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Forum - View topicCrashing Japan - One Week in Tokyo
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Jariten
Company Representative
 Posts: 180 Location: Here and there |
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Bamboo is right about the JTB locations at Mitsuwa. In recent years, a lot of other travel agencies have appeared that offer cheap flights to Japan as well. These tend to vary depending on where you live. A quick way to find out where to get the best prices is to check with your local Japan-America Society or Japan-Canada Society. If you're a student, it often helps to check with the Japanese language department/modern language department on your campus because 1) the travel agencies usually send promotional materials to schools and 2) some agencies offer big discounts to students.
Side note: Every once in a while, Korean Air offers big discounts on their flights to Tokyo. I was able to snag a round trip from Tokyo to LA with them once for $360 round trip^-^. There are lots of cheap options out there, so look everywhere - you'll be shocked how cheap flights can become. |
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Maidenoftheredhand
 Posts: 2634 |
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Well if anyone is looking for a place to stay in Tokyo I highly recommend the hostel K's House.
http://kshouse.jp/tokyo-e/index.html It's in the Asakusa area so it is not necessarily the most central location but Japan's transportation system is very easy to navigate so this wasn't an issue for me at all. Also the place is clean and cheap and the staff is very friendly and helpful. I guess the only other issue is the showers are communal. Although anyone who lived in a dorm is probably used to this. Last edited by Maidenoftheredhand on Mon Sep 17, 2007 6:53 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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CitizenGeek
 Posts: 136 Location: Ireland |
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Very cool new feature, ANN!
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Jadress
 Posts: 807 Location: Seattle. It purdy and nerdy! |
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I LOVE IT!! This is a great column and I'm really looking forward to it. I've wanted to go to Japan for like 10+ years, but it has always seemed out of reach to me. Maybe this will finally inspire me to get it together and go in a few years. ^^ Thanks for this column.
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britannicamoore
 Posts: 2618 Location: Out. |
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Awesome- as someone who's going to be traveling abroad soon its good to get a little insight on what i'll be facing. (going for my japanese minor)
I can't wait for more updates!! |
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Roy9076
 Posts: 286 Location: California |
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So, will this cover some games in the meantime? TGS isn't really about anime. I sense that ANN will have some kind of gaming section since they go hand in hand, and often times viewed at part of each other's medium.
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Rebecca
 Posts: 57 |
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I used hostelworld.com to keep my nightly bill at right around $20.
I also booked my one night in a ryokan through japanhotel.net. I had several specific questions for them once I had confirmed the room (such as location and non-smoking requests) and they were quick and very clear with their responses. The best part about japanhotel.net is that you don't have to write in and hope that they actually have a room available at the prices they quote... you pay what is listed there. Bamboo, hopefully I'll see you at the Game Show! 
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MidnightDemon
Posts: 4 |
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I wonder if visiting akihabara is on the list
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Twage
Posts: 366 Location: North Bergen, NJ |
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Of course all the tours include Akihabara (and more importantly Nakano, which is where you go if you're actually looking for something rare). |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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I found http://www.asiarooms.com to be very good for finding rooms in Japan. Looking at posted prices on Japanhotels I think AsiaRooms has better prices. I THINK it also has more options, but I could be wrong. One other thing to note to anyone looking at hotel room pictures on these sites. Almost ALWAYS when looking at the pictures of rooms note that a room with two beds the beds are SINGLES, they are not "double beds" (or larger) like in America so keep that in mind when looking at the beds and scale the room accordingly. Japanese hotel rooms are "cozy" and I enjoyed my stays at the hotels but the first time I stepped into a Japanese hotel room I was surprised by the size because of mistaking the scale in online pictures.
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Fried Tofu
Posts: 5 |
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You can actually withdraw cash from most 7-11 ATMs now. They started accepting international cards as of July this year.
http://www.sevenbank.co.jp/intlcard/index2.html |
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imaramman
Posts: 14 |
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Just FYI, if you want to save even more money, you can take a JR line from Narita Airport to your hotel for about 1/3 the price of the Limobus. In fact, I'm pretty sure we spent less than 1000 yen to get to the Crowne Plaza Tokyo Metopolitan Hotel in Ikebukuro when my friend and I went in May, but it definitely wasn't more than 1200. It took roughly the same amount of time as the limobus, give or take about 10 minutes. Plus, it was a freaking awesome experience for someone who had never been out of the US before.
You'll likely have to switch lines once or twice to reach your destination, but you'll be doing that anyways once you start to move around from place to place (unless of course you're loaded and plan on taking taxis everywhere). There is a desk at the airport where you can buy your train ticket and they will help you figure out the fare schedule and what lines to switch on. Once you get on the trains, they are either equipped with television screens that announce the upcoming stops and illustrate the lines, or have a map with a light indicating the current stop and showing the upcoming ones beside it. Oh man... talking about it makes me want to go back so badly... hahaha. |
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scortia
 Posts: 174 |
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Woo the JRLine to and from Narita to Asakusa (well JR and another stop or two) was killer for our group... especially when we lugged our much-heavier luggage up and down the stairs to get to the terminal. But yes, way cheaper. Think it was $10 or so for us to make that 40+ minute journey.
I suggest for groups making a journey to stay at the Sakura House in Asakusa. We were very happy there. It's clean and quite affordable. Asakusa may seem like where all the old people live in Tokyo (and also where you can find a few HUGE Love Hotels... ^^; ) it's an AMAZING place to stay while in Tokyo. You're next to a huge Buddhist shrine, a far smaller Shinto shrine, and the hugest shopping bazaar ever. Hell, there's an amusement park just a couple of blocks from the hostel. Looooved our week there. But man... the jetlag. So horrible when I got home. Couldn't fall asleep before 4AM for at least a week.. |
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imaramman
Posts: 14 |
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Really? That is funny. I was falling asleep uncharacteristically early (like 9-10pm or earlier) and waking up at like 5am everyday for the next week after returning home. But then again, I didn't sleep for more than a few hours the last night in Tokyo and maybe all of 15 mins. on the 14 hour plane ride home. ()
I really miss it though. Two weeks seemed like an eternity there compared to two weeks here. I am definitely going back sometime. I am thinking about looking into working for an ESL program for a year before starting law/grad school, but I might wait until I'm finished. I'm not totally sure yet. I am pretty sure we saw that shrine you are talking about in Asakusa. I know we at least went to that district at some point, and I'm pretty sure that's what it was for. Man, just walking around and exploring everything there was so much fun! ESPECIALLY the food, hehe. I hope to travel abroad to more places once I have the money. |
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HeeroTX
Posts: 2046 Location: Austin, TX |
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In my opinion if you have never been to Japan and you're staying at a hotel ON the bus route (like the Sunshine Prince or the Crowne Met. in Ikebukuro) take the bus for the inbound. The train may be cheaper and with traffic it might even be faster, but I cannot say enough how convenient it is to be dropped of RIGHT at your hotel. If you've never been to Japan navigating the train stations CAN be intimidating and for certain hotels I wouldn't want to try to find them while hauling luggage. (altho the Metropolitan is ridiculously convenient to the station) If you're staying at a hotel that is not serviced directly by a limobus, then I agree on the train, altho my own preference is for the NEX (Narita Express) train. It's more expensive, but it goes straight to certain locations (so it's faster) and you don't need to figured out train swaps. It's still approx. the same cost as the bus though, so not much more pricey. But again, IMO if you're talking the difference between $10 and $35 it's worth the extra $25 for the piece of mind of not getting lost looking for the hotel if the bus goes there directly. (especially since some of our group was half asleep by the time we got to the hotel) |
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