Japan

[kinboshi]

It's highly unlikely you'll get fleeced, you might end up somewhere more expensive than you thought, but I didn't get ripped off once whilst I was there.

The kare raisu (curry) is excellent, and a great fall-back option where food is concerned. The ramen/soba/udon noodles are good snacks, and you'll soon find a variety that's your favourite.  But as bergeroo said, there's loads of choice in terms of food.  Teppanyaki, okonomiyaki, tempura, shabu-shabu, yakitori, tonkatsu (and of course, the ubiquitous katsu-curry), there's loads.  But the sashimi and sushi are the highlights for me.  There's also the Kobe beef, and you don't have to go to Kobe to get it, although you could as it's on the way to Hiroshima and enjoyed the week I spent in the Kobe area (but it was an expenses-paid trip ).

[Marky147]

Cheers for all that. I've read about the training centre but it's nearly 100 quid to go from what I've seen online, do know anything to the contrary? Not sure I am willing to pay 100 quid...

Deffo doing the Izakayas, some of the drinking areas seem a bit sketchy for a first timer who doesn't know where they should or shouldn't be going, I don't want to get massively ripped off or worse.

Deffo don't have tattoos, I'm not Mafia 

Paiiiiiiiiii them Woodsey!

When in Rome etc.

I was like yourself with Sushi, but since being coaxed into trying it about 6 years back, I love it.

[bergeroo]

I went to the sumo bout as it was on when I was there. So sorry I don't have an insider tip for the training centres. There is this Australian guy who does commentary in English. You hire a headset and he does all the matches, tells you about the fighters, styles, rivalries and techniques. It was really great.

One  of my favourite books about Japan

Angry White Pyjamas - three out of shape Westerners train for a year with the Tokyo Riot Police
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Angry-White-Pyjamas-Oxford-Trains/dp/0753808587

[Woodsey]

Actually I've since read it might be possible to go to a couple of the camps for free, you just need to phone ahead and book an appointment, so we will see.

[kinboshi]

I was a big fan of sumo when I was out there. Went twice in Tokyo and once in Osaka, but watched every honbasho on TV and a group of us even got a mention by the commentators as being a group of gaijin who knew their sumo! Makes a big difference if you are following it, and know which sumo favours which technique, who's favourite to win each bout, and when there's a giant-killing on the cards (a kinboshi!).

But even without that it's a great spectacle.

Although you're not there for a honbasho, there might be an exhibition event on somewhere?

[Rupert]

Awesome thread guys! Going to Japan in March. Can you bet on the sumo? Where's best to go skiing from Tokyo base?

[kinboshi]

Not sure about March, but for skiing I'd guess Nagano or possibly further up north maybe even up in Hokkaido. They're all a quick flight from Tokyo. I only went to a resort near Sendai, as it was only a few hours drive from where I lived. Probably not the best skiing in Japan though.

As for betting on the sumo, you can and you can't. It's not legal, but of course there are ways. Not easy for a gaijin though, you'll need someone to help you get a bet on.

[Woodsey]

So I'm weighing up my options here. Deffo doing Tokyo for 3/4 days, deffo Kyoto 3 days, will have a day at the end in Hiroshima before flying out the following morning.

The question is...I quite fancy getting of the main tourist rat run and into the countryside and smaller villages for a few days to mix up the trip a bit, I'm toying with renting a car and mooching around Shikoku island for 3 or 4 days. To make that worthwhile and not rushed I would either need to totally skip Osaka or maybe just have a day there...

I'm thinking between Tokyo and Kyoto I'll have had a decent flavour of old and new Japan, so is Osaka worth bothering with or just another big city that wouldn't add much beyond Tokyo/Kyoto? And with that in mind would a few days around Shikoku be worth skipping Osaka for?

[kinboshi]

This could be a way of seeing a different side to Japan - stay at someone's house.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/magazine/meet-the-unlikely-airbnb-hosts-of-japan.html?_r=0

[Woodsey]

Yeah might do something like that.

What about Osaka then? After doing two other cities, do you reckon doing a few days on Shikoku would be better than another city? Or is there some must see stuff in Osaka?

[kinboshi]

It's up to you really. If someone was visiting the UK and had spent some time in London and Scotland, would you say to them to go to Wales or visit Manchester/Liverpool?

[bergeroo]

That NY Times article made me a bit annoyed and sad. When I first started travelling I couchsurfed a lot. I had some great experiences meeting loads of different people and stayed on their couches and in their spare rooms all for free, as well as hosting people too. Now you can stay on someone's sofa for $42 a night. People's generosity and goodwill has been monetised by airbnb.

I had some great couchsurfing experiences in Japan. I stayed with two hosts. One were a couple ,Polish/Japanese in Yokohama. They had a traditional Japanese home complete with bamboo mats and the sliding doors and all that jazz. I got to go to a few places with them, the best being a tiny bar which was basically someone's garage with no sign, where you could do two things, drink sake and eat food. It was ran by two old ladies who may have been 80. It was sitting on the floor only and the rules are thus, you can have food, but you don't get to choose, you just get a plate of what they are serving that day, and you can have up to three drinks maximum of sake, which is poured from a big teapot thing. After that, no more alcohol. It was brilliant.

The second was an American naval officer who lives in a smallish town near the big navy base outside Tokyo. He basically had all of his possessions shipped over and had a little piece of the US in Japan. He took me on a tour of all these old naval ships and gave me a great insight into being in the American military that I would never had gotten otherwise.

Before I went I watched loads of these video blogs about different things in Japan. They are generally pretty funny
https://www.youtube.com/user/tokyocooney

[bergeroo]

I would say that Osaka would not feel dramatically different from Tokyo, ie a big city. You will get to experience the Kansai region by spending a few days in Kyoto. They are only about 40 miles apart so perhaps you can just do an afternoon trip if there is something you wanted to particularly see in Osaka?

I am not sure about driving in Japan though, how do you plan to deal with following the roadsigns and stuff like that?

[Woodsey]

I would say that Osaka would not feel dramatically different from Tokyo, ie a big city. You will get to experience the Kansai region by spending a few days in Kyoto. They are only about 40 miles apart so perhaps you can just do an afternoon trip if there is something you wanted to particularly see in Osaka?

I am not sure about driving in Japan though, how do you plan to deal with following the roadsigns and stuff like that?

Cheers mate, I had already half made my mind up but was interested in the opinion of someone who had been to Osaka, and yes if we have done what we want to in 2 days in Kyoto a day trip is possible.

From the research I've done it sounds like signs are mostly in English also apart from in the smallest places. Road numbers are easy to follow even if I can't read the signs, and a few of the car rental companies give you GPS for free that operate in English as well as Japanese. I'm not especially worried about any of that, I'm just trying to suss out driving times/distances around the Island and one way rental costs v backtracking a bit just to plan a bit better as I'm pretty bad for just winging it on my travels, but as time is tight this trip I need to be more organised really.

[kinboshi]

Driving in Japan is dead easy,especially on the bigger roads. I drove from Tokyo to Hiroshima, over a handful of days stopping off at various places on the way. That was without sat-nav.

Sidenote: I'd lived over there for a few years and can read and write Japanese