Hitting Tokyo in March. Any advice?

[Lozer]

So I'm gonna be in Japan for 2 weeks and i'm wondering if anyone has any advice or must do things for the trip.

[datzenmike]

Slip one of those cuties in your suitcase for me.

[Payco]

I went there once and I came close to having sex with a Tokyo lady boy. Looked like a lady, walked like a lady, talked like a lady, kissed like a lady...it was only when she drove me home to her house and reversed into the garage at the first attempt I realised it must be a man....... 

Edited January 23, 2020 by Payco

[MikeRL411]

Book a travel package to Kyoto with overnight in a Ryokan.  Most package trips use Shinkansen for Tokyo to Kyoto, the trick is to find a trip with Ryokan option vs Western style in Kyoto.  Ryokan gets you Dinner and next day Breakfast included.  You would be amazed at just how much Bacon and Eggs can cost at a Western style hotel in tourist areas [and then there's dinner !]  The trips I like are morning departure from Tokyo, afternoon Kyoto sightseeing in Kyoto, Ryokan [dinner and breakfast cooked in room], next day sightseeing in Nara, return via Shinkansen.

[BrothersGarage]

Go check out a bunch of the different "Up Garage"s 
 

 

[G-Duax]

Advice?

Stay away from the guys missing one or more fingers....

 

[Jesse C.]

Beware of Giant Green Lizards! 

 

[MikeRL411]

On ‎1‎/‎23‎/‎2020 at 1:14 PM, G-Duax said:

Advice?

Stay away from the guys missing one or more fingers....

 

 

And don't refer to them as "YA-CHAN"

Edited January 25, 2020 by MikeRL411
typo

[Tad_07]

Went there last year in March. Great time to go and you miss Golden Week.  I could give some suggestions, but it really depends on what you want to do & see there. Japan is mostly cash and not credit card, but 7-11 & Lawsons have atms that you can get currency from for a better exchange than the airport. You can probably get some money ahead of time from your bank here and get a good exchange rate; you usually have to order it but its an easy way to have cash off the bat until you need more. Definitely get a Suica or Pasmo card, makes getting around much faster and easier plus you can get back what you don't spend at the airport on the way back.

Any particular areas you are going to be staying?

[Tad_07]

https://tokyocheapo.com/events/march/

 

Go to any Genki Sushi (conveyor belt system and order from tablets in English)

All you can eat A5 Waygu for a fantastic price http://www.ginzano.jp/steak/en/  and their second location near the fish market (Tsukiji Outer Market)  http://www.ginzano.jp/steak/en/chuo/

[MikeRL411]

1 hour ago, Tad_07 said:

Went there last year in March. Great time to go and you miss Golden Week.  I could give some suggestions, but it really depends on what you want to do & see there. Japan is mostly cash and not credit card, but 7-11 & Lawsons have atms that you can get currency from for a better exchange than the airport. You can probably get some money ahead of time from your bank here and get a good exchange rate; you usually have to order it but its an easy way to have cash off the bat until you need more. Definitely get a Suica or Pasmo card, makes getting around much faster and easier plus you can get back what you don't spend at the airport on the way back.

Any particular areas you are going to be staying?

 

And SUICA or Pasmo cards can be used as debit cards in stores, so don't leave any Yen unspent.  You also get 500 yen back on the expired card.

[Tad_07]

2 hours ago, MikeRL411 said:

 

And SUICA or Pasmo cards can be used as debit cards in stores, so don't leave any Yen unspent.  You also get 500 yen back on the expired card.

Cards expire after 5yrs irrc, just return them when you're done. I didn't find a lot of places that accepted them for payment, but some places do...might be because we stayed of the beaten path for the most part.

[Lozer]

Thanks guys, got some good stuff in here. I'll be sure to avoid the non datsun trannys and fingerless Yaks.

Were hitting a bunch of temples, and we got our train passes, just got a wad of yen delivered and the clock is ticking

 

I am hunting for some jdm rims and seats for my dime so shipping and transport should be even more fun. Anyone familiar with some super rare Datsun stuff to hunt while over-there.

[Draker]

Watch your man in Japan with James May it’s on amazon. You might find some stuff in there you’d want to go see. He visits a lot of cool sites and it’s generally entertaining.

[Lozer]

I saw that and Samurai Gourmet (odd food porn).  Man, James may is an awkward guy to watch.

I'm setting up an r32 or r33 rental on the Friday before I leave gonna spend all night cruising the freeways rhd with a skyline. 

I'm trying to either find a track day at Motegi, Tsukuba or Fiji international.

We already have tickets and plans to see some sumo wrestling.

 

Was thinking about a day at Disney or universal studios. 

 

[MikeRL411]

There are also some very good wineries, breweries and distilleries that offer tours and sampling.  Check with the tourist desk at your arrival airport.

[olskool720]

Have fun!!  I haven't there since 1986 while living in the Pacific while my dad was in the Air Force.  Fun place to visit!!

[MikeRL411]

On ‎1‎/‎29‎/‎2020 at 6:55 AM, MikeRL411 said:

There are also some very good wineries, breweries and distilleries that offer tours and sampling.  Check with the tourist desk at your arrival airport.

 

Example is the Ebisu beer museum in the Sapporo brewery complex.  A short walk from the Ebisu station [H8] on Tokyo's Hibiya subway line  I will be there next month!  Also there are several very good restaurants in its vicinity.

[MikeRL411]

Final bit of advice.  Don't mentally convert yen to dollars on a 100 yen is one dollar.  I was in Japan in the 1960s and 100 yen was 28 cents.  Japanese people don't earn dollars, they earn Yen.  28 cents plus inflation is very little.  Just treat the 100 yen coin as a quarter and the prices are very reasonable.  This way 9,000 yen is $25 not $90.  And remember most Japanese consider a tip an insult, they maintain that they always treat customers as family and are adequately paid.  Tourist traps?  Anybody's guess, avoid them.  Exceptions?  I tip assistants at the airport who help me with my wife's wheelchair and baggage at check in.  They know all the waiting line work arounds and elevators.

[hosestop@msn.com]

Go to junk yards outside of town , buy a bunch of wheels and ship a pallet back , I need two a pair of a couple wheels to make sets ,  2x 14" watanabes and 2x SSR mk3 15:"x7.5  

[nick83gts]

Also bring a Geiger counter with you because that damaged nuclear reactor is still spewing radiation, supposedly not! This way you will know if you can have an x-ray in the next ten years or not. 

[MikeRL411]

On ‎2‎/‎11‎/‎2020 at 9:09 AM, olskool720 said:

Have fun!!  I haven't there since 1986 while living in the Pacific while my dad was in the Air Force.  Fun place to visit!!

 

Things do change !  Across from the hotel I stay at, in the 1980s was a line of 1 and 2 story Soba and Yakatori shops.  Today the same street is lined with 5 and 6 story apartment buildings, but thank God there's a great rotissery chicken place - great chicken and good beer !   

 

 

[4perrev]

Wear a mask, know where you are (maps), know your money conversion math, drink sake, buy everything, package check (where necessary), sushi go-rounds, Georgia coffee (brown can-hot) and don't ask to buy a real Katana (Samurai sword). 

 

Rinse and repeat in any order you choose.  It's a blast and everyone is awesome!!  

 

Oh, bullet train - you can drink beer on them. ++++

[MikeRL411]

Real Katana are super expensive, take about 1 to 2 years to make, and the master sword makers are dieing off.  US Customs should recognize them as art, but being government just might in some benighted way consider them subject to the Trade in Arms pact if they are of recent manufacture.  Genuine antiques are a no brainer if properly authenticated, but recently there is a Katana repatriation movement developing, so you might be prohibited from exporting a true national treasure.

[Lozer]

Thanks guys. Im on the shinkansen right now.  Not crazy here like i keep reading about in ol merica. Tokyo is awesome there are no crowds and toilet paper everywhere.