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Recommendations for Japan Travel

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Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#271

Post by m4rtink »

FunnyLookinHat wrote: post #264
m4rtink wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My tips: - Kurobe Gorge (industrial train ride into a beautiful deep mountain gorge) - Kanazawa (middle size town with a beautiful garden and castle ruins - near Kurobe/Touyama) - Izumo (100% inaka, one of the oldest shrines in Japan, traditional iron working museum, nice coast with a beautiful lighthouse, in day trip distance from the only real desert (!) in Japan in Tottori) - Kinosaki (gorgeous onsen-only town, re…

Amazing! Thank you for the suggestions!

No problem - I'm glad I could help! :)

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#272

Post by diceduckmonk »

m4rtink wrote: post #250
mynameisvlad wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

^this But, honestly, even the tourist hotspots are nice to visit. Kyoto has so many amazing things to see, both popular and off the beaten path, that it’s absurd not to recommend if you want to learn more about Japanese culture.

Exactly - stuff we visited in 2017 in Kyoto: - randomly encountered local summer festival, including nice juicy karage and an exhibition of harvesters! :) - the marvelous Kyoto Railway museum - Kyoto auqarium with dolphin show - a Budhist temple that looks like a Shinto shrine (as couple years ago when state required the amalgamated Shino/Budhist institutions to split tehy decided to be a temple) Looks like the inky…

I went to a railway museum and aquarium in Tokyo this past week, and the two you mentioned in Kyoto were surprisingly good, especially given how relatively small the aquarium was.

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#273

Post by rippercushions »

TEP_Kim_Il_Sung wrote: post #258
BonoboIO wrote: post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where would that be?

I knew an Airforce guy stationed on Japan, he said the Japanese straight up made whole villages and districts off limits to foreigners. Not just to soldiers. He said it's to dissuade land flight of women.

Excuse my French, but bullshit. This is probably some game-of-telephone story of some bars near American military bases plastering "Japanese Only" signs on their doors so they don't have to deal with drunk GIs.

As a rule of thumb, the only places in Japan that do not welcome foreigners by default are in the sex industry.

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#274

Post by jesterson »

The part where it said that cards can be widely accepted made me chuckle. Don't fall for it, cards wouldn't be accepted in most places where you'd go, and in half of those places your card wouldn't be working because it wasn't issued in Japan.

The only place where card would be almost guaranteed to be accepted is konbini. Everywhere else it would be better to rely on cash. Especially if it is inaka

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#275

Post by seanmcdirmid »

wenc wrote: post #261
throwawaaarrgh wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tokyo is absurdly gigantic, I would not suggest randomly walking it. Also the subway system can be challenging, and the staff don't speak English, so if you get stuck they likely won't be able to help. Another random thing about the train system: there are women-only cars. I didn't realize this until I had already boarded and (as a man) I was absolutely mortified.

I have a different view. The Tokyo subway system is massive but not challenging. Everything is surprisingly systematic and consistent (unlike NYC's MTA which is legacy with express/non-express trains and cars with doors that don't open in certain stations) and with Google Maps, I had no problems getting anywhere with no backtracking. Announcements and notices are bilingual Japanese/English. Staff don't speak English…

I went to Japan last in 2015 with my aging dad. Subway was hard since no escalators/elevators at most stations and that marble they use for stairs becomes slippery really quickly during a rain. I wouldn’t have noticed either of these problems if my dad wasn’t mobility impaired (I didn’t know he degraded so much before the trip, so it was a bit of a surprise).

Trains stations were mostly fine in comparison.

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#276

Post by seanmcdirmid »

wyclif wrote: post #101
Razengan wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Americans are very fond of wide open spaces and square footage. Imagine being from Colorado, Wyoming, or Montana...or even California...and staying in a Japanese salaryman hotel. It's going to be claustrophobic for some people not used to the experience.

There are hotels in Europe with rooms as small as cruise ship ones (I stayed at one like this called the cab-inn in Aarhus). Mountain lodges in national parks tend to have small rooms also, especially if built during the 19th century.

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#277

Post by seanmcdirmid »

mysecretaccount wrote: post #234
wittyusername wrote: post #57

This is interesting, but not great Japan advice. I just went and had a blast and did the opposite of his advice. I think people are different and want different things and don't feel bad if you just want to see the standard Japan checklist. His talk of everyone being surly..you know what, be respectful, everyone in Japan is so polite and nice that you will be happy with the level of service everywhere. I've been many…

Yeah, I have spent a year in Japan and visited most prefectures and disagree with the article. Of course you should get off the beaten path, but if you avoid it like the article recommends, you will have a much worse time. Additionally, the advice to visit Gifu is terrible . I spent a week in and around Gifu-shi per Patrick's advice years ago and, while the area is charming as the article states, it is not somewhere…

Gifu is charming, but I don’t get this either. I had a friend there, so my experience is different, a good place to eat, hang out, not really a tourist place even with the castle (and you could see a better one in Osaka).

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#278

Post by quartesixte »

midoridensha wrote: post #252
throwawaaarrgh wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Tokyo is absurdly gigantic, I would not suggest randomly walking it. Also the subway system can be challenging, and the staff don't speak English, so if you get stuck they likely won't be able to help. Another random thing about the train system: there are women-only cars. I didn't realize this until I had already boarded and (as a man) I was absolutely mortified.

The women-only cars are only during certain times of day. Read the sign and it'll tell you: basically it's only during rush hour. Also, the women-only cars are at the ends of the trainset.

Only in Tokyo/Osaka/(IIRC Kyoto?)

There are certain cities that have made their women-only cars 24/7. More or less because the level of traffic they experience doesn't really make the loss of 1 car to 50% of the population any real detriment.

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#279

Post by mysecretaccount »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #277
mysecretaccount wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I have spent a year in Japan and visited most prefectures and disagree with the article. Of course you should get off the beaten path, but if you avoid it like the article recommends, you will have a much worse time. Additionally, the advice to visit Gifu is terrible . I spent a week in and around Gifu-shi per Patrick's advice years ago and, while the area is charming as the article states, it is not somewhere…

Gifu is charming, but I don’t get this either. I had a friend there, so my experience is different, a good place to eat, hang out, not really a tourist place even with the castle (and you could see a better one in Osaka).

It reminded me of Milan: a lovely place to live, but a pointless place to visit as a tourist. And I'm at least a CEFR B1 in the language - it would be an atrocious place to visit if you have no Japanese. No clue why the article recommends it (except maybe as an attempt to establish credibility).

Re: Recommendations for Japan Travel

#280

Post by mysecretaccount »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #130

What it’s like to travel and especially dine with small children? Our is 1 and 3 and not exactly behaved in Japanese nor European terms - they make mess and break things in restaurants. Will we have hard time in Japan?

Yes. Do not travel with children that age anywhere that would be out of your comfort zone personally.
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