First Time in Japan
 

First time traveling to Japan...what do we see? Planning on 4 nights in Tokyo - 3 nights in Kyoto - 3 nights in Osaka. Is it too much or too little? My daughter wants to see Disney Tokyo but what do we do after that? Was thinking about the Bunrako Theater in Osaka and perhaps Kinosaki for the spa. Any suggestions?

Forgot to mention that we will be traveling in April.

It really depends on your interests. You should find a lot of useful information at the following web-stie:

http://www.japan-guide.com

Please come back with more specific questions.

Enjoy!

I went to the National Bunraku Theater last November to see a performance. The whole show is several hours. I bought a ticket for the first act and that was something 90 minutes. That was enough. I was able to rent a headset that explained, in English, what the narrator was saying. It was difficult to follow. I think would have been a good idea to read the story beforehand, if it was available and then see the performance - if you are serious about it.

Bunraku is more than a "puppet show". It is serious theater and not for children. How old is your daughter?

Osaka has a Universal Studios theme park that might be of interest to you. But, there are other places in Japan of more interest to first time visitors.

Nikko, Kanazawa, Takayama, or Hiroshima & Miyajima would be good choices, unless you daughter is too young to visit the memorial museum.

April is cherry blossom time in Japan, so what days in April will you be there?

Kinosaki is has onsen - hot springs. I would hesitate to call it a "spa", if by spa you mean a place with a lot of skin treatments and massages and hot tubs and sauna and steam room. I think you should be able to find that kind of place (the Hilton in Odawara, might have that). But a visit to an Japanese onsen is different from that (and well worth going).

While in Japan, I had really wanted to see a Bunraku performance. The only thing I could find was a 20 minute segment of a tourist-oriented display of various traditional Japanese performance arts at Gion Corner in Kyoto:

http://www.kyoto-gioncorner.com/global/en.html

Note that the "7" performing arts include flower arranging and tea serving (or at least they did when I was there). But the other "5" arts included short, but entertaining, bits of various entertaining Japanese traditions. It's clearly geared to tourists. But I'm a tourist! And I got to see some things I probably wouldn't have seen elsewhere, and I enjoyed myself. In particular, I saw a bit of bunraku. It was the final "act" of the show and lasted about 20 minutes - a time span that allowed the full development and resolution of the depicted story.

I think I would have enjoyed a longer bunraku experience, but I did not feel at all dissatisfied with this performance as an introduction to this ancient art. Instead, I was very glad to have seen a performance that went from start to end in a reasonably intimate setting.

Hope that helps!

Thank you everyone. I guess I should have mentioned that my daughter is over 30 and her husband is also traveling with us. We are arriving in Tokyo on 4/7 and departing Osaka on 4/16. I am hoping to "fulfill" some of my lifelong dreams. I would love to visit Hiroshima - is it difficult to get there from Kyoto?

kja - I have been looking at the site you recommended for the last month or so. I am confused because I feel that Japan will be a very different experience from the one I had in France (I at least speak the language) culturally as well as gastronomically. However, I am really looking forward to the experience.

Is it difficult to communicate?

Does anyone have recommendations for food? I love sushi but have a feeling it's going to be very expensive. I am open to most foods - cannot eat Sea Urchin.

mrwunrfl - thank you for the information regarding the Bunrako. I am thinking a short performance might be in order.

In the movie "Sayonara" (Marlon Brando), they depicted young women who were actresses. Does anyone know of theater that has all women? I'm not sure if they were geishas...

Does anyone know the Shin Miyako in Kyoto or the Hotel Granvia Osaka?

We had a very positive experience at the Granvia in Kyoto, veeolette.

Actually, you might benefit from reading our trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia...rom-mrmsgo.cfm

It's from April of 2009. And our itinerary was very similar to yours (at least, the first 7 days of it).

Photos here:

http://onelittleworld.zenfolio.com/f434652612

Hope this helps!

Don't know of a theater with all women but this comes close and you should try to see the Miyako Odori if you are in Kyoto this April.

http://www.miyako-odori.jp/odori_en.html

The Granvia hotels are owned by the JR company, the same one that owns the JR trains so most are right at the train stations. The Osaka Granvia is connected to the JR Osaka station in Umeda. Umeda is the upscale shopping district of Osaka but you can easily get to the Namba (Dotombori) area of Osaka (my favorite)in a few minutes on the subway.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4001.html

I have stayed at the Granvia's In Kyoto, Hiroshima and Wakayama but not the one in Osaka. Expect a comfortable room with all the amenities of a 4 star hotel in the US.

I don't find language too much of a barrier as I don't speak Japanese except for a few words and phrases after ten visits to the country. You can read some of my trip reports here on Fodors to get some insight to Japan travel. Most signs are in English and announcements made in the train stations and on the trains are in Japanese and English also. Its nice to know a few basic words like good morning, hello, good bye, thank you, please, etc but you can get along fine without knowing the language. If you have an iphone the app called Jibbigo-Jp is useful but not necessary.

Sea Urchin is called "Uni" in Japanese.

You will be there at peak cherry blossom season so be ready for the crowds and know where to go in the cities you are in to see the best sights. If you have already been perusing the Japan Guide site I am sure you have seen these pages.

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2164.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2158.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2157.html

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2011.html

lots of good information for you here just click the topics that interest you

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e623.html

Have a nice trip!

Aloha!

http://kageki.hankyu.co.jp/english/

Here's information about the Takarazuka Theatre - all female....is that what you meant?

Yes, absolutely go to the Miyako Odori in Kyoto. It is at the top of my list of things to do in Japan.

I think it will be baseball season. There are several teams in Tokyo and one in

Yokohama. There are also teams in Osaka, Kobe, and my team, the Carp, in Hiroshima.

In the movie Sayonara, Gruver fell in love with a Takarazuka actress.

Hirohshima is about 2 hours by shinkansen from Kyoto and about an hour and a half from Osaka. You probably would also want to visit Miyajima.

This JNTO webpage has a lot of good info:
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/index.html

The Bunraku Theatre in Osaka is something that I really enjoyed: http://www.osaka-info.jp/en/search/d...eing_1953.html
But then I have also enjoyed kabuki and noh, which many western visitors would find boring.
The all-female Takarazuka Revue is uniquely Japanese and located an easy distance from Osaka by the Hankyu Railway (best RR in Japan!). The actresses are celebrities with huge fan followings.
Depending on your tastes, any of these forms of entertainment would take you into an entirely different world, hardly comparable at all to anything else.
As for baseball, the very best and most exciting team in the Kansai area is the Hanshin Tigers, who are terrifically popular. Again, unlike American baseball, it is thoroughly "Japanized."

Oh, geez, thank you everyone. Yes, Mara and mrwunrfl, that's what I'm looking for! I wouldn't mind seeing some kabuki and noh. The Bunraku Theatre is definitely on. Not into baseball, but both my daughter and son-in-law are...I'll suggest a game to them and see where it goes. They could do that while I do something else...works for me!

I'm really loving Bento.com...I am definitely a "foodie" and have been lost on that site all day. Too bad there are only so many meals a person can eat in 10 days.

Does anyone have a favorite restaurant in Tokyo or Kyoto or Osaka?

PLEASE tell your daughter and SIL to go to see The Hanshin Tigers baseball team play while they are in Osaka, if the team is playing at the Dome then. Once in a lifetime experience for a baseball fan, trust me on this.

Tokyo: LOVE the Sometaro restaurant , very close to Senjosi (which is a must see/experience IMO). At Sometaro (entrance looks like something out of the Hobbit) you take off your shoes when entering and sit on floor in front of a table w/grill in middle. Order items to cook on the grill. This is a homey place. VERY good and totally fun and Japanese. It is down the block from the Drum Museum, which I missed going to as it was closed when I treid to go. Go to the Drum Museum too..

P.S. The Miyako Odori, which I attended w/my teenage daughter and mrwunrfl (who happened to be in Kyotot same time as us) was WONDERFUL. Awe inspiring. DO NOT MISS. Get tickets as far ahead as possible, right now, before you go to Kyoto.

The baseball schedule is available online...

GO TO HIROSHIMA. And as suggested, take the ferry over to Miyajima that day after seeing the Peace Park. And leave Kyoto ( or Osaka) early and stop at Himeji castle in Himeji on the way to Hiroshima! This is very easy to do.

And as you are in the train station in Hiroshimageting ready to go back to Kyoto or Osaka, go downstairs into the basement of the train station. There is a grocery store down there. JUST OUTSIDE the entrance to the grocery store (if you were exiting the grocery store, look to your left) is the most WONDERFUL counter restaurant w/a man and his wife who make the best okonomiyaki. DEFINITELY have okonomiyaki in Hiroshima, and trust me, that place is just mind blowing it is so good and fresh, and the couple running it are very friendly.

That is pretty much a perfect day , IMO.

My 18 year old son and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Japan last summer and we hope to return someday. We did go see the Seibu Lions play the Hanshin Tigers. It was one of the best baseball games we have ever seen. Even if you don't like baseball you should go. The fan participation is so much more than any place/sport we have ever seen!

Thank you everyone! I am becoming more excited everyday. I received my E-tickets today. I love all the tips...we are going to try to do each of them.

I have asked our travel agent to make reservations for the Miyako Odori - just the kind of thing I want to experience - emd3, thanks for that tip.

emd3, I will definitely try Sometaro restaurant...we are also going to try Mondo. While in Kyoto, I am going to try and send DD and SIL to the ball game while I go to Hiroshima. Hiroshima is one of my desires because I am a post-war brat. I feel a definite pull toward it.

Has anyone tried any of the "game" restaurants in Tokyo? ie, Momonja, La Chasse, or A Ta Gueule? I have wanted to try wild boar for years and this looks like a good opportunity.

I so appreciate all your advise. If anyone thinks of anything else, please tell me!

It is too bad you will miss sumo tournaments in Japan. There aren't any in April...

IMO, you should take your SIL and DD to Hiroshima. It is good to go with someone, to have someone to discus what you saw with after you leave. The Peace park and museum are incredibly moving.

There is a ceremonial tea you can also sign up for that happens just before the Miyako Odori. We sied up for it, but my daughter and I arrived too late to attend it, we had to go straight into the performance.

If you are in Kyoto on the day of the monthly Toji Temple Market or the Kitano shrine market, GO, even if only for an hr. or two. Very colorful displays of merchandise (Toji has lots of antiques, kinos, etc) much of it handmade, and people-watching and food, and you can see the temple/shrine at same time. Chion-ji temple also has a monthly handicraft market.

Tell your DD I said that Disney Sea is much better than Tokyo Disney. Disney Sea is one of a kind, no other in the world. The theming of Disney Sea is awesome, nothing like it in the world. If I was to pick, it would be Disney Sea for a day, definitely. Amazing. Do not miss Ariel's Grove, glow in the dark underground cave theming for Little Mermaid. It is kind of like what I imagine a good LSD trip might be like, without the drug part.

In Kyoto you ned to build in time to walk by and through the main temples in Higashiyama. Find out which ones are going to be lit up at night while you are there and see those after dark. If cherry blossoms are in bloom, do NOT MISS the Philosopher's Path walk.

e, you gave a small dish from that tea ceremony before the MO. I use it often as a soy sauce dish when I bring home sushi.

If you like tofu, there is a restaurant called Sasa No Yuki - it is close to the Uguisudani station on the Yamanote Line in Tokyo - it is listed on bento.com on the Ueno page at the bottom under 'nearby'. I ate lunch there on my first visit to Japan in 2004 - it is a very famous old restaurant....many courses of tofu.....if you are in the Ueno area to see the park or museums maybe you could try it.....

mrw, I still have Celine's and my dishes, and I also use them regularly, esp. when I go to the international grocery store near our house and get mochi and serve it for dessert. (p.s. Celine is 19 now and at Radford U. And still a force to be reckoned with. Where did she get that from.)

Really do want to do whole Miyako Odori experience including Tea Ceremony!

Do they have passes at Disney that would allow you to do a 1/2 day in each?

Everyone has given me such wonderful ideas. As soon as I have the itinerary together, I'll ask for advise again.

Thanks everyone!

Just thought of something very important - Dress Code? What is appropriate? Slacks and tops with sandals; dresses with sandals; jeans with t-shirts and athletic shoes?

Disney multi day passes allow you to change parks wirhin the same day from day 3 I think - definitely not on the first day or a single day.

Dress- whatever you are comfortable in. If you'll be visiting temples and shrines or entering old buildings, shoes that are easy to put on and take off are best. In cities and especially in upscale hotels people tend to dress well.

Try not to dress frumpy (like crummy jeans w/tshirts and athletic shoes). You will feel better in Tokyo if you wear dark slacks and nicer tops. Sandals are fine (just not crummy ones), dresses fine, skirts fine. Take a nice purse. Tokyo is a fairly cosmopolitan city and the workers, esp. the women, dress nicely whether they are at work or play.

veeolette,
You’re really lucky! Oh to experience japan for the first!! What a wonderful feeling. For me when i went just being there standing in the streets, the big lights of Tokyo was amazing. You almost have to go twice, since, at least for me i was light a deer in headlights! It was everything that I had imagined and totally lived up to everything that I thought it would be. And since you are going in April you will get a good chance to see the cherry blossoms. What a sight!!! That alone makes the trip to Japan worth t!!! I know you mentioned Disney, however you might want to go to hello kitty land (not the real name but that is what i call it)
http://www.puroland.co.jp/english/welcome.html
You might want to go to tokyo tower, which offers a great view of the city. And if you have time maybe a trip to Mt. Fuji. (i never made it, ran out of time)
Also if you or any of your family are into tech gadgets and things like that you will defiantly not want to miss the "Akihabara" district. If they don’t have an electric device, it just hasn’t been invented yet.
All in all you will have the time of your life, even just by standing in the street and looking up!

emd, how did you get the Miyako Odori tix? They were in a perfect spot. IIRC, you got them via a hotel concierge?

Osaka has its own style of okonomiyaki. If you are considering staying in Osaka then I might be able to find the name a great okonomiyaki on the map that the Osaka Westin concierge gave me. There might be an okonomiyakiya in Kyoto. Reading about the dish really didn't prepare me for it; didn't realize how good it was going to be.

You might like to visit Meiji Jingu when you are in Tokyo.

That is to say that I highly recommend a visit to Meiji Jingu. It is an oasis.
http://www.meijijingu.or.jp/english/about/1.html

Do take the time to visit the empress's fishing spot. It is just off the path to the shrine. It is on the left side as you go to the shrine and there will probably be a man standing at the start of the path down to the pond. His job is to indicate to people going to/from the shrine that there is something there that they might want to see. It is easy to miss.
http://www.meijijingu.or.jp/english/nature/2.html

mrw, you are right that I arranged to get them thru the concierge at the Hotel Okura before I arrived. I recall phoning and then emailing w/her. And I just found a posting I did realted to this in MArch 2007:


"Yes, I called the concierge at the hotel I was going to stay at and she arranged for the tickets. I think I called about 6 or 8 weeks before we went and we got great seats."

I just googled "Miyako Odori tickets" and the first posting is a good post on Kyoto travel on how to get tickets. There is a fax and phone number for reservations, but also sys you can get them in advance from your hotel conceirge. The three levels of tickets are described. For some reason the way my new laptop is set up, I can not copy the link (I really dislike Geek Squad service), but just google it.

Do you see the URL in the browser? What browser?
Either way, you can try this:
hit the F6 key to select the URL
<ctrl>c to copy
<ctrl>v to paste
http://www.kyoto.travel/miyako_odori_wo.html

You are lifesavers!

Question: What about jewelry? I avoid taking jewelry to Europe because of all the warnings. Is it safer in Japan?

Do you have a suggestion for our first evening? Nothing too much as I'll be flying in from LAX. We are staying in Roppongi. I was thinking dinner at My Back Pages in Shibuya-ku. Any opinions on this restaurant?

After that? Ginza? What? We are open for suggestions.

emd3, thank you for the dress tips. I am rethinking my packing list. I wasn't planning on grungy jeans and athletic shoes but I wasn't planning on a business wardrobe either. What about men? My SIL lives in shorts!

Average high temp in Tokyo is 62F in April, so if SIL lives in shorts at those temps and lower, then she should pack some.

I wear the same clothing in Tokyo as I wear in New York. My newer jeans, not the old ones. Beige jeans. Casual trousers that are not jeans but would not qualify as business casual. Casual LL Bean shirts, which is pretty much all I have. A zippered hoodie. Running shoes.

In Japan, I am a big gaijin. I've got that going for me and going against me (to some extent). In the very rare cases where I have gone some place fancy I dressed as me. It worked out.

But, yeah, in Tokyo, on weekdays when people are in their office attire some gaijin look like bag ladies and hoboes.

DO take off your shoes when you are expected to take off your shoes. Personally, I would consider it a fashion fopah to wear a swimsuit (or anything else) in a gender segregated onsen bath.

And you are going to the planet called Disney. Anaheim, Tokyo, Orlando, Paris. All the same.

And yes it is safer in Japan. I've seen Japanese women who you would consider careless (but actually care-free, maybe) about securing their personal possessions in public.

In Barcelona, maybe, you might see a woman with her purse strap around her neck and under her arm and holding the purse to her belly. In Tokyo, even I could have pickpocketed a camera or wallet from a purse on a few occaisions.

Take standard precautions, as you would at home, around foreigners, tho.

AFAIK, the only thing that Japanese steal are umbrellas and bicycles. You won't be taking a bicycle. Don't take an expensive umbrella as you might leave it behind somewhere, being jet-lagged and all. And umbreallas are cheap in Japan.

Dress - whatever is comfortable. Wear shoes that don't hurt because there is typically more walking here than the states. I wear comfortable pants or skirts and fleece pretty much every day, even to work. On my feet, dansko. Easy on an off and supremely comfortable.

Safe. Sure. It's normal for 6 year old t o walk to and from school alone. My daughter has been able to go to nearby shops alone since she was 5 - she's 14 now. Kids as well as men and women are out at night. I've left my wallet on the bus and gotten a phone call that they had it before I knew I didn't. All money still there. We've left our car unlocked overnkesight more times than I care to admit to but our spendy high tech navi entertainment is still there, and so aIre the maybe ¥2000 in coins I keep in the tray between the two front seats.

I've mistakenly run out of my house distracted and in a hurry, leaving the front door wide open. The only unwanted visitor was a cat. I was gone all day!

That said, we've had 2 bikes and countless umbrellas requisitioned for use by others. I've also inherited just as many umbrellas that people leave in my house or car. Some of them are nice.

Do exercise common sense. Don't sport 4carat diamonds and a LV bad then flash a thick stack of ¥10,000 at the corner bus stop. But do feel free to wear jewelry. I just wouldn't carry around a skew of extra for fear I would lose it or forget it, not that sb else would steal it.

I worry very little here. Crime happens but less. People are watching. I know this for fact from experience and although sometimes its odd often it's comforting.

Thanks everyone for all of your suggestions. We have a few tentative plans.

Day 1 After arriving and checking into the hotel, we thought a fun, funky dinner at "Dining with Dylan". A bit of strolling around to get acclimated. Some desert from one of the wonderful bakeries and early to bed.

Day 2 Tsukiji Fish Market and breakfast at Sushi Dai. Sightseeing. Haven't actually picked destinations - Any must see suggestions here. And, since it's Easter Sunday and we have much to be thankful for this year and are celebrating a few things - dinner at Lawry's - our family go-to celebration place. Maybe Akihabara for my SIL after dinner.

Day 3 Disney. Everyone says to see Disney Sea, so we are trying to talk the DD into Disney Sea during the day and Disneyland in the evening.

Day 4 Yokohama. Ramen museum, Chinatown for Dim Sum, the Submarine and Rocket museum, and anything else that catches our eye. Back to Tokyo for the last minute "have to see" places.

Day 5 Last minute sightseeing. Train to Kyoto. Check in. Start walking.

Day 6 Kyoto Imperial Palace; Nishiki Market; Higashiyama

Day 7 The Miyako Odori; Philosopher's Path; Kiyomizudera.

Day 8 1/2 day Kyoto. Train to Osaka. Osaka Castle, Sumiyoshi Taisha.

Day 9 A partial performance of the Bunraku Theater. Umeda Sky Building, Shinekai, Mino Park - not necessarily in that order.

Day 10 Peace Osaka. Airport.

Days 11 - 18 Okinawa.