The Japan Trip Resource Thread!

[DeathAdder]

If you fancy Osaka Castle but want something better, Himeji isn't far away and is by far the best castle in Japan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site to boot.

Himeji castle is good, and it isn't an uninspiring reproduction as many of them are, in my opinion.

Christmas in Japan? Never done it, but I had a good laugh a few years ago at the Christmas display some department store had in Ginza. It was of Santa....











....nailed to a cross.

Apart from that, I imagine the crapness of Christmas here is summed up by the fact that Kentucky Fried Chicken sales go through the roof.

If you can get away with your partner to an onsen resort and celebrate it there, that would be fun, I suppose. Unfortunately, most Japanese people will have to attend their work new year parties, where their chances for promotion will be determined by the extent to which they slobber over their bosses shoes at said event.

[randombs]

Only if you take the view that Japan consists purely of built-up metropolitan areas. I suppose it would apply to a lot of people that come here who can't (or don't want to) see beyond Tokyo, which is a shame.

Yeah, I meant to say Tokyo but was worried someone would say "not all of Tokyo looks like that!", but it was meant, as you said, for the people who just poke around in Tokyo and get dazzled by the lights and that screen near Hachiko.

[Legendary Wolf]

Thanks for all the info. I was originally planning to go in spring but financially I'd be short and I wanted to be more proficient in my Japanese so the extra months would help. Summer is too hot and winter is too cold for me to really appreciate the holiday.

I have always wanted to go but kept putting if off and finally thought lets do it. I'm expecting Tokyo to be quite manic but there is a lot to do, see and experience. For me the trip is also about the cultural aspect, the temples and shrines, people and customs. I'm looking at getting a good HD camcorder before the VAT increase at the end of the year and capturing the sights and sounds of my trip.

[Anpanman]

Only if you take the view that Japan consists purely of built-up metropolitan areas. I suppose it would apply to a lot of people that come here who can't (or don't want to) see beyond Tokyo, which is a shame.

Some non Tokyo pics;

Beach;


Rice fields;


River - has white water rafting downstream;


Rope bridge;


Onsen room;


and view from said room;


Initial D anyone;

[cHawKso]

Cracking pics mate, where was that particular onsen out of interest?

[Anpanman]

Cracking pics mate, where was that particular onsen out of interest?

http://iyabijin.jp/

Reviews here;

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g1023595-d1437942-Reviews-Iya_Bijin-Miyoshi_Tokushima_Prefecture_Shikoku.html

Really excellent, the onsen area is on an overhang about 100ft above the ground, and to wake up to that view is awesome.
A young couple had even driven over from Tokyo to experience it while we were there, they looked great in their yukata's.

[huxley]

Got back from Tokyo yesterday. We are planning on doing out of town next year, after having done the city four times. That looks the ticket. Nice pics.

[cHawKso]

http://iyabijin.jp/


Reviews here;

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g1023595-d1437942-Reviews-Iya_Bijin-Miyoshi_Tokushima_Prefecture_Shikoku.html

Really excellent, the onsen area is on an overhang about 100ft above the ground, and to wake up to that view is awesome.
A young couple had even driven over from Tokyo to experience it while we were there, they looked great in their yukata's.

Cool, cheers. Might have to check it out next time I'm over.

[Anpanman]

Got back from Tokyo yesterday. We are planning on doing out of town next year, after having done the city four times. That looks the ticket. Nice pics.

Cool, cheers. Might have to check it out next time I'm over.

Cheers, happy to help.

Since there's a bit of interest I'll put up some info about the area probably later with a few more pics.
I'm sure there are many other great places to see in Japan but since we are based in Shikoku/Tokushima it's somewhere I know a fair bit about.

[Anpanman]

Tokushima is one of the prefectures on Shikoku - the least known of Japan's four main islands. Shikoku has no big heavy industry or even a Shinkansen line so is quite different to the big cities like Tokyo, Yokohama, Osaka etc.

There are a number of airports on the island, Tokushima having its own with a few flights daily from Toyko Haneda, flight time is around 1:15.

For us though getting from Narita over to Haneda is a pain compared to flying into Osaka Kansai and getting on the bus just outside the doors at arrivals.
The bus takes around 2:30 into Tokushima but it's a great ride, going via the elevated expressways of Osaka into Kobe where you get to see Kobe tower. Then you go across the longest suspension bridge in the world;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akashi_Kaiky%C5%8D_Bridge

You hit Awaji Island (England stayed there during the 2002 WC) then across the Onaruto suspension bridge, home of the largest whirlpools in the world before making your way into Tokushima itself - the bridge is a tourist attraction as you can walk 'inside' it a fair way and look down upon the waves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naruto_whirlpools

All this on a super comfy and spotlessly clean intercity bus.


Central Tokushima isn't that large though it has all the main shops you would need including games and some great izakaya's - pubs. Not far out of the town centre you'll find a big Uniqlo, Geo and Hard-off.
The town centre does sport something out of the ordinary though - a mountain! Albeit a small one, if you don't want to walk up to the top you can take a cable car.

The view is pretty good, with the centre below and to the rear the mountains with the tallest Mt Tsurugi visible at over 1900m it's the highest on Shikoku and about 600m higher than Ben Nevis. Some of the mountains on Shikoku have snowboarding and skiiing in wintertime.

There are a good selection of beaches and also very clean rivers which you can swim in. Some of the rivers have changing/toilet facilites, and this being Japan they are clean and grafitti free.
The beaches are diverse, there are pro-grade surfing - the surfing world championships visited a few years ago, family ones that have hard standing free to use barbecues and for the nature lover ones that rare green sea turtles come to lay eggs on in August.

Shikoku has the most important pilgrimage in Japan, the 88 Temple.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikoku_Pilgrimage

And in August Tokushima has a huge festival called Awa Odori;

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awa_Dance_Festival

This is superb, everywhere are food stalls, drink stalls, some of the roads are sealed off probably to stop any drunken Japanese from being run-over. The atmosphere is terrific and of course you're not in any danger of being beaten up at the end of the night.

It's well worth a visit for a few days, particularly if you've done the big cities and Kyoto though due to being out of the way there aren't many westerners on Shikoku (I see it as a big benefit) though we did see a tour group around the Onsen we visited.
You can get trains to the other prefectures as well as intercity buses, there is a train line running to the mountain area not far from where the onsen we visited is. Other than that you may need to hire a car and drive, the roads are very quiet with the motorways on Shikoku generally one lane and 60/70 km/h. Navigation software for Japan is available for the PSP.

That's about all I can think of at the moment, on with some pics - any questions feel free to post here or via pm. Either me or the wife should be able to answer anything for you.

Tokushima centre;
The large building is the Hotel Clement built right next to JR Tokushima. In front of the station are the intercity bus connections. Just out of shot to the right is a large SOGO department store.


Walk down the main road to the left in the above shot over the river;


You get to Mt Bizan with the Awa culture centre/cablecar at the base;


Views;




Free to use facilities at the latest municipal beach opened in 2007, includes kids play area and fully equipped chalets including barbecues for rent;


Temples, 4 of the 88;








Awa Odori featuring teams who can dance;






...and pissed-up medical students who can't!

[cHawKso]

Only been to Shikoku once and that was to Matsuyama and the surrounding area, but really enjoyed it.

Would likely get on the train as it's not too bad from Nagoya (although it's still a fair old distance).

[crocky-chocky]

I'm off to visit my bro and his family in Kyoto next week, and I can't ruddy wait.

Quick question: Anyone know any retro game shop hotspots in either Kyoto or Osaka? Sounds a lame question to be asking before going somewhere filled with so many sightseeing delights, but I've got all that stuff covered thanks to my hosts. They're not massive nerds like me though.

Mainly after some Saturn stuff, but am thinking about maybe getting a Dreamcast depending on price. Just the name of a videogamey region to explore'd be ace.

[noobish hat]

Isn't the entire games district in Osaka retro-oriented? I heard it's a lot better than Akihabara anyway...

[Darwock]

Nooo... there is one shop that is purely retro but the others just have retro floors. Lots of Saturn stuff around though. There isn't really a games district, the shops are all intermingled with the pla-mo shops, comic shops, maid cafes and electronics shops etc down one big long strip (although the side streets and parallel streets are also worth investigating).

So to answer Crocky-chocky, you want to head to Nipponbashi (don't go to Nipponbashi subway station though) AKA Den-Den town AKA Pombashi. You can go to Namba and walk south-east to reach one end of the strip, or you can go to Ebisubashi station to get to the other end and walk north to pass everything. I think Namba Nankai station has signs to den-den town inside. This is all in Osaka by the way, I don't think Kyoto has much to speak of (but I'm not a resident so I don't know for sure)

[briareos_kerensky]

Quick question: Anyone know any retro game shop hotspots in either Kyoto or Osaka?

Kyoto has a nice shop with loads of videogame artbooks in Teramachi street IIRC...there's also a music store specializing in metal nearby, but I can't really remember any good store specializing in retro stuff unfortunately.