Visiting Japan

[SKYLVIA]

Hey all,

Well im planning to go to Spain in august, and plan on stopping over in Japan for maybe 3-5 Nights on the way back.

Looking at staying in Tokyo as i wanna go to Tokyo Disney, also wanna have a look at shopping etc... although i hear its a tad pricey...

Any Recommendations on Hotels to stay at that are nice, but arent uber pricey?

Also, are there any castles/gardens/other things to do in tokyo? is it all fairly central?

Thanks

[Beer Baron]

forget tokyo disney waste of time and money.

as for hotels, what's your budget per night, per room?

[m3gtr]

Hey all,

Well im planning to go to Spain in august, and plan on stopping over in Japan for maybe 3-5 Nights on the way back.

Looking at staying in Tokyo as i wanna go to Tokyo Disney, also wanna have a look at shopping etc... although i hear its a tad pricey...

Any Recommendations on Hotels to stay at that are nice, but arent uber pricey?

Also, are there any castles/gardens/other things to do in tokyo? is it all fairly central?

Thanks

i have to disagree with you Richard. i thought disney land was amazing. if youve never been there before you have to at least once. most japanese have been there a dozen times and i gather richard has too!

definitely worth a days trip. Take the keiyo line from tokyo station. should cost you around 10 dollars to get there. 5000 yen will get you a day pass.

if your in tokyo, visit the imperial palace garden grounds, stunning. you can also go to Harajuku where the Meiji shrine is..very tranquil.

theres literally too much to do here but im sure youll be satisfied by what you do manage to do. as for the hotels im sure richard has more info..

[Beer Baron]

well maybe I was a bit dissapointed having been to disney land in LA before and so I couldn't help but compare the two, and the Tokyo one is pretty weak in comparison. but to me I'd take the 5000yen and spend it entry to the new york bar at the part hyatt, and $50 worth of japanese single malt whiskey to enjoy whilst watching the night lights all over tokyo. now THAT is something you must do once.

like adam says there is heaps of stuff to do in tokyo.

the meiji shrine in harajuku is very nice

omote sando bridge (next to the shrine entrance) on a sat or sunday arfternoon is a must

akihabara is worth going to to walk around, and maybe check out a maid cafe

ginza is a must, and head to the sony building if you like sony (i dropped over 3500aud there last time )

shinjuku east side to check out yodabashi if you want to buy any electric goods, and just soak up the craziness of tokyo

shinjuku west side to see their amazing business district and sky scraper district

mos burger "fine japanese tasty burger" or whatever they call it

get a terriyaki burger or a ebi-filet-o from macdonalds

check out piss alley in shinjuku and get some yakitori (just avoid the ones run by noisy koreans who will yell at you to try and get you to go in)

go to a co-co ichi and if you think you are hard core, try the level 5 spice

get to roppongi at night and play dodge the nigerian for a while

whilst in roppongi check out the roppongi hills buidling and the shops surrounding it

got to some nightclubs and see what it feels like to be touching approx 8 people at any given moment

get smashed on can chu-hi with some japanese friends you met last night

go to a yakiniku resaurant and order at least 5 type of beef, and some nabimbab (sorry if bad spelling), and some kimchi. wash it all down with some suntory malts

go to an all you can eat, all you can drink shabu-shabu place (spring the xtra $$ for the prime japanese beef) and see how many plates you can eat whilst drinking stupid amounts of beer

go and check out odaiba

if you are dedicated get up farken early (like 5am) and head to the tsukuji fish market (apparently soon to be closed down)

go to asakusa and check out the shrine there, and if you're up for a walk go to the asahi beer headquarters and have some beers on the top floor

walk around shibuya on a saturday or sunday and just check out the people

go to a japanese ramen bar (a real one, all kanji menu) and get some miso ramen or negi ramen and get some gyoza to go with

eat one night in an izakaya and get lots of different food. try some hiroshima style okonomiyaki (much better than osaka style imo)

eat at a top notch sushi place

eat at a tempura place (surprisingly I think the best I've had was just outside tokyo station)

go to tokyo tower either night or day and marvel at the view

try lots of different japanese snacks (i love the soy snacks, and wasabi chips are soo good)

there is lots more, but that should give you a start.

[SKYLVIA]

ive been to disney in LA but only when i was little so i dont remember it... and i went to euro disney about 6 years ago and it was fun, but id like to go to tokyo disney.

ummm budget on hotels... to be honest i dont know yet, but maybe $250 a night? so $1000 for 4 days? would having a balcony in your room cost alot? cause id love to just chill out with some alcohol one night and marvel at the view...

Thats a hell of a lot to do BB... is it possible to cram that into 4-5 days?

[Beer Baron]

having a balcony in your hotel room in tokyo is not going to happen at any height high enough to have a decent view sadly. you may find small low rise hotels with balconys but you wont be seeing anything except the wall of the buidling next to you. you really need to be 10th floor + to get a view pretty much anywhere in tokyo. just be content with a window!

$250 a night well get you something pretty decent. and I'd suggest that's a pretty reasonable budget for tokyo accomodation, particularly if you are sharing a room. I'd suggest that wherever you stay it's near a train station. I like roppongi, or shinjuku. both good spots.

whether or not you can do all that stuff in 4 nights? I'd say probably not, but you could do some of it!

edit: I still say that with only 4 days in tokyo that spending half a day or a whole day at tokyo disney is a waste of a day and the 5000yen entry. if you had 2 weeks, then it may be a good way to kill time, but on 4 day trip (really 3 full days) time can be better spent elsewhere. every disney in the world is practically the same, they only differ in size, and number of rides.

[SKYLVIA]

ill be going by myself, money for accomodation shouldnt be too hard as i wont need to spend any in spain, will be staying with family friends... so ill just need to worry about accomo in singapore for one night, and japan for 4 nights...

My japanese isnt bad, i studied it for 5 years at school, but its still pretty poo, so ill need to grab me a translation book thingy... or is tokyo english friendly?

whats the legal age to drink? as im only 18...

to be honest, if the hotel room is high enough i wouldnt care about a balcony. i just want a good view, also a hotel thats fairly central would be excellent, but ive honestly got no idea what hotels are good to stay at etc...

Also, hows the night life? does everything close fairly late? i probably wont be sleeping much as ill try and get as much done as possible...

id like to go to Disneyland just to entertain the kid in me... would only spend a day max there... is it easy/quick to get to from central tokyo?

also, any hot spots for drifting at night? or is it all in the mountains and industrial areas?

Edited March 13, 2007 by SKYLVIA

[Beer Baron]

lol, no drifting in tokyo, except for maybe when they are filming fast and furious (I recognised a few bits of shinjuku in that).

tokyo disney is maybe 30min out of tokyo.

everything is open all the time in places like roppongi, shibuya and shinjuku. the only trouble is trains stop around 1am, and earlier (around 12) on weekends. so taxi is the only option if you need to get home at 3 or 4 am. lots of nightclubs in roppongi, and shibuya and some in shinjuku too (but mostly strip joints, and bars in shinjuku - kabuki-cho).

i have NFI what the legal age to drink is, but anyone over the age of 12 would not have a problem buying alcohol, anywhere, anytime. especially if you are white.

if you want good view, and central location try the shinjuku prince. the rooms are not that flash, but the views are amazing, and it's located just 100 meters from shinjuku JR station (in fact you can walk from the station, to the hotel entirely underground if you want). cost around $200 a night for a decent room.

[SKYLVIA]

Just had a quick browse on prices for Shinjuku Prince

Single Standard is only around 150 or less

the other rooms i dont really understand...

what does Standard (abf) or Semi - Double B mean?

The site im looking at is:

http://www.asiarooms.com/japan/tokyo/shinjuku_prince.html

Also, hows Century Southern Tower in Shinjuku? it looks quite nice...

[insanity]

the legal age to drink is 20... and you MAY have trouble getting into clubs.... especially as most of them have BIG BLACK AMERICAN bodyguards at the front door.... so not speaking Japanese is not an excuse.

You can buy alcohol from supermarkets and convenience stores though, as well as in vending machines on most streets... so actually getting a drink wont be a problem... and its so much cheaper than buying from a club / bar too.... they can get expensive.... even moreso if you pay a covercharge to get in.

Anyways, BB gives a great list of things to do....

Also, Tokyo train station is a spectacle in itself.... I recommend if you are there, to go outside the station to have a look at it! And while you are outside, take a mosey on over to the emperor's castle... quite a nice sight.

Here's a pic of the entrance to the himeiji - jingu (shrine) near harajuku train station. Surely this will make you want to at least go there! that mist is real!! looks like you're in a ninja movie or something!!

a picture of asakusa markets

and well... they even named a gallery after me!!

Edited March 13, 2007 by insanity

[SKYLVIA]

Nice pics... the last one freaked me out abit... my names Beau

so is anything in walking distance? or taking trains everywhere would be the best option?

Edited March 13, 2007 by SKYLVIA

[SKYLVIA]

Ok, so ive done abit of research and apparently my work have discounted rates for hotels all over the world...

theres a few in tokyo, they all seem to be in between Hakusan Dori, Hongo Dori and Sotobori Dori...

as my knowledge of japanese streets or whatever there called is below zero, is this location fairly central?

the hotel that im looking at is ROYAL PARK SHIODOME TOWER... with a rate of around $200AUD per night depending on the size of bed i want.

i had a look at the website and it looks pretty nice. has anyone stayed here before?

the other hotels that i can choose from are:

HILTON TOKYO NARITA AIRPORT

ANA HOTEL TOKYO (IC HOTEL 4-1-2007)

CERULEAN TOWER TOKYU HOTEL

SHIBUYA EXCEL HOTEL TOKYU

THE WESTIN TOKYO

the westin seems really nice, but the work rate is $300 per night which is out of my price range for a few nights stay...

Any feedback from the above hotels?

[Baconer]

We stayed in the Narita airport hotel when we went to Japan on a 2 day stopover in 2000. They have the fancy toilets

Thats pretty much all i remember of it

[sigsputnik]

Hilton Narita will be at...Narita, so some three hours from Tokyo by bus. Might be a better idea to pick somewhere else.

It's not very high up and the view is poor (you can see a carpark from the window that sometimes has some nice cars in it) but I usually stay at a place called St Hills (you can google it) and it's great for my needs.

Mate you'll love Tokyo.

[insanity]

Nice pics... the last one freaked me out abit... my names Beau

so is anything in walking distance? or taking trains everywhere would be the best option?

hahaha... so it is!!

I didn't even realise your name was Beau too!!

[InspectorGadget]

I just replied to another poster on the same topic.

Check out this site

http://www.japanhotel.net/

I have used them a number of times and they are good.

If you are after a real authentic Japanese experience, you could also try a capsule Hotel or a Love hotel A good capsule hotel will set you back around 3-4000 yen for the night, and a love hotel around 7-10000. Love hotels generally allow people to check in from arount 9 - 10pm.

INSGDT

[Modena]

Yokahama is awesome! I was there back in 93 and it was gorgeous.