Travel
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My only advice is to do everything @gt12 says, and avoid Takeshita St like the plague.
Everything else is as good as it says on the tin - I don't have any non-Tokyo advice as we only did the snow in Nazawa Onsen outside of the big smoke. But once you're in Tokyo, it felt like you can hardly go wrong. Shibuya, Shinjuku, just so much fun to wander around. Easy, safe, never a bad meal. If you play guitar, the 8 floor guitar shop was next-level awesome. The back streets of Harijuku were better than the main street, some great shopping. The old fish markets were good also (GT12 got the skinny here also).
Walk or catch the metro, do lots of karaoke, drink buckets of beer, find the hidden door at the GT12 recommendation. Suica good, Wise also excellent there.
Amazing country, would go again in a heartbeat.
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agree with flying into Osaka and out of Tokyo - that's what I did last year (although it was a whistle stop tour so really only scratched the surface of Kyoto and Tokyo). bullet train is easiest way to get around and its cool.
A few obvservations:
- I liked Kyoto but it does feel a little bit like a theme park given the number of tourists.
- Tokyo is bloody huge, pick some areas you want to see and use Google Maps to navigate, metro system is excellent and lots of stuff in English now makes it easier, avoid rush hour.
- I got a local SIM when I landed at the airport, no idea how much it was but it worked a treat!
- carry cash, Apple Pay isn't taken in that many places that aren't for tourists. ATMs are more common than they used to be but don't change money in a currency exchange as they tend to rip tourists off.
Kyoto:
- everyone eats early, its weird for a European, as an Aussie you'll fit right in, try and book places as it can be a pain wandering around (Unless you're on Pontocho street which is fun in the evening). Gyoza Chao Chao is worth a visit for Gyoza, Torisei did the best yakitori I had in Japan but its in the middle of the old town and is quiet around there at night.
- The bamboo forest is cool but again, thousands of tourists, may be quieter in november. We got a cab out there.
- temples and shrines are cool for about an hour, then it all looks the same, oh and there are loads of them.
Tokyo
A friend of mine has lived in Tokyo for the last few years and his wife is Japanese, he sent me a list of things to see and do (some may be a bit 'kid specific').
Food - Onvs Japan is famous for its food, local phrase in Tokyo is 'if you didn't like your meal its because you didn't like the dish rather than the quality'. Restaurants tend to be dish or cuisine specific i.e. if its a soba restaurant then it will only serve soba, ditto yakitori etc. Lunch rush is 11/11.30 and dinner rush is 5.30 / 6
Go to Omoide Yokocho in Shinjuku for tiny side streets full of miniature bars to bar hop / food hop - food is usually v good. As the evening goes on it fills with salary men getting battered so is quite funny too.
Things to do (or not too):
Shibuya - biggest pedestrian crossing in the world, got a video of my 8 year old sprinting out as soon as the lights changed and doing a round off back hand spring in the middle. Otherwise I don't get it, reason its the biggest crossing in the world is because there's about 5,000 tourists waiting to cross every time the lights change whilst filming the other 4,999 people all saying how busy it is.
Shinjuku - big nightlife area, including izakaya / karaoke and dodgy stuff (see above for a good place to start)
Akihabara - known as electric city and good if you're into video games, manga, anime or tech. I'm not. I hated it. anime is creepy as fuck
Go to the old fish market (Tsukiji) , and wander around tasting things, Ichiban is one of the famous sushi places (not expensive) and worth a stop - although its not quite the same as the tuna action etc doesn't take place there anymore - that's now at 5.30am at Toyosu.
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Cheers gents. Will compile that into what the other family members have identified.
My plan was to fly into Osaka and out of Tokyo but Mrs TA didn't like they idea of the connecting flight situation
I agree it's a waste of time and money to go back to Tokyo, particularly as connecting flights are cheaper -
The train system is far too good to waste time flying short distances internally.
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Connecting flight Sydney to Osaka I meant. The cheaper fares look to be short layovers in Singapore or HK.
The only direct flights to Osaka are JetStar I think and fuck. that.
It just seems like a bit of a waste to ride another shikansen for the sake of having a direct flight, and probably another night in an hotel in Tokyo.
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Connecting flight Sydney to Osaka I meant. The cheaper fares look to be short layovers in Singapore or HK.
The only direct flights to Osaka are JetStar I think and fuck. that.
It just seems like a bit of a waste to ride another shikansen for the sake of having a direct flight, and probably another night in an hotel in Tokyo.
I'd never pass up an excuse for another night in Tokyo, but then... I'm a lonely lonely man with no reason to not just go find some random corridor-width dodgy-as-fuck bar.
Also - yes... an extra day of travel on train seems dumb, but on balance...
pros/cons. Shikansen isn't so bad, especially if one's got a kilo of super-fresh tuna, some wasabi, and a decent knife. -
Connecting flight Sydney to Osaka I meant. The cheaper fares look to be short layovers in Singapore or HK.
The only direct flights to Osaka are JetStar I think and fuck. that.
It just seems like a bit of a waste to ride another shikansen for the sake of having a direct flight, and probably another night in an hotel in Tokyo.
I flew from Cairns to Osaka on Jet Star last year as it was the only choice, flight was almost totally empty, dream stuff
