Back to Japan for our 5th time.
A two week trip, I had planned a week in Tokyo, then a rail tour of Kanazawa, Matsue and Furushiki, towns I'd had on my must see list.
Change of heart and wanting a more relaxing stay I changed to just staying in Tokyo.
A wealth of information from this and other sites leads me to believe it won't be boring and I'm counting on going back to see those cities and places I still have on my "list".
We'll land in Haneda and stay at Hearton Shinagawa for three days to check out Odaiba area and the Design Festa at Tokyo Big Site.
Then to Shibuya for a 3 day stay at the Granbell Hotel.
Then a move to Akihabara Washington for 8 days and home.
Last 8 days is still somewhat flexible for long day trip or overnighter but we've seen Nikko, Kamakura, Yokohama, Hakone , Kyoto, Takayama and Kyushu before.
Maybe a Mt Takao day trip or a run down to Izu ?
I've used the Tokyo Eye, NHK program web site archives to form a list of neighborhood walks with an emphasis on food, architecture and museums.
Bento.com has been good as well for restaurants as has Metropolitan Magazine.
Any tips would be appreciated and thanks to members on this site for the information they have already provided.
12 Days in Tokyo
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when?
Oops...
May 10-24
Aloha Kakahiaka,
Wow just about ready to take off, must be exciting!
Nikko and Izu would be more of an overnight maybe even two to really get the feel for the area and in Nikko's case to see what there is to see......and there are a lot of things to see in Nikko.
You have probably seen this for walks in Tokyo
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/pdf/pg-305.pdf
There are temple walks in Shinagawa starting with the Koyasan Tokyo Betsuin then on to the Tozen-ji then to my favorite the Sengaku-ji temple which is the site where the 47 ronin-samurai led by Oishi Kuranosuke are buried. I can't find the site for this walk but if I locate it on my other computer I will post it later. Sengaku-ji is worth a visit in itself.
A day trip to Takao-san would be nice. If you leave early from Shinjuku station out on the JR Chuo line you will have time to stop on the way back off at the Nishi-Tachikawa station and walk on the over pass to the Shiwa Kinen Koen Park and rent a bike for a couple of hours.....the place is amazing. Have fun!
Aloha!
Hi, kalihiwai2
on 18,19,20 May, Sanja Matsuri festival will be held at Sensoji temple in Asakusa.
Yes please note on the pdf I left above that the Kanda and Sanja matsuri events will be happening while you are there......gambatte kudasai!!
Aloha!
Wow, Thanks Hawaiiantraveler and Okawari,
These are just the type of suggestions I was hoping for.
The Matsuris are on the list.
Seeing Tokyo without my otaku daughter will be a change of pace, not having to search out every other Manga store for Evangelion related items although I have to admit Ghibili Museum was kind of cool, will free up time for my wife and I do do more adult activities.
I've visited the Sengaku -Ji Temple and it really is special, I'll look at charting a temple walk since we'll be in the Shinagawa area.
I think going back to a place for a second look isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially Nikko which I've visited in the fall, staying at the Kanaya Hotel, which is a trip in itself.
A return trip in the Spring might be nice...
I'll definitely be checking out the Shiwa Kinen Koen suggestion as we wanted to break up two weeks of city with some nature outings.
Thanks again for the advice.
Also on a Hawaii note we get the subtitled Japanese series Soko Ga Shiratai on cable (KIKU), a Japanese travel documentary that really is a hoot. Some of the episodes are available on Youtube and although dated many of the locations are basically the same, and offer an interesting perspective.
Mahalo !
Yes we enjoy and record Soko every Wed nite and also have you seen Cocorico on Friday evenings? It's a crack up.
Aloha!
I recently did a Shichifukujin (Seven Lucky Gods) temple walk in Meguro. We did it in the rain but it's a lovely part of Tokyo and would be very pleasant in good weather. My firend had a map she's printed off - I could find out the link if that interests you.
You've done Yokohama but have you been to the Cup Noodle Museum? And in Tokyo, you've no shortage of museums to explore - what about the internal parasite museum?
Mt Takoa defintely and love HTs suggestion of a stopover at Showa Kinen Kouen.
How about Enoshima for an overnighter? And finally, have you been to Kawagoe? Lot's of places for the lucky people who get to return and travel at a more relaxed pace. Tokyo's just been the bookends on most of my trips, and when I had three weeks there, was busy studying most of the time. have an awesome time.
And thanks for the heads up on Soko ga Shiritai. Now I'm hooked.
eigasuki,
Thanks for the travel reports and suggestions.
I looked into the Shichifukujin (Seven Lucky Gods) temple walk and found this link from Metropolitan Tokyo
http://metropolis.co.jp/travel/travel-features/yamate-seven-lucky-gods-walk/
I'd never heard of Kawagoe before and the description from wiki makes it sound like an interesting day trip
I used the internet wayback machine to pull up the Quirky Japans museum listings that list some fun sounding places. NHK's Tokyo Eye just did a spot on the Meiji Univ. Criminology museum.
http://web.archive.org/web/20061229103143/http://www.quirkyjapan.or.tv/museums.html
Some other fun listings there as well but some may be dated.
Again thanks for the input
Yep, that's the map we had and the walk we did! Now why did I find it when I searched?
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Did you ever see any of the Tora-san movies? Anyway, a half day trip to Shibamata could be fun - a real old-fashioned neighborhood - there's a statue of Tora-san when you get off the train and then you can walk down the shopping street, go to a nice temple, the Tora-san museum and a river there as well, maybe a boat trip is possible - quite a few things to do....
I wonder if the peony garden will be in bloom at Hamarikyu.
Thanks Mara for the suggestion, we'll check it out.
MrWunrfl, We'll be on the lookout for peonies . I was hoping for some azalias at Nezu Shrine and some of our hikes .
Getting close to leaving , looks like the weather will be a little rainy on arrival
Thanks again
I know the Hawaiians boys are not there now but the Tokyo Grand Sumo tournament just started yesterday so I know you will at least be watching on the tv.....Kokugikan is a nice place to spend a rainy afternoon,lol.
Let us know what you did when you get back, have fun!
Aloha Oe!
If you want to learn about Japan and Tokyo, go to the off-beat areas of Tokyo. There's no need to leave the city to have many unique and interesting cultural adventures. I've lived in Tokyo for many years and have new adventures all the time. It's all right here. You just need to know where to look.
Just got back and still a little groggy from the time shift.
We had a great time. The Kawagoe suggestion was good as it was a great half day trip. We didn't get to Mt Takao but instead had a 2 day sojourn to Kashiwaya Ryokan at Shima Onsen via a breakfast/dinner/ bus transport package they offered on their website.
Fabulous time in the mountains with day hiking and good onsen and great meals.
Did a lot of urban hiking in the offbeat areas as suggested. My wife enjoyed the Nippori Fabric town area and surrounding Yanaka/ Ueno areas were fun to explore. Tokyo is so diverse . The Meguro area where we attempted the seven temple lucky god walk is so different from the Asakusa areas where we did get caught up in the Matsuri celebration. We got some good pictures from the roof of the Amuse Museum adjoining the temple grounds and the exhibition of Northern Honshu fabrics and garments "Boro" was really great. Another museum we enjoyed was the Mitsubishi Museum in Nihonbashi where they were having a Katagami show with its influence of Japonisme on western art movements from UK France and Germany.
Tokyo Design Festa was an all day extravaganza with so many artists
I'm leaving a lot out but will try to post later with suggestions.
Our phone /mifi rental from Rentaphone Japan worked out great . Tracing a course with google maps following the gps directional mode got us to some obscure spots.
I brought a airport express that turned the wired hotel room internet into wifi for multiple users and found that I could preload directional maps, take a selected screenshot and then mail them to myself or save the image to save on battery usage. Another quick hint is knowing the right exit, paying attention to the yellow signs in the metro or pre scouting which exit to leave or enter from saves a lot of walking time as some of the urban stations are vast and its easy to loose a sense of direction or even worse pursue a direction you know is right only to have to backtrack. I got a small compass to orient myself as to north and south and even then its a little bewildering.
Thanks again to those on the board for their suggestions and tips and we're already planning our next trip