How I spent my summer vacation #1
...well, "shoka" (early summer") vacation
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Due to a certain sporting event, nobody at our workplace is allowed to take vacation in a popular summer month that comes after Japan's rainy season. (Yeah, I'm being deliberately vague, but that just adds to the fun, ne?) I crave the hot, muggy Kansai weather, due to my current posting in the Deep Freeze. Any day I don't have to wear polarfleece is "o-tenki" (good weather) for me. I took my summer vacation just before Memorial Day and spent a week in Japan, riding the Bullet Train and having a blast.
I had a direct flight on American to Narita International Airport, which is about as close to downtown Tokyo as Denver International Airport is to downtown Denver. For those of you who have been to neither Tokyo nor Denver, both airports are quite a long way away from their respective cities, although it doesn't cost nearly as much to take a taxi to downtown Denver as it does to downtown Tokyo. However, Japan has Denver beat hands down in terms of viable public transit options, especially trains, so there you go.
Once there, I picked up my JR Pass--all you can ride, on any JR train except the ultra-fast Nozomi bullet train, plus other JR conveyances, and got some cash. If you have Citibank in your area, get yourself an account and an ATM card. Citibank has ATMs at both Narita and Kansai Airports, and in most major Japanese cities--making withdrawals is just as easy as in your hometown, except you get yen instead of your home currency. (Be careful which button you press: "sen", which is 1,000 or "man", which is 10,000. Just how big a wad do you want in your pocket, and how many times do you want to have to go to the ATM? I've always felt pretty safe about carrying a lot of cash in Japan, which is more than I can say here.)
I then sent off my omiyage to friends and family by takkyubin, which is the Japanese equivalent of FedEx, DHL, or UPS, and you can send also your suitcase to your hotel instead of dragging it cross-country on trains. There are several companies--Nittsu ("Pelicanbin"), Kuroneko, Footwork, and Tran'sport Sagawa. The friendly guys at Tran'sport Sagawa (that's Engrish...I have no idea why they put the apostrophe in their name) were extremely helpful in terms of helping me pack five boxes, write labels (two of which needed translation--apparently their drivers, unlike the Japanese postal service, are not able to decipher romaji, or English characters), cut the boxes down to size where needed, and take my yen. You wouldn't believe how heavy vitamins are!
Vitamins are hellishly expensive in Japan, so they make good presents for your Japanese friends or colleagues if you are going to visit. Other good things to take include: --suntan lotion (a $4.99 bottle of Target 45 SPF suntan lotion equivalent to Coppertone Shade would cost over JPY3,000, if you could find one that size),
--coffee beans (buy the "coffee mill" in Japan--they don't use polarized plugs--and expect to spend twice as much for one as you would pay here, unless you can go to a discount "denkiya" out in the suburbs, in which case it will only be about 1.5 times as much),
--a big box of Crayola crayons (Japanese crayons only go up to 32 colors...Crayolas go up to 96 or 132...little kids will be astounded! I don't quite get it, though--if you go to a Japanese stationery store, you will be astounded by the vast array of pen styles and colors, although I don't think any one manufacturer offers a range of 96 colors of pen.).
--small leather goods from a Coach Factory store (especially if a) you have coupons and
there's something good on markdown, like lipstick cases or hand mirrors)
That's my experience; YMMV.
I then took a rather roundabout route to my lodging, recommended to me by the otherwise winning Metro program. If you are going from Narita to Asakusa, spend the money--even if you have a JR Pass--and just take the Keisei Skyliner. It's a lot easier than what Metro suggests, probably faster and less wearing after a long flight. In retrospect, I should have spent the few hundred yen. I would have ended up approximately where I ended up anyway--right by the Matsuya department store. If I had taken the Keisei Skyliner, I would have been right by a Mosburger, and I would have had a better bearing on my location. Anyway, I got where I was going, the lovely, peaceful Ryokan Shigetsu.
http://www.shigetsu.com/
The neighborhood is very lively and unusual, being in the heart of a bustling shotengai, at the foot of one of the largest temples (Sensoji) honoring the Buddhist goddess of mercy, Kannon. However, Shigetsu is so tranquil and calm, you would never know you are in such a busy place. Shigetsu also has excellent o-furo (Japanese style baths). I've been fortunate to experience both the small, hinoki (Port Orford cedar, Chamaecyparis Lawsoniana) "women's" bath and the large, slate "men's" bath. The women's bath is large enough for 3-4 people, and the men's is the size of a small swimming pool. Both have a view of the Sensoji pagoda. There is nothing more relaxing than thoroughly showering and scrubbing the cares of the world away after a day of sightseeing, then getting into a 42-degree centigrade (107.6 degree Fahrenheit) bath. Shigetsu also offers excellent washoku (Japanese cuisine). I highly recommend their breakfast, which is a tremendous bargain, currently JPY 1,300. This will keep you stoked for most of the day, as you get rice, nori misoshiru, o-tsukemono (pickles), some kind of egg or tofu, a vegetable dish, a very nice piece of fish, and hojicha.
...To be continued
I had a direct flight on American to Narita International Airport, which is about as close to downtown Tokyo as Denver International Airport is to downtown Denver. For those of you who have been to neither Tokyo nor Denver, both airports are quite a long way away from their respective cities, although it doesn't cost nearly as much to take a taxi to downtown Denver as it does to downtown Tokyo. However, Japan has Denver beat hands down in terms of viable public transit options, especially trains, so there you go.
Once there, I picked up my JR Pass--all you can ride, on any JR train except the ultra-fast Nozomi bullet train, plus other JR conveyances, and got some cash. If you have Citibank in your area, get yourself an account and an ATM card. Citibank has ATMs at both Narita and Kansai Airports, and in most major Japanese cities--making withdrawals is just as easy as in your hometown, except you get yen instead of your home currency. (Be careful which button you press: "sen", which is 1,000 or "man", which is 10,000. Just how big a wad do you want in your pocket, and how many times do you want to have to go to the ATM? I've always felt pretty safe about carrying a lot of cash in Japan, which is more than I can say here.)
I then sent off my omiyage to friends and family by takkyubin, which is the Japanese equivalent of FedEx, DHL, or UPS, and you can send also your suitcase to your hotel instead of dragging it cross-country on trains. There are several companies--Nittsu ("Pelicanbin"), Kuroneko, Footwork, and Tran'sport Sagawa. The friendly guys at Tran'sport Sagawa (that's Engrish...I have no idea why they put the apostrophe in their name) were extremely helpful in terms of helping me pack five boxes, write labels (two of which needed translation--apparently their drivers, unlike the Japanese postal service, are not able to decipher romaji, or English characters), cut the boxes down to size where needed, and take my yen. You wouldn't believe how heavy vitamins are!
Vitamins are hellishly expensive in Japan, so they make good presents for your Japanese friends or colleagues if you are going to visit. Other good things to take include: --suntan lotion (a $4.99 bottle of Target 45 SPF suntan lotion equivalent to Coppertone Shade would cost over JPY3,000, if you could find one that size),
--coffee beans (buy the "coffee mill" in Japan--they don't use polarized plugs--and expect to spend twice as much for one as you would pay here, unless you can go to a discount "denkiya" out in the suburbs, in which case it will only be about 1.5 times as much),
--a big box of Crayola crayons (Japanese crayons only go up to 32 colors...Crayolas go up to 96 or 132...little kids will be astounded! I don't quite get it, though--if you go to a Japanese stationery store, you will be astounded by the vast array of pen styles and colors, although I don't think any one manufacturer offers a range of 96 colors of pen.).
--small leather goods from a Coach Factory store (especially if a) you have coupons and
there's something good on markdown, like lipstick cases or hand mirrors)That's my experience; YMMV.
I then took a rather roundabout route to my lodging, recommended to me by the otherwise winning Metro program. If you are going from Narita to Asakusa, spend the money--even if you have a JR Pass--and just take the Keisei Skyliner. It's a lot easier than what Metro suggests, probably faster and less wearing after a long flight. In retrospect, I should have spent the few hundred yen. I would have ended up approximately where I ended up anyway--right by the Matsuya department store. If I had taken the Keisei Skyliner, I would have been right by a Mosburger, and I would have had a better bearing on my location. Anyway, I got where I was going, the lovely, peaceful Ryokan Shigetsu.
http://www.shigetsu.com/
The neighborhood is very lively and unusual, being in the heart of a bustling shotengai, at the foot of one of the largest temples (Sensoji) honoring the Buddhist goddess of mercy, Kannon. However, Shigetsu is so tranquil and calm, you would never know you are in such a busy place. Shigetsu also has excellent o-furo (Japanese style baths). I've been fortunate to experience both the small, hinoki (Port Orford cedar, Chamaecyparis Lawsoniana) "women's" bath and the large, slate "men's" bath. The women's bath is large enough for 3-4 people, and the men's is the size of a small swimming pool. Both have a view of the Sensoji pagoda. There is nothing more relaxing than thoroughly showering and scrubbing the cares of the world away after a day of sightseeing, then getting into a 42-degree centigrade (107.6 degree Fahrenheit) bath. Shigetsu also offers excellent washoku (Japanese cuisine). I highly recommend their breakfast, which is a tremendous bargain, currently JPY 1,300. This will keep you stoked for most of the day, as you get rice, nori misoshiru, o-tsukemono (pickles), some kind of egg or tofu, a vegetable dish, a very nice piece of fish, and hojicha.
...To be continued
Stardock Forums