I'm taking a week long trip to Tokyo in early April with my significant other and have a couple of questions. I'm sure more will come up in the next few weeks.

1) We will be arriving on Sunday afternoon. What is the best way to get from NRT to the Tokyo Renaissance (in Ginza)? Train or bus?

2) What about returning to Narita on the following Sunday? What time would be best to leave for a 6:25 pm flight?

3) I've been thinking of buying a digital camera for the trip. Does it make more sense to buy one here and take it with me or buy one there (new or slightly used? If buying there is a good option, any recommendations on where to go?

4) Any "must" recommendations on dining, shopping, entertainment or day trips out of the city?

Greg

1) There are two Narita Express trains (http://www.narita-airport.or.jp/ground/jr/nexfrnrt_e.html) to Tokyo Station per hour; trip time is one hour, plus a short taxi ride to Ginza. There is one bus per hour (http://www.limousinebus.co.jp/e/timetable/narita/ginza_h.html) to the Renaissance, with a nominal 80min trip time. On Sunday late afternoon, locals will be coming back home and traffic can be slow.
If you have heavy luggage, the bus is definitely more convenient. Otherwise, what I do is print out the bus schedule, note if one is about to depart upon exiting customs, and head downstairs to catch the train if not. If this is your first trip to Tokyo, the train has some nice bucolic views for the first 15 minutes, and the last third is underground, whereas the bus gives a pretty representative view of urban Japan.

2) I usually aim to be in Narita two hours before departure, giving a good safety margin. If going by bus, pickup from the Renaissance must be pre-arranged. An attractive option is to take a taxi to the nearby Hakozaki TCAT (City Air Terminal), where you can check-in, get rid of your luggage, and go through passport control. You are then given a card that lets you bypass the lines at Narita and go through the crew booth, a real timesaver. Busses depart from Hakozaki every 10 minutes or so, and trip time is 1 hour.

3. I have debated this myself, and ended up buying one in the US. Reasons:
- a number of Japanese-market cameras only have Japanese menus, e.g. Fuji. Canon's always have multi-lingual menus, and most Sony's and Nikon's do. Not sure about the rest.
- software: the software bundle is definitely Japanese-only! While TWAIN drivers can be downloaded, I prefer having the option of using the provided software.
- accessories bundled: US and European market cameras have more complete bundles. Rechargeable battery packs and USB connectivity kits are almost always extra in Japan. This is my reference site (http://www.dpreview.com/) on digital cameras; their reviews always mention the contents of the US/Japan/Europe bundles.
- price: while the Japanese prices look attractive, once you add battery packs and USB, it comes out even or a little above (good) US mail order prices.

If you still want to explore the market, head to Akihabara, a few stations north of Tokyo Station by JR train, or 20 minutes by Hibiya line subway from Ginza.
Try out the new models in the large multi-story stores. The best prices are in the back streets, especially on EOL models. People do not speak english in those small shops, but you'll find some interesting hardware on their shelves...

4) You'll find a number of ideas in this forum and in TravelBuzz, by doing a search on 'Tokyo' and 'Japan'


[This message has been edited by monahos (edited 02-21-2002).]

two other reasons not to buy in Japan.
Many of the electronic items do not have english buttons/instructions. Also some warranties may be void or non-existent.

If Mt Fuji can be seen, head south to see it.
Your hotel concierge can tell you which trains to catch.

Another daytrip would be to Kamakura. to much to list here to do.

As the others said, go back in this thread for some good info. One of the tips I picked up from FT (& it was also in the guide books) was to go to the fish market at the crack of dawn in Tokyo. Keep in mind that the subways don't start running until 5:00am so you might want to cab it there & subway back. It's quite a sight---I highly recommend it. We also loved our day trip to Kamakura & our overnight in Hakone (mt. Fuji in all its splendor).

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by corky:
We also loved our day trip to Kamakura & our overnight in Hakone (mt. Fuji in all its splendor).</font>

Here is an off-the-beaten-path followup...

Does anyone know the altitude of Hakone? I've heard it is a good place to visit, but my significant other has health problems which restrict him to altitudes below around 6,000 feet.

Obviously, we don't want to plan a day trip which will put him in danger!

Greg

4720ft at the very top. There is no need to go to the top to enjoy the scenery though.

I would strongly recommend going to an onsen after the hike, you'll sleep very well that night http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif

Late March/early April is also the season for cherry blossom in Tokyo and surrounding areas. There are several parks/places famous for these trees in Tokyo, too, like around the Imperial Palace, Ueno Park, Aoyama Graveyard (people have parties in the graveyard in the night during this season!). They indeed are pretty, I mean the flowers! http://www.flyertalk.com/travel/fttravel_forum/smile.gif Kamakura is also a nice place to visit with all those old temples, shrines.

Regarding Tsukuji fish market, your hotel is walking distance. Highly recommend it.

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by GregL:
Here is an off-the-beaten-path followup...

Does anyone know the altitude of Hakone? I've heard it is a good place to visit, but my significant other has health problems which restrict him to altitudes below around 6,000 feet.

</font>

No problem with that, the whole Hakone area is way below 1500 meters.

It is indeed a nice place to visit, but the problem is that ten million of Tokyoites think the same...

Grzes