Japan - Advice Please

Loose_Lips

Right - a call to my Japanese based OMJ brothers....

Mostly likely off to Japan for Christmas and New Year for the SP's 30th birthday - probably two weeks. Need to squeeze some skiing in there at some point for a few days.

Let me have it - do's/don'ts - will anything be open over that period etc etc

KOTS - playing any clubs on New Years eve? The SP's birthday is New Years day.

I await instruction.

Placid

KOTS is indeed the OMJ man in Japan but Sapporo is fkin brill in fact all of Japan was for me. Ditch the wife and go to Soapland.

king_of_the_slums

Everything'll be open, they don't do Christmas, apart from the buying stuff.

Get enough cash out to cover you from the 1st to 4th Jan - all banks shut, and when the banks are shut, so are the ATM networks.

Sking, I'd sack Hokkaido off, it'll be cold and expensive, try Naeba or Hakuba, only 1.5 hours away from Tokes on the shinkansen.

I'll be back over new-year with the SP.

Hotel in Tokyo, recommend the Okura, it's like a set from a 70's Bond flick and the service is spot on.

I'd do; Tokyo, Hakone (hot springs) and Hakuba (place where they had he Nagano winter olympics).

Sapporo, expect it to be minus 10 and 12 foot of snow. Kyoto, surprising gets very cold, but worth a trip, expecially with the SP.

Get a Japan Railcard, you need to apply before you leave I believe, trains every 5 minutes everywhere, but they ain't cheap. With the card you can go on any train, except the fastest Nozumi bullet train.

king_of_the_slums

For Hakone (hot springs) stay at Kinnotake Ryokan (Japanese Inn) - the website's here http://www.kinnotake.com/Best place I've stayed in, bar none, it's beyond five star and will get he SP in a dizzy staight of 'why's LL not asked me to marry him?'

They only have 8 rooms, bit pricey, but you're worth it.. ;)

Loose_Lips

king of the slums wrote'why's LL not asked me to marry him?'

Whoa there, hold up. You're talking me into downgrading this whole thing.Cheers.And for a night out on New Years?

Loose_Lips

king of the slums wroteSapporo, expect it to be minus 10 and 12 foot of snow. Kyoto, surprising gets very cold, but worth a trip, expecially with the SP.

What I'm hearing is I need some new gear to go out in. :DThis gets better and better.

king_of_the_slums

Sapporo's like Whistler, Naeba/Hakone more like Chamonix, expect to see some sun whilst out.

New Year, there's bound to be something on, Yellow has reopened as Eleven, and could go either way, maybe Idjut Boys or Harvey, but most probably Frankie Knuckles and Dave Morales.

Usually there's something on every night of the week, almost too much choice.

Will give you the heads up closer the date on what's on and where.

fredvomjupiter

Get cash out before you go, as we found that many ATM systems do not recognise English cards. We spent three days having to borrow from our host and then spend a further thirty quid ringing our banks back home to try and get them to authorise them for Japan (and yes we had rung and told them first.)

tongue_tied_danny

When I was in Tokyo last year I had no real problems getting cash. There was a post office just around the corner from my Ryokan with 24 hr ATMs.

I had no problems spunking the cash away either, the exchange rate went from over 200 yens to the pound to about 140 within a couple of weeks of booking my flight. It blew a hole right in my budget. I was checking Bloomberg's website every day for signs that the pound would recover or the yen would collapse. The bastards were cock teasing me with talk of the Jap government devaluing the yen to aid their exports but this never materialised.

I just wish their economy would crumble so I could afford to go back.

k4kick

I had no trouble with my Nationwide bank account but I did try to use the ATMs at the post office over there.

The Japan Rail pass doesn't get you on the Nazomi but we got off with using it as the conductor didn't know ANY English. It's worth trying to get on as it's amazingly fast even when compared to the other bullet train!!

I found food really cheap but it was very expensive to go out drinking.

Mitaman

Loose Lips wroteRight - a call to my Japanese based OMJ brothers....Mostly likely off to Japan for Christmas and New Year for the SP's 30th birthday - probably two weeks. Need to squeeze some skiing in there at some point for a few days.Let me have it - do's/don'ts - will anything be open over that period etc etcKOTS - playing any clubs on New Years eve? The SP's birthday is New Years day.I await instruction.

Here you go LL, looks like the lifts opened today, with a reasonable early covering. There will be another 3-4 metres by the time you get here mind.http://www.skijapan.com/templates/sjp/page/page_html_standard.php?secID=728

Loose_Lips

Mitaman wrote
Loose Lips wroteRight - a call to my Japanese based OMJ brothers....Mostly likely off to Japan for Christmas and New Year for the SP's 30th birthday - probably two weeks. Need to squeeze some skiing in there at some point for a few days.Let me have it - do's/don'ts - will anything be open over that period etc etcKOTS - playing any clubs on New Years eve? The SP's birthday is New Years day.I await instruction.
Here you go LL, looks like the lifts opened today, with a reasonable early covering. There will be another 3-4 metres by the time you get here mind.http://www.skijapan.com/templates/sjp/page/page_html_standard.php?secID=728

Ace. Although I can't ski hence why the missus has booked me a full day lesson on Monday at the Chill Factor. She'll be happy though - cheers for the spot!

king_of_the_slums

http://www.snodeck.net/# Snodeck's a nice spot, time it right though otherwiise you might be stuck in the apres ski with a load of tech-house hippies and trustafarians on the decks..

Mitaman

Loose Lips wrote
Mitaman wrote
Loose Lips wroteRight - a call to my Japanese based OMJ brothers....Mostly likely off to Japan for Christmas and New Year for the SP's 30th birthday - probably two weeks. Need to squeeze some skiing in there at some point for a few days.Let me have it - do's/don'ts - will anything be open over that period etc etcKOTS - playing any clubs on New Years eve? The SP's birthday is New Years day.I await instruction.
Here you go LL, looks like the lifts opened today, with a reasonable early covering. There will be another 3-4 metres by the time you get here mind.http://www.skijapan.com/templates/sjp/page/page_html_standard.php?secID=728
Ace. Although I can't ski hence why the missus has booked me a full day lesson on Monday at the Chill Factor. She'll be happy though - cheers for the spot!

Don't bring too much kit with you, buy it here. Skis and shit very cheap, even with the current unfavourable exchange. Last year, they wanted to charge me JPY6,000 for edging and waxing my skis, and a new pair (last years colours) were JPY7,000. Jimbocho is the place to go for kit. More ski shops on one road than the whole of Switzerland.

Loose_Lips

Japan based OMJ brethren!! Any recommendations for UK websites where I can order my passes for the bullet train?? Just been ordered by the SP to check with you "...because despite the fact they are probably grooming you LL, those OMGayers seem to know what they are talking about."She's still not come round to OMJ at all really. Dunno why like...Cheers ;)

tongue_tied_danny

Loose Lips wroteJapan based OMJ brethren!! Any recommendations for UK websites where I can order my passes for the bullet train?? Just been ordered by the SP to check with you "...because despite the fact they are probably grooming you LL, those OMGayers seem to know what they are talking about."She's still not come round to OMJ at all really. Dunno why like...Cheers ;)

My Time Out Tokyo guide lists this website: http://japanrailpass.net/

Placid

Loose Lips wroteJapan based OMJ brethren!! Any recommendations for UK websites where I can order my passes for the bullet train?? Just been ordered by the SP to check with you "...because despite the fact they are probably grooming you LL, those OMGayers seem to know what they are talking about."She's still not come round to OMJ at all really. Dunno why like...Cheers ;)

you lucky lucky lucky bastard. japan my favorite country I've been to.

tongue_tied_danny

placidcasual wrote
Loose Lips wroteJapan based OMJ brethren!! Any recommendations for UK websites where I can order my passes for the bullet train?? Just been ordered by the SP to check with you "...because despite the fact they are probably grooming you LL, those OMGayers seem to know what they are talking about."She's still not come round to OMJ at all really. Dunno why like...Cheers ;)
you lucky lucky lucky bastard. japan my favorite country I've been to.

The first two or three days I was in Tokyo I hated it and was wishing I'd gone to Thailand instead. I'd been refused entry to a couple of Izakayas for being a gaijin, ripped off with a cover charge in some Ginza sushi bar, I had difficulty finding my way around on the underground. But then it all fell into place, I learned how to get around, figured out which bars were gaijin friendly and I hooked up with some desperate 35 year old j-gal who still lived with her parents. I was there for ten days and I really started to love it. It was hard work at first as it's not really set up for tourists but with a bit of perserverence it was fucking brilliant.

king_of_the_slums

tongue_tied_danny wrote
placidcasual wrote
Loose Lips wroteJapan based OMJ brethren!! Any recommendations for UK websites where I can order my passes for the bullet train?? Just been ordered by the SP to check with you "...because despite the fact they are probably grooming you LL, those OMGayers seem to know what they are talking about."She's still not come round to OMJ at all really. Dunno why like...Cheers ;)
you lucky lucky lucky bastard. japan my favorite country I've been to.
The first two or three days I was in Tokyo I hated it and was wishing I'd gone to Thailand instead. I'd been refused entry to a couple of Izakayas for being a gaijin, ripped off with a cover charge in some Ginza sushi bar, I had difficulty finding my way around on the underground. But then it all fell into place, I learned how to get around, figured out which bars were gaijin friendly and I hooked up with some desperate 35 year old j-gal who still lived with her parents. I was there for ten days and I really started to love it. It was hard work at first as it's not really set up for tourists but with a bit of perserverence it was fucking brilliant.

It's a lot more set up for tourists now than it was, at least you have codes on the subway stations, "excuse me mr station master I'd like to go to station C6." Still gets met with total confusion, but at least they've tried accomodating you foreign types that all smell of milk and butter.. :lol:

king_of_the_slums

tongue_tied_danny wrote
placidcasual wrote
Loose Lips wroteJapan based OMJ brethren!! Any recommendations for UK websites where I can order my passes for the bullet train?? Just been ordered by the SP to check with you "...because despite the fact they are probably grooming you LL, those OMGayers seem to know what they are talking about."She's still not come round to OMJ at all really. Dunno why like...Cheers ;)
you lucky lucky lucky bastard. japan my favorite country I've been to.
The first two or three days I was in Tokyo I hated it and was wishing I'd gone to Thailand instead. I'd been refused entry to a couple of Izakayas for being a gaijin, ripped off with a cover charge in some Ginza sushi bar, I had difficulty finding my way around on the underground. But then it all fell into place, I learned how to get around, figured out which bars were gaijin friendly and I hooked up with some desperate 35 year old j-gal who still lived with her parents. I was there for ten days and I really started to love it. It was hard work at first as it's not really set up for tourists but with a bit of perserverence it was fucking brilliant.

Reminds me of my first month in November 2000 - 80 year old old geezer walks up to me, spits on my shoes, and tells the girl I'm with (in perfect English), this American dog has got AIDS!