tcreath

DH and I are going on our first trip to Japan in October. We are flying JAL Chicago to Tokyo and Nagoya to Chicago. I wanted to fly out of Osaka, but there were no awards seats so Nagoya appeared to be the next best thing.

Anyways, we only have 7 days/nights in Japan and are trying to make the most of our trip without being too rushed. Our original plan was to spend 3 nights in Tokyo, 3 nights in Kyoto and 1 night in Nagoya because our flight leaves around 9:00 am.

Now on to my question. I have heard conflicting things about Tokyo and am trying to determine if we should visit and if so, for how long. We both enjoy cities but enjoy the countryside more. Tokyo looks fascinating but also quite intimidating. We get into Tokyo in the afternoon so as of right now we would have 2 full days and 3 evenings in Tokyo. There are so many places that interest us and we are trying to determine if we should knock Tokyo down to 2 nights and Kyoto down to 2 nights and spend 2 nights elsewhere or if we should skip Tokyo altogether. Any thoughts?

Thanks so much for any advice or thoughts!
Tracy

angethereader

Don't shorten your time in Kyoto. There is so much to see there.

Maybe 2 nights Tokyo (there is alot to see) and 4 nights Kyoto?

mrwunrfl

Nagoya is a good choice. There is a Marriott at Nagoya station. A Hilton is nearby. The train to Nagoya is a Meitetsu train, not JR.

You won't need a JR Pass for this trip. Just pay as you go.

When you mentioned there were so many places that interest you I thought you were referring to places in Tokyo. But do you mean elsewhere?

mrwunrfl

I meant to say that the train to Nagoya airport (from Nagoya station) is a Meitetsu train. On hyperdia use Chubu International Airport as the destination.

You'd take the shinkansen from Kyoto to Nagoya.

tcreath

mrwunrfl, sorry for the confusion. I meant that there are so many places that interest us in Japan. Tokyo definitely looks interesting, but it also looks a little insane and exhausting.

angethereader, your advice sounds really good. Maybe we will do 2 nights in Tokyo and 4 nights in Kyoto.

Thanks again!
Tracy

Frances

We travelled to Japan last autumn because my daughter was studying there. When we arrived in Tokyo (we had by now been in Japan for two weeks) she asked what we wanted to see . There was absolutely nothing that attracted us out of what she intended to show us. We had see many shrines, didn't fancy the shopping were templed out and had seen enough miles of connurbation to last a lifetime.So we shied away from those and visited the shopping area that made the plastic food- you couldn't drag us away from there. We took a trip up the river on a boat arriving by the "golden turd". We arrived there by a shrine during a festival-maybe harvest? We visited Tokyu Hands. We ate at an okonomiake and saw how she had conquered Japanese "3 seafoodo?". We were there during a typhoon and went to Roy's in Roppongi to eat. We were absolutely dripping wet and wondered how all the Japanese stayed fairly dry with just an umbrella!
Best part of the trip was staying at a guest house on the slopes of a volcano in Kyushu.
I also enjoyed Takayama very much. As for the karaoke in a small bar on a wet Sunday night in Tsuwano....!

mrwunrfl

ok, what other places in Japan interest you?

nickn

If there is one city that captures the essence of traditional Japan, that is Kyoto. Allocate as much time as possible there. I am not sure you have looked at just how many lovely attractions are in Kyoto. It is enormous!

I am not a big fan of Tokyo. It is a VERY modern city, busy, cosmopolitan, and commercial. But here, you feel the pulse of modern Japan -- very different from Kyoto. Since you are arriving there, you should spend some time there.

Nagoya is not my l

tcreath

Thank you everyone for your replies.

As for other areas that interest us, two that I can think of off the top of my head is Hakone/Mt. Fuji and Nikko.

I think Kyoto definitely has more of what we are looking for from the sounds of it. I think we will drop Tokyo to 2 nights and add the extra night to Kyoto.

I anticipate that we will arrive in Nagoya in early evening to check into our hotel and will probably not spend too much time there otherwise.

Thanks again!
Tracy

mrwunrfl

I was asking about your other considerations because I was ready to suggest "not to Tokyo" in favor of a more rural location (e.g. Kiso Valley, just north of Nagoya). But sounds like you've got a good itin.

Barkinpark

While in Tokyo, you can avoid the modern, hip neighborhoods and stay at the older areas that seem to have resisted changes. These areas are generally known as shitamachi. They are located in the eastern parts of Tokyo.

Also, I once stayed at the Four Seasons at Chinzanso. It's located in an elegant area (Edogawabashi) with cobblestone streets and traditional Japanese style buildings with laterns hanging outside. It's not crowded and at times I saw old ladies wearing kimonos walking around. It's like a little oasis. I don't think this area is known to tourists who don't stay at this hotel. At least, I did not know anything about it until my stay.

Finally, the Tsukiji fish market is a must-see (I know it's a cliche). Thanks to another Fodorite, I found this webpage that discusses Tsujiki and one part of shitamachi:
http://fxcuisine.com/default.asp?tag=19
I suppose you have also read an excellent article in Vanity Fair about the fish market? Here it is, just in case, you have not:
http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/fe...06/sushi200706

I have not been to Nagoya and so cannot comment. However, I second the idea of exploring some hot spring resort towns such as Hakone and Atami. October is a nice season for soaking in hot springs.

mcben391

Frances,
What was the name of the guest house and in what town did you stay in Kyushu? I am planning a visit to Japan in 2009 and would like to visit Kyushu. I lived there in the early 60's when my father was in the Air Force. There isn't alot of information on Southern Japan. I would be interested in how you planned you visit there.
Thanks.

mrwunrfl

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/location/rtg/index.html
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/kyushu/
http://www.itcj.jp/
http://gojapan.about.com/od/kyushu/Kyushu.htm
If you search the web you should be able to find the Nagasaki prefecture's webpage which I thought was useful.

Frances

Mcben -the guesthouse was Pension Angelica which was about two hours drive from Fukuoka towards Beppu. We ended up there because we didn't want only to have seen built up areas and came across the recommendation in the Fodor's Japan.They were a lovely family but as many Japanese underestimated their command of English. So if you send an email they wait until their son who speaks the best English, visits and then they get him to reply.It was a very welcome pleasure to find that the owner and a son were trained chefs and the food was outstanding. His wife showed us around her garden where plants flourished-probably due insome part to the volcanic soil.
We couldn't get as close to the top of the volcano as you sometimes can and there were warnings as to the fumes. My daughter was affected by these and we had to drive away quickly.
The guesthouse was idyllic and we spent two nights there. My husband and I had made our way there by train via Kyoto, Kurashiki,Matsuyama and Miya jima and our daughter flew to Fukuoka to meet us.
www5.ocn.ne.jp/~angelica

emd

Tracy: If I only had 7 days on my first trip to Japan, I'd go straight to Kyoto. Aside from exploring Kyoto for a few days, I'd go to some of the very interesting areas that are close to Kyoto. There are so many interesting areas right around Kyoto (short bus or train rides), so many cool half day or full day trips from there. There is Nara, Himeji castle, Ohara, Kibune/Kurama, Hiroshima (a full day trip), Kurashiki, on and on, and if you want a big more modern city, Osaka is close (although unless it was for baseball or sumo, I probably wouldn't go to Osaka personally). That way you don't have to move hotels and go from Tokyo to Kyoto.

7 days is not a long time, and the day you travel from Tokyo to Kyoto becomes a short day since you have to be packed, check out, get to the train station, take the train, and get to your hotel in Kyoto to drop bags. This has ended up taking us from early morning til around 2-3 pm the times we have done it. It eats into your short time.

It sounds like your plans are already set to go into Narita though. And it is a trek to try to go straight to Kyoto after landing in NArtia after the long flight. Some people who land at Narita and are going straight on to Kyoto will rest one night at Narita or even Shinagawa (Shinagawa would give you the chance to go into Tokyo for the evening if you are up for it, as opposed to staying at Narita) and then go on to Kyoto from there the next morning. For me, it would be preferable to fly straight into and out of KIX (Osaka) or Nagoya if I was going to Kyoto.

I like Tokyo and have spent 10 days there total on 2 trips, but with 7 days it just would not be worth it to me to go btwn Tokyo and Kyoto. Kyoto and the surrounding areas and day trips would be a great 1st trip for me with that time.

emd

Frances, that place and the area it is in looks GREAT! What a find. And those rates for 2 meals included by chefs...