• I want to visit Japan but I'm not sure how to go about it.
    26 replies, posted
So yeah, always wanted to visit Japan. Said "fuck it, I'll go". Basically, I don't speak a lick of Japanese, will that be an issue? Where to go? Japanese customs? Is there gestures, things I could do to show respect and not come off as an entirely uneducated tourist in their customs etc? Anything else you guys could add to this would be brilliant. I'm going to a travel agency later in the week for advice aswell, but Facepunch is a big place and the chance that I obtain some helpful advice from people who have visited Japan/ or even live there is extremely high and much appreciated. Thanks [b]Edit: - Check my last post, thanks everyone for all the information.[/b]
I always thought if anyone were to go anywhere in Asia I'd recommend going with a group. You going with anyone else or just you? I know someone who's been to Japan and he told me that locals will be like "Oh look, a foreigner" when they visit far-eastern countries. He also told me that Japanese people couldn't be nicer though, so there's that.
[QUOTE=GreenBH;48886214]I always thought if anyone were to go anywhere in Asia I'd recommend going with a group. You going with anyone else or just you? I know someone who's been to Japan and he told me that locals will be like "Oh look, a foreigner" when they visit far-eastern countries. He also told me that Japanese people couldn't be nicer though, so there's that.[/QUOTE] I'll be travelling by myself. I was considering the idea of hiring a guide/ translator.
you're more than likely to be fine, as long as you stay in the common metropolitan areas & such english is taught as a second language in japan so unless you get out of the city and into the deep country, most people will understand the gist of what you want/where you want to go/etc.
Apparently, Japan is really expensive so you might want to factor that into traveling costs.
I'm studying a degree in Japanese, going this winter, next summer, in 2017 for a year and then permanently after that, PM me if you want
[QUOTE=Cypher_09;48886285]I'm studying a degree in Japanese, going this winter, next summer, in 2017 for a year and then permanently after that, PM me if you want[/QUOTE] I may have some questions for you later, thankyou! [QUOTE=Svinnik;48886281]Apparently, Japan is really expensive so you might want to factor that into traveling costs.[/QUOTE] Financing the Holiday won't be a problem, I'm very fortunate to have a job that enables me to do what I love and that's travelling. [QUOTE=aznz888;48886246]you're more than likely to be fine, as long as you stay in the common metropolitan areas & such english is taught as a second language in japan so unless you get out of the city and into the deep country, most people will understand the gist of what you want/where you want to go/etc.[/QUOTE] I've been googling away, and I read that alot of the tourist destinations will have signs in english too so that's comforting. They advise on taking a phrasebook maybe so if I ever get stuck I can use that to fall back on.
Few questions that may help us: 1. How long will you'll be staying? 2. Are you going for the pop culture, traditional culture, to get lost, or just because you want the "I went to Japan once" badge? Other reasons? 3. What (kind of) cities/areas you want to hit? 4. Tourist? Student? Work-vaycay? FYI, you can stay up to 3 months as a tourist without much prep work if you have a visa from certain countries. I think England is included. 5. What's your budget? It's not really too important if you know how to manage. But if you only have $500 to spare and want to stay for 3 months, good luck. Japan's expensive. Learn common phrases and some kanji. Some useful ones includes how to operate the toilet. Get a smartphone or a dictionary. Research this stuff as you could probably use your own smartphone. Unless you like going at it alone, bring friends and family. Make sure they are not freeloaders. Don't get arrested. You could easily stay in one city for more than a few days but its worthwhile to venture around. Don't stick to only cities. Get one of those fancy rail passes offered to tourists. They are expensive but worthwhile if you plan to use rail a lot. Speaking of railways, there are a bunch of railway lines under different companies. To save money, try to stick with the ones covered by your pass. Research needed. Save money, know your exchange rates, separate necessary living/emergency money and funny money, and don't spend it all at one place. Try the potato chips at KFC. Even though it's Japan, there are shady areas you should avoid, especially if you look like a tourist. If you see a loud guy (aka a tout, typically Nigerian) trying to hustle you to a bar, avoid him. Those places tend to be bars who overcharge the complementary chips by a few hundred bucks. I heard some even provide drugged drinks to force you into complacency. Correct me if I'm wrong but the places you should avoid are the shady areas of Roppongi, Kabukicho, and maybe Akiba. Note: This applies to only the shady parts, the rest should be fine. Finally, don't over-plan. You want to get there at some point, right? [editline]12th October 2015[/editline] Maid cafes are creepy. [editline]12th October 2015[/editline] And for creeps.
[QUOTE=Mastermind of42;48886519] 1. 10-14 days. 2. Pop/ Traditional Culture. 3. Tokyo/ Akiba / similar places. 4. Tourist 5. Up to ~£5k Correct me if I'm wrong but the places you should avoid are the shady areas of Roppongi, Kabukicho, and maybe [b]Akiba[/b]. [/QUOTE] Thanks alot for all the information/advice you've provided. Is Akiba a shady place? Or just some areas like you said? It's probably on my list of places to visit.
How many Japanese FPers is there? I just thought what would be better than having "local" to show places.
[QUOTE=luigi1107;48886667]Thanks alot for all the information/advice you've provided. Is Akiba a shady place? Or just some areas like you said? It's probably on my list of places to visit.[/QUOTE] For the rest of the world's standards, its very safe. It's a very popular place so it may attract undesirables looking to profit off unwitting tourists. As horrible as I make these places sound, they are safe and it's very unlikely you'd encounter any problem whatsoever. And again, they'll mostly appear in the shady parts, I believe. I'm not even sure they appear in Akiba in the first place. What I'm saying is: be careful of scams. Common sense when traveling elsewhere still applies in Japan. Touts ranks high on the "people who'd scam you" scale.
I went back in 2012 with my brother. My brother found some tour guide thing that gives you a step by step on how to make the most out of it. Can't remember where we got it from but I'll have a look later. It was all optional, but we stayed in a hotel in Tokyo for a few nights whilst sightseeing, then got the bullettrain down to Kyoto to sight see there and stay in another hotel. Then we climbed Mt.Fuji (which was shit because we ran out of water and almost died), stayed in another spot in Kyoto and then back up to Tokyo for more shenanigans. We didn't have a problem not knowing any Japanese because you'll probably find some local to help you learn specific words or phrases. We found a guy at a bar who came over to us because he wanted to improve his English so we tagged along together. When we got lost, people would usually come over to us when we looked confused at a map and offer to lead us to wherever we wanted to go. I don't know if we got extremely lucky with our encounters but the Japanese always appeared to be willing to help us for absolutely free.
[QUOTE=luigi1107;48886193]So yeah, always wanted to visit Japan. Said "fuck it, I'll go". Basically, I don't speak a lick of Japanese, will that be an issue? Where to go? Japanese customs? Is there gestures, things I could do to show respect and not come off as an entirely uneducated tourist in their customs etc? Anything else you guys could add to this would be brilliant. I'm going to a travel agency later in the week for advice aswell, but Facepunch is a big place and the chance that I obtain some helpful advice from people who have visited Japan/ or even live there is extremely high and much appreciated. Thanks[/QUOTE] Hello there, I am glad to hear that you are interested in visiting our country. Yes, although we are trying our best, especially around major tourist attractions, to make foreigners feel comfortable, it may be an issue that you have no idea about Japanese language and customs. However, if you still really want to go, feel free to add me on Steam and we can discuss further. [editline]16th October 2015[/editline] [QUOTE=Combine 177;48886715]How many Japanese FPers is there? I just thought what would be better than having "local" to show places.[/QUOTE] hi
[QUOTE=Svinnik;48886281]Apparently, Japan is really expensive so you might want to factor that into traveling costs.[/QUOTE] not right now it isnt
I'd just go to some traveling agency that got great reviews or something.
I went there this past summer with absolutely no plan and a MASSIVE language barrier. Just a camera and a ton of film. I purchased the flight and two weeks in a Shinjuku hotel about six months before and it cost under $1900CAD after taxes. The earlier you book the cheaper the deal you can get. Spending budget was $2000 for stuff like food, admission, shopping and general stuff like that, plus an additional $200 reserved for topping up a rail pass I already owned. Half of that was blown on two camera lenses and I still had enough to last another week at my rate. The service desk at Narita is bilingual and can help you if you want to get something like a Suica card and book you a seat on the NEX into town. All the major rail companies in Japan use ticket machines that will alternately display in english. It's a giant button on the main screen. If all you want to do is wander about Tokyo and pay admission to various places then the above works fine. If you want to travel out of the area I strongly recommend a two week rail pass which will let you go almost anywhere in the country but always having to return to the same hotel makes some of the longer trips really impractical. If there's one country I would trust small shop/cart food from it's Japan. Subway might be good but it gets boring and will rape your wallet. Some of the more local places to eat are often not only cheaper but often use vending machines with photographs of the meals to dispense food tickets meaning you aren't totally screwed when you want to order something. Simply add money, push the button under a photo and out pops a ticket you give to whoever is behind the counter inside. [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsuya_Foods]Matsuya's[/url] might be cheap looking but I swore by the ones in Sjinjuku and Akihabara. Japan can be extremely expensive if you want it to be. If you do need money and don't want to touch your Visa, ATM machines at the 7-11 will work with most international debit cards. I found something amusing about withdrawing 10000 yen from by CIBC account at a machine in backalley Koto.
first of all why would you want to go to japan
[QUOTE=Trixil;48918148]first of all why would you want to go to japan[/QUOTE] It's á very interesting country with a fascinating country.
[QUOTE=spoder55;48918170] interesting country with a fascinating country.[/QUOTE] ???
[QUOTE=Trixil;48918378]???[/QUOTE] WAIT SHIT
Spend 7 days in Tokyo and 7 days going around other places with the Japan rail pass. I spent 10 days in Tokyo and honestly that wasn't enough, but i also spent 14 days with the rail pass. With it you can catch the Shinkansen or JR train for FREE (Certain services aren't available though.) to any JR rail station in Japan. It's also super cost effective, with a single 7 day ticket with unlimited uses costing as much as one return trip to Osaka. On my ticket i went to Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kanazawa, Nara, and Osaka. Make sure to go to Kyoto over any other city in Japan. [editline]17th October 2015[/editline] Also PM me or ask here for any questions about travelling in Japan. I went around on roughly $50USD/day. Which included food, accommodation, transport, entry tickets and the like.
[QUOTE=Combine 177;48886715]How many Japanese FPers is there? I just thought what would be better than having "local" to show places.[/QUOTE] This can work, and can work perfectly too, if OP can find a user who is up for it, and definitely knows his or her way around the area. That's going to take a bit of luck though.
[QUOTE=aznz888;48886246]you're more than likely to be fine, as long as you stay in the common metropolitan areas & such english is taught as a second language in japan so unless you get out of the city and into the deep country, most people will understand the gist of what you want/where you want to go/etc.[/QUOTE] I lived in Japan for 6 months and this was not my experience at all. Even the people who understood a little bit of English were reluctant to speak it. I think it would be good if you learned simple phrases like "where is x" and how to understand directions. Migi - right Hidari - left massugu itte - keep going straight ahead
I didn't want to bump this thread but I wanted to so I could post my thanks for everyone that provided advice! I've been busy with work recently, but when I had some spare time I spoke with my local travel agency and they've been great in helping me find somewhere to visit. There are far too many places for me to make up my mind currently. But yeah, appreciate all the advice I was given here as it helped me ask the right questions when I was at the agency. [b]Edit: To everyone that offered me advice privately. Thank you very much! Hopefully you received my replies![/b]
oh im late
why are people saying japan is expensive the yen is basically worthless right now, everything is hella cheap
-sNip-
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