One week trip to Japan

Originally Posted by hboogz

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Slim. That's amazing man, Thank You for that.

Welcome.

Originally Posted by Alter

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Super LOL at the Urban Dictionary page for Gaijin Smash!

+10

good thread

I have roughly a week left before I ht-up Tokyo!! I have a good idea how I'm going to spend my days, but could use some ideas on bars/lounges/clubs at night along with moderately priced places for dinner (definitely want to put the whole wagyu/kobe beef thing to bed in Japan) I'm an old school HipHop kid at heart, but i'm just open to good, fun places with a good mix of attractive women.

I arrive Saturday Evening. I'm staying at the Sunroute Shinjuku and plan on walking the general area around my hotel to get a good idea of my surroundings for a few hours. I'm thinking I would be pretty tired from the flight, but adrenaline may be in my favor...that being said -- what could you recommend for a Saturday night in Shibuya/Ebisu/Shinjuku ? I figure to keep it close to the Hotel the first night.

Sunday -

Go to YoYogi Park/Meji Shrine, peep the cos play stuff by the bridge, walk Ometesando and Aoyama and get in as much retail stuff as possible. Eat along the way. I'm thinking this is going to take a whole day. Sunday night Harajuku/Ebisu Party suggestions?

Monday -

More retail stuff in Shibuya/Shinjuku. Shibuya Crossing for dam sure. I want to hit the department stores (Takashyamya, Beams, Kinukuniya(books), etc) Also want to Check out Ebisu during the day for a bit. This could be my entire day.

Tuesday -

Get some "must-see" Tokyo under my belt. Head over to Roppongi Hills for the obersavation deck. Peep the Roppongi scene for a bit and either hit Asaksa or Ginza early evening into the Night

Wednesday -

If I don't get a chance to hit Ginza Tuesday, Hit up Ginza today and just explore. if time permits, train it over to Akihibara and get ****** both lost and amazed.

Thursday -

I'm probably going to want to re-visit the retail scene inside Aoyama/Ebisu/Harajuku and Shibuya

Frieday -

Possibly Ueno Park and still working on a plan depending on how much i get accomplished during the week.

I don't know how tenable my itinerary really is, but i'm not really worried about making sure everything is done within 6 days, but just want to make sure the major milestones are covered, eat amazing food and explore the Japanese retail and nightlife scenes.

Feedback more than welcomed and appreciated.

Boogz.

Remember to try the Raw Chicken!!

Make sure and do research on Akihabara and finding the weird **** - I still don't know where that stuff is and I've been two or three times. I'm not good at sticking to the plan, though.

Ginza is extremely boring IMO, unless you have a ton of money and want to drink there, which you may not even be able to do, since those kinds of places are more closed memberships/hostess/private. There are some eats and the department stores are there, but then again, there are department stores everywhere, and good food everywhere. Make it a half day, at most.

To that, you need to include Isetan Shinjuku in your must-dos. It has nearly every brand a styleforummer wants to see.

Start at Harajuku, drop through Takeshita-dori -> Omotesando/Ura-Harajuku -> Omotesando Hills -> Aoyoma/Minami-Aoyama -> decide between walking to Roppongi or back to Shibuya, from there you could loop back up Meiji-dori and check out stores between Shibuya to Harajuku. That could be a whole day of walking/shopping. Maybe drop in and walk around Aoyama Gakuin to see what a Japanese university campus is like during the daytime.

Daikanyama/Ebisu can take a pretty long time too, there's a lot of retail stores in that area as well.

Spend a half day and go to Kamakura, see some stuff there. Maybe hit up Yokohama for the rest of that day.

From Shinjuku in the afternoon, ride the Chuo line out, go to Kichijoji, walk around Inokashira park a bit, maybe check out the Ghibli museum? Come back when it gets darker (and it gets dark in Japan at like 5pm, this time of year, lol) and check out Shimokitazawa, maybe check out a show, have a drink, find some cheap food. Can make it back into Shinjuku at night.

You didn't include Tsukiji market... not gonna do that?

Ueno Zoo, good. Not tons else to do up on that side of town, but Asakusa and Kappabashi-dori are interesting. Kappabashi-dori has everything related to cookware, restaurant supplies, the plastic food models.

If you have an Int'l driver's license, I think you can still go to the Toyota museum on Odaiba and pick out all kinds of past models off a Pez dispenser rotisserie, and drive them on an indoor track for two laps at like 500Y. They have the Supra and cars like that.

Like I said, I try to eat the big expensive meal at lunch, like after 1 or 1:30, and then snack the rest of the day, maybe grab something cheaper for dinner. For lunch somedays you can track down some A5 wagyu, either sukiyaki-style or robatayaki style, maybe get in on some michelin-starred lunch sets at the neo-French and Italian places, try the different stuff then. Ramen, curry, ordinary Japanese-Chinese food, those insane Japanese hamburgers, I eat those at night. Track down bakeries and stuff for mid-day snacks, rolls and cakes, get noodles mid-day, snack on some yakitori, you will stay full but eating big and then just staying filled up is the name of the game.

I miss Japan already

I've arrived and checked in the hotel. Shinju-Ku station is busy, but really nothing i'm not already used to. I really need to get a look at a better map in english that shows me street names and all, because it took me about 15 minutes to get to my hotel from the train station when it's really a 3 minute walk. Google maps, even with translation turned on, throws me all sorts of kanji.

The observation deck in Roppongi is attached to an excellent museum of contemporary art (I think it is called the Mori Museum). Don't miss it.

Don't feel bad if you can't find the exact restaurant you are looking for. It is an extremely confusing city. Odds are that places that look good are good. Places w/o English menus outside are often better than places with English menus outside. Most places, even places that seem to never get Westerners, will have English menus available once you are seated.

Going to Tokyo without going to the fish market would be a travesty.

Ueno park - the two best unaju (roughly bbq eel) restaurants I've ever been to - by FAR - are right at one corner of the park. I can try to figure out how to describe the location if you are interested.

Thanks. Defintely Interested. I'm planning to go to Ebisu Monday or Tuesday during the day.

Originally Posted by hboogz

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I've arrived and checked in the hotel. Shinju-Ku station is busy, but really nothing i'm not already used to. I really need to get a look at a better map in english that shows me street names and all, because it took me about 15 minutes to get to my hotel from the train station when it's really a 3 minute walk. Google maps, even with translation turned on, throws me all sorts of kanji.

Quite a few streets don't have names. Major ones do, but maps are somewhat useless. This is why you should enjoy getting lost.

Make sure you hit those joints where they serve sushi/sashmi over naked women laying down on the tables!

Originally Posted by OakCreekHitter

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Make sure you hit those joints where they serve sushi/sashmi over naked women laying down on the tables!

yeah, because they have those on every street corner and welcome foreigners with open arms.

Part of the allure that i'm recognizing. Sunday morning here and that means: Meiji Shrine, Yogogi Park for a little cos play action, walk Ometesando, Aoyama and Harajuku. Ometesando and Meji-Dori streets being my guides.

Had some amazing, although a bit pricey, Kushiage from a place in Shinjuku last night. Looking forward to more food wins...

Originally Posted by Tokyo Slim

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Quite a few streets don't have names. Major ones do, but maps are somewhat useless. This is why you should enjoy getting lost.

Originally Posted by hboogz

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Part of the allure that i'm recognizing. Sunday morning here and that means: Meiji Shrine, Yogogi Park for a little cos play action, walk Ometesando, Aoyama and Harajuku. Ometesando and Meji-Dori streets being my guides.

Yeah, I love trying to explain the nonsense that is the Japanese address system.

Good spot for lunch
http://www.bento.com/rev/0490.html

another of my fav spots in that area
http://www.bento.com/rev/3164.html