The Japan Trip Resource Thread!

[MonkeyWrench]

Another day, another progress report. Ebisu was a bit of a wash out...literally. It chucked it down, luckily we had brollies, and two of the things we went to see were closed - the photography museum and a bar called What The Dickens. Thankfully the Onitsuka Tiger store was open, but their clothes were a bit too far out for me so I ended up just buying a wallet. Then headed off to Harajuku, had a bite to eat in a cool bar/cafe (they were playing Joy Division when we arrived which I thought was a good sign!), went to see the Prada building, then walked down to the famous crossing in Shibuya. The plan was to jump on the Ginza line to Akasaka to go drink sake in the Ninja izakyaka, but we were knackered so we came back to the hotel to drink Asahi and do washing...not without a quick stop off at Akiba for a couple of additional purchases (Sega Rally and Ace Combat on PSP, and Initial D on PS3...all bargains).

A few observations of my time in Tokyo:

- There are more Starbucks than any other store/chain
- Tommy Lee Jones is watching me at all times...slightly freaking me out
- There are no chavs (that I have seen so far)
- Monster Hunter is frickin` huge (seen loads of people playing it multiplayer)

Defo going to the Ninja place tomorrow, dunno what else we`re going to do though...maybe another trip to Akiba!

[teddymeow]

Have you caught the Yurikamome monorail across the bay to Odaiba? If not do that mid afternoon and then find the amazing Tonkatsu Wako restaurant in the centre. Get a table by the window and eat your delicious pork cutlet and miso soup while watching Tokyo turn on all her neon!

Stunning.

And now I feel all sad that I'm not there at this precise moment in time! hohum, only 117 days to go

[kryss]

The train museum near Omiya is free until October 26th.
That's where I'm off to tomorrow. Maybe Akihabara on Thursday for me.

[Taka]

Have you caught the Yurikamome monorail across the bay to Odaiba? If not do that mid afternoon and then find the amazing Tonkatsu Wako restaurant in the centre. Get a table by the window and eat your delicious pork cutlet and miso soup while watching Tokyo turn on all her neon!

Stunning.

And now I feel all sad that I'm not there at this precise moment in time! hohum, only 117 days to go

I accidentally stumbled upon this little secret and the Yurikamome line is a fantastic thing to ride just before dusk. If you pay a visit to Decks as well, the exit from Sega Joyopolis leads you right on to a lovely spot for some great photos of Rainbow Bridge.

[saif]

I only discovered this recently but you can walk across the rainbow bridge and you will get sensational views. And nobody else seems to uswe it either.

[teddymeow]

If you pay a visit to Decks as well, the exit from Sega Joyopolis leads you right on to a lovely spot for some great photos of Rainbow Bridge.

Indeed, the pier type set-up by the entrance to Toys R Us gives magnificent views back across Tokyo. I've got some great photos of Rainbow Bridge at dusk and you can make out Tokyo Tower just behind it too!! God I miss it. I know some of you boys say that living there is totally different (which I am sure it is) but as I've only ever been for short periods of time and as a tourist I have still to lose the sense of wonder and sheer joy of wandering around feeling safe and discovering so many new things!

Tonkatsu Wako is pure deliciousness. There was one in the office / shopping complex called Ark Hills where the hotel we stayed on our Honeymoon was. Their miso soup is incredibly good with the little clams in it and, best of all, free refills! I've also been to Tonkatsu Wako branches in Akihabara (just under the railway near the station) and, as previously mentioned, the one on Odaiba which had it's own special menu for ladies where you get a little dessert with a strawberry on it. My wife thought that was soooo cute

It's weird, and more than a little annoying, that when you say to people "ah, I'm going to Japan for my holiday" most peoples' response is "ugh, do you like raw fish then?" It's like "is that all you think these people eat?" It's like asuming that all New Yorkers eat are bagels or all the French eat are snails. Jeez.

It was nice walking around Asakusa at night too and finding all the little out of the way places to eat. We found a little ramen bar run by an older woman where I had a huge bowl of miso ramen and a huuuge side of curry rice with giant chunks of pork in it all for about ?3.50! Seriously good value for money! There was a cool ramen place in Ueno too. As you come out of Ueno station there's a toy shop which we spent a fair bit of time. As you leave the toy shop turn left and then left again down an alley following the railway and it's just after an arcade on your left. That place's ramen was awesome in a bowl!

[kryss]

Yamashiroya is the top shop in Ueno. Fun but too cramped.
Down the same alley (i think, or it could be down Ameyoko) is a nice little kebab shop. Not the thing for tourists really but great for us who need a change from ____ on rice.

[Richard.John]

I have walked across Rainbow a couple of occasions. Trouble is that the Shibaura side has **** all, no stations etc so easy to get lost.

Wako tonkatsu is nice but it's a chain. If you find a privately owned place then you are in heaven. In Ginza, my favorite is a restaurant called Katsubei. Truly delicious tonkatsu. Anyway, it's underneath the Toshiba Mosaic building (Ginza Palmy) opposite the Sony Building by Sukiyabashi crossing.

The raw fish comment is amusing, yet most don't even know that sushi isn't raw fish. In my opinion, Japanese cuisine is truly incredible, amongst the best the world has to offer. If you like Ramen, try ABC Ramen, once again in Ginza (opposite Matsuya). The Ginpai ramen is lush, honestly the best I have ever tasted.

[teddymeow]

For a chain Tonkatsu Wako does put out some fantastic food though! Not like here where the chains (McD, KFC etc) are evil grease pits! I just remembered too, when we were leaving the Odaiba restaurant we were saying "gochiso sama de****a" and "arigatou gozaimasu" and one of the chefs stuck his head out from the kitchen and said, in the most perfect English, "thanks very much". That took me by complete surprise because (a) up until that point every who had spoken to us had done so in Japanese and (b) it's never happened to me in a McD or whatever over here!

There's a really nice Katsu place down Nakamise Dori. Absolutely tiny and run by what I assumed to be a father, mother and son. We sat right In front of the work surface where the father was preparing the pork fillets. In truth it felt like we were sitting in their living room which only made the experience seem warmer.

[JAPJAC]

Japanese cuisine is truly incredible, amongst the best the world has to offer.

Japan`s cuisine or cuisine in Japan? Japan doesn`t really have it`s own cuisine and English food here is crap (Fish `n Chips, Sunday Roast for example) so I`m confused.

[Richard.John]

I mean Japanese food, also known as washoku. It's not that hard to understand now is it.

[MonkeyWrench]

Didn`t do the view from Odaiba looking back, instead we opted for a ferry ride up to Asakusa, got some great shots of the bridge, Odaiba and Tokyo. The ferry dropped us off opposite to the Asahi beer hall, about 2 mins away from our hotel (two doors down from Bandai`s HQ). Had some great food around these parts, just got back from a place we visited before earlier in the week that do okonomiyaki, bloody marvelous, great fun cooking it ourselves (probably have food poisoning tomorrow!). Got chatting to some locals and they said the place is apparently quite famous, but they hadn`t been before and only decided to check it out after seeing it on TV!

I`m a bit confused by JAPPAC`s comment to be honest, the majority of places I`ve seen sell Japanese originated cuisine. Octopus bollocks anyone?

Anyway off to Nagano tomorrow for a couple of days, should be a nice change from the bright lights of the big smoke.

[Richard.John]

MonkeyWrench,

He likes to comment on the use of language you see. Just tell him you are going to pick up tickets for a gig or something and it will leave him frothing at the mouth.

Anyway, enjoy the mountains.

[r3z]

Anyway off to Nagano tomorrow for a couple of days, should be a nice change from the bright lights of the big smoke.

Is there anywhere in particular you're visiting in Nagano? There isn't much around the city itself apart from Zenkouji temple.

If you have the time I'd recommend Matsumoto for the not especially large but extremely picturesque castle, although again there is not a lot else to see there. It's also not on the Shinkansen line and takes about 70mins from Nagano, but the route has some very nice mountain/valley views while going over the hills.

.. picture attached

[teddymeow]

Monkeywrench, what hotel are you staying in? If it's near the Bandai HQ could it be the Chisun Inn?