budget hotel chain

http://www.tokyo-inn.co.jp/en/ Even cheaper budget hotel chain

http://www.princehotels.com/en/ Major middle class hotel chain, very popular among foreign tourists


Transportation

http://www.japanrailpass.net/: Information about traveling by train and the "Japan Railway Pass"

http://www.jetstar.com/jp/en/home Cheap flights from AUS / Japan

http://rent.toyota.co.jp/en/index.html Toyota Car Rental and driving advise

http://www.nipponrentacar.co.jp/service/general.htm Nissan Car Rental and driving advise


Very special subjects:

10 things foreign guys do that make Japanese girls fall head over heels

Akihabara's maid cafes tickle fancy of foreign visitors




Please note: This thread is meant for poster who are living in Japan, have traveled to Japan, or intend to do so and have question in this regard.

 

If one were to go, what would you suggest one does?

 

can you hook me up with a company car to drive there? a black 911 would be ideal, so i can go chasing S30 nissans on the wangan.

 

It depends on the season, and then of course the time and budget you have. Japan is stretching over quite a few climate zones. You have excellent skiing and snowboarding opportunities from November to March, for example in Hokkaido (Niseko). Then: Tokyo is a must, the world biggest city, a world by ilself. Kyoto is another classic destination. I prefer the most southern of the 4 main islands: "Kyushu" because of its lovely landscape. There are many active volcanoes, such as "Aso" clsoe to Kumamoto, it's a breathtaking caldera measuring 100 km, several active volcanoes and even villages at the bottom.

 

What do you know about the abandons islands and ways of getting access to said islands?

 

Got a gieger counter handy? Can u take some readings of some random things around your area?

 

Japan has many abandoned islands because the population is stilling retreating to the big cities. Which one do you have in mind? One of the most famous is "Hashima" close to Nagasaki: http://googlesightseeing.com/2007/04/hashima-abandoned-island/. There are many stories about this island in japan, but I have no idea how to go there. I think you would have to ask a local fisherman for a private trip from the mainland to the island. There are more abandoned islands due to volcanic activities or tsunami danger.

 

If one were to want to go Nagasaki for a holiday, how much would they be looking to spend? (somewhere around 5 nights) Also is there much else in Nagasaki (and its surrounding areas) to look at?

note: if you want me to stop asking questions just say and i shall look it all up myself when i get home.

 

Not sure if troll or not, but I am curious to know...

 

Geiger counters are selling like hotcake in Japan. Here is one integrated in a wristwatch. There have been some excessive readings in Tokyo neighborhoods but they were all form stuff that hospitals or the imperial army dumped more than a century ago, mainly radium. I don't care.


Polimaster’s PM1208M Wrist Gamma Indicator the latest Fashion at Akihabara

 

Not a troll, genuinely interested. Not much MSM coverage of it any more and would love an actual real persons accounting of results of what it's like over there now.

 

Me and the missus are looking at travelling in middle of November,

probably going to aim for about 2 weeks on the ground, looking at Tokyo & Osaka, probably Hiroshima but not 100% sure.

We also want to go up into the mountains and stay up there a few nights, anywhere you would recommend/ great places to visit?

 

As I said, it's a subject of concern for many Japanese, those living in Fukushima or in the neighboring provinces, but also Tokyo, in particular families with small kids are concerned. In Tokyo however, as I said, due to the fact that suddenly many people are checking their neighborhoods, a few radiation sources were found that had nothing to do with Fukushima, but have been in place for decades - unnoticed.

Here you have such case: Setagaya Radiation “Hot Spot” – Not From Fukushima

 

I am going to tokyo for work in 2 weeks and I will have free days on Saturday 16th and Sunday 17th of june. Based in Tachikawa if it makes a difference.

Do you know of any car related things I could do that weekend?

Interested in racing, drifting, car shows and car parts shopping (I have an evo 9)

 

Did similar last September (was getting cool already so November could be chilly). Already did Hiroshima in another trip before so we did Fuji/Five Lakes to Osaka to Tokyo. Hiroshima is my favourite of the cities - definitely worth the visit if you can spare the time. Find a bicycle to hire or most hotels have them to borrow. Tho, would also highly recommend getting into the alps etc. was another side to Japan altogether!

First night was Fuji, picked up a MX5 and drove up to Kamikochi (had to park in town and catch a bus into the reserve). Open top roadster and Japanese country-side = Stayed overnight and did the walks next day. If you go here, and if it's the one thing you do - don't miss out on the sweet fish soba!!! Then headed down to Kawaguchiko via Matsumoto and visited Fuji-Q and hiked Mt. Fuji that night for sunrise (started about 11:00 pm and sunrise was about 4:30 am). Was a fantastic sushi/sashimi restaurant opposite Matsumoto station, surprisingly cheap too! Then returned the car to Fuji and down to Osaka four nights and back to Tokyo four nights. Next time, definitely more days out in the country tho

 

I was wanting to head over mid-late march to catch the cherry blossoms, festivals, night markets etc and travel around a bit. Is that time of year actually a good time to travel? While I want to check out some of the cities I also want to see the country side, mountians and hit up a real hot spring.

Any idea what the car rental situation is in Japan regarding age? I wanted to hit up New Zealand and rent a roadster for a week and drive the south island but no roadster rentals will rent to an under 25.

 

Next Feb/March I am doing Ten days in Thailand, followed by six days in Vietnam, then off to Japan to hit the slopes for a few weeks.

My main question revolves around money required, since I'll be visiting a couple of SEA countries before Japan, I would imagine Japan would be quite expensive in comparison. I plan on snowboarding for ten days, before hitting up Tokyo for the remaining six or seven days. Approximately how much spending money will I need?

 

Not too sure sorry, I'm about over the hill (34 ) so didn't pay much attention to age restrictions. Was pretty much hassle free tho, only annoyance was having to get an international permit from NRMA (in NSW, different for each state afaik). Searched around the station on Google Maps for レンタカー and then searched up prices etc. (ended up booking through the europcar.jp website) MX5 was quite expensive (NC), nearly AU$700 for 4 days. Smarter choice would have been a Mazda 2 or so for about $260 but personally I enjoyed it so much I would definitely do it all over again without a second thought If you use the Japanese websites and can't read Japanese (like me!), highly recommend using the Google Translate script at http://translate.google.com/translate_tools (drag the English box at the bottom to your favourites bar/list).

Heading to NZ this August and looked at getting one there too, unfortunately going in a very large group of friends/extended friends so I've resisted the urge and decided to just go with the flow. Was only looking for Christchurch to Queenstown pickups/drop-off but ended up choosing direct to Queenstown so haven't persued it much further. If memory serves, there's only one or two places that do MX5s in that area.

 

It's a long way away, bit I'm planning to head over for a working holiday in about 18 months time.
I have a Japanese sister in law who will be giving me a crash course in conversational Japanese, but I'm wondering what sort of work would be available to a foreigner who somewhat speaks Japanese?

I'm an electrician by trade, and can do just about anything I guess.

 

well work is sending me over to our Asian offices for a week (Hong Kong, Beijing China and Tokyo Japan) i have the option between all 3 to have a couple of days for personal time.

Assuming you have been to all 3, where would you recommend i spend my leisure time?