Archived:ThingsToDoInJapan

Planning map: http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF&msa=0&msid=204105967792383833329.0004ac9821ad0c6e9dccf

• game
• Hiroshima memorial thing

The plan of some friends of mine who went and enjoyed it, which may be useful as a reference: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z1agBa6BbmqP6Q8MPCNbKC-YiYkwXM3xqTQj9d-vBm0/edit

Itinerary

• Sat 17th: Some people fly and...
• Sun 18th: arrive in Tokyo, early am. Train to Odawara, visit Odawara Castle, Owakudani boiling sulphur eggs (7 years of life each!), Pirate Ships, Hot Springs, etc. Bus to Hakone, explore lake. Stay at Moto-Hakone. BOOKED.
• Mon 19th: Team converge in Osaka. Meeting at noon at the "Plum" restaurant for lunch. pm, explore Osaka, visit aquarium. Stay in Osaka TO BOOK
• Tue 20th: Visit various old stuff in Osaka, perhaps including Nara-koen park, Iga Ueno Castle, tombs in Asuka, maybe with excursion to the south a bit. Stay in Osaka again TO BOOK
• Wed 21st: Kyoto, including Kiyomizu-dera, and Uji, the home of green tea!
  • Either get train south to stay in Odawara
  • or get night-bus to Fujikyu
  • Both options still TO BOOK
• Thu 22nd: Go to Fujikyu if not there already. Explore as much themepark/countryside as time permits. Go to Tokyo BOOKED
• Fri 23rd: Tokyo! lmm suggests Nagano trip this day, while Emma's train ticket is valid. Stay in Tokyo BOOKED
• Sat 24th: Anime fair. Stay in Tokyo BOOKED
• Sun 25th: More Tokyo. Stay in Tokyo BOOKED
• Mon 26th: More Tokyo. lmm suggests visit fish auction. Stay in Tokyo BOOKED
• Tue 27th: Emma flies home. Others get up ungodly early and train to Osaka to fly to Yakushima. Stay Yakushima BOOKED
• Wed 28th: Yakushima. Stay Yakushima BOOKED
• Thu 29th: Begin travel north. Stay Fukuoka or Hiroshima TO BOOK
• Fri 30th: See the sights in Hiroshima. Stay in Hiroshima TO BOOK
• Sat 31st: Castle tour, Himeji (scaffloding mafia), Kyoto, and Hikone all on Shinkansen line to Tokyo. Stay in Tokyo. BOOKED
• Sun 1st: All but Ben fly home. Ben does some more stuff mostly booked.

In Tokyo

• http://www.tokyoanime.jp/en/

Tokyo is Big. Even at maximal impatience for aimless wandering, there's easily two days worth of non-specific urban sightseeing.

West, Shinjuku to Shibuya:

• Golden Gai / Shinjuku drinking and wenching district
• Observation points on the town hall and trade centre
• Pentax forum (for playing with photo equipment)
• Yoyogi park
  • Including Meiji-Jingu (shrine)
  • and (on Sundays) variety of street performers, aging rockabillies, and cosplaying loli (unless they're all at the Anime Fair)
• Shibuja is the central shopping district, and the place to wallow in the iconic Tokyo-is-a-Gibsonian-dystopia feeling.
• Further south are more boutiquey shops, a clumping of love hotels, and a photography museum.
• Shinjuku-ni is full of gay bars and readily accessible by tube (woof)
• I (Mike) would like to go here: http://www.ufotable.com/cafe/index.html
  • This is in Nakano, slightly further out than Shinjuku. Not sure if there's anything else worth doing around there (Wikipedia claims it has an "otaku building", which may well be in the same area)....

East, Ueno to Ginza:

• Ueno is the museum district - only the Tokyo National Museum is worth going to, apparently, but the surrounding park is also quite nice.
• The zoo is also here, though I don't suppose anyone else will be too bothered about going.
• At Tokyo (the station) is the side of the Imperial Palace which affords a view, and the East Garden, which is open to the public Tues-Thurs and weekends.
• Further south is Ginza, which is another shopping and gallery district, more Covent Garden than Oxford Street.
  • Does have the Sony building where you can play on the latest stuff
  • And the mother of all fish markets, Tsukiji. Fish auctions start at 5am, and are ticketed, but there is bustle all day.
• Further south still is the Tokyo Tower.

Outside the centre, there are more museums and shrines and things.

The aquarium is out east on the seafront. There's one in Osaka too; does anyone have a preference?

• I hear the Osaka one is very good (like, possibly best in the world)? --Lmm

The only castle in the greater Tokyo region is at Odawara, near Hakone (which is probably good for a day or overnight trip)

As mentioned, Studio Ghibli museum is also out west.

Other places of which you may want to be aware of the existence:

• Tokyo Disney park
• Museum of Parasitology
• Museum of Pipes and Tobacco
• Asakusa temple Senso-ji
• Tokyo U Botanic garden
• Gasmask island

The above is largely "places", and doesn't include generic activities, like seeing sumo wrestling, kabuki (or noh, or the creepy puppet thing), onsen, or any particular nighttime activities, eating/drinking/karaoke/cinema/etc.

In Kyoto

Google suggested, and I quote, that:

• this temple is the best - incredible views: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3901.html
• I'd recommend this walk, especially in blossom time, and it has a good 10 small temples on the way: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3906.html

In Kamakura

History, or something

In Hiroshima

I don't know if we'll have the time for a train and ferry journey, but I'm told that the floating torii gate on this island is well worth seeing http://wikitravel.org/en/Miyajima

In $CITY

• Hot springs
• Shrines

Possible Draft Itinerary

• Sat 17th: Some people fly and...
• Sun 18th: Arrive in Tokyo, probably early am. Mike bitches until we find a hostel and sleep. Go to Osaka to sleep for the night. Maybe do the ferris wheel
• Mon 19th: Micky gets off the boat in Osaka in the morning. Day around Osaka - acquarium, palace. Go to Kyoto at some point
• Tue 20th-Wed 21st: Kyoto
  • Go to the monkey park: there are monkeys, also K-Onness, and views of kyoto.
  • Also, go to Inari shrine
  • Also nice restaurants along the waterfront.
• Thur 22nd: Hiroshima, and the castle from live and let die on the way
• Fri 23rd: Travel back to Tokyo at some point
• Sat 24th: Tokyo international anime fair
• Sun 25th: anime fair continues, and/or time in Tokyo. Do tokyo tower at some point.
• Mon 26th: Ghibli museum?
• [... OTHER STUFF IN AND AROUND TOKYO. MAYBE GOING NORTH AT SOME POINT? ...]
• Sun 1st: One last day in Tokyo, then plane home.