Come mid-May, Yana, Natasha and I have time to do three things in Japan. Tokyo and Kyoto are on the agenda for sure. What should the third visit be? Preferably it should not be too far from the rest. Afterwards, I am going to Nagasaki for sure, so no need to recommend that.
Akihabara, to buy technology that won’t be for sale in the US until 2020.
I have just returned from Hokkaido, a nice and quiet place, quite untypical of Japan. Osaka is another place where you might want to visit and it is very close to Kyoto. Though a city like Tokyo, Osaka has a different character from that of Tokyo.
Hokkaido is too far from the rest. And do keep in mind Kyoto is quite large, so it would take more than a few days to just cover the basics. Nara is smaller and easier to look around. I would also recommend Kamakura, which is about one hour by train from Tokyo.
- Himeji-jo is one hour west of Kyoto (right on the shinkansen line), it’s the best-preserved castle in all of Japan
- Miyajima is also on the way, it’d be a great non-city sight
- If Nara is not included in your Kyoto list, it should be =)
- The Miho museum isn’t too far from Kyoto, it looks like the lair of James Bond villain (carved into the mountain by I.M. Pei) and the small art collection is really neat
- Kanazawa is a good two hours from Kyoto, it’s got one of the great stroll gardens (Kenrokuen), a style which is very rare in Kyoto
- Nikko and Kamakura are both reasonably close to Tokyo
- Mashiko is also reasonably close, it’s one of the hotspots of contemporary pottery-making
My advice, spend the extra time in Tokyo. Unless you have the time for a rural adventure, none of the other major cities can compare. I found Kyoto to be largely ugly and its temples gaudy. Gion is nice for a stroll, though.
If you want exposure to natural Japan head to the Japan Alps. You can hit the castle in Matsumoto, which is one of the only japanese castles to not be bombed in WWII. The rest os the castles in Japan are reconstructions. I’ve been to Japan twice and the Alps area is easily the most scenic part that I have been to. The Tateyama-Kurobe high route uses trains and buses to get you into the high country. The town of Kamikochi is the Telluride/Aspen of Japan with tons of hiking possibilities. Matsumoto, the gateway city is a few hours train ride from Tokyo.
If you like modern art, I would strongly recommend a trip to see the two museums on Naoshima Island in the inland Japan Sea: the Benesse Art Site and the Chichu Museum. It’s a significant detour from the current route you’ve mentioned, but this is worth significant consideration.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naoshima,_Kagawa
http://www.naoshima-is.co.jp/english/index.html
http://www.chichu.jp/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chichu_Art_Museum
I loved Kamakura when I was there last year. Had more of a small town feel to it, though there was a lot of walking (which I enjoyed). In comparison, I wasn’t very interested in Tokyo. It’s just another big city. Kyoto was fun since their transit system is based around tourism, so everything is in multiple languages and the ability to get around is pretty easy.
There is good advice above.
When you visit Kyoto, you should take a day trip to Nara. That is a MUST SEE.
Also:
The Sumo Tournament will be in Tokyo from May 11, 2008 to May 25, 2008. That is an extremely fun thing to see.
Since you have jetlag anyway, going to Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo and eating sushi at 6 in the morning is an amazing experience.
A trip to Himeji castle from Kyoto is very easy and it is a fun castle.
You must visit Chigasaki,　surf capital of Kanagawa prefecture. Ozu (famous great Japanese film director) once had a summer home here, near the sea shore. It is still there, now a clinic, and you can see. And there is Starbucks too.
Go to Hiroshima and see the peace museum.
Peace museum is a good idea. They have a guest book you can sign – name / home country / date / comment. Make sure to put “USA is #1″ in the comment.
1) I must disagree with bcw210: a trip to Hakone is best avoided. The transportation is heinous. I have furthermore never come across anyone who has ever seen the view of Mt. Fuji over Ashinoko.
2) Nikko is difficult to appreciate without contextualization. If you do go, of course see the temple and the shrines, but also pass by the Imperial Villa where the present emperor lived during the war years, while his parents stayed in Tokyo.
3) Kamakura is by far the easiest day trip out of Tokyo.
4) If ceramics is someone’s passion, the time to go Mashiko is May 1-5, during the spring festival (there is a matching festival in the fall). While Mashiko reputedly has 300+ kilns of its own, some 1500 potters and other artisans will be in town during the festival displaying their wares at booths all over town. The steam train will be making a daily run and the street entertainment can be fairly good.
5) Given your previous stated admiration of the River Rouge Plant and Magnitogorsk, perhaps a visit (weekdays only) to the Edogawa Underground Flood Control Project would be your cup of ocha.
English tour info:
http://www.ktr.mlit.go.jp/edogawa/works/saigai/sonae/gaikaku/g-cans/english/index.html
Photo gallery:
http://www.ktr.mlit.go.jp/edogawa/works/saigai/sonae/gaikaku/g-cans/intro/07photo/index.html
Spend as many days as possible at the Ryogoku Kokugikan. Mid-May means you have a chance to see the May Basho in Tokyo. Will Asashoryu be able to defend the championship he won just yesterday? Will Hakuho come back and take the title? Will Baruto finally be able to have a good basho in high Makuuchi (my guess…no!)?
Many have already recommended Nara. I agree completely. I would also recommend Kobe, kids may love the bridge. Kyoto, Nara and Kobe are all beautiful cities. Osaka, not as pretty.
I agree with KenF about Sumo.
Here’s a good article about sumo for the uninitiated.
The three essential stops are Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka.
I don’t list Nagasaki because I’ve never been there, and honestly don’t have much interest in going; after all, as a U.S. citizen, I’d be very uncomfortable. I might be more inclined to go were I Canadian or British.
We have been to Japan a number of times, including Nara, Kyoto, Osaka… One of the most engaging places is Mount Koya (Koyasan). It can easily be reached by train from Kyoto and then a 45 degree cog rail up to the plateau. (see http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e4900.html). You can make a reservation to stay at one of the many temples on the plateau and to fully explore on foot the temples and the cedar tree and incense laden memorials there
In Kyoto, Ponto-Cho is neither mind-blowingly ugly, is vibrant, and not the mummified past.
I do think that vehicles are allowed on it, though. I would also recommend getting a foot
massage in Kyoto.
I second the earlier post recommending Naoshima. It’s a small island transformed by two museums, numerous sculptures, and several renovations of traditional homes into art installations. It is possible to sleep in rooms in the museum itself, so you can pad around after-hours in your yukata (bathrobe) through the exhibits. Meals are taken in the museum, too, and the food is excellent.
After traveling all over Japan, Naoshima is far and away the most memorable trip out of Tokyo and Kyoto I’ve taken.
Given your food interests, make time for a quick trip to the Shin-Yokohama ramen museum, where you can get lots of half-size bowls of some of the country’s best ramen and give yourself a crash-course in comparative ramen styles.
If you’ve only got time for one trip outside of Kyoto and Tokyo you should make it to Nikko; you’ll get to sample the beauty of Japan’s interior and experience architecture which you won’t easily find at your other two stops. Also, one night during your time in Kyoto you should consider a train trip to Osaka to sample street food in the Dotombori (esp. around Ebisubashi) area where the cheap eats are probably better than anywhere else in Japan (even Nagasaki).
I’ll go out on a crazy limb and suggest a stopover in Nagoya – it is halfway between Kyoto & Tokyo. It’s my wife’s hometown, so that’s usually my base of operations when I am in Japan. Think of it as Japan’s Detroit, in function rather than form – being the home of Toyota, Mitsubishi and other main Japanese industrial concerns. And if you’re a car buff it has the Toyota museum (kinda fun), Nagoya Castle & the Atsuta Shrine which is known as the second-most venerable shrine in Japan, after Ise Shrine. It is said to enshrine the Kusanagi sword, one of the three imperial regalia of Japan.
It was also recently the host of the World’s Fair and just opened a international airport. If you want to see the face of modern Japan outside of Tokyo, Nagoya would be a neat stopover for a day.
http://wikitravel.org/en/Nagoya
It IS not touristy and is in fact simply a modern Japanese city, but a nice one.
Plenty of good suggestions, I can only include one, especially since you’ll be in the Kyoto area… Fushimi Inari-taisha, the head shrine of Inari in Japan. It was fairly unique compared to the other Shinto and Buddhist temples/shrines that I toured throughout Osaka, Kanazawa, Noto Penisula, Kyoto, Nara… be forewarned, though, if you’re walking through the thousands of torii leading up the mountain (to the point where it’s more like walking through a tunnel than just passing through many gates) as daylight is fading, it gets quite spooky, especially with all the smaller shrines and cemeteries scattered around.
If you’re interested in some, ummm, unique cuisine, there are some options available in the various booths near the shrine. The one I remember distinctly, because I sampled it and decided it was definitely not for me, was barbecued sparrow.
Come to Osaka! Not only is it a wonderful city with a long rich history that you can read about on Wikipedia, but we are also hosting the upcoming G8 summit! Talk about an opportune moment for an economists’ visit!
You’ll be sick of temples from Kyoto, so come to Osaka and enjoy delicious food and the genuine free market of our shopping arcades. Tenjinbashi-shotengai, the longest shopping street in the country, is right here and perpetually changes shops as owners win and lose in the market. How can you not love that?
In this way, you can buy and gain very cheap Sword of the New World Gold.
Did I see this kind article before?
Hello, been reading MR for a couple of years now. This is my first post.
I just finished my undergrad econ degree (U of Calgary) and I’m treating myself to a trip. I’m going to Tokyo later this month for two weeks.
What were highlights for you?
~Justin
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