KirbyKirbyKirby

Planning for a visit to Japan this summer, after Obon. The trip is in part a graduation present for a 12 yo who is finishing year 6 of an elementary school Japanese immersion program. We will be there for 2 weeks, concentrating on Tokyo with day trips and possibly one or two overnight trips.

This forum has been very useful for planning the trip. The research has also generated a few specific questions:

-- How much latitude can a 12 yo with some language skills be given in and around Tokyo? I realize that Tokyo and Japan are 'safe' in comparison to US cities. For example, would it be okay to send the 12 yo around the corner to a convenience store? Visit section A of a museum while I visit section B with a planned 1 hour rendezvous? Ride the subway alone? Colleagues who have lived in Tokyo tell me that their then 7 yo took public transportation to school alone every day. Although I don't openly doubt them, something about that just seems incredible to the mind of a US parent.

-- What shinkansen route offers the biggest, most amazing 'wow' factor? Is it possible to find a 'behind the scenes' tour of the skinkansen operation?

-- How well do electronic translators work in Japan? I see them mentioned in trip reports and they are readily available for the iPod Touch, so it would be easy to bring along.

-- What level of Japanese language skills are required for the surge tank tours? Their website says:

"This tour is offered in Japanese language only. If you do not speak Japanese, bring along an interpreter with you; any people or groups that do not understand Japanese cannot participate in the tour for security reasons."

In addition to the 12 yo's language skills, I am doing Rosetta Stone. Is it possible to determine in advance if those would be sufficient to allow us to go on the tour alone, or would it be better to look into hiring a guide? And approximately how much would it cost to hire a guide for this purpose?

-- One of my favorite movies is "The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift". Don't ask why, maybe its the toxic mix of testosterone and gasoline fumes. Anyway, the movie's wiki entry says that some of the scenes were shot in Tokyo. Any idea which scenes and where they can be found? (I am somewhat skeptical of this because the supplemental material on the DVD shows scenes being shot in downtown LA dressed up to look like Tokyo.) Of particular interest is the synchronous drift down the mountain road scene.

-- Any thoughts on where I might find this place: "...hidden on the western island of Kyushu... a crystalline river pours over moss rocks in pools of champagne bubbles that catch the sunlight... jumping from low cliffs into those pools refreshes me ...."?

-- Is visiting Haikyo acceptable (albeit unorthodox) tourist behavior or is it likely to lead to trouble with the authorities, etc.?

valve bouncer

Can't say about the other stuff but I'm sure your son will be fine in the scenarios you talk about in the first question. Have one of the staff at the hotel write the address/phone # in Japanese and make him carry it.

W9London

12 yo--going to a shop around the corner, or staying in the different part of museum etc shouldn't be a problem. subway--probably not the first time but sounds reasonable if he/she has done the trip before, know which exists etc, not too complex transfer at a big station.

Shinkansen--I'd say Mt Fuji view (on Tokyo-Osaka/Kyoto route), sit on the right side of the train out of Tokyo. Though the first 1-1.5hrs are just ugly urban sprawl.

I'm very sceptical about electronic translators--chances are likely you will find vocabulary is limited to be practical, you-can-ask-the-question-but-don't-understand-the-reply syndrome. No it's highly unlikely you'll be fluent in the language, BUT that shouldn't prevent you from taking an independent tour without guides.

No idea bout "surge tank tours", don't know what you're referring to "haikyo"

jib71

At the age of 7, they're not usually traveling alone. IME, a group of seven year olds together (without adult supervision) is not unusual. By the age of 12, sure.

However, I would not take that as a signal that you can just release your kids onto the Tokyo subway. It's a vastly different proposition to send a 12 year old native-speaker of Japanese on a daily commute, along a set route through a familiar city, with a transit pass, in school uniform... quite another thing to dump a kid in an unfamiliar city with little sense of how to get to where he's going and still less idea of what to do if the trip doesn't go smoothly.

When school groups of 12-year old Japanese kids visit Tokyo, the teachers tend to keep them in tightly marshalled group. They don't think "Tokyo's fine for 12 year olds. We should let them wander freely and reconvene at Studio Alta by 9pm."

There are transit museums. I've seen mixed reviews.

On the western island of Kyushu, probably. Since it's hidden, you might not find it at all.

Some sites are certainly off bounds, but I believe they're generally unpoliced (how many bankrupt businesses can afford to patrol their derelict premises?). I believe it's possible to take a boat tour around Hashima (a.k.a. Gunkanjima) - the most famous haikyo of all - off the coast of Nagasaki.

SJUAMMF

This could be the waterfalls at Reimei in Kikuchi near Kumamoto. Kumamoto itself is the historical backdrop for the movie Last Samurai. Miyamoto Musahi lived later part of his life here too.
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/r...hikeikoku.html
Kikuchi is an onsen town.

ksandness

I've never seen the film you refer to, but I looked at some clips on the Internet Movie Database, and the only two places I recognized were the multidirectional pedestrian crossing outside Shibuya Station and the Rainbow Bridge to Odaiba. The rest of the scenes look like generic Tokyo.

By the way, do not overestimate your son's Japanese language ability. Japanese immersion programs vary tremendously in quality, and the results range from impressive to abominable, with the children speaking a sort of pidgin "classroom dialect." I don't know which is the case at your son's school, but I've met kids with ten years of immersion school behind them who can't produce a grammatical Japanese sentence.

You'll find out which is the case.

msb0b

I concur that I would not set a 12 year old loose in an unfamiliar city speaking foreign language. It is different from letting a child go on a set commuting route by him or herself in a familiar city. Also wasn't mentioned if the child is a boy or girl. The situation may be different.

The more traditional electronic translators from Sharp, Seiko and Casio work by entering the word in Japanese (romaji) or English (or Spanish, French, German, etc.) and hit translate. Some models offer pronunciation. Newer models allow handwriting input for kanji characters. I am not familiar with iPhone/iPod touch apps offerings.

I don't know about F&F Tokyo Drift, but it was inspired by the comic book and animated series Initial D. It has made the mountain road from Haruna Lake to Ikaho Town world famous. The route is full of hairpin switchbacks. It may be worth renting a car for a drive.

Shinkansen is almost fully automated that the engineer is there for emergencies only. Same with other newly built railways. There are completely manless railways like Yurikamome between Shinbashi and Odaiba, and Linimo in Aichi Prefecture built for the 2005 World Expo.

For more information on railway history, there is the Railway Museum near Omiya station in Saitama. It was recently relocated there from between Kanda and Ochanomizu at the closed Mansei Bashi station.

jpatokal

There are now legal tours that land on Gunkanjima itself, although apparently access is only allowed to the boring (but safe) bits.

http://www.japan-guide.com/blog/francois/090601.html

zombietooth

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IMOA

For the closest thing you'll get to a Tokyo Drift experience in Tokyo I'd recommend hiring a car and driving down the Daikoku Futo parking area on a wednesday, friday or saturday night (late, after 10pm). It's basically an unofficial "car show" where hundreds of people from the different car sub cultures gather, very similar to the "carpark" scenes in the movie.

The mountain road scene was mostly CGI and I'd say filmed in the US however there are a lot of mountain pass roads which are very similar with very similar activities late at night (without the terrible acting). As msbob mentioned the movie was inspired by the anime Initial D and the roads used in that are all very real and located to the north west of tokyo in an area which would make for great sidetrip from Tokyo.

Pickles

All your base are belong to us!

manneca

It depends on the kid. I'd have no problem sending almost any reasonably savvy kid around the corner to the convenience store. Don't have a problem with the museum scenario. I don't think I'd let the kid ride the subway by him/herself. Then again, I'm not sure I want to ride the subway by myself. (might want to think about cell phones in emergencies if you are going to let the kid wander alone. Rental cells are hard to come by; iPhone works there)

I've been there twice; pure tourist; no Japanese. No problems. Japan is my favorite country.

LapLap

I had a creep follow me on my first visit to Tokyo.

Although, in theory, I might be OK with allowing a 12 year old to travel on the subway by themselves (having been assured that they can manage the system first by asking them to take me to a few places without assistance -I'd also make sure they had instructions on where they should be taken to in Japanese if they get into trouble) my main concern would be, can they manage a flasher or groper or other pervert?
A foreign kid who can't fluently communicate might be seen as vulnerable and a prime target for someone to get their jollies by pressing up against them or whatever their speciality is.
Anyone who doesn't think this doesn't happen - to little boys or little girls - is being very naive.
If the kid is self assured enough to let everyone around them know there's a problem, I'd have less apprehensions. But even so, the assault can be so subtle the child might not be completely sure it's happening. It takes a lot of nerve to shout out when the perpetrator is an expert at concealing their actions - vocally protesting an assault can be more traumatic than silently being conscious of it, particularly when they aren't 100% sure what exactly is going on.

zombietooth

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Pickles

Really? Must be a different Japan from the one I know.