Japan (1 Viewer)

[Cormcolash]

Who's been? Any recommendations?

 

[GO]

Not yet but I'm planning it.

Well that or Varanasi .Maybe both.

Im subscribed to this thread though because Im into it

 

[pete]

Who's been? Any recommendations?

I was in Tokyo on the way to Australia 16 years ago. We rented an apartment in Shinjuku for 3 or 4 nights, which was deadly. Experiencing an earthquake on the 26th floor with the building swaying from side to side was fun.

Found it easy enough to get around, even with a 6 month old baby in a pram - the train system is great and easy to navigate. Went to Akihabra, Shibuya/Harajuku and few other places but the city is ENORMOUS. Would go back for longer to see a bit more of the country if the chance came up.

 

[rettucs]

Who's been? Any recommendations?

Roy Keane

Not Saipan

 

[kavanelli]

Planning on going was hoping to go this year for my 50th, but that won't happen.

@old lived there for a year might have some tips.

 

[old]

Lived there for a year in the mid-2000s as @kavanelli said. Was back for a month in 2023. I'd recommend getting a JR Rail Pass and planning some travel via Shinkansen train. Loads of great places close to Kyoto, but it's packed with tourists (like ourselves) these days. Hiroshima is lovely. And the arty island Naoshima. With time and the rail pass, it could be nice to go down to Kyushu. Depends what you're into, innit?

 

[chris d]

Japan is on the bucket list alright.

 

[Cormcolash]

Lived there for a year in the mid-2000s as @kavanelli said. Was back for a month in 2023. I'd recommend getting a JR Rail Pass and planning some travel via Shinkansen train. Loads of great places close to Kyoto, but it's packed with tourists (like ourselves) these days. Hiroshima is lovely. And the arty island Naoshima. With time and the rail pass, it could be nice to go down to Kyushu. Depends what you're into, innit?

I'm going for a month in March basically.
Will definitely be getting the rail pass.
Flying to Osaka and spending near enough a week there, I'll do a day trip or two to Kyoto from there.
Then going to see Himeji for the castle, then I'm going to Okayama where I'm planning to do a day trip to Naoshima alright.
Will get to Hiroshima after that too. I will actually get to Kyushu, in fact I'm going all the way to Kagoshima for a few days.
Then I think I'll fly back up to Sendai, and then go to Tokyo for like 5-ish days, before heading back to Osaka via somewhere near Fuji.

So yeah if anyone has any particular recommendations in those kind of areas, lemme know! Even the cities, like I'll be in these places but I haven't actually decided what I'll do every day really. In Tokyo I'll definitely go to that Sky Tree tower thing for the view at some point.

 

[magicbastarder]

friends are heading this year, 50th birthday treat for one of them. they're going for a kinda curated trip, i think organised by an ex-pat who arranges these things. takes a lot of the research and faff out of choosing where to go (their two kids are going with them).

 

[pete]

I'm going for a month in March basically.
Will definitely be getting the rail pass.
Flying to Osaka and spending near enough a week there, I'll do a day trip or two to Kyoto from there.
Then going to see Himeji for the castle, then I'm going to Okayama where I'm planning to do a day trip to Naoshima alright.
Will get to Hiroshima after that too. I will actually get to Kyushu, in fact I'm going all the way to Kagoshima for a few days.
Then I think I'll fly back up to Sendai, and then go to Tokyo for like 5-ish days, before heading back to Osaka via somewhere near Fuji.

So yeah if anyone has any particular recommendations in those kind of areas, lemme know! Even the cities, like I'll be in these places but I haven't actually decided what I'll do every day really. In Tokyo I'll definitely go to that Sky Tree tower thing for the view at some point.

Make sure you visit the TOTO museum. We went to the old one in Shinjuku, before they moved to the new place.

 

[Cormcolash]

Make sure you visit the TOTO museum. They hadn't moved to the new facility when we were there.

Thought that was in Africa

 

[pete]

Thought that was in Africa

It's definitely not in Kansas anymore.

 

[Cormcolash]

friends are heading this year, 50th birthday treat for one of them. they're going for a kinda curated trip, i think organised by an ex-pat who arranges these things. takes a lot of the research and faff out of choosing where to go (their two kids are going with them).

Yeah, like I might sign up to the odd day tour here and there over there, just so I can chill and let somebody else show me around some places.
Definitely thinking of doing that at Fuji some day, signing up to some guide that'll bring me a fair bit up the mountain or something like that.

 

[Cormcolash]

It's definitely not in Kansas anymore.

Actually I'm staying a couple of days in Fukuoka so I can definitely go to the TOTO museum.

 

[old]

I'm going for a month in March basically.
Will definitely be getting the rail pass.
Flying to Osaka and spending near enough a week there, I'll do a day trip or two to Kyoto from there.
Then going to see Himeji for the castle, then I'm going to Okayama where I'm planning to do a day trip to Naoshima alright.
Will get to Hiroshima after that too. I will actually get to Kyushu, in fact I'm going all the way to Kagoshima for a few days.
Then I think I'll fly back up to Sendai, and then go to Tokyo for like 5-ish days, before heading back to Osaka via somewhere near Fuji.

So yeah if anyone has any particular recommendations in those kind of areas, lemme know! Even the cities, like I'll be in these places but I haven't actually decided what I'll do every day really. In Tokyo I'll definitely go to that Sky Tree tower thing for the view at some point.

Ah deadly. Himeji was the nicest castle we saw. Eddie Marcon, who I love, are from there and were playing in a wee HImeji cafe when we visited. If you're going to Kagoshima and have time, Yakushima is amazing, particularly the primeval forest. Yakushima: A Visitors Guide - A Yakumonkey Guide to enjoying Yakushima 2019 The only other stop we had in Kyushu was Kurokawa Onsen, which is also nice, if you like that sort of thing.
Looks like you'll miss the 2025 Expo in Osaka, but you could always book to go visit the excellent 1970 Expo Tower of the Sun, seen in this Expo 2025 video

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[Cormcolash]

Ah deadly. Himeji was the nicest castle we saw. Eddie Marcon, who I love, are from there and were playing in a wee HImeji cafe when we visited. If you're going to Kagoshima and have time, Yakushima is amazing, particularly the primeval forest. Yakushima: A Visitors Guide - A Yakumonkey Guide to enjoying Yakushima 2019 The only other stop we had in Kyushu was Kurokawa Onsen, which is also nice, if you like that sort of thing.
Looks like you'll miss the 2025 Expo in Osaka, but you could always book to go visit the excellent 1970 Expo Tower of the Sun, seen in this Expo 2025 video

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Accept third party cookies

Yeah, was a bit pissed to discover the 2025 Expo is starting about 2 weeks after I leave! Oh well

Was definitely looking at Yakushima alright, and also another day seeing how far I can go up Sakurajima if it's not busy erupting...

 

[nuke terrorist]

I just want to meets the noisers, punks, grinders + a few free jazzers and heavy psych folks and see loads of gigs.
Not sure what else is going on in Japan.

 

[ilovehoovering]

There is loads of great wrestling on in Japan (and especially in Tokyo) every week. I got to three shows when I was there a few years ago and they were all brilliant. I'll post a few links when I find them but heading off to Korakuen Hall for a Sunday morning show (with a bag of snacks from the 7-11 outside) was amazing.

 

[rettucs]

ex-pat

seriously. you went there

 

[jimmybreeze]

Japan is amazing, would 100% go back, probably my favourite place I've ever been.
Just a word about the rail pass, when I got it it was extremely cost effective, but it's since gone up about 70% so it could be cheaper to book train tickets yourself rather than getting the pass.
There's a calculator where you can work it out anyway JR Fare Calculator - See how much you save with the Japan Rail Pass