9days Japan where to go?

[natink]

Hi all,

I am new to this forum, would like to seek advices on where to go for a 9day tour in Japan. Will be arriving at Narita, so Tokyo is a must. We are 2 guys, so pretty free and easy.

I was contemplating on Osaka but it seems far from Toyko. If my main motive there is to taste the food and culture, some sight-seeing, and also Mt Fuji, how should I go about planning the trip? Will be there start of Oct.

Thanks in advance for any kind replies.

[tigermilk]

Ooctober is a great time to go. The fall colors can be spectacular. The only problem with that time of year is the shortened daylight. Are you getting a JR Pass? I'd go for a 7 day pass at least to save costs if you want to see much of Japan. With it, getting to Osaka (about 3 hours from Tokyo) isn't a problem.

My favorites:

Nikko - been there in the Spring and Fall. Looks great in the Fall. You can make this a long day trip out of Tokyo or spend the night there.

Himeji - great for the castle

Inuyama - the only thing there to see is a castle, and while it's not the biggest castle, it's a really fine example of an original castle. Don't expect to see many (if any) foreigners in Inuyama. I once asked a Japanese colleague (we were in Nagoya at the time) where we could go and not see another American. Inuyama was his answer.

Nara - cool to walk around with the deer (you could hit Nara and Himeji on the same day

Hiroshima or Nagasaki - I prefer Nagasaki overall from the cultural experience, but either place is a must for an introspective time at their respective bomb museums

Baseball game - you should still be able to get to a ball game in October, either regular season or Japan Series. Looks like you are in Singapore, so it may not be of interest to you, but I had a blast. I'm not a big baseball fan, but watching the fans and how they conduct themselves at a sporting event was interesting.

Shinjuku Gyoen - grab some food, head to the park, and relax. The park patrons are almost entirely Japanese

[ArmandV]

If this is your first trip to Japan, I'd recommend the following:

Tokyo:

Tokyo Tower
Ginza
Asakusa
Odaiba
Meiji Shrine
Shibuya

Elsewhere:

Atami
Mt. Fuji (5th Station)
Hakone
Great Buddha of Kamakura
Kyoto

If you plan to do a lot of travel outside of Tokyo by train, you may want to get the 7-day JR Railpass.

[Prizm]

Do your research before shelling out for a JR Pass. Here's my own rail costs for 4 days in Tokyo (in US dollars for easier understanding):

$35 - Ticket from Narita Airport to Tokyo, includes Suica smartcard with $15 credit
$10 - Additional credit I put on Suica card to travel around Tokyo
$30 - Ticket back to Narita Airport from Tokyo (Using NEX is a rip-off, but it's express and I didn't have time to find cheaper option)

Total cost: About $75 USD.

I went to Nikko for 3 days (2 1/2 hours north of Tokyo):

$30 - Standard train fare to get there
$60 - Shinkansen back to Tokyo - figured I'd spoil myself :)

Total - $90.

Overall cost: $165 USD. Much cheaper than the $280 7-day Rail Pass. Even if I did buy the pass, I still would not have been able to maximize its usage within 7 days.

So, as people say - it depends where you intend to go with the Rail Pass. Otherwise it's not worth it.

Here's a fare calculator for the Japan rail system, very helpful as long as you know the station names:
ht tp://ww w.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi

(remove the spaces in the URL - the board won't let me post URLs yet)

[natink]

Wow, great tips guys, thanks for the advices. I will go look through and research more. Shall post itinerary in time to come to seek more opinions, Thanks.

[Fel1city]

I agree to check on Hyperdia about the costs of travel before buying a JR Pass, BUT if you just do Tokyo Kyoto return, then a 7 day Pass is more than worth it, but not if just in Tokyo and a few local trips. For 14 day Passes you need to be moving around a fair bit: but again, Tokyo Kyoto return plus Narita return on the N'Ex, and some side trips, just about covers it: we are currently working all that out for a 14 day trip in 2009: still undecided about the Pass...

[tigermilk]

I've only gotten a pass one time, but that was the one time I entered Japan on a tourist visa (I usually come in on an official visa which prohibits getting a JR Pass) it was certainly worth it. I was on vacation and got the 7 day pass. Used it for the following itinerary:

- around Tokyo
- round trip to Kamakura
- round trip to Nikko from Tokyo
- down to Osaka
- day trips to Nara, Kyoto, and Himeji from Osaka
- over to Hiroshima
- back to Tokyo
- to Narita

Those tickets individually would have been $600+.

[Fel1city]

Boy did you move around, Tigermilk!!!!! That's a lot of travelling in 14 days, but certainly worth the pass

[Gnarf]

We bought a 14 day JR rail pass for our trip around Tokyo, Kyoto and Nara. Some subway lines in Tokyo is also included in the JR rail pass so we tried to use them as much possible.
I do not remember the exact prices if we should have bought regular tickets instead, but I remember that buying the JR rail pass was cheaper even though we did not travel to many cities. And also it was much easier to just show the rail pass instead of go buying tickets all the time :-)

[natink]

Hi all,
I have another more primary issue right now.
I am a Singapore but I am in USA right now, will be travelling to back to Singapore and transitting at Narita Tokyo in a few months time. I realise that I could get a transit visa for either 3 days or 15 days from this link us.emb-japan.go.jp/english/html/travel_and_visa/visa/faq.htm

I would like to know whether if i can just travel down to narita and apply on the spot or do i need to apply for the transit visa of 15days when i am still in USA. Does anyone haf any idea with regards to this issue? Thank you..

[apple68]

Tokyo tower
Ginza , Akihabara , for Shopping
Shibuya , Shinjuku
---
out of near tokyo
- Nikko
- Yokohama
- Mount Fuji.

[manners]

Go to Hakone which is close to tokyo. You can see Mt Fuji and sample some hotsprings.

[slaughterj]

I've done a few trips in that time frame, and you can spend a couple of days in Tokyo (start and finish) but probably better off to travel down toward Osaka for the middle section (using a 7-day rail pass), from where you can more easily go to the bulk of interesting sites, like Kyoto, Nara, Himeji, and Hiroshima.