I'm planning a trip to Japan in April with two friends and we're looking for recommendations. metulburr mentioned that @[Mekire] lived there for a bit but if anyone has traveled there or even heard anything particularly good, let me know!
Japan is a big place, so it depends on what you're into and how long you have.
I'd definitely recommend Tsukiji for the sushi as it's probably the best sushi I've ever had. I would also recommend Yokohama Chinatown and had a really great experience with all of the great Chinese food, especially more viking style meals that can last for hours with some good friends.
Asakusa is a great place for history. Twin Motegi is great if they have a track event going on like MotoGP or something like that.
If you're there in the first week of April, you'll hit the Sakura (cherry blossom) bloom and there are many great spots to view those, but the ol' interwebs tells me that Hirosaki Park, Hirosaki is the best spot in Japan.
Hope you have fun,
WhisperQuiet
(Jan-04-2019, 07:54 PM)ichabod801 Wrote: [ -> ]Akihabara.
There is a Square Enix cafe in the FF15 (?) theme pretty close to the Akihabara station.
Crazy amount of electronics stores there including shady bootleg / "I make special connectors in 30 minutes to fix your lack of a power supply issue" type of guys.
Really depends how widely you are travelling.
If you are just in Tokyo then yeah Akihabara, Harajuku, Shinjuku, and Asakusa (Kaminarimon) are the main places. I lived like a 15 minute walk from the lantern for about 6 months.
If you go to Kyoto you will have more of a historical experience rather than pop culture. Must sees are generally Kiyomizudera, and the silver and gold pavilions (ginkakuji/kinkakuji), but there is so much there that you can't possibly see it all.
Nara is the place to go to see deer and is a tourist favorite.
Osaka you want to go to Shinsaibashi-suji.
If you go even further west on Honshu to Hiroshima there is an amazing tiny island called Miyajima that is worth the visit and of course the Genbaku dome in Hiroshima itself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itsukushima_Shrine
I doubt you'll go to Kyushu (the Southern main island)
...and if you go to the Southern tip of a tiny island off the West coast of Kyushu you'll find a place I spent two years teaching English =P.
https://imgur.com/a/KmG2l#0
dont forget to pack some Imodium
My friends are willing to use 5 days PTO so, travel time included, we have up to 9 days to work with. We're going the first or second week of April (still not totally sure yet D=) so I expect we'll see some cherry blossoms. It looks like Tokyo is where we're going to be most of the time, but we will probably visit Osaka.
Anyway thanks everyone!
Try to write to someone from the Japanese (Find on any site) and ask personally. It will be much more useful from the indigenous people.
Damn, in Japan, everything is completely different, get ready for this and more, there is an interesting attitude to non-Asians. I think you will like it there!