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 | Tokyo *General Advices Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 15 |  |
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1. Expect to do a lot of walking. Wear comfortable shoes and socks. Tokyo has a fantastic transportation network consisting of subways, trains, monorails, buses and taxies, but once they get you to the general vicinity, the best way to see Tokyo is by foot. 2. Bring and carry individual packages of tissues. Many Japanese rest rooms do not have paper towels. A few did not have toilet paper. Japan's traditional (non-western) toilets are have hole you have to squat over to do your business. Fear not though as most bathrooms have at least one western toilet. On the positive side, Japan has the cleanest bathrooms you are ever going to find. If you visit those new buildings/hotels, you may find the most advance toilet. There's lots of buttons to clean stuffs... You know;) So far, its the most advanced I've encountered in all my travels. 3. Bring a good camera. Tokyo is a wonderful place to take pictures. 4. Pack items that may leak or explode (toothpaste, shaving cream, deodorant, etc.) in resealable plastic bags. 5. Use the subways, trains and monorails to travel within the city. Taxies are very expensive and buses may require more Japanese language skills (both reading the Japanese characters and speaking). 6. Buy one or more easy to carry Tokyo guidebooks. 7. One of the best ways to get from Narita airport to Tokyo is the Airport Limousines. These are comfortable buses that take you from the airport directly to most major hotels. They are also one of the least expensive ways to get to the city. 8. Pack Umbrellas and/or raincoats during the rainy season (mid June to mid July). 9. Bring a light backpack for your daily travels. You do not want to be carrying heavy bags around the city as even the subways require much walking between terminals. 10. Pack one or two empty duffel bags in your suitcase for dirty clothes and to make room for souvenirs. 11. Purchase sodas and snacks for the evening at a convenience store to avoid the costly hotel prices. Convenience stores are located near the hotels and throughout the city. 12. Bring tea bags, instant coffee and sugar packets etc.. from home. The hotels provide hot water in your room for beverages, but the self serve honor bar tea and coffee packets are expensive (about $6.00 per tea bag). 13. Bring a travel iron or plan ahead. Many Japanese hotel rooms are not equipped with irons. 14. Post Offices (yubin kyoku) are open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., but most hotels can mail letters for you. 15. Banks are open from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Most hotels also do currency exchanges at a fair rate. 16. We recommend you take American Express travelers checks. They can be cashed at most hotels and banks and replaced if lost. 17. Check the weather before leaving on your journey. Check the dates of Japan's holidays and festivals and then learn more about festivals in Tokyo. Leave a Comment
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| | | | *General Advices: Packing List | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Expect to do a lot of walking. Wear comfortable shoes and socks. Tokyo has a fantastic transportation network consisting of subways, trains, monorails, buses and taxies, but once they get you to the general vicinity, the best way to see Tokyo is by foot. Bring and carry individual packages of tissues. Many Japanese rest rooms do not have paper towels. A few did not have toilet paper. Japan's traditional (non-western) toilets are have hole you have to squat over to do your business. Fear not though as most bathrooms have at least one western toilet. On the positive side, Japan has the cleanest bathrooms you are ever going to find. If you visit those new buildings/hotels, you may find the most advance toilet. There's lots of buttons to clean stuffs... You know;) So far, its the most advanced I've encountered in all my travels. Bring a good camera. Tokyo is a wonderful place to take pictures. Pack items that may leak or explode (toothpaste, shaving cream, deodorant, etc.) in resealable plastic bags. Use the subways, trains and monorails to travel within the city. Taxies are very expensive and buses may require more Japanese language skills (both reading the Japanese characters and speaking). Buy one or more easy to carry Tokyo guidebooks. One of the best ways to get from Narita airport to Tokyo is the Airport Limousines. These are comfortable buses that take you from the airport directly to most major hotels. They are also one of the least expensive ways to get to the city. Pack Umbrellas and/or raincoats during the rainy season (mid June to mid July). Bring a light backpack for your daily travels. You do not want to be carrying heavy bags around the city as even the subways require much walking between terminals. Pack one or two empty duffel bags in your suitcase for dirty clothes and to make room for souvenirs. Purchase sodas and snacks for the evening at a convenience store to avoid the costly hotel prices. Convenience stores are located near the hotels and throughout the city. Bring tea bags, instant coffee and sugar packets etc.. from home. The hotels provide hot water in your room for beverages, but the self serve honor bar tea and coffee packets are expensive (about $6.00 per tea bag). Bring a travel iron or plan ahead. Many Japanese hotel rooms are not equipped with irons. Post Offices (yubin kyoku) are open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., but most hotels can mail letters for you. Banks are open from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Most hotels also do currency exchanges at a fair rate. We recommend you take American Express travelers checks. They can be cashed at most hotels and banks and replaced if lost. Check the weather before leaving on your journey. Check the dates of Japan's holidays and festivals and then learn more about festivals in Tokyo. Leave a Comment
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| | | | *General Advices: Packing List | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Japanese people are fantastic dressers (besides the French) and outward appearance is VERY important here in Japan. So, with this in mind, try and pack SOME nice clothes along with you IF you want to leave a lasting impression.
I usually bring along THREE types of cameras with me these days and load them with different types of films i.e. ASA200 film (for day) and the high speed Kodak 800 film for museums or places that do not allow flash photography. So, the cameras that I'd bring are: (a) the Olympus mju Zoom (with wide-angle lens). I usually use this camera for day photography. (b) the Pentax 150 Zoom which I use for places that does not allow flash photography. (c) the ultra-small Canon IXUS Zoom camera - smaller than the size of my palm. I hang this camera around my neck... and NO, I don't look like a dog wearing a dog tag! This camera requires a special type of film (APS) to be used.
DON'T forget to bring along your much-treasured ATM card to withdraw cash. Yes, no need to rush to the money-changers to change all your currencies into Japanese Yen before your trip. Just ensure that you adhere to the following steps: - Flip to the back of your local ATM card now, do you see the logos 'Cirrus', 'Plus', 'The Exchange', 'Maestro' etc on it? - If the answer is 'yes', then you have absolutely nothing to worry about! - Why? Because you can withdraw cash from any ATM machines in Japan, no matter how obscure the town or village you're at is. - If you use this method, you'd also save alot on the interbank exchange rates. Money changers will charge you much, MUCH more compared to a bank. - DO NOT withdraw cash from your Visa/ Mastercard. This is considered a CASH ADVANCE and you'd be slapped with a very hefty fee! Not worth it. I've used this method many, many times before and so far, no ATM machines in this world have failed me.... Yes, even at the remotest village in Africa! :-)) So, happy travels!! Photo: The City of Tokyo at Night 'All the above is, of course, a gross simplification. There are deeper reasons to travel - itches and tickles on the underbelly of the unconscious mind. We go where we need to go, and then try to figure out what we're doing there.' - Jeff Greenwald 'Shopping for Buddhas'
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Tokyo is cold in the winter, and hot in the summer. When I arrived in February the daytime high was in the region of 10 C (that's 50 F). I would describe that as 'cool' to 'chilly'. The wind can be really biting, even if the air temperature isn't that low, so consider bringing a coat that keeps out the wind. You will definitely need an umbrella unless you're coming in the summer.
You can buy anything you need from the convenience stores which are dotted all over the place. It's unlikely you'll ever be more than 5 minutes walk from one. However, Western brands are not much in evidence for certain things such as toothpaste, so it's best to bring your own until you find your feet. Otherwise you might end up trying to clean your teeth with the Japanese equivalent of preparation H (because mostly the packaging is in Japanese, naturally).
If you have a digital camera just buy the right adapter plug before you travel and you'll have no problems. Anything else, you can buy here. There are photographic / electronics shops all everywhere.
If you're in Tokyo for any length of time, you'll begin to run out of certain types of consumables. Here's where you need to go to replace them. Books - if you can't speak Japanese you'll soon get bored of watching unintelligible games shows and CNN, which are probably going to be your only entertainment choices provided by your hotel. And chances are, the novel you bought to read on the flight isn't going to keep you occupied for too long (unless you're a really slow reader). Fortunately there is an excellent bookstore chain called Kinokuniya which has outlets in a number of places. A couple of minutes walk from the Shinjuku-sanchome metro stop, along Shinjuku-dori, brings you to one of these. Foreign books (i.e. English ones) are on the 7th (top) floor. However, there's a bigger and better Kinekuniya next to the Times Square monster department store, by Shinjuku (Japan Rail) station. Here, there's a much, much wider selection of foreign titles, including some French and Spanish ones. However, be warned that, like most things in Japan, foreign books are pricy. You're looking at about US$12-16 per title, probably. Bread and other basic Western foodstuffs - I'm talking crusty, fresh-baked French loaves, that kind of thing. Bread is a rarity in Japanese restaurants, at least it seems that way to me. The only restaurants you'll get decent bread in are Italian. However, most supermarkets seem to stock fairly decent bread - but you do have to find a real supermarket, not simply a convenience store. There's a convenience store practically every 50 metres (AMPM, 7-Eleven, and Family Mart are the main outlets), but they tend to concentrate more on chocolates, potato chips, ice cream, beverages and the ubiquitous DoCoMo mobile phones than staple foodstuffs. Don't expect to find bread, milk, cheese, or anything you can really eat and call a meal in these stores. Leave a Comment
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on September 8, 2002
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