Japan

• INTRO JAPAN

• IMPRESSIONS OF JAPAN

• THE TRAVEL IN JAPAN

• PHOTOS OF JAPAN

• TIPS FOR JAPAN

• PRINTABLE FORMAT

INTRO JAPAN

Kind of travel:
Me and my wife Elisa in an independent travel

When:
27th Dec'11- 08th Jan'12

Do I need a visa:
no, just the passport to get a medium size sticker on it together with a piece of the immigration form stapled (and then removed)

How many km:
2000km

How I moved:
Given the fact we had the railway JR pass we almost never took a bus, hence we moved always by train and in particular on the high speed 'Shinkhansen' rocketing on the super efficient Japanese train network. While all the cities were visited on foot and by metro (unfortunately JR pass not valid for urban transport) and around Naoshima Island by bike.

Freezing or baking:
It was colder than we expected and in the Alps (Takayama, Magome, Tsumago) we found the snow. Consider a temperature range between 0C and 6C, windy in few cases. In the hostel there's always a heating system so no need to have a sleeping bag, but pack your rugsack with warm outfit.

Where I slept:
The cheapest accommodation are in the spotless hostels (i.e.: the popular chains as K'house or Khaosan), costing from 28€ pp for a double. Then typical wooden Japanese houses where you can sleep in the Futon are the Minshuku or Ryokan from 50€ pp. A possibile choice in the cities might be the capsule hotel but convenient only if you are alone (30€ pp) or if you want to try something really different go to the one in Kyoto (http://9hours.jp)

What I liked:
Food, in particular the cold noodles (Zaru Soba) and the rice balls (Onigiri); the efficiency and cleanness everywhere especially in the transports; sleeping in the futon and staying in the HiTech capsule hotels in Kyoto (http://9hours.jp)

What I disliked:
wildlife is quite dead in winter time so you miss the real beauty of the Japanese gardens; the excessive costs (a coffee and a tea standing 8€!); having to book the accommodations beforehand limited our degrees of freedom

How much daily:
in Dec'11 Yen was strong like hell: 1€=97Yen while one year ago 30% less! However we spent 75€pp/day (+ JR pass + inbound flight): accommodation 30-50€ pp, dinner 15-25€ pp, 7 days JR pass 280€ pp, entrance to the temples: 3-5€ each (consider 3 temples per day). The great thing is we paid the flight from Italy 420€!

What you do need:
JR pass before leaving your country (you can buy only abroad), plug adaptor (two parallel flat pins). The last but not the least you need to know what's Tatami, Futon, Ryokan and Onsen. And remember don't pop up in any accomodation without having booked it, the staff would freak up!

Alby

TRAVEL IN JAPAN

Landed in Tokyo after a 12h haul from Rome we settled in the Khaosan Samurai Guesthouse in the convenient area of Akusaka (read: 'Asaksa'). We spent 3 days in Tokyo moving on foot and by the extensive (and expensive: one ticket: 2- 2.7€!) metro, getting the first shock with the Japanese Manga obsession. Considering the first day we were jet lagged (hence counts as half), they have been enough to have a look at the capital without miss too much or getting bored. We decided not to visit Nikko or Kamakura since we would have had enough of temples later on.
The last day at the Tokyo Station we changed our 'Exchange Order', we got in Italy by the HIS agency, in the JR pass (read for details).
Our first destination leaving the capital has been Shin Fuji; the place itself has nothing worth, besides the view of the Fuji mountain from the station platform. However unfortunately we didn't enjoy any panorama since the Fuji was capped by the clouds as it often happens .Proceeding by train at first to Nagoya, then to Nakatsugawa and finally by bus we found ourselves in the hearth of the Japanese Alps in the authentic village of Magome. We stayed in a typical wooden Japanese guesthouse (a ryokan called Chaya Magome) where in line with the Japanese style we slept on the futon(thin mattress) laid on the tatami (mats). It was the New Years Eve and after having had an abundant dinner at the guesthouse restaurant, at midnight we celebrated the New Year hitting the bell (108 hits according to the tradition) in the temple and drinking sake; it has one of the best memory of the whole trip!
The following morning with walked to Tsumago and then to the train station of Nagiso covering 11km in 3.5h. It has been a nice easy walk, with few cm's of snow and on the way we even met a samurai, he had the sword! I guess a guy who dressed up to celebrate the New Year. I recommend the walk for those who want to have an insight of the Japanese Alps but I found Magome more charming than Tsumago, even if the latter is still a typical village. To enjoy even more the walk my advice is to use the locker at the Nakatsugawa station at the arrival leaving there most of your stuffs and retrieve them on the way back (train from Nagiso stops at Nakatusgawa) or in summer there's a service of luggage delivery from Magome to Tsumago.
In Nagiso we took the train reaching Kyoto in few hours: the former capital of Japan is the highlight of the whole country and with the nearby town of Nara (don't miss it!), you'll have so many temples to visit that for sure you'll have enough. Anyway Kyoto is not just temples, but it's the typical town recalling in most of his areas what is the international imagine of Japan. For instance having the chance to see some Geisha sneaking along the cobblestone narrow streets of the Gijon quarter. We stayed at the K'house hostel, it's the most convenient place to stay if you are travelling with a tight budget.
The following day by train we reached the harbor of Uno from where we took a 20min ferry to the Island of Naoshima; the place is renowned for its collection of contemporary art galleries and exhibits: there are 2 museums (Bennesse House, Chichu Museum) and a number of houses in this town have been radically reformed in the Art House Project.You can visit the all places renting a bike in 4hours; although tickets are expensive (40€) and some works are far from being artistic, I recommend it even if for non fan of contemporary art, but the all stuffs in such location are quite unique. If you want to enjoy it but limiting the expense visit just the Chichu Museum (20€). Hiroshima is 1.5h from Uno by train (with few changes though), and needless to say the highlight here is the A-Bomb park and the impressive memorial museum.We stayed at the J Hopper hostel (30€ pp per double room) sleeping in a Japanese room, namely laying on the floor with the futon (thin mattress) over the tatami (mats). We visited Miyajima island (25km from Hiroshima) where is located the most photographed spot of Japan: the Torii (wooden red arch) in the water. Such Torii built on the sea shore and when there's the high tide it seems floating on the water. The same day we saw the Iwakuni bridge. Consider one day enough visiting Hiroshima, Miyajima and Iwakuni, theoretically you can do it even in a one day trip from Kyoto but it's going to be a looong day.
Back to Kyoto we enjoyed the last two days wandering around the town and visiting the several temples, also because our JR pass expired and moving would have been not affordable! We slept in a capsule hotel, or better in the coolest of the capsule hotel you can find in Japan: http://9hours.jp/systems/index
Our budget got the final strike with the train from Kyoto to the Osaka Kansai Airport: 1h travel for 30€!

Alby