Japan - ?s and tons of them...

ok i'm gona just type......so here goes....

i might be getting separation pay from the telecoms company i current work at. with that in mind i'm planning to travel to japan in the month of january....say midmonth for ~10 days or so.

i studied there from like aust 1990 until april 1993 or so as a nondegree student at sophia university, when they had the campus at ichigaya campus....

my friend has never been to tokyo and is interested in going w/me if this happens...we both are avid photography guys (i run topspeed2nr.com) but we plan to take aloooooooot of pics....day time...night time...long exposure....etc....

anyways, say what 5~8 things do you suggest be done whilst there? in no particular order i am thinking:

• morning fish market
• akihabara
• shinjuku/harajuky (def on a weekend)
• hopefully a hot springs (not sure where though, but somewhat near tokyo and < 3 hour train ride)

anyone with ideas?

as for lodging, a ryokan is all i think will be ok. hope to find one near a train [subway and/or JR] station for those that have been, what and where do you suggest staying at?

arigao gozaimasu! ^

It depends a lot on what you want to shoot. Based on your website and the timeframe I assume one of the things you're looking at is tokyo autosalon? Are you looking for anything else in this area?


I'll also assume that you're not planning on staying in Tokyo the whole time? Places like matsumoto-jo, takayama, shirakawa-go, magome-tsumago etc can be quite stunning in winter with the snow however you'll be a touch early for big events like sapporo snow festival.

There's a lot of truth to the statement that Tokyo is a city of neighbourhoods so I think you'd get a lot out of a bit of research of those neighbourhoods, pick a few which are interesting to you and plan some street photography walks. Cosplay at harajuku/akihabara, street fashion at shibuya etc have been photographed a million times before so heading places like Shinbashi or Ueno at night or interesting areas almost no tourists visit like shimokitazawa or sugamo jizo dori I think would make for some more unique photos.

For places to stay if you're in Tokyo or other cities I generally stay in the business hotels, cheap, clean, comfortable and generally right next to a station. Out in the sticks (or in cities like Kyoto) I'm more likely to stay in ryokans but to be honest your question is pretty broad.

You say you are going to Japan but all your proposed sites are in Tokyo. Do you plan to leave the city at any time?

Since you are asking about things other than just photography, you would probably be much better served with this post in the Flyer Talk Japan Forum rather than the general photography forum. I'll alert a moderator to consider moving this.

sorry for the confusion....

-pics of cars/autos would be cool...but other pics....ginza at night....yokohama ferris wheel (if its still around), fish market, shibuya/harajuku are traditional places i recall from when i was there from 1990-1993.

-maybe nikko or perhaps kamakura....

-with regard to lodging, where did you all stay? traditional western hotel or local ryokan? i'm willing to do the ryokan (for 2 people) say for hopefully less than jpy9000/night near a train/subway station. what/where do you all suggest...preferably within the yamanote line region...

-how about other 'off the beaten track' places to visit within the TOKYO-TO region? what do you all suggest?


thanks!


ps mods, pls move if needed to the appropriate forum

I agree with IMOA. If you like cars and the Japan tuner scene and aesthetics, Tokyo Auto Salon should be one of your highlights. 2014 show date and place are not set yet, but it should take place on the second weekend of January at Makuhari Messe.

I usually stay at a business hotel. A single room is between 7000 to 9000 yen a night. If you want something cheaper, there are minshuku and hostels. At the very bottom there are internet cafes. I've stayed at a couple for about 1500 yen a night (1000 yen for 8 hours and 500 yen for shower).

Certain neighborhoods like Ueno and Ikebukuro have less expensive lodging.

You are unlikely to find a ryokan for 9000 yen/night but the aforementioned business hotels can be had for that range. A couple of booking services that deal with lower cost places are:

http://www.japanhotel.net/ - and -
http://travel.rakuten.com/ .

Both will let you specify area and price range.

ty for all the information!

You were in Japan for three years and don't know what to see?

+1
Even the commonly helpful recommendation to buy a guidebook doesn't seem applicable in this case.

No....my friend has never been to Japan...but he's from Korea.....the places I may want to go to may not be of interest to him....so as a 'newbie who has never been to Japan [kanto region]' what do YOU suggest...that's my question.

I'll plan to stay at/near a JR station, preferably somewhere on the Yamanote-line.

Well, you lived there for three years, what would you suggest? We have people here in this very same forum expounding far and wide about what to see and do Japan who have been there for a couple of times for three days each and couldn't find their way out of a paper bag in the country, so sounds like you'd be miles ahead of those!

Kimi Ryokan is cheaper than that.

@hailstorm - did you stay there before....if so what are your imprssion(s) of this ryokan? arigatoo.

It's been over 15 years since I stayed there, but I can't imagine that it's changed much.

Communal eating area (no food served), communal bath (I can't remember if the rooms have their own toilet), far away location and a midnight curfew. But it is cheap, clean, and the futon is comfortable.

Also, the rooms had no TV, and the heater/air conditioner was something that you had to put coins in to pay for, but I can't say whether that's still the case today.