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peanut posted:I'm looking into Yokohama Sea Paradise as a less tiring Disney alternative... We go to sea paradise all the time with the in-laws. It's good.
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Aug 10, 2017 05:20
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P-Mack posted:I'm going to be in Tokyo for 3 or 4 days at the start of October with wife and kids (two 6 year olds and a baby). What are some must see family friendly sites? Inokashira Park and Zoo are in the same area as the ghibli museum and are very family friendly (though the quality of the zoo is questionable, the park is a great place to relax).
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Aug 10, 2017 10:28
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Stringent posted:We go to sea paradise all the time with the in-laws. It's good. Hell yeah totally going. The aquarium will still be good even if the weather is terrible. There's a lake right next to the Ghibli museum with lots of fat, greedy koi. My dad enjoyed throwing bits of rice to them.
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Aug 10, 2017 10:55
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Oh speaking of water parks and beaches, it is dumb as poo poo that every area closes for the year on September 1st sharp even though the weather is still going to be hot and humid for the next month+ afterwards. This is either a tacit admission that the areas are open for schoolchildren on summer break only or they are idiots that hate money.
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Aug 10, 2017 12:42
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But September is in fall (one of the four distinct seasons that Japan and only Japan has) and what kind of madman would go to a waterpark in fall?
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Aug 10, 2017 13:34
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P-Mack posted:I'm going to be in Tokyo for 3 or 4 days at the start of October with wife and kids (two 6 year olds and a baby). What are some must see family friendly sites?
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Aug 10, 2017 22:50
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photomikey posted:Can't remember the name of the place, surely there's more than one, but we ordered sushi on a knockoff iPad and then a few minutes later it came shooting out on a conveyer belt that stops directly in front of your seat and once you remove it it gets sucked back into the kitchen. This is like 6 y/o crack, I think my daughter would have eaten a plate full of dog crap if she got to order it up on an iPad and a robot sent it shooting out on a conveyer. Six months later and every time we go out to eat I get to hear about how much nicer it would be if they had a conveyer belt and an iPad here. Genki Sushi probably P-Mack posted:I'm going to be in Tokyo for 3 or 4 days at the start of October with wife and kids (two 6 year olds and a baby). What are some must see family friendly sites? Check out Kidzania, and if you can swing it visit on Wednesday as they do an English speaking event then. Other stuff: -Food basements of department stores, colorful and tasty -Takano Fruit Parlour, either for the buffet or just the cafe side where you order parfaits and such. -Alternatively any of the other dessert buffets - https://www.tsunagujapan.com/good-places-for-dessert-buffets-in-tokyo/ -Tsukiji Outer Market - Lots of things to see and eat -Dominique Ansel Tokyo - Cronuts, Frozen Smores, and other tasty things. -Any of the Pokemon Centers - Admittedly they are just toy stores, but I can't see kids not enjoying it. -Dolci Cafe Silkream Shibuya - Cremia ice cream is awesome -Joypolis Arcade on Odaiba added benefit of being next to the Gundam statue (If it's still up) - https://www.thejapanguy.com/the-sega-joypolis-odaiba-japan/ -Shibuya Walking Food Tour -Odaiba Tokyo Oedo-Onsen Monogatari - Onsen theme park - http://daiba.ooedoonsen.jp/en/ -Shirohige's Cafe for Totoro Cream Puffs - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sffucBVBq08 .Z. fucked around with this message at 01:22 on Aug 11, 2017 |
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Aug 11, 2017 00:55
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Has anyone tried the all-gyoza and all-ice cream food courts at Sunshine City? http://www.namco.co.jp/tp/namja/food/gyoza/index.html http://www.namco.co.jp/tp/namja/food/dessert/index.html ???
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Aug 11, 2017 03:52
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Thanks, everybody! I'll probably be back soon with more questions!
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Aug 11, 2017 04:29
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photomikey posted:Can't remember the name of the place, surely there's more than one, but we ordered sushi on a knockoff iPad and then a few minutes later it came shooting out on a conveyer belt that stops directly in front of your seat and once you remove it it gets sucked back into the kitchen. This is like 6 y/o crack, I think my daughter would have eaten a plate full of dog crap if she got to order it up on an iPad and a robot sent it shooting out on a conveyer. Six months later and every time we go out to eat I get to hear about how much nicer it would be if they had a conveyer belt and an iPad here. Kappa Sushi does this, with the sushi coming to your table on little shinkansen. The sushi is acceptable, so long as you have not had other, better sushi on your trip (I hadn't, so I liked it)
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Aug 11, 2017 19:25
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So what's everybody doing for Obon? I'm down in Shikoku right now and it rules, so much so that I wonder if maybe after I've gotten better at the language I shouldn't move down here.
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Aug 12, 2017 01:32
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I'm also chilling in Shikoku because I live here. Sister-in-law is buying water balloons for a glorious battle, and tonight is the big family bbq. We pick up the keg at 2 o'clock 
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Aug 12, 2017 01:48
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The last time I was in Sunshine city in front of Namja town they were having a special event and like a pile of 180 middle school students looked like they were standing ready to enter a sketchy gambling den. It felt awkward so we went the other way... and walked right in front of the Pokemon center, where a 30 year old dude dressed as Ash holding 6 Nintendo 3DS's was walking with his girlfriend or wife, who was also holding 3 handhelds too. 
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Aug 12, 2017 04:19
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So I've decided to take a 4-week vacation in Japan some time next year. Spring has pretty nice weather without being too hot and maybe not too many people as long as I don't care about the cherry blossoms and avoid golden week. But spring also means that I only have two weeks of vacation left for the entire rest of the year and that sucks. Summer is supposed to be super hot? On the one hand that would be terrible but on the other hand I really want to see some parks and summer should be the best time for that (?). Autumn sounds nice and the weather's supposed to be good. How are the parks though? Maybe it's overshadowed by the rest of nature being in a bunch of great colors and also not dying by heat exhaustion. Winter + hot baths and nature in general seems really, really great. Unfortunately I'm not really into winter sports though. Is it still worth it? Also the really bad thing about winter is that I'd either have to do it this coming January-February which would pretty much be an even worse spring with only two weeks off for the entire rest of the year. Alternatively I'd could take four weeks for other stuff, save two, and then go to Japan early 2019 and still have four weeks left. Don't really want to wait that long though. This poo poo is hard. Also people say that I should avoid Osaka?
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Aug 15, 2017 17:58
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I've been in summer and winter. Summer is pretty intolerable and Japan doesn't believe in proper air conditioning so it's miserable. Winter is very nice if you're from somewhere cold-ish. The snow is mostly in Hokkaido and the Sea of Japan side of Honshu, if you're on the Pacific side you won't see much and it's not all that cold. Crisp air and blue skies. They do shut down some of the national parks in winter though, there was one I couldn't go to because of that. Osaka is basically the same as Tokyo but less crowded, the people are much friendlier and there are some parts of the city which are worn down by Japan standards but you will just lol at being bad if you're American. If this is your first trip to Japan you'll definitely want to be in Kyoto at some point, and the entire Osaka-Kyoto-Nara-Kobe area is one big metro and has easy, fast train access. If you want to explore them all Osaka is at the center and makes a good transportation hub. Just south of Osaka is the largest (presumably royal) tomb in the world if you're into old stuff, though you can't get a good look at it it's cool anyway. There's a bunch of kofun tombs in the area.
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Aug 15, 2017 18:33
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Lehugo posted:
My wife and I based our trip earlier this year out of Osaka and found a ton of stuff to do every day for the whole week with the help of this thread + some googling. I don't get the hate?
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Aug 15, 2017 18:38
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It's exclusively a weird goon thing. Everyone I know outside of here who has lived in or visited Japan loves Osaka and would never live anywhere except Kansai if they had the choice. This last time I was in Japan for a month I started in Kansai and wandered around until I eventually made it to Tokyo. I'd suggest starting in Tokyo if you're going to do something similar. People in Tokyo are just not as pleasant as they are in other parts of Japan and it's really grating if you spent a bunch of time in those friendlier areas.
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Aug 15, 2017 18:42
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It's mostly because people who go on vacation usually are limited by time and have some image of Osaka as this huge tourist mecca but in reality it's just kind of a nice city to live in but gently caress-all boring for a tourist compared to Kyoto, Nara, etc. If you want the Metropolitan Japan experience, go to Tokyo. If you want Japanese history, go to Kyoto. If you want somewhere to live, consider Osaka. FWIW Kyoto is EXTRA hot in the summer so if you're going to spend any time there, don't do it in summer. But if you're not so worried about the time, maybe it's better to just keep an eye out for extra-cheap airfare and plan your trip around that. For the hundreds you save on airfare, you could upgrade your hotels, etc. or just pocket it and make it that much cheaper of a vacation.
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Aug 15, 2017 18:56
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Alright, looks like summer is a no go. To clarify, my current must-do list is basically this: - Tokyo: Do some stuff? I've got a few general ideas but nothing special. - Kyoto: Walk around, seems like a place where you don't want to plan too much. - Onsen/Ryokan: Need to visit at least one ryokan. Honestly this is a pretty big reason for going during winter but autumn should be fine as well. Would be nice stuff: - Kanazawa. - Hokkaido, mostly for the nature even though I'm not sure where to start. Perhaps a bit unrealistic in the winter. I can handle the cold but spend most of my time in the city, can't ski or anything. Perhaps a bike during autumn? - Northen Japan in general? Same stuff as Hokkaido. - Yakushima - Hiroshima and the Peace Memorial Museum. Not sure it's worth a visit unless I'm going to spend some time in that part of the country. Obviously I've just started with the planning part. Other than the above I'm not really sure. I enjoy food and museums and nature but obviously I'm posting here so also games, Tokyo should take care of that last part though. I've been thinking about biking around but then I'd really have to decide on one part of the country after Tokyo and Kyoto. Also the line about Osaka was because I knew it would get goons going 
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Aug 15, 2017 20:49
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Spend two hours on http://www.japan-guide.com/ building out an itinerary, imo
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Aug 15, 2017 21:39
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I like Osaka and visit usually every month or two. Tokyo is better sure but Osaka is good. For tourists though there ain't much reason to spend time there. Eat the local foods and use it as a base for day trips to Kobe/Nara/Himeji/even Kyoto, that's about all they need from it. prompt fucked around with this message at 22:01 on Aug 15, 2017 |
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Aug 15, 2017 21:59
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If you're doing Kyoto, you can skip Kanazawa ("Little Kyoto"). Hiroshima, yes it's pretty far from everything else you listed. The Peace Memorial Museum is overrated IMO. Miyajima however is not overrated. If you're here for 4 weeks, you have plenty of time. Can you clarify your stance on winter? You say winter onsen/nature sounds good, but then say you're not into winter sports and that in Hokkaido you'd spend most of your time in the city.
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Aug 15, 2017 23:16
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You have a whole month you can do pretty much everything, if you can afford it. September is hot and dry. October is perfect <3
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Aug 16, 2017 04:20
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Is there a preferred neighborhood in Tokyo to stay in or is the subway comprehensive enough that you can stay wherever and still get around pretty easily?
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Aug 16, 2017 16:34
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It's handy to be near a Yamanote Line station, that's the central loop. I personally prefer the eastern side of the city, it's got some older and more interesting areas. Ikebukuro is nice too. If you're planning to be out real late getting lovely in some area you should try to stay nearby, the subway closes at night and taxis are $$$$$$. Or just stay out until the subway opens again.
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Aug 16, 2017 16:43
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Grand Fromage posted:It's handy to be near a Yamanote Line station, that's the central loop. I personally prefer the eastern side of the city, it's got some older and more interesting areas. Ikebukuro is nice too. Thanks! Probably won't be getting crazy since we've got babby with us, but may find ourselves out late just due to jet lag. Is Akihabara any fun for kids with all the video games and cartoons, or is it mostly for manchildren and not actual children?
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Aug 16, 2017 19:54
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As far as I can tell nowadays Akihabara is exclusively for Chinese tourists buying poo poo. Like to the point that all the announcements are in Mandarin instead of Japanese.
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Aug 16, 2017 20:02
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Thanks, a duty-free shop full of Chinese tourists does not sound like my scene. I just google street viewed and there's a giant billboard in English advertising the Tenga Egg so in conclusion it is a land of contrasts.
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Aug 16, 2017 20:31
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When I was there it was more "every big store" and not centralized in Akihabara or anywhere. I had some very goony goals while in Japan so I went to my fair share of bic/yodobashi cameras/etc and p much every one was the same in being a giant crowded mess in the afternoon. I heard the most Chinese while in Ginza by far.P-Mack posted:Thanks, a duty-free shop full of Chinese tourists does not sound like my scene. Looking back a few posts you're going the first week of October, which is the Chinese version of golden week. You will not escape groups of Chinese people anywhere touristy in the entire country. Also saw you wanted to go to Ghibli. If you haven't already made plans to get tickets through an agency/elsewhere (this is way easier and less stressful) make sure you get ready to buy them online: http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/ticket-information/ They sell a bunch of tickets online for each month on the 10th of the prior month, so like October's tickets go on sale September 10. It took me 3 trips to Japan to finally get Ghibli tickets, and when I did I loaded the page at the exact minute they started selling tickets and almost didn't get them. As far as I could tell they sold out for the entire month < 10 minutes after they started being on sale. It's a super cool museum though!
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Aug 17, 2017 00:30
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Grand Fromage posted:As far as I can tell nowadays Akihabara is exclusively for Chinese tourists buying poo poo. Like to the point that all the announcements are in Mandarin instead of Japanese. it's enjoyable to tell mainlanders to quiet down and that they are way too loud if you speak any Chinese, FWIW
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Aug 17, 2017 01:35
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If you got kids then stay in Odaiba. It's spacious, great for families, and mindlessly easy to get around and middle class. As for hordes of tourist, avoid Shinjuku, and Akihabara. I went to Shibuya for beer but goons gave me so much poo poo for going there. There are still a lot of places to visit in Tokyo. Aoyama, Daikanyama and Ebisu are cool districts
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Aug 17, 2017 03:22
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Odabia is far from everything and inconvenient to Tokyo. Only stay there if you want to spend a lot of your time there or enjoy riding trains to get to anything else at all.
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Aug 17, 2017 03:48
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P-Mack posted:Is there a preferred neighborhood in Tokyo to stay in or is the subway comprehensive enough that you can stay wherever and still get around pretty easily? Ueno is pretty convenient. Good access to Tokyo, Narita and shinkansen. Big zoo, park and natural history museum too.
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Aug 17, 2017 04:54
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Ueno is good, I''ll probably stay there next time.
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Aug 17, 2017 05:12
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Magna Kaser posted:
Thanks! I didn't realize it was that hard to get tickets, you just saved my bacon. The Great Autismo! posted:it's enjoyable to tell mainlanders to quiet down and that they are way too loud if you speak any Chinese, FWIW Lol, I know a little Chinese so I'll do my best. I just learned hiragana, so now Japanese writing is a delightful mix of squiggles that I can pronounce but not understand and kanji that I can understand but not pronounce. caberham posted:
What's wrong with Shibuya? Stringent posted:Ueno is pretty convenient. Good access to Tokyo, Narita and shinkansen. Big zoo, park and natural history museum too. Thanks, having a big park nearby is a huge plus.
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Aug 17, 2017 14:31
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P-Mack posted:What's wrong with Shibuya? Everything.
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Aug 17, 2017 14:34
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Learning katakana is going to be more useful since you'll be able (to try) to figure out what foreign/loan word things are without much prior knowledge. Also, I'm going to Tokyo for the first time next month. I grabbed a hotel next to the Tokyo Dome because it was convenient enough. Any recommendations specific to that area?
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Aug 17, 2017 14:48
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Phone posted:Learning katakana is going to be more useful since you'll be able (to try) to figure out what foreign/loan word things are without much prior knowledge. Yeah, doing that too, should be in okayish shape for basic tourist purposes, I hope.
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Aug 17, 2017 15:19
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P-Mack posted:Yeah, doing that too, should be in okayish shape for basic tourist purposes, I hope. You could learn zero characters or words and be in okayish shape for basic tourist purposes
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Aug 17, 2017 15:38
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You can get around with zero language skills just fine, but stuff like grabbing an IC card and just knowing the word これ + pointing just makes it wayyyyy easier.
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Aug 17, 2017 15:39
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