/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>20017848
I just went to Hiroshima for a few days. Flat city, but worth a few days time. The train ride alone was worth it.

>>20018122
depends how your japanese is

if i had to just riff here, i'd say these are my golden rules for traveling in Japan independently:

1. Prioritize. Make a list of everything you want to do. Rank them from most to least desirable. Then start at the top of the list. If you burn out, you will have at least done the things you really wanted to do most. Aim for two things a day--anything more and honestly you risk getting burned out. Between traveling, food, and the unpredictable weather, overplanning could ruin a trip to Japan real quickly. There will always be opportunities to come back.

2. Make it easy on yourself to get around. Buy a Passmo/Suica when you get here. They cost 500yen. You buy the pass at a standard ticket machine, charge it up with a 10,000yen bill, and you don't have to worry about buying JR or subway tickets while you're here. Nothing worse than walking by foreigners outside of the train gates staring at a map trying to figure out if they need to buy a 240yen ticket or a 310yen ticket to get somewhere. This, as 400 people are rushing around them trying to get home or to work. Just use the pass--you walk to the turnstile, scan it, and go without worrying about how much to pay. These passes work all over the country, and now can be used to buy food, toiletries, and everything else at convenience stories, which, if your Japanese is poor, will be a godsend.

3. Make time to sit still. The rush of the city is enough to overwhelm anyone. Find a nice place to sit down and just sit. Literally this is the best advice I could give. There's so much to be understood and learned about Japan by just sitting and watching people in a smaller neighborhood. Harajuku and Shibuya are largely shitholes IMO, full of tourists. I like to go to smaller areas and just sit and people-watch. My favorite places are smaller neighborhoods in SW Tokyo with great coffeehouses: Wakabayashi, Jiyugaoka, Sakurashinmachi, Gakugeidaigaku. These are urban neighborhoods, with enough to see, but not so crazy that you can't hear your own thoughts. Literally just go to the train station, pick a direction, and start walking. This is how Tokyo will reveal her true self to you. It's not throngs of people, glittering lights, and giant screens--it's largely pic related.

I could go on and on, but it's really about your threshold for crowds, noise, and your language ability.

And if you're really not sure and have the cash, there's always Voyajin (bit pricey though). https://www.govoyagin.com/things-to-do/tokyo