judy

My husband and I are going to Tokyo, Kyoto/Nara/Kobe area for a week on Nov 7th then to the island of Kyushu for a week. We do not need formal dress according to our Japanese host, but what attire is recommended for women for general sightseeing?<BR>Any advice is appreciated.<BR>[email protected]

Florence

Bonjour Judy,<BR><BR>Tokyo in November will be relatively mild but nights may be cold. The solution is layering. Kyushu will be warmer. You can wear almost anything decent you like (including jeans and sneaker, even shorts in Kyushu if temperature permits) without the Japanese batting an eyelid. Wait until you see what the teenagers wear, and you'll realise it is hard to shock their parents ... ;-)<BR><BR>Make sure to have confortable shoes that you can easily take off and put back on, since many places you'll visit, like temples, gardens, traditional areas, will have gravelled or cobbled alleys, and you'll have to take them off in order to visit most buildings (even some small museums !).

Andreas

Remember to wear socks, thicker if possible, as I was in Nikko last X'mas, it was cold and I took off my shoes and walk on the floor, you can imagine how I felt at that time.

Japan Lover

Recommended for women? <BR>I left Japan 2 days ago after 5 weeks there. Japan has a lot of western influence as far as attire goes. Western and japanese female backpackers and hikers were often wearing cargo pants and hiking boats. <BR>What type of trip do you have planned though? I would say, dress however you feel comfortable, it is not a backward country.

lcuy

Judy- Japanese vacationers tend to go pretty casual, but if you'll be travelling with a group of business people, many of the women will be wearing slacks with sweater sets or with polo Shirts, then will have a raincoat. They also seem to like longish skirts with the same sweater sets or polo shirts. <BR>I usually take a pair of jeans and a pair of lightweight wool slacks, a pair of tennis shoes, a pair of lightweight leather clogs, cotton or silk long sleeve pullovers, an unlined cotton jacket (like a casual blazer) and a mid length london fog type raincoat. I like to layer as the weather can go from quite warm to very cold in the fall. The raincoat works well in keeping cold winds off as well as rain. I like Japanese socks, so I bring one or two pairs fron home and buy clean ones along the way.

Florence

Bonjour Lcuy,<BR><BR>Do you buy the Japanese socks with separate toes ? I particularly like the ones with each toe a different color ;-)

lcuy

Also the ones with little faces on each toe! .. .. .. .. ..<BR> - - - - -