| I am currently planning a trip to Japan sometime this year. This is my first time traveling this far out of the US and I had a few questions. I know I'm going to spend a few days around Akihabara as well as a trip to the Osaka Kaiyukan but I have no idea how to plan a stay an inn or get from place to place with little to no knowledge of Japanese. Any information will be greatly appreciated. |
| I follow the road, blind until the road is dead end. Night's in my veins, it's calling me, racing along these arteries and law is just a myth to herd us over the cliff. |
| Subways in Japan are awesome. Maps to go wherever are fairly simple (much better than New York to me) and, at least in Tokyo, had English when I went. We were able to go to Akiba, Odaiba and other prefectures pretty easily with no one being able to read Japanese characters. Using the shinkansen is more complicated though, as we used that to go from Yokohama to Kyoto. If you're going to just walk into a hotel and get a room, the big hotels at least all had staff fluent in English. It's probably required. |
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| I would say your best bet is to contact a travel agency - they'll definitely have pamphlets and likely more information to offer. It would be much easier. This is a big "no duh", but definitely go online and read reviews of places. Best of luck planning your trip and have a great time! :) |
"Cheer up, you’re never alone! There is probably at least 1 bug in your room." |
| There are some great guides to traversing Japan floating around, I'm going to bed now, but I'll edit them in later when I find them. Until I find something more traditional, like a printed guide bookmarked on an old pc or something, this guy is a great reference for random things you normally wouldn't think about (useful etiquette, modern slang, etc.) and is just generally entertaining to watch. http://www.youtube.com/user/QuickRhino/videos?view=0&sort=p&flow=grid |
DeseradaJan 9, 2013 7:07 PM
 Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum videtur. |
| I would short of the above maybe look into a tour group or guide (though that will cost more) Hotel and flight arn't a problem if you book both in advance, orbitz is a good way to do this. You picked a good time in a manner, I was looking up ticket prices to various places I like to go (have something to aim for right?) and Japan for the most part is the cheapest I've seen it in years. |
| Even though there's no activities going on, do you want to join this club to discuss (just suggesting alternative way, it's optional)? |
I ♥ Two Syaorans from Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE and TRC!!! |
| Make sure to buy used panties. I mean, what's Japan without buying some cute 13 year old jap girl's used panties? |
| tfw no gf tfw i keep getting the banhammer on here tfw Koleare keeps banning me every other day tfw I'm misunderstood by le mod |
SyntheticBreed said: I am currently planning a trip to Japan sometime this year. This is my first time traveling this far out of the US and I had a few questions. I know I'm going to spend a few days around Akihabara as well as a trip to the Osaka Kaiyukan but I have no idea how to plan a stay an inn or get from place to place with little to no knowledge of Japanese. Any information will be greatly appreciated. Just say desu for everything. |
"I will close my eyes and let the darkness be the light that guides me through the path of chaos"    Call me the Jelly Factory. I'm the world's largest producer of jelly. |
Bloodcalibur said: SyntheticBreed said: I am currently planning a trip to Japan sometime this year. This is my first time traveling this far out of the US and I had a few questions. I know I'm going to spend a few days around Akihabara as well as a trip to the Osaka Kaiyukan but I have no idea how to plan a stay an inn or get from place to place with little to no knowledge of Japanese. Any information will be greatly appreciated. Just say desu for everything. Be as weeaboo as possible. |
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Not_Biased said: Waffocopter said: Subways in Japan are awesome. Maps to go wherever are fairly simple (much better than New York to me) and, at least in Tokyo, had English when I went. We were able to go to Akiba, Odaiba and other prefectures pretty easily with no one being able to read Japanese characters. Using the shinkansen is more complicated though, as we used that to go from Yokohama to Kyoto. If you're going to just walk into a hotel and get a room, the big hotels at least all had staff fluent in English. It's probably required. they are awesome for males only, females have to use women-only cars because of the frequent groping Gotta love this Brazilian fella, takes citation-less statistic from a Wikipedia article and takes it to heart. How sweet. |
 Just this once, I'll fulfill whatever your wish is. |
| Pretty much as been said the major areas, train and sub systems, and some of the major road ways do have simple signs, or at times even english notifactions. No proof of it but I suspect more than in the name of tourism its more to do with US forces in Japan and the defense pact. |
| Grope as many women as you can on the subway, because they won't know how to accuse you. You won't get another chance. It's practically legal. |
| My subjective reviews: katsureview.wordpress.com THE CHAT CLUB. |
| I have the feeling any advice will be given by weaboos and massive lonely men who never went to Japan. Expect to have a bad time in Japan. |
| but you don't even know how dank my memes are |
| If you take the Yamanote Line, of which Akihabara is on, it'll be a lot easier to get to Akiba. There is English on all the names of the stations, but it can get confusing when you try to figure out the fee from stop to stop since the map is usually all in Kanji. Some people just paid the lowest fee and did a payment adjust at the station they stopped at. Other people (like me) just asked and got help from the subway attendants. All of the trains I rode on DID have English narrative when announcing stops, which made it easier. But if you stay somewhere off the Yamanote Line it'll be a lot harder to get where you want to go. Akihabara's pretty neat, though it's not what it's made out to be in anime and stuff. I'd check out Hakone if I were you so you can get a view of Mt. Fuji. And Odaiba is pretty cool. They have a giant Ferris wheel there and Fuji TV Station. You can actually get into the ball, though it's not that exciting. XD You can get to Hakone station from Shinjuku stn, and Odaiba's right in Tokyo. |
federJan 10, 2013 7:22 PM
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Not_Biased said: Waffocopter said: Subways in Japan are awesome. Maps to go wherever are fairly simple (much better than New York to me) and, at least in Tokyo, had English when I went. We were able to go to Akiba, Odaiba and other prefectures pretty easily with no one being able to read Japanese characters. Using the shinkansen is more complicated though, as we used that to go from Yokohama to Kyoto. If you're going to just walk into a hotel and get a room, the big hotels at least all had staff fluent in English. It's probably required. they are awesome for males only, females have to use women-only cars because of the frequent groping Not if you're a foreigner. I guess they figure American girls won't just groped and stay quiet about it over embarrassment. Being crammed into one like sardines is never pleasant, even if you're not being groped, though. Stupid hour and a half delay... |
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| In Tokyo, you'll definitely be fine with no Japanese language skills. When I went there, there was a lot of people at shops that spoke English as well as signs in English. It actually kind of bothered me because everyone assumed that I didn't know Japanese at all, but it'll work to you advantage. In places like Tokyo and Kyoto, they are so used to having foreigners around that it shouldn't be a problem. The trains also tend to have announcements in English as well. I don't know how Osaka is as far as English goes though having never been there. I went to a university in Nagoya, so that would be the area I am most familiar with. Judging by the size, I'd think you should be fine in Osaka as well though. I'd think it would probably be useful to write down (or even memorize) the kanji and such for key places for reference. It seems like 234h432 may be able to be more helpful than me though as I seldom had to deal with hotels in Japan. When I went to Tokyo during my fall break, I stayed in the Apa hotel in Shibuya. It was a great location for a pretty good price, though of course hostels or capsule hotels would be cheaper. Anyway, have a great time in Japan. It'll be an amazing experience. Not_Biased said: Waffocopter said: Subways in Japan are awesome. Maps to go wherever are fairly simple (much better than New York to me) and, at least in Tokyo, had English when I went. We were able to go to Akiba, Odaiba and other prefectures pretty easily with no one being able to read Japanese characters. Using the shinkansen is more complicated though, as we used that to go from Yokohama to Kyoto. If you're going to just walk into a hotel and get a room, the big hotels at least all had staff fluent in English. It's probably required. they are awesome for males only, females have to use women-only cars because of the frequent groping Female don't have to use women-only cars. Also, though they do have women-only cars, they are only women-only during certain hours. You really don't have to worry about it. Just don't go into the women-only car during said hours if you are a guy. |
| 私のホバークラフトは鰻でいっぱいです |
| Planning to go to Japan soon. I hope I will get a laughter with my little Japanese language skills. |
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| Try not to act like too much of a cunt. |
| I am important. I have a girlfriend. Check out my podcast |
| I hope to God that youre not going only because of anime |
| I went to Japan several years ago with a friend of mine and his family. Good times. |
| Salmon is delicious. |
PoopMaster said: I hope to God that youre not going only because of anime I'm going because of the Osaka aquarium not that its any of your business. Stay on fucking topic. |
| I follow the road, blind until the road is dead end. Night's in my veins, it's calling me, racing along these arteries and law is just a myth to herd us over the cliff. |
Daedric said: I have the feeling any advice will be given by weaboos and massive lonely men who never went to Japan. Expect to have a bad time in Japan. No offense you sound like a troll....if you're not joking about that. The train stations are less complex than they seem. Also since the Tokyo and Osaka area are large enough I wouldn't be too worried about the English since there'll be a lot of things translated in English. The only bad thing about Japan is people possibly staring at you. |
MitsukiHimekaJan 12, 2013 9:06 PM
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