Possibly going to japan for a week in May

[spot778]

Never really saw any crowds except in the station not platforms, granted I was travelling off hours but.

Subby: At worse you're looking at Bloor/Yonge station 8:00 - 8:30am :nod:

I picked Shinjuku to stay as I figured if I got really lost anyone would know where the station was :thumbsup:

also being a fan of Ryû ga gotoku :redface:

[subbie]

The problem with Shinjuku is that being this is your first time in Japan, the station is extremely crowded and confusing. The Hyatt and Hilton are both a fairly long walk from the station and the popular areas as they're more in the business office district.

Both Hyatt & Hilton offer shuttle service to and from the station. I also realized talking to a coworker that if we came in from the big airport, getting to ginza area might be a bit of a pain (since there doesn't seem to be a direct train route, but I could be wrong). Still debating it because Hyatt (regency) & Hilton, based on pictures, looks like shit and is over priced. If we went ginza, a hotel I found there (Hotel Monterey Ginza) one of my wife's coworkers stayed at and really liked it.

Unless, your wife is really into spending big money for couture at the big department stores, I'd say there isn't much shopping to be done in Shinjuku. For gamer stuff, there are only a few stores left (Trader, Sofmap, Animate) and 3 of the legendary arcades (PlayMax for Tekken, More for Capcom, Mikado for retro) have closed down leaving Club Sega.

She's a women, of course she is. Luckily she makes enough money that it's not a drain on my bank account. =P

=( about the arcades. Is Club Sega at least open pretty late? I wouldn't mind popping in for a few hours.

Let me know what kind of fashion your wife is into and I will help you out - it can be a bit overwhelming without a bit of direction.

She is Chinese and an only child. So... Anything popular and expensive. :nod:

Never really saw any crowds except in the station not platforms, granted I was travelling off hours but.

Subby: At worse you're looking at Bloor/Yonge station 8:00 - 8:30am :nod:
also being a fan of Ryû ga gotoku :redface:

=/ Not sure how Bloor/Yonge is at 8am. I just don't care for TTC so I walk to work (funny enough, about 5 mins away from that station to queen/spadina where work is). But man spadina street car at 5:30pm is pretty brutal on the days I need to use one to get home.

I'm also a big fan of Ryu ga gotoku.

[spot778]

There are also a few Taito stations



Rest assured there are more then enough arcades for you to see, I found them louder then here in NA but no where near as loud as the Pachinko :-0

The Club Sega in Shinjuku is lame vs the one in Akiba

[subbie]

How bad/busy is shinjuku station on sunday vs monday?

We're looking to arrive on either a sunday or a monday in late afternoon.

[spot778]

Sunday a lot of roads in and around the station get turned into pedestrian only IIRC

Afternoons are light till around 4:00pm or whenever school lets out.

A word of advice, I would not recommend taking the public transit of a city you have never been to after a 15-16 hour flight. Shinjuku station is like twice the size of the Eaton Centre, it has over 250 exits, might not be a good idea your first time out. Plus escalators are steep ! Not all that luggage friendly IMHO

Take a limo bus 3500 yen each way, nice and simple at least for your first time and piece of mind.

[subbie]

Thanks for the info so far.

A word of advice, I would not recommend taking the public transit of a city you have never been to after a 15-16 hour flight. Shinjuku station is like twice the size of the Eaton Centre, it has over 250 exits, might not be a good idea your first time out. Plus escalators are steep ! Not all that luggage friendly IMHO

To clarify a few things.
1) We are going to my wife's family place in china. So really we will just be taking a flight from Her city to bejing or shangai to tokyo. So not a crazy long flight. =P
2) At least for shinjuku. My coworker told me to use Nex as it's a train service that just goes to and from the airport.
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/nex/narita.html
3) The reason I ask a lot about local are is because we will spend the first night near the hotel. =P

Take a limo bus 3500 yen each way, nice and simple at least for your first time and piece of mind.

From the main airport? I though it was more expensive then that. =/

[spot778]

Nah bus is cheap, that is from Narita though.

It is identical to the Airport Express buses here.

[Shou]

Both Hyatt & Hilton offer shuttle service to and from the station. I also realized talking to a coworker that if we came in from the big airport, getting to ginza area might be a bit of a pain (since there doesn't seem to be a direct train route, but I could be wrong). Still debating it because Hyatt (regency) & Hilton, based on pictures, looks like shit and is over priced. If we went ginza, a hotel I found there (Hotel Monterey Ginza) one of my wife's coworkers stayed at and really liked it.

Everything is overpriced for the dollar right now but really only the big name hotels will be really nice, the others will be like Holiday Inn level. If you're coming from Narita and staying at a relatively big hotel, you can get a bus from the airport that goes straight to your hotel for the same price as NEX.

She's a women, of course she is. Luckily she makes enough money that it's not a drain on my bank account. =P

=( about the arcades. Is Club Sega at least open pretty late? I wouldn't mind popping in for a few hours.

There are different levels of fashion which is why I wrote couture. We're talking runway level stuff, dresses that start at $1000-2000 etc. There are cheaper places in Shinjuku but you can go to other areas to see a wider selection and better prices.

Club Sega was open until 1AM or so when I last frequented.

There are also a few Taito stations



Rest assured there are more then enough arcades for you to see, I found them louder then here in NA but no where near as loud as the Pachinko :-0

The Club Sega in Shinjuku is lame vs the one in Akiba

There's only 1 Taito arcade worth looking at in Shinjuku which is the one right in front of the South Exit near the Gap. High level SSF4 AE is played there but the # of players have dwindled significantly. They also have the latest fighters and shooters there. The other Taitos are mainly UFO catcher places.

Uh, that's the Gigo in Akiba and it sucks for gaming. The 2nd newest Club Sega in Akiba has a retro floor which you may find appealing. Club Sega Nishi Shinjuku (Nishispo for old timers and VFers like myself) is well known to be a fighting game haven. The basement floor has every current fighter as well as popular older fighters like ST. They even have MVC2 on rotation which is a rarity in Japan. The first floor is mostly UFO catchers with some deluxe driving/gun cabs. The second floor has retro stuff but not a big selection.

2) At least for shinjuku. My coworker told me to use Nex as it's a train service that just goes to and from the airport.
http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/nex/narita.html
3) The reason I ask a lot about local are is because we will spend the first night near the hotel. =P

You'll want to take the Airport Limousine (orange bus) instead of the NEX. The NEX can be a huge pain in the ass since it lets you off in the station where you'll have to lug your bags up and down stairs or desperately look for an elevator that'll fit you all (if there is an elevator, in some cases, there aren't). The bus is also roughly the same price (3000 yen a person) and will take you directly to any major hotel.

[GaijinPunch]

The NEX is not subject to traffic and is far less claustrophobic, which is the clencher for me. However, there is no elevator on that platform in Shinjuku at the moment. You are stuck w/ a series of escalators. You could take a cab for under 1000 yen to a hotel in the area. I just hate the buses, to be honest.

[Shou]

The NEX is not subject to traffic and is far less claustrophobic, which is the clencher for me. However, there is no elevator on that platform in Shinjuku at the moment. You are stuck w/ a series of escalators. You could take a cab for under 1000 yen to a hotel in the area. I just hate the buses, to be honest.

That's because you're a tall white gaijin. For someone like me, the seats on the bus are tolerable. :dance:

From Narita, I usually take the bus to the first hotel stop, ANA for me, and cab it home. With that said, I don't travel from Narita very often anymore, usually go through Haneda, which I highly recommend. It's only a 20-30 minute cab ride into the city.

[GaijinPunch]

The longest part of the Haneda trip for me on the two times I've come in is getting my fucking luggage. Literally a 30 minute wait.

[Giel]

At the moment, i'm looking at a hotel in ginza called "Hotel Monterey Ginza". Seems to be a swanky place (at a reasonable price) and in a reasonable location to get around.

I don't know about the Ginza one but whenever my mom came to visit me in Kyoto I always put her up at the Kyoto one and I can honestly say it's a really nice hotel, if it's anything like the Kyoto one (which I'm gonna assumme) I could definitely recommend it.

[subbie]

I don't know about the Ginza one but whenever my mom came to visit me in Kyoto I always put her up at the Kyoto one and I can honestly say it's a really nice hotel, if it's anything like the Kyoto one (which I'm gonna assumme) I could definitely recommend it.

One of my wife's coworkers stayed there and said it was pretty nice for it's price (it's like $130/$141 atm for a room).

[Shou]

The longest part of the Haneda trip for me on the two times I've come in is getting my fucking luggage. Literally a 30 minute wait.

I'm usually flying business class for work so I get to the carousel first and have to wait maybe 10 minutes? Last time, I didn't mind waiting since Jun Hasegawa was with me. :love2:

[GaijinPunch]

I'm usually flying business class for work so I get to the carousel first and have to wait maybe 10 minutes? Last time, I didn't mind waiting since Jun Hasegawa was with me. :love2:

I was upgraded one of the times I came in. I just think the planes are not really close to the new terminal.

[Paulo]

Subbie dint read the whole thread as im at work. I just came back on sunday from a 2 weeks stay and i can recommend a great hotel thats not too expensive if you want!

[subbie]

I think i'm good on the hotel front atm. It's still just me and my wife figuring out if we go out on our own or do a tour (the reason for the tour is because my wife's mom, aunt and grandfather will be joining us, I don't want to drag them around the city too much plus make sure they have reasonable places to eat at where me and my wife would be willing to try anything we find near by).

If we go out on our own, i'm thinking 2 days in Shenjuku to be close to the hotel (the day we arrive and probably the next day), a day heading out to shibuya & maybe a stop to see the Meiji Shrine. Then another day to maybe head over to see Ginza & Akihabara (i'd make Akihabara a day thing but I'm sure I will make everybody bored).


=/

[Trenton_net]

@Subbie: Tours of temples and hot springs sounds like a safe bet for older people. If it's just you and your significant other, then you'd probably want to explore all the nooks and crannies you can find by yourself. BTW, can you communicate ok with your aunt and uncle?

[Paulo]

Ah ok well if anyone else is wondering this is it:

http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_R...ure_Kanto.html

Really nice location and good transport links. Also lovely hotel thats not too expensive.

[spot778]

I think i'm good on the hotel front atm. It's still just me and my wife figuring out if we go out on our own or do a tour (the reason for the tour is because my wife's mom, aunt and grandfather will be joining us, I don't want to drag them around the city too much plus make sure they have reasonable places to eat at where me and my wife would be willing to try anything we find near by).

If we go out on our own, i'm thinking 2 days in Shenjuku to be close to the hotel (the day we arrive and probably the next day), a day heading out to shibuya & maybe a stop to see the Meiji Shrine. Then another day to maybe head over to see Ginza & Akihabara (i'd make Akihabara a day thing but I'm sure I will make everybody bored).


=/

Meiji Jingu is a couple of hours, figure a half day, ... somewhat nearby you have Shinjuku Goyen and that's another few hours, you would have your evening free and your wife's parents would be happy.