The Japan Trip Resource Thread!

[Darwock]

Currently getting a taste of how difficult things may get, by trying to reserve a hotel outside of Tokyo.

Not only can I not find many 'online' hotels or ryokans, but those I have found do not have any english sections on their websites.

I deciphered one, which had rooms available for the dates we wanted and sent off my reservation form - 4 days ago... no reply.

Just tried to suss out another one which bizarrely seems to use some kind of membership card and has left me with no idea what the cost of a room is.. I've also sent off the form but I notice it has a 'cancellation charge' - as I haven't provided any credit card details I haven't got a clue what's going on.

[neoboy259]

Whereabouts are you trying to reserve a hotel?

[Darwock]

Any of the towns around Suzuka circuit, in Mie. These ones are in Yunoyama (for some mt. Gozaisho sightseeing after the race weekend)

[Woofer]

You could try http://mytrip.net/en/index.html

It's a free service and recommended by the japanese tourist office.

A quick random search on there for hotels near suzuka in the next few days came up with 6 or 7 places around 6000 yen.

Hope thats of some help.

[Darwock]

Thanks for that woofer, unfortunately when I put in the dates of the F1 weekend, it returns no matches around Suzuka.

I read something that said there are 28 ryokans and hotels in Yunoyama, I wonder what our chances would be of finding somewhere when we arrive.. yikes...

[Jushin-Thunder-Liger]

Maybe one of you fine fellows could help me out here;

I am going to visit an old friend of mine in Singapore in Feb for a week and really want to swing by Tokyo on the way there (or back), looking on multi-trip options on Expedia et al the cheapest i can find is $4235.


hmmm a bit pricey, does anyone suggest a better place to look?

Also, and i dont expect much of a response here, does anyone know any IT Employment agency's that specialise in placements in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore type stuff?
All i have been offered in Japan is "classic" ASP gigs, i'm more your .NET "blagger"

[Darwock]

Something else just occurred to me - being as it's a tropical island, are any vaccinations required before you go?

[Jushin-Thunder-Liger]

Something else just occurred to me - being as it's a tropical island, are any vaccinations required before you go?

nope

[Darwock]

OK, going to need some assistance here I think, I've received an e-mail confirmation from one of the hotels I attempted to reserve, trouble is it's all in Japanese...

Some altavista auto-translating has revealed that they do appear to have rooms available, unfortunately they also appear to be asking me some questions and I'm not too sure what they are (or if they do want a response at all).

Could anybody with some confidence in the language PM me their e-mail address so I can forward the mails for a bit of help?

I would really appreciate it!

[Darwock]

No takers, so I'll try a long shot and post the text here. Don't even know if it's going to appear correctly (please note I've already tried babelfish and worldlingo etc)

> いくつかお伺いしたい点がございます。ご確認の上、ご連絡お願いします。
●宿泊日数ですが、４泊以上となっておりますが、何泊がご希望でしょうか。
今のところ４泊でご予約しております。
●お部屋でございますが、２名様で和室２部屋お取しております。1部屋だけロープウェイが見えない側のお部 屋となります。ご了承下さいませ。
●ご利用されますチケットのオーナー番号は何番と載ってますでしょうか。
又、１部屋に付き１枚必要です。２部屋ご利用ですので２枚お持ち下さいませ。
●ご夕食とご朝食でございますが、必要なしとご予約頂いております。
滞在されている期間中、必要なしという事でしょうか。
なお、当日は宿泊券をご持参ください。
また予約の変更等のご相談は上記予約番号にてお尋ねください。
それではご来館を心よりお待ち申し上げております。

[Zanza]

I will ask a friend for you tomorrow and post a reply when i get back from work (about 4-5pm).

[Darwock]

Thanks Zanza

[Oh! My Car!]

when I recently booked all my hotels I used http://www.itcj.jp/

It's seems to be really good, all of the hotels and ryokans etc had our bookings done fine and it was all with minimal hassle. The website takes your credit card details but only charge you if you don't turn up at a hotel etc So basically a free service to book numerious hotels throughout Japan. Definitely recommended.

(oh, in english too)

[Jushin-Thunder-Liger]

If anyone is considering staying at the Shibuya City Hotel, be aware that besides the magnificent location (50 yards stumbling distance from Club Asia and Womb) the hotel is unbearably hot and humid and the staff are the rudest most unhelpful bunch of arseholes you will ever meet. They sent me an email the other week claiming I owed them 5400 Yen for unpaid drinks from June, which is total garbage.

[Darwock]

Argh, I've replied to the hotel giving the answers to the questions they were asking (thanks Zanza and friend)... and they sent me back the following:

> ●お部屋５泊でおとりしております。
>
> ●お持ちのチケットですが、ご料金いくらと記載してありますか？
>
> ●チケットの名称は？
>
> ●Ｃ/Ｉは何時頃ですか？
>
> お手数ですが、ご返信をお願いします。

Auto-translate seems to work this time. THey are asking what kind of ticket I've got, what the name/price of the ticket is.. and whether it's C/I??? What the hell is C/I???

The hotel website is www.marronnier.info, and I'm starting to suspect it's a private club or something and not a hotel at all. ><