Planning a trip to Japan
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Fellows of Fakku,
I need your advice and guidance on planning a trip to Japan.
Rarely do I venture into the forums and when I do, these trips have one sole purpose and that is to beef up my VN collection! This is probably why this small(est) section of the forum has eluded me thus far. But when my eyes strayed upon the sentence: “We all have dreams and aspirations. So lets make them happen.”, I realized that I could potentially find help here.
Background mumble-jumble: I’m a student who’s currently about to graduate. Due to the competitive nature of my course, the chances of going to university this year look bleak and I may have to take a year out. If it’s not obvious enough from the title, during this year out I’d like to mingle work with travelling and one destination I am absolutely keen to visit is Japan.
Here are some outlines:
- I hoping for a trip sometime between July 2011 – September 2012. This is very a large window so there’s a lot that can happen in the meantime.
- Assuming that I am travelling solo (possibility of friends joining, but still tentative)
- Overall budget (as low as possible)
- Duration 1 – 2 weeks? Heck maybe more?
- Need low budget accommodation, youth hostel perhaps? (anywhere I should look into?)
- The trip should preferably cover a large scope of what Japan has to offer (i.e. not just limiting myself to one city although I’d like Tokyo to be the center of my trip)
- Activities? Sites? Must-sees and must-dos? (it should come as no surprise that I have otaku tendencies! If that helps?)
With the earthquake and stuff, it may or may not be the best time to plan a trip to Japan but I am determined to go visit this country within the near future. But for now I’m just looking for ideas, things to do, places to look into. Essentially, I need a nucleation site to seed my plans (yes, I’ve tried Google and I’ve looked into a couple of things on my own already). Perhaps you could tell me about you’re trips? What went well? What didn’t? Where you stayed? Etc. Any help will be most appreciated!
You have my utmost gratitude,
A lost lamb
Tl;dr: I need your advice and guidance on planning a trip to Japan.
I need your advice and guidance on planning a trip to Japan.
Rarely do I venture into the forums and when I do, these trips have one sole purpose and that is to beef up my VN collection! This is probably why this small(est) section of the forum has eluded me thus far. But when my eyes strayed upon the sentence: “We all have dreams and aspirations. So lets make them happen.”, I realized that I could potentially find help here.
Background mumble-jumble: I’m a student who’s currently about to graduate. Due to the competitive nature of my course, the chances of going to university this year look bleak and I may have to take a year out. If it’s not obvious enough from the title, during this year out I’d like to mingle work with travelling and one destination I am absolutely keen to visit is Japan.
Here are some outlines:
- I hoping for a trip sometime between July 2011 – September 2012. This is very a large window so there’s a lot that can happen in the meantime.
- Assuming that I am travelling solo (possibility of friends joining, but still tentative)
- Overall budget (as low as possible)
- Duration 1 – 2 weeks? Heck maybe more?
- Need low budget accommodation, youth hostel perhaps? (anywhere I should look into?)
- The trip should preferably cover a large scope of what Japan has to offer (i.e. not just limiting myself to one city although I’d like Tokyo to be the center of my trip)
- Activities? Sites? Must-sees and must-dos? (it should come as no surprise that I have otaku tendencies! If that helps?)
With the earthquake and stuff, it may or may not be the best time to plan a trip to Japan but I am determined to go visit this country within the near future. But for now I’m just looking for ideas, things to do, places to look into. Essentially, I need a nucleation site to seed my plans (yes, I’ve tried Google and I’ve looked into a couple of things on my own already). Perhaps you could tell me about you’re trips? What went well? What didn’t? Where you stayed? Etc. Any help will be most appreciated!
You have my utmost gratitude,
A lost lamb
Tl;dr: I need your advice and guidance on planning a trip to Japan.
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Lawlz
Good timing, bro.
I'm actually going to Japan from May 31st-June 13th this year. My friend is studying over there, so I'm meeting her in Tokyo after her semester ends.
As for funds...
Hmm.
Well, I found my tickets through Kayak. You can view certain dates and even choose to make them flexible so you can search for the best price. I checked it every day for about a month or so because the prices can flex. Its also cheaper to gets flights that depart and come back in the middle of the week when less people are traveling (Mon-Thurs).
For hostels, we are staying at Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro, but I'm sure you can search for other hostels and prices. I can even ask my friend who is over there of any other good places she is aware of.
(Also, Sakura Hotel has a special offer right now called "Cheer Up Japan".)
Basically my budget is:
Plane ticket - $1200ish (roundtrip)
Hostel - $800ish (split with my friend)
Transportation - $100ish
Hamasaki Ayumi concert - $100ish
Everything else (food, souvenirs, karaoke, drinks, etc.) - $300ish
So roughly $2,500 at least.
I'm sure I'll add more later.
I'm not sure about places to visit aside from Harajuku. My friend is basically the one planning all the exploring.
Good timing, bro.
I'm actually going to Japan from May 31st-June 13th this year. My friend is studying over there, so I'm meeting her in Tokyo after her semester ends.
As for funds...
Hmm.
Well, I found my tickets through Kayak. You can view certain dates and even choose to make them flexible so you can search for the best price. I checked it every day for about a month or so because the prices can flex. Its also cheaper to gets flights that depart and come back in the middle of the week when less people are traveling (Mon-Thurs).
For hostels, we are staying at Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro, but I'm sure you can search for other hostels and prices. I can even ask my friend who is over there of any other good places she is aware of.
(Also, Sakura Hotel has a special offer right now called "Cheer Up Japan".)
Basically my budget is:
Plane ticket - $1200ish (roundtrip)
Hostel - $800ish (split with my friend)
Transportation - $100ish
Hamasaki Ayumi concert - $100ish
Everything else (food, souvenirs, karaoke, drinks, etc.) - $300ish
So roughly $2,500 at least.
I'm sure I'll add more later.
I'm not sure about places to visit aside from Harajuku. My friend is basically the one planning all the exploring.
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Go visit the SONY AND NINTENDO headquaters.
also the SQUARE-ENIX store.I have no clue where they are,except somewhere in japan.0_o
also the SQUARE-ENIX store.I have no clue where they are,except somewhere in japan.0_o
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If you're thinking of short term, it's easy. Long term, unless you know friends, otherwise living in Japan I think it's expensive, and are you use to Japan's food?
How you familiar with their language? Don't expect everyone know English, because about 90% of them won't know much except to help you get around to restaurant or bathroom. You'll need to learn Japanese intensively in order to converse more deeply in a conversation. Japan isn't usa and definitely not europe.
How you familiar with their language? Don't expect everyone know English, because about 90% of them won't know much except to help you get around to restaurant or bathroom. You'll need to learn Japanese intensively in order to converse more deeply in a conversation. Japan isn't usa and definitely not europe.
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Aki-chan wrote...
LawlzGood timing, bro.
I'm actually going to Japan from May 31st-June 13th this year. My friend is studying over there, so I'm meeting her in Tokyo after her semester ends.
As for funds...
Hmm.
Well, I found my tickets through Kayak. You can view certain dates and even choose to make them flexible so you can search for the best price. I checked it every day for about a month or so because the prices can flex. Its also cheaper to gets flights that depart and come back in the middle of the week when less people are traveling (Mon-Thurs).
For hostels, we are staying at Sakura Hotel Ikebukuro, but I'm sure you can search for other hostels and prices. I can even ask my friend who is over there of any other good places she is aware of.
(Also, Sakura Hotel has a special offer right now called "Cheer Up Japan".)
Basically my budget is:
Plane ticket - $1200ish (roundtrip)
Hostel - $800ish (split with my friend)
Transportation - $100ish
Hamasaki Ayumi concert - $100ish
Everything else (food, souvenirs, karaoke, drinks, etc.) - $300ish
So roughly $2,500 at least.
I'm sure I'll add more later.
I'm not sure about places to visit aside from Harajuku. My friend is basically the one planning all the exploring.
nice info.
@TS : maybe you can learn about japanese langguage before you go there, because only few people in japan can speak english
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Oh yes! You need to know the language (ahh, duh. Can't believe I forgot that).
I'm just lucky because my friend can speak it.
I consider Japanese kids learning English in school like Americans learning Spanish in school. Generally, we just learn enough to pass and then forget most of it.
I'm just lucky because my friend can speak it.
I consider Japanese kids learning English in school like Americans learning Spanish in school. Generally, we just learn enough to pass and then forget most of it.
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Go_Master wrote...
If you're thinking of short term, it's easy. Long term, unless you know friends, otherwise living in Japan I think it's expensive, and are you use to Japan's food?How you familiar with their language? Don't expect everyone know English, because about 90% of them won't know much except to help you get around to restaurant or bathroom. You'll need to learn Japanese intensively in order to converse more deeply in a conversation. Japan isn't usa and definitely not europe.
I'm going for short term (that is a week or two, or however long a UK passport allows you to be in Japan without a visa). I just wanted to do some travelling in Japan and get an idea of places to visit, places to stay and other miscellaneous advice.
@Kuuga007, I'll definitely try learn some before I go but I doubt I'll get anything more than a few survival words and sentences!
