Traveling in Japan
Some words to all travelers to Japan:
1. Yes Japan is horribly expensive. It is probably better now than when I was there, since the exchange rate now favors dollars more, but I found back in 1995 that I spent the equivalent of a $100 bill (the 10000 yen note) like it was a $20 bill. More recently (in 2000 on my honeymoon) I found that prices were similar to what I remember them being in 1995. In other words inflation does not seem to have been so bad in Japan. Either that or I am now more used to New York, rather than LA, prices and Japan is fairly comparable to New York. The only prices that seemed noticeably higher since 1995 were the prices of the trains.
2. Try to stay in Youth Hostels if you don't mind dormatory sleeping arrangements. Even these will be expensive by American and European standards, but the regular hotels are generally higher priced and are often lower quality. However, one way to find somewhat reasonable and pretty nice hotels is to use the Japan Hotel Network at http://www.japanhotel.net. We found two very nice and one so-so hotel this way. One of the nice ones was quite cheap as well. For a real authentic Japanese experience, though, shell out the extra bucks to stay in a ryo-kan. These traditional Japanese Inns are wonderful and very different from what we are used to in accommodations. These are best, however if you are with a large group which includes some Japanese speaking people. Wherever you go, try to stay in a "wa-shitsu" or Japanese-style room. It’s a great experience.
3. Don’t be surprised that the so-called polite Japanese are really pretty rude in the streets—it’s a little like Manhattan in some ways, with people pushing past eachother on the subways and crowded streets. Until they have reason to notice you, they really aren’t very nice. But as soon as their attention is drawn to you, they become amazingly polite.
4. Yes, take your shoes off when you enter someplace unless you specifically see a Japanese person wearing shoes. Often they wear slippers inside, but almost never street shoes. Everyone knows this, but it is best to remember because they will be very upset if you forget.
5. Another hard and fast rule: in a public bath always shower first, rinse off all soap, then enter the bath. The actual bath is not for cleaning yourself off per se—you do that first.
6. Otherwise, don’t be too concerned about breaking rules. The Japanese love it when you play by their rules, but they don’t really get offended if you act like a barbarian gaijin. In fact they almost expect it from you. Just be friendly and they’ll like you.
7. Don’t be shocked when you see a lot of swastikas around. It has nothing to do with Nazism but rather is a symbol for a Buddhist temple.
8. Don’t tip. It is not expected and may be misunderstood.
9. If you are going to be traveling alot between cities, buy a Japan Rail Pass BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE STATES!!! The pass is expensive, but is good on the majority of trains you will need, including the expensive bullet train. If you are traveling much at all, get the pass. For more information, see: http://www.japanrail.com/toc.html.
10. If you DON'T get the rail pass, or want a cheaper, though slower, option, there is another train discount in the right season: the "seishun Juu-hachi kippu". This means "seishun 18 ticket". For essentially $100 you get 5 one-day passes for local trains (not for express or bullet trains). Since we found we spent anywhere from $20-70 a day on local trains any day we went any distance, these discount tickets would have saved us alot of money. Unfortunately we just missed the season for this. Ask about this ticket at any JR ticket office in any JR rail station.
Places in Japan Particularly worth seeing (from North to South, roughly)
Nikko:
Click Here for More Nikko Info
Where the tombs of the Tokugawa Shoguns (1603-1868) are located. Since this was one of the most stable, isolated and prosperous periods of Japanese history, Nikko is a very beautiful and impressive place. Toshogu is where the founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate and one of Japan’s national heroes, Tokugawa Ieyasu, is buried. The famous 3 monkeys (see/hear/speak no evil) originated here on a small but beautiful carving.
Kamakura:
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The military/administrative capital of Japan during the Kamakura Shogunate (1185-1333) founded by the Minamoto (Genji) clan and continued by the Hojo regents. Although Kyoto was still the Imperial capital during this time, Kamakura was where the real power lay. Almost exclusively Zen temples and tombs of powerful, military men, this place is surrounded by a simple beauty and strength that I find particularly appealing. Many of the temples have tea houses serving tea and amazake (this "sweet sake" is not really alcoholic, but is more like warm, slightly sweet rice pudding, often with a touch of ginger). Most famous is the daibutsu (Big Buddha) to the South, but I greatly prefer the Northern temples (near Kita-Kamakura station). Particularly nice is the Kenshoji, headquarters of the Rinzai Zen sect. Tokeiji is interesting in that it was something of a feminist temple, founded by the wife of a Minamoto lord, it gave sanctuary to ill-treated wives during a time when women were considered the property of men. Any woman who could make it to the door of the temple was given refuge.
Kyoto:Click Here for More Kyoto Info
The most important city to visit. Eventually I will devote a whole page to Kyoto. For now I will simply say take your time and really explore this living museum. I spent a year there and I still find there are places I didn't get to see. I greatly prefer Northern Kyoto over Southern Kyoto, but both have some spectacular stuff. Whatever you do, make the extra effort to see the Shugakuin (in the Northeast corner of the city) and the Katsura (in the Southwest corner) Imperial Villas. You have to go to the Imperial Palace (the Gosho near the center of the city) to make reservations. Do this the day you arrive in Kyoto if you can!! I advise you to plan your stay around these two places since they are among the lovliest things in Japan. Take a Japanese guide if you can. They will appreciate the chance to see the villas themselves since it takes months for a Japanese person to get reservations while foreign tourists can get reservations in a few days. Also see the Buddhist temples called Kiyomizudera (great view!), Kinkakuji (gold-covered! see photo above), Ginkakuji (beautiful moss garden), and Honen-in (very quaint and pleasant, see if you can get a tour of the inside). For pleasant nearby excursions, go South to .
Uji to see the Byoodoin or go North to Kurama. The best guide to Kyoto that I have come across is: Exploring Kyoto : On Foot Through the Ancient Capital by Judith Clancy . I didn't get around to reading this book until we were already leaving Kyoto, but next time I am in Kyoto I may well plan my trip completely using the walking tours described in this book.
Nara:Click Here for More Nara Info
Close by to Kyoto and also one of the most important places in Japan to visit. Again, I hope eventually to devote a page to Nara, but for now I will recommend not only the main sights in the center of the city (including the truly impressive Giant Buddha (Daibustu)) but also go out to the surrounding temples. A place often missed by Westerners, but a real treat is the Hooryuji temple. This temple is the oldest still existing Buddhist temple in Japan, one of the world’s oldest wooden structures and has been named an International Treasure by the UN. It is better than any of the more commonly seen sites, but is harder to get to. A good and inexpensive (relatively) hotel in Nara is the Hotel Sunroute Nara. Sunroute is a chain of hotels and they all might be good but I've only been to the one in Nara. I ade reservations for the Sunroute Nara online through the Japan Hotel Network (see above).
Mount Fuji:Climbing mount Fuji includes some of the most impressive views I have ever seen. You find yourself very much above the clouds. The popular thing to do is to climb up at night and watch the dawn. It is supposed to be extremely spectacular to do this. I'm too old for that and love my sleep too much. So I climbed up during the day. Make sure you have good footwear!! It is technically not such a hard hike, but it is also not easy. The altitude increase is quite a strain both on the muscles and on the lungs. It might be a good idea to stay a night at the 5th station (the usual starting point about half way up) to help acclimatize. We hiked up and down the Kawaguchiko route and highly recommend it. However, there are, I think, three other possible routes, all of similar difficulty but with different views. We stayed at the Lakeland Hotel in Kawaguchiko. This was a nice, friendly hotel with excellent food, though it is a bit expensive. The food is great, but it is very traditionally Japanese, so people who only likw hambergers may not like it. There is a focus on seafood. Again, we booked this hotel online through the Japan Hotel Network.
Osaka: Click Here for More Osaka Info
A big, ugly city. Not as expensive as Tokyo, but almost as lively a place. Good nightlife indeed. I even went to a half way decent Mexican restaurant and a superb French restaurant. The best sight is Osaka-jo (Osaka castle). Built in 1583 by Hideyoshi, destroyed by Tokugawa Ieyasu in his final battle in the long fight to control Japan (1615), rebuilt then burned again by the later Tokugawa during the Meiji restoration, its current form restored in 1931. It is a large, spectacular castle which is today a museum of medieval Japanese history.
Ise:
Here is the Shinto shrine of the Imperial family, and the most important Shinto shrine in Japan. Many Shinto priests (don’t try to take their picture!) and temple maiden dancers. This is the places where Emperors have come for nearly 2000 years to play homage to Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess who is their ancestress.
Himeji: Click Here for More Himeji Info
West of Kobe along the coast of the Inland Sea, this small, pleasant city is home to the most beautiful castle in all of Japan (see picture below). Originally built in 1581 by the national hero Hideyoshi (the "George Washington" of Japan, perhaps, but detested by Koreans due to his excessively bloody and cruel wars against Korea) but considerably reconstructed since then. Known as the "egret castle" because it is white and graceful like an egret. I am not sure there is that much other than the castle to see in Himeji, so it can be visited as a brief stop on the way to someplace else since it is right on a major train line. But if you want to stay a night, it is a pleasant city (though we noticed some smog there the second time I was there). A pretty good hotel is the Sun Garden Hotel in Himeji. Like Sunroute this is another hotel chain in Japan and is pretty decent.
Hiroshima: Click Here for More Hiroshima Info
Unlike so many cities destroyed in WWII in Asia and in Europe, Hiroshima was rebuilt with a plan. Consequently, it is a very beautiful and spacious city, which is rare in Japan. But, since it was destroyed so dramatically and completely, there is little of an old character to the city and it is almost completely modern. The Peace Park is very moving. As a memorial to those who died and as a reminder of the horrors of nuclear war, it is powerful, and the context of the bombing is presented to some extent as well. There is also a nice, though small, castle (completely reconstructed, of course, since the original was destroyed by the bomb) and a very nice garden near the castle (the Shukkeien Garden). A pretty good and relatively inexpensive hotel (not great, but adequate) is the Hiroshima Business Hotel, right across the street from the main train station.
Nagasaki: Click Here for More Nagasaki Info
When Nagasaki was bombed, the bomb was not aimed at the center of the city, but rather at the Mitsubishi shipyards to the North. This, combined with the mountainous character of the city, meant that, though devastated, the city was not completely destroyed. Consequently there is still an old and unique feeling to this city. Since Nagasaki was the only city in Japan open to foreigners during the long, isolationist Tokugawa Shogunate, it has a region with Dutch architecture and a genuine Chinatown that includes an impressive Confucian Shrine which is technically part of the People’s Republic of China much like an embassy is the property of the nation whose ambassador resides there. This Confucian shrine is well worth a look. The Peace Park here is also very moving.
Aso and Takachiho: Click Here for (a tiny bit) More Aso and Takachiho Info
Other places I want to devote a page to. Aso is good for hiking not only around town, but also up to the very active volcano that looks like a boiling mass of sulfuric acid. The Youth Hostel in Aso is a good place to stay and is close to the trail up to the volcano. Further away, though, is a nice hotel (though a bit expensive) called the Kadoman Hotel some distance from Aso station. It is nice, friendly and has pretty good food for dinner (very traditional Japanese food). Breakfast is mediocre, though. There is also a hotspring near the hotel, but we didn't visit it. Takachiho is on the opposite side of the volcano from Aso Station. Near Takachiho is one of the more holy Shinto shrines in Japan, the Amano-Iwato shrine. There is a whole myth surrounding the place which is interesting in itself. But the shrine is most impressive for the beautiful river valley it sits in and for the sacred cave you can visit (there is another, more sacred one where only the Shinto priests can go). The cave is packed with thousands of candles from pilgrims (well, tourists) coming to worship at the place. It contains an overwhelming feeling of BELIEF. In town there is also the Takachiho shrine where every night there is a Shinto dance performance which is interesting as well as amusing (the last dance is done very tongue-in-cheek even though it is a holy dance). We liked the Iwakuni Ryokan (a traditional style Japanese Inn) to stay in. A bit expensive, but very good food and very good service. It is across from the bus station and fairly close to the train station.
Okinawa: Click Here for More Okinawa Info
I may also include a page for this place. The main island, Naha, has a great Youth Hostel. I rented a bicycle and biked around the Southern area of the island, visiting a massive cavern complex and the very unique castle (Shurijo). I also stumbled upon a local bullfight. The Okinawan bullfighting is nothing like Spanish bullfighting. It is more like two bulls in a ring doing sumo wrestling. If you see a crowd in a village, take a peek and see if their betting on a bullfight. If they are, take a break to watch. It’s very interesting. Another Okinawan island worth seeing is Iriomote. Great snorkeling and scuba diving, and great hiking through real mangrove swamps and jungle. The youth hostel there is also excellent and they are very friendly. Each night after dinner I found that a bunch of young Japanese people would just be sitting around, drinking and talking and they were very interested in talking to a foreigner.
See Pictures from my year in Japan
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