I think I'm going to surprise my two best friends since childhood with tickets for all three of us to go to Japan. I've already been to Tokyo but both of them have never traveled anywhere overseas. They've all said they want to go but have never stepped up to the plate so I figure if I buy the tickets they'll have no choice lol.

The limitations are I'll have to go either: 1. During thanksgiving weekend as it is my only week off school between now and when I graduate in December or 2. Sometime after December 5th.

Now I know I'll probably want to avoid Christmas/new years, but are there any advantages/disadvantages to going in the middle of December vs the end of November?

I am all packed best friend. Anytime is OK

Japan is fun during Christmas

Make sure they have passports :p

You're a good man/woman. My gf about giving me a plane ticket to Japan but I told her not to cos it would be just too heavy on me.

Not sure when the best time to go to Japan is, but I found a ticket for July 21st for only 840$ roundtrip on Kayak.com.

If you signup (for free), you can do searches that find the cheapest ticket from different airlines and travel searches (like expedia, hotwire, etc.) in wide time frames. I a couple searches and found my flight, with only one layover, for about 400$ each way. Others were going for 1000$ or more each way.

Good luck!

Fishface Wrote:Make sure they have passports :p

Yeah that is really what they need a kick in the butt for. They keep saying they need to do it but without any real purpose they have never gotten around to it.


BTW what time does the Christmas season really start in Japan? Is it in full swing at the end of November like it is here in America?

tells us how it all went when you get back i'm sure they'll love Tokyo but i wonder how they would like the country-side as well? if they back out, bodhisamaya and I will go with you

many things/shops are closed for the news years, including banks, which could be an isuue

zazen666 Wrote:many things/shops are closed for the news years, including banks, which could be an isuue

But that is only during the actual week of new years correct?

Thanksgiving is a pretty time of year - Japanese maples will be blooming and the weather is often quite nice. Kyoto (and plenty of other places) are quite beautiful that time of year.
My first trip to Japan was in November 2000... Miyajima Island was exquisite. Thanksgiving eve was in Hiroshima with a bunch of Japanese friends. We had a sublime feast accompanied by a few bottles of sake. The women stopped drinking early, the men pressed on. We were doing a pretty good job of draining the bottles... then the owner of the restaurant/inn decided to honor his foreign guest on the occasion of Thanksgiving and brought out some of that season's fresh-pressed sake in some of those infamous wooden cupfuls (frame 1219 杯）。。。

Harvest season is awesome. Tons of festivals in August but it's really too hot to tolerate. I'd say wait till the heat breaks like late Oct. / Nov. and then look up some festivals to hit up.

activeaero Wrote:I think I'm going to surprise my two best friends since childhood with tickets for all three of us to go to Japan. I've already been to Tokyo but both of them have never traveled anywhere overseas. They've all said they want to go but have never stepped up to the plate so I figure if I buy the tickets they'll have no choice lol.

The limitations are I'll have to go either: 1. During thanksgiving weekend as it is my only week off school between now and when I graduate in December or 2. Sometime after December 5th.

Now I know I'll probably want to avoid Christmas/new years, but are there any advantages/disadvantages to going in the middle of December vs the end of November?

I would check the IACE or HIS websites & try to get a sense of when sales are. Don't buy directly from an airline or even a general discount site if you have the option to go through a Japan specialty discount travel agency -- it could be as much as $500 cheaper. They get special deals because they sell large numbers of tickets to the same destinations, so it's wholesale with a small mark-up. The sales generally wouldn't be out this early, but you could call and talk to a travel agent who could give you an idea.

Generally Thanksgiving is a miserable time to fly in the US because everybody and his brother are in the airport at the same time.

If you go immediately after December 5th, the Christmas travel may not have started, so there might be some good deals.

I know you'd like to surprise your friends, but it would be awful if you bought non-refundable tickets and then found out they couldn't go for some reason. Could you maybe make partial plans and then surprise them before actually buying the tickets?

KristinHolly Wrote:[

Generally Thanksgiving is a miserable time to fly in the US because everybody and his brother are in the airport at the same time.

Oh man I was completely in Japan mode and completely forgot how nightmarish our airports will be. Good catch.

Hmmm, maybe postponing until next spring would be the best bet.

Don't travel in early May (golden week), June-July (rainy season), or over the new year period.

If you want to put up with the heat to attend festivals, go in summer. If you want to put up with the cold to ski, snowboard, enjoy onsens or whatever, then go in winter. (I'd recommend the former.)

I noticed that Christmas decorations were up as early as late October in some places. (Like the 海遊館 in 大阪.) By early November, Takeshimaya Times Square in Shinjuku was covered in lights. It was nuts. (But really beautiful.)

I wouldn't worry too much about a Christmas rush in Japan. If you're going around the 5th, it's should be fine. It depends on how long you plan to stay, of course.

You can always get money from the ATMs at Japan Post offices instead--they tend to be open later than banks. They're usually cheaper than banks, too, and they're easier to find. Not sure how many days they'll take off around New Year's, but I bet it won't be as many as the banks. They have to deliver all of those cards, after all.

Any "big" time of year is going to be crowded, you just have to pick your spots. It might be fun to do the whole Christmas/New Years thing in Japan. Definitely check with one of the specialty Japanese travel agencies. There's one in NC that I used that helped me quite a bit and gave me good advice. Ask around.

Also, another thing to try: JNTO has a free tour guide service if you sign up in advance. Some areas have volunteer tour guides who are willing to give free tours of their areas if you get in touch with their various organizations ahead of time.

I don't have the link handy, but check with the JNTO website. There are supposed to be some great walking tours of Tokyo. (And other cities as well.)

The idea is that you buy them lunch or whatever meals they need, and pay for their admission to whatever museums you go to, so it's not completely free, but still a pretty good deal.

Oh, and give your friends at least 2 months to get their acts together, passport-wise. 3 is safer.

Thanks for the tips. I'm good when I get there as I've been before. I went alone, without any Japanese ability, and with no hotel reservation which forced me to figure things out quite well haha.

And I actually want to hit the city in full Christmas swing, if I go during that time, so that isn't a problem. I just want to avoid the ACTUAL Christmas/New years dates as that is just asking for nightmarish airport/hotel problems lol.

Go with an ANA-authorized travel agent, they have some pretty cheap flights now. I just returned from Taipei via Tokyo round-trip for less than $650. jtrips.com.

I also suggest avoiding the whole Christmas thing. Been there, done that, and nothing special. What about spring? March/April/May are good times. Much more beautiful, much warmer, but not hot and humid like summer.

activeaero,

Coming anytime during December is fine, there is nothing unique in December. There is no Christmas holiday here, it is primarily just a commercial venture here with all of the trappings but there is no special holiday on the 25th. However, there are holidays from January 1st (most companies usually shut down through the 3rd or 4th) and there will be a lot of travel congestion during that time. Probably worse this year since the 1st is on a Friday.

Tokyo is nice in December with all of the lights, etc. and although it is cold it does not snow very much in the winter.

If you do go during new years, make sure your hotel/hostel is open. Seems stupid, but while I was in Nara my hostel was closed Jan 1st-3rd. Ended up sleeping on the streets...

mafried Wrote:If you do go during new years, make sure your hotel/hostel is open. Seems stupid, but while I was in Nara my hostel was closed Jan 1st-3rd. Ended up sleeping on the streets...

No need to sleep on the street in Nara. I spent a few nights in an internet/manga cafe just outside of Nara near 西ノ京. Depending on the location, internet cafes can be cheaper than hostels and more fun. It was less than ￥2,000 for each eight hour block　(late night special) plus ￥100 for a shower the next morning. In Kyoto for a private cubicle with couch, it was about double that.