Visiting Japan next week

I'm leaving for a month long vacation to Japan next week, and have a few things I want to check out for sure. Other than that just going to go with the flow and see where I end up. Anybody have any ideas of what to check out? Heard the GTR plant does tours, anybody done this?

 

I'm all ears to suggestions

Yes! Stop by this address and visit. Hang around for a while. You'll have so much fun it will be off the Richter scale!

 

２２ 夫沢北原, Okuma, Futaba District, Fukushima Prefecture

 

Yes! Stop by this address and visit. Hang around for a while. You'll have so much fun it will be off the Richter scale!

 

２２ 夫沢北原, Okuma, Futaba District, Fukushima Prefecture

 

Sick bastard

 

http://www.vidmap.de/video/748/en/Video-of-Fukushima-Japan

I've actually been looking into it. The town of Namie turned into Pripyat, a ghost town. I haven't had much luck into finding out whether you are allowed to visit.

 

 

http://www.bingosports.co.jp/showroom.html

go to Daikoku Futo Parking area on a Saturday night after around midnight, its epic, thats where all the crazy modded cars go to hang out and have a carpark party (well it was when i last went) mostly Japanese cars (which i actually like BTW) but just something awesome to behold, never seen anything like it anywhere else.

I'm leaving for a month long vacation to Japan next week, and have a few things I want to check out for sure. Other than that just going to go with the flow and see where I end up. Anybody have any ideas of what to check out? Heard the GTR plant does tours, anybody done this?

 

I'm all ears to suggestions

 

 

I went a couple years ago. Japan is awesome. I'm going back in March. There's 1,000,000 things to see and do. It just depends on what interests you.

Oddly enough I came across this youtube video tonight,maybe it was a god send..... I hope it helps

 

 

Japan?? Vacation??? A month???? I hope you've already traveled to a ton of other places lol. I don't get the appeal.

Sounds like an awesome time. Hope you share some pictures and adventures with us. I am still trying to get work to send me to Korea for a long term assignment.

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Japan?? Vacation??? A month???? I hope you've already traveled to a ton of other places lol. I don't get the appeal.

 

Have you ever been there ?

Nope!

 

Definitely hope you have a good time though! I thought the ghost island was still accessible but it was very limited as to where you could go on it. I think there was an article on CNN about it not too long back since it was used in the filming of the last Bond movie.

Don't let anyone lick your eyeball. Have fun!

Japan is a great place to visit.

 

If you are in Tokyo, this makes for a really interesting day trip.

 

You take a bullet train and then a couple of local trains. The 2nd last one is so steep, the train goes backwards and forwards up the hill. Final one is a tram that goes straight up.

 

http://www.hakone-oam.or.jp/english/

 

Then you can hit the Hakone volcano which has views of Mt Fuji too.

 

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5203.html

you'll have the time of your life.

Japan is a great place to visit.

 

If you are in Tokyo....

 

How did you go about getting a pass for the Shinkansen? I found the different websites have conflicting info on where to buy them. Some say they should be bought at your travel agency as they are not sold inside Japan (weird..) and others say just go to any major station.

 

I like the suggestions given so far. Really like the Bingo Sports idea, can't wait to see a McLaren F1! As for that VICE video.... this is not the first time its been sent to me and apparently friends will be quite disappointed if I don't come back with a Yakuza tattoo.

 

Has anyone been to the Tokyo Autoshow? Is it a 'premier' show? The one here in Toronto isn't that good and wasn't too thrilled when I went to Detroit a couple years back.

How did you go about getting a pass for the Shinkansen? I found the different websites have conflicting info on where to buy them. Some say they should be bought at your travel agency as they are not sold inside Japan (weird..) and others say just go to any major station.

 

I like the suggestions given so far. Really like the Bingo Sports idea, can't wait to see a McLaren F1! As for that VICE video.... this is not the first time its been sent to me and apparently friends will be quite disappointed if I don't come back with a Yakuza tattoo.

 

Has anyone been to the Tokyo Autoshow? Is it a 'premier' show? The one here in Toronto isn't that good and wasn't too thrilled when I went to Detroit a couple years back.

 

 

I just bought tickets at the stations. Some are cash only

Shinkansen Tickets:

 

For foreigners, you buy a voucher from your local travel agent. When you get to Japan, go to one of the major JR (Japan Rail) station (Tokyo, Ueno, Shinkuku, Ikekbukuro, Shinagawa) customer service counter and exchange the voucher for a JR train pass. There is a catch to it. JR is divided in JR East, West and Central, the pass may not work when you cross boundary and you will end up paying the differences on the train fare.

 

In Tokyo, go to Odaiba and check out Megaweb. It's a giant Toyota showroom and you can kick as many tires and you can even test drive some models in their short closed-circuit course --- all free of charge (remember to have an international drivers license, reservations are also required but you can do it on site. The whole area of Odaiba is kind of neat and is no where as crowded as metropolitan Tokyo. Across from Megaweb is a shopping complex called Venus Fort and is more chick-oriented. But hidden inside is a place called History Garage and it features old cars. Depending on its theme, sometimes they have interesting stuff, I've seen a Verde Ithaca CT and a white Miura in there before. There are 2 levels and the stairs are not that prominent so don't miss the lower level.

 

Take a subway to Yokohama (25min ride from Tokyo) and you can visit Nissan HQ. Again, it's a giant showroom. Not as fun as Megaweb but cool nevertheless as it also tells you some history of Nissan. Talk to one of the staff to see if they can arrange the factory tour for you.

 

Go to Nagoya and you can definitely take a Toyota factory tour as well (reservations required, you can pre-arrange that when you are in Megaweb if you know you travelling dates). There are also two other museums and a library archive that Toyota has on most of the cars ever made by various manufacturers. There is definitely a Lamborghini section. Nagoya is 1-1/2 away by Shinkansen from Tokyo. The town Toyota is about another 25mins away by train or 40mins by bus (yes, they are so big that they own the town). The other museums depict that Toyota was originally in the textile industry.

 

You can also go further west to Hiroshima and visit the Mazda factory. (A bit over 3hrs by the Shinkansen from Tokyo). You actual start at the Mazda Museum as the plant is right beside it. The Museum is 2 stops away from the JR Hiroshima station. Again, reservations for the plant is required.

 

All the plants have guided tours in English, just make the proper reservations for the right tours.

 

There are way too many things to do in Japan. In fact, there are too many things to do in Tokyo alone (keep in mind that Tokyo itself has more than 1/4 the total population of Canada as a whole). Don't let the stereotype misinform you; it's actually much more "global" than it is. This time of the year, it's best to enjoy the autumn foliage when it starts turning colours. If you want traditional Japan, Kyoto is the place to be.

 

The Tokyo Motor Show used to be a premier show. But the Beijing and Shanghai shows had eclipsed that for about 4 years now. So much so that the current venue had changed and it's now only 2/3 of its original size. Still plenty of things to see as it's a somewhat different culture and you are guaranteed to see some wacky things.

Never been but I would love to go - have a great time and report back your experiences!

I'm a fish guy (eating and looking at)..SO a must for that is hit the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium located within the Ocean Expo Park. The main tank of the aquarium, called the Kuroshio Sea, holds 7,5 million liters (1,981,000 gallons) of water and features whale sharks and manta rays. If you are in Tokyo, you have to get down to the Tsukiji fish market EARLY in the morning. I got up at 6am and went down when they were unloading the tuna for the sushi markets. Walked around ooodles of stuff from the ocean that was still alive. Amazing and the best is you can eat sashimi that is the freshest you'll ever have.

I'm a fish guy....

 

Did you get there early enough to check out the tuna auctions? How was Tsukiji in general?

 

VCR - Thanks for that post! Lots of helpful stuff in there.

 

It looks like I bit off more than I can chew here. So much to do, so little time!

Did you get there early enough to check out the tuna auctions? How was Tsukiji in general?

 

VCR - Thanks for that post! Lots of helpful stuff in there.

 

It looks like I bit off more than I can chew here. So much to do, so little time!

 

You are welcome.

 

IMO and with due respect, Tsukiji isn't really worth the effort. You get up before the sun does (best to be there at 5:30am) just to mingle as a tourist at a fishy-smelling market with people who are actually hard at work there. For one thing, they don't really like tourists. So much so that a few years back, they actually closed it down from tourists as the workers claimed that they were being disturbed and some tourists were poking the fish and essentially affecting their selling prices. It was politics that re-opened the place but it's not the same anymore. Maybe it's a novelty for North Americans but why go to a place where you are not exactly welcomed so early in the morning? And while the fish is fresh, sashimi first thing in the early morning which, most probably, is not your regular diet; add jet-lag and you are in a foreign land for one month; that doesn't seem too great of an idea to me.

 

If you are into fishes, the Okinawa Aquarium is very very nice. Just that you have to fly there. And they had a lot of typhoon this year (one just passed through it 3 days ago). It's no longer summer so swimming/sunbathing are kind of off too. As a lesser alternative, you can try Kaiyukan in Osaka Bay. Also known as the Osaka Aquarium, it is much more convenient (subway from Osaka with a 5 min walk from the nearest station). It is also one of the world's largest aquarium and there are other things to see around that area. It is also a public amusement park with a giant Ferris wheel. There are, in fact, plenty of aquariums throughout Japan. One interesting trivia is that statistics in Japan show that aquariums are the most popular place for young couple to go dating!

 

As afore-said, there are plenty of autumn typhoons for Japan this year. The same one that passed through Okinawa is making its way to southern Japan right now and there is another one at the east coast (this one would likely miss Japan though). So I would avoid the northern sections of Kyushu's country side due to possible landslide from recent typhoon passings. The Izu peninsula (south of Tokyo) was also ravaged by the last typhoon with over 2 dozen fatalities so avoid there as well. There is simply no way you can take in everything there even if it's a month-long trip. Focus on what you want to do --- cars, high-tech, shopping, traditional arts and culture, autumn scenery etc... and concentrate on those. Or you may want to focus on certain specifics for certain areas. E.g. Tokyo has it all (almost like NYC but more orderly). Nagoya is more of an industrial area but its country side is nice. Kyoto is all about old Japan and its traditional culture. Osaka is business and manufacturing but famous for food as well. Fukuoka balances a metropolis with many green spaces, much less crowded (by Japanese standards), is more down to earth and their ramen (noodles) is tops. Sapporo is known for its natural scenic areas up north. Kusatsu, Gero and Arima are the 3 most famous hot springs in Japan but there are plenty in Beppu as well.

 

Btw, the Bingo Sports (car candy store) that everyone is talking about, they actually have 3 showrooms. One is in Tokyo while the other two are in Nagoya. Tokyo has the more exotics ones but Nagoya has some interesting ones too such as most of the original classic Skyline GTR's.

Great post VCR

 

You made me miss Japan

Oh, didn't know that about the fish market? Last time I went to that market was in 2001. I was there for the tuna auctions, but back then it really wasn't crowded with tourists.

 

I have also been to the Osaka aquarium and agree, there is more to see there in that area and its a good excuse to ride the bullet train from Tokyo if you have not ridden on one. Osaka castle was interesting and actually when I went in March, they had the big Sumo Basho in Osaka so it was very intriguing to see the competitors and watch matches.