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Thread: Japan

  1. #1

    Japan

    Anyone been?

    Was it expensive?

    My mrs said as we won’t be going away this year, save our money and go Japan next year instead.

  2. #2

    Re: Japan

    Quote Originally Posted by WJ99mobile View Post
    Anyone been?

    Was it expensive?

    My mrs said as we won’t be going away this year, save our money and go Japan next year instead.
    I daren't say as I would get some stick....

  3. #3

    Re: Japan

    I spent a couple of nights in Tokyo with my wife and it was the most expensive place we’ve ever visited.
    Loved it, though.

  4. #4

    Re: Japan

    Quote Originally Posted by Taunton Blue Genie View Post
    I daren't say as I would get some stick....
    I would love to hear all contributions from people like yourself who have been there. I really would like to visit there one day, and given my location, it wouldn't be a tiresome or expensive trip to get there for me.
    However, once there, is the cost of everything going to knock the shine off the holiday?

  5. #5

    Re: Japan

    Quote Originally Posted by Rock_Flock_of_Five View Post
    I would love to hear all contributions from people like yourself who have been there. I really would like to visit there one day, and given my location, it wouldn't be a tiresome or expensive trip to get there for me.
    However, once there, is the cost of everything going to knock the shine off the holiday?
    Probably a good idea to get a packaged tour or something if you're worried about price, then you know everything is all in. I've been a few times, once on a coach tour from Tokyo to Kyoto taking in cities along the way. You can't do your own thing quite as much but it takes a lot of the hassle out of deciding what to see as they will obviously go to the famous sights and tourist hotspots.

    If you choose to organise yourself, the Japan Rail ticket is a good price and gives you a lot of freedom. Taxis are a no-no, especially in Tokyo. They're very expensive.

  6. #6
    International jon1959's Avatar
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    Re: Japan

    Amazing place. More familiar but more alien at the same time than anywhere else in east or south east Asia.

    Don't miss early morning at the Tokyo fish market.

  7. #7

    Re: Japan

    I went to Tokyo with my family in August 2017. It we absolutely fantastic. Best place I’ve visited. We all loved it there and would definitely go back.

    It was a pretty reasonable cost to get there. Flights for 2 adults and 2 kids came to £2,200. At the time that was cheaper than going to NYC. We found accommodation in a very good Tokyo district (Asakusa) through AirBnB for £1,300 for three weeks. That was the real bargain that made it doable.

    Since we’ve been I think the Tokyo City council has clamped down on AirBnB and they are not as easy to come by. I think hotels are pretty pricy.

    Costs while we were there were mixed.

    Transport - using the underground to get around Tokyo was reasonably priced. At the time we went it worked out cheaper than going round the London Undeground.

    Travelling outside of Tokyo seemed very expensive though. Much more expensive than here. You don’t realise how big Japan is. To go to the nearest city, Kyoto, was £70. One way. So that was out of reach for the family and I. You can purchase a rail pass from JR. If you are thinking of travelling round Japan explore the JR Pass it appears to be good value. However it wasn’t suitable for our needs.
    There is actually a city that adjoins Tokyo, Yokohama. That was quite cheap to get to.

    Food - mixed. If you want Western stuff in the supermarkets be prepared to pay a premium. My youngest was particularly fussy on that holiday. Croissants £2 each. Sliced white bread, loaf of 4 slices was £2.
    Japanese food however was cheap. Sushi - big box of the stuff about £1.50. Pot Noodle/Rice meals 50p. And they were from a different planet compare to out pot noodle range.
    We ate in a street food district in Asakusa and got a Japanese 2 course family meal with drinks for just over £30. I found the street vendors that served Local foodstuff to be reasonably priced too. Especially if you like
    Octopus. Its everywhere!!
    They sold Asda branded £1 chocolate in the store by us. It was about £5. They also had Kit-Kats for the Japanese market. These are like the miniature Kit-Kats we get here and come in mid-sized boxes and in over 10 different flavours. Raspberry was gorgeous. Can’t recall the price but they were cheap, I bought loads.
    The rule regarding food is buy Japanese. You have travelled thousands of miles to go to Japan afterall.

    Clothes - oh my god!!!! Unbelievably expensive. Football shirts £150. Ordinary plain t-shirts like you get in Primark £10. We didn’t buy any clothes there, the prices were unreal.

    Electricals - oh yes!!!! The world’s your oyster. There’s everything there and its a touch cheaper than here. Not loads, about 5-10% cheaper.

    Manga type stuff - I went with two kids. They filled their boots.

    Beer & alcohol - sorry can’t help as we didn’t visit bars due to having two young kids.

    People - mostly excellent. The assistants in the smaller shops were very attentive and wanted to chat. We found there was a language barrier in that people over 50 tended not to speak any English. The younger generation, below 30, tended to have a good grasp of English. Though to be fair it never caused us a problem. We never felt lost or intimidated. It was the most welcoming safe place I’ve every been to.

    Attractions - ones we went to were cheap. Tokyo Zoo £8 for adults. Tokyo Skytree £14 I think and is the best view I’ve ever had. The top of that is mind blowing. (Empire State was £40) We went to Baseball that was well priced. Tokyo Tower - couple of quid. Disney Land - its was far cheaper than Paris or Florida and I’d day it was a better park than Paris. Give two days to see both if the parks there. The Kill Bar - nothing, just cost of food. Starbucks from Lost in Translation - nothing but cost of drink, best cuppa Tea in Tokyo.

    There’s absolutely loads to see in Tokyo itself the place is mind-blowingly huge. Though we never felt overawed or hemmed in by it. So much variety we didn’t stop doing stuff every day for the three weeks we went there.

    I realise Tokyo isn’t Japan, like London is not truly representative of the UK, and i would love to go back and see not only Tokyo again but to get around Japan.

    Maybe one day . . . .

    Go for it. You won’t regret going. Superb, beautiful, wonderful place.

  8. #8

    Re: Japan

    Quote Originally Posted by jon1959 View Post

    Don't miss early morning at the Tokyo fish market.
    What am I missing here? This sounds incredibly unappealing

  9. #9

    Re: Japan

    Quote Originally Posted by Taunton Blue Genie View Post
    I daren't say as I would get some stick....
    Because don't take the Mrs right?

  10. #10

    Re: Japan

    Quote Originally Posted by delmbox View Post
    What am I missing here? This sounds incredibly unappealing
    The freshest and best sashimi.

  11. #11

    Re: Japan

    Quote Originally Posted by Taffster View Post
    I went to Tokyo with my family in August 2017. It we absolutely fantastic. Best place I’ve visited. We all loved it there and would definitely go back.

    It was a pretty reasonable cost to get there. Flights for 2 adults and 2 kids came to £2,200. At the time that was cheaper than going to NYC. We found accommodation in a very good Tokyo district (Asakusa) through AirBnB for £1,300 for three weeks. That was the real bargain that made it doable.

    Since we’ve been I think the Tokyo City council has clamped down on AirBnB and they are not as easy to come by. I think hotels are pretty pricy.

    Costs while we were there were mixed.

    Transport - using the underground to get around Tokyo was reasonably priced. At the time we went it worked out cheaper than going round the London Undeground.

    Travelling outside of Tokyo seemed very expensive though. Much more expensive than here. You don’t realise how big Japan is. To go to the nearest city, Kyoto, was £70. One way. So that was out of reach for the family and I. You can purchase a rail pass from JR. If you are thinking of travelling round Japan explore the JR Pass it appears to be good value. However it wasn’t suitable for our needs.
    There is actually a city that adjoins Tokyo, Yokohama. That was quite cheap to get to.

    Food - mixed. If you want Western stuff in the supermarkets be prepared to pay a premium. My youngest was particularly fussy on that holiday. Croissants £2 each. Sliced white bread, loaf of 4 slices was £2.
    Japanese food however was cheap. Sushi - big box of the stuff about £1.50. Pot Noodle/Rice meals 50p. And they were from a different planet compare to out pot noodle range.
    We ate in a street food district in Asakusa and got a Japanese 2 course family meal with drinks for just over £30. I found the street vendors that served Local foodstuff to be reasonably priced too. Especially if you like
    Octopus. Its everywhere!!
    They sold Asda branded £1 chocolate in the store by us. It was about £5. They also had Kit-Kats for the Japanese market. These are like the miniature Kit-Kats we get here and come in mid-sized boxes and in over 10 different flavours. Raspberry was gorgeous. Can’t recall the price but they were cheap, I bought loads.
    The rule regarding food is buy Japanese. You have travelled thousands of miles to go to Japan afterall.

    Clothes - oh my god!!!! Unbelievably expensive. Football shirts £150. Ordinary plain t-shirts like you get in Primark £10. We didn’t buy any clothes there, the prices were unreal.

    Electricals - oh yes!!!! The world’s your oyster. There’s everything there and its a touch cheaper than here. Not loads, about 5-10% cheaper.

    Manga type stuff - I went with two kids. They filled their boots.

    Beer & alcohol - sorry can’t help as we didn’t visit bars due to having two young kids.

    People - mostly excellent. The assistants in the smaller shops were very attentive and wanted to chat. We found there was a language barrier in that people over 50 tended not to speak any English. The younger generation, below 30, tended to have a good grasp of English. Though to be fair it never caused us a problem. We never felt lost or intimidated. It was the most welcoming safe place I’ve every been to.

    Attractions - ones we went to were cheap. Tokyo Zoo £8 for adults. Tokyo Skytree £14 I think and is the best view I’ve ever had. The top of that is mind blowing. (Empire State was £40) We went to Baseball that was well priced. Tokyo Tower - couple of quid. Disney Land - its was far cheaper than Paris or Florida and I’d day it was a better park than Paris. Give two days to see both if the parks there. The Kill Bar - nothing, just cost of food. Starbucks from Lost in Translation - nothing but cost of drink, best cuppa Tea in Tokyo.

    There’s absolutely loads to see in Tokyo itself the place is mind-blowingly huge. Though we never felt overawed or hemmed in by it. So much variety we didn’t stop doing stuff every day for the three weeks we went there.

    I realise Tokyo isn’t Japan, like London is not truly representative of the UK, and i would love to go back and see not only Tokyo again but to get around Japan.

    Maybe one day . . . .

    Go for it. You won’t regret going. Superb, beautiful, wonderful place.
    Thanks for taking the time to post that, really informative and the kind of detail I was looking for.

  12. #12

    Re: Japan

    Quote Originally Posted by lardy View Post
    The freshest and best sashimi.
    Ahhhhh gotcha, thanks

  13. #13
    First Team light up the darkness's Avatar
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    Re: Japan

    Quote Originally Posted by delmbox View Post
    What am I missing here? This sounds incredibly unappealing
    Point at what you want. Pay and choose the I’ll eat it now. They’ll show you to the cafe where they’ll cook it and all you have to do is eat and enjoy

  14. #14

    Re: Japan

    Went last year for a good wedge of time and spent time all over. Best holiday I’ve ever been on and I’d go back in a heartbeat. We’d saved up for everything well in advance and didn’t scrimp on lodgings or on anything when we were there as we treated it as a bit of a “once in a lifetime” holiday but somehow ended up well under budget.

    Loved Tokyo, was expecting it to feel crazier but found it strangely calm as far as a mega city goes. Spent a good chunk in Osaka as a base and travelled to surrounding cities and countryside. The rail pass is good value if you plan to travel around and the public transport network is one of the best I’ve travelled on.

    Maybe I’m too used to living in London and touch wood on a decent packet at the moment but the place didn’t seem expensive to me and I never had that “****ing hell” moment after buying something like say Norway.

  15. #15

    Re: Japan

    Is there anything specific that you want to know?

    I'm in Japan for a week or more a couple of times a year, so I've probably accumulated around a year there to date. My son is also based is Nagasaki. I've travelled extensively throughout Kyushu & Honshu but never Hokkaido. My first trip was 1989, it's altered (westernised) massively since then & Tokyo is now like most other cosmopolitan cities.

    Is it expensive, no, the prices are very similar to the UK. My tips would be choose the right time of year, April~June would be my recommendation and based your holiday on the trains. My recommendation would be Nagasaki-Fukuoka-Hiroshima-Osaka-Kyoto-Tokyo. You'll need a fortnight at a minimum. In recent years ANA have tended to be the cheapest airline, the very good workaround is with FinAir via Helsinki

    My opinion is it's an absolute must do, Japanese have encompassed English as much as possible and they are a fantastic people, who will make your time extremely enjoyable. Do it!

  16. #16

    Re: Japan

    Quote Originally Posted by Des Parrot View Post
    Is there anything specific that you want to know?

    I'm in Japan for a week or more a couple of times a year, so I've probably accumulated around a year there to date. My son is also based is Nagasaki. I've travelled extensively throughout Kyushu & Honshu but never Hokkaido. My first trip was 1989, it's altered (westernised) massively since then & Tokyo is now like most other cosmopolitan cities.

    Is it expensive, no, the prices are very similar to the UK. My tips would be choose the right time of year, April~June would be my recommendation and based your holiday on the trains. My recommendation would be Nagasaki-Fukuoka-Hiroshima-Osaka-Kyoto-Tokyo. You'll need a fortnight at a minimum. In recent years ANA have tended to be the cheapest airline, the very good workaround is with FinAir via Helsinki

    My opinion is it's an absolute must do, Japanese have encompassed English as much as possible and they are a fantastic people, who will make your time extremely enjoyable. Do it!
    March / April would be the best time for the sakura.

  17. #17

    Re: Japan

    Wrong thread!

  18. #18

    Re: Japan

    Quote Originally Posted by Rock_Flock_of_Five View Post
    I would love to hear all contributions from people like yourself who have been there. I really would like to visit there one day, and given my location, it wouldn't be a tiresome or expensive trip to get there for me.
    However, once there, is the cost of everything going to knock the shine off the holiday?
    My ex-partner and I used to host Japanese schoolchildren and the occasional adult in order for them to learn English. I ended up reading up quite a lot about their culture and as so many of their parents said that they would like to see us we made a plan and to see them all.
    I did a one-year Japanese language course just to break the ice and to understand two of their syllaberies (katakana and hiragana) but I couldn't read Kanji, the Chinese characters they use.
    We visited (under our own steam) Tokyo, Kyoto, Kamakura, Hiroshima and Niiza and it must have been 15 to 20 years so I am not up to speed with prices these days. Japan at that time was a mixture of modernity, etiquette, orderliness and cleanliness on the one hand and rigid social and professional structures on the other hand. The people were delightful and we even stayed at the home of one family,a rarity, it seemed.
    One disappointment was the lack of historical buildings, probably due to mass destruction of some of the cities during the war. Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines are abundant but the novelty can wear off after a few visits.
    My 'to do' tips would include: a visit to an onsen (hot-spring baths), grilling food on a hot-plate table in front of you and in budget places where the students do likewise, stay at a ryokan (traditional guest house with tatami mat flooring) rather than in a westernised-type hotel, try raw tuna (which is nothing like the flaky dry stuff we get in cans), have a trip on the bullet train (which is prosaically called Shinkansen over there and which means 'new trunk line'. I never made it to Mt Fuji though.
    Do read on the culture though. Just landing in a country without doing so won't give you the same appreciation of a place - and Japanese culture is fascinating.

  19. #19

    Re: Japan

    Quote Originally Posted by lardy View Post
    March / April would be the best time for the sakura.
    Could always do a bit of ikebana if you miss it

  20. #20
    International jon1959's Avatar
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    Re: Japan

    We did a short WEA Japanese language/culture course at a local school (one day a week for six weeks I think) before we went - in 2009.

    It was just enough to say a few basic things and understand a little bit more about the people and country.

    I would recommend something like that as an introduction. I hadn't used the WEA for a while and was amazed at the range of courses they ran - free of charge or for a small fee. There is a good chance of finding a Japanese course in Cardiff.

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