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caberham posted:Of all the travel threads and my experiences of meeting goons. Japan just attracts the gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooniest Of course you would know - you're one of them.
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Jan 18, 2019 18:58
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caberham posted:Of all the travel threads and my experiences of meeting goons. Japan just attracts the gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooniest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar-sduhNbi4
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Jan 18, 2019 21:06
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So my wife and I decided not to attempt to go to a more remote onsen area due to the large increase in travel time, so we ended up trying to make room for some small day hikes instead. We also had to move things around so that Hakone didn't fall on a weekend, because there was no availability left. Does this alteration look reasonable? Day 1 (3/9): Flight Day 2: Arrive in Tokyo in the evening Day 3: Tsukiji or Toyosu, Hamarikyu Gardens, teamLab exhibit Day 4: Shibuya, Pokemon Center, Akihabara Day 5: Ghibli Museum, Nakano Broadway (maybe see the Gundam statue?) --- Day 6: Train to Osaka, Aquarium, Castle Day 7: Day trip to Nara Day 8: Osaka food tour with friend --- Day 9: Train to Hiroshima, Peace Memorial museum/park Day 10: Miyajima, Train to Kyoto --- Day 11: Shrines and temples Day 12: Temples and shrines Day 13: Kurama to Kibune hike --- Day 14: Train to Hakone, stay at ryokan --- Day 15: Train to Tokyo, Ueno Park, Tokyo National Museum or Edo Tokyo Museum Day 16: Harajuku, Sensoji Temple, Dave Bull's woodblock print shop, Tokyo Skytree Day 17: Day trip to Mt. Mitake and Mt. Hinode Day 18: Imperial Palace, Shinjuku Gyoen, Meiji Shrine Day 19 (3/27): Flight home A few more specific questions: - Which would you guys suggest, teamLab planets or borderless? - On the way from Osaka to Hiroshima, is there time to make a stop to see Himeji Castle, or is that pushing it too far time-wise? - I'm still assuming it makes sense for us to get a 14 day JR pass to cover most of the trip, right? Thanks guys.
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Jan 18, 2019 21:19
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TheEye posted:A few more specific questions: don't partner the "Gundam statue" on the same day as Ghibli, go to TeamLab Borderless because the mall the Gundam is outside of is in the same area (near Tokyo Teleport station on Odaiba). Going from Nakano (west Tokyo) and Ghibli (further west) over to Odaiba (east) is Not A Good Plan. also I would probably prioritize the peace park and museum in Hiroshima over Himeji Castle. Especially if you're going to see Osaka Castle already. Himeji is cool because it's super original, but it's also a bit out of the way on your plans.
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Jan 19, 2019 02:03
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Osaka Castle is cool on the outside but completely sucks on the inside (it’s a replica so you’re not going to feel like you’re in a castle). Himeji Castle is so much better.
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Jan 19, 2019 02:06
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harperdc posted:don't partner the "Gundam statue" on the same day as Ghibli, go to TeamLab Borderless because the mall the Gundam is outside of is in the same area (near Tokyo Teleport station on Odaiba). Going from Nakano (west Tokyo) and Ghibli (further west) over to Odaiba (east) is Not A Good Plan. I'm really glad you mentioned this. I had previously looked up where the statue was on google maps, and it turns out the place it gave me was a small statue in front of runawayturtles fucked around with this message at 04:31 on Jan 19, 2019 |
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Jan 19, 2019 04:23
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Do team lab planets, it's temporary. Hell, do both planets and borderless they are next to each other. Toyosu market is only worth going in the early early morning to see things in action. I would skip it and go to Tsukiji outer market if you really really want to - if you don't know too much or are not going to be buying Japanese dry goods I would skip Tsukiji.TheEye posted:
Hakone is really bad value for money and only worth it if you want to see the crater. Honestly, I would skip Hakone because you can stay in Atami, Izu Peninsula or other areas along the Shinkansen. You save 2 days in travel time and stay in a much much better Ryokan. Hakone is only convenient for Tokyo families on a weekend and you have a lot more options. Hell, stay in a nice Ryokan in Kyoto like this one (not cheap) http://www.booking.com/Share-Iee8Yo Kyoto is also not cheap for ryokan but hey it's the heart of service culture and Japanese history. quote:Day 15: Train to Tokyo, Ueno Park, Tokyo National Museum or Edo Tokyo Museum You can do Ueno park, national Museum and other exhibits in the day, and head to sky tree in the evening. I'm never impressed with sky scrapers and Sky Tree. Go to Hong Kong for that  Day 17: Day trip to Mt. Mitake and Mt. Hinode quote:Day 18: Imperial Palace, Shinjuku Gyoen, Meiji Shrine You can add Meji Shrine to your shibuya day. Imperial palace tour needs a booking in advance quote:A few more specific questions: Prefer planets myself , my friend did both. Both are close enough. There's a literal Shinkansen stop in Himeji so i don't see what's stopping you. You can drop your bags in the coin locker and just go out. Once you go past Kyoto the country wide pass makes a lot more sense. Other people are better at nailing down the costs, but the Kansai west pass/thru pass is pretty good. I suppose for convenient's sake just eat the charge and go to hiroshima and back. If you take any detour along the way then you should come out on top?
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Jan 19, 2019 05:25
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prompt posted:Osaka Castle is cool on the outside but completely sucks on the inside (it’s a replica so you’re not going to feel like you’re in a castle). Himeji Castle is so much better. However, if what you want is a modern museum about the history of that particular time in Japanese history, it's pretty cool.
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Jan 19, 2019 05:35
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I had a good time at Osaka castle and it's right across the street from a big museum worth visiting. I wanna say the Osaka Prefecture Museum?
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Jan 19, 2019 06:21
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Man a bunch of my friends are going to Japan and I wanna go back now.  Whats the cheapest time to go?
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Jan 19, 2019 07:18
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mid january to early february.
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Jan 19, 2019 07:48
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Grand Fromage posted:You'll be used to crowds but train stations in Japan have absolutely awful, infuriating signage and you'll get lost a lot, especially if you end up in a ninth circle of hell station like Ikebukuro. Just be prepared for this and take it in stride. People often complain about Ikebukuro station but I do not understand why, it's literally just a giant square with the JR station in the middle and you walk along the outside edges to get where you want to go, you can access any exit or line from that edge. The only annoying thing is if you have to go to the other side you have to walk alongside the outside of the JR section but it's just time consuming and not complicated. Compared to other larger stations it's very logical. Ueno, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tokyo etc. have exits which cannot be accessed depending on how you exit a platform and no easy way to get to them once you leave the gates. Original_Z fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Jan 20, 2019 |
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Jan 20, 2019 03:51
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I don't get why they don't just put a map of every floor of a station on a big sign on the platforms, including cardinal directions, that would make it so much easier to find a specific exit.
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Jan 20, 2019 09:43
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My last time in I believe Shinjuku I had to go to a platform five and there were arrows to platforms 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6. I was like are you loving kidding me I'm getting three pigged by trains? Turned out that to get to platform 5, you had to go to 6 and then all the way to the end, where then there was a sign telling you platform 5 is in the void between worlds beyond platform 6. There was absolutely no indication of this anywhere prior, you just had to walk through platform 6 on faith.
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Jan 20, 2019 14:19
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It is my decided belief that there is a band of lost tourists wandering Shinjuku station, surviving off discarded scraps of melonpan as they vainly search for their trains
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Jan 20, 2019 16:01
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There's gotta be a zombie movie where the only survivors were those lost in the labyrinthian passages of Shinjuku station. Last time I visited Japan I arranged to go pick up a friend who was flying in two days late at Shinjuku station and I know to never ever do this again. Apparently "I'm at the statue of a penguin" wasn't good enough, as there were at least two penguin statues at the time in and around the station.
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Jan 20, 2019 18:52
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I was looking for platform 8(?) to head somewhere but ended up somehow on platform 8, Narita Express edition, which I at least had the presence of mind to realise I’d screwed up. I still have no idea where the other platform 8 is, I can only assume in some void outside time and space. I just wandered until I found a line that offered an alternative option and took that instead.
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Jan 20, 2019 23:57
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Question Mark Mound posted:There's gotta be a zombie movie where the only survivors were those lost in the labyrinthian passages of Shinjuku station. i mean if there isn't already then i will certainly make it happen
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Jan 21, 2019 00:36
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Question Mark Mound posted:There's gotta be a zombie movie where the only survivors were those lost in the labyrinthian passages of Shinjuku station. I know somebody made a mobile/Nintendo 3DS rogue like game called Shinjuku Dungeon using the map of Shinjuku Station.
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Jan 21, 2019 00:52
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Pththya-lyi posted:It is my decided belief that there is a band of lost tourists wandering Shinjuku station, surviving off discarded scraps of melonpan as they vainly search for their trains https://www.therisingwasabi.com/man-survives-78-days-on-wild-berries-looking-for-shinjuku-station-exit-27k/ Original_Z posted:People often complain about Ikebukuro station but I do not understand why, it's literally just a giant square with the JR station in the middle and you walk along the outside edges to get where you want to go, you can access any exit or line from that edge. The only annoying thing is if you have to go to the other side you have to walk alongside the outside of the JR section but it's just time consuming and not complicated. That first part describes Tokyo station as well. zmcnulty fucked around with this message at 01:43 on Jan 21, 2019 |
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Jan 21, 2019 01:41
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Yeah I think there was one station where we had to get off the train, exit to the street, cross the street and walk a block or two to another train entrance and according to google maps these two stations weren't different but the same one or at least named the same. I have no idea how that works.
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Jan 21, 2019 18:43
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I feel like I’ve had to deal with Shinjuku station in an SMT game before. Considering shortening our trip to just Tokyo->Kyoto and, to accommodate mom, joining a tour program in Kyoto. Tokyo seems easy enough to go without a tour guide, but mom will prolly be joining only for the second half. Dad and I will wing Tokyo ourselves. I really like that PLANETS exhibit mentioned earlier - will make a point of going!! Pollyanna fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Jan 21, 2019 |
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Jan 21, 2019 21:29
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Pollyanna posted:I feel like I’ve had to deal with Shinjuku station in an SMT game before. Persona 5 has you navigate a portion of Shinjuku Station on the way to your first day of school. It's just as confusing and frustrating as it is in real life! BTW, that game really nails the look and feel of Tokyo, with a lot of real-world locations represented. You could make a great Tokyo itinerary just based on visiting the real-life versions of the in-game locations, and if you like JRPGs, playing the game makes you feel like you're back in the city. Worth checking out if you're a turbo-nerd like me
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Jan 21, 2019 22:27
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Blackchamber posted:Yeah I think there was one station where we had to get off the train, exit to the street, cross the street and walk a block or two to another train entrance and according to google maps these two stations weren't different but the same one or at least named the same. I have no idea how that works. The different named stations are for different rail companies I think. I had this experience in Osaka, which I believe has at least three, maybe four Namba stations all more or less next to one another. And your tickets aren't compatible between them back in the days before IC cards, or at least before I knew abou them.
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Jan 21, 2019 22:41
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Grand Fromage posted:The different named stations are for different rail companies I think. I had this experience in Osaka, which I believe has at least three, maybe four Namba stations all more or less next to one another. And your tickets aren't compatible between them back in the days before IC cards, or at least before I knew abou them. I wonder how many people complaining about Shinjuku (or other) station just don't realize that they're actually moving between different stations owned by different rail companies. Blackchamber posted:Yeah I think there was one station where we had to get off the train, exit to the street, cross the street and walk a block or two to another train entrance and according to google maps these two stations weren't different but the same one or at least named the same. I have no idea how that works. Like this guy. Maybe Ueno? Keisei Ueno is a couple blocks from JR Ueno.
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Jan 21, 2019 23:17
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Pththya-lyi posted:You could make a great Tokyo itinerary just based on visiting the real-life versions of the in-game locations, and if you like JRPGs, playing the game makes you feel like you're back in the city. The Yakuza series has excellent generic drinking districts.
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Jan 21, 2019 23:36
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peanut posted:The Yakuza series is excellent ftfy
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Jan 22, 2019 01:22
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caberham posted:snip Thanks for all the feedback. So apparently 3/21 is a national holiday for the first day of spring. We were planning to do Kurama/Kibune that day, and maybe a shrine or two that we didn't get to previously. Will it be extremely crowded or should we be okay? I'd imagine the main Kyoto temples and shrines will be the most crowded that day and we should definitely see those beforehand instead, right?
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Jan 22, 2019 01:23
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Magna Kaser posted:ftfy She’s right though. Pretty much all of late March and early April is going to be busier than normal for Kyoto, as schools are on break and it’s (nominally) cherry blossom season.
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Jan 22, 2019 01:38
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yes it's excellent!!!!!!!!!!
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Jan 22, 2019 04:58
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Pththya-lyi posted:Persona 5 has you navigate a portion of Shinjuku Station on the way to your first day of school. It's just as confusing and frustrating as it is in real life! This is a really cool idea. I never saw it coming. I might decide to structure part of my Tokyo visit on this. Other than Akihabara, Shinjuku, what are some of the other real-life places from the game to visit (it's been a while since I played)?
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Jan 22, 2019 05:27
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I have never played the game, but the main neighborhood it takes place in is apparently based on Sangenjaya, which is a pretty normal residential area with lots of restaurants and shops that a lot of college kids live in.
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Jan 22, 2019 05:29
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captkirk posted:This is a really cool idea. I never saw it coming. The SMT wiki has entries on all the locations in Persona 5. As sale on Banksy art already noted, the neighborhood of Yongenjaya is based on Sangenjaya; Tokyo Destinyland in Maihama is based on Tokyo Disneyland. I wish I'd known about places like Jinbocho when I was planning my Tokyo trip  VVV Eh, my SO likes looking around in bookstores even if they only have foreign-language books. And you don't have to read Japanese to eat curry VVV Pththya-lyi fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Jan 22, 2019 |
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Jan 22, 2019 16:04
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Pththya-lyi posted:I wish I'd known about places like Jinbocho when I was planning my Tokyo trip You didn't miss much.
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Jan 22, 2019 23:29
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Jinbocho has stores with English books as well, although that may be of more interest to locals. Probably no reason for tourists to lug English books back home, but who knows. You want to get the guide map from the information center near the station. There are over a hundred book stores in that area. A lot of stores have collections of old Showa era stuff that is really interesting to browse if you're into that. Just don't go on Sunday, most of the shops are closed.
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Jan 23, 2019 00:50
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You can sometimes find good translations of Japanese literature in jinbocho, then again you probably also could find those online if you look.
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Jan 23, 2019 01:10
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I'd like advice on connectivity. I'll be in Tokyo for a week, staying in hotels and relying entirely on public transport, with plans to be out and about basically all the time. Is it worth getting a SIM card or pocket Wi-Fi, or is the city covered enough with public Wi-Fi there won't be any point? I would like to be able to look up anything at any point if I'm confused or lost.
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Jan 23, 2019 03:59
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Picnic Princess posted:or is the city covered enough with public Wi-Fi there won't be any point? lol
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Jan 23, 2019 04:00
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Sorry, yeah you'll want a sim card or pocket wifi.
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Jan 23, 2019 04:01
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Picnic Princess posted:I'd like advice on connectivity. I'll be in Tokyo for a week, staying in hotels and relying entirely on public transport, with plans to be out and about basically all the time. Is it worth getting a SIM card or pocket Wi-Fi, or is the city covered enough with public Wi-Fi there won't be any point? I would like to be able to look up anything at any point if I'm confused or lost. It’s actually way better than it used to be and most train stations now have some wifi, but it’s really not nearly as common as other countries and fewer stores have wifi as well. Definitely worth getting something imo.
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Jan 23, 2019 04:05
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