I'm so excited!!! My boytoy Jemanu and I have been planning/hoping to be able to take this trip for a while now, and today we went to the travel agent and booked the tickets - non-refundable, so now we're committed, it's really happening for really real!!! :D

Any recommendations? Things you think we should see/do/bring ya back? :D We're flying out of Tokyo, and we're there for 3 weeks March 19 - April 9, and we've bought our rail passes so we can hop on and off trains etc. but other then that we don't have many specific plans.

Yay Excited!!! :bananadance:

Congrats Holly! :bananacheer: I'm so jealous. I've never been out of the U.S. :(

That's amazing! I don't have and recommendation/suggestion for you. That's one of mine dream-voyages.
I'm so happy for you :party:
ETA:
(ok and jealous :blush: )

Send a note to Ri! She and Mr. Ri were there about a year ago. As I recall, beware of the fertility statues. :)

Ah yes very good point nou... the fertility statues must be avoided at all costs! :scared: :scared:

(I expect my mother will give me a map with all of them circled... she wants grandbabies already! :lol: )

I was just thinking about that fertility statue :whistle:

Congrats Holly! I'm sure you guys will have a great time :bananadance:

nou :whip: "beware"??? :angry:
I was thinking the same but didn't want to warn her. It's great to have new BO baby (as long as it's not mine :whistle:)

That's great! How exciting! :bananadance:

Hope you have a great time!

I am still waiting for an answer from my company to spend two weeks training in Germany... :(

Wooo hoooo! That would be a dream trip for me, and I'm thrilled to hear that you're going. Have a great time on behalf of all of us that wish we could sneak into your suitcases!

Yes those fertility statues are quite potent! :lol:

We went to Shirahama in the Chiba prefecture (where we saw the giant schlong). It was a nice beach-y area, but maybe not that great in the spring...

We also stayed in Shiki near Tokyo, where DH's host families live. It was easy to get into Tokyo for the day.

Several other days we stayed in Shinjuku/Kabuki Cho in Tokyo. That place was live! So much fun!

I had a fabulous time just exploring Tokyo. Next time we go, we are planning on going to Hiroshima, the Hot Springs, Kyoto - traveling around quite a bit more.

Not sure where you are staying, but Toyoko Inn is a nice low cost (for Japan) chain that we really liked. They have breakfast, internet, clean rooms, etc right in the center of the city. We will definitely stay in Toyoko Inns again.

I'll ask DH for some other suggestions outside of Tokyo.

COngrats Holly! Hope you have a great time! :D

Congrats! Take lots of pictures to show us. And pack lots of books in your carry-on for those long flight (or in my case when I've had to air travel...delays and layovers.)

Oh how cool!! :bananadance: I'm sure you guys will have a great time!

But um, yes -- pick your shrines carefully. :whistle: :lol:

I'm bumping this up cause its like a week away :bananadance: , and lexie asked in another thread if I could send her a postcard, and I was wondering if anyone else wanted one?!?

Me please and thank you

Have a wonderful time

OMG. I am so glad you bumped it cause I missed this thread.
How exiting!!! :bananadance: :bananadance:

To be honest I would just love to get a pc from Japan. :o

Never been there and probably will never go, but it is great to see someone I know go there.

O You did not mean pc's. a postcard is fine too :whistle: :rofl:

:ditto: She took the words right out of my mouth. :whistle: You could even leave the books there too. They'd make for some fun wild releasing as you visited some sights.

A postcard would be awesome. :) Thanks for offering. Did you need my address? Pm or check Rabck if you do. :) Hope you guys have a truly awesome adventure.

Holly, I would love a postcard. :grin: Thanks! :hug:

What a great trip!!! Congrats.

Lucky you :P, have fun and send me a postcard too, it would cheer me up through this last haul of the semester...if you want :rolleyes:.

That's definately the smartest thing you can do, getting that tourist rail-pass! It'll be a lifesaver for you, especially when you can get on the express trains instead of the regulars that stop at every little dinky down :giggle:

Oh... Japan. I miss it there.
Become as familiar as you can with katakana -- a lot of food, menus, etc, will have katakana on them, and if you can read it the food will sound like "shi-chi-ki-n" (sounds like "sea chicken" = tuna! or, sometimes "tsu-na") or "su-pa-ge-ti" (sounds like "spaghetti"!) etc... so it's often recognisable. When all else fails, there are often pictures :wink: If you're trying to get to someplace in particular, have someone write the kanji for the city name or the train stop down for you so you can watch for it. How familiar are you with the language written or spoken?
Eat at least one meal at CoCo Ichiban (my favourite japanese curry place.) It's probably a little early for the frogs yet... but, as much fun as a city as packed as Tokyo is, be sure to get waaaaay out into the countryside sometime. Buy a bento box meal and have a picnic lunch in a park sometime. I highly recommend the beaches on the Japan Sea side of the main Island. I lived in Takaoka, so the beaches in the general vecinity of Toyama and Kanazawa prefecture would be the ones I visited. Go to every single hotspring you hear of :lol: The "natural" ones, the groomed ones... the ones with onsen "flowers"... the ones open to air... any of 'em. Of course, they're not co-ed and you bathe nekkid, so be prepared! Do any of your touristy books describe onsen etiquette? Definately a good idea to brush up on it... And if you can get up into the mountains, do it. Oh... Do everything :lol: Go to the big malls, Go to Harajuku. Get your hair done at a place called Watanabi way at the far end of Harajuku (after you cross the intersection where the road doglegs off a bit and you think the fun is over.) The sign was lit green and had a hand with a swirl on it :grin: Go to the movies (they'll ask you what seat you want to sit in when you buy the ticket) and try not to laugh out loud too much, but definately pay attention to the differences of where you laugh and where they laugh. Remember to clear your tray and table if you ever ever eat at a mall food court or fast food restaurant like McDonalds -- there isn't anyone employed to clean up after you, it's each person's responsibility. Be sure to check out the grocery stores close to closing time, because they put their absolutely beautiful fresh-daily fish and other perishables on discount and it's a great way to try out new, slightly expensive things if you're making your own suppers. Plan to eat a lot of range-cooked foods 'cause they don't have american style ovens. Eat lots of their baked goods, pastries, and japanese rice or red-bean "sweets." Pizza there is not like pizza in north america, it's more like traditional italian thin-crust pizza... and they put the oddest things on theirs... like tuna, corn, and mayo. This is not a bad combination. Even if you're staying at a larger hotel, I highly recommend dropping in to backpacker hostel type locations to meet other foreigners who are travelling through. You will get fantastic ideas of where to go or what to try from them, and may even find travelling companions for adventures further afield from the Tokyo city limits.

Wow.. I hope you have a lot of fun! Don't send me a post card (as much as I'd love one) but... If I promise to repay you for postage, do you think you could stop at a dollar store (Hyaku-yen shop, they're everywhere, and full of lots of crazy awesome stuff!) and pick up an onigiri press? it's a plastic triangle used to shape onigiri (stuffed rice wrapped in seaweed snacks -- be sure to try some) and I am desperate for one!

Fabulous! I didn't make it north of Tokyo, but I did explore the south for a week or so.

Miyajima - gorgeous area. There are (rather gross) deer that are like pigeons in that they will come dig in your purse, dig out of the garbage, eat out of your hand. Apparently if you take the tram to the top of the hill there is a monkey village.

Himeji - I stayed here because this is where my friends were teaching English. Fabulous castle.

Nara - only here for 15 minutes because of train problems

Kyoto - MUST GO! The Golden Pavilion is GORGEOUS!!! Silver pavilion is nice. This is also where many geisha are, you can see them walking down the street at sunset. Lovely city.

You can check out my pics: http://jennannej-japan.buzznet.com/user/photos/

I would love a postcard.

Hope you have a fabulous time!!