1st time to japan need advise
 

hi guys,
this is my first trip to japan and need some advices. i'll be arriving at osaka on the 12th Dec and going back at 19th Dec. i looked trough some hotels from the net and came up with 3 diffrent ones which are quite good. Universal Port Hotel, Shin Osaka Hotel and Kaneyoshi Ryokan. planning on visiting the aquarium and the ferris wheel together since its near by, definately universal studios japan, dotombori street and also sansuikan bath. since i'll be there for 1 week i was thinking what else i should do there?? any ideas?? and will it be better to get the season pass for travelling since i'll pretty much use the railways for travelling around?? i wana stay at the ryokan cuz i like those japanese style room and aloso would seriously like to try out the tube hotel any ideas which is better??
and for a week how much yen should i bring excluding cost for hotels or is it better to bring USD ??? would really love to meet japanese friends there if any1 is up for it ^^... oh im from malaysia if ur wondering... i think i could communicate in english in japan rite??
sry for all these questions... its my 1st time there so kinda lost in some way lol... pls help me out... thx

oh also wondering if theres any place in osaka where theres alot of anime and manga... and whats the cost to travel to kyoto from osaka trough train?? issit worth it to go there?? sry and thx again... ^^

just checked out the rail pass and seriously lost lol... i saw a JR west railpass... whats it for?? can i use it for going ard osaka?? issit for going to kyoto ?? dun really understand wut it means??

The JR Pass if for all of Japan. Each area of Japan has a different JR Pass. JR West, JR East, JR Central, etc. The Kansai Area Pass is probably the pass you will want to use....

JR-WEST RAIL PASS

But it also depends a whole lot on how much traveling you are going to do. If it's only for a few short trips here and there, most of the time it best to buy the tickets individually....

hey is there any way i can delete this post cuz i just changed my plans from going to osaka to tokyo in january...

There's no need to delete the thread, just do what you're doing: adding to the post. Threads are fluid and can change rapidly.

So you're going to Tokyo instead? Go to Nakano Broadway for old anime stuff and any Animate for new stuff, Mandarake for Manga and head to Akihabara for the atmosphere.

Tokyo
 

Hey AlexMa0666,

if in Tokyo, you also should check out the following:

- Asakusa Shrine: Tokyo Travel: Asakusa

- the Tsukiji Fishmarket: very early in the morning but worth it! The TSUKIJI MARKET.HOME

- Sumo Training: many stables around Ryogoku Station; the link is a professional guide only in case your Japanese is not that good then consider this option too: Sumo Training Tours

- China Town (Yokohama): about 20 mins from Tokyo station

- Kabuki: cheap tickets for foreigners are available and you can leave any time when you had enough. :)
More info at: Kabuki-za Theatre – An Unmissable Tokyo Experience

Good luck,

Japean

7 days?

I will do this

1 day - Kamakura
1 day - Nikko
1 day - Yokohama, MinatoMirai, Chinatown..
1 day - hakone

3 days in Tokyo, cover the following area

- Odaiba
- Akihabara
- Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku (Include Yoyogi and Meiji Jingu), half a day
- Ginza
- Asakusa
- Mitaka (If you want to visit the Ghibli museum)

3 days should be more than enough to do all these... also, the 1 day in Kamakura, may not be a full day activity, so you may be able to cover some of these in the afternoon of your Kamakura day

Tokyo
 

agree... I'd just leave Ginza out of the list...

not good with window-shopping... :)

The electric town of Osaka is in Nipponbashi just beside Namba.
Osaka to Kyoto by train ? There are 2 lines going there, JR and Hankyu.
JR Osaka Station -> JR Kyoto Station : 590 yen
Hankyu Umeda (Osaka) Station - > Hankyu Kawaramachi (Kyoto:Gio) : 390 yen

To get around Kyoto, the best and cheap way is to get the one-day bus ticket which is 500yen. You can use it on all Kyoto City Bus.

And yes Kyoto is definitely worth it.

Other places to visit around Kansai, near Osaka
1. Nara
2. Himeji
3. Kobe
4. Mt. Koya
5. Okayama
6. Wakayama's: Nachi no Taki and Shirahama
7. Awaji
8. Amanohashidate : Kyoto
9: Kinosaki Onsen : Kyoto
10. Arima Onsen : Hyogo

visit japan-guide.com for details of these places

have fun.

Yeah, I feel you. I went to Japan last year and I'm going back to Osaka in a few weeks.

Contact your local travel agent. I am a member of AAA so I contact them and they set me up with the JR pass. Just let them know where you are staying and where you want to go. You will have to take into consideration where your furthest away city is and where your final departure flight is because your JR pass can possibly save you some expensive rides on the last day of which you'll be at your lowest money wise.

Also, don't be nervous because it is the safest country for a new traveler to visit. If you do not speak the language the biggest advice I can give you communication wise is that non-verbal communication is more than 60% of communication.

Even if you can't speak the language you can still get your point across.

Finally, there are tons of things to do and see but some of the fun (for me at least) was getting lost in cities and coming across cool stores, shops, restaurants, and mini-malls. Shrine and castle hopping is fun too.

Hey - try to bring an tablet (borrow one if you don't have one). Some of the games on the tablets are awesome and will definitely help in the airport and on the plane. Also, it takes HD video and you're going to want to take video over there. For me rather than bring my laptop and video recorder the tablet replaces both!

Have fun man and Osaka is a greatest ugly city !! I love Osaka***