Quote:
Originally Posted by Tripsis
I've got plans to go to Japan for 2 weeks around March to April, so it's not so warm then and the cherry blossoms should hopefully be blooming. So far all i've got done is my passport, next will be accomodation and plane tickets.
This will be my very first trip outside of Australia so i'm a bit nervy about preperations. Unfotunately it's my nature to be overcautious and i don't want to ruin the trip for myself because of it. So i wanted to know from those who have done the Japan trip themselves how much one should prepare beforehand and what can be left until I get there?
Heres a few examples i can think of:
Getting around Japan
Language barrier
Mobile/Cell phones, global roaming
Washing clothes
Any advice that can be offered will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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I will go with the following order to prepare
1. Plan your intinerary
2. Identify your choice of transportation
3. Find accomodation
4. Plan out a budget
I usually go by this sequence when I visit Japan. First, find out what you want to see and where you'd want to visit. From that, you will know how much (and how far) travelling you will be doing. For the most part, transportation is the cheapest with the JR pass if you are going to be travelling across cities.
I usually plan all my accomodation through Japanhotels.net, but others on the forum have had negative experieince with them, so use it at your own risk, you can do research of hotels on trip advisor and the like.
Once you have these settled, you can come up with a rough estimate of how much you will need on a daily basis. To be safe, i will bring at least half the needed amount for the whole trip. The rest can be put on credit card or you can always use an international ATM at a postal office (Or some CITI Bank I heard).
As for your concerns:
Getting around Japan - As suggested, if you are to be travelling between cities, the JR pass is your best bet. An ordinary 14 days pass cost around 45000 yen, a single trip (Reserved seat) on the shinkansen from Tokyo to Kyoto will run you about 15000 yen already. But if you are staying at just one city, then you may not need this. You can get cost estimate on hyperdia (
http://www.hyperdia.com/). Buses are good if you are not traveling with a lot of luggages, and TAXIs are also good if you have 2 or more people sharing the bill (And if its not too far. Example. Traveling from Tokyo University to Akiba - On the train it will be a bout 300 yen, but if you take a taxi it will be about 1000 yen, if you have 4 people taking the taxi, the taxi will be cheaper)
Language barrier - This is a tough one, while I do visit Japan regularly, i don't know what the % of english speaker is. You can check with some of the locals on this forum (MMM, Nyororin, Nagoyakee etc etc), but in general, most stations, major attractions and tourist sites have English speaking staff or English map, signs and display. BUT my general experieince is that only 30% of people felt comfortable communicating in English. Your best bet is to have a English > Japanese dictionary handy, even if you cant speak the languge you can "point and show" on the dicitionary should you need help
Mobile/Cell phones, global roaming - Not sure what you guys use in Australia, but chances are your current cell phone will NOT work in Japan, you will need to rent one. Japan-guide has som ad for cell phone rental, you can "order" your rental and have it arrive at your place before you leave for japan, or have it delivered to your hotel
Washing clothes - Most motels and business hotel have washers and dryer, you can find out more about this when you do your research on accomodations