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Recommendations for Japan Travel

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Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#31

Post by bluepizza »

rjh29 wrote: post #28
bluepizza wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Even if you don't care about APA being a very weird business, the other chains that OP recommended are simply better. Cleaner, nicer, better service. Avoid APA at all costs, especially outside touristic areas. APA is used by everyone for all things, legal or not, and the state of your room may vary wildly.

Not my experience at all... I've used APA throughout the whole of Japan and they are consistently good. Especially in terms of furnishings and soundproofing. They're also extremely cheap and available in almost every city. What you say about the rooms could be said about basically any hotel of course. I'm from the UK where even a crap hotel costs $80-100/night, so being able to pay under $40 for the quality APA provi…

Notice that I mentioned that they get bad outside of touristic areas. I mean the ones where someone from the UK wouldn't normally stay, like a business area or a local transportation hub.

Meaning the ones used by drunks, drug addicts, and prostitutes.

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#32

Post by simonebrunozzi »

swah wrote: post #14
simonebrunozzi wrote: post #4

Lovely. Spent 3 months in Kyoto in 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic, and loved Japan, more than my other quick business trips in the past. Some of my notes, specific to Kyoto, but unsure whether they also apply elsewhere: Typical food in KYOTO: - aristocratic kaiseki ryori course dinners - vegetarian shojin ryori of monks - simple obanzai ryori home style cooking - Kyo-wagashi (Kyoto sweets) - Yudofu (tofu cook…

What about Kyoto vs Tokyo? Is there also the "small city" experience (calmer streets, slow people) in those cities, in places away from the center, perhaps?

My recent experience doesn't count - frontiers shut down 2 days after I arrived, and therefore I lived a very unique Kyoto without tourists.

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#33

Post by ehnto »

rjh29 wrote: post #19
bigDinosaur wrote: post #2

Going off the beaten path always amuses me a bit as advice (what happens when everyone decides to do that?) but it's also quite true that you can often be literally tens of metres away from the most touristic locations with barely any tourists actually around you in most places (exceptions include cities that have become theme parks like Venice).

Well there are basically 10 places in Tokyo everyone goes to, and maybe they go to Kyoto or Osaka too. That leaves... the entire rest of the country. I've travelled around most of Japan and the majority of time I see zero foreigners. Seriously just pick a random city from Japan Guide or go to an onsen. Visit Kyushu, it's beautiful and nobody seems to travel there because it's too far away :P

Truly. Even if you want to land in Tokyo (since lots of flight deals take you there or Osaka). Grab the Rail Pass before you fly in, then take the bullet train to any number of cities. You'll enjoy relatively low-cost travel thanks to the rail pass, and you'll get to see a bunch of cities that aren't as popular.

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#34

Post by rjh29 »

bluepizza wrote: post #31
rjh29 wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not my experience at all... I've used APA throughout the whole of Japan and they are consistently good. Especially in terms of furnishings and soundproofing. They're also extremely cheap and available in almost every city. What you say about the rooms could be said about basically any hotel of course. I'm from the UK where even a crap hotel costs $80-100/night, so being able to pay under $40 for the quality APA provi…

Notice that I mentioned that they get bad outside of touristic areas. I mean the ones where someone from the UK wouldn't normally stay, like a business area or a local transportation hub. Meaning the ones used by drunks, drug addicts, and prostitutes.

I've stayed in a bunch of them across the country but maybe I haven't been to any particularly rough areas. They all have a practically identical layout (both building and rooms) as far as I can tell. Any examples?

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#35

Post by kissiel »

pyb wrote: post #8

"Very few people take me up on this part of the recommendation: get out of the cities if you are here for more than a week in your life." Same situation for visitors to the UK. I've given up trying to tell tourists to get out of London, they never listen.

I'm 3 days away from my return flight after spending a month in Japan (I'm here for the first time). I regret leaving the cities. Now I'm back in Tokyo and I feel back at home. My trip was: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe, Hiroshima, Miyakojima, Tokyo. Miyakojima, except being tropical "paradise-like island" made me _finish_ two games on my phone.

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#36

Post by Razengan »

rjh29 wrote: post #25
roobs wrote: post #15

I'm not sure when this post was originally written, but at a quick glance I can see some mentioned stores/restaurants that have since unfortunately shut down (like Deus Ex Machina which I used to frequent when it was in Harajuku but has since moved about 45 minutes away to Asakusa). This might not be the most up-to-date resource if you're visiting Japan in the future. Also, this list specifically recommends the APA h…

APA hotel isn't a great choice for most (American) tourists anyway - the rooms are extremely small. Most customers seem to be solo Japanese businessmen.

Is this a reference to American obesity or something else..?

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#37

Post by davidkuennen »

ehnto wrote: post #30
bigDinosaur wrote: post #2

Going off the beaten path always amuses me a bit as advice (what happens when everyone decides to do that?) but it's also quite true that you can often be literally tens of metres away from the most touristic locations with barely any tourists actually around you in most places (exceptions include cities that have become theme parks like Venice).

My top tip is, since everyone loves Fushimi Inari Shrine in Kyoto, there's actually a fantastic natural trail network there that I saw no one on. It takes you out through a valley of smaller shrines and graves, and nearly to the top of the mountain still. Then you can take the gates walk on the way down if you still want that experience. The trail had a beautiful uninterrupted view of Kyoto from a natural clearing in…

That's the way I walked by accident when I was at that shrine 4 weeks ago. Very beautiful.

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#38

Post by Legogris »

bigDinosaur wrote: post #2

Going off the beaten path always amuses me a bit as advice (what happens when everyone decides to do that?) but it's also quite true that you can often be literally tens of metres away from the most touristic locations with barely any tourists actually around you in most places (exceptions include cities that have become theme parks like Venice).

For sure. Slight tangent from OP:

> Is climbing Mt. Fuji worth it?

> Yes, though it is very on the beaten path, and you can infer some things from that about what the human experience of a Fuji trip will be like.

As for the hiking trail and the major mountain stations, this is very true. On the other hand - it really is very concentrated and the vast majority of tourists will just head straight to the hotspots.

Case in point: I happen to live here (Fuji 5 Lakes area; technically on Mt Fuji) since a couple of years. Been in and around Tokyo for several years prior. This summer, for the first time since the start of the pandemic, they finally threw the famous usually-yearly fire festival in town here.

It was really something, and even having been to more matsuri than I can count, this one really stood out in how lively it was, and the fact that it went on throughout the evening (the event peaks with the fires after sunset). Packed with locals and even more tourists - many thousands of people, including hundreds of foreigners. The air was electric. You could feel the fires bring out something different in the people. Many were drinking, of course.

At the tail end of the event (around 10pm), I went down to the local bar area and hung around for a bit. 'twas totally dead. Maybe even more than a normal weekend. I didn't see a single non-local soul out on the streets or in the few couple of bars. It was eerie. You'd think at least a percent or two of the visitors would stick around or explore instead of heading straight out or to their private accommodations on the dot?

Anyway, apart from just reinforcing your point and OPs about the beaten path being very narrow: Do come to Fuji, even off-season there's a lot more around here to see and experience than that hike itself and locals are still very much in want of business.

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#39

Post by rjh29 »

Razengan wrote: post #36
rjh29 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

APA hotel isn't a great choice for most (American) tourists anyway - the rooms are extremely small. Most customers seem to be solo Japanese businessmen.

Is this a reference to American obesity or something else..?

No, more that American hotels are a lot larger than European ones (I'm from the UK) and I assumed (with no real evidence) that Americans carry more luggage.

Although it is true that Japan is a bit of a struggle if you are overweight or especially tall.

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