traveling to Japan question

[eddyz]

Hey guys, as some of you know, i'm planning on going to Japan for 8 days during my summer time. We have already found the hotel that we are staying, but i just got a question regarding places outside of Tokyo.

Where is other good places to go around for the day other than Tokyo? Which place would you recommend? Osaka, Kyoto or Hiroshima? We planned out roughly what we are going to be doing for the first 5 days, but we do want to visit outside of tokyo to experience the culture more and do some site seeing.

Oh and also, our hotel is very close to shibuya station, since we are mainly doing traveling around the JR yamanote line, should we just get the passnet card or get the JR pass?

[羽之助]

Just 3 extra days? You want "culture" ...
I'm thinking, find an onsen up in Gunma or something and take the train ... you could spend a whole day riding the rails on a non-express cheap ticket, then drag yourself into the onsen and sleep for the night.

[eddyz]

ah, too bad my friends are childish, and dont want to be around naked men. do the onsen allow you to wear like swim shorts?

if so which onsen would you recommend ?

[mikem]

You don't even get to wear a towel. You get this small hand-towel sized thing to kind of shield others from getting an eye-full, but that is it.

[羽之助]

Yeah. It's a bath.
You don't wear swim shorts in the bath. You wear them in the pool.
However, if it's summer, you may consider Fuji-Q Highland. I recommend the haunted hospital. Well worth the wait.

[Nannou]

However, if it's summer, you may consider Fuji-Q Highland. I recommend the haunted hospital. Well worth the wait.

Second that, and second that.
Although ええじゃないか　and ドドンパ are pretty freakin sweet too.

[jindojim]

Hooray for Gunma~

I remember your saying that you were interested in cars? Well...Gunma is a good place then :D

Let's see...Minakami in Gunma has a bunch of good onsens (Takaragawa for instance). Or try Kusatsu for onsens (highly recommended by a lot of students and teachers at the school I work at). Another one in Shibukawa as well.

Onsens not your thing? There's a matsuri in my city (Takasaki) from August 3rd - August 4th. That'll be a good insight into Japanese "culture". And don't forget to buy a "daruma".

[羽之助]

I waited 3 hours for the dodonpa. Then our bus home arrived :(

[mikem]

Hooray for Gunma~

[...]

Or try Kusatsu for onsens (highly recommended by a lot of students and teachers at the school I work at).

Gunma is totally awesome. The people there crack me up. I didn't here much of a ben, but the accent is totally hick.

I just got back from Kusatsu and it's pretty awesome. The whole sulfur smell is a bit much, but the onsen are awesome.

You definitely must go to an onsen. They'll get over it. It's just some nakedness.

[羽之助]

If you want to waste your time, you could come up to Iwate and I could take you to one of the few onsens that still has a mixed-gender bath. Besides, it's too hot to think about anything sexual.

If I'm even here this summer.

[jindojim]

Takaragawa in Gunma has a mixed bath too ;)

After all, if mikem can say "awesome" three times in a post about Gunma, then it must be awesome :D

[darje]

Second that, and second that.
Although ええじゃないか　and ドドンパ are pretty freakin sweet too.
Isn't ええじゃないか that beast of a rollercoaster that goes backwards and turns on a horizontal axis?

I'd be somewhat curious to try it out if I didn't fear the contents of my stomach. :watson:

[laggedreaction]

Second that, and second that.
Although ええじゃないか　and ドドンパ are pretty freakin sweet too.


Just don't go during obon. hospital = 4 hour wait. ええじゃないか = 6 hour wait.

[Scott]

If you hadn't already decided the majority of your travel time in Tokyo proper, I'd say get the JR pass. It enables you to go to Kyoto as a day trip on the shinkansen, for free (minus whatever you eat/drink on the way). Kyoto being a bastion of traditional Japanese culture, it seems like it would be a place you'd want to visit.

From there, you can also go to Nara, which is a fantastic place. Especially if you like animals.

[Kai]

If your into historical sites, you could check out the Todaiji Temple in Nara. That is if you decide to go for the JR pass as Scott said. I was only in Nara for a few hours so I didn't get to see much of the city before moving onto Kyoto. I never got to travel to Gunma. Sounds like a fun area.:(

[eddyz]

thanks for the tips. Fuji-q sounds like a better trip idea instead of going to an onsen.