Forum - View topicTokyo Anime and Manga Tour
|
|
| Author | Message | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
lastresort
Posts: 10 Location: Yokohama, Japan |
|
|||||||||
|
Hello!
First of all, I want to say that before posting this I contacted the webmaster to ask permission. Here goes! I am an employee of a Japanese company called Last Resort. We are currently developing a package tour of Tokyo designed to specifically appeal to foreign fans of Japanese Anime. The idea is to bring people to Japan for a week in which they can encounter a range of Japanese cultural experiences with the focus being on Manga and Anime. The tour will include : An Anime / Manga Workshop with a professional artist A tour of an Anime studio A trip to one of the big conventions Tokyo International Anime Fair Comiket Tokyo Game Show A trip to the Studio Ghibli Museum A trip to Akihabara Akihabara is (as you probably know) the best place in Japan to find Manga, Anime and collectibles. Other possible elements of the tour (depending on the final length of the tour / time of year etc.) could include : A trip to Tokyo Tower A trip to Harajuku. Harajuku is famous for crazy-looking Goth chicks, street performers and cool fashions. A trip to the Tokyo National Museum The biggest museum in Japan. It contains a huge variety of Japanese and other Asian art and archaeological objects. A trip to Mount Fuji A trip to the Tokyo Dome There is an amusement park with roller coasters and other rides as well as a park and restaurants, etc… A trip to Oedo Onsen Monogatari This is a kind of Hot Spring Amusement Park. There are a huge range of different baths to try as well as an 1800’s style shopping street, restaurants, shops and stuff. And, you get to wear a Yukata (a type of kimono) in the design of your choice! An evening watching Sumo An evening watching Kabuki And… Visits to shrines and temples, shopping, restaurants and other great tourist stuff. I am looking for some feedback with regards to the content of the tour. To that end, I am contacting Anime fans all over the World to see if people are interested. Of course, we want to provide a tour that will give fans the experiences they really want. That's where you come in. What do you think about the proposed content? Is there anything not mentioned that you would like to do? Would you prefer Western style or Japanese style accommodation? Would you be interested in going on the tour? Do you have any other suggestions? If you are interested in the tour and would like to receive information in the future, please let me know and I will keep you informed of developments. Also, if you see fit, I would be very pleased if you could tell anyone else you feel would be interested about what we are doing. The more feedback I get, the better we can make the tour. I want to assure you that this is all legitimate and there will be no attempt made to spam you or anyone else who gets in touch with us. Here is the link to Last Resort’s English Language website. Hopefully this will show you that this company really exists! http://company.lastresort.co.jp/en_top.html Last Resort is a company that tries to promote international understanding and help people to realize their dreams. Generally, the company helps Japanese people travel overseas for home stays and working holidays. But, now we want to help people from other countries take the leap and visit Japan. I am extremely excited to be working on this project. I have been living in Japan for a few years now and really love this crazy country. I hope that I can help more people experience what Japan has to offer. Thank you for reading all of this. Sincerely, Richard Mands [email protected] Last edited by lastresort on Thu Aug 24, 2006 1:57 am; edited 5 times in total |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
Gerinis Infinity
 Posts: 9 |
|
|||||||||
|
Didn't mean to post what I did. Sorry.
Last edited by Gerinis Infinity on Sun Jul 16, 2006 9:21 am; edited 1 time in total |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
fighterholic
Posts: 9193 |
|
|||||||||
|
Rats, you're about a month late with me, maybe next time.
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
PantsGoblin
 SubscriberEncyclopedia Editor  Posts: 2969 Location: L.A. |
|
|||||||||
Looks good to me. In particular, I'd be very interested in going to Comiket. I've been wanting to go to it for a while but have had no friend with the money to go to Japan, nor were they interested in going to Comiket. A tour group to go with would be perfect since it's not something I'd like to go to alone for my first time.
I can't think of anything right now but I'm sure I'll think of something sooner or later.
I would definately be interested in going. The price will have a big influence on whether I go or not though. If it's not terribly more expensive then other tours I've gone on in Japan, I have a good chance of going. When it's going to be will also affect my decision.
Not that I can think of right now.
Yes, my email address is right down there. [email protected] |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
lastresort
Posts: 10 Location: Yokohama, Japan |
|
|||||||||
|
Thanks PantsGoblin. That's some great feedback. I've added you to my list for future contacts.
Cheers! 
|
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
lastresort
Posts: 10 Location: Yokohama, Japan |
|
|||||||||
|
I have updated my first post with suggestions I have recieved from here and other places.
Thanks again! RM |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
lastresort
Posts: 10 Location: Yokohama, Japan |
|
|||||||||
|
Updated again to include a Studio Tour and Tokyo Tower.
lastresort |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
lastresort
Posts: 10 Location: Yokohama, Japan |
|
|||||||||
|
Updated again to include a Studio Tour and Tokyo Tower.
lastresort |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
Greennunu
Posts: 145 |
|
|||||||||
|
Well, I currently reside in japan but due to my job I have little time to go explore, I would suggest a flexible time frame, and have schedules based off of when there is a large anime convention. I also heard of but not in detail, the Ninja/samurai shows, the haunted froest, and I took a trip there once to go see the Hachikuro cafe, but it was a little expensive from where I lived, but seems pretty cheap from Tokyo, at the time I don't know if they had a special event but the main mall center the cafe was in seemed like they had anime related thing going on(people cosplaying).
I'd like ot be contacted if you have dates and information, best way to reach me is: [email protected] |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
lastresort
Posts: 10 Location: Yokohama, Japan |
|
|||||||||
|
Unfortunately, the Bandai Museum will soon bite the dust...
http://www.animaxis.com/en/zine/newsletter/view.asp?id=N001638 Doh! Now removed from the list. lastresort |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
lastresort
Posts: 10 Location: Yokohama, Japan |
|
|||||||||
|
Right then! Prices...
I’ve been a little wary of naming prices because I can’t give any concrete information just now. But, I think it would help people to have a rough price range to think about. The cheapest 1 week trip I have seen advertised is around US$1750 and the most expensive is US$2400. These prices include flights and accommodation. Spending money is extra. (Sorry for not converting prices into all available denominations. To convert to your currency, click here http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/currency-converter ) We won’t cost any more than this and will hopefully be cheaper. But, these are only ballpark figures. Also, please don’t think that a ‘cheap’ trip is necessarily worse than an ‘expensive’ one. There are a lot of factors that can affect the price. Also, there’s lots of cool stuff that can be done very cheaply. Food in Japan is not actually that expensive. Around US$10 will see you pretty well-fed. But, new electrical goods ARE expensive. So, if you buy a new digital camera and the limited edition Totoro DVD player, you will end up spending more money. I hope this helps put things into perspective. Thanks, lastresort |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
lastresort
Posts: 10 Location: Yokohama, Japan |
|
|||||||||
|
Last Resort’s main business is in helping Japanese people travel abroad. When they go, they usually live with a family in the country they are visiting. The family will feed and generally look after them for the duration of their stay.
One way of making our tour available to more people (i.e. reducing the price) would be to accommodate people in this way. I reckon this would halve the price of accommodation. This would make the tour significantly cheaper for people choosing this option. The tour will be quite busy so your contact time with the family would probably be limited. But, I think it would be a good way of seeing what life in Japan is really like. So, would you be interested in staying in a house or apartment with a friendly Japanese family? Feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. The more people who reply positively to this, the better chance I can convince my bosses to pursue this idea. Thanks! lastresort |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
lastresort
Posts: 10 Location: Yokohama, Japan |
|
|||||||||
|
Just wanted to clarify a couple of things.
If you took the homestay option and spent nights in a Japanese household, at least 1 person would speak decent English (other than yourself). We would also give people information regarding etiquette (e.g. take off your shoes indoors – a good idea in any country if you ask me!) and other cultural points beforehand. We will offer a range of accommodation options to cater to everyone. We want to provide everybody with an experience of Japan that they will enjoy. I imagine most people will choose to stay in a hotel, but we would like to offer a homestay to people who are interested. lastresort |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
ironwarrior
 Posts: 151 Location: Under Clare's armor, Lewisburg, WV |
|
|||||||||
|
Sounds VERY interesting. My wife and I are planning on something in 2008. We are planning ahead for then to give us enough time to learn some Japanese so we have a vague idea WTH is being said...and to righteously mangle any words if we try to speak it
I like the list of places/events you have as it provides a nice balance for the otaku and the tourist. The only personal divergence for me would be trying to fight an amateur K-1 match for fun (I teach Yuen Kay San Wing Chun Kungfu). Price isn't so much as an issue as amenities. I'm a picky traveller and like the "extras." If you don't mind, keep me informed: [email protected] |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
lastresort
Posts: 10 Location: Yokohama, Japan |
|
|||||||||
|
Hi again everyone!
It’s been a little while since I posted. I’ve been really busy trying to get everything sorted out. You may not believe me but this is actually my 78th consecutive day of work without a day off! I can’t believe I’m not dead! Things are getting ready to move forward now. We have decided on a target date for the tour as well as a name. Here it is! Last Resort’s “Lost In Japan” Tour (I hope you like the name!) Here is a provisional itinerary. Day 1 (Wed 20th June) * Arrival * Hotel * Dinner * Karaoke Day 2 (Thu 21st) * Ghibli Museum * Akihabara * Roppongi Hills Day 3 (Fri 22nd) * Mount Fuji * Tokyo Dome Day 4 (Sat 23rd) * Nihon Minka En (Japanese House Museum) * Tokyo National Museum * Tokyo Tower Day 5 (Sun 24th) * Harajuku * Meiji Jingu Shrine * Miraikan (Science Museum) * Oedo Onsen Monogatari Day 6 (Mon 25th) * Anime Studio Tour * Ikebukuro Day 7 (Tue 26th) * Nikko * Asakusa Day 8 (Wed 27th) * Free Day * Stay in Capsule Hotel Day 9 (Thu 28th June) * Return Things may change slightly but this is essentially what the tour will be. Again, I would love to get some feedback about the content and dates of the tour. We are hoping to finalize prices and make bookings possible through our website by January. ** Please note that this is only our first tour. We will be running subsequent tours in September, December and March. Hopefully we can expand even further so that we are running a large number of tours every year. If anyone is wants to be added to our mailing list, please send me your email address. Thanks everyone! Your advice has been incredibly helpful. Arigatou Gozaimasu! Richard Mands |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group