Support NeoGAF

[Cherubimon142]

Mostly the upper floors on any main electronic store in Akihabara sell only the latest games. Sometimes, you can tell from advertisements outside if they will be carrying the next game right away. I bought the latest Pokemon game for a friend and a few Vita games for myself this way before they reached the States

 

[RoaringMdog]

I had Yodobashi on my list, but not Bic Camera. I'll add that to the list of places i should check out, thanks for the help guys

 

[LonelyGreyWolf]

Does the subway stop going during typhoons? What do you guys think are the odds that the Tokyo Metro closes tomorrow? Typhoon hits Tokyo on Monday, yeah?

 

[Soar]

Does the subway stop going during typhoons? What do you guys think are the odds that the Tokyo Metro closes tomorrow? Typhoon hits Tokyo on Monday, yeah?

Subways should be fine as long as power isn't disrupted. I was on a 7 hour Shinkansen round trip ride today when I read about the typhoon. Talk about being excited. Really tired now, been in 12 different trains just to visit one shrine. At least I got some work done.

 

[Dyna]

So I'm flying to Narita tomorrow and my flight is supposed to arrive Monday 8AM, should I be worried about the typhoon? I'm not so worried about the typhoon when I've landed and at the airport but what I am concerned about is if it will affect the flight, that shit kind of scares me.

 

[Soar]

So I'm flying to Narita tomorrow and my flight is supposed to arrive Monday 8AM, should I be worried about the typhoon? I'm not so worried about the typhoon when I've landed and at the airport but what I am concerned about is if it will affect the flight, that shit kind of scares me.

It's projected to hit Tokyo around 3PM local as a cat 2 storm or weaker, hopefully. If all the skylanes aren't safe in their projections the pilots would not fly to be honest. If there are unexpected turns you may be forced to land in an alternate airport worse case scenario.

 

[Owari]

I have some friends going next Friday for 2 weeks. They're vegetarian. Any tips/tricks/info I can pass along?

Don’t listen to the naysayers in this thread. There are tons of vegan and veggie options in Japan! Happycow is your friend! I highly reccomend T’s Tantan in Tokyo.

 

[alienxx45]

Just agreed to a last minute trip in Nov. So I have around a week to plan it out all out. This should be interesting.

 

[Zoe]

Just agreed to a last minute trip in Nov. So I have around a week to plan it out all out. This should be interesting.

So far November has been my favorite time frame to go.

 

[rhophiehalul78]

My friends booked us a flight late February to early March.
I'm a little excited!
We will only be staying for 6 days though.

 

[Yoshi88]

What would be the best time to fly next year if the ultra humid/ hot weather (been there end of August to September once) is totally not your thing but you still want to go outside without thick jackets etc.?

We were planning around end of May or June so far.

 

[sfedai0]

May, June is fine. Alternatively, October and November is good too.

 

[coughlanio]

Just keep Golden Week in mind, it can be a pain to sightsee during it.

 

[sheamus]

anyone got a recommendation for a traditional Japanese sweets shop in Tokyo or Kyoto

 

[hwalker84]

So far November has been my favorite time frame to go.

Same here. Still was about to rock shorts and a light jacket the whole trip.

 

[Osukaa]

Just keep Golden Week in mind, it can be a pain to sightsee during it.

To be honest I liked the hussle and bustle of Golden Week when I went sight seeing lol cause there were not only tourists at the tourist spots but also Japanese residents as well who were on Vacation. I made a couple of random friends who turned out to most likely be life long friends. Damn I wanna be in Japan now -_-

 

[Aurelius]

anyone got a recommendation for a traditional Japanese sweets shop in Tokyo or Kyoto

Toraya in Tokyo Midtown (Roppongi). The place looks like a jewelery store!

 

[Aurelius]

Just keep Golden Week in mind, it can be a pain to sightsee during it.

If you stay in Tokyo, it’s not so bad since a lot of residents leave the city. Like august in Paris.

 

[hwalker84]

So glad this thread didn't get snuffed out. Used google cache to save it just in case.

 

[alienxx45]

Good to see this thread is still around.

Itinerary!

Day 1 -4 / Tokyo
Day 4 - 10 / Osaka (Day trips to Kobe/Kyoto(2x)/Hiroshima)
Day 10 - 11 / Hakone
Day 11-12 / Tokyo

I'm guessing I can just settle with a 7 day JR Pass? Activating on Day 4 when I go out to Osaka and it should last me till Day 10 when I make the trip from Osaka -> Hakone. After that I'll just Romancecar back to Tokyo to fly out the next day.

Any other cities worth going to...Yokohama maybe?

 

[coughlanio]

Good to see this thread is still around.

Itinerary!

Day 1 -4 / Tokyo
Day 4 - 10 / Osaka (Day trips to Kobe/Kyoto(2x)/Hiroshima)
Day 10 - 11 / Hakone
Day 11-12 / Tokyo

I'm guessing I can just settle with a 7 day JR Pass? Activating on Day 4 when I go out to Osaka and it should last me till Day 10 when I make the trip from Osaka -> Hakone. After that I'll just Romancecar back to Tokyo to fly out the next day.

Any other cities worth going to...Yokohama maybe?

I hope Nara is on your list while you're in Osaka

 

[Cherubimon142]

I'm planning a visit to Osaka again in the near future. I visited once before, but only for three days, as that was all the time I had. I would love to hear your story on where you visited to steal some travel ideas!

 

[alienxx45]

I hope Nara is on your list while you're in Osaka

Whats there to see in Nara? I wouldnt mind going for a day trip. Dont know much about the city except for all the wandering deer.

 

[Mendrox]

Whats there to see in Nara? I wouldnt mind going for a day trip. Dont know much about the city except for all the wandering deer.

Nara deer park which is totally worth it and beautiful and also one of the biggest Buddha temple worldwide the Tōdai-ji which is also amazing. Also Nara is just beautiful.

 

[UnluckyKate]

Do any of you have an a recommendation for some excellent sushis in Tokyo ? I'm bringing my family for new year there. Of course they want to go to Jiro's place (Sukiyabashi Jiro) but that's impossible to get an oversea reservation. Any other recommendation ? earlier this year we've been with my father to a tsujiki sushi in shinjuku that was great but I want to try something else

 

[I'm an expert]

Do any of you have an a recommendation for some excellent sushis in Tokyo ? I'm bringing my family for new year there. Of course they want to go to Jiro's place (Sukiyabashi Jiro) but that's impossible to get an oversea reservation. Any other recommendation ? earlier this year we've been with my father to a tsujiki sushi in shinjuku that was great but I want to try something else

Sushiro. Doesn't get more authentic in terms of where 99% of the population eat sushi.

 

[ZaCH3000]

Is anyone an avid skier/snowboarder? I've been living in Japan for almost two years. The first year I did not get into the mountains much except for once, when I visited Hokkaido.

I live in the Tokyo area. Honcho is more accessible than Otaru for me. I'm wondering when exactly it starts snowing in the Shiga Kogen or Hakuba areas?

What other great locations are there on Honcho other than those two that gets heaps of snow?

How early in the season is it worth the time and energy spent getting there for a weekend?

Thanks!

 

[hwalker84]

Do any of you have an a recommendation for some excellent sushis in Tokyo ? I'm bringing my family for new year there. Of course they want to go to Jiro's place (Sukiyabashi Jiro) but that's impossible to get an oversea reservation. Any other recommendation ? earlier this year we've been with my father to a tsujiki sushi in shinjuku that was great but I want to try something else

I just go where the wind takes me and yelp things. I unfortunately don't have any names.Though I'm getting a list together for my next trip next time.

 

[Cherubimon142]

It's not sushi, but I absolutely recommend visiting Mutekiya in Ikebukuro. It's located at the end of the third (?) block to the left of the station entrance (facing the front). You will have to wait around half-an hour to get in, and will probably have to eat quickly, but they have some of the best ramen in Tokyo and provide menus printed in English for their foreign visitors.

 

[Line_HTX]

I just returned from my two week trip. Went to many places like Oarai, Aomori, Hirosaki, Uji, Hiroshima, and Miyajima from Tokyo and Kyoto in respective weeks. 9/10 I want to do it again, but I would prefer to have mostly dry weather next time. I want to make huge thanks to Mike for setting it up, and sorry if I was complaining too much. I do not regret going for the first time ever one bit. If anything, I want to have a taste of it so bad next year.

Next time I'm in Ikebukuro I'll definitely hit up Mutekiya. That looks really tasty already.

 

[sfedai0]

It's not sushi, but I absolutely recommend visiting Mutekiya in Ikebukuro. It's located at the end of the third (?) block to the left of the station entrance (facing the front). You will have to wait around half-an hour to get in, and will probably have to eat quickly, but they have some of the best ramen in Tokyo and provide menus printed in English for their foreign visitors.

Second Mutekiya. One of the best Tonkatsu ramen in Tokyo. I went with the all char siu one. Absolutely loaded with pork goodness.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

Vox released this amazing video about the North Korean bubble inside Japan. This video moved me. It makes me so incredible sad and frustrated for all involved; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBfyIQbxXPs

 

[Cherubimon142]

There's actually a new project on Kickstarter From Japan on a warhead warning app, in anticipation of the impending war with North Korea. Forget Halloween. This is the scariest thing I've seen all week.

 

[Gray Rentable]

heads up guys, there's a VR park in tokyo now - Adores VR Park Tokyo.

Looking like augmented reality events like in SAO: Ordinal Scale will happen someday

 

[Bigby_Wolf]

There has been something I've never understood as a long-time lurker here on GAF.

In my view, Japan is nearly the perfect realization of what many call "Trump's America."
- A society that is very open and vocal about keeping it's racial homogeneity.
- It is also extremely islamophobic. They keep all of it's Muslim residents under constant surveillance.
- The society is also very well-documented as being highly patriarchal.
-They don't recognize same-sex marriages.
-They also have a history of slavery and military slaughter that they often refuse to recognize.

These are all things the GAF community has been highly vocal about for many years. I'm just curious how everyone here reconciles their love for Japan and Japanese society with the fact that it's built by and, in many ways, still operated by many things that GAF has thoroughly stated is counter to a humane and civil society?

This is not an endorsement of Trump's America nor a post meant to demonize or vilify any in here. It is a genuine question based on my own observation.

 

[Cherubimon142]

Oh, as much as I love Japanese culture, I openly acknowledge that Japan has many, MANY faults, and there is a dark undercurrent below everything that we see from the West. It's hard to reconcile these truths with the Cool Japan that is projected, but the fault lies with the society as a whole. Japan is at its heart, a tribal-based society where all actions carried out are for the benefit of the group and not the people as individuals. Office culture is a great example of that. To fundamentally change this behavior requires a great shift that Japan is simply not ready for at this time.

 

[ATXAlchemy]

I don't think that topic belongs in this thread. Make a new thread, maybe?

_____________________

heads up guys, there's a VR park in tokyo now - Adores VR Park Tokyo.

Looking like augmented reality events like in SAO: Ordinal Scale will happen someday

I was looking into one when I was there a few months ago, but the cost was too high for me (I think one VR place had like 4k yen for an hour or something).

 

[Faiyez]

In my view, Japan is nearly the perfect realization of what many call "Trump's America."

To me it sounds like you've bought into the wettest of alt-right weaboo dreams. And boy, wouldn't this particular breed make for an interesting Venn diagram? Sorry, but what you bring up is mostly the regurgitated crap of the same agenda-driven neckbeards running rampant on Reddit/Youtube. Yeah, I'm lumping them with the alt-right bottom feeders that tend to be so embarrassingly unfamiliar about the countries they love to bring up, you should be spotting their BS long before you need to wonder about the stamps on their passport (that's if they've even been out of their mother's basement, they wouldn't need one at all).

 

[Bigby_Wolf]

To me it sounds like you've bought into the wettest of alt-right weaboo dreams. And boy, wouldn't this particular breed make for an interesting Venn diagram? Sorry, but what you bring up is mostly the regurgitated crap of the same agenda-driven neckbeards running rampant on Reddit/Youtube. Yeah, I'm lumping them with the alt-right bottom feeders that tend to be so embarrassingly unfamiliar about the countries they love to bring up, you should be spotting their BS long before you need to wonder about the stamps on their passport (that's if they've even been out of their mother's basement, they wouldn't need one at all).

If you'd like I can provide receipts to all these claims from well-trusted publications from the US, Europe and Japan itself (most with a reputation of being left-leaning, too) detailing all of these charges.

I'm not calling everyone in Japan huge Trump supporters or their entire population hate-filled bigots but the facts of the matter is that, in practice, much of that culture aligns a helluva lot more with Trump's positions than the uber-liberals that have long idolized the country and also populate GAF would care to admit. Obviously.

But this is a reality that is a little too hot for some to handle so I will retreat from the thread with this post for the greater good of this community.

 

[RoaringMdog]

Alright, im confused about something and i hope someone can help me out. Whrn i arrived at Narita Airport i bought a train ticket to get into Tokyo, i actually bought a return ticket because it was juwt a little bit more. Now when i bought the ticket into tokyo it had a seat and car on it, but this return ticket does not. How do i use it? Do i redeem it at the train station and get a proper ticket there, or do i just use this and sit in a specific car? Its a N'EX Tokyo Round trip ticket.

 

[Gray Rentable]

Alright, im confused about something and i hope someone can help me out. Whrn i arrived at Narita Airport i bought a train ticket to get into Tokyo, i actually bought a return ticket because it was juwt a little bit more. Now when i bought the ticket into tokyo it had a seat and car on it, but this return ticket does not. How do i use it? Do i redeem it at the train station and get a proper ticket there, or do i just use this and sit in a specific car? Its a N'EX Tokyo Round trip ticket.

is it a Narita express (NEX) ticket? There should be cars that don't have assigned seating.

Have fun in tokyo!

 

[Faiyez]

is it a Narita express (NEX) ticket? There should be cars that don't have assigned seating.

All cars in the N'EX have reserved seating. There isn't unreserved seating for this service.

Now when i bought the ticket into tokyo it had a seat and car on it, but this return ticket does not. How do i use it? Do i redeem it at the train station and get a proper ticket there, or do i just use this and sit in a specific car? Its a N'EX Tokyo Round trip ticket.

When you use a limited express service you pay two fares, the limited express fee and the seat fee. Both have already been covered in your promotional fare, but you are given the benefit of not having to decide what date/train to board for your return trip.

This means you are supposed to take your return ticket to the JR ticket counter and book the N'EX that you'd like to board back to the airport.

The reason all seats are reserved is because a single N'EX service from Narita will have different destinations and they separate the cars and they want to make sure you are riding on the correct one to your final destination.

 

[RoaringMdog]

Thanks, now i get it. Hopefully it'll be fine if i do this on the day of the the trip. I'm leaving extra early just to be sure.

Japan is great so far, amazing food, cheap shopping and easy trains are just wonderful. Shinjuku station is so overwelming though, i actually had a panick attack when i got there because of the insane amount of people.

 

[Zalasta]

So pocket wifi...I'm using airbnb for 80% of my trip and all of my hosts provide it for free, but what should I do for the 2 days I'll be staying at a ryokan as well as when I travel between hosts? All of the renting options seem to be paid for consecutive days of usage.

 

[clem84]

So pocket wifi...I'm using airbnb for 80% of my trip and all of my hosts provide it for free, but what should I do for the 2 days I'll be staying at a ryokan as well as when I travel between hosts? All of the renting options seem to be paid for consecutive days of usage.

On my 2 previous trips, I rented one for the duration of my trip and didn't rely on the ones provided by my Airbnb hosts, specifically for the reason you mentioned. It sucks but I figured I saved myself a lot of time and energy trying to find my way without net access.

 

[clem84]

I was looking for a cheap way to travel between Tokyo and Nagoya. Somebody suggested this to me. JR Tokai Bus. The problem is that they don't allow large luggage on board.

I could fly of course but it's expensive. So my only other option is the Shinkansen between Tokyo and Nagoya right?

Another question. I went on the JR website to purchase Shinkansen tickets and I found somewhere that tickets for the tokaido line (Nagoya Tokyo) are not sold online. Which means that I don't have a choice but to show up the morning of my departure and buy a ticket at the train station? Is this correct?

Thanks.

 

[Cherubimon142]

You can certainly do that, or make arrangements sever days in advance, I believe. I had to take the Shinkansen myself when I missed my flight due to an incredibly stupid mistake. I didn't transfer and found myself out in the countryside before I realized what was going on.

 

[Faiyez]

So pocket wifi...I'm using airbnb for 80% of my trip and all of my hosts provide it for free, but what should I do for the 2 days I'll be staying at a ryokan as well as when I travel between hosts?

I advise against relying on pocket wifi provided by your airbnb host. Often times you are left with a capped device due to the previous users.

I'd want to be online at all times and make sure to have a data plan tailored to my needs.

I was looking for a cheap way to travel between Tokyo and Nagoya. Somebody suggested this to me. JR Tokai Bus. The problem is that they don't allow large luggage on board.

I could fly of course but it's expensive. So my only other option is the Shinkansen between Tokyo and Nagoya right?

Umm.. the Shinkansen is expensive and you'll have a hard time with multiple luggages :S

Consider looking into Willer Express.

http://willerexpress.com/en/

Or if you're looking to stretch your available budget and still enjoy the Shinkansen, you could look at Platt Kodama tickets

http://www.jrtours.co.jp/kodama/en/.

Another question. I went on the JR website to purchase Shinkansen tickets and I found somewhere that tickets for the tokaido line (Nagoya Tokyo) are not sold online. Which means that I don't have a choice but to show up the morning of my departure and buy a ticket at the train station? Is this correct?

The Tokaido Shinkansen is operated entirely by JR Central, which does not offer online reservations in English.

But actually, it's possible to buy your tickets at the window up to one month in advance to departure. Also, if you want to reserve in advance but don't want to commit to a specific time, you can buy unreserved which is good for any departure on the date.

 

[Zoe]

I was looking for a cheap way to travel between Tokyo and Nagoya. Somebody suggested this to me. JR Tokai Bus. The problem is that they don't allow large luggage on board.

I could fly of course but it's expensive. So my only other option is the Shinkansen between Tokyo and Nagoya right?

You could send your luggage ahead to your destination.

Speaking of flights, don't forget foreigners can get cheap tickets.

 

[Jebus]

It's been fantastic having all this information available to help plan.