Question:
I am planning a possible trip to Japan (alone) next month for about 10-14 days. While I have thought of visiting Japan for years, I never really put any thoughts into where I want to go or for how long. The one thing I do know is i would be arriving in Tokyo and possibly staying at a hostel in Asakusa, in a dorm with possibly 6-7 other people to start.
1. My first question would be, when staying in a dorm room with other foreigners, do people usually hang out? Or just go about their own business?
2. Another question I have would be, should I stay at the hostel for the entire trip? Or visit other cities/areas. If so, how long should I visit them (given I only have 10-14 days).
3. I have searched around for answers on this, but I can't really find any good ones. What type of luggage should I bring? I mean, I am planning on bringing a backpack for when im out of the room, but how big of a suitcase is to big? Think a carry-on size suitcase along with my backpack would be fine?
4. I am a bit of a picky eater. I don't really eat meat (I just don't care for the taste). Are fast food places or pizza places common? I know meat/fish is used in pretty much everything, and I don't mind if things are cooked in fish oil or have a little meat in them, but is it hard to find plain food? Like a bowl of ramen with just the soup and noodles?
5. I heard the JR pass is a huge money saver, if I just stayed in Tokyo, but still took the train to some farther out areas, would it still be worth it to get the pass? I mean, if I am not traveling the country, is the JR pass worth it?
6. I plan on bringing my cell phone (android smartphone) with me, since I have some phrasebook apps on it for ones I don't have memorized, would my charger work there? Or vice versa, would appliances like cameras or such work here in America if I brought them back?
7. I don't have a huge budget for the trip. Other than the flight, I am trying to keep everything under 2,000$ or about 155,080 yen for both room/food/souvenirs. If I stay at a hostel I have been looking at, i can stay for 2 weeks for only 30,000 yen (due to a special they are having). This would be the cheapest way to go, but would I be able to find other cheap hostels (kind of coincides with question 2)?
Any answers would be great. I have spent years wanting to go to Japan, but since I am about to finish school and can spend a little time before I start working, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to accomplish this idea.
Answer:
OK, first of all, do not listen to Stewie. Some people obviously still havent heard of hostels, ond obviously have no clue that sometimes traveling for less money is way more fun and educational then spending big bucks for hotels.
And why shouldn't you travel to Japan now, after the disaster? It's perfectly safe and if Stewie would watch some TV or read internet news he would know that there's bigger radiation on airplane than it is in Tokyo, even outside the 30km protected zone around Fukushima nuclear plant.
I've been to Japan for 2 months this summer and it was awesome and unforgetable!
1. I stayed in Asakusa Smile hostel for 3 nights. It wasn't the best hostel, but OK. If you're planning on staying in this hostel I can describe it more.
Hanging out with other people in hostel depends on a hostel and what kind of people are staying there at the moment. Some hostels are very quiet and some lively. If you want to hang out with people I suggest you Kyoto bAkpAk hostel (Gion bAkpAk hostel; I think they're one hostel). You should definitely go to Kyoto.
The best chain of hostels I encountered in Japan is K's house. I've been to their hostel in Kawguchiko and their Ryokan hostel in Ito and both were very good and clean. Very recommended.
2. You should definitely visit other areas. Kyoto is a must. I would skip Osaka. Maybe visit some other areas from Tokyo (Kamakura, Nikko, Kusatsu; depends on what you like). If you like villages in a nice setting I recommend Shirakawa-go with a night in Takayama (I suggest Zenkoji inn temple).
How long for each city? That depends on what you like and what you want to see. We've been in Tokyo for 20 days (we visited some other areas around during that time too) and it wasnt enough to see everything. In Kyoto we were 10 days, again not enough. Just look in guides and internet what you're interested to see and calculate how many days you need. If you do go to Takayama and Shirakawa-go, I suggest 1st day in Takayama, sleep there and next day take a day trip to Shirakawa. I think you'll have anough time to go to some other place after arriving from Shirakawa. I also strongyl suggest Kanazawa. They have an amazing garden (top 3 in Japan) and a castle.
3. You have washing and drying machines in every hostel. Usualy it costs 300 to do both. So you don't have to bring much if you're willing to wash your clothes there. It's not gonna be hot as in summer anymore so I think carry one and a backpack is enough.
4.Pizza is very, very expensive in Japan. It costs from 20-30€. Fast food places are very common and prices are the same as in Europe. Udon shops are also very common and it's the cheapest food you can get (from 2€ up). You can get a japanese lunch set in a normal japanese restaurant for 6€ and up. It is quite hard to find great variety of vegetarian dishes, but if you're not that pcky you can do it. Try vegetable tempura.
5. Yes JR Pass is really worth the money if you take lots of long distance trains. While there is a loop line in Tokyo where you can use JR Pass I don't think it's worth it. An average ride is around 160yen.
If you plan to go to other places than Tokyo use this site
http://www.hyperdia.com/en/ to calculate how much a ticket costs without JR Pass. If you don't have JR Pass shinkansen trains will be very expensive (23.000 yen from Tokyo to Kyoto). Cost of 7 day JR Pass is 28,300 YEN so if you do want to go to Kyoto with shinkansen and then go back to Tokyo again with shinkansen JR Pass is worth it. If you buy JR Pass, buy it directly from them because it's gonna be a lot cheaper then buying it from an agency.
6. Your charger probably wont fit, but you can buy a converter in your country or in Japan. Same goes with other appliances. Converters are cheap (2-3€)
7. For 2 months in Japan with a round trip airplane ticket from Europe, 7 day JR Pass and 14 day JR Pass I spent around 3500€ (with food, transport other than those 7 and 14 day JR Pass, souvenirs, temples, museums...). But about half of a treep I spent couchsurfing. If you want to save a lot of money and meet some nice people I really suggest it. (couchsurfing.org). Hostel in Kyoto I suggested to you before is also cheap.
Don't be scared when people say Japan is expensive. I'm from an average priced European country and prices are very comparable as prices here. But fruits and vegetables are expensive.
Japan is amazing and you will have lots of fun!
