Tokyo

Sigma Force

Has anyone been? Especially any Nintendo fans? Is it worth going to? Any travel advice?

Fr Tod Umptious

Sigma Force wrote: »

Has anyone been? Especially any Nintendo fans? Is it worth going to? Any travel advice?

One of the most fantastic cities in the world

Get a Japan Rail Pass for cheap train travel both in and outside the city.

Travel around, no place is too far with super high speed rail.

Don't be put off by talk of high prices, its no different than any world city.
In other words avoid the tourist traps.

Stay in business hotels, small rooms but there are thousands of them, many close to railway/metro stations

Go to the fish market.

What is Nintendo ?

whomitconcerns

My cousin did the Mario cart tour in Tokyo. You dress up and ride a fast Street legal go kart.... It looked amazing

Lucena

Went last year, loved every minute of it.

Don't know too much about Nintendo, but there's lots to do otherwise. Go for sushi, ramen etc. Lots of ancient temples, there's an old part of the city with rickety old bars, random Godzilla stuff on the street.

Saw the Mario Kart tour while I was there, just saw a bunch of people flying by on karts dressed as Mario, Luigi et al. Only realised later that it was something you could sign up for, had a look on the internet and it's not that expensive.

Food is not expensive in Tokyo, or Japan in general. For example, a bowl of ramen is around €7, and is pretty much a meal in itself. Beer in restaurants is usually €3-€4 for a half-litre bottle of lager. Accommodation wasn't expensive either, probably a little lower than Dublin.

People are very friendly, but not in your face. For example, when I arrived I had to pick up a mobile-phone card from the post office, had noted the address, went there, couldn't find the post-office. After a couple of minutes of looking lost, a passerby offered to help. He spent a full 20 minutes looking for the place with me, no bother to him. Found it eventually. But people will go out of their way to help you.

Their knowledge of English is very rudimentary, so try to learn a few words for everyday stuff, it will help.

If you're flying that far, you might as well try to head out of Tokyo as well, Japan Rail pass is well worth it, I wouldn't bother renting a car, unless there's a very specific place you want to go to that isn't covered by public transport.

I could go on, it's a great place, just go!

Third_Echelon

Yeah great city! Loved every minute of my trip there.

If you are into computer games, go to Akihabara a.k.a. 'Electric Town'. Loads of shops in the area dedicated to electronics, computer games, Manga etc.

buzsywuzsy

We went this summer and would love to go back.
Out of 16 days we spent 5 days in Tokyo. As mentioned above Akihabara is the place to go for manga, anime and games fans and spend a day and a half going in and out of shops. We probably didn’t see half of them. We also spent a day in Disneysea and enjoyed that as we'd never been in any Disney before.
Only get the Japan Rail pass if you think you’ll make the money back. So from what I’d seen recommended it’s only worth it if you’re travelling out of Tokyo. There’s websites where you can check if it’s worth it. We got the 14 day pass for €350 each. From Tokyo we visited Osaka, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Himeji, Kyoto, Nara, Gora and back to Tokyo. I reckon we saved €100 each on it.

Hrududu

Lucena wrote: »

But people will go out of their way to help you

This is so true. If you stop and look confused someone will stop and try to help. Even if they don't speak English they'll try.