Japan tips

Mr_Hoppy88

Mr_Hoppy88

CAG Veteran
Hey guys

I live in the uk but my parents have recently moved to brunei/borneo, im going out there to see them at easter and over summer, and i plan to take the opportunity to accomplish one of my dreams...to go to japan.

I was just wondering if anyone has any top tips about visiting, i.e dos and donts, things to watch out for, places to check out etc

Ive already been learning a little japanese as i thought that one was a given.

I look forward to any replies,

Cheers, Hoppy
 
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It's all amazing. My best advice, just take your time and try to focus on the things you really want to see. It's too much to take in on a short trip. I went for 10 days last July, and the time flew. Most of the time spent was in Tokyo too. Are you sticking around Tokyo, or are you trying to see more of the country?
 
I was planning on doing tokyo mostly, need to draw up a list of all the things i want to do.

should i expect people to point and stare at me as im 6ft 5" and pale lol i imagine im going to stand out pretty bad.
 
People don't point and stare there from my experience. If they do stare at all, it's when you're not looking. Generally, everyone keeps to themselves. One in a while I felt like some older (male) Japanese were giving me the evil eye because I was Gaijin, but I was probably just being paranoid.

Honestly, most people are super friendly and respectful, even when you can't communicate with words.
 
I'm 6'5" too and I've lived here for 3.5 years fairly comfortably.
If you're just sticking around Tokyo, no one will pay attention to you. When you get out to the countryside is when you get stares/comments. Watch your head though! I've hit my head COUNTLESS times on low doorways/ceilings.

If you're planning to go shopping, MAKE A LIST!!!
I cannot stress this enough. The first time I went to Akihabara I was so overwhelmed by all the awesome stuff I wanted to buy I ended up going home with nothing. If you have a list, you can easily budget your time and money and still pick up a few random things without feeling guilty.
 
[quote name='Gameboy415']If you're planning to go shopping, MAKE A LIST!!!
I cannot stress this enough. The first time I went to Akihabara I was so overwhelmed by all the awesome stuff I wanted to buy I ended up going home with nothing. If you have a list, you can easily budget your time and money and still pick up a few random things without feeling guilty.[/quote]

i was thinking about what stuff to get at Akihabara also since I'm going to Japan later this year, but honestly, is there anything worth getting considering how terrible the exchange rate is now between the dollar and the yen?

i'm in the process of coming up with a shopping list myself at this point, but it's a big fat nothing right now because i can't think of anything that would be a better deal in japan than the states. (let's leave impulse buys out of it though since you can't really plan for that.) stuff like games are twice the price as in the states, and i can't really play them due to region protection - manga/anime is in japanese so i can't read it. what's left?
 
I've been refused service at a couple of spots because of my tattoos. I thought this was incredibly bizarre and prejudiced, but my friend claims it's some anti-gang thing.

also, there's no cottage cheese anywhere in that entire country. And peanut butter is in short supply. Just thought I'd throw that out.
 
[quote name='misbitski']People don't point and stare there from my experience. If they do stare at all, it's when you're not looking. Generally, everyone keeps to themselves. One in a while I felt like some older (male) Japanese were giving me the evil eye because I was Gaijin, but I was probably just being paranoid.

Honestly, most people are super friendly and respectful, even when you can't communicate with words.[/QUOTE]


Ok, this is just from my 2 week visit . I went to visit a friend doing JET, and she let me stay with her and showed me around. Well, the entire time I was there, people were (behind my back) referring to me as "Giant foreigner" because I'm 6'4", 215lbs (I was told this by my friend) . People on the train (Osaka, Kyoto, Tokyo) would GET UP to not be next to me. I was refused service at no less than two noodle houses, and a supermarket, because of my prominent arm tattoos, and one that extends up the side of my neck. As mentioned above, I was told this was some anti-gang thing. Again, people were staring at me in stores, and on whatever side of the street I was on. Most people would stare straight down and walk quickly past me. At one point, I was in an elevator alone with some girl riding up to my friend's apartment, and she looked like she was going to have a nervous breakdown just standing near me.

It's an interesting place to visit, but I'll be fucked if I'd live there. And again, no peanut butter, no cottage cheese, and expensive milk. No thanks. That's about 40% of my diet.
 
Reality's Fringe;5496213]I've been refused service at a couple of spots because of my tattoos. I thought this was incredibly bizarre and prejudiced said:
¥[/B] , which lets you travel on most(if not all) the JR railway stations in Tokyo.

Like Gameboy415 said if your going shopping make a list because Akihabara can be pretty overwhelming. You can find maps of Akihabara online, so use that to help plan shopping trips. If you plan on buying a lot bring extra luggage too. When I visited I went with one bag and came back with three :bouncy:

As for sights to see I would check some of the Japanese travel websites for more attractions and events (depending on when you go) I think one of the ones I used was http://www.japanguidebook.com/

Cuisine wise there is a ton of selection since you see many of the international chains, but off the top of my head I would definitely try some takoyaki, curry from CoCoIchi, an eri sandwich form McDonalds (think fish fillet, but with shrimp), and try a maid cafe (they are interesting and many offer free internet access).
Click to expand...
 
Ouch that sucks, people were really friendly when I went. If you stay in tokyo youll blend in fine but as you move further south to like nagoya you will not see really any foreigners. I saw maybe 10 foreigners the three days I was in nagoya.

Also I picked up this sick JR rail pass for like 350 bucks. It was first class in a non smoking car and it let me go litterally on every JR line in the country including the JR tokyo subway lines. Its only avaiable to foreigners too, one of my trainn tickets would hav ebeen more expensive than the entire 7 day pass. So totally worth it. I got to ride numerous shinkansen around the country.
 
[quote name='miktau']Ouch that sucks, people were really friendly when I went. If you stay in tokyo youll blend in fine but as you move further south to like nagoya you will not see really any foreigners. I saw maybe 10 foreigners the three days I was in nagoya.[/QUOTE]

I was staying in sonobe-cho (Kyoto Prefecture). It's kind of rural, but goddamn. The way I look at it is at least I made people nervous rather than disgusting them or making them laugh.

I guess.

As for the tattoos being related to organized crime. I mean, I'm a white guy. I'm walking around with the local JET teacher. How gangster could I be? I don't know, I guess it just rubbed me the wrong way. It's like trying to get a job here. If I didn't wear a suit/uniform, I'd be screwed. Even the military is weird about tats. I guess having tattoos makes me a rapist/murdered/thief whathaveyou. :(
 
- Pack light
- Bring an extra suitcase for your stuff you're lugging back
- When you pay with at the register, there's usually a little tray in front of you, put the cash or credit card there (don't give cash directly)
- "Suimasen" (sue-e-ma-sen) - it means 'excuse me' and "domo arigato" means 'thank you.' Both phrases goes a long way and use it often.
- Try not to make them uncomfortable by speaking loudly and no cell phone calls on the train
- Avoid morning and even rush hour on the train/subway - the salarymen and office ladies will eat you alive

Overall, just have fun. You'll be fine in Japan with minimal knowledge of the language. If you did something wrong or did something "rude", they'll forgive you because you're a foreigner.

Oh, if you like Ghibli movies, I highly recommend the Ghibli Museum in Mitaka. You have to pre-order your addmission tickets though. You can get tickets through the Lawerance convenience store.
 
[quote name='Panda']- "Suimasen" (sue-e-ma-sen) - it means 'excuse me' and "domo arigato" means 'thank you.' Both phrases goes a long way and use it often.[/QUOTE]

I think you mean "sumimasen."
 
I am hoping someone here can help me. I have a friend from the UK who is currently in Japan right now, he is at Kansai Gadai, which is Kansai university in Japan. I have my shopping list for stuff for him to buy me, but he doesn't know where to find some of the stuff. I have shipped this person video games from the US for more than 5 years so he definitely owes me and I can get pretty much whatever I want (of course I am paying).

I am really into Japanese music and I am looking for some unofficial idol goods. If anyone knows where a good unofficial idol shop is in Japan, please let me know so I can pass the info onto my friend. I am NOT looking for nasty photo books or anything like that, I just want a few merchandise items that have my favorite singers on them. I can't get this stuff on ebay and you pretty much can't buy it anywhere in the US at all so Japan is my only option here. Yes I am aware of the implications of sending a man into an idol shop but he will be shopping with some female friends when he goes to buy my stuff. I have the directions to the official shops but they really don't have much good stuff in them, just photos and I can download all the photos I want from the internet, there are hundreds of thousands. If anyone has some advice on how to find one of these shops, again let me know.

Oh and if your going to Japan, public bathhouses are common, that's all I have to say. Be prepared.

If you are shopping I would say make a list of the things you want that you absolutely cannot get from the US at all. My big want is a wonderswan crystal with digimon games and my friend is really into video games so he will have no trouble finding that at all.
 
[quote name='SaraAB']I am hoping someone here can help me. I have a friend from the UK who is currently in Japan right now, he is at Kansai Gadai, which is Kansai university in Japan. I have my shopping list for stuff for him to buy me, but he doesn't know where to find some of the stuff. I have shipped this person video games from the US for more than 5 years so he definitely owes me and I can get pretty much whatever I want (of course I am paying).

I am really into Japanese music and I am looking for some unofficial idol goods. If anyone knows where a good unofficial idol shop is in Japan, please let me know so I can pass the info onto my friend. I am NOT looking for nasty photo books or anything like that, I just want a few merchandise items that have my favorite singers on them. I can't get this stuff on ebay and you pretty much can't buy it anywhere in the US at all so Japan is my only option here. Yes I am aware of the implications of sending a man into an idol shop but he will be shopping with some female friends when he goes to buy my stuff. I have the directions to the official shops but they really don't have much good stuff in them, just photos and I can download all the photos I want from the internet, there are hundreds of thousands. If anyone has some advice on how to find one of these shops, again let me know.

Oh and if your going to Japan, public bathhouses are common, that's all I have to say. Be prepared.

If you are shopping I would say make a list of the things you want that you absolutely cannot get from the US at all. My big want is a wonderswan crystal with digimon games and my friend is really into video games so he will have no trouble finding that at all.[/quote]

If your friend lives in the Tokyo area tell him to go to Harajuku. There are tons of shops there catering to teenagers, so that's the place to look.

OP, it depends on what you like to do. If you're staying in Tokyo you might want to visit the Tokyo tower they have daily tours. Also there's the Rainbow bridge, shrines, Shibuya (shopping), Akihabara (electronics), Roppongi (night life).

If you can, learn the Kanji for the cit(ies) you'll be traveling to. And if you are going to different cities definitely get yourself a rail pass, train tickets aren't cheap there :lol:.
 
OP, don't pass up the opportunity to go to Joypolis either, especially if you like video games. Its basically a giant arcade with simulator rides and tons of arcade games, some of them are pretty crazy so if you like amusments this is the place to be. They have a giant skateboarding ride where you actually stand on a board, really cool stuff. They also have an all inclusive pass so you can do each ride or game as many times as you want for one price. They also have a ton of arcade games, and those are included in the admission price as well, so you could play the games as much as you wanted without having to pay per play. Its in the Decks plaza. You can't miss it and you can see it from a train, its a big gray-ish structure with the decks logo on it.

Since there aren't any arcades in the US that have the latest games anymore I would highly recommend this place if you are at all into arcades or want to experience a modern arcade with people actually in it.
 
two places: Freshness Burger and Mister Donuts... Beard Papa is a good pastry place too, but Freshness and Mr. Dough are the bees knees. Eat everything in sight!
 
[quote name='KSHLove']If your friend lives in the Tokyo area tell him to go to Harajuku. There are tons of shops there catering to teenagers, so that's the place to look.[/QUOTE]

He said his friend was in the Kansai region, attending Kansai Gaidai. That's about 30 minutes from Den-Den Town, which is probably his best bet for creepy idol merchandise.

[quote name='jabberwakki']two places: Freshness Burger and Mister Donuts... Beard Papa is a good pastry place too, but Freshness and Mr. Dough are the bees knees. Eat everything in sight![/QUOTE]

I had a Freshness Burger and Mister Donut basically right next to each other, three minutes from my apartment. Made for some delicious meals.
 
[quote name='YoshiFan1']Apparently even tatoo stickers are a problem for some places, like this amusement park:
http://www.tommyandjames.net/japan0811.html (middle of page)[/QUOTE]

This whole Tatoo thing is kind of weird to me, since I watch a lot of Japanese music videos, many artists use the stickers, and all of japan seems to like the artists just fine even when they wear the stickers. I guess you get the pass on this one if you are a celebrity in Japan.
 
[quote name='Panda']Thanks! That's what I meant. :)[/QUOTE]

Accidentally got it right twice; "suimasen" is a less formal but still correct version of "sumimasen".
 
英語分かりますか？Ｈａｈａ．．．
It's hard to know what to do in Japan, however since you are from CAG, I would take up the tips about the games and such.

If you only have a little time to learn Japanese, learn simple things. While politeness is important, Japanese wont care if your not Japanese. In fact, they will probably go out of their way to help you. Do not expect them to know any English, and if they do, it will probably be Japanesey English.

The main thing being an American that is a bit annoying is that everything is expensive; food and hotel mainly, plus your train pass.

If you only visit Osaka, Tokyo, and Kyoto you should have no problems as far as people being weird. Kyoto is full of tourists, Tokyo is Tokyo, and Osaka is less so, but probably no problems. Osakens are the nicest usually, although the main reason to visit Osaka is their awesome food.
 
Oh, when you're in Akihabara, DO NOT miss the store "Super Potato". It's easy to walk past it if you're not looking for it. Just listen for the store blasting 8-bit NES game music out of the window. It's 3 floors, so make sure you check them all out.
 
I just came back from Japan about a month ago. I would highly recommend getting out to Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, and Miyajima if you have extra time. If you do plan on going out of Tokyo I would recommend heading over to your local travel agency and picking up a JR pass for either 1 or 2 weeks. The pass affords you unlimited usage of all of the JR lines along with all of the shinkansen except for the fastest one, the Nozomi.

I believe there is also an unlimited pass for use within Tokyo, but its probably not worth it unless you are only planning to stay an hour or so in each ward. Otherwise I would just recommend getting a Suica card (a convenient card that you put money on and swipe to use the JR and subway trains).

Of course Akihabara is a must visit for anyone who is a member of CAG. As people have said above, do keep a list of what you are looking to pick up. On top of that, don't buy the first one you see in the stores as prices vary between store to store. When I was there, I wrote down the price of each item I wanted at each store and at the end of the day picked up the cheapest one I found in true CAG fashion. Also if you are interested in videogame and anime related figures and toys, check out the multi-storied shops that sell every single collectible figure and toy known to mankind. I loved browsing the stores where they had racks and racks of figures in bags for you to choose. I prefer buying the opened figures instead of buying the boxed ones where it is completely up to chance which one of the set you get.

In addition to Akihabara, try to make time to visit Shibuya, Shinjuku, Harajuku, and Ginza. If you do make it out to Osaka, you can check out Den-Den town which is like Osaka's version of Akihabara.

Most of all, have fun in Tokyo! You really cannot go wrong with any of the wards there as there is something to see almost everywhere.
 
[quote name='espionage']i was thinking about what stuff to get at Akihabara also since I'm going to Japan later this year, but honestly, is there anything worth getting considering how terrible the exchange rate is now between the dollar and the yen?

i'm in the process of coming up with a shopping list myself at this point, but it's a big fat nothing right now because i can't think of anything that would be a better deal in japan than the states. (let's leave impulse buys out of it though since you can't really plan for that.) stuff like games are twice the price as in the states, and i can't really play them due to region protection - manga/anime is in japanese so i can't read it. what's left?[/quote]

true true, uk and japan are probs equally expensive though, also the great thing about tthe uk and japan = same region, ill be getting some japenese exclusives methinks

And thanks for all the input guys it all v helpful :D
 
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[quote name='drkpendragon'] Osakens are the nicest usually, although the main reason to visit Osaka is their awesome food.[/quote]

:applause:
 
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