Thinking of two weeks in Japan in the middle of the year ... advice?

[Keith]

Full time work has been remuneratively kind to me over the last six months and I'm thinking of having a break in the middle of the year. I haven't been out of Oz for a long time and am thinking of an OS holiday and Japan appeals to me. Not haunting camera shops but seeing Japan for the people and culture and it's landscape ... city and country.

Some advice would be appreciated from the many members we have here who reside in this fascinating country. How much Japanese would I need to know to be comfortable travelling and what do people regard as the must see areas? What are the pitfalls if any?

Thanks in advance. 🙂

 

[jonmanjiro]

Hey Keith, a trip to Japan? Great, why not! I'd be happy to show you around my part of town 🙂

> I'm thinking of having a break in the middle of the year.

Its probably not an issue for a resident of southern Queensland, but be warned that Japan is hot and humid from late June through to late September and brutally hot and humid from about late July to the end of August. On the plus side, there are lots of great festivals held all over Japan during the summer and it would definitely be worth catching one or two.

> How much Japanese would I need to know to be comfortable travelling

Your travel experience will certainly be enhanced the more Japanese you can speak, but you'll manage just fine with English only.

> what do people regard as the must see areas?

For a first visit to Japan, Kyoto would have to figure in there. Perhaps Hiroshima too. With a stopover in Tokyo/Yokohama for the big city experience.

> What are the pitfalls if any?

Its an extremely safe country to travel in. And cheap enough too if you do it right. These days I find Australia to be ridiculously over priced in comparison. On the subject of pitfalls, one I can think of would be travelling at the same time the Japanese do (in summer that's early to late August just before, during, and just after the obon holiday period). Prices for hotels and flights get jacked up and they fill up quickly regardless.

 

[shimokita]

For something like a first visit for two weeks or so jonmanjiro is correct... I guess it would be easy enough to fly into Osaka and day-trips to Hiroshima (might be very warm there...), Kyoto, Nara... shinkansen to Tokyo... with side-trips... and fly out of the Tokyo area... a lot depends on what your specific interest might be... mountains, ocean, sake, ceramics, food, cultural sites... it's really wide open... and so much ground to cover as you want.

Many areas have food specialties and if that's an interest it might be good to hook up with some locals. The guide books don't really touch the surface and can miss a lot of the interesting points...

With a little planning you'll have a great time...

Casey

 

[ornate_wrasse]

If you choose to learn Japanese before you go, I recommend learning by the Pimsleur Method. Here's a link http://www.pimsleur.com/Learn-Japanese#cd

Note that I'm not suggesting you buy anything! Before my 2005 trip to visit my nephew in Tokyo, I went to my local library and checked out a set of CDs. This cost me absolutely nothing. I practiced perhaps 30 minutes per day for a couple months before my trip. It worked great and I was able to learn enough Japanese to get around. I knew that the program had worked when I found myself being complimented on my Japanese by native speakers of the language!

I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to Japan and I wouldn't hesitate to go back.

Ellen

 

[Maiku]

Keith,

Head to Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, and Kobe. You get a lot of the old and new and international mixed in. Osaka is a modern bustling Japanese city with a huge castle. Kyoto and Nara have more temples and shrines than could see in a lifetime. Kobe is considered the most international flavored city in Japan. I have only passed through it, so I cannot verify that.

As for arriving and getting around the Kansai offers the best option. Why? Osaka is a major international hub. All four cities are in within easy travel to each other. Kyoto is 45-minutes from Osaka. Kyoto is 45-minutes from Nara. Osaka is 1-hour from Kobe. There would be no need to buy a Japanese Rail Pass. You could just buy the Kansai Rail Pass. Much cheaper, but just as effective.

If you wanted to see the countryside and go for a hike you could go to Lake Biwa near Kyoto. Or head to the Pacific Ocean in Wakayama prefecture. The Kansai has a lot to offer.

Do not try to see everything. The one lesson I have learned travelling it best to have a base camp and then fan out. Plop your suitcase down and settle in. Get to know the area. Trying to go to Kyoto, Hiroshima, Tokyo etc. is a pain. Pack, unpack, pack, unpack. If you are only heading to Japan for two-weeks stay in the Kansai. You will get to know Japan well enough from one spot.

Learn some Japanese as Jon said to help enhance your stay. Go in either May or Sept/Oct.

I hope this helps Keith. Enjoy Japan.

Mike

 

[cz23]

Regarding language, my son and I spent ten days in Kyoto a few years ago, and we found only one person who spoke English. I was really surprised. Fortunately, we took a phrase book along and would show it to people.

A funny side note: we're both vegetarian, but the book had a phrase, "I'm vegetarian, please no meat, fish, fowl, or eggs." We showed that in many restaurants throughout Kyoto and Nara, and every one brought out the same identical meal - soba noodles.

Be sure to make some time to visit temples. Nothing quite like it anywhere. Next time I'd be inclined to visit more off the tourist path locations. I'm sure our Japanese members could help with that. Enjoy!

John

 

[ampguy]

about 30 words

about 30 words

This tutorial/journal by my late friend, was all I needed for my first few trips.

Later when I lived there, I had a couple of years of studying done, but ironically, most of my business work discussions were still in English.

Learn the train symbols and lines, maybe get an app or two, GPS's can be wonky when in between a lot of high rises.

http://www.liu-family.org/TOT/tot1.html

Full time work has been remuneratively kind to me over the last six months and I'm thinking of having a break in the middle of the year. I haven't been out of Oz for a long time and am thinking of an OS holiday and Japan appeals to me. Not haunting camera shops but seeing Japan for the people and culture and it's landscape ... city and country.

Some advice would be appreciated from the many members we have here who reside in this fascinating country. How much Japanese would I need to know to be comfortable travelling and what do people regard as the must see areas? What are the pitfalls if any?

Thanks in advance. 🙂

 

[kxl]

My wife and I plan to visit Japan next year, specifically to take part in Hanami and follow the sakura from south to north.

 

[dfatty]

sounds like a great trip, keith. i've only been there on a couple of short trips so i'll leave the where-to-go advice to the experts.

one thing i did find disconcerting that i wasn't expecting is the uneasy sense that not being able to read any of the signs (on stores, on street signs, on entrances to public trans, etc.) gave me. for me it was different than being, for example, in non-english european countries where you can make out what a sign says because it uses similar characters to the english alphabet. i'm sure there's a term for that but i don't know what it is. anyway, luckily i was always with a japanese speaker so it wasn't a problem, but it did throw me (others may differ of course). in urban areas, i believe that english signage is becoming more common.

it should be a great trip, it's very safe there and in my experience the japanese are very nice and very considerate. it's also been my experience that they often speak and understand much more english than they will let on, for fear of not speaking as well as they would like. definitely bring a dictionary or device to translate.

interesting, there are apparently phone or tablet apps that let you take a picture of a japanese kanji and gives you a translation. here's one - i've never tried it so i have no idea how well it works, and reviews seem average. maybe there are better ones out there.

http://www.survivingnjapan.com/2011/06/japan-goggles-translates-kanji-from.html

 

[raid]

If time permits, Keith, add to your plans (Kyoto, Hiroshima, Kobe, ... etc.) to travel by train to the "Japanese Alps" and visit Takayama. Get the (one week pass) train ticket from Australia (much cheaper) than buying it from Japan. We managed in Japan without speaking one word Japanese. It takes longer to communicate with people, but it is lots of fun. we spent as a family six weeks in Nagoya (South of Tokyo), and our trip included a one week "travel around by train" portion.

 

[tonyc]

Forget Nara, try and go somewhere off the coach tour curcuit.

How about a trip to Naoshima, amazing islands with old and new buildings
hosting some of the best permanent art installations in Japan, and the surrounding area is home to Udon !!

Also make sure to go out of town and visit a nice onsen.
There is a lovely train called the "Romance Car" with view seats at the front and back facing the track, which goes to nice onsen towns such as Hakone.

As Jon said, it is freaky hot in summer !

-TC

 

[GaryLH]

Nice.. Have fun out there. I have never had the opportunity to go out there on vacation.

Gary

 

[bsdunek]

Glad you started this thread, Keith. We are planning on going to Japan in late May. My Stepson and his wife are in the Army Band at Camp Zama, so that will be our central point. They have been there a year, and have done a lot of traveling, so we're depending on them. Still, I want to find out all I can about the places to visit.
Hope you have a good time.

 

[maddoc]

Everything I can think of has been mentioned already, so I only would repeat that mainland Japan in summer is not the best season to travel but manageable thanks to the huge amount of air-conditioners everywhere.