Some advise...

chery08 said:

wow thanks for ur detailed plan for me... i'm just wondering... no offence.. wat's the difference between the castle in heijimi and osaka? looks almost same to me though... from afar... is it the interior is very beautiful? Can we get inside ?? this one looks a little like the one in Nagoya too just tat it's abit bigger..

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Yes you can get inside Himeji castle - and it is very nice too. There are a few displays of armour and other relics. I've not been to Osaka castle, but was put off by the tour guides that said it was a replica of the original and the inside had been turned into a museum. As i was already planning to go to Himeji and Matsumoto castles I decided to skip Osaka castle and went to Osaka aquarium instead (which was very cool). One thing about Himeji is it's scale. The thing is massive and has lots of buildings branching off. You've also go the thing that there are still original parts of it left - wooden beams and pillars that are hundreds of years old. This gives a real sense of history, which may not be the case with Osaka.

hmmm so himeji is just a stop away from Kobe? gusss most likely i'll be getting my 7 days pass.. how sld i make full use of it ??
My plans are as follows :

day 1 --> Reach tokyo about 3pm, take train to Osaka .. maybe reach hotel and settled down about 8pm
day 2 --> take a day trip to Kyoto (start about 9am and hopefully finish by 5pm??).. maybe take a train ride to Nagoya to visit my friend or go to Kobe Bay during the evening...
day 3 --> Walk around Osaka.. Umeda..Minami.. American street..the crab place.. shinsabashi...(shopping day)
day 4 --> take a train to Hiroshima for taking photos sake (9am).. and return to Osaka to get our luggage and return to Tokyo about 8pm?
day 5 --> Hakone..go about 8am (should stay for a night?) want to try their Onsen in there..
day 6 --> TDL
day 7 --> Yokohama.. visit ramen meusum..which ever meusums... and the tower.. and chinatown..
day 8 --> Asakusa, Ueno park for lunch and Odaiba in the evening.. (is it on the way? or same track? )
day 9 --> Ikebukuro..Shibuya...Shinjuku.. and harajuku..
day 10 --> Ginza..Tokyo station, imperial palace..Tokyo dome?..Tokyo tower..
day 11 --> shop a little in Ikebukuro and leave for the airport at about 2pm..

do u tink my plan is ok or too rush?? my main focus is to take nice photos and shopping~~ when should i put in the hijimei castle?

Yikies!

While it is possible to visit all those places with in that time period, I think you will find it more difficult and certainly not as relaxing as you might like.

I have gone for 11 days, and then 12 days (effectively, not including flight time, half days, etc.) I only visit 3 major area's on each trip, even that was stretching it.

If you want quick site seeing, I recommend joining a tour.
If you want to take your time and really appreciate an area and it's sites visit no more then 2 major places and possible a small half day or 1 day side trip to another city.
No matter how much time you have, you will find yourself wishing you had more.

I highly recommend making a list of what you want to see the MOST, and then see everything in that one area WHEN you are already in said place.

I do not know how good your Japanese is, but outside of Tokyo English (both written and spoken) becomes much less spares and can certainly slow down your travel.

Most streets are not labeled, and their maps posted around cities... UP is almost never "north", orient yourself to every map well, they are all different.

hmmm do i really need to join the tour for these places ?? mmm... dun wish to spend those extra $$ for the tours though...
btw.. can i check if it's advisable to go to Hakone to just see Mt Fuji?? Are there any other place which we can view and take photos of Mt Fuji??

Hi,

As im also currently busy with planning my trip to Japan (for this summer), I have read somewhere that you can take a glimp of Mt. Fuji while being on the shinkansen between osaka-tokyo. Ofcourse I dont know if you will be able to take any good pictures, because you should take them while sitting on the train and I dont know how far its situated from Mt. Fuji. Anyone who can tell more about this ? And I have also read somewhere that you can take a glimp from mt. fuji while being on the landmark tower in Yokohama. Again I have doubts you will be able to take good pictures, especially with an ordinary camera. You will also only be able to see it if weather is clear..

As for your scheme, I understand your first week is kinda hectic because of your 7 days JR pass. from what I have heard, staying only 1 day in Kyoto is really not much and because you are interested in taking pictures you would miss a lot of interesting things. While taking the shinkansen from Osaka to Hiroshima, you can get off at Himeji..

Just to let you know, here is my 14-days scheme (still very basic). I will take a JR pass for 14 days, so I can my time in Kyoto-Hiroshima-Osaka. I already have in mind what things I definetly want to see, and with this scheme I still have lots of time to see any other things I descover during my trip..

Day 1 / Tokyo |

Day 2,3,4,5 / Kyoto |

Day 6,7 / Osaka |

Day 8,9,10 / Himeji + Hiroshima ( + Miyajima) |

Day 11,12,13,14 / Yokohama + Tokyo |

chery08 said:

hmmm so himeji is just a stop away from Kobe? gusss most likely i'll be getting my 7 days pass.. how sld i make full use of it ??
My plans are as follows :
day 1 --> Reach tokyo about 3pm, take train to Osaka .. maybe reach hotel and settled down about 8pm
day 2 --> take a day trip to Kyoto (start about 9am and hopefully finish by 5pm??).. maybe take a train ride to Nagoya to visit my friend or go to Kobe Bay during the evening...
day 3 --> Walk around Osaka.. Umeda..Minami.. American street..the crab place.. shinsabashi...(shopping day)
day 4 --> take a train to Hiroshima for taking photos sake (9am).. and return to Osaka to get our luggage and return to Tokyo about 8pm?
day 5 --> Hakone..go about 8am (should stay for a night?) want to try their Onsen in there..
day 6 --> TDL
day 7 --> Yokohama.. visit ramen meusum..which ever meusums... and the tower.. and chinatown..
day 8 --> Asakusa, Ueno park for lunch and Odaiba in the evening.. (is it on the way? or same track? )
day 9 --> Ikebukuro..Shibuya...Shinjuku.. and harajuku..
day 10 --> Ginza..Tokyo station, imperial palace..Tokyo dome?..Tokyo tower..
day 11 --> shop a little in Ikebukuro and leave for the airport at about 2pm..
do u tink my plan is ok or too rush?? my main focus is to take nice photos and shopping~~ when should i put in the hijimei castle?

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The first half does seem a bit rushed to me, but not necessarily unrealistic although you will be getting through some of it on adrenaline! I would break up the travel somewhat.
Day one will be a long one - especially if you add on the flight time you'll have already been through. Look carefully at your arrival times (and make sure that you race ahead when you get off the plane to get as near to the front of the que for immigration). Otherwise it can take a long time to get through Narita. Add on at least an hour and a half to get into Tokyo central (if you are taking the Narita Express, which I advise you do as it's included in the rail pass). Then however long it takes to get to Osaka and then your hotel. I posted links to Japan Rail's online timetables earlier in this thread so you can look up the exact details. Remember that you are planning to follow this with a long day walking around Kyoto.
Day 4 in particular involves A LOT of travelling. Where would you leave your luggage in Osaka? The train stations do not always have a large number of big lockers. Even if they do, you will not get a large hard suitcase in them I'd expect. Many hotels allow you to leave luggage with them after you've checked out, but you'd need to confirm this in advance. It also adds to your travel time if you have to detour back to your hotel.
Unless you are planning to go to Miyajima Island, I'd be tempted to leave off the Hiroshima leg of your trip altogether and spend the time in Kyoto or go and see Himeji that day. Or consider taking one day off your stay in Tokyo (Yokohama) or using your TBD and have a night in Hiroshima to spread out the travel. You could pop in and see Himeji-jo on the way to/from Hiroshima (although you need to factor in where you can leave your luggage if so - and I know from experience that a flexible bag is next to essential in Himeji station).
What ever you decide, book your hotels before you go as you don't want to waste your limited time searching for a place to stay.

Homerduff said:

Hi,
As im also currently busy with planning my trip to Japan (for this summer), I have read somewhere that you can take a glimp of Mt. Fuji while being on the shinkansen between osaka-tokyo. Ofcourse I dont know if you will be able to take any good pictures, because you should take them while sitting on the train and I dont know how far its situated from Mt. Fuji. Anyone who can tell more about this ? And I have also read somewhere that you can take a glimp from mt. fuji while being on the landmark tower in Yokohama. Again I have doubts you will be able to take good pictures, especially with an ordinary camera. You will also only be able to see it if weather is clear..
As for your scheme, I understand your first week is kinda hectic because of your 7 days JR pass. from what I have heard, staying only 1 day in Kyoto is really not much and because you are interested in taking pictures you would miss a lot of interesting things. While taking the shinkansen from Osaka to Hiroshima, you can get off at Himeji..
Just to let you know, here is my 14-days scheme (still very basic). I will take a JR pass for 14 days, so I can my time in Kyoto-Hiroshima-Osaka. I already have in mind what things I definetly want to see, and with this scheme I still have lots of time to see any other things I descover during my trip..
Day 1 / Tokyo |
Day 2,3,4,5 / Kyoto |
Day 6,7 / Osaka |
Day 8,9,10 / Himeji + Hiroshima ( + Miyajima) |
Day 11,12,13,14 / Yokohama + Tokyo |

Click to expand...

Hey Homer
looks like you have tied down a pretty good looking schedule now. It's going to give you a nice flavour of the place. You certainly won't regret having a good long time in Kyoto (I hope!!). You may want to take a side trip to Nara on one of the days. It's something that I didn't do and wished I had.
I think you asked in another thread about Hiroshima in the evenings. I found that things seemed to shut early in the evening (had a hard time finding a restaurant). This was in 2003 so don't know if things are better now.
I don't know if you were planning a night in Himeji, but I wouldn't bother. You can do the castle and gardens in the same day as you travel from Osaka to Hiroshima. That means you can just have 2 nights in Hiroshima (plenty) and spend that extra day doing a side trip to Nikko when you are back in Tokyo.

hey amos, I did some research on Nara and im definetly interested to go to there. So I could visit Himeji + when arriving at Hiroshima visit the peace memorial park all in one day. And the day after go to Miyajima which should keep me busy a full day, and then the day after leave already for Tokyo. And indeed with that extra day, I could go to Nikko or Kamakura. Thanks for pointing that out !

btw, It wont harm that much for 2 days if there isnt much to do in Hiroshima in the evening..

i guess the things that you guys wanna see and what i wanna see may differs ... i've check those photos of himeji.. and kyoto.. actually in kyoto i only like the Gion street and the temples...doesn't really interest me much.. so seeing 1 is good enough.. or are there any special ones in Kyoto i've to see ?? i just wanna try praying and i can't tink of others to do in there... as for the himeji castle.. mmmmm... is it really nice inside?? if not .. maybe i'll just skip it ... for hiroshima.. still optional.. just wanna go to the miyajima for the red shrine thing that's in the middle of the sea..
actually for me.. my main purpose to japan is the sakura flowers... and SHOPPING!!!~~~
seems like so little time is never enough to visit everywhere

This is a Bargain information site so that you can enjoy shopping.
http://www.ba-gen.com/info/index.cgi?mode=html&date=20070224&class=0
But, a site only for Japanese, information of March is not written now.

I am not trying to be sarcastic but you should just pose with your friend at home in front of a white sheet and take some different photos. Then get yourself some good software, use some of the great photos of places in Japan on the internet and merge your photos to make it look like you are standing in the front of the famous sites. Why waste your time and money on the rail pass? If you try fitting in so many places just to get some souvenir photos you will not have the chance to find all the fantastic discount shopping places that only the locals know about. You only need to visit Tokyo and Nagoya, then you can concentrate on shopping (your friend will be able to take you to places to get discount cosmetics, etc). The 2007 cherry blossom forecast will be released around late February or early March so wait until then to decide whether to visit Tokyo first or Nagoya. You can go to any one of the hundreds of temple in either city to experience praying (will take you 1 minute).

real sarcastic of u..
i guess i'll just make my plans n make a comfortable one.. and if i miss any place i can just go there visit again...
anyway thanks for ur suggestion.. guess i'll have time to go 1 temple to pray.. it'll be fun~

chery08 said:

for hiroshima.. still optional.. just wanna go to the miyajima for the red shrine thing that's in the middle of the sea..

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You can make it a good day to visit Miyajima Island and Hiroshima. Basically, Miyajima has a nice town on it with deer mingling with the tourists. The "red shrine thing" is called a Torii Gate. After visiting Miyajima, then go over to the Peace Park and Museum.

wow deer mingling?? that's interesting~~
hmmm so.. ... u tink i can go there for like from 9 to 5pm?

Hi All,
Thank you for the advise/suggestions. It's very informative. I'll be visiting Tokyo on the 1st week of March. Would like to know if the weather is still as cold as in Feb (ie. 0-10 degress C) and does it rain a lot?
My schedule is quite pack and effectively, I only have 2 free days in Tokyo besides the 1/2 day Tokyo tour and 1 full day Mt Fuji visit which is thrown in for me by the company's travel agent.
I need some advise. Are there any places that is a MUST visit for a 1st time visitors to Tokyo? Some places I'd like to visit are the Tuskiji Fish Market and Odiaba. Also, any suggestions where we can shop for intersting yet affordable Japanese products and souvenirs; Places to try out distinctively Japanese food and culture?
Thanks a million.

Based on the Lonely Planet Japan book, you may find some bargains in the Ameya-yokochou Arcade in Ueno. I think you cant miss Shinjuku..

I think there are plenty of places where you can try out Japanese food. Most restaurants are specialised in something like ramen, sushi, tempura and unagi.

Im sure people with personal experiences will help you more.