1 month Japan, need romantic spots to visit

[Antinomia]

I am some Dutch guy. In Januari i will go to Japan for 4 weeks, to visit my Japanese girlfriend. She is living in Tokyo,and we want to take a vacation together in Japan, with car or train. We are searching for good places we can visit. We defenately want to visit Tokyo, Kyoto, and Hakone for the hotsprings, but we want to travel a lot more than these places. We don't like to be in places that all look the same, so after Tokyo we dont need to visit other huge cities. Kyoto for the old historical things. Maybe we could also take an airplane to Hokkaido and stay there for a while as well. I don't think there are much interesting places beyond Kyoto, so we better skip that corner of Japan. We mostly want to stay around the kanto area, and 1 trip towards Kyoto (1 or 2 weeks). Maybe on the way to Kyoto there are some good places to visit?

Now my question, are there other nice things to do/see in Japan, in winter? We like to have a lot of variation in our vacation, so any good idea is welcome. If possible, we want to have a romantic vacation that can be compared with our last one (Amsterdam, Bruges, Paris, Le Mont Sint Michel, Milan, Venice, etc..)

Oh, and when we want to go shopping (clothes) where is the best place to do it? (cheap!!!) I once heard Kyoto is much cheaper than Tokyo, but my girlfriend said that it's probably not so much difference because Kyoto is a famous place. Please feed me with advice!! :)

[Sayaka]

Wouldn't she know? A Japanese person should know their own geography.

[Pierrot le Fou]

You won't top Mont St. Michel. Sorry.

January will be impossibly cold. Impossibly cold. Kyoto doesn't have many indoor romantic spots, nor does it have much snow to make it gorgeous. If you went up to the ice festival in Hokkaido, you could wander through giant buildings made of Ice lit up with various colours of lights, which would likely be pretty cool. If it weren't so bloody cold, I'd recommend hiking around the trails behind Todaiji temple in Nara. But it will be bloody cold, so that's likely out.

Hot springs are a good idea. Book a good ryokan (traditional Japanese inn) somewhere with a nice private hot spring, and have some fun in it.

[Antinomia]

My girlfriend did not travel a lot outside the Kanto area... She has been 2 times to Kyoto, and a couple of times to Hokkaido.

Pierrot... Where are you from? You are talking about really cold places, but in the winters in Holland it's also below 0 degrees Celcius (if lucky -10) so i think i can handle the cold. So Hokkaido might be a good idea (how cold is it there anyway???) Do you know where this ice paradise is, or how i can find it on the internet?


Ow yeah, and i know she also want to go to Yokohama, for China Town. And she mentioned Kusatsu and Atami, for the famous onsen area. But she rather want to go to Hakone, because there are many good visiting spots, she said.

For the rest, we both have no clue what to visit, so perhaps someone who traveled a lot has other good ideas?

[PopCulturePooka]

The Parasite Museum

I kid you not.

[Pierrot le Fou]

It's just going to be cold. That really limits the fun things to do. By a lot. Kyoto will be so cold that it hurts. Colder than Hokkaido quite possibly. And the stuff in Kyoto is almost all outdoors, which will make it far less interesting, because you'll be freezing the whole time and not likely to enjoy it as much as if it were good weather.

You could go off the beaten path, like a trip to Shikoku. Or you could go skiing in the Japanese alps. You could head to one of the famous sights of Japan (like amano hashidate in Northern Kyoto) if you wanted, though again, winter ain't the time for that...

Really. Very few places I can think of that are good winter vacationing for romance.

EDIT: I'm from Boston in the Northeast US, and spent lots of time in Maine. I am used to 2 meters of snow with temperatures down to -20 celsius at times. Kyoto is still f'ing colder than Hell because the wind from Siberia just cuts to the bone. It's ridiculous. Hokkaido would likely be fine (snow is an insulator), so the festival would be good perhaps? You should be able to find it on the net, I think it's in Sapporo though I could be wrong.

You could also take a trip to the World Expo in Nagoya if you'd like and it's still running... That's got a lot of indoors stuff.

[Sayaka]

Aren't Dutch/Northern European girls, as well as European people in general, known to be hot? How come you're dating a Japanese girl instead (*cough*Asian fetish *cough*)?

[Antinomia]

http://www.outdoorjapan.com/festivals-events/events-hokkaido.html Hmm, i return home at 4 Februari, it's going to be a tight schedule :| But Hokkaido could be fun. Throwing snowballs at eachother is very romantic, sort of... And Kyoto in the center is not THAT cold i hope? In future i am sure i will visit Japan again at warmer days (i try to avoid the humid summers though, i rather have -30 than sweating all day)


@ popculturepooka: I think i'll pass that option this time. But it's a tip, so thanks anyway :)

@ Sayaka: Dutch girls in general are not hot at all, but that's my opinion. Maybe i had bad experiences with Dutch girls. It just never felt good, i never got that special feeling "She's the one" But since i respond on an email from a Japanese girl, the first email it already felt good. That never happened to me before with any other girl. And after 1 year email and MSN, we decided to have our first vacation together through Europe, and it was the best time of my life.

About that Asian fetish. Well, i always liked Japan and South Korea for certain things, like their movies, old historical things, and their rising economic. But my Asian fetish is not so bad as most of the people on this forum, who are relating the behavior of an existing teacher with some drawn woman from some childish Anime.

[PopCulturePooka]

Hahaha I was actually serious.
The parasite museum is one of Tokyo's most popular date locations.

[hapacheese]

Meguro Parasite Museum ftw!!!

My mom loves that place. She took us there all the time when we were kids (my aunt lives a few blocks from there).

[Pierrot le Fou]

Kyoto is especially cold. It honestly is. It's surrounded on 3 sides by mountains, so the stifling heat in the summer is made worse by the lack of a breeze to get rid of the humidity. 35+ celsius all summer with 80%+ humidity. Today (it's 11:20am) it's currently about 32-33 celsius with 70% humidity or so.

Those mountains that block the summer wind let in a Siberian wind in the winter to freeze you to the bone and beyond. It is REALLY cold. Unfortunately, wind cuts right through whatever layers you're wearing. It's just cold. And you don't want to stay outside if you can help it.

[Antinomia]

Is there another city that has the same historical style as Kyoto and less cold?

And i was looking on the internet for that Parasite museum... i still think i'll pass :D If that's one of Tokyo's most popular date locations, than it's going to be a really itchy vacation. I rather go walking through some big commercial shopping street and end up in Tokyo Tower, or some park.

[PopCulturePooka]

Take your girl to Shibuya 109 then.


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

[Antinomia]

ehm... Shibuya 109... wtf is that??? Some kind of girls only shopping hall???

[PopCulturePooka]

ehm... Shibuya 109... wtf is that??? Some kind of girls only shopping hall???
Yes.

But imagine the horror of an all girls shopping mall x 100. Thats Shibuya 109. The most terrifying place in all japan.

[erbiumfiber]

Kamakura is a great place to vist. Tons of temples and shrines, pretty mountains in the background, long beachfront, Enoshima- a little island filled with mini-shrines. It was the capital of Japan during the, uh, Kamakura period. Which I forget is when-maybe 1100 or so? Too lazy to look it up.

Anyway, I like it much better than Kyoto- no highrises and stuff so more of a historical feel. It's about 40 minutes from Tokyo station by train. Closer still to Yokohama- a good day trip from either. Or, it being the low season, you could probably find somewhere to stay cheaply.

I am not romantic but the one temple I was at (a really major one whose name I forget) has lots of little paths through the bamboo up the side of the mountain and you can see the bay so I guess it could be romantic.

Kamakura will be in all the major guidebooks with suggested itineraries so you can get good ideas.

Anyway, my 2 cents for what it's worth.

[Yokohama]

Japan is a country full of natural beauty. But it seems to me that the best stuff of all are the hot spring or Onsen　and the Japanese garden. The best city having Japan's most famous landscape garden, next to Kyoto which is the best city to visit in any season, is the city of Kanazawa. And another one is the city of Ise, my home town, which is known for Ise shinto shrine. So I believe it would be worth you check these out.

Kanazawa... http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2167.html
Ise............ http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4300.html

[Antinomia]

Ok, thank you guys, i will look into all your options. Keep the good ideas coming :)

[Excel-2008]

Yes.

But imagine the horror of an all girls shopping mall x 100. Thats Shibuya 109. The most terrifying place in all japan.
I always thought that it was Roppongi.

[PopCulturePooka]

I always thought that it was Roppongi.
Shibuya 109 is the fortress of Terror. The Castle of Evil. The Keep of KYARRGHHHHHHH GOD NO!!!

Have you been to Roppongi? Have you seen the type of Japanese girl taht Az rails against? Also see them through out Shibuya. The over makeupped, designer clothes, tanned, bleached, kogal, ganguro, trendy, popular, bitchy etc girl?

109 is the Factory of Fear that produces these Emissaries of Evil.

[stsparky]

I am some Dutch guy. In Januari i will go to Japan for 4 weeks, to visit my Japanese girlfriend. ... :)

Do visit Kamakura and Hakone. I also recommend Nagasaki so you can see where the Dutch had roots in Japan. The two of you might enjoy Huis Ten Bosch (http://english.huistenbosch.co.jp/) - which may make you feel odd but the Hotels there rock in the romantic department.

[erbiumfiber]

You cannot miss Nikko- about an hour and a half train ride northish of Tokyo:

http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3800.html

It's a giant temple and mausoleum (spelling) Actually a lot of original stuff, not rebuilt like Tokyo. There's a nifty volcanic lake halfway up a mountain. There's also skiing somewhere around there in winter (at least according to my Japanese textbook where they plan a ski getaway).

Famous wood carvings and a gate in the Chinese style...

You could go for a day trip of skiing in January- or overnight plus onsen. There is one place, Gala Yuzawa, where you take the shinkansen directly INTO the resort. Get off the train and get on the cable car to the lifts. Plenty of other resorts and plenty of places to stay in town.

[seijihuzz01]

January will be horrendously cold & about 1 month too early for good winter stuff in Kanto (and also just too late for New Year's), but since you probably already have a good coat/gloves/hat/scarf, you'll probably be ok so long as you stop in at Starbucks every now & then to warm up. Should be easy as there's a Starbucks or knock-off version every 3 meters in Tokyo :)

Nikko, Kamakura and Hakone are nice for a day trip. All outdoors though w/lots of walking & 1-hour+ train trips from Tokyo.

Yokohama Chinatown really isn't anything all that special unless you go during Lunar/Chinese New Year, which is in February. And unless you've never seen more than 5 Chinese people in the same place...(just about everybody there was Japanese anyway). The harbor area (look for the giant Ferris wheel) has some good malls & stuff that might meet your shopping needs.

Hokkaido Ice Festival in Sapporo would also be cool (heh), but again, it's in February sometime.

Kyoto hot tourist spots are still probably ok in the winter, but it's COLD (again. Notice a theme?) The garden behind Meiji Jingu (look for the giant orange Torii gate) is a nice spot.

You could always go to the Tokyo Parasite Museum. I hear it's one of the top date spots in the city!

How about skiing? If it were me, I'd wait a month for the ice fest, or maybe go to Guam or Okinawa, where you can scuba dive & wear shorts! :)

Don't know how to say 'have fun' in Dutch, so as close as I can get:
'Viel Spass!'

[Antinomia]

"Veel plezier" :rolleyes:

Too bad i can't wait until Februari. I'd die waiting 1 more month to see my girlfriend again. These 4 months without her are already killing me :eek: Funny, i never experienced such feelings before...

[Dai]

Aren't Dutch/Northern European girls, as well as European people in general, known to be hot?

Ah, not really, Iīve seen enough ugly ones there to know thatīs not true. Donīt know where you got that from. But girls in Italy seem to very stylish, and Dutch girls bad dressers.

[bud]

http://www.izutuya.com/ aka http://www.ryokan.or.jp/hyougo/yumura/izutu/english.htm

it is definitely out of the way and i think the town lives on skiing and its hotsprings. We stayed at this ryokan, but there are others. I understand all the homes have free 95 C temp water from the springs--i know you can buy baskets of vegetables and cook them in the town center outdoors.

We also went to very, very hot spring in Tokyo that doesn't seem to be well known. It is near Ueno Park. But segregated. Send me an e-mail if you want directions: wgee2001@yahoo.com
-----Bud