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Asakusa is a nice area but it's not on the Yamanote line, which is the most convenient train line to stay near.
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Jun 6, 2017 19:27
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Yeah, that's why I was thinking Shinjuku. I'd definitely want to check out Asakusa either way. Hakone looks lovely. Currently looking up the various ryokan there.
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Jun 6, 2017 20:49
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I stayed in Ikebukuro last time and it was decent. Low city eastern Tokyo is better than western though, so there's a trade-off.
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Jun 7, 2017 02:21
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Don't go to hakone. The volcano is still closed off and the cable car gets cut off. It's also way more expensive and mundane compared to other sites. Are you traveling from Kyoto? You can stay in Atami or even the outskirts of Kyoto. Heck, if you like mountains, stay in Nikko, the history is better and there are 99999999 onsens to choose
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Jun 7, 2017 03:29
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caberham posted:Don't go to hakone. The volcano is still closed off and the cable car gets cut off. It's also way more expensive and mundane compared to other sites. Oh? I was recommended to me by a friend who lives in Japan, but I'm happy to look at other options! Probably Tokyo first, and then maybe Kyoto or Osaka? I live in the prairies, so I do very much like mountains and have not visited a hot spring since a family trip to BC when I was 12.
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Jun 7, 2017 05:28
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Hakone is nice if it's a clear day and you can see Fuji. If it's cloudy then you're just stuck in a summer cabin town.
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Jun 7, 2017 06:03
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Nessa posted:Oh? I was recommended to me by a friend who lives in Japan, but I'm happy to look at other options! Telling you to go to Hakone is the same thing as telling you to go to Lake Louise/Banff when there are many other options. If you want to see Mount Fuji, might as well go to any of the 5 lakes of Fuji. If you guys are on a budget, going to Kyoto is expensive and see if you can do a open jaw trip from Tokyo --> in. Osaka --> out
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Jun 7, 2017 08:54
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Anyways, people in this thread have way more travel experience compared to the average Japanese person
caberham fucked around with this message at 09:50 on Jun 7, 2017 |
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Jun 7, 2017 08:55
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Hakone is just fine. Caberham is optimizing
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Jun 7, 2017 14:56
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http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e6933.html just read this poo poo and figure out what you want to do, it's better than any advice you will probably get ITT
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Jun 7, 2017 15:27
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Well, if we're going in May, the Fuji Shibazakura Festival seems like a good place to hit up. Is May a super popular vacation time? I was looking up hotel prices and kept bring told that that they had no rooms available for next May and to try March or June dates instead.
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Jun 7, 2017 15:55
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Nessa posted:Well, if we're going in May, the Fuji Shibazakura Festival seems like a good place to hit up. The beginning of May (lit. first week) is a popular holiday called 'Golden Week'. Outside of that first week should be fine in most normal cases though. Are you actually finding available spots in June? Many/most hotels don't let you book until about 6-months out, that might be the issue.
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Jun 7, 2017 17:04
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DiscoJ posted:The beginning of May (lit. first week) is a popular holiday called 'Golden Week'. Outside of that first week should be fine in most normal cases though. Are you actually finding available spots in June? Many/most hotels don't let you book until about 6-months out, that might be the issue. I'm aware of Golden Week, so I was aiming for mid-late May. It's probably that I'm just looking too far ahead then.
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Jun 7, 2017 17:43
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Looking ahead and prebooking is one thing, but do make sure that everyone is on board with your choices. Especially with your friend on a tight budget because you don't want to break on any eggs and tread carefully
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Jun 7, 2017 18:37
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Oh, I'm not planning on doing any actual booking for quite a while. I just wanted to get a gauge on prices for different rooms at that time of the year, so we have an idea of what to expect and can plan accordingly.
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Jun 7, 2017 20:43
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caberham posted:Are you traveling from Kyoto? You can stay in Atami or even the outskirts of Kyoto. Heck, if you like mountains, stay in Nikko, the history is better and there are 99999999 onsens to choose The onsens that are actually in Nikko are poo poo, and Kinugawa isn't particularly good either. There are some really loving good onsens in Oku-nikko and Oku kinugawa and Shiobara onsen, however.
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Jun 7, 2017 22:10
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ntan1 posted:The onsens that are actually in Nikko are poo poo, and Kinugawa isn't particularly good either. There are some really loving good onsens in Oku-nikko and Oku kinugawa and Shiobara onsen, however. The onsen hipster.
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Jun 8, 2017 00:39
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Speaking of onsen, what would you say makes a "good" or "bad" onsen? I know some of them have different minerals in the water which changes their colour and stuff. Does that make a difference? What are the most important qualities in an onsen?
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Jun 8, 2017 02:54
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ntan1 posted:The onsens that are actually in Nikko are poo poo, and Kinugawa isn't particularly good either. There are some really loving good onsens in Oku-nikko and Oku kinugawa and Shiobara onsen, however. Is that why Kinugawa is still in tatters? And I really like Chuzenji and Biwa
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Jun 8, 2017 03:02
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I don't really care about the minerals in the water. I like a nice atmosphere and comfortable bath that doesn't feel crowded. Many of the Real Underground Onsen Water!!! baths I've been to stink like sulfur, or had some elements that felt nice on the skin but made the stone floor slippery af. If it's a ryokan I'm there for the food.
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Jun 8, 2017 04:59
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For water quality manza onsen is my favorite.
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Jun 8, 2017 05:10
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manza is good. Kinugawa onsen really likes to put chlorine into their baths, and that's really a big nono for me. And ya I like the Real Special Onsen Water places because a lot of them are quiet and owned by a small family and home cooking is really good cause I don't actually live in Japan. Also they often dont feel that crowded (let's be real, with people from mainland China and Korea but mostly China). Every once in a while I find a place that has both amazing water and amazing food and then its like heaven. The things that make an onsen good are the following: 1) Food 2) Service needs to be good but discreet. Doesn't mean expensive as I really like small family owned minshuku as well, and remember some of them really well. 3) Water quality (no chlorine is the main one, followed by water type which is really only for nerds) and rotenburo (and the nature that is around the rotenburo) 4) The extra thing - like "this place has 80 years of history and baths that date back to a long time ago, or has a beautiful rope bridge you can walk on, or isn't in a city with a lot of concrete etc."
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Jun 8, 2017 05:52
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zmcnulty posted:So I've got mod permission to post about a new site I've launched: http://nomunication.jp just wanted to say the FAQ and genre guide are super duper helpful. my wife and I leave for our first ever japan trip on Tuesday and this sort of low-key cultural stuff is incredibly great thanks
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Jun 8, 2017 18:15
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ntan1 posted:Shiobara onsen I lived in Nasushiobara and can confirm that Shiobara onsens are amazing.
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Jun 8, 2017 18:53
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Hey Japangoons, if I just fly into Osaka in a couple of weeks and walk into random sketchy buxibans or whatever they're called in Japanese is there a good chance I can find a (sketchy) teaching job pretty quickly? Summer vacation is on the way here in Taipei and I'm sweating as I type these words into the somethingawful.com forums as we speak. Looks like it's a sweet 10 degrees F lower in sunny Osaka this week compared to la isla Formosa so I'd like to upgrade 10 degrees latitude for a few weeks if possible.
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Jun 9, 2017 20:03
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Japanese summer is still hot af and I don't think it will be easy to find a dodgy eikaiwa without local help. You could look into summer camps but they usually still require a work visa. http://www.english-adventure.org/index.php?PageId=21 quote:If you can only obtain a tourist visa, we are happy to consider your application under our program for overseas volunteers.
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Jun 10, 2017 01:45
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Unlike Taiwan, you can't just come to Japan on a tourist visa, get a job, and convert it to a work visa in-country (I'm pretty sure). I just moved to Japan after six years in Taiwan, and I just loitered on the various job boards and spammed my resume to places. Took about two months to find a job and another month and a half to get the visa stuff sorted.
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Jun 10, 2017 02:33
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Moon Slayer posted:Unlike Taiwan, you can't just come to Japan on a tourist visa, get a job, and convert it to a work visa in-country (I'm pretty sure). Where in Japan are you again?
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Jun 10, 2017 03:48
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Kanazawa
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Jun 10, 2017 03:58
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Moon Slayer posted:Unlike Taiwan, you can't just come to Japan on a tourist visa, get a job, and convert it to a work visa in-country (I'm pretty sure). This is wrong, if your COE comes in while you're in-country you can march over to immigration and get it converted. It's only a problem if you can't "visa run" ie go in and out at will to reset the "clock" on your tourist visa. This tends to primarily be a problem with Chinese and Filipino nationals. That having been said, just don't come to the attention of the MOJ if you're working illegally.
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Jun 10, 2017 05:56
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Ok, thanks for correcting me.
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Jun 10, 2017 06:08
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If I was a giant nerd, which I am, and wanted to experience the true madness of Tokyo Arcades, where would be some places to check out? (I've seen video of an initialD racing arcade machine where it was hydraulically linked to a Car and I want poo poo like that in my life)
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Jun 10, 2017 12:08
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That Initial D machine is in Sega Joypolis in Odaiba. Prepare for massive queues. Shinjuku and Akihabara in general are good for arcades, and Anata no Warehouse in Kawasaki has a really cool aesthetic.
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Jun 10, 2017 14:01
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I recently saw a news blip about old school candy arcade games museum in an Itabashi, Tokyo shopping area, enjoy
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Jun 10, 2017 15:46
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*waits for the game centre hipsters to show up and humble brag about their secret Game Center in the middle of tottori*
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Jun 11, 2017 01:01
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peanut posted:I recently saw a news blip about old school candy arcade games museum in an Itabashi, Tokyo shopping area, enjoy Yeah, this place is pretty impressive, large selection of those old mechanical-style machines.
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Jun 11, 2017 08:44
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Solus posted:If I was a giant nerd, which I am, and wanted to experience the true madness of Tokyo Arcades, where would be some places to check out? (I've seen video of an initialD racing arcade machine where it was hydraulically linked to a Car and I want poo poo like that in my life) Akihabara has a bunch of arcades. I know one has a bunch of driving games there. The problem with modern Japanese arcades is the games are very geared towards Japanese people. Either you have a bunch of gambling like games or games where you collect cards and play with them. Not casual at all. But there is one arcade in Akihabara which has a bunch of old school games and there are plenty of other arcades that should cover everything you want. You will most likely have to go somewhere a bit touristy to find games that would interest you.
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Jun 12, 2017 07:17
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Tokyo leisureland in Odaiba is a great 'casual' place with a bunch of special cabinets. What Ned says about typical arcades is true though, but if you find a Round1, they tend to have a good mix of games too. The problem there is that there's not much variety in that 'good mix' between locations. So if you've seen one, you've them all. 'Hipster' friendly places include HEY in akihabara, TRY amusement tower (also akihabara) and Mikado in Takadanobaba (best place for retro games). On another note, if you're interested in (expensive as hell) VR experiences, there's the VR zone in Shibuya's Adores and a zombie shooting walk-around game in the aforementioned joypolis.
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Jun 12, 2017 14:27
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DiscoJ posted:Tokyo leisureland in Odaiba is a great 'casual' place with a bunch of special cabinets.
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Jun 12, 2017 14:29
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leather fedora posted:This only applies if you'll be in Japan before July 17, since they'll be closing it down after then. That's a shame. I was hoping you meant the less interesting one inside Aqua City, but I guess the main one did start to feel kinda deserted in recent years.
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Jun 12, 2017 14:59
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