Visiting Japan this summer

Gabbe

I will be visiting Tokyo and Kyoto this summer. And I wonder if anyone has any places to check out.

I'm open to anything and everything. So feel free to post anything you suggest I should do.

Please if you could post some info on why this is a good spot to visit and maybe a like to a homepage I would be most thankful-

Also I would like to buy myself jump when I get there is it just walking into a store and asking for it or is it more to it?

Thank you in advance and hope to get many nice responses.

Don Quichotte De Flamingo

as far as i know is it rly easy to get a jump issue in japan
it`s damn popular over there…

i would say go with greg to this OP-amusementpark..would be the best time of your life

Steven D. Teach

I'll be there too, depending on the month, actually.

I know you said you're open to anything, but are you more interested in tourist spots, drinking spots, or food places? It'll take a bit to list out some of the places I frequent, but I'll get around to it later today after I take care of some stuff and maybe hearing what you're interested in. For now, though, as long as you're going to Kyoto, I recommend Kiyomizudera (pretty hard to miss). Also, are you going with friends or on your own?

CCC

I think I'll actually be there too, from mid-June to the end of July (well, in Tokyo anyway).
Given the fact that you're on this forum, I'm sure you'd love Akihabara and Suidobashi (both districts in Tokyo, reachable by train, with tons of manga/anime/games/toys and an official Jump Shop, respectively).

Oh, and in Kyoto definitely check out Kiyomizudera, like Steven said (beautiful views) and Kinkakuji (the "Temple of the Golden Pavilion" that inspired the Mishima book of the same title). You can even walk up to the Nintendo world headquarters building, although I didn't get past the front gate XD

! Pictures I took at Kiyomizudera, Kinkakuji, and Nintendo, respectively:

Gabbe

@Steven:

I'll be there too, depending on the month, actually.

I know you said you're open to anything, but are you more interested in tourist spots, drinking spots, or food places? It'll take a bit to list out some of the places I frequent, but I'll get around to it later today after I take care of some stuff and maybe hearing what you're interested in. For now, though, as long as you're going to Kyoto, I recommend Kiyomizudera (pretty hard to miss). Also, are you going with friends or on your own?

Hey there thank you for the response. I'm actually going with my mother hehe. So places ok for everyone would be the best haha. Although I guess I will be able to sneak out on my own from time to time.

But I'm really going for more of a tourist trip than a party and meet japanese people trip (sadly). We would like to try out food and I know she wants to see parks and stuff.

I dont know if the sakura is still blooming?? If it is i would love to visit some sakura gardens.

Food places would also be nice. I have never tried Sushi but I will try it when I visit japan I decided this long ago. So a great sushi place would be a blast.

Also would like to try the "beer beef" is it kobe steak? Haha I'm sure you know what I mean I just cant figure out the name.

Kiyomizudera: What exactly is this? I have not come down to reading up a lot on my own so far. We just decided today and I figured what other place to go then over to my beloved bordies on AP for som info.

On my solo strolls I would love to see some stuff associated with OP offcourse. So if there is any great One piece places I'd love to hear of em.

Also hot springs. Are they anything to see in the summer? Or is that a winter/autumn thing??

Thanks again for responding to me as fast as you did Steven and Don

on the Greg note. I'm sure he has a lot better things to do sthan guide me around the OP park and I would not impose to ask anything from him :) But Im sure it would indeed be a blast

CCC

Unfortunately cherry blossoms blossom in April- they're done by the summer.
As for the specifics of some of the places we're mentioning, wikipedia is a good enough place to start. It'll give you a description and location, along with a few pictures.
And the jump shop that I mentioned is at least one of the best places for OP stuff.

Steven D. Teach

! Hey I’ve tried to list places that match up with what you’re interested in, hopefully some of them work out.
! In the Tokyo area:
! Kichijouji:
I think this is a pretty fun place that isn’t recommended a whole lot. It has a nice park (forget the name) that’s great to walk around in, and a street of some pretty unique shops/restaurants that lead up to it. I recommend visiting the Studio Ghibli muesum if you’re a Miyazaki fan, but what I recommend the most is a great izakaya named Iseya–which is located right in front of the park. Hard to decide whether to go during the day or evening. If you drink, have at it, but for food, definitely order their gyoza (it’s really good) and yakitori. Next door to it, if you want desert, is a great gelato place called Donatello’s with some interesting flavors (milk tea, rose wine, sakura, etc.) They also have regular flavors. You can usually mix three in a cup.
! Yokohama:
I’m not really that knowledgeable about Yokohama. I have friends that live their that usually show me around, but I can recommend the following if it sounds interesting--Chinatown, Yamashita park, Cosmo World (this is a small amusement park, it has some fun rides but can get a little pricey if you ride a bunch of ones) and the ramen museum.
! Ebisu:
I really like Ebisu. It’s more of an industrial place, but has few attractions. It’s famous for the Ebisu Beer Museum/Garden. If you don’t drink, it’s still fun to walk around and there is a nice plaza outside to take a stroll. My number one recommendation is a ramen shop called Asahi (it’s gotten famous so it should be easy to look up) and they have the best ramen I’ve ever had. I recommend the shio (salt) with extra pork.
! Tsukiji: Ok, maybe not. You asked about sushi--I’ve never really been to a top notch sushi place in Japan (at least I don’t think I have). I usually just go to the 100 yen cheap ones and those are good enough for me, but Tsukiji is famous for its fish market and I’m often told that any sushi/sashimi place there is good.
! As CCC said, Akihabara is the anime/game/tech hub. It’s crowded and smells funny, though. =P
! Non-Tokyo stuff:
! Kiyomizudera (I just checked CCC’s edit so maybe you know by now) is a beautiful temple in Kyoto, but it’s much larger than others and is a good time kill to walk around. Kyoto in general is a good way to kill time, as you pretty much just hop from temple to temple on a bus. Very close to Kyoto is Nara, which has one of the giant Buddhas and a mess load of deer that will try to eat you. If you go to Osaka, try out the awesome aquarium which has a whale shark, and try out some takoyaki. Hiroshima-basically the A-bomb peace museum, okonomiyaki (food), and a pretty island called Miyajima, but that might be out of the way.
! As for your general questions--sakura/hot springs: I’m not going to say that I’ve never seen sakura in the Summer, but it’s pretty much a Spring thing as far as I know. Hot springs are good whenever, so no worries there. The beer beef you’re talking about can refer to either Kobe beef or Matsuzaka beef--it’s pricey, but it’s not hard to get to Kobe from Kyoto if you’re going to be over there.
! I don’t know a whole lot of OP specific places, so I defer to Greg and anyone else knowledgeable of that stuff. http://japan-guide.com/ and http://www.cnngo.com/tokyo are two recommended sites. The first is a general one for travelers, while the second is more articles recommending places for people that already live there. Sorry if this is too long and if I listed things that aren’t applicable to you, I would recommend google or wiki as CCC did for finding details on some of the stuff and seeing what works for you. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask, I'm sure there's a few people here that can help you out.

Greg

When in the summer specifically?

Since you're interested in eating I'll suggest what I do best, suggest places to eat.

Please note that this is Japan and for me to walk out of any restaurant satisfied, it's at least 60 bucks for Haru and I at any given restaurant.

Gyukaku- AMAAAAAAAZING yakiniku. Even if you've been to one of their American stores you've gotta visit. I suggest ANY of the skirt steak selections (assorted kinds of harami) and their sesame oil cabbage.

Onyasai- AMAAAAAAAZING shabushabu. If you order the all you can eat (tabehoudai) you'll be in meat heaven. Ordering WILL be a hassle without a Japanese speaker I guarantee you this. However, the rewards are worth the 5 or so minutes of pantomime.

DomaDoma- AMAAAAAZING Japanese pub food. My personal favorite menu item, Kishimen Carbonara. I could eat 5 plates of it if it wouldn't give me early heart disease.

Kentucky Fried Chicken- Teriyaki Twister. Unless you like seaweed for some reason ask for it with 'nori nashi de kudasai'.

Burger King (Shibuya)- They may not have anything special on the menu but it's worth a look. Their jalapeno Whopper was incredible and gave me the most painful shits of my life. Totally worth it.

McDonald's- Gotta eat the Teriyaki Burger. Every gaijin does at least once.

Bikkuri Donkey- Maybe a little bit tougher to find but it has the cheapest and biggest German-style meat loaf (hambaagu) of any chain I know.

Hungry Tiger- More difficult to find and although they aren't as big as Bikkuri Donkey's loafs, they're DELICIOUS.

Skylark/Gusto/Denny's/Jonathan's/Big Boy- It's worth it to try a Japanese family restaurant. I promise you'll never see some of the stuff on the menu at a Denny's in the States.

This is useless since I've forgotten the name but there's a gyoza restaurant in Shibuya RIGHT near 109 that's OUT OF THIS WORLD. I never thought they could make a full-fledged restaurant based on gyoza but they're deliiiicious.

Any bakery (bread store). No matter where you go you're bound to find something delicious at a bread store. You'll find things that you never IMAGINED going together and they're divine. Don't be afraid of tuna and corn.

Circle K or Sunkus convenient stores- They have BAR NONE the most delicious tuna onigiri. You can get them from either place because they're basically the same thing.

Lawson- Three words 'karaage-kun reddo'

Family Mart- Try their dessert section, they've got some sweet stuff but it used to be better. They've gone more French with desserts and they lost the bold taste they used to have.

Sushi, wait for Kyoto before you even attempt sushi.

tigerlilly

If you happen to be a daredevil, you should eat some japanese Fugu… or die trying.

captain usopp

lol, if I ever go, I hope you have some vegetarian options for me greg. lol wow. I'm still excited though. I loves food.

Steven D. Teach

@Greg:

DomaDoma- AMAAAAAZING Japanese pub food. My personal favorite menu item, Kishimen Carbonara. I could eat 5 plates of it if it wouldn't give me early heart disease.

Burger King (Shibuya)- They may not have anything special on the menu but it's worth a look. Their jalapeno Whopper was incredible and gave me the most painful shits of my life. Totally worth it.

I have to say, I usually prefer local izakaya, but DomaDoma has the best food for a chain. Really great stuff. As for Burger King, there definitely is something special on the menu, and that's the fact that you can get bourbon and Heineken.

Greg

Local stuff is definitely best (except for Kishimen Carbonara which is sex on a plate) but I'm afraid those places might be hard for Gabbe to find. They're hard enough for me to find and I know where they are in my neighborhood o_O

And it just dawned on me but if you have a health problem related to cigarettes, don't even think about Onyasai, DomaDoma or Gyukaku. Even if they do have a non-smoking section it doesn't make any difference.

GrizzlayLeslay

@Greg:

McDonald's- Gotta eat the Teriyaki Burger. Every gaijin does at least once.

I went to one in Osaka, was tempted to try the Teriyaki burger, but went with the Mega Mac instead.

@Greg:

I promise you'll never see some of the stuff on the menu at a Denny's in the States.

Very true. I think the most American-esque food you could order was Jambalaya.

Also, I recommend eating Okonomiyaki, if you can find it. It's a non-sweet pancake concoction drizzled with mayo. Large amounts of delicious win you will find.

Also also, find a Mister Donut. They have gewd donuts.

Also also also, Yoshinoya is a good place for a quick bowl of rice.

CCC

@Greg:

Circle K or Sunkus convenient stores- They have BAR NONE the most delicious tuna onigiri. You can get them from either place because they're basically the same thing.

Heh, that was my breakfast every day in the summer of 2008…

KingofSarus

Oh wow… I'm suppose to be going to Japan this summer as well.
Once my summer courses are over.

I'm visiting a family I befriended that I've known for like almost a year now.

0_0_Spider

dam i want to go :((

Waytoo

its been said but i still feel the need to rep kiyomizu and kinkakuji in kyoto and somewhere (sorry this was 2 years ago that i went) in kyoto is the namco wonder tower which is a 5 story arcade, i recommend taking an elevator to the top and just playing your way down

in tokyo, in the ginza district (which is upscale shopping and galleries) there is a toy store with a sushi bar on top and that has to be the best sushi ive ever had, and it was really cheap too

also if you like chocolate, Meiji makes some seriously good candy bars

gofish

@Greg:

Any bakery (bread store). No matter where you go you're bound to find something delicious at a bread store. You'll find things that you never IMAGINED going together and they're divine. Don't be afraid of tuna and corn.

definitely this!!!

SaiyaJedi

@Steven:

Kiyomizudera (I just checked CCC’s edit so maybe you know by now) is a beautiful temple in Kyoto, but it’s much larger than others and is a good time kill to walk around. Kyoto in general is a good way to kill time, as you pretty much just hop from temple to temple on a bus.

What's the fun of Kyoto if you're going to stay on a bus in between landmarks? You have to get out and explore on foot. Surely you're not afraid of a little walking? I only condone using wheels to get between opposite ends of the city – Kiyomizudera to Kinkakuji, for instance.

That said, be sure to visit Osaka while in Kyoto. It's Japan's second-biggest metropolis after Greater Tokyo, but it's got its own character. More industrial, less impeccably clean, but the people are friendlier and the food can't be beat.

Also, Uji: The temple on the 10-yen coin, one of the country's oldest Shinto shrines, and some of the best green tea anywhere.