Japan: Donki is both the best and worst store I've ever seen

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > Japan: Donki is both the best and worst store I've ever seen

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orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

I'm going to Japan for the 2nd time in April, and we're going to rent a car for the Fuji Five Lakes area and a trip towards Nagano. We're going to be in Tokyo in the beginning and the end of the vacation, but I obviously don't want to drive a car inside the city. What would be a good place to pick up a rental car for the first leg towards Fuji?

# ¿ Feb 14, 2016 22:40

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 17:10

orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

Clanpot Shake posted:

I'm going to Japan in April for a little over a week and plan on going to Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto. I've actually been there before a few years ago and we got rail passes, but looking online now it seems like Tokyo and the others are in separate regions. What's the best way to plan travel between these cities? We may be doing day trips from these cities (Nara and Himeji most likely).

If you get a JR rail pass it doesn't matter which JR Group company is operating the lines you want to use.

# ¿ Feb 24, 2016 14:59

orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

If I want to visit the tuna auction at Tsukiji, any suggestions for things to do until like 2am that are not too far away?

# ¿ Apr 4, 2016 11:21

orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

Registration? Do you not have to show up before all spots are taken by other people anymore?

# ¿ Apr 4, 2016 12:59

orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

Saikonate posted:

Hmmm.

I'm really confused about this part. Both Google and hyperdia seem to indicate that the Nozomi goes between Shinagawa (in Tokyo) and Kyoto. Did you mean "you can't ride it with a JR pass"? (e: that seems likely, given my original post, I think I just misinterpreted you)

Yeah, I plan on at least that. Kanji are just harder to look up or translate-by-image, especially if they're written in anything but a dead simple font.

Nozomi and some other direct/faster trains aren't included in the JR pass but you can use the other trains (Hikari, Kodama etc.) for the same trips, they take slightly longer because they stop more often and you have fewer connections per hour. Basically if you use HyperDia, uncheck the "NOZOMI / MIZUHO / HAYABUSA (SHINKANSEN)" box at the bottom, as well as "Private Railway" to show eligible connections for rail pass holders. Whether the rail pass is worth it depends on your itinerary, according to http://www.japan-guide.com/railpass/ it pays off if you do a Tokyo-Kyoto-Tokyo (or vice versa) round trip, visit Nara from Kyoto and use the Yamanote line a bunch of times.

In my experience being restricted to JR is no big deal if you're mostly traveling along main lines like Tokyo-Kyoto and eg. Kyoto-Nara, even in Tokyo you can get to most places important to first-time tourists from the Yamanote loop, and the Narita Express train is included too. You'll have to pay separately if you need to take the Tokyo Metro or other private lines (eg. if your hotel isn't right next to a JR station) for which case I'd still get a SUICA or PASMO card anyway, you can get it refunded minus a service fee at the end if you don't need it, or keep it for your next Japan vacation.

Rail pass isn't entirely care-free because, yeah, you have to plan your trips ahead to make sure you use JR lines, also you have to pass through the manned gates to show your rail pass instead of going through the automatic ticket gates, which occasionally takes longer. And for Shinkansen trips, you should still get a seat reservation, it's free with the rail pass but takes some more time at the station, so plan for that.

# ¿ Mar 14, 2017 18:02

orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

ntan1 posted:

ps are you this dude: https://www.reddit.com/r/JapanTravel/comments/6379ap/wasting_my_time_in_japan/

Where's the giant psyduck when you need it.

# ¿ May 16, 2017 07:54

orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

I had one from Genki Mobile (I think someone in this thread suggested that) and the battery lasted through a day traveling by rental car on Shikoku as well as by metro/trains in the Tokyo area, no problem. We had the cheapest rate, 3000 yen base fee + 300/day with 1 GB/day full speed and unlimited at 200 kbps.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2018 09:01

orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

SHOAH NUFF posted:

Anyone have any recs for a good pocket WiFi that I can rent/drop off from Haneda? Seems there are a ton of companies and I have no clue which one is the best or if they are all the same. 15 day duration, 2 devices

I went with Genki Mobile due to a link peanut posted way further up the thread, it was really good:

orcane posted:

I had one from Genki Mobile (I think someone in this thread suggested that) and the battery lasted through a day traveling by rental car on Shikoku as well as by metro/trains in the Tokyo area, no problem. We had the cheapest rate, 3000 yen base fee + 300/day with 1 GB/day full speed and unlimited at 200 kbps.

It's actually possible to also rent an additional battery but I never would have needed one (or a spare USB battery charger)

# ¿ Apr 17, 2018 10:55

orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

NEX is fast and convenient and I think it's a great option for first time visitors, it's also covered in the rail pass for people who are going with that. Without a rail pass it's 3000 yen per trip, though, so not exactly cheap.

If you want cheap, there are highway bus options for JPY 500 to 1000 (I used Access Narita and Tokyo Shuttle before and both were pleasant) which go to/from Tokyo station.

orcane fucked around with this message at 09:16 on Feb 4, 2019

# ¿ Feb 4, 2019 00:47

orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

Nanigans posted:

Can I get a nice view of Fuji from an observation deck somewhere in Tokyo?

Metropolitan Government Building when the weather plays along.

# ¿ Apr 9, 2019 17:26

orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

So, American eating, at most :v:

# ¿ Apr 14, 2019 13:40

orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

I still have a reservation for a flight in April but the e-travel agency already hosed it up (the trip to Japan is listed as cancelled on the airline website but the return trip is apparently still booked :confused:

). The friend who booked it is trying to get it sorted but we're not going to be let out of the country by then anyway.

Too bad, seeing Japan with fewer other tourists again would have been nice.

# ¿ Mar 17, 2020 18:11

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 17:10

orcane: Jun 13, 2012; Fun Shoe

BB2K posted:

I dunno all my friends who've been to Japan and went to robot restaurant and golden gai really enjoyed it

Clearly they were enjoying themselves wrong :colbert:

# ¿ Jun 4, 2020 15:10

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