AboutRobert Expertise General questions about tourism/travel and life in Japan, including shopping, visa issues, culture-shock, finding accommodations and employment, proper cultural etiquette, and common problems ex-pats in Japan experience. Bachelors Degree in Japanese Culture and Masters Degree in Marketing.
Expert: Robert Date: 2/17/2008 Subject: Travel queations
Question Ok my frist Question is how much would you estimate it to cost for 2 people to travel to Japan now I already know we will have to take 2 flights round trip. I am just not sure I want to include meals,hotel and travel?
Question two should we be inside at a certain time?
Question three should you get everything before going or when you get there?
Is it all right to travel with not bing fluent I only know a little katakana and Harigana not really kanji and I know little bit of how to speak it? but I do have a dictionary!
Answer Hi,
It is hard to make any estimation without more info such as where you plan to go, how long you are going to be there, what an acceptable budget is for you, what accommodations are OK, your age and stamina, etc......
If you want everything planned out for you, then there are many package type tours that you can get through Japan related travel agencies like Jalpak.com or http://www.jtbgmt.com/sunrisetour/index.aspx
However it is not difficult to do it yourself, and train stations etc all have English signs and are not hard to navigate with a small amount of preparation. Knowing a bit of Japanese always helps, especially some basic expressions, but is really not essential for many places.
With regards to your second question, it is hard to see why you are asking it; Japan is not a police state. If you stay at some conservative places though like a Japanese inn or ryokan, or some cheaper budget places, some do have a curfew, but you have a wide latitude as where you can stay and if you want to stay out late. I am not clear on your third question either. Unless you come from a place that has a lot of Japanese tourists going through, it is generally better to get yen in Japan. Japan is still very much a cash based
society - credit cards are taken in larger stores and hotels, but not much in small shops and restaurants. But you can go to any Japanese post office and get yen from a Visa, Mastercard, American Express or Diners Club credit card, or ATM card in the Plus or Cirrus networks
(look on the back of the card), or debit cards in the Visa Electron or Maestro Networks. If you meant clothes and so on, if you plan on going out somewhere nicer, it may be a good idea to bring a nicer suit or dress and high-heels with you. Unless you are very petite, you may find it hard to get your size in Japan, and they are quite expensive.
It can also rain a lot depending when you are going, so a small collapsible umbrella and light cotton clothes that dry quickly are also good. If you don't have one yet, I recommend you get a good
digital camera for your trip, since you can take lots of photos, e-mail them to friends (even while in Japan) and will be a treasure for you to remember your trip in the years ahead. Figuring it out how it works while on the trip can lead to some mistakes and frustration.
There are several things you can do to save a lot of money. With Japan's economy in the dumps for the last 10 years (as well as at least the short term future), many restaurants for weekday lunches will have an all-you-can-eat (called "tabe hodai") lunch for about 1000 yen or so. If you fill yourself with that, and go for a light dinner, you can save lots of money.
Also, convenience stores and department stores just before
closing often sell bento lunches cheaply. Many restaurants
have plastic models of the food they serve in window
displays in front of the restaurant. If you can't read the
menu, just take the waiter or waitress out to the front and
point at what you like.
If you can, get a JR Rail Pass, which allows you to ride
virtually any JR train in the country. You need to get it
*before* going to Japan. It looks high when you first buy
it, but you'll save a ton in the long run and not be so
limited on where you can go. You can get more info on it at http://www.jtbusa.com/enhome/jrpass.asp
http://www.japanrailpass.net
If you choose not to do this, you can find rail fares
at http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi
You can also find a Tokyo subway map at http://soli.inav.net/~ceicher/images/TokyoSubways.jpg
and other major city subway maps at http://www.reed.edu/~reyn/transport.html
Tokyo has a one day subway day pass for
all lines for 1000 yen too.
There are also cheaper ways to fly, such as Japan Airline's
Yokoso fare or Welcome to Japan fare, where flights within Japan
are less than half what people in Japan pay. You have to be ticketed
before going to Japan though.
The exchange rate is around 110 yen to the US dollar at the moment, which makes things cheaper for you compared to a few years ago. You will find many if not nearly all things there to be very expensive, but you do not need to sell your soul to find a good buy here and there. A good website to look at is
Price Check Tokyo at http://www.pricechecktokyo.com
You can also see what Japanese money looks like at http://www.thejapanfaq.com/japanfaq1c.html
Note that you can not use
1 or 5 yen coins in vending machines and phones.
See http://dmoz.org/Regional/Asia/Japan/ for a lot of tourist guides and photo galleries. You didn't mention your preferences, but you can get a wide range of things you can pick and choose to go and see.
And if you get hopelessly lost, which is very easy in Japan, it is better to find some older school or college age students and *write out* your questions in simple words. Japanese are still very poor at speaking English but are often glad to help you out if you lose your way. Carrying a business card or matchbook with your hotel's
address on it can be a big help.
Kyoto and Nara are definite must-sees. Also Hiroshima, Himeji Castle (the best surviving castle in the country, in Hyogo-prefecture),
Mt. Fuji, Kamakura, and Nagasaki, are very nice.
Try and go to at least one hot spring (called onsen)
while you're there. They are all over the country.
See http://dmoz.org/Regional/Asia/Japan/Travel_and_Tourism/Hot_Springs
for more info and guides. They range from free to very high at hot spring resort hotels.
As for going from Tokyo Narita Airport, you can take a bus or train, I urge you to take the train, since a bus in traffic jams might take twice as long. I think the Keisei is best--it will take you stright to Ueno Stn.
You can get complete info at http://www.narita-airport.jp/en/
Do not under any circumstances take a taxi from Narita since it will easily cost you 20,000 yen!
For what to see in Tokyo depends on what you like. A good photo collection at http://www.artisandevelopers.com/web/tokyo/
can give you many good ideas.
Akihabara (see http://www.akiba.or.jp/index_e.html) is the city's electronics district and you can find block after block of newfangled electronic goods. Love Hotel Hill in Shibuya is a sight at night, kind of goofy, also Harajuku on Sunday afternoon to see the weird young
people hang out, Ginza is glitzy shopping, especially on Sunday, Roppongi is where the ex-pat bars and hangouts are, and Odaiba at
night is a must.
There are also bus tours of the city, such as at http://www.hatobus.com
For food, you didn't give any preferences, but you will find most anything. See http://www.bento.com/ for a good listing of restaurants, as well as maybe looking in some ex-pat magazines like Tokyo Journal there.
Jet lag may be a problem, depending on you, the flight time and arrival, whether you can sleep on the plane, etc. For me, I leave L.A. in the afternoon, arrive the next day in the evening, crawl into bed and wake the next day feeling fine. Everyone is a bit different though. But Tokyo is a 24 hour city that never sleeps.
