Visiting Japan - Recommendations

9 day trip starting in Tokyo and ending in Osaka. Anyone been or live that recommend something off the beaten path?

I don’t have a ton to add, but I am doing a similar trip starting in Tokyo, up in the mountains for a bit and ending in Kyoto. I may to something like the below, which I think qualifies as off the beaten path to an extent.

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan/takayama/activities/shinhotaka-snowshoeing-experience/a/pa-act/v-15946P11/356641

How far out is it?

Anyhow, I hear the sushi is good.

You going skiing while there?

I hear they have used panties vending machines.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjnOaSMnbbY

i enjoy watching this guy’s content.

he follows japanese people while they work and talk about their day to day habits. pretty interst stuff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdiWTYkY1uY

Damn have a good time v

Bring your international drivers license so you can race around Tokyo dressed as Luigi.

Read up on how to operate their toilets.

I liked visiting Kawagoeshi. I ended up being there for a parade.

Also went to the temple near the airport.

Manten Sushi Marunouchi was a good omakse for the value investor in Tokyo. No one spoke English though.

Go to a maid Cafe.

The only good thing about Japan is the sushi. Tokyo is better than Osaka (which is a bit of chore).

Thank you all and thank you BWYF - I may add this to the itinerary.

CSI - you must be kidding right? I’ve never heard a negative review regarding japan.

just ignore him/her. Absolute fucking weirdo.

I’ll try and dig up my Tokyo recommendations email to post, but make sure you go to memory lane/piss alley on a week night!

https://en.japantravel.com/tokyo/shinjuku-s-memory-lane-omoide-yokocho/5025

What time of year you going? You should definitely hit Mt Fuji, easy day trip from Tokyo and quite impressive…good hiking, photography. If you go in the spring then get over to Daikanyama area in Tokyo to check out the cherry blossoms. Omotesando is very hip and trendy.

Food, try the tuna set at Sushi Zanmai, it’s a chain and a bit fast food, but the quality is great and is good value for money. Try Japan beef from Matsuzaka, it’s pricey but 100g is enough to fill you up. Go have a drink at ground floor bar at the Tokyo Palace, great atmosphere.

Osaka is very cool, is to Tokyo what Chicago is to New York. Easy to get around, great food, excellent base to explore Kansai. You can get a rail pass that includes the train to Kyoto and Kobe, just remember to bring your passport…Japanese are sticklers. Kobe which is near Osaka, according to my japanese friends, has the best looking ladies.

Thank you Pejp - that looks like a cool area.

Malee - heading there at the end of May and Mt Fuji is top of the list. I’m not big into cities so Tokyo and Osaka are just places to fly into and out of, I don’t intend to spend much time in each. If i had more time i’d venture north because it looks beautiful but as of now I’m limited to the confines bt Tokyo and Osaka. We have quite a few hikes planned already (including mt fuji), koyoto, and nara park (im trying to convince my wife to take red honey with me before petting the deer).

keep the thoughts coming.

I’d like to go but it may not work out, mostly because there is so much we want to do and we are already going on a couple ski trips this year. Also, my wife had a rafting injury on a previous trip to Chile so she is apprehensive about getting hurt and ruining the vacation.

Another thing you can do in Tokyo now is rent a bike for a fast, active way to see a lot of things. This is something I do to orient myself in most cities I visit, if feasible.

https://tokyocheapo.com/entertainment/tokyo-cycle-routes/

Bike is a great idea, and easy to do in Japan. Also, Japan has companies that provide a luggage service that will push your luggage to your next destination so that you can hop on hop off trains and check out smaller towns without luggage hassle. Once you get out of Tokyo, consider renting a car and drive around, just make sure to get an international driver license (formality). That might sound hard, but with English GPS it is super easy – and I cannot read Chinese or Kanji characters.

Japan has great outdoors, on par with Europe and US, but with Japanese food and hospitality which is different. Between Tokyo and Osaka, not far out of your way, you can hit Nagano/Matsumoto which is really beautiful area for hiking. Well developed with good infrastructure because they had olympics there at some point. If you keep going to Niigata, that area is something of a bread-basket area and they have excellent food and famous rice.

I have been to Hokkaido a few times, but never to north Kyushu – Aomori/Akita, that’s on my list.

Of course you haven’t. Japan lost WW2 and became America’s ally. In return US corporations are always pumping up Japanese stocks, entertainment, tech, tourism, etc. Travelers just repeat back how great they were told it is, but really, what’s so great about it?

Only the sushi.

Shut up troll.

Seriously, who gives a negative review of Japan? CSI300 & Kiplinger, AF’s very own “axis of evil?”

Clearly, you don’t understand how axes work.

You need three countries, not merely two.

More information can be gleaned here.

kip (monkey) is the saltiest azn dude i ever seen.