Tokyo, Japan

Furry

Furry

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JR pass is worth it if you want to move around japan. You can get pretty much anywhere fast and reasonably priced.

Food in japan is amazing and generally cheaper than you'd expect as an american, and that's before you don't tip. Without question you will constantly find great stuff if you're willing to plop your ass in a bench seat between some slanty-eyed fucks and breath in smoke. The big thing that sucks is that their deserts are generally not worth what ya pay. They look amazing, but they generally don't taste as good as they look, or cost absurd amounts of money. Stay in america if you just want candy you fat fuck.

A lot of temples are incredible to visit, but you really have to be the quiet explorer type to truly enjoy it.

If you go into rural/remote areas, prepare to get chased away like a negro in 1900s alabama. They don't want you there.
 
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Cybsled

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Oh ya, for some of the old temples and old Imperial palace, expect to take your shoes off. The old Imperial palace also has intentionally creaky boards, as they were designed as a low-tech motion sensor (makes it nearly impossible to sneak around lol).

IDK what you're talking about desert wise. I had some great pastries and ice cream/gellato while I was there. Candy/treats were good too, although the one thing I didn't like is they have this soft gelatin cube type desert where the texture is super off-putting. But ya, food prices are very reasonable. People see those "$50 orange!!!" stories, but don't realize that isn't normal food prices (fruit is a traditional gift there. The ultra expensive stuff is basically a super perfect fruit suitable as a gift, not everyday eating). You can eat on the cheap in department store basements as well. In Kyoto there was a few and they have MASSIVE food markets in the basement where you can get everything from muffins to cheese to kabobs to noodles. Don't go too late in the day, though, or you'll find a lot less variety for the hot foods especially.

I haven't been rural Japan, so I can't comment. However, from what I have heard, you're less likely to find English speakers (fluent anyways) outside the big cities. Like any country, though, if you at least make an effort to speak the local language, that will go a million miles in terms of how people perceive you/how willing they are to help.
 
Armadon

Armadon

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Foreigners also get a big discount on the Jr pass so look into that. When you go to Kyoto hit up the 1000 buddahs of mercy temple. I forgot what the actual name was but it's freaking amazing.
 
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a_skeleton_06

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The plan right now is to do 5 nights in Tokyo and hit all the normal stuff around there and just try and see a district each day - maybe wander up north to check out the Hitochino brewery or something and then take the train to Kyoto, visit Nara, the bamboo forest and such then train it to Mt Fuji for a night, stay in a more traditional style ryokan with a hot spring then train it back to Tokyo and head out. I'm trying to figure out if that is trying to jam 10lbs of shit in a 5lb bag or not but it seems okay on the initial gloss over.

For the cash thing, to avoid fees and such, I was thinking of just taking out 2 grand or so initially in LA and getting that converted but I really don't love the idea of walking around with a quarter million yen or whatever in my pocket. After reading this, probably would be smarter to do it in batches and eat the fees.
 
Furry

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a_skeleton_06 said:
For the cash thing, to avoid fees and such, I was thinking of just taking out 2 grand or so initially in LA and getting that converted but I really don't love the idea of walking around with a quarter million yen or whatever in my pocket. After reading this, probably would be smarter to do it in batches and eat the fees.
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Just bring all your cash and convert it at the airport in japan. This is a terrible plan in most countries, a very good one in japan. The exchange rates are very good and there is virtually no risk to carrying high amounts of cash. You will feel completely comfortable walking the back alleys in every part of tokyo. It's still wise to keep typical to the typical travel precautions (hidden wallet) for any cash/documents you aren't likely to use that particular day. Cash is the most useful and accepted form of payment by a vast margin.
 
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Lanx

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a_skeleton_06 said:
The plan right now is to do 5 nights in Tokyo and hit all the normal stuff around there and just try and see a district each day - maybe wander up north to check out the Hitochino brewery or something and then take the train to Kyoto, visit Nara, the bamboo forest and such then train it to Mt Fuji for a night, stay in a more traditional style ryokan with a hot spring then train it back to Tokyo and head out. I'm trying to figure out if that is trying to jam 10lbs of shit in a 5lb bag or not but it seems okay on the initial gloss over.

For the cash thing, to avoid fees and such, I was thinking of just taking out 2 grand or so initially in LA and getting that converted but I really don't love the idea of walking around with a quarter million yen or whatever in my pocket. After reading this, probably would be smarter to do it in batches and eat the fees.
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how bad are your fees? are you doing this soon? get a paypal debit card if you have time, link it to your bank account and i think overseas fees was like $1.50 (i could swear it was .50)and my limit was 300$usd a day, that's worth it to not carry around 2grand imo, you won't be charged any bank fees since paypal just deducts from there, so theres no double dipping fees.
 
Cybsled

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Japanese post offices also have ATMs that accept foreign debit cards. I think them and 7/11 are the only reliable ATMs for non-JP cards.
 
Alex

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Doesn't everywhere accept cards? Tons of credit cards have no international fees. I strictly use my Chase Sapphire when traveling internationally. When I was in Iceland I didn't even take out any local currency from an ATM since everywhere took card.
 
Chysamere

Chysamere

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Alex said:
Doesn't everywhere accept cards? Tons of credit cards have no international fees. I strictly use my Chase Sapphire when traveling internationally. When I was in Iceland I didn't even take out any local currency from an ATM since everywhere took card.
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Japan has many, many places that do not accept cards, it's a pretty cash based society

The fee for internationally taking money out at a Japanese Post-bank ATM is $2 + whatever your bank at home charges.
 
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Armadon

Armadon

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It's way cheaper to pull out yen when you get there. Don't convert at an airport in the US they will rape you for sure. 7-11 has atms and they were all in English. I didn't use any others so have no idea if they are in english or not. Have enough yen to get you from the airport to Tokyo station by train though if you need to take it.
 
TJT

TJT

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Planning a Japan trip for August. For sure this time. So I am open to ideas. I do want to bang at least one Jap girl while I am there though.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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TJT said:
Planning a Japan trip for August. For sure this time. So I am open to ideas. I do want to bang at least one Jap girl while I am there though.
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i found that my last minute (week before) trip planning lead to much cheaper hotel/hostel stays booking a week b4 seemed great for expenses

but don't forget your checklist
wifi
railpass

get cash at the 711's in the airport and buy a trainpass passmo/suica at the station
 
Cybsled

Cybsled

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Rail pass you have to get before you come to Japan, unless they changed it.

And ya, pocket WiFi is a must. They’ll deliver it to hotel and you can mail it back after you’re done
 
Armadon

Armadon

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Oh yeah pick up an international driver's license at AAA just incase you do any driving. Plus you need it if you want to do maricar through Tokyo.
 
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Xarpolis

Xarpolis

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When the Lancer Evolution 10 came out, I was in Japan and REALLY wanted to drive a right hand drive car with a manual transmission. It was an interesting experience.

It REALLY fucks with your head to make a sharp left and wide right turns, though. It's just deeply ingrained to my mind that cars driving towards me are on the LEFT of my vehicle, not the right. Took some getting used to (and my wife saying wide turn sharp turn every time we got to an intersection that I needed to turn at.
 
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a_skeleton_06

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Anyone had trouble booking through Amex travel? Looks like I can save about a grand booking a hotel through them but I got burned by a third party reseller on a hotel before (Hotel had no record of my rez, Orbitz did) and really do not want to get fucked over in a country outside the US.
 
Lanx

Lanx

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a_skeleton_06 said:
Anyone had trouble booking through Amex travel? Looks like I can save about a grand booking a hotel through them but I got burned by a third party reseller on a hotel before (Hotel had no record of my rez, Orbitz did) and really do not want to get fucked over in a country outside the US.
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is that hotel close to trains? when i looked at hotels they were mostly 7-8blocks away from the nearest station

it probably doesn't mean much to you, depending on how you want to travel, wife and i capsule and hotel hopped a lot, so just nabbing a 2block hostel or hotel was mandatory.
 
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a_skeleton_06

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Looks like it's 4.4km from the Shin-Okubu station but I was just going to try and pop a taxi or something. We are only staying at 1 place in Tokyo and 1 place in Kyoto so shouldn't be too much movement. Unless Taxi's / Uber is non-existent I guess then we're fucked.
 
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