Tokyo?

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ktmrider

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I am headed to the Philippines and Vietnam in October and early November. I am toying with the idea of stopping in Tokyo for 4 to 6 days. I figure I could do some camera shopping and photography so looking for information on Tokyo.

How hard is it to get around? Are camera (film) prices any better then the US? Have heard Tokyo is expensive? Would the stop over be worth doing? Any other comments would be useful.
 
Tokyo is one of my favorite cities. I speak and read japanese at the "fair" level, so my idea about easy of getting around is skewed.

In the city itself, signage at train and subway stations all have English as well as Japanese. There are rail and subway maps in English available at the stations for free. Most places you might want to visit describe directions from a nearby station.

Tokyo certainly can be expensive, but doesn't have to be. I'll be there in four weeks from today. My hotel is 7000 yen a night plus tax, it includes a basic breakfast.

I've taken a quick look at Yodobashi's web site. Film prices are higher than B&H and lower than what local places here try to get for film.

I'm going for a week, so I think it's worthwhile. My plans include hiking in the mountainous far western part or Tokyo Prefecture. The Tokyo Metro Museum of Photography at Ebisu Garden Place. Nihon Minka-en (collection of farm house museum). Night photography of some of the narrow twisty residential streets.

--mike
 
http://tokyocamerastyle.com/post/71189873522/announcing-part-2-of-my-tokyo-photo-travel-guide

http://www.japancamerahunter.com/2013/05/the-complete-tokyo-camera-shopping-guide/

I was in Tokyo for 8 days last year... great city! Lots to see. Easy to get around by rail/subway (I have no idea about driving there). There's sufficient English signage to get by on the subway, but rural bus services could be more challenging. Here Google Maps will be your friend... though IIRC, my phone didn't work there. I was traveling with my GF and we rented a mobile wifi hotspot device for portable internet access (you can get these at the airport when you arrive). She is native Mandarin speaker. Between my English and her Chinese (because some Japanese characters have similarities with Chinese), we were able to figure things out, like restaurant menus. Eating out can be a bit of a challenge because most of the restaurants we tried were not necessarily geared towards foreign tourists and usually didn't have English menus. But most had illustrated menus. Don't count on store staff, servers, etc. being proficient in English, even at a basic level, though the staff at the camera stores I visited were OK (Yodobashi and Map Camera).

We stayed with friends, so didn't have to spend on a hotel, but I felt restaurant prices were similar to larger, costlier American cities. You can eat cheap there, with decent quality, if you look around. However, if you want quality sushi, sashimi, wagyu beef, etc., you will pay for it.

I don't shoot film, so can't comment there. Some of the camera gear at that time (when the exchange was much better at 125 JPY to the USD) was substantially less than in the US, particularly Zeiss and Voigtlander lenses, but other gear was very similarly priced. If you're into buying used, particularly older, harder to find equipment, Tokyo will seem like paradise. Huge selection and often in very good condition. Some places are not necessarily bargains, but those apparently can be found with some legwork.

If you have the time, I would definitely recommend the visit, if anything, as a contrast to what you'll experience in other Asian countries and large cities.
 
To my taste Japan, and Tokyo in particular, is by far the best street photography stage where I've been.
Here my Flickr album devoted to it: https://www.flickr.com/photos/130082956@N04/albums/72157669716365675

As for gear shopping, it's definitely cheaper than Europe (and I guess than US too) for Japanese stuff, much more expensive for European material.
I could score a mint black Ricoh GR1s for 330$, which is quite hard to do in EU.
 
My favourite city for street photography, food, the people, crime free, and it doesn't have to be expensive. The city is well organized, a purpose for everything, as busy as it is, it moves along almost effortlessly. I was there May 2016 and found camera prices to be on the high side compared to North America but great selection, you see stuff you may not find anywhere else. The quality is good, the people there buy lots of cameras but don't beat them up too much.
 
I love Tokyo. Getting around via public transportation (train, metro, taxi) is easy. The people are nice, friendly and incredibly honest. I had asked a couple of people for directions and they actually wanted to take me there rather than just giver me directions!

And the food...!!! It can be expensive, but doesn't have to be. I do regret not visiting Yodobashi Camera just to see a proper camera store, but I will next time. Jon or others can probably weigh in.

4-6 days should be sufficient to see some of the city's highlights, but if it were me, I would want to see other parts of Japan in addition to Tokyo while I'm there, which would be impossible in 4-6 days. Interestingly, I'm taking the same trip that you are (Philippines, Vietnam) a week or two after your schedule. In our case, we're crossing into Cambodia from Vietnam to spend time in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap.
 
ktmrider said:
I am headed to the Philippines and Vietnam in October and early November. I am toying with the idea of stopping in Tokyo for 4 to 6 days. I figure I could do some camera shopping and photography so looking for information on Tokyo.

How hard is it to get around? Are camera (film) prices any better then the US? Have heard Tokyo is expensive? Would the stop over be worth doing? Any other comments would be useful.
Click to expand...

I've been in Tokyo twice, first time for two and half months in the Fall of 1992 and then again for about 10 days during October 2002. It's a wonderful city. The trains can take you just about everywhere you can't walk, the people are great, there are tons of things to see and photograph.

You can find cameras and electronics in Tokyo that are unfindable anywhere else, but you won't find low prices on good quality stuff ... at least I was never able to. I have no idea what film there costs nowadays; it was expensive in 1992; I carried all my own film and processed it back in the USA.

I shot film in 1992, mostly with an Olympus Stylus and a Nikon FM. Sadly, in an apartment renovation about 2001 or so, all my negatives from the 1992 trip were lost or destroyed and very few of them had been scanned.

By 2002, I was using digital cameras and carried my Sony Cybershot DSC-F707. I have several hundred photos made during that ten days, only a few of which I've processed, like this one:


Sony Cybershot DSC-707
ISO 100 @ f/2 @ 1/60 @ 9.7mm​

Do go if you get the chance. Maybe you'll find some deals. I seem to recall that most of the interesting camera shops were in the Shinjuku district, to the east near Yoyogi Park and Gingu.

Someday I'll get back there again, I hope.

G
 
From El Paso to Tokyo, if it's your first, just get on subway, go to Asakusa, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Tsukuji, Roppongi, Ginza, visit Map, Bic, Yodobashi and some small camera shops along the way...German gears are way more expensive there, new digital stuff are more expensive than in US too...

Our man in Tokyo, or Yokohama, Jon and maddoc should give you more info
soon I think...
When I was in Tokyo...I bought a newest issue of Asahi Camera Magazine, take the train and go anywhere the train took me to :cool:

As a akb48 fan, I'd go to Akihabara to see them on stage, too bad my favorite Maeda Atsuko and Oshima Yuko were both 'graduated' from akb48...

Odaiba, Tokyo

by
t a i p e imetro

pentax dslr, smc pentax18-55
 
KTM, whatever you do, please don't take another photo of sleeping commuters on the subway, especially with your camera on your lap.
 
Have not decided yet. My usual travel partner is my daughter but physical therapy school is occupying her time these days. We are spending two weeks in Mexico City and Cabo San Lucas for Xmas break and she said Japan in May would be an option.

For sure the Philippines as I was there three weeks last Oct/Nov planning a motorcycle trip around Luzon, revisiting Subic Bay as I spent a couple years on aircraft carriers in the Pacific as a pilot in the early 1980's and we were in Subic lots, and WW2 sites. Well, a typhoon, a cracked rib from a local massuse, and influenza changed my plans and I did not get anything on my list accomplished.
 
Took the family to Japan in March this year. Stayed in Tokyo and Kyoto for 4 days each. Planning a similar trip for next year.
I would highly recommend these destinations for any fist time visitor to Japan.
Go. You won't regret it!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I went to Tokyo in 2005 to visit my nephew, who taught English in a high school in Tokyo. He told me one thing at the time of my visit that has stuck with me. When you go to the camera district (I forget the name of it), the best prices will be at the shops that are further away from the subway stop. If you go to the shops that are close to the subway, you will pay more.

There is a color negative film that my nephew bought for me the last time he visited his inlaws in Japan (he now lives in the US and is married to a Japanese woman) that is not sold in the US. It was available in Japan a few years ago so not sure it it's still available. It is Fujifilm Natura 1600. I have used it for low light photography with a film camera. Here's a link where you can read more about it http://www.thephoblographer.com/2015/10/26/the-beauty-of-fujifilm-natura-1600-film/#.V89YI1ci0rU

Tokyo is an awesome city to visit. You definitely should go there.
 
pyeh said:
KTM, whatever you do, please don't take another photo of sleeping commuters on the subway, especially with your camera on your lap.
Click to expand...

Really?! Noooooo...

Thank god, it's not in Tokyo, Osaka です :D

New Osaka Eki (station), 新大阪驛

by
t a i p e i metro

pentax dslr, pentax 18-55
 
To get easily around in Tokyo a PASMO rechargeable commuter card is a must. Figuring out the fares at smaller stations is a hassle because there often enough the station names are only written in Japanese and to change between Metro, Japan Railway and private operated railways would require buying a new ticket at every station when you have to change trains.

Google Maps is very helpful in Tokyo because you can enter any address also in English and easily find your way through the city. Therefore plan getting some WiFi or SIM card for your smartphone or tablet.

Yodobashi has a relatively good selection of Rollei, Kentmere, Ilford, and Kodak BW films but prices are not cheap. A roll of Cinestill 135-36 is JPY1800, the BW films sale for about JPY1000 per 135-36 roll. Fuji Natura 1600 is still available, about JPY2500 for the three roll 135-36 pack at Yodobashi.

Of all the cameras and lenses I ever bought (a lot !!) only very few were bought locally in shops here in Japan. You have to know very precisely what you want and what would be a good price and then spend some time visiting small camera shops (not the well known names in Shinjuku, Nakano or Ginza) to hopefully find what you are looking for. However, if you are looking for some special items like an E34 yellow filter (for the Summar) or other not so common items you can be lucky finding those cheap here in Tokyo.

For day trips I would bring a pair of good shoes that allow you to walk a lot and a small day bag for camera, films etc. So far Tokyo is relatively safe and I would not be to worried about pocket picking as for example when visiting some European tourist spots.

Tourism has increased a lot recently in Japan, booking a hotel room in advance is advisable, especially if you plan to visit when there is a longer weekend here in Japan.

Good food is plenty and cheap if you take your time and look around. In small Izakaya or Ramen shop hardly anybody will speak English but people are usually very helpful.

+1 to no more photos of people sleeping in trains.
 
The world is yours; it's easy enough to travel through Tokyo knowing zero Japanese. As long as you overcome the embarrassment of being a fool, most people are friendly enough to help you along.

I recommend making a trip to Shakaden Reiyukai temple.


Lights until sunset


Shinjuku Nights
 
Tokyo is a hoot.

Be sure to visit the used camera stores, best in the world. Especially Fujiya in Nakano one train stop from Tokyo.

I hired a guide. Make contact with the RFFers in Tokyo. Have a great time.
 
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