booked the tickets today - headed over march 23 and coming back april 6

my little brother and his wife moved over there this summer for a few years and live in zushi - we plan to make that our home base and do a few 1-2 day trips out to various places

post any must dos please - we used miles for the flight and other than staying at my brother's place we plan to use our hilton points for most of the hotels so we have a good bit of cash to spend on the rest of the trip

i did an exchange program back in '98 when i was in HS and lived with a family for a few weeks in tsuru - a week of that was touring around kyoto/osaka/tokyo - i don't recall too much of it but have a few items in mind

9/11/2010 3:17:41 PM

say herro to godzirra for me

9/11/2010 6:12:16 PM

^ LOL! That was one of the funniest things I've read all day.

9/11/2010 7:02:33 PM

watch one of the earlier vidz from this channel: http://www.youtube.com/misshannahminx

9/11/2010 7:29:26 PM

definitely get some of the tourist japan rail passes, otherwise you're going to spend a ton on travel expenses.

9/11/2010 10:59:44 PM

did you get a raise?

9/12/2010 12:45:36 AM

Welcome to Japan (next year).
I live in Japan, so let me know if you have any questions.

9/12/2010 9:26:44 AM

I'm leaving for Japan this Thursday. I'll be there for two years. I'm super excited.

9/13/2010 4:12:47 AM

I live in Okinawa but I take it your going to main land Japan. I love it here and it is a nice three year vacation plus the beaches are amazing as is the culture and dining. I can not wait to go to Tokyo sometime next year.

9/13/2010 4:53:57 AM

If you have cash get a Kaiseki at some good restaurant. Eat lots of Izakaya and Ramen. Both are very hard to find on the east coast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaiseki

9/13/2010 8:11:41 AM

Quote :

"I live in Okinawa but I take it your going to main land Japan. I love it here and it is a nice three year vacation plus the beaches are amazing as is the culture and dining. I can not wait to go to Tokyo sometime next year. "

I'm going to Okinawa! My unit is on Futenma. Other than that I'm clueless.

9/13/2010 11:08:16 AM

We are on Kinser which is just up the road on 58 from Futenma! I love it here just make sure you get out and see things. Arin Krin "Garlic House" is amazing and the seawall has all sorts of different places to eat and see.

9/13/2010 6:45:25 PM

Kaiseki is overrated imo but I guess if you've never done it before it's worth doing once.

I recommend staying in an onsen ryokan if you never have before. I also HIGHLY recommend the JR Rail Pass unless you feel like spending a stupid amount of money on transportation once you get there.

The Yamato War Museum outside of Hiroshima is really cool and off the beaten path. You could go to Yussen in Hakone and bathe in coffee, red wine and ramen

I was over there for four years so have pretty much done everything that's worth doing in Japan You might get lucky and catch the very beginning of the cherry blossoms. If you'll be down in the Kyoto area towards the end of your trip I recommend spending the night in Yoshino, though there's no guarantee the flowers will be in bloom. I believe this year when I went they started blooming the last weekend of March so if it's a warm spring you should be golden.

[Edited on September 17, 2010 at 11:42 AM. Reason : a]

9/17/2010 11:42:02 AM

Planning a trip to Japan. Any advice is welcomed.

2/20/2015 4:21:26 PM

this will happen...

2/20/2015 6:37:30 PM

^^
all the men there have fuzzy, blurred-out penises...and the women's vaginas are similarly grainy

plan accordingly

2/21/2015 1:07:56 PM

2/21/2015 7:40:33 PM

Japan is a big country (relatively) where are you going?

Exp: 4 years living there.

2/22/2015 11:23:20 AM

Okinawa is a fun place. Been there twice.

2/24/2015 5:01:53 PM

Flying into Tokyo, but the rest of the trip is unplanned. We know we want to hike Mt. Fuji, but not other specifics yet.

2/25/2015 11:02:01 AM

if you plan on hiking mt fuji you need to be fairly specific with the months you go

2/25/2015 11:06:01 AM

July 8-19 - flights are purchased, but no hotels or activities yet

2/25/2015 11:13:15 AM

Any additional advice or suggestions?

6/26/2015 9:27:15 AM

tentacle porn

6/26/2015 11:41:50 AM

Highly recommend Japan. I loved every minute of it.

7/30/2015 5:25:28 PM

jet lag is fun

7/30/2015 7:11:44 PM

Didn't really bother me.

7/31/2015 8:39:33 AM

pachinko, Tokyo Disneyland, I think Lil Bow Wow lives there.

srsly though, do a Mt. Fuji hike and visit lots of (old) Buddhist temples. they're all really special in their own way.

source: lived in Japan for 7 years

also, drink dat suntory

7/31/2015 2:08:55 PM

I've been there 3 times for work and I've probably seen about 1% of Tokyo, just a few recommendations:

Tokyo Skytree on a clear day so you can get a grasp of how damn big that city is. The aquarium is right next to it. Not the biggest, but it's pretty nice

Catch a baseball game. Fans are into it. Baseball is like minor league there, but it's entertaining

Kirin Beer Factory tour (Yokohama)

Shibuya Crossing. Complete tourist thing, but try to hit it in the evening hours.

As others have said. Get some Suntory.

Just about everyone is friendly there. People are always willing to help you. We had a group of 10 year old school kids walk 5 blocks in the rain to help us get to where we going because we had completely got lost

Enjoy it. Love going to Japan. Where I work they are always looking for engineers to do a 3 year rotation. I tell the younger single engineers to take them up on it


[Edited on July 31, 2015 at 9:32 PM. Reason : .]

7/31/2015 9:29:27 PM

Where do you work and what type of engineering? I would be interested in exploring work there.

8/1/2015 5:28:37 PM

Check your inbox

8/1/2015 11:51:59 PM

I'll add go to the Military Museum. It's very close to the National Military Shrine (their version of Arlington national Cemetary) They have a whole exibit dedicated to Kamakazi pilots in WWII. It was eye opening!!
All of Tokyo is just awesome! Go everywhere there. I'll second that everyone is really polite. Don't eat or drink on the subway... they think it's rude. I spilled a coffee in there and got the stink-eye from 2 business men for at least 15 minutes. Almost everyone speaks enough english for you to get by. Anyone in uniform (cops, etc) will be able to have a conversation with you in almost perfect english.

8/5/2015 4:25:15 PM

How prevalent is the national sex crisis? I heard it's pretty bad. The government is expecting the population to drastically decline by 2060 (by 30% from 2010).

Quote :

"The number of single people has reached a record high. A survey in 2011 found that 61% of unmarried men and 49% of women aged 18-34 were not in any kind of romantic relationship, a rise of almost 10% from five years earlier. Another study found that a third of people under 30 had never dated at all. (There are no figures for same-sex relationships.) Although there has long been a pragmatic separation of love and sex in Japan – a country mostly free of religious morals – sex fares no better. A survey earlier this year by the Japan Family Planning Association (JFPA) found that 45% of women aged 16-24 "were not interested in or despised sexual contact". More than a quarter of men felt the same way."

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/20/young-people-japan-stopped-having-sex

Was listening to Aziz Ansari's new book and he went to Tokyo and interviewed a lot of people about dating. It was pretty interesting. Sounds like a huge chunk of the guys have no interest in dating and the women all want the men to be a little more aggressive about it. Sounds like a good place to visit.

8/5/2015 5:21:37 PM