If you are taking your first trip to Japan, two weeks is ideal. This gives you enough time to see a lot of the country and experience the culture as well as having time to rest. If you base yourself in Tokyo, you can spend several days exploring the city and trying new foods like onigiri from the local convenience store. Who knew they would have an entire wall filled with onigiri? There are certain sights in Tokyo that you will want to experience, like the fish market and the famous Shibuya district.
Two weeks gives you plenty of time to travel around rest of the country on day trips or brief overnight stays. You’ll be able to take the bullet trains and sign up for a tour or two, always ending back in Tokyo. There are plenty of cheap eats in Tokyo that will save you money. Ramen stands, sushi and all kinds of Japanese fast food are available just about every place you go. By saving money on food, you can have more for shopping in the many malls and specialty stores.
One place you do need to visit at least once are the huge video arcades. Can you imagine a seven story arcade? There are also lots of small museums, manga shops and other fun places to explore. Two weeks will give you time to get to know your way around, so by the time you go home you will have truly experienced Japan.
Shibuya refers to a very well-known shopping and entertainment area of Tokyo. It is best known for the busy intersection in front of the train station known as the Hachiko Exit. Huge numbers of people come here every day to shop, meet friends or use the train station. This corner of the region is heavily decorated with large neon advertisements and giant video screens rather like Times Square in New York City.
One of the most famous landmarks in Shibuya is the Hachiko Statue, found outside the train station exit. Hachiko was a very loyal dog who waited for his master every single day in front of Shibuya Station. After his master passed away, Hachiko continued his daily vigil. The statue honors the loyalty shown by this dog. This is a very popular meeting point in Tokyo, and it is always crowded.
Did I say crowded? That is an understatement! Hundreds of people cross to and from the train station every time the light turns green. There are lots to see and do here in Shibuya. There are several museums, the NHK Studiopark, where you can go see them filming a television show, and the National Yoyogi Stadium, which hosts ice skating and volleyball competitions, concerts and many other popular events.
If you still want entertainment, be sure to visit Bunkamura. This is a small “village” which houses a concert hall, two movie theaters, a live theater, a museum and some restaurants and shops. Speaking of shopping, there are so many shops and boutiques here that your head will spin. High fashion, eateries, department stores and more all vie for your money. The Shibuya 109 features over 100 boutiques on ten floors!
Japanese money can be a little confusing if you aren’t familiar with it. First of all, the Japanese call it Okane (pronounced oh-kah-neh). I was always a bit confused when someone would say something small cost 10,000 yen. What is a yen, anyway? It turns out that a yen is the basic coin in the Japanese money system, kind of like the penny in America. So, it would be a little like paying 10,000 pennies for something that cost $100.
Once I understood that, it made a bit more sense. The Japanese have a 1 yen coin, a 5 yen coin, a 10 yen coin, a 50 yen coin, a 100 yen coin and a 500 yen coin. The 5 yen and the 50 yen coins have holes in the middle. I thought it was interesting that this dated back to the days when men would string their coins on a cord and wear them around their necks. Paper money in Japan usually comes in 1,000 and 10,000 yen denominations.
The rate of conversion varies depending on many factors. Today, in 2009, 1000 yen is about equal to $10.23 in the United States. Be sure to check the current exchange rates before you visit.
Some good tips I’ve learned: the vending machines found all over the cities in Japan will accept all Japanese coins except the 1 and 5 yen coins. They will also accept the 1000 yen paper bills. If you need to use a pay phone, they only accept 10 and 100 yen coins or prepaid phone cards.
Sorry I’ve been away for so long. But now I am back and I’m back with a vengeance and to start off, I’m working on a new site design for VisitJapanNow.com. So don’t be too alarmed with the new look. I’ll be working and tweaking it over the next several days and weeks as I become familiar with the design platform and get the site looking like I want.
I’m really excited about getting back here and talking about one of my favorite countries Japan. Hopefully, you’ll stick around, learn some interesting things about Japan (and me!) and I hope to learn some new fabulous things about Japan (and you).
Well, I got to get back to the site design but I’ll have some interesting and fun facts about Japan up for your reading pleasure soon.
Until then,
Take care!
Last weekend I went over to Lisa’s house just to hang out and have a bit of fun. The weather had been lousy all week and it wasn’t any better on the weekend but we all needed a fun get together to lift our spirits.
While everyone was arriving I was wandering around Lisa’s house and I came across her collection of plush dolls. I noticed that she had added quite a few more stuff characters to her collection like all the cast from the anime series the Death Note (I’m totally jealous).
She got the Death Note plush of L which I honestly thought about taking, I mean borrowing like forever because he’s one of my favorite characters and the plush really looks like him from the anime. L’s all crouch over in his cute white shirt and blue jeans (I want this plush so bad).
Next to L was the always cute Misa, Misa Amane in her adorable outfit and I just love her pigtail hairdo and right next to Misa, Misa was the genius (and kinda crazy) Light Yagami as Kira. He stood so proud and powerful with a tiny, red apple in his hand (no doubt for Ryuk) which Lisa also had on her shelf. What can I say about Ryuk? Ryuk is Ryuk and he too is another one of my favorite characters.
The plush dolls were soo cute and cuddly. I wouldn’t mind wrapping my arms around L or Light (wink).
I can’t help but to smile when I see these characters as funny chibi style plush dolls.
Now, how can I get Lisa to give me her L plush doll . . . I know she won’t part with it but maybe if I beg convincingly enough she’ll feel sorry for me and just give it to me. (nah, I’ll just get my own plush product. That will show her – ha, ha!)
