Japan (August 2004)

Preparations

A Tourists view about Japan

The year 2004 was my Asian year. In January, I have been three weeks in Vietnam and in August I visited two weeks Korea and then two weeks Japan. In Korea and Japan I have some friends from my time at the Tulane university in New Orleans in the year 2002. It was time to visit my friends there.

Japan is not the classic tourist place for Germans. Many people think that it is expensive and of course, it is not cheap but also not more expensive then England or Switzerland. Second reason is that most Germans don't know much about the real Japan. The younger generation loves the anime movies in the TV and the older people remember samurai or monster movies :-) It is at the other end of the world :-)

After a very short night I started early in the morning from Seoul to Tokyo. My friend Masahiro was waiting at the airport to pick me up and we met again, after two years.

What to see in Japan?

The first question for me was, which cities should I visit? I didn't know much about Japan. I started the journey in Tokyo, because I have some friends there from my time in Tulane and they wanted show me around. I could also stay some days at Masa's home in Tokyo.

Tokyo is a really huge area with many things to visit. Also around Tokyo are some interesting cities like Kamakura and Nikko which you can visit in an one day excursion.

Some places in Tokyo

In Tokyo are many interesting areas, here only some of them: Asakusa, Shibuya, Odawara.
Interesting museums:

Edo-Tokyo Museum:
http://www.edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp,
History of the city Tokyo / Edo (the old name of Tokyo)
The Ghibli Studios museum
http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/ticket_info.html,
the famous anime company

But what seeing else? How long to stay in Tokyo? I read a lot about Japan in the internet and also bought the German edition of the Lonely Planet travel guide book for Japan.

Kyoto

Kyoto is one of the most famous cities and not only because of the Kyoto Protocol :-) There are hundreds of temples and gardens in the old emperor city. I wanted stay there more then one day. Near Kyoto is also Osaka and there are living two more friends from the time of Tulane and I wanted visiting them also. If you are looking for other places and nature around, then you can make some excursions around Kyoto, like I did to Takao and Kifune.

Around Kyoto / Osaka you can find some more interesting cities like Himeji and Nara. So there is a lot to see.

I also wanted to see some more places in central Honshu, the largest island of Japan. I found some more cities with nice places. My plan was that I'm based in Tokyo and Kyoto and making from this places excursions to other cities. I also wanted make some stops at my way from Tokyo to Kyoto.

These are the cities I visited.

Japan Rail Pass

That's why I bought a Japan Rail Pass (see links below) for 7 days. You can use the JR-Pass not only for the fast train Shinkansen, you can use it also for some public transport in Tokyo and also for some buses. JR owns not only trains, it owns also buses.

Of course, there are much more interesting places in Japan to see and 14 days seems to be a long time in Japan, but I was not only four weeks for sight seeing in Asia, it was also my summer holidays and wanted no stress, I wanted a relaxed sight seeing. I didn't fixed my plan before I arrived in Tokyo. At the first evening I talked with my friends Masa and Yumiko about my plan and the places and then we fixed the plan together.

I visited also Takayama, a nice smaller city near the Japanese Alps with an old traditional folk village and second I stopped at Kanazawa, which is famous for its garden.

Other Places

Other people and travellers recommend me also Matsumoto, Nagano, Kamikuchi, Fukuoka, Hiroshima. But if you are a newbie in Japan, start at Tokyo (Narita International Airport) or Kyoto (Kansei International Airport) and look there around. The way from the international airports to the cities is long.

I personally would recommend Kyoto if you are more interested in the traditional Japan, even if Kyoto is also a big city with a lot of modern buildings. A train connection between Kyoto and Tokyo needs 135 minutes with the Nozomi Super Express and costs 7.980 Yen (60 Euro). For train connections see link section below. If you buy the JR Pass then you can use every train except the Nozomi but there are also other fast trains. For Details see links.

Travel Guides

I used the guides from the Lonely Planet family. These guides are good for finding an accommodation and opening times and fees for museums, places and buses. The guide for whole Japan is also in German available from publisher Stefan Loose. But I would recommend you to use an English guide book if you can. It has the big advantage that also Japanese people can read it and they can help you then better. Especially if you have some Japanese friends :-)

If you stay longer in Tokyo, then I can recommend you to buy a special guide only for the huge area Tokyo. Especially if you are looking for accommodations then you find only a few for each part of Tokyo in the Japan guide.


ISBN: 3770161084	ISBN: 1740591623	ISBN: 1740594509	ISBN: 1740590600

But you can get also a lot of material at the tourist information counters and in the Internet. There I can recommend travel forum and travel reports like this one :-) So it is not really necessary to buy a travel guide but nice to have :-)

Links about Japan:

Official Sites, Tips for travelling
Japan National Tourist Organisation	www.jnto.go.jp many languages
Japanese Traffic Guide Train Connections and Prices	www.jorudan.co.jp/english/norikae/
Japan Rail Pass	http://www.japanrailpass.net/
info site with accommodations and sights	www.japan-guide.com
Japan Tipp	http://www.japan-tipp.de/ A lot of Infos around culture, history and travelling.
Internet Forum
Japan Link	http://forum.japanlink.de/ Info Site with Forum around Japan and Japanese people in Germany
Weltreiseforum.com	http://www.traveltalk.weltreiseforum.com/viewforum.php?f=2 A forum around travelling in Japan and other places
Lonely Planet Forum about NE Asia	http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/categories.cfm?catid=19 It is in english but here you will have the best chances to get answers and tips
Travel Reports / Pic Galleries / Private Pages
Reiseträume Weltweit	http://www.ReiseTraeume.de/weltweit/ Travel Reports around the world. Reiseberichte & -Links rund um den Globus. Planen Sie jetzt Ihren Traumurlaub mit Informationen aus erster Hand (Berichte, Fremdenverkehrsämter, Linksammlungen, Photogalerien, ...)
German Web Ring about Japan	www.webring.de/suche/seitenliste.php?ring=1809
Tabibito's Travelogue	http://www.tabibito.de/japan/ Site with a lot of Infos about Japan, pics and travelling.
Japan Info	www.infojapan.de/reise/rp.htm A travel report with pics and a lot of cultural infos
Japan Point	www.japan-point.de Information's around Japan
Many travel reports and Infos about Japan with pic gallery	www.barthe.net/index.htm#Japan
A site with many travel reports around the world and also Japan from Pantitlan :-)	www.zipr.ch/oliboli/Traveller/Japan/China/Korea/Sanae/sanae.html
Private travelreport with infos about Japan	private.addcom.de/LRBerlin/indexj.html
10 days online diary of the journey	www.japan-tour.de
Travel report with pic gallery.	www.karstens-reisetagebuch.de.be/japan.htm
Satiric report about Japan	www.onemission.com/japan/
German exchange students in Japan
Dana	www.beepworld.de/members54/notenschussel
Moni	http://www.ichdarfalles.de.vu/
Forum for exchange students in Japan	http://49700.forum.onetwomax.de/
Museums in Tokyo
Edo-Tokyo Museum	http://www.edo-tokyo-museum.or.jp/
The Ghibli Studios museum	http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/ticket_info.html

Sleeping in Japan

Here is only a short list about accommodations. I fond some good places in the Lonely Travel Guide Books. If looking for rooms in Tokyo, then use the Tokyo edition.

Usually you can stay at backpacker hostels in a dorm for 20 Euro. If you look a little around you can also find nice Ryokans (traditional guesthouses) for 35-60 Euro. Busines Hotels have not so much charm an start with 80 Euro. It is a good Idea to look in the travel guides or better to ask in the internet forum other travellers for tips.

Kyoto Guesthouse (very clean and modern, 2.500 Yen, 18,30 Euro): http://kshouse.jp/

Welcome In in some cities: http://www.itcj.or.jp/indexwel.html

Ryokan in Tokyo, nice neighbourhood, not expensive: http://www.sawanoya.com

Some tips about Kyoto from the Lonely Planet Forum:

Kyoto is definitely the place to go. You can stay at Uno House in central Kyoto which is Y1,650 for a dorm bed. Not the nicest place but cheap and convenient. I stayed there no problems. Ph: 231-7763 (sorry, not sure of the area codes - this is the local number).

Close to Kyoto is Nara for a nice day trip. Depending on how you are finding Kyoto (you may just be happy to stay there the whole week) you could also venture to Osaka, with many restaurants and nightlife. Not too far from Kyoto is Himeji for a magnificent castle, or Kurashiki for some really traditional streets. If you can afford the train (about Y10,000 one way) I highly recommend Hiroshima. It is feasible to do it in one day if you just go early, stick to the main areas of the A-Dome and Peace Park etc, and come back at night. This will also save money on accommodation (provided you have a cheap place in Kyoto).

Food can be expensive but if you stick to noodle bars and local places you can eat well. There are many small family-run shops that sell set meals for about Y700. Usually on side-streets.

Travelling - Home