Japan

[BobbyBiscuit]

Heading to Japan this weekend for a few weeks.  Taking in Tokyo, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Osaka, Yokohama and Kyoto.

 

Anyone been who has useful tips they'd like to share?

 

Cheers!

[Nellie The Don]

Be prepared for electronic toilets, with many many buttons and no helpful hints as to which one is 'flush'.

 

[manc_don]

I Know TC might be able to help you with general Japanese chat, since he went there a couple of years ago.  I have family from the Kyoto region and been there a few times, although not for 6 years.

 

Have a list of things for you to check out, so will post tonight 

[BobbyBiscuit]

Thanks Gents.  Shall print off that picture NtD....

[rocket_scientist]

Instructions on how to have a shite properly must rank as the most important of all. You can master anything and everything once you know how to use a bog effectively.

 

Nothing worse than not getting jets up yer arse when that option is available. I bet that would make you stand out from the crowd in downtown Tokyo, like anything much can given the extreme population, possibly the shape of your eyes right enough. It would be written on your face and etched in your body language. The nippon locals will be saying - "check out that clarty bastard. Must be a pervert, an anally-retentive foreigner, probably British. Fucking weirdo".

[manc_don]

Thanks Gents.  Shall print off that picture NtD....

 

Definitely an experience 

 

So temples, my favourite one is the Kiyomizu-dera which is in the hills overlooking the city.  Golden temple is lovely but generally rammed with tourists.  The streets down the hill from Kiyomizu-dera are fully of small pottery shops, some decent noodle places there too 

 

Try this sake bar, i've not been but my parents went there last time they were there and raved about it:

 

http://openkyoto.com/postcards/kyoto-sake-bar-sake-cafe-hanna.html

 

The Nishiki market is worth a visit too.

 

Kyoto Sanga, the local football team, aren't very good, but the atmosphere was pretty good when I went.

 

Travel wise, make sure you get the Japan Rail Pass. It doesn't get you on the most current bullet trains but does get you on the Hikari I think, so you'll get to Kyoto from Tokyo in reasonable time.

 

In Osaka, make sure you try some of the Okonomiyaki.  It originates from Osaka and was a street food. 

 

Dotonbori is ace if the Hanshin Tigers (one of Osaka's baseball teams) wins, if they win the championship they jump in the river here.  There's also a department store in Osaka which has a small ferris wheel in the front.  It's a really strange store, used female underwear in a vending machine.

[donsdaft]

Stooge is probably the boy to ask.

 

South Korea I've been to, never made it over the water to Japan though.

[BobbyBiscuit]

Brilliant, thanks Manc. We've sorted our railpasses already. Will look into your tips, fancy trying Kiyomizu-dera.  Hoping to get to a match over there but looks as though we'll be unlucky on that front - although I'm more concerned about trying to find somewhere to watch the semi final... not sure how much joy I'm going to have with that.

[manc_don]

Brilliant, thanks Manc. We've sorted our railpasses already. Will look into your tips, fancy trying Kiyomizu-dera.  Hoping to get to a match over there but looks as though we'll be unlucky on that front - although I'm more concerned about trying to find somewhere to watch the semi final... not sure how much joy I'm going to have with that.

 

Where are you going to be for the semi?  If in Osaka, I know a place called "the Hub" which has multiple screens so you might be ok.  I can ask a few mates out there otherwise. There's always the token irish pub, Blarney Stone being one of the,.

[BobbyBiscuit]

Where are you going to be for the semi?  If in Osaka, I know a place called "the Hub" which has multiple screens so you might be ok.  I can ask a few mates out there otherwise. There's always the token irish pub, Blarney Stone being one of the,.

 

Think we're in Yokohama on the day of the semi final, any idea about there?

[manc_don]

Think we're in Yokohama on the day of the semi final, any idea about there?

 

Will get back to you, have a friend there 

[Bisconti]

I went to Japan last year and it was Stooge that I got some advice from on abmad. 

 

I had a blow out so managed to cram as much in as possible.

 

Tokyo was better than Osaka for me.  Shinjuku sums up the bizarre aspect of tokyo.  There's around 500 bars in a very small area and they are all the size of a small kitchen.  I couldn't even fit in to some of them.  The people we met there were all really friendly and wanted to help us out with where else to go.  The Japanese in Tokyo love a drink and smoke after work and I've never seen so many pished folk in suits.

 

Robot restaurant is in shinjuku and couldn't recommend it enough.  It's a tourist trap to be fair but it's like nothing you'll ever experience.  The food isn't great but you don't go for the food...if that makes sense? 

 

Take a visit to the tokyo fish market which is an eye opener.  Really enjoyed that to combat the 5am jet lag.

 

After tokyo we went to the area around mount Fuji and experienced some amazing local food and lived in a traditional hotel where we had to wear a kimono.

 

If you go to the shared baths (same sex only) be sure to wash your balls in front of everyone or they will get out and you'll look like a right fanny.  That happened to someone I know!

 

Take a day trip at least to Kyoto and visit the kinkaku-ju, Fushimi Inari-taisha and Arashiyama.

 

Food wise you can't go wrong no matter where you go.  You won't get much fibre so those fancy toilets might not be much use to you 

 

Kobe beef and shabushabu 

[BobbyBiscuit]

Thanks Manc.

 

Nice one Bisconti, thanks for all that, looking forward to Shinjuku!

[topcorner]

Tokyo was better than Osaka for me.  Shinjuku sums up the bizarre aspect of tokyo.  There's around 500 bars in a very small area and they are all the size of a small kitchen.  I couldn't even fit in to some of them.  The people we met there were all really friendly and wanted to help us out with where else to go.  The Japanese in Tokyo love a drink and smoke after work and I've never seen so many pished folk in suits.

 

Robot restaurant is in shinjuku and couldn't recommend it enough.  It's a tourist trap to be fair but it's like nothing you'll ever experience.  The food isn't great but you don't go for the food...if that makes sense? 

 

I echo this. Tokyo has so much going on and Shinjuku in particular.

 

What will appear like a relatively lonely street/lane with high rise buildings in it will have these buzzing bars and food places hidden away in a multi-storey. We would walk into what seemed like a quiet building that had a beer sign outside it and the place erupted inside. Everywhere is mobbed! If you are over 5 foot 8 though its pretty easy to get server at the bar 

 

Robot Restaurant is worth a visit - but its not a restaurant so eat before you go there. Grab a few beers and sit back and watch the stereotypical Japanese carnage that is about to unfold.

 

Kyoto is completely different and very tranquil. I'm assuming you have got all your accom booked up already so hopefully you are staying in a ryokan while you are there. A superb experience where you are treated like a king. The Japanese are superb with the hospitality.

[Bisconti]

I echo this. Tokyo has so much going on and Shinjuku in particular.

 

What will appear like a relatively lonely street/lane with high rise buildings in it will have these buzzing bars and food places hidden away in a multi-storey. We would walk into what seemed like a quiet building that had a beer sign outside it and the place erupted inside. Everywhere is mobbed! If you are over 5 foot 8 though its pretty easy to get server at the bar 

 

Robot Restaurant is worth a visit - but its not a restaurant so eat before you go there. Grab a few beers and sit back and watch the stereotypical Japanese carnage that is about to unfold.

 

Kyoto is completely different and very tranquil. I'm assuming you have got all your accom booked up already so hopefully you are staying in a ryokan while you are there. A superb experience where you are treated like a king. The Japanese are superb with the hospitality.

 

We stayed in a Ryokan in Hakone.  15 course breakfast!  We then had raw horse in the evening.

 

Thr best part about Japan is not just how friendly they are but the fact they don't agree with tipping.  Yet the service is still fantastic.

 

Kyoto train station is the busiest place I've ever been in yet nobody bumped into me.  Shinjuku subway station apparently takes the population of Toronto in a day.

 

Fuck I wish I was back there.

[BobbyBiscuit]

Will get back to you, have a friend there 

 

Any joy on this mate?

[manc_don]

So he's finally got back to me, although again, unsure if they will show it but they are all British / irish themed pubs that show football so worth contacting:

 

The Hub

 

http://www.timeout.com/tokyo/bars-and-pubs/hub-yokohama-west#tab_panel_2

 

http://www.eok.jp/restaurants-bars/pub/british/hub-yokohama-tsuruyacho

 

The green sheep

 

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g298173-d1222045-Reviews-The_Green_Sheep-Yokohama_Kanagawa_Prefecture_Kanto.html

 

The Tavern

 

http://www.the-tavern.com/

[Three Crazz]

Heading to Japan this weekend for a few weeks.  Taking in Tokyo, Sapporo, Fukuoka, Osaka, Yokohama and Kyoto.

 

Anyone been who has useful tips they'd like to share?

 

Cheers!

 

You luck basterd. I would loooove to go there , enjoy.  ??

[BobbyBiscuit]

Great stuff Manc, thanks for that, will let you know how i get on!

[manc_don]

Great stuff Manc, thanks for that, will let you know how i get on!

 

Fingers crossed for you pal!

[BobbyBiscuit]

Thanks for the tips folks. Had a great time, and had emailed one of the pubs in Yokohama you put up Manc, and the guy duly obliged in putting a stream of the Red TV coverage on his big screen.  Nearly landed in the middle of a table where a young Japanese couple sat when Rooney put the first in - don't think it was quite the Saturday night they were looking for! 

 

Thanks again.

[THEBEACHEND]

Prepare for a society with manners, exmplifeid on the train system. Busy, but no hustle, no pushing. Also no mobile calls on the train. Some cracking restaurants. There is a shop similar to Harrods which is quite an experience. Worth just to go and ride the lift. The lift operators are robotic.