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Tips for Traveling in Japan

Logistics

If traveling around the country, travel light...There are few if
any porters to carry your luggage around the rail
stations...wear good walking shoes...make sure you have no holes
in your socks, you'll be embarrassed when you take off your
shoes somewhere and there are holes!!!...

Carry lots of cash...what?...yes, carry lots of
cash...pickpockets are few...crime is low...and credit cards and
even travelers checks are not accepted everywhere...Japan is
very much a pay now, cash based society...even personal checking
is still not prevalent, nor are merchants likely to accept
them...

Travelers checks...buy your checks in dollars here in the USA
and then cash them at your hotel or any major Japanese
hotel...It is a headache to cash travelers checks in Banks and
other non-hotel locations because the people may not speak
English...hotels give you a pretty good rate...most major
department stores will convert your travelers checks to yen
though not at quite as good a rate...

don't even think about personal checks...

Where possible, charge the dinner, souvenir, etc. to a credit
card such as American Express or Visa...The reason?...when the
purchase is converted from Japanese yen to dollars, you will get
the best interbank rate that the credit card firms use because
they batch thousands of these transactions together...

Before leaving on your trip, go over to American Express Travel
Services  and order or obtain about $100 in Japanese currency to
get you limousine/bus fare, etc., to the hotel you are staying
at...get the smallest denominations possible...don't get anymore
than you need to at American Express because their conversion
rate is not very favorable on this type of transaction...

Speaking of currency...I always look at the price in yen, drop
off the last three 000s in the amount and multiply by 10 to get
the equivalent dollar amount...example..something that costs
5000 yen would be $50 dollars, 5000 (take off the last three 0s
and multiply by 8) which equals $50...or you can just divide by
105 or so to equal the interbank exchange rate...

Tipping...is non-existent and you will insult most if you
try...the larger restaurants and hotels will add a service
charge instead...exception are the luggage porters...

Be prepared for seas of humanity...especially in Tokyo at rush
hours...where something distinctive like a hat or lighter
colored clothing or be prepared to get separated...

Always carry a matchbook, piece of hotel stationary, or
something that has the name, address and phone number of the
hotel you are staying at...if you get lost or separated, the cab
diver who only speaks Japanese (most) can drive you back to your
hotel without each of you trying to translate...Ask the hotel
front desk to write the address of a store or restaurant you
want to visit in Japanese to give to the cab driver...makes
things much easier...

Keep the Tourist Information Center (TIC) phone number handy...during the days they may be able to help translate
something for you or get you back to someplace you know if you
are lost...

Don't expect a lot of help from the Japanese masses in finding
someplace or asking directions, Japanese are very shy toward
foreigners and they are embarrassed to try answering questions
of a stranger...unless they are somewhat fluent in the
language...and few are..

Japan is one of those countries I would take a tour of
particular sites and cities if they interested me...the tours of
Nikko and Kyoto are very well organized and conducted...Japan
Travel Bureau is our favorite...

If you know where you want to go, what you want to see, and the
cities you want to stay in, go to the Japan Travel Bureau (JTB)
in San Francisco and they can help you organize as well as make
hotel and tour reservations...

Don't assume other foreigners in Japan speak English...Tokyo is
the capital city with 15+ million people but many of the
foreigners are businessmen or students from other
countries...generally your best bet is with the younger people
(foreign or Japanese) if you need to speak English...

Pickup the Japan Times, Daily Yomiuri or Mainichi Daily which
are the three English Language daily newspapers for current
events, theatres times, etc...

Finally...remember, if you look hard enough, you can buy almost
anything you need from a vending machine...newspapers,
magazines, soft drinks, beer, wine, sake, whiskey, candy,
cigarettes, dirty magazines, videos, condoms...anything,
everything...

TOKYO - WHAT TO SEE...

For a look at old Japan...not necessarily cultural...but
traditional nevertheless, see Asakusa...there is a temple and
some streets and alleyways that look like they have not changed
for generations...don't worry its safe...

For someone who is an electronics maniac...see Akihabra...you'll
see 3, 6, 10 plus story buildings full of audio, video,
etc...you will think you have died and gone to heaven...be aware
that Japanese voltage is 100 volts, 50 cycles versus USA voltage
of 110 volts, 60 cycles...so unless the item works on DC current
(batteries)...you may need an adapter or you will need to get a
USA or export version...

For the glamour of the big city...New York's Fifth Ave....Union
Square....Rodeo Drive...all in one, see the Ginza, especially at
night...the lights will dazzle you...

See Japanese kids dress up like Elvis...50s look...rockabilly
music and dancing...it only happens on Sunday afternoons in
Yoyogi Park right off the Harajuku train station near your
hotel...you'll see hundreds...thousands of kids dressed up and
dancing to 50s and 60s music...

For sheer beauty and history...the Imperial Palace Park...

For a 'safe' red light district with lots of bars and girlie
shows as well as lots of movie theatres...see Shinjuku on the
opposite side of the train station from where you are staying...

For the cheapest camera prices in Japan, go to Camera Doi or
Camera Sakuraya in Shinjuku right near your hotel...

For great nightlife, bars, international and japanese
cuisine...go to Roppongi area and if I was to recommend one
restaurant for Japanese food it would be Seryna...the prices are
hefty ($50- 150/person) but well worth the experience...coat and
tie required...the Henry Africa Bar near Seryna is also good for
the cosmopolitan look and the reasonable prices...

For the look of where Japanese do their living, working and
shopping see Shibuya...at the Shibuya train station...several
very big department stores and other smaller stores...if you are
into crafts, the department store called Tokyu Hands in Shibuya
is unique...

For Disneyland as you have never seen it before...see Tokyo
Disneyland...a tour can help expedite this as it is several
miles outside of Tokyo...though you could take the train...

To see open air markets...see Ameyoko-cho which runs aside and
underneath the train tracks from Okachimachi train station to
Ueno train station...cheap clothing, souvenirs, eats, food,
everything...it is a leftover from the US Army G.I. blackmarkets
from after World War II.

Department stores of note to recommend...Daimaru in Tokyo
Station...Takashimaya about 1/2 mile from Tokyo Station and
Mitsukoshi in the Ginza...these are the I.
Magnin/Macys/Bergdorf- Goodman type department stores of
Japan...the rest of the department stores are more like Sears or
J. C. Pennys...

JAPAN ELSEWHERE - WHAT TO SEE...

If I had only a few things in Japan I could see in a short trip
outside of Tokyo, here they are...

For a look at old Japan, cultural, historical, near Tokyo and to
see the three monkeys that make up 'Hear no evil...see no
evil...speak no evil...', I highly recommed a trip to Nikko and
if you desire to stay overnight, go to the Nikko Kanaya Hotel in
Nikko at $100-250/nite...they have a good private mineral bath
(free with your stay) on the bottom floor of the hotel...just
one minute from the Nikko parks...the town is small and
quaint...wonderful experience...

Kamakura Daibutsu...located just 30 minutes from Yokohama and
about one hour by train from Tokyo...this is the great buddha of
Japan...you can go inside as well as see the immensity of the
statue...wonderful cultural experience...you can walk right by
the ocean on your way to the Buddha from the train
station...remember shrines are for the Shinto religion and
temples are for the Buddhist religion...

Hiroshima...the site of where the atomic bomb blasted forty plus
years ago, the associated museum and park can take your breath
away...my uncle took many of the pictures that are in the museum
and have appeared in Life and Time magazines, and he died of
Leukemia ten years later because of his exposure just days after
the bombs exploded he went into the cities of Nagasaki and
Hiroshima...The ANA Hiroshima hotel is just a few blocks away
from the area and is reasonable ($100-225/nite)...

Kyoto...ancient capital...home to shrines and temples that are
world reknowned...see Ginkakuji (Silver Temple)....Kinkakuji
(Gold Temple) which are actually buildings that have gold or
silver inlays and foils throughout...beautiful...Ryoanji Temple
where the sands and stones are raked and no matter where you are
sitting you can never see all of the stones in the
garden....Nijo-jo (Nijo Castle) one of the ancient castles of
Japan....Kiyomizu Temple....Heian Jingu Shrine...all
wonderful...I have stayed at the Kyoto Grand Hotel near the
Kyoto train station ($100-250/nite)...Kyoto is also a good city
to use a tour bus to see all of the sites...