Going to japan
 

Hi.
I'm going to go to japan next year. And I was wondering where in japan should I go. It's going to be my first time in japan. I would really apriciate the help.:D

How long will you be going for, what are your interest, what do you want to do, what is your budget?

I'm thinking I'll be there 2 weeks. Not really sure yet what I want to do there. My budget? Hmmm. I guess about 3000-3500 euros not sure yet.

You can do a lot of things in 2 weeks with that kind of budget. Other users can probably comment on non tourist areas, but I think for 2 weeks, i will definitely try to hit the following destinations (from south/west to north/east)

1. Fukuoka
2. Miyajima
3. Hiroshima
4. Himeji
5. Kobe (Optional)
6. Osaka and Sakai
7. Nara and Kyoto
8. Nagoya
9. Atami/Odawara > Hakone, Fuji
10 Yokohama
11. Tokyo ward
12. Nikko
13. Akita

Between Fukuoka/Miyajima, you maybe able to fit Shikoku in. There isn't much to see in Shikoku, though its worth traveling across Seto-Ohashi Bridge on train.

Thanks. Most of the money will go to flights and hotell. Well not most maeby half

Fin out how much flight and hotel will cost you first, but its sort of a catch, you can't really plan your hotel and get a cost estimate unless you know where you are going.

For the most part, assume that food will cost you about ￥2500 to ￥3000 a day. Transportation varies, but I assume you will be getting a rail pass. I got lazy to do the conversion for you, but I did a similar itinerary with a few friends back in 2007, and we managed to surviived with about CDN$3000, including flights, hotel and all accommodation/transportation:

Flight (Toronto-Narita): $1100
Hotel: $700
JR Pass: $400
Food: $350
Entrance fee for attractions: $300
Other Transportation: $100

All in canadian funds... you should be fine with 3000-3500 euro. It was also for 2 weeks.

Ok. Thanks.

Are you going on vacation? Who are you going with? What are your goals for this trip?

I'm going alone for now. Not sure. Yeh I'm goin on a vacation.

What are you hoping to accomplish? What is your reason for choosing Japan?

I could tell you 100 places to go that I absolutely love that you might absolutely hate. Tell us some more about you, and then you might here some useful ideas.

Well I'd like to see traditional japanese culture. Not so much the big cities like Tokyo, maeby some but not many. I chose japan cause I'm intrested in the language and culture. I'm hoping to learn more about the japanese culture.

Shikoku and Kyoto (and nara) will have the true culture that you are looking for, and Nikko also have a bit of that. All are true tourist area that have a strong emphasis in history and culture.

I could be wrong, but I think learning the history is the best way to expose yourself to the culture, There is at least 1 museum in Saitama (Saitama Prefectural Museum of History and Folklore), as well as the Tokyo-Edo museum that you can have a look at

I will leave the rest to MMM to help you with...