Originally Posted By Bob Paris Reading a post from a certain "Bobble Headed Boobie" in another forum here about her antiquated(antebellum?)reasons why Europeans drink lots of wine, made me think of other ignorant and ill-informed stories I have been told about other countries. I thought it'd be fun and informative maybe for noobs travelling to Japan to share and dispel some of the stories we personally heard from(sometimes well-meaning)friends about the land of the Rising Gyoza Bun. I was told to expect trouble at Narita upon arriving because(and this part I assume is true)the airport was built on reclaimed farmland and there had been terrorist threats from farmers who wanted to blow the airport up. I was told to expect to see armed guards EVERYWHERE at Narita and not to be too alarmed. Now bear in mind, I landed in the US three days before 9/11(was flying to SF when it actually happened), was in Florida when anthrax broke out 100 miles away and flew about eight more times in the US after 9/11. Trust me, seeing 18 year old scared looking kids with buzz cuts holding rifles and machine guns(whatever)became quite commonplace. Another thing I heard was take my female companion on the train at her peril. We were told Japanese men LOVE to pinch the bums of women on the trains. Didn't happen(Kristy would have knocked them out flat and then stomped on their little heads for fun). I felt safer in Japan than ANYWHERE in the US. Go figure.
Originally Posted By Mr X Perhaps that would be because Japan IS safer than anywhere in the US. As for the train issue, I've never heard of a foreign woman being touched. Most likely this is because a typical train pervert is looking for a victim who will keep quiet out of embarrassment, and they are unsure about how a foreign woman would behave.
Originally Posted By The Goddess Mara When I first went to Japan in 1985, there were barricades at the entrance to the airport and soldiers or police with machine guns (or so it appeared). Don't recall when that all disappeared, but you don't see it now. What you will see in Japan is public drunkeness. I was in a small hotel in Atami and some old geezer got in the elevator with us and just barfed a whole meal of sushi against the elevator door. I'll never forget that!
Originally Posted By Mr X Gross. Okay here's my story of public drunkenness (no, not me..Japanese guys lol). It was my very first trip to downtown Tokyo, we went to Roppongi and stayed out late..were heading back to Chiba through Hatchobori station (a group of 8 or 9 of us) onto a deserted Keiyo line platform where we discovered two guys ON THE TRACKS! A most bizarre sight to be sure (remember the station was deserted). At first I did a double take and thought they were some sort of railway workers, but no. It was one mildly intoxicated fellow trying to help his utterly inebriated friend who had apparently fallen onto the tracks. LUCKILY my group was so large, because while the helper required only two of us to help him up off the tracks, the other guy was practically passed out and it took 3-4 of us to drag him up onto the platform. It was definitely their lucky day, as the train came about a minute or two later!
Originally Posted By Bob Paris Oh and I just remembered two other things I was told. 1. Tokyo is ridiculously expensive. It wasn't. Our hotel room was very reasonably priced, although the bed was made I think more for Nipponese lengths. We were one stop from the TDR and it was clean and very very nice. In addition we ate well(complimentary breakfast buffet that seemed more like a dinner buffet - it was truly AMAZING and to this day I STILL talk about it!!!)for a very good price. 2. The only place you will get to stay in is one of those capsules they slide you in like a morgue slab. See above.
Originally Posted By The Goddess Mara Good accomdations in Tokyo are indeed expensive, as is the food. If you don't mind staying at a businessman's hotel (like I do), then you can do it for what is now about $100 a night. It was $85 before the dollar tanked. But if you want to stay in what would be comparable to a US hotel room, it's going to cost you quite a bit.
Originally Posted By barboy ///1. Tokyo is ridiculously expensive./// Well yes and no--- it depends: If one wants to live very high on the hog then Tokyo must be the most expensive place on earth to do it; yes, noticeably more costly than Moscow, New York or London. ***I'd bet that a non-entouraged P Diddy/Usher like outing with a luxury stay in a Tokyo suite, a private limo ride around the city, a high end steak dinner with wine, a hired female companion could hit $30,000. or more*** But if one vacations like us mortals where money concerns factor in then Tokyo is expensive(relative to most of the globe) but manageable nonetheless.
Originally Posted By The Goddess Mara Yes, I would say "managable" is a very good way to put it. It certainly cost me less in Tokyo in October than it did in London in December!
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< When I first went to Japan in 1985, there were barricades at the entrance to the airport and soldiers or police with machine guns (or so it appeared). Don't recall when that all disappeared, but you don't see it now. >>> They're still there. Maybe not with machine guns on full display, but if you arrive at the airport via road (bus, taxi, or private car), you'll have to stop at a checkpoint that looks quasi-military, or maybe more like a border checkpoint in a disturbed part of the world, and show your passport. It's just the domestic police and not the military, but the way they have it set up and the vehicles they have deployed makes it look like they're ready for an imminent attack or riot. At least you get to see what the $20 departure tax that's built into your ticket price is paying for. <<< I was told to expect trouble at Narita upon arriving because(and this part I assume is true)the airport was built on reclaimed farmland and there had been terrorist threats from farmers who wanted to blow the airport up. I was told to expect to see armed guards EVERYWHERE at Narita and not to be too alarmed. >>> I don't think that "expect trouble" is the right way to put it. As an arriving passenger, you'll see nothing out of the ordinary, unless you happen to see the "Down With Narita Airport" billboard that has been erected on nearby farmland and can be seen from the runway sometimes. As a departing passenger arriving by train, there's an extra checkpoint before you leave the train station where you have to show your passport. They never inspect bags of foreigners at this point, as this checkpoint is not for aviation safety but for airport safety. The security people are civilians, and there's usually just one police officer at a post just after the checkpoint, watching over things. So, only if you arrive by road will you really see anything out of the ordinary these days at Narita. <<< Perhaps that would be because Japan IS safer than anywhere in the US. >>> True, but I was shocked to hear of someone that got their wallet stolen right out of their hand at Narita Airport while buying a train ticket. I would guess that the people doing this would target single travelers who are unlikely to abandon their luggage and make chase. Prior to hearing this story, I'd never been worried in the least about any sort of property crime in Japan, but now I'll at least try to be on guard for this sort of thing.
Originally Posted By SuperDry <<< 1. Tokyo is ridiculously expensive. It wasn't. >>> To restate what you've already said, Tokyo *can* be very expensive, especially if you want to stay in a high-end, internationally-branded hotel. But there are plenty of reasonably-priced options, even for new construction in good locations. My current favorite budget-minded hotel in town is the Shibuya Excel Tokyu. It was well under $200/night the last time I stayed, but now it's running about $250 but that's because of the problem with the USD and not the hotel's prices in yen going up. I realize that it's not the cheapest place, but when I say "budget minded" I mean in the sense that you're not really compromising or giving up much of anything with this property. It's connected inside to JR Shibuya Station and overlooks Shibuya Crossing. So, both in terms of things immediately in the area and ease of access to the rest of the city via train/subway, it's in a great location. The rooms are small, but seem new and have all of the basic amenities, including free high-speed internet access. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a similar property in NYC for the price.
Originally Posted By Malin *** 1. Tokyo is ridiculously expensive. *** Interesting you say this because the DJ filling in on Radio 1's Breakfast Show in the UK at the moment has just got back from Tokyo and was telling about 7 million listeners how expensive the place is, and that he paid £10 - $15 or 1,375 yen for a cup of coffee, which I personally have never paid, and can only imagine he went somewhere upscale, but it doesn't help change the opinion people have about how expensive Tokyo is to the general public.
Originally Posted By SuperDry I think that Tokyo *can* be very expensive, but it doesn't have to be. For example, if you eat breakfast at a Western hotel and pay for it separately (as opposed to having it included with your room), it can be very expensive, like on the order of $25-30. People that just wander downstairs to their hotel restaurant and pay that can end up thinking "Gee, Tokyo is very expensive!" But the answer is to not eat breakfast at the overpriced restaurant, or buy the $15 cup of coffee. There's plenty of places to get reasonably-priced food, and Starbucks are now everywhere. Maybe another way to put it is that there's much more variance in price in Tokyo, so the casual visitor might end up getting jacked if they don't figure out where to go. But with the tens of millions of middle-class people living and working in Tokyo, it's not as if reasonably priced stuff is hard to find or hidden - it's everywhere around you.
Originally Posted By Anatole69 I found Japan not to be too expensive except for two things: travel and accomodation. I was on a backpackers budget so I noticed those things. Getting around and finding a place to stay cost a pretty penny if you are on a students/backpackers budget. Food and other amenities weren't too bad, though maybe a little more expensive than in the U.S. but definitely not a wallet killer. I do remember though that my first day in Japan cost me as much as it did for me to stay in Shanghai for a week. - Anatole
Originally Posted By Anatole69 Btw - it's all about riceballs if you are travelling on the cheap. I went to Disneysea with a couple of protein bars and some riceballs and a bottle of water and stayed there all day... I only spent $10 extra dollars on food in the park. - Anatole
Originally Posted By Mr X I've no doubt he FOUND a $15 cup of coffee (a cup of coffee in the Brighton lounge near TDR will cost you more than $9, and a glass of OJ will set you back nearly $14), but that's hardly the norm. Starbucks is everywhere these days, with prices comparable to the U.S. (slightly higher than America now with the exchange rate being so crappy...), and there are plenty of cafes that are cheaper still such as Veloce where coffee is less than $2.
Originally Posted By Mr X About a UK d.j. having something to say about Tokyo prices, I'd say that people coming from the land of the $7 big macs shouldn't be throwing stones.
Originally Posted By The Goddess Mara Media schmucks are always trying to find a story in the obvious. Once when I was staying at the Hilton Tokyo Bay, and I had an hour to kill in the morning before getting on the Limousine bus, I made the mistake of eating the buffet in the lobby. The price was about $35. Insane. Now I make sure to have some pastries in my room in the morning from the bakery in the lobby (which is quite a tasty place).
Originally Posted By Bob Paris "Interesting you say this because the DJ filling in on Radio 1's Breakfast Show in the UK at the moment has just got back from Tokyo and was telling about 7 million listeners how expensive the place is, and that he paid £10 - $15 or 1,375 yen for a cup of coffee, which I personally have never paid, and can only imagine he went somewhere upscale, but it doesn't help change the opinion people have about how expensive Tokyo is to the general public." That was my whole point of startig this thread - to help dispell unhelpful urban myths started by and/or perpetuated by people that might put others off of going to Japan.
Originally Posted By barboy ///just got back from Tokyo and was telling about 7 million listeners how expensive the place is, and that he paid £10 - $15 or 1,375 yen for a cup of coffee/// This DJ acted wholly irresponsible by disseminating and/or perpetuating something very misleading. I'm sure he did pay $15 for coffee but he shouldn't pawn it off as evidence to show just how expensive Tokyo is. I could do the same thing with airfares: What if I paid $1,800 for coach to fly from San Fran. to Wash Reagan National(I probably could find such fares pretty easily) and told everybody on this board just how expensive going coast to coast in the US is? But in my last 25 times across the US in 10 years of visiting Brother in Wash DC or tapping Orlando for WDW and Universal I have paid $190-230 routinely.
Originally Posted By The Goddess Mara What airline do you fly on? Is the cabin pressurized? Are you wearing a parachute?
