The Japan Trip Resource Thread!

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I'll advise you on Osaka if you have any questions

Fei (or anyone else), do you have any recommendations for places to stay in the Kansai area? Last time I stayed in Kyoto (on a countrywide visit) at the Budget Inn which was great for the price and convenience (?22/n and near the station). Since I'm looking at two weeks in Kansai next time, I was thinking of staying in Osaka as it's pretty much central to the airport, Kobe, Nara and Kyoto.

Any ideas? Looking to spend around ?30p/n per person. If somewhere has free bike rental, that's a nice bonus

[Richard.John]

cool thanks for that guys!

Some very useful info there!

Thanks a lot, I appreciate it heaps.

And sorry, what are the "red light districts" and where are they?

Red light districts are where you find ladies of the night, gangsters and general punks up to no good. Tokyo's most famous one is in an area called Kabuki-cho in Shinjuku.

Akihabara = gadgets, Kabuki-cho = sex

[Akihabara]

www.nozomi.nl for ****loads of pics, ask me if you have questions about em

If you are planning to come to Japan and REALLY need advice which you can't find online, feel free to pm me.

[Fei Fong Wong]

Fei (or anyone else), do you have any recommendations for places to stay in the Kansai area?

Can't really post something informative at the moment while at work as I'm short on time but I will do later on for you. Do you know Osaka? Do you have any preference of where in Osaka you want to be staying or somewhere you want to be close to?


EDIT:

Ok first of all I should point out that I haven't stayed at many hotels. Accomodation isn't really my strong point because when I go I tend to stay with friends, not in hotels.

Anyway the Kita area is most popular. Here's an area map with hotel locations. These tend to be more expensive hotels though. This is obviously the most central location with the main JR Osaka Station and Umeda.

Also popular is the Minami area. Here you'll find more ryokan and business inns. Again an area map with hotel locations. Here you'll find Shinsaibashi, Namba, Dotombori and Nippombashi Den Den Town (Osaka's electric town - useful map).

Other than that Tennoji is a great area (map). The Tennoji Miyako is very famous. Here you'll find the ****ennoji temple (the oldest temple in Japan), Tennoji park, and the Shin-Sekai district which has some 'interesting' restaurants and cheap bars.

Here's a subway map for anyone that wants/needs it.

Oh and Nara/Kyoto/Kobe are all about 30-40 minutes by train. Getting to and from Kansai Airport is actually easiest by taking one of the Limousine buses. They can be found outside the 1F terminal building which is also conveniently international arrivals. Tickets are around 1,000 yen I think.

[Oh! My Car!]

I stayed at Hotel Kinki (ahem) in Osaka. Despite the name (and the diabolical map they gave us of where it was... or wasn't) it was really good. It was nice and cheap and for the same price as we got one tiny room in Hiroshima, we got a big one with two beds, a toilet and a shower.

I recommend it if you're going on a budget. It's also pretty central, and is near the main station.

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Cheers guys! A great help.

[Darwock]

I'm just back from my trip (loved it) but unfortunately had a bad experience in Osaka. We stayed in Tennoji for 2 nights at the super hotel there, 5700 yen per night with a hot springs in the hotel.. very nice place. The bad experience was after going clubbing in Amemura - due to the free drink policy I put my wallet in the locker with my jacket and camera. My friend kept the key; my friend also decided to leave the club and get a taxi home at some point while I was in the toilet at the club. Sitting in the streets of Osaka with no money and no idea how to get where you need to go is not fun, especially not when you have to check out of your hotel at 10am. I did see some crazy **** though. Girls with guys-in-green-leotards-and-towels-tied-to-their-heads handcuffed to them coming out of male escort bars for example... WTF!!

[Richard.John]

How did you get back to the hotel?

[Darwock]

Well, after two hours sitting in the street trying to suppress the panic, I discovered by a miracle that I'd put my rail pass in my back pocket (it ALWAYS stayed in my jacket, so really it was a miracle). None of the subway stations near me had a JR line, but I figured I could walk in the rough direction of the subway and follow the stations until I found one I could use my pass at. Took about an hour and a half - I walked to Umeda and came across Osaka station - thank god. So I got into the hotel at 9am, just in time to hear my friend's alarm ringing in the next room. I slept for 40 minutes, got up, packed my bags and hammered on my friend's door - wanker wasn't even out of bed. And it turned out he hadn't taken any of the stuff out of the locker. And the club was now shut until the following thursday. So it stuffed up the end of the holiday, we had to spend longer in Osaka than intended, I didn't have my camera, and he had to come back through to Osaka again at the end of last week so it messed up the end as well.

[Richard.John]

What a ****ter.

[JU!]

Well i know what i have learned from your experience Darwock. I'm sure you have as well. Never travel with friends. One of my mates wanted to come to Japan with me last time i went i told him no. It's bad enough having to organise myself and communicate with people, without having to do it for someone else as well. Glad you enjoyed your trip besides that shocking experience.

[pauln]

Hi guys,

I'm likely to be on a work trip to Hong Kong in January and I'm thinking it would be easy to extend the trip by a few days and pay a 1st visit to Tokyo (shorter flight etc.) rather than do a trip direct from the UK some time in the future .... who knows when.

If I was to spend 3 or 4 days in Tokyo would that be long enough to see some of the sights, take a (shortish) Shinkansen trip and do some shopping - electronics etc.

Any suggestions for must sees - either tourist or shops please. I'll be alone so probably won't investigate the night life too much.

Paul

[Oh! My Car!]

If you ever get fed up of being in Tokyo you could do a day trip up to Nikko. Really great place with masses of shrines.

As for in Tokyo itself I mainly bummed about looking at shops, really need to go back again

[Richard.John]

Hakone is great for the hot springs.

[Jushin-Thunder-Liger]

I am moving to Japan in June for a "network admin" gig! (only 4 months)

you see, good things do happen to bad people!