I am off to Japan in the summer for about 3 weeks and need some advice as to what I should go to. I am going to be spending at least a week in Tokyo and also want to visit Osaka and Kyoto. Outside of that I have no firm plans but want to see amazing things and maybe visit some of rural Japan too.
Tell me amazing things I should visit while Im there please that I would regret not visiting.
Thank you.
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Visiting Japan
6 votes
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by doctornovocalcords
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I spent 2 weeks,
in tokyo, its just fucking mad man, i barely slept, in fact the only time i did once was after being awake for 72 hours i passed out..
For just a laugh at the terrible wax work museum go to the tokyo tower..
Also i recommend learning some japanese, i was naive in thinking english was widely spoken...Its not at all.
The Subway system closes at 12 at night aswell and doesnt open until 5am (in tokyo this is) so a night out tends to be epic, but not much ever closes so you can just hang out at a kareoke place or go to mcdonalds...
i think i am going to head there again for a bit later in the year, it is very addictive.
Go for a random walk outside Kyoto
in the wooded hills, and just follow random paths. I found an abandoned shrine under a waterfall, it was beautiful.
Also, in Kyoto, go to the Fox shrine (or something) it's got loads and loads of these orange gates (I forget the technical term), and you can walk through all of them to the top of this hill.
**UPDATE**
it's called the fushimi shrine http://www.geocities.com/intrepidberkeleyexplorer/Page27J.html
**END UPDATE**
Go to the manga museum in Osaka - I never made it but it's gotta be done.
Ginza in tokyo is cool, go on a weekday.
The south island is ace, Fukuoka is well laid back, Beppu is bizarre but awesome, and Nagasaki is both interesting and humbling (apparently Hiroshima is also).
But I'd recommend a week of rural Japan trail blazing, I didn't do it, but I'd really like to. Get a week long train pass and blaze it, it allows you on all the fastest bullet train.
oh
and try and time it so you go to the fox shrine place at dusk - if you get there an hour or so before sundown, then walk up the hill so you get to the top for dusk (about 30 min), it's pretty cool. You'd never guess you were in a big city.
Eat
tonnes and tonnes of Gyoza. For best results spear with chopstick and flood with soy and chilli sauce.
You can sleep in some internet cafes for cheaps.
Buy a Japan rail pass and go everywhere on bullet trains, coolest method of transport ever.
Go to the mountains outside Nagano and stay in 'K's House' Hostel. Go walking/biking and get in them nudey springs.
I'm going in six weeks
So I'll let you know when I get back, I think I'm going to Nagoya or Osaka!
lucky you
I'm so excited but I have to wait until August :(
I went for about 2 weeks in 2003
and I really regret not getting to see rural Japan enough (though I still had a great time obviously).
I got a plane out to the Izu Shoto island chain (about 300 miles of the cost from Tokyo) and camped there for a few nights, that was great. Tiny island, shrines and natural hot spring baths. Fuji national park was great too. Stayed in a youth hostel that blasted Wagner at 6am, which was less good.
Ueno was a good place to stay in Tokyo as it was cheap, and getting the bus around the city was better than getting the tube as its a lot cheaper and of course you actually get to see the city. The fish market is incredible, got to get there pretty early in the morning though.
Oh yeah
and you can take baths naked with groups of Japanese guys! Yeah!