June Trip To Toyko
 

Any help would be nice.

I am staying at the Marriott - I have been told that it is out of the way. I will be there a week (will have a Japan Rail Pass) and will be traveling with my 2 kids (19 & 15). We want to go to Koyto for one day and to the World Expo for another - the balance of the time would be in Toyko. My kids want to explore the Anime production studios and see as much as they can. Any ideas or tips would be great.

Is the Marriott close to the rail station? Is the rail system easy to use? Can we travel to and from Koyto and the World Expo in one day (leaving very early and returning late?

Thanks in advance for all replies.

I didn't see the Marriott when I was there a few weeks ago, but I can't imagine anything being far from a subway line in Tokyo. This is especially true if you don't mind walking a bit from your hotel.

Looking at the schedules, the train to Kyoto is around 3 hours each way. You'll be spending ~ 6 hours just sitting on the train.

It appears that the Mariott is near the Kinshicho JR station. An express train (about every 10-15 minutes) takes you to Tokyo station in 3 stops, or you can go on two local trains (about every 5 minutes) in 5 stops and 1 transfer. The express train comes in deep in the bowels of the station, where the Narita Express comes in, the local is a bit closer to other lines. Either alternative will take about 10-15 minutes.

Kinshicho is not a very interesting location (although close to one good museum and the sumo stadium), but it isn't terribly far away either.

Kyoto would be a very long day trip, about 2 hours 40 minutes each way from Tokyo station on the trains that JR pass users can use. Nagoya, where you connect to local transit to the Expo, is about 2 hours each way and the local transit will take another 40 minutes or so, so it's the same as Kyoto.

There is a Marriott at Nagoya station. If you are using Marriott because it is award travel, you might consider using that Marriott for some of your days to cut down on travel time -- although award stays may be hard to get during the Expo. This would be a decent base for Kyoto if you have a JR pass as you can get from Nagoya to Kyoto on shinkansen in about 40 minutes.

I don't know whether Anime production studios are open to visitors or not, JNTO might know. The closest you might be able to get is the Ghibli Museum, for which you can buy tickets in advance. Take a look at

http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/ticket_info.html

The most useful book for Tokyo you can get is not a guide book but a bilingual Tokyo map book. There is one available from Kodansha. With that, you can readily get around by train and subway.

Tokyo and the transport systems of Japan are all very safe for all. Some of the most fun you might have in Tokyo is if you get lost somewhere, in fact.

I'll be there in early June, if our trips overlap, maybe I could help a bit.

Agreed with Richard that the Ghibli Museum might be the best bet, but it also might skew a little young for your kids. I wonder if they wouldn't enjoy a trip to the Akihabara district, or the Sony building in the Ginza, to check out all the electronic gadgets? Akihabara should have a decent amount of anime-related stuff, as well. Then there's also Shibuya and Harajuku and their, um, interesting, teen cultures.... especially if you can get to Harajuku on a day when the Gothic Lolitas are out. :p

Here's a link to the Bilingual Tokyo Atlas on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...l/-/4770025033

It was really the most useful of all the guide books we brought with us.

Just spent a week in Japan with my daughters...
 

who are somewhat older than your kids. The Harajuku recommendation is an excellent one, particularly on a Saturday or Sunday when the teen scene is really on. The neighborhood abuts the Meiji shrine which really makes for a contrast. Our kids loved the electronics district; the food halls under the department stores are fascinating for everybody and the Edo-Tokyo museum is a little out of the way but is a family oriented musuem with dioramas of life in Tokyo at different periods, well marked in English and with free English speaking tour gudes as well. Our absolute favorite thing was Tsujki the fish market, where did the real tourist thing and arrived for the fish auction, getting there at 6:15. Quite a show.

I agree with posters who question the one day trip idea to Kyoto. Recognizing that a diet of shrines for your kids might be a little much, I still think that, with the travel time, you need to allot two days, maybe including a side trip to Nara (75 minutes from Kyoto) where the mini-deer/temple combination is a lot of fun.

Just my two exchangable minor currency units, but staying overnight both in Kyoto and Nagoya/Aichi might be a wise thing to do. Kyoto is a city that has hidden wonders in store in very unexpected places and leaves especially younger visitors with unforgettable memories of sights and sounds. Please give your kids the chance to experience the summer sunrise in that ancient Imperial capital, maybe having a breakfast picnic along the Kamo river with sight of the surrounding mountains. I was 19 during my first trip to Kyoto and the memory has never left since... ;)

A full day at the Aichi Expo might also be a winner, especially after reading jpatokal's excellent trip report at: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=419260 I have a tight schedule to attend for lowly business purposes but would love to stay for a whole day or two if possible... :)

To be more precise, you must buy tickets in advance or you won't get in -- I wanted to visit the museum this weekend, but all the times that fit my schedule were already booked solid several weeks ago. FYI (or your kids' information, as I presume they're the anime consumers of your family), Ghibli is the studio that produces all of Hayao Miyazaki's films, and they have a special exhibition also at the Expo which is ever harder to get into, but there's a special quota of 40 seats/day for foreigners if you apply by mail at least one month in advance (enough bold?). See here for details.

And yes, Expo 2005 is a winner ^

We just came back from spring break in Japan. You can see my comments in the Starwood forum as we used those points.

We traded in our JR vouchers and left from Shinagawa station which was closer to the Westin and much smaller and easier to navigate; also one stop closer to Kyoto. Truthfully, I found the vouchers a waste, as we actually only used them to go to Kyoto and then back to Tokyo and Disneyland. The trains were such a pain with luggage and multiple connections that we just took the bus to and from the airport.

I can't imagine doing a day trip to Kyoto and actually seeing anything. The stuff you want to see is a taxi, subway or bus ride from the station. We were three nights there and still missed a lot, whereas there was not much of interest to my 17-year-old in Tokyo except Disneyland. The second park, Disneyseas, is well worth a day of your time.

When I was 17, I was definitely way past being interested in Disneyland. I was predominantly interested in sex, which Tokyo offers plenty. I was 19 the first time I went to Tokyo, and the least interesting part of my trip was Disneyland.

I'm not 17 but am still interested in sex, can you be more specific? :)

Your point is well taken, however, I was thinking of recommending the Roppongi Amusement Park.

Can't imagine him asking his mom to take him to such places! The new park is nothing like Disneyland proper. Some pics:
http://www.tokyodisneyresort.co.jp/t...bor/index.html

All kidding aside, the Harajuku/Omotesando area is a great place for teenagers to run free. Just like dogs, they like running around aimlessly to burn off excess energies.

Someone who helped us buy tix at the station recommended that, too. She said teens dressed wildly and acting accordingly if we are thinking of the same place? That's readily available without leaving home so we went to Oeno station as planned and hit museums and the local neighborhood. Didn't see a single westerner. Told a hole in the wall restaurant to bring us anything, which was delicious!

Yes, that's the place. However, you missed out. The Japanese have refined this "dressed wildly and acting accordingly" to an art form that ends up in the cover of Time Magazine extolling Tokyo as "the capital of cool".