The Japan Trip Resource Thread!

[fuji]

fuji - the ?390 fare is with Asiana, of course routing via Seoul.

Can recommend them as have done it myself and paid something similar, they tend to have a fare running like at some point in the year.
Finnair are also cheap, prices around ?450 outside of the school hols.

Ah yes I forgot about Asiana, have flown with them before. I like the way the ground crew bow and wave to you when departing.

[Anpanman]

Aren't they a bit pricey?

Ex UK they are one of the most expensive but routing ex Japan they tend to be one of the cheapest.
Not on our list of airlines due to price but also length of flight, 5-6 hours down to SIN then the wait for the flight to the UK which then takes about 13 hours. They are good (only done short haul with them) but am not going to pay effectively twice the price.

EK (Emirates) are another of the longer routes, the flight from Dubai is only about nine hours (shorter than the flights out of Europe) but you are adding on another 6+ getting there.
We did Emirates in '07 and weren't impressed in the slightest with them or Dubai, in fact I'd rather fly with Aeroflot.

[Yakumo]

Aren't they a bit pricey?

Yes, they can be but well worth the extra by far. I've flew with a number of different airlines including some of the "Best" ones with none matching Singapore air. Thankfully I'm lucky since my wife works for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in the foreign travel section. So she can get very good deals.

A few years ago Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in this city (Shimonoseki) made a P&O ferry for the Liverpool section of the company. Which is cool because I now live in Shimonoseki but originally from Liverpool. I even got a VIP guest pass to the launch On the back it says Shimonoseki with Liverpool under it. Maybe some of you guys have seen it?

Yakumo

[randombs]

What's a good airline for tall guys like myself?

When I flew Virgin economy (£640, July 2007) the first time my knees were touching the back of the seat in front unless I was sitting upright. When I flew BA economy (£412, December 2007) I chose the seat next to the door so there was nothing in front of me but it was quite breezy. All four were direct 12-hour flights (I slept maybe about 5 minutes each trip).

I wouldn't mind stopping off as long as it splits the flight up nicely (not 1 hour from London to somewhere in Europe followed by 10-11 hours to Japan, more like 3-4 hours followed by an 8-9 hour or so flight)

[Anpanman]

Emirates is probably closest to what you are looking for in terms or duration or one of the other mid east carriers like Qatar.

As for legroom etc, take a look at;

http://www.seatguru.com/

Not every airline is on there but there are quite a few and lots of info to go at, Malaysian are still probably the class leader in Y class at 34 inches of legroom - Virgin are a paltry 31.
Malaysian are another very good airline I can personally recommend but being in SE Asia you have a long overall trip as per Singapore Airlines/Thai etc.

[randombs]

Fantastic! Cheers for that link, I didn't even know there'd be a site like that

[teddymeow]

I thought it'd probably be better to post this here rather than start a new topic elsewhere as it's kind of related to travelling to Japan. If it needs to be moved please let me know and I can start a new topic.

NHK World have a weekly program called "Tokyo Eye" which I have stumbled across whilst planning for my trip next year...

...Does anybody else watch and like the series?

Has anybody been recording the series in preparation for the day when some random guy on a gaming forum asks if anybody has been recording it as he is desperate to see more episodes?

Over to you.

Major quote bumpage!!

Seems that NHK World have started to stream this on their website:

http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

They also have a channel on Sky (516) that shows this every Wednesday at 4 hour intervals!!

It's good to watch and spot places that I've visited and the subject matter of each show is always interesting and different. Last week the presenters went searching for Yokai and Yurei which was pretty fun.

On a different note, looks like I'l be going back out to Tokyo for my birthday next year. Seen some very good deals for trips at the back end of April - beginning of May which is odd because I always thought it was supposed to be very expensive to go then!?

[Darwock]

The beginning of May is Golden Week so it generally is more expensive, but if you time it just right you'll get normal prices. Worth remembering that a lot of stuff tends to be closed during Golden Week though.

[teddymeow]

The beginning of May is Golden Week so it generally is more expensive, but if you time it just right you'll get normal prices. Worth remembering that a lot of stuff tends to be closed during Golden Week though.

Just checked, and yeah, Golden Week falls exactly when we planned to go (my Birthday is April 30th).

Is it just touristy stuff that tends to be closed? I take it shops, restaurants etc are still open?

[kryss]

Touristy stuff is open but packed to bursting point with people. We went to Kamakura one Golden Week along with what seemed to be most of eastern Japan.
The Enoden line is cool unless you feel like a sardine.

[teddymeow]

Is it worth going at that time or best to wait a few weeks?

[DeathAdder]

Tokyo is fine and less crowded than usual. If you want to, say, take a Shinkansen to Kyoto you'll likely suffer.

[briareos_kerensky]

I'm finally set to go to Japan the next year...have a lot of questions but the first thing I want to sort off are when, how and where.

I thought I'd give myself a birthday present much like teddymeow and go there for a week or so during the third week of April (12-18) or skip directly to September, with July being an other option (or even June if it's not excessively rainy).

Planning to visit Tokyo with a one-day trip to Kyoto (can't go to Japan without seeing the Nintendo building), so I browsed a bit on JAL's site and discovered they offer a plane+shinkansen ticket...which brings me to the next topic: which company to fly with? JAL seems an obvious choice but I'm open to all possibilities - I'm also thinking to go large and fly business since it's the first vacation I take in a long time and 14 hours on a cramped seat isn't exactly exciting.

And now, where: cheap and good hotels where to stay?

[teddymeow]

Chisun Inn Asakusa is cheap, comfortable and at the end of the Ginza line making it easy to get to most places (change at Ueno for Yamanote line for great access to most places. Or ride it all the way down to Shibuya).

www.japanhotel.net for cheap, pay when you check-in rooms!

Although, Expedia have some great deals for April next year.

[neoboy259]

I'm finally set to go to Japan the next year...have a lot of questions but the first thing I want to sort off are when, how and where.

I thought I'd give myself a birthday present much like teddymeow and go there for a week or so during the third week of April (12-18) or skip directly to September, with July being an other option (or even June if it's not excessively rainy).

Planning to visit Tokyo with a one-day trip to Kyoto (can't go to Japan without seeing the Nintendo building), so I browsed a bit on JAL's site and discovered they offer a plane+shinkansen ticket...which brings me to the next topic: which company to fly with? JAL seems an obvious choice but I'm open to all possibilities - I'm also thinking to go large and fly business since it's the first vacation I take in a long time and 14 hours on a cramped seat isn't exactly exciting.

And now, where: cheap and good hotels where to stay?

September's a nice time to go! Still very hot and sticky though! You sure you wanna go to Kyoto for a day trip from Tokyo? Think its a 3 hour shinkansen ride from Tokyo.................

I've stayed at the Shinjuku Sunlite hotel, a budget business hotel. Its clean, close to the station and shops, and has free internet in the room. Couldnt really grumble!