Trip to Japan

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PatSharpsMullet
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by PatSharpsMullet » Sun Jan 07, 2018 7:23 pm

I'm going on April 2nd with a couple of friends. We're staying in Tokyo for 6 nights and then getting a train to Osaka and spending 6 nights there with a final night at a hotel near Narita airport so that we don't have to get up at the crack of dawn to get the airport on time. While in Osaka we'll be visiting Kyoto (probably more than once), Hiroshima and possibly Mt. Fuji. Luckily our hotel in Osaka is opposite the main station which make things a lot easier travel wise.

We're paying just under £2k each, although that's not taking the JR Pass into account, and both the hotel in Osaka and the one near Narita airport are both Hilton's which pushes the cost up a bit. We booked the entire trip through British Airways.

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Bunni
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Bunni » Sun Jan 07, 2018 7:29 pm

I think you can go budget, but if you're dropping decent money on flights and travelling across the world where you're unlikely to be able to just hop back like you could with Europe, you'd be as well saving for the full experience. Hotels can be very affordable if you're slightly out the main tourist areas. An extra 15 mins on the train in will save you a fortune. Food is easily accessible and cheap through convenience stores and budget chains. Snacks for a quid from 7-eleven are great for a top up and you an get a fairly good noodle dish from Yoshinoya for about £4. Travel locally is cheap and the Jr. Pass is good value for going long haul, if quite expensive. There's plenty of free stuff to do, The lights of Shinjuku and temples of Asakusa can be seen for free and would imagine this stretches to other cities. So you can do it on the cheap, but maybe get a better, more immersive experience saving a little longer.

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Lex-Man
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Lex-Man » Sun Jan 07, 2018 8:21 pm

I went on a super budget and got arguably the most immerse experience. They paid me to go for two years.

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Rightey
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Rightey » Sun Jan 07, 2018 8:32 pm

Just to let you guys know if you are planning to fly around in Japan, the big travel websites don't have the small domestic carriers which are super cheap. So if you look somewhere like Expedia, the price to fly from Osaka to Tokyo can be huge because they only have JAL or ANA. You need to look on the actual websites of carriers like Peach, Jet Star, and I think there is another but I can't remember them off the top of my head.

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Dual
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Dual » Sun Jan 07, 2018 8:54 pm

*<]:^D wrote:
Dual wrote:I've never got the appeal of Japan. Is it just a geek culture thing that makes you want to go?

Edit: That sounds more ignorant than I intended to.

food, scenery, history


Get all that in Coventry m8

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<]:^D
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by <]:^D » Sun Jan 07, 2018 9:15 pm

a lot cheaper too lol!

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still
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by still » Sun Jan 07, 2018 9:17 pm

Bunni wrote:
still wrote:
Bunni wrote:
lex-man wrote:
Bunni wrote:
Skarjo wrote:
Bunni wrote:Also going this year for a second time. It's fairly easy to tour yourself. Get a rail pass and jump between cities. We're hoping between £5-7k for a month, via Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea.


Hit me up when you're in Honkers and I'll take you bowling!


Should be around 27th July for a couple days.


5-7k seems very expensive IMO. Although I think I might have spent around 2k all in for two weeks back in 2013.


Flights, ferry, travel etc £2k
Average hotel, plus two nights in a fancy hotel £2k
Activities £1000
Daily spending money £1000

This is for two people mind.


Bunni, how long is that for please? I’ve been a Japanophile nearly all my life but never been! Hoping, maybe, maybe, next year.....


Couple nights in Singapore, couple in Hong Kong, maybe 5 in South Korea and nearly three weeks in Japan.

Should probably turn this into a meet up thread. We'll be in Japan from start of August, arriving in Kyoto/Osaka around 4th and in Tokyo around the 9th till we leave on 21st.


Thank you. Appreciated.

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Rightey
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Rightey » Sun Jan 07, 2018 9:45 pm

Dual wrote:
*<]:^D wrote:
Dual wrote:I've never got the appeal of Japan. Is it just a geek culture thing that makes you want to go?

Edit: That sounds more ignorant than I intended to.

food, scenery, history


Get all that in Coventry m8


There's loads of stuff that is funny to my immature mind...

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:lol:

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Pelloki on ghosts wrote:Just start masturbating furiously. That'll make them go away.

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Qikz
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Qikz » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:36 pm

1k a day spending money? What the heck are you going to buy? lmao

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smurphy
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by smurphy » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:37 pm

I think she meant for the whole trip.

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Bunni
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Bunni » Sun Jan 07, 2018 11:52 pm

Yeah that's for like a month. We managed ¥10,000 a day last time for food and drink, subway tickets and some treats.

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Lex-Man
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Lex-Man » Mon Jan 08, 2018 12:02 am

Bunni wrote:Yeah that's for like a month. We managed ¥10,000 a day last time for food and drink, subway tickets and some treats.


That's About 70 quid.

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Skarjo
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Skarjo » Mon Jan 08, 2018 12:37 am

Rightey wrote:Just to let you guys know if you are planning to fly around in Japan, the big travel websites don't have the small domestic carriers which are super cheap. So if you look somewhere like Expedia, the price to fly from Osaka to Tokyo can be huge because they only have JAL or ANA. You need to look on the actual websites of carriers like Peach, Jet Star, and I think there is another but I can't remember them off the top of my head.


Vanilla Air is another one that're pretty cheap.

Also look at Willer Buses - they're a really cheap and relatively comfy way of getting around, but you'll need to pay for them once you get to the country I think, I don't think you can pay online.

Also, if you're going as far as Osaka, you can get an overnight ferry to Miyazaki which was where I was living and then it's a short train ride to Kagoshima which has the volcano that goes off everyday.

EDIt; I appear to be talking shite; Willer Express now accepts credit cards.

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karl_fletcher
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by karl_fletcher » Mon Jan 08, 2018 2:40 am

I've been here for just over a week now and I must admit it's costing quite a bit of money. We stayed the first week at an Air BnB in Tokyo near Shinjuku station, which was around $1000 (Canadian) for nine nights. Bullet train to Osaka was nearly $200 each and we stayed at a business hotel near Namba station for $200. We're in Kyoto now and staying at probably the best value hotel I've ever stayed in:
https://hotel-anteroom.com/en/ Our room is a good size with a huge bed, large bathroom and a small private garden and it's $130 a night.

We're heading back to Tokyo on Friday and staying a few nights in a fancy hotel before flying home.

I'm finding daily costs to rack up pretty quickly, drinking in particular seems extremely expensive, with most bars in Tokyo selling beers for around $7, well under a pint size. Subway in all three cities is a lot cheaper than London.


Oh and to whoever asked what the appeal of Japan is: Every toilet I've used since being here has a heated seat and an arsehole washer.

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Rightey
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Rightey » Mon Jan 08, 2018 5:34 am

karl_fletcher wrote:I'm finding daily costs to rack up pretty quickly, drinking in particular seems extremely expensive, with most bars in Tokyo selling beers for around $7, well under a pint size. Subway in all three cities is a lot cheaper than London.


You do know they have all you can drink alcohol right? I don't drink so don't know the details but I believe it's something like $30 for 2 hours of all you can drink.

Oh one more tip, if you can I'd definitely visit Nara, I think it was my favourite place out of everywhere I went to in Japan. Very nice and green. On the other hand Tokyo was probably my least favourite place.

Pelloki on ghosts wrote:Just start masturbating furiously. That'll make them go away.

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gamerforever
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by gamerforever » Mon Jan 08, 2018 9:12 am

I had a look at japan-guide over the weekend and saw their suggested itinerary

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2400_best.html

Is it possible to do this route with the japan rail pass?

Having a quick look, it seems japan rail covers 70% of the railways in japan and is £300 for 2 weeks.

When is the best time to go? My wifes a teacher, so we are restricted to school holidays! I was thinking early to mid August for 2 weeks. Plane tickets seem cheaper then, however i expect there to be flight sales at the end of this month. I managed to pick up august 2017 flight to nyc for £500 each from virgin last january!

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Lex-Man
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Lex-Man » Mon Jan 08, 2018 12:13 pm

Probably around Easter if you go in the summer it'll be really hot.

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Outrunner
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Outrunner » Tue Jan 09, 2018 12:30 am

christmasforever wrote:I had a look at japan-guide over the weekend and saw their suggested itinerary

https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2400_best.html

Is it possible to do this route with the japan rail pass?


Mostly -

Tokyo to Nikko - Yes

Tokyo to Hakone - Kind of. The JR pas will get you to Odawara, then you'd have to use a different train company. You can get a Hakone free pass (annoyingly not free) which will cover the second part of your journey and unlimited use on certain buses cable cars etc in the Hakone area. I did like Hakone but had the advantage of a tour guide with us.

Hakone to Kyoto - I think you'll have to double back to Odawara then use your JR Pass to Kyoto.

Kyoto to Nara - yes (and as many have said, well worth it)

Kyoto to Miyajima via Himeji - yes

Miyajima to Hiroshima - yes -

Hiroshima to Kanazawa - yes - this will be the longest journey I think (and doesn't really go the route on the map from quickly looking - you'll be going back to Kyoto and changing there for Kanazawa

Kanazawa to Shirakwago - no, the only way is by bus and you have to reserve a seat

Shirakawago - Takayama - no, you'll need to get the bus

Takayama to Tokyo - Yes

Sorry if I've micromanaged that a bit. A quick note on Shirakawago - I did a day-trip and had mixed feelings about it. The village itself is lovely but the buses and buses of tourist take away from the atmosphere a little. My trip was during the winter though so it may be different during other times of the year.

For trains http://www.hyperdia.com/en/ is the place to go. You can select only JR trains when searching timetables. Also while your Pass will be valid on most JR trains you can't use it on Nozomi, Mizuho or Hayabuse bullet trains. It's not a big deal, at most they shave 15/20 minutes of of a regular bullet train.

When is the best time to go? My wifes a teacher, so we are restricted to school holidays! I was thinking early to mid August for 2 weeks. Plane tickets seem cheaper then, however i expect there to be flight sales at the end of this month. I managed to pick up august 2017 flight to nyc for £500 each from virgin last january!


https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2273.html

Personally my favourite time is winter but then I love the cold and snow. You can't really go wrong with spring or autumn TBH, I've done both but appreciate Autumn may be tricky for term times. I've never done the summer, I'd love to because there's a lot of cool stuff going on but my friends tell me the heat and humidity would kill me (I hate the heat)

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gamerforever
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by gamerforever » Tue Jan 09, 2018 7:08 am

Thanks outrunner, really appreciate your help on this. Are buses easy to pre book?

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Outrunner
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PostRe: Trip to Japan
by Outrunner » Tue Jan 09, 2018 10:17 am

No problem, happy to help :D

I must admit I don't have very much experience with buses, my anxiety means I tend to stick with familiar, safe things (which is sometimes a detriment) I am trying to be braver with this though. My trip to Shirakawago was booked through Japanican and was straightforward enough. I booked the tickets online, joined the group at Takayama station then the tour bus did the rest.

It looks like they have an English website for booking so you should be fine. https://japanbusonline.com/en/CourseSea ... ?afcd=MDI=

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