Japan Trip 2011
Miyajima, Hiroshima (sauce)
It seems like I’ve been going to Japan every year for the past few years due to various reasons, so I guess this should not come as a huge surprise. Yes, I am flying to Japan again. Yes, I will be there for Maaya’s “You can’t catch me” 2011 tour, specifically the one in Osaka.
Come to think of it, this trip makes my waxing lyrical last year seem a lot less meaningful. Heh.
I will be in Japan from 26 March to 16 April. As this will be my final romp in Japan for the foreseeable future, I have gone all out in an insane attempt to cover as many locations as possible in one trip.
My confirmed itinerary so far:
- Osaka
- Kyoto
- Nara
- Hiroshima
- Miyajima
- Fukuoka
- Nagasaki
- Kagoshima
- Ibusuki
- Nagoya
- Ise Shima
- Tokyo
- Kamakura
- Nikko
Still trying to squeeze a few more places in, but this more or less covers every place I want to go to in Kyushu and Kansai.
The sheer logistics of this epic journey is mind boggling. I have been spending a good portion of the past week tabbing between Hyperdia, Google Maps, Japan Guide and Hostel World in order to craft the most complicated tour itinerary the world has ever seen. And they said I was mad.
The awesome thing is that most of the transport costs are covered in a lump-sum I paid for a 14-day Japan Rail Pass. This pass allows you to take unlimited rides on any JR railways, including the Shinkansen bullet trains (but excluding Nozomi trains), for a flat 45,100 yen. This is quite cool because I will need to take the Shinkansen at least ten times to cover that many places in just two weeks and each ride can cost more than 100 USD by itself.
The Japan Rail Pass is so awesome that permanent residents and Japanese citizens are actually banned from purchasing and using it because JR would go bankrupt in a matter of days otherwise. You have to purchase it from JTB or a tour agency in your home country.
Japan Rail Pass purchased from JTB
A tip I picked up from booking my accommodations is that in many parts of Japan it is actually possible to find private single-room business hotels that are similar in price or even cheaper than backpacker hostels in the same area. The catch is that these business hotels are mostly used by locals and bookings are done online in Japanese.
But 2,900 yen a night for a private room with proper facilities does make spending 2,500 yen to squeeze with 5-9 other people in the same dorm room seem like a scam.
Of course, the trade off is that you don’t get the interesting mix of characters one finds in a backpacker hostel nor the tourist-friendly English-speaking counter staff. My own itinerary includes both foreigner-centric hostels and Japanese-centric business hotels. It’s nice to mix things up a bit.
Really looking forward to setting foot on Gunkanjima. It’s like the Disneyland of urban exploration. Already booked my 4000-yen guided ferry tour.
Also hoping to crash a lecture or two at Toudai before I leave. Preferably political science or sociology. I blame too much Tokyo Daigaku Monogatari.
Do drop me a PM on Twitter or an email if you happen to be in Japan around that time and want to meet up for tea. I will be in Tokyo from 9 April to 16 April and Kyushu/Kansai before that. I can show you around Akihabara/Asakusa, which, sad/happy to say, I know like the back of my hand.
February 27th, 2011 at 10:25 pm
You seem to be coming quite often to Japan! ^^
Myself, I’ve been living in Osaka for almost two years now. Even though that, you seem to be going to a lot more places than I have so far!
Those train passes are awesome, too bad you can’t use them with a student visa…
February 27th, 2011 at 11:27 pm
Oh man, Gunkanjima eh? Does it include setting foot on the island?
In any case, sure is livin’ the life, aren’t you?
February 27th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
Yes you get to land on the island. There’s a cheaper ferry ride if you don’t want to land.
February 28th, 2011 at 1:16 am
I hate your JR pass <_<
February 28th, 2011 at 8:03 am
14000 yen for up to 5 non-consecutive days of bus rides around Japan:
http://willerexpress.com/x/bus/dynamic/3/en/html/pc/buspass/
+ you can buy this while you are in the country.
March 1st, 2011 at 3:17 am
wow sounds fun. can i come? if u agree i might seriously consider. Btw i lost your hp no. y dont u drop me a mail and pass it to me. Oh yeah, what happened to the tomoyo doujin? do u still have it? i still dont mind paying u the 30 bucks for it hehe. anyway drop me a mail or give me a call.
March 4th, 2011 at 10:24 pm
I will also be at the Osaka Maaya Sakamoto concert, though for me it’s one last farewell concert in the country after living in Kyoto for two years. I’m going back home two days later. Sigh.
March 8th, 2011 at 7:53 pm
How did you get to crash at Toudai? Is there a way to ‘apply’ for them?
Also, mind letting the readers (that is, me) know what are the ‘local business hotels’ websites?
March 16th, 2011 at 7:16 pm
Man how could you find time and money to go to japan, the flights must be cheaper fron Singapore! I was actually planning to go to Japan too around this time but called it off because of work, I guess good thing too.
May 3rd, 2011 at 6:36 pm
Great post. Did the earthquake and tsunami change your travel plans?
May 3rd, 2011 at 6:53 pm
Nope. Didn’t change anything in the end. Spent most of the time in western Japan anyway and Tokyo itself was functioning rather normally.
May 12th, 2011 at 8:14 pm
Wow! Trip to Japan?? I don’t think Japan got recovered from the disaster pass in their country. But I think there’s a lot of places there that has not been damaged from that disaster. i would like also go to Japan but I don’t have enough budget for it.(laughs)2,900 yen in just one night??I think that is a very expensive hotel.