Topic: Tokyo

[ender]

Has anyone been? I'm taking a vacation in October-November and I'm going to go there for 8-9 days. I'm staying in Shinjuku for a few days, then moving to a hotel in Shibuya. Right now I'm trying to figure out where I should stay for a 2 day trip to Kyoto. That city seems  so much more spread out and not really sure what area I should be in to load as much sight-seeing into a shorter trip there. Really excited, I've wanted to go there since I was a kid!

[idolminds]

Aww man, awesome! I've always wanted to go there.

[Cobra951]

I haven't.  My older daughter has.  She went on some Asian cruise with a friend of hers and the friend's family.  Her art draws a lot of inspiration from anime, and she was thrilled she got the opportunity.  She studied some Japanese in school too. 

I'm kinda jealous.  I'd love to visit Japan.

[K-man]

I'm staying in Shinjuku for a few days, then moving to a hotel in Shibuya.

Watch out for the reapers in Shibuya

[Quemaqua]

I am, obviously, supremely jealous of anyone who gets to go over there. I can't even dream of affording it. Though honestly, Tokyo doesn't interest me that much since it's in many ways just another big city. I'm much more interested in 田舎, the countryside. Kyoto would be amazing too. I'm sure no matter what you do you'll have a great time.

[scottws]

A guy from work went to Tokyo a couple years ago.  He said he had a real hard time communicating with people.  I guess they do learn English in school but never use it after that and basically forget all of it.

I used to really want to go there.  In fact, I used to want to spend a couple years living there, but those feelings have faded.  I'd still like to go, but I have many other places higher on my list.

[ender]

Yeah, communication will be tough. Though I have a few friends around Tokyo I'm hoping to see at some point. I've been learning basic Japanese, so in the worst case scenario I can at least order food. I was surprised to find that airfare to Tokyo has lessened quite a bit in the last few years. I looked a while back and most tickets throughout the year from NYC were no less than $1800. I managed to get a direct, round-trip flight through Delta for $900. I was also surprised to find some nice hotels to stay at, I've only spent $400 on accommodation for the entire trip. Really quite something, when you can find a nice place for $45 a night and then a nicer one (towards the end of the trip) for $70 a night. Most places where I grew in Tennessee costing that would mean meth addicts and bed bugs

Still figuring out the trip to Kyoto. The Shinkansen trains seem to be quite expensive – a round trip nearing $200. Not sure if I can afford that... wondering if I should just find some places closer to Tokyo that I can take a normal train to that are similar. Lots of research for this trip... I'm finding planning is key to make it affordable and worthwhile.

Of course most of my trip will be spent taking photos, eating food, drinking, and visiting some friends that run fashion boutiques in Harajuku and Shibuya. Trying to make it a visual research trip, since lately I've been feeling a little creatively tapped out with my graphic design work.

[ender]

Also, I have two nights with no hotel – left open for when I decide on Kyoto. I'm thinking maybe I should stay at a Capsule hotel those nights just for fun – also you can get them for like $25 a night which is really nice on the wallet

[ender]

Watch out for the reapers in Shibuya

I loved that game so much.

[ender]

OMG. I am so excited... I leave Tuesday morning for Tokyo. I managed to get some tips from people on where to go and got tickets to the Studio Ghibli Museum too.

I'll try and post some pics on my instagram if ya'll wanna see: http://www.instagram.com/christiancox/

[Cobra951]

I'm so jealous I can't stand it.  Have a great trip, man.  I think I'll live vicariously through your pictures and the stories you'll tell us.

[ender]

Thanks! I just have to get tons of stuff done at work on Monday... let's hope I survive it! LOL

[Quemaqua]

I'd be jealous except I'm hoping to go live in Japan for a bit, so hopefully I'll get more than I can stomach. heh

 ... okay, still a little jealous. Have fun, man!

[ren]

Ooooh stay at a capsule hotel and give us a first-hand account.

[Pugnate]

How is it going there? I didn't realize public transport was this bad:

Friends in Japan said it is much better now, but can still get like this!

[Quemaqua]

That's the point where I call my boss, and I'm like, "See you tomorrow." And then get fired.

Also, Tokyo Train Stuffing is my new band name.

[ren]

How is it going there? I didn't realize public transport was this bad:

Friends in Japan said it is much better now, but can still get like this!

Without having much context, that video raises a lot of questions.

Why would they have people stuffing people onto a train when there are no line-ups on the platform? If things were truly that crowded there would be a mass of people waiting for the next train.

Loading/unloading is the bottle-neck when it comes to keeping to any type of schedule. You'd think with Japan's adherence to timeliness they would simply close the doors and leave after a designated 30 seconds or whatever instead of introducing this kind of lag.

[Quemaqua]

They can make up time to some degree in transit. The trains don't have a single speed.

I don't understand your confusion about the line. There's no line because everyone's on the train or trying to get stuffed into it. Next train might be for an entirely different end destination (or could be an express or something), and if the current train hasn't even left yet, why would you start lining up for the next one? Most of those people are there for a work commute. They have to be at work and they're on the train they need to be on to get there on time.

[Pugnate]

Yea it could be that this is the only train to go for a while and everyone is already on it.

[ren]

I assumed it's a metro station which often have headway of under 5 minutes. If the train is at that capacity with 5 minute headways there should already be people gearing up for the next one.

I suppose it could be some kind of commuter rail coming every half hour or something.

Time to google and look for a backstory.

[ender]

I had a great time! The subway and trains do get very crowded at rush hour... but I didn't notice it being any worse than NYC. Japan and Tokyo really is a wonderful place... people are very friendly and kind, it's extremely welcoming. I would love to go back... I saw Kyoto and Tokyo quite a bit, but feel like I barely scratched the surface over 9 days. The food was incredible... there's a LOT to do every day. Overall, I think the best trip I've been on, highly recommended.