solo travel?
 

Hi guys,

I'm looking for any advice on travelling alone in Japan. Im thinking of visiting in April 2010 for 2 weeks, probably 1 week in Tokyo & another week in one of the other big cities. I've done some solo travelling in Thailand and found it easy to meet people, mainly due to the large number of ex-pat & western bars there.

I suppose my main question is, how easy is it to meet other travellers or people in a similar situation in Japan?

Im not too concerned about travelling alone but it would be great to make some new friends to have a couple of beers with along the way.

If it helps im 29, guy from England & will be probably be staying in hostels rather than hotels.

Any tips or info is much appreciated.

Cheers

It depends upon where and when you go, and a fair bit of luck sometimes. You'll probably see some other foreigners in Tokyo, depending upon where you go and where you stay the night. But in other cities, and especially if you are traveling in the countryside, it's entirely possible to not see another obvious gaijin for days (or at least it was back in my day). Still, you can run into people anywhere... I remember running into a guy named Mark who taught English in Korea, while we were both visiting Nagasaki. We got to talking about the similarities and differences between teaching in Korea and Japan, and decided to explore the city of Nagasaki together.

Good luck!

You might end up making friends with some Nihonjin over the beer and Nishonshu (sake). Many do speak some English. Make an attempt to learn some basic Japanese before you go and that will go FAR in building relationships with the locals. If you try... they will try too.

Then you don't have to rely on seeing other gaijin.

best,

................john

Hi john,

Thanks for your reply. I'm going to try to learn a little japanese before I go & sure i'll make an effort to make some Japanese friends too.

I think the main reason i'm choosing to go down the hostel route, other than budget, is that I think i'm more likely to meet people that way.
It would be great to hear from anyone with experience of japanese hostels and how it worked out, aswell as others who have travelled alone.

Cheers

I am also thinking on going solo to Japan (mainly because organized trips are quite expensive). I don't have any problems socializing or getting to know new people, but I am also curious if it's easy to mingle/socialize with the locals. If someone has experience or advice, this would be welcome.

I found it quite easy, and in fact they might often approach you to find out who you are, what you think of their town, to practice English with you, etc.

One "problem" that sometimes happens is, if you are trying to practice your Japanese... THEY want to practice their English.

Sometimes I speak Japanese to a Nihonjin and they then speak English back to me. That way we both get some practice and feedback :) .

best,

..............john

Japan isn't really a backpacking country unlike say Australia and Thailand, which is why you'd have to look very hard finding youth hostels. When this is said though, it's just as easy (if not even more so) than Thailand getting around. What ever you do get a JR Railpass before you go, it lets you pretty much travel unlimited by train. If not, you'll ruin your buget trying to get around. If you hang around the cities you'll probably meet other foreigners, especially places like Tokyo's Ropongi night life district, to get close to natives I'd say is a bit harder. Your best option might be at Izukaya's (traditional and not that expensive) bars. If you go into the countryside it's a different story and many natives might be too intimidated to even make conversation, learn a few Japanese phrases and be polite is the only way foreward. Hope you'll have a nice time

I guess it really depends.

Almost everyone in my hotel took the time to shake hands or say good morning/afternoon etc...

It would take a second for the english to register.

I didn't really meet anyone there in my two weeks but then I wasn't hanging out at clubs or bars.

Lots of smiles though lots of smiles. My limited Japanese was fine and really I could have gotten away with less.

I did hook up with a friend's best friend growing up and we spent a few days together which was nice to speak english with someone again.

In spite of all that though I can't think of a time when I was any happier.

I did find myself a little lonely at the end of my trek but I suppose if my Japanese was better I wouldn't have or if I had gone to Roppongi a few nights I would have met some people but honestly I wanted to savor everything and be selfish to myself ;)

If you're in Tokyo, you'll see a lot of foreigners depending on where you go. Some foreigners there want to be kind of left alone while others are very social. The easiest place to meet other foreigners there is in roppongi.

I traveled Japan alone for 1 year and my experience is following:
As long as you are in big cities and stay in Hostels you will easily meet people. Most of them will be foreigners. The smaller the town, the fewer foreigners and the more Japanese you will find. Japanese usually stayed in Hostels wich belong to the international Youth Hostel Organization. Foreigners will go to the new Hostels wich are normally alot better, cheaper and more people speak english.

Japan has alot of hostels in bigger Towns, smaller places will only have Minshukus or Ryokan wich usually charge a little higher fee for a single room than youd pay for a dorm room in a city.

If you stay in Saunas or Capsulehotels to save money, you might have a hard time to meet people.

Anyway, you said youll stay in Hostels and in Tokyo + on other big city so id say dont worry, you will meet people!

If you only travel a long distance once (like Tokyo-Kyoto) you might want to take a nightbus instead of buying a railpass. The railpass gives you an amazing value if you travel around alot, but if you plan 1 week Tokyo and 1 week Osaka than buses will be alot cheaper and even a single Shinkansen Ticket might be cheaper. If you travel 3 or more times over big distance than get the pass!

Hi guys thanks for the replies

Can you use the JR Railpass for short trips around Tokyo? I don't know why but I got the impression that the JR pass was for longer trips to travel around Japan? For example the 14 day pass is £297, if i'm only planning on travelling to one other major city then this would seem expensive, but if I can use it daily just for commuting around Tokyo I suppose it would work out cheaper overall?
Ive read about Roppongi and it seems to sound a bit wild & seedy, but having travelled to Thailand 3 times now I dont suppose it can be any worse than there :) . To be honest im not really looking to meet anyone to travel with when im there, i'd rather be able to do my own thing during the day but it would be nice to meet some people to chat to or share a couple of nights out so I suppose somewhere like Roppongi would be ideal to mingle a bit. If I do end up meeting some friends, foreign or Japanese then its a bonus.
I think my biggest concern about the trip is that i'll be happy enough going out seeing the sights during the day but then end up spending the evening sitting alone in the hotel/hostel.

You can use the Railpass in Tokyo but only on the JR Lines. So if you want to take the Subway youll have to pay extra. I think the JR is better to get around Tokyo but like i said in my post, if you only travel once a long distance it might not be worth it. You could just get one for a week and travel to another city in that week. Transportation inside Tokyo is not to expensive, as long as you stay in the central Area. One Trip was around 160 to ... i dont remember maybe 300yen for a longer trip? Be aware that train stop around midnight and Taxis are expensive!

I would say Roppongi is a little bit like Khaosan road in Bangkok. I personally didnt like it and dont recommend to spend your evening there. The Area is full of foreigners, so lots of bars target foreigners. I got many people trying to get me in their bar or club and some people say that next to Shinjuku this might be the only dangerous place in Japan after the last train left. But make your own impression, everybody is different!
There should usually be some people around the Hostel that will go out some place together at night.

Big citys do get backpakers and all the touristy place will have them as well. If you got to places Like Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto, Nara and the like, you will find quite a few people at the Hostels. Places like Sapporo or Hiroshima see less backpackers but they exist. Got to Sendai or Nagoya and people will get fewer. In any smaller, less popular places it was rare to meet foreigners.

The 7 day JR rail pass works out to just over 4000 yen per day. You can roughly estimate that each hour of riding a train would normally cost you about 1000-1500 yen, if you just bought a ticket (depending upon local/express trains). That means that you'd need to ride the train an average of 3-4 hours a day, every day, in order to break even. If you ride less than that, you lose money on the JR pass. If you ride more, you save money.

Now, the one big difference is the shinkansen (bullet train). That is normally far, far more expensive than normal trains, and it is covered by the JR pass. If you'll be riding the Shinkansen for a couple long trips, it will often be enough that the JR pass becomes worth it.

I've posted this link many times in this forum.......

If you are considering purchasing a Japan Rail Pass...... just go to the following website and input the travel plans that you THINK you will have.... and the fares and train possibilities will be displayed. From that info, you can decide if a one week, two week, three week, or one of the regional only rail passes makes sense financially.

The JREast pass is a real bargain if you are not going west (south) of Tokyo.

Hyperdia Enter the station name

best,

................john

The US Government has "tourist warnings" about potential crime issues in Ropponggi.

best,

................john

I am gonna highjack your thread Jonhmeister (op).

I'm between jobs and have a couple of weeks off. I was planning to go on holiday in the winter, but that's gonna be hard with my new job.
SO, now I am going to tokyo for 2 weeks. I am leaving 15/9/09, and well I am pretty hyped.
I got my lonely planet, but any tips on sightseeing or must-to-go places would be appreciated. :)

Thanks for the already posted tips!

I echo the warnings about Roppongi. The issue isn't with most of Roppongi during the day (which is very nice, upmarket and what not) but the area with all the bars and clubs that are open during the night. When I was there in 2006 for a night out I was bitterly dissapointed.

If you want to see what the nightlife is like in Roppongi, just go to your local inner city in the UK and Ireland: its full of drunk westerners behaving badly, kebab vans and police watching with an eye to break some heads.

Good thing was we got so annoyed with the whole place that we wandered down the street a bit more and found Space Lab Yellow/Club Yellow which was one of the best Clubs in Japan (inspired by the Hacienda in Manchester no less) but has since passed into legend as its been knocked down (..like the Hacienda in Manchester, lol).

Anyway, if you stay at plenty of hostels like J Hoppers or K's House for example then you'll meet up with plenty of other backpackers and most likely will be heading out for pints, sights or food within minutes of putting your bags down and checking in! Met some awesome and random people when I was in Japan, had a game of scrabble with a Finn and a Dutchman, went clubbing with a Swede and another Brit and had a great night out with this American who was so awesome he turned in my camera charger to the front desk when I had forgotten it after I had left the hostel!

Great times and good mates forever!