Japan for two weeks

June will be very hot weather and Tokyo will be crowded as always and pretty hot and humid. I was there Halloween 2023 and even that time of year it wasn't that cool temp-wise. I was mainly in Tokyo, but I preferred Nagoya (day trip) as it was quieter and less crowds...bullet train ride there was a cool experience with same day roundtrip we still did a lot. They are known for their eel dish, Hitsumabushi, which I loved the most. I love eel and that dish has a huge amount and is better imo than eel sushi. We went to the place basically connected to the Nagoya train station so probably can be easily found on Google Maps. We also hit up Nagoya Castle and Old Town.

https://www.nagoyajo.city.nagoya.jp/en/

https://www.nagoya-info.jp/en/course/detail/46/

I don't have much recommendations food-wise other than that. McDonald's was interesting for some options haha? I wanted to try at least one Michelin 3 star restaurant next to Tokyo Station that I read great things about, but the booking process was a joke. They opened reservation system months in advance online which is fine, but it gets flooded and freezes and by the time you can do anything it's already fully booked. I even got to the page to select a date and it wouldn't let me. Same thing happened a month ago trying to book sumo wrestling semifinals later this month...we ended up getting stubhub resale, but think it will be a scam. Our friends in Japan couldn't get it either online or via phone so I guess it's not discriminating against foreign IP addresses. I heard best bet to book like that is contact your hotel concierge, asap when you book a room, and see if they can do something for you...never tried that myself. Japan is old school really...credit card not accepted at a lot of places and still rely on hotel concierge to get a restaurant seat.

I'm going again end of this month and will try skiing and going to Tochigi area after a couple days in Tokyo (for sumo only). Car-wise will only try to go to Honda Collection Hall in Motegi. Last time I did a lot of car related activities in the 5 days I was there. Nismo Omori Factory in Yokohama, R's Meeting at Fuji Speedway (and a stay at the Fuji Speedway Hotel which was amazing), and then visited a lot of car dealerships in Aoyama (Minato) in Tokyo.

Edit: Taxi drivers at Nagoya train station are older guys from that area and dont' speak any English so it may be hard to communicate where you want to go. So download Google Translate on your phone and download offline Japanese to communicate. Tokyo is pretty flexible with English speakers although I still tried to speak Japanese or use translator if possible.

 

If you want to avoid crowds, Tokyo is not the place you want to be. However, I really like Tokyo. People are great. Not the best walking city because its really big and the street numbering is non-sensical. But the subways and trains are packed with people. There are some very nice temple areas particularly in Asakusa. Each district of the city is a bit different and has its own culture. Very friendly to foreigners and very safe.

A friend of mine hiked Mt Fuji. Many go to Kyoto. I've been to Yokohama and didn't find it much different than Tokyo. Other friends go farther north in winter to ski.

It is hot and humid in the summer.

Lots of places to eat. Western and any other culture you can imagine. Easy to order from pictures. Two things I remember quite well. I was with someone at work and we were walking he side streets in Ginza. We decided on dinner and in a Japanese restaurant window there was fake food. Looked really good so we walked in. No one spoke English. Sat on the floor in traditional Japanese style. They took really good care of us. Had an excellent meal of many dishes, including Sashimi. So, don't be afraid to walk into a place you think you might want to eat in.

Another time we decided to go to the Tokyo fish market at 6AM for the fish of the day. Really quite interesting as you walk through an actual market of fish brought it to be sold. There are several restaurants that serve these exotic delicacies. People waiting to get in. You're in and out in maybe 10 minutes. You order how many pieces you want (5, 6, 10 etc) and the chef makes what he wants and serves it one by one. Don't ask what it is. They speak no English anyway. But its quite good. I know it sounds weird to eat raw fish for breakfast but you have to try different things.

If you take the subway it can be extremely confusing to read the maps. But I've always found a subway worker / info booth who can help tell you what ticket to buy. Tokyo has above and below trains. You'll notice on the subway and trains no one talks. Taxi drivers are very friendly and really know their jobs. I do suggest writing down where you want to go or show on an Iphone.

Haven't been there since Covid so things may have changed a bit. Still, one of the most interesting places in Asia to visit. Japan, Thailand, and VietNam.

 

I would be curious as to if there are still a zillion Nikon dealers in Tokyo/Japan like there was in the past.
I knew guys that would actually pay the expense to fly there and buy high-end camera gear and have it shipped back here,
they would save a lot of money doing that - enough to pay for the flight there, and the vacation they took while there.
I'd imagine the internet has probably killed off most of that, but still, I look for excuses to go places...

 

Head north! I lived in Tohoku (northern region of Honshu, main island) for 3 1/2 years and the summers are great.

Sendai is a sizable city with a population of about 1M - but considering Tokyo is about 14M it will be a LOT less crowded and it's easy to get into the countryside and farther up the coast.

To me the highlight of living in Japan was the rural areas as it was more "native".

Kevin

 

That was always my logic when visiting cities - yeah, I may spend SOME time
in the 'tourist trap' areas, but I always try to got where tourists seldom go, it could
be 4 blocks over, or a mile over, but away from the traps.

 

I'm still really mad I could not go back to the ice hockey store a few blocks off Old Towne Square back in 2015. (Czech Republic)
A really dinky store in basically an alley, I looked thru the windows and they had ORIGINAL USSR and Czech Republic
sweaters, sticks, equipment - all looked used and very authentic. I would have spent a fortune in there.
I saw it just after it closed on a Saturday, and we were flying out on Sunday AM. Damn.
The place no longer exists, Covid killed it.

 

In some of the places I went, they’d never seen blonde hair “on real life” - only on TV.

I had an 18 month old daughter with me - and they kept patting her on the head to touch/feel blonde hair!

Kevin

 

early/mid 90s - right at 30 years ago...

Kevin