Hello. This is not really a trip story, but I am from there. I just wanted to let people who love to visit Tokyo that there is a very nice place to visit in Tokyo. On the subway line of Odakyu-sen, there is "shimokita zawa". I used to go there when I was in high school. This is a place where you can see all kinds of generations and life in the huge city. It's kind of old and traditional place but there are so many young people for shopping or restaurant. This place is certainly different from Roppongi or Harajuku.

Enjoy.

Hi there!

I recently concluded a 21-day trip to Japan last 4 April 1999. It was so exciting despite the pocket-draining experience of Tokyo (such an expensive country!)

Anyway, it should be interesting to inform your readers that for longer stays in Japan I would recommend getting a Japan Rail Pass (which I had during my stay).  There are 3 kinds of passes: a 7-day pass, a 14-day pass and a 21-day pass.  I got myself a 14-day pass (that was enough despite my 21-day stay there).

The pass allows any traveller unlimited use of any JR trains, JR Shinkansen, JR Buses, JR ferries. In order to acquire these passes, the traveller must purchase an exchange order at any Japan Airlines Office at their origin countries. The vouchers should be exchanged for the pass upon arriving in Japan.

So much for that one...

My tour of Japan allowed me to see other noteworthy tour spots.  I was able to go to Kyoto, Nara, Kamakura, Osaka, Kobe, Nagoya, Yokohama, Chiba (where Tokyo Disneyland is located), Hiroshima, and Miyajima. 

I even had the experience of living in a "Capsule Hotel" even for one night. These capsule hotels cost around 3,600 yen a night. Actually, these types of accomodation are inside a sauna service building.  They are actually offered for travellers who wish to avail of
sauna services but would like to stay overnight.

In Kyoto, which was by far the best spot I ever visited in Japan, you can visit the Todaiji temple.  This temple houses the biggest sitting Buddha statue in the world.   It was huge!!

Japan is an expensive country to tour.  Tokyo in itself is already expensive.   But all in all it was fun!! I will surely come back next year to see some more tour spots.

Best regards,

Marwin Morado

I just recently visited Tokyo. I highly recommend visiting the Shinjuku Gyoen (Park). The cherry blossoms are absolutely spectacular. For dinner try out Roy's in the Aoyama area. A combination of Asian and Californian cuisine. Their chocolate souffle is a must!

Hello,

I'm 16 years old and just got back for a three week holiday from Japan.

During my time in Tokyo and other area's of Japan I picked up a few travel tips:

1) If you plan on visiting historical sites in Tokyo (small museums) it might be a good idea to wear strapless sandals. I found that I was constantly removing my running shoes (as is custom in Japan) and I would have to tie and untie laces for short,  short periods of
time.

2) In Tokyo there are many very narrow streets. First make sure to stay off to the side because they can easily be mistaken for a walking alley.

3) Pachinko is very expensive, and is hard to cash in the balls you win. If you plan to gamble while in Tokyo my suggestion is to stick to the slot machines.

4) There are many shops piled on top of each other. Make sure to explore all levels of the buildings. Don’t be shy or worried you will make mistakes, Japanese people are very friendly and will point you in the right direction. Sometimes it is hard to find the entrance to the upper levels, most of the time someone will understand what to mean by simply pointing to the top levels.

5) Last but not least, it is a really good idea to bring small pins from your home country ( mine being Canada). We found that many times we would be approached by curious Japanese students. It is a good to hand out many small souvenirs because such items are nearly impossible to find in Japan (unless your from the states).

David S.

What surprised me and Davide was that unlike we thought, Tokyo wasn't expensive at all! We stayed at a ryokan and the price was around 4400 yen per person, in a Japanese-style room with bath. We had the chance to prepare hot tea in our room. If you are thirsty or hungry you can find a lot of cheap places to eat wonderful food! You must try Japanese food: it's a great experience! We were used to it and tasted it in Europe, but when in Tokyo we could try a lot of new dishes... Try okonomiyaki or tendon, try sushi at kaiten-zushi restaurants: it's good, cheap and funny! If you need a snack during the day, try onigiri; if you don't have time to lose, try bento ( a sort of lunchbox)! You can find good and cheap snacks and drinks (water, juice fruits, soda...) at convenience stores (open 24 hours a day).

Tokyo is the best shopping place I have visited in all my life! And don't believe what they keep on telling us in the western world... it's not expensive! You only have to look around you. We found a lot of 100 yen shops: all items on sale were priced 100 yen! We were in Japan during the first two weeks of August and sales season was still going on... Favourite shopping spots are Shibuya, Harajuku, Shinjuku and don't forget to visit Ameyoko Arcade, near Ueno station!

As for language and custom differences, we had some problems because English speaking Japanese people are only a few, unfortunately! If you know a few useful japanese words, yourTokyo trip could be a lot better. Try to learn some food names, numbers... Customs are quite different from european ones. I mean, even in everyday life: taking a bath, eating, buying.. and this differences are half the fun in a japanese vacation!

Luciano S.
Italy

(Visit was early sept 1999- beginning of autumn)

We went on our own, so we surfed a lot, including this website with the gorgeous and useful pics. we also brought frommers and frodor's guides to help choose the good and cheap eating places and places to visit.

However, it's not the right time if you want to see flowers (that's spring or summer) and it's too early for the changing colours of fall. it's still too hot, around 30 deg C - good if you have kids like me, but you sweat a lot and tend to prefer air-con places to walking around. i guess it could be worse - after all, japan's famous for earthquakes and it's typhoon season then. fortunately, the places we went were shielded from the storms, but on TV news, we saw typhoon effects on other parts of japan.

The most exasperating part about going after the summer hols, is, if you are not in town, vacation resorts are virtually deserted and the normal functions put into sleep mode.
we spent a week in a resort by the lake, and that's all there is to do unless you got out. the pool was closed (open only in summer), the video games are powered off, even
some of the restaurants are closed.

Tokyo's underground/metro/MRT/subway is terrible for parents with small childen. there are hardly any escalators nor elevators. i had to bring a ultra light stroller, but + 12 kg kid and haversack for kid stuff, it wasn't easy climbing the stairs, up or down! in sept, they had a public holiday called the "respect the aged" day, and i read in an english paper (hotels do provide them) that said if this holiday really meant something to the japanese, then they would have done something to correct this abomination.

On the good side, the JR train stations have lifts or escalators. and with a japan rail pass, you can have unlimited rides, even on the shinkansen bullet trains. that's very useful when you read the signs wrongly and had to backtrack.

Despite all the grouses and physical endurance, I guess it's been worth it. my son has vivid memories of tokyo disneyland and can sing "it's a small world" (they play the japanese version there, just like the singing bears sing in japanese, but the music's the same) and remembers the rides and fun he's had. he also remembers the time we spent in the lakeside resort,  sitting by the water's edge outside our hotel and feeding the fishes with bread and hunting for small crabs that scuttle about, and trying to rescue poor dead jellyfish washed on the shore.

As for me, it's been a beautiful experience - I can't speak (but I can eat, thanks to pictorial menus) japanese any more than most japanese can converse clearly in english, but they have been most helpful in giving us directions (ok, my wife did most of the asking around) and they have a wonderful land - both city and countryside (see the mothers going shopping in the morning - some on bicycles with their kid in the back seat, and others drive super small and slim cars - very useful for their narrow streets).

Sam and Teri
Singapore
 

I went to Tokyo for 7 days.  I visited in the month of September. It was very humid even on the days when it was cloudy. There are many vending machines in Tokyo.  I had a lot of coca colas.  My advice is to bring your own water.  There are many restaurants in Tokyo and there should be no problem in finding one.  The problem is they don't speak much english.  Also, if you go to any noodle shops, bring your own napkins because they don't have any.  I did not go to any other type of restaurants so I don't know if they have napkins.  Also you do not have to tip at restaurants.  I attempted to tip at one restaurant and the waiter came running after me saying I left my money.  I explained to him in broken Japanese that in America we tip.  He finally understood and said "Thank you." 

The subways are very confusing.  There were 4 of us and we were lost even though we had a map.  However it's the least expensive way to travel. If you decide to take the subway, it will not be easy.  Be prepared to have extra time if you get lost.  Tokyo does have a lot of English signs up, but few speak English.  Bring phrase books. 

I did like Tokyo.  It was a beautiful city.  Lots of rivers.  It was a clean city and it didn't seem too crowded.  The prices on some things are reasonable and on other things are way too expensive, which is why we went to noodle shops for dinner every night.  These are some of my tips if you go to Tokyo.  I would like to go back in the future.

Jim Yasuda
 

I went to Tokyo for the first time in early November.  It was a ten day business trip.  Before I went I visited Roger & Marilyn's website since they had stayed at the same hotel that I did, Le Grande Pacific Meridian. It is across the river from what you would call central Tokyo. The hotel is very nice and is located in a newer business district, less hectic than the dense streets of Tokyo.

The hotel is connected to a very new and clean monorail which takes you across the river.  Once your there you can take other trains to any spot in the city.  While they are not as new, they are clean.  In fact Tokyo is very clean, I never saw garbage. Not being used to mass transit the trains seem overwhelming at first but after three or four rides you appreciate how quickly and easily they can get you to your destination. One thing to remember is to hold on to your ticket, (you need it to exit as you pay a point to point charge and simply return your ticket, or add money to it if you went beyond the value) and even though most maps and prices are in Japanese you can find an English one if you look(Signs are in both languages).

I did not speak a word of Japanese so don't worry about it.  You will miss out on some things but you can do all the basic tourist stuff. Comparing this trip with previous ones to Europe I would say that Tokyo was fare more interesting.  And yes it is expensive, plan to spend.
 
Ken W.