I'm leaving for Japan next Friday for a 2 week trip, then I'm off to the World AIDS conference in Thailand. I didn't get a chance to plan until this week. I booked a Ryokan in Tokyo for 5 days, then I figured the JR pass to Kyoto (& Nara) for 4 days. I'm going to spend a couple of days in Osaka before leaving. I have three questions- Can someone suggest a Ryokan (about 5,000 yen or so) in Kyoto? I generally like to wander cities and sites, and EAT on vacation, So are there other places that I should spend a few days relaxing? And, lastly, what's the best way to get Yen? Can I use my ATM card & and are the eschange rates favorable as in Europe?

I have been researching places to stay in Kyoto for several months now on this board. I have never been there, but here is what I have found byreviewing and printing and sorting through many many posts. This is what i have in my Kyoto file. The challenge is the 50,000 yen or so per night limit. I have done pretty extensive research on the Tour Club Kyoto, whichis the least expensive place I'd consider staying, and it is 6900 yen per night for a budget twin room. Each individual room in this place has a mini-private bathrooms w/shower, which I have foundto be good for that rate.It also has hostel-like dorm facilities without private bath for 2300 per night. I have not seen any posts on real ryokans for that amt. in Kyoto. If you're willing to up the $, I can give you more info on what I have in my file. You can also do that research yourself by searching for kyoto and ryokan, although it would be helpful for me to go through the file at this point anyway.
Kyoto Tour Club is at www.kyotojp.com
If you find any ryokans in Kyoto for your amount, I would be really interested, because I can't find them for that amount in going through previous postings on here.

There are several of Welcome Inns in Kyoto that fit your budget. The list is here:
http://www.itcj.or.jp/search/pref/kyoto.html

For the last few days, you could visit the castle at Himeji. You can relax on Miyajima after visiting the Hiroshima Peace Park. If you are leaving from Tokyo, then you might move the Nara visit to after Hiroshima.

Another option for the last couple of days would be to visit Hakone. See the WIs on the following page listed as Mt Fuji.
http://www.itcj.or.jp/search/tourist.html
I've stayed at the Moto-Hakone Guest House and it was pretty basic but fine.

You should assume that the lodging in this price range will not accept credit cards, though many of them do.

The best way to get yen is to use your ATM card at the airport or in the shinkansen area of train stations. An "international ATM" with the Cirrus/Plus logos on it. The exchange rate (at 108 JPY per USD) is not bad (like it is for the Euro) but is also not good. But, prices are kind of high. Oh, if you mean are the exchange rates that you get for withdrawing from an ATM favorable, then the answer is: yes. If it is not the best exchange you can get then it is p.d. close.

In speaking of ATMs. Something weird happened on one of my transactions. I pulled out about $400 worth of cash at an ATM in the city and I got about 45,200 yen back which I can calculate the rate to be about 113 yen for my dollar. I was expecting about 107-109 yen back. I later changed hard currency dollars at a bank and only got 107 yen for my dollar. If you check xe.com rates the exchance is usually between 112-113 yen / $. So it seems like some ATMs may give you favorable rates. I can't confirm that all ATMS will be as generous.

That has me confused, BigFeat. You pulled out "about" $400 for "about" Y45,200?

What I think happened is that you pulled out some thousands of yen from the ATM (and you didn't get two 100-yen coins in the transaction). Compare the receipt from that transaction (showing the amount of yen withdrawn) and compare it with your bank statement to see how much was debited from your account in $. Then you can compute the rate.

By "about" $400, you might mean $420, then your exchange rate for the Y45,000 would be 107.14

I'll check on that. My debit card was limited to $400 per day. I will review my expense sheet and check it out. You're right it doesn't make sense that it would spit out 2 100 yen coins, so I might have that figure wrong. I'll look over my statement to verify this as well as the ATM slip. Nevertheless, I do remember calculating the rate to be somewhere around 113 yen. Moreover, now I think about it my hotel cc bill was calculated at 113 yen/$ which I paid 2 days prior to withdrawing funds from the ATM. The hotel required the funds upfront. So I paid less then I expected. About 4 days later I got a note from my bank stating that it adjusted the fees which then brought the rate down to 108 yen/$. So when the machine spat out 113 yen/$ plus what the hotel did around that time I thought I was just getting a good deal.

Goodness, the site you mention has great rates, mrwunrfl. I had not seen that before, and everything I've seen mentioned is so much more expensive. One nice thing about the Tour Club is that is has internet access available (3 terminals) for a small fee. But it is not a ryokan really, at least not what I have read about what a ryokan experience is like. Thanks for that site- it is going in the Kyoto file (which is getting thick now).

Ok, BigFeat, maybe I understand. You got Y45000 from the ATM. Your bank did the exchange at an actual rate of 113 Y/$ and charged you a fee of about $16. So, you can compute the effective rate of about 108 (45000/416). The average interbank rate during your stay (according to oanda.com) was 110.60 with a max of 112.12 and minimum of 109.03 (that's May 27 thru June 6). The rate did hit 113 on May 26. So the times when you got a good deal were just times when the exchange rate was better and you didn't get socked with fees. The bad exchanges that you got were due to profit taking by the banks (in terms of a lower exchange by the bank in Japan and in terms of the fee charged by your bank).

emd, the Tour Club looks nice. The internet access is a good bonus as well as the private baths. I am stunned that the also offer "free coffee"! The best deal I saw for coffee was at the Doutor restaraunts 280 yen for a large brewed coffee. One of those Welcome Inn ryokans listed a single person lodging price of 4000. Then it listed dinner at between 7000 and 20,000. Have you spent much time at jnto.go.jp ?

The owner of the Tour Club is nice too, very helpful. I've been emailing w/him. I do like the little TV on the walls in the rooms- may help us fall asleep at night. And the mats look pretty plush. It won't be a real ryokan experience, but we will get that somewhere else. I didn't realize coffee is a big deal offering. I need my coffee.
I've been on jnto.go.jp, but need to get back there. I'm glad I have several months to plan.
TimNYC- will you let us know where you end up staying and how it is? Would really appreciate it, esp. if it is one of the Welcome Inns. How exciting to be going to Thailand to that conference.
BTW mrwunrfl, how is your reentry into the west going?

Thanks for all the info. I am currently at Ryokan Sawanoya in the Ueno area of Tokyo. It is basic, but comfortable for 5000 yen. Got yen at one of the large bank's counters at Narita airport at a rate of 106.51 for travelers checks (500 USD) and will hit an ATM when I see a big bank over the next few days. I just confirmed with Ryokan Hiraiwa in Kyoto 4400Yen/night. It was in jpinn.com and got a good review on Frommers.com I was trying for Hinomoto (which is suppose to be close to amusement quarter) but they never responded to 2 emails. Heading to a baseball game (swallows and giants) with some friends tonight. Any further recs on another destination would be appreciated. Thanks

A third destination could be Hiroshima & Miyajima. There is a place on Miyajima mentioned at frommers that is in your budget, see:
http://www.frommers.com/destinations...ma/H45196.html

What is the Jingu ball park like?

Jinko ballpark was great! Home to the Yahult swallows, it is the size of a large minor league park in the US. The swallow fans were great. From the moment we entered they were singing their team fight songs and waving the flags. They played the Giants, whose fans were seated in Right field bleachers and 3rd base. My friend is a swallows fan and was worried because she bought the tickets before asking whose side they were on. I did not realize how important it was to sit in the right section. It was obvious once we got there. My friend also had a clear green umbrella with her. I asked her if it was suppose to rain that night. She said "I hope so" So, when the Swallows hit a home run, all the swallow fans open their umbrella and held them in the air, moving them in a certain waving pattern over their heads as the sang the Swallows home run song. It was pretty funny. They had a bunch of different cheers and songs. One of my favorite was in English. When a batter is in scoring position they sing a song with the chorus, "Feed the hungary swallow!!!"

Jinko ballpark was great! Home to the Yahult swallows, it is the size of a large minor league park in the US. The swallow fans were great. From the moment we entered they were singing their team fight songs and waving the flags. They played the Giants, whose fans were seated in Right field bleachers and 3rd base. My friend is a swallows fan and was worried because she bought the tickets before asking whose side they were on. I did not realize how important it was to sit in the right section. It was obvious once we got there. My friend also had a clear green umbrella with her. I asked her if it was suppose to rain that night. She said "I hope so" So, when the Swallows hit a home run, all the swallow fans open their umbrella and held them in the air, moving them in a certain waving pattern over their heads as the sang the Swallows home run song. It was pretty funny. They had a bunch of different cheers and songs. One of my favorite was in English. When a batter is in scoring position they sing a song with the chorus, "Feed the hungary swallow!!!" It was a lot of fun. Another American told me to bring your own food and beer to the game, and sure enough all the young fans were stocking up at the convenience store outside the subway. If you do not bring your own beer, you can buy a draft beer from a uniformed beer girl who wears a backpack which looks like a futuristic rocket backpack but is actually a keg. she will cheerfully sell you a draft for 700Yen. I have to check the web for a game (hopefully the Tigers) when I go to Osaka on July 7th or 8th. If any body knows anything about Osaka (places to visit & reasonable eats 20 to 60 usd/person) it would be greatly appreciated. Oh, and the 1200 Yen seats in Left field are assigned so you do not have to show up early for the general admission open seating. I recommend Jingu highly.

Wow, that game sounds great! I am hoping to get in on very early pre-season baseball w/my son at end of next March. Your description really makes me want to go even more. Regarding Osaka, please share whatever you find out. I am also researching that as we will try to take in a sumo match also and there is a tournament in Osaka while we are in that area.

Thanks for the great jball report! The Tigers are playing the Carp in Hiroshima on July 7-8 at 6:20

In Osaka, there is a Hard Rock Cafe right at the Hommachi station. Head to exit #9 and you should see a sign directing you. They have a pretty good (US traditional) Thanksgiving dinner at that time of year. Apparently, there is another HRC at the Universal Studios park.

I am in Kyoto currently. I took Johnny Hill Walkers tour of the older city. It was five hours (20 usd) and I really enjoyed it since he was able to explain the temples, shrines, and craftsman workshops.

mrwunrfl, I have a question. I was at the Hanshin Tigers store yesterday (in Kyoto). And, the woman at the counter was helping me with the schedule. The Tigers will be playing the H. Carp in Hiroshima on july 6,7,8. I can take the JR to H. for the July 6 game (6pm), but must be in Osaka on July 7th. Are all three games at the same stadium in Hiroshima? I could not quite tell. I hope the game is not sold out and I could buy a ticket at the gate. And, can you tell how easy it would be to get to the station. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

The July 6, 6PM, game is in Kurashiki which is a city east of Hiroshima. The games on the 7th and 8th are in Hiroshima (at 6:20 PM). This info is from the sports page at www.japantimes.com where they also have some stadium maps. I don't think you will have any trouble getting tickets. The Carp fans are in right field bleachers and the visitors in left.

The Hiroshima stadium is easy to get to from Hiroshima station. Hiroshima station has two sides, the shinkansen (north) side and the south side. The streetcar to the ballpark is on the southside.

On arrival, when you come down from the shinkansen tracks you go straight, past the ticket checkers and to the right on a bridge across several tracks. Then the stairs down and straight out the front where you will find the streetcar. There are two streetcars there. You don't want the one that goes to the port, you want the other one. You would get out at the Genbaku Dome stop (I will check on the name and post it later). After the game, go across the street (across the trolley tracks) and visit the dome and the Peace Park.

I dug out a map. There are three streetcar lines that terminate at Hiroshima station. Two of those lines have a destination of Ujina (streetcars 1 and 5). You want the other line (streetcars 2 or 6) and get off at the 9th stop named Genbaku Dome Mae (pronounce the G as in golf). That stop before that is Kamiyacho. After Kamiyacho the streetcar will go straight, if you are on the correct one (the wrong one, #1 goes left).

Just follow the Cinncinnati Reds fans!

Below the shinkansen tracks at Hirsohima station is a Doutor restaurant (good large coffee Y280 and bagel sandwich Y260). Below that is a restaurant with a good meal for Y580. Just go down to the outside of the north exit and turn left (or see it at the bottom of the escalator).

One more thing: the food at Hiroshima Municipal Stadium is not very good.

And: getting to Shin-Osaka will be easy. From Shin-Osaka, there is frequent rail service to Osaka station. I would get the reserved seat for Osaka on arrival at Hiroshima.

mrwunrfl Thanks so much for the help. I have to look into this further. My rail pass ends on July 7th and I need to be in Osaka. I was hoping to catch the game on the 6th, but will need to see if it is feasible to make it to Kurashiki. A second option would be to jump on a train to Osaka after the game on the 7th. A third option would be to catch a different game (in a different city) entirely since I have from Monday till the 7th open. I will check out the japantimes website. I was thinking of going to Nara Monday, but everything is flexible. Thanks again.