That's right, in two weeks I'm visiting Japan!

I've been to Tokyo once before, and I absolutely loved it.
That being said, I would like to see something different this time, since I checked out all the tourist attractions last time.
I know that a lot of you guys have been there, lived there or are currently in Tokyo, so please recommend me places and stuff to check out.
AND recommend me stores etc. where I can buy cheap learning-material (i.e. books, games, DVDs etc) =)

Another question - I have a friend in 京都 (Kyouto in romaji? Maaan, 漢字>everything), and would like to visit her. BUT I just checked out the 新幹線 fares, and they're a real budget buster. I'm arriving at the 20th of January, and would like to go directly to 京都, and return to Tokyo by the 22nd, to meet up with my sister. We'll be spending a week or so in Tokyo, before we go home (I'm there a couple of days alone, since my sister has a son-of-a-98urfbHH boss, that wouldn't let her take a day off... Sigh)
Are there any reasonable priced ways to get back and forth? I'm thinking by bus, since that's probably cheaper, but probably 7+ hours right? I'm arriving at 成田 10am by the way, so if I could get to 京都 fast, and then take a night-bus back to Tokyo, I could possibly get an evening + one whole day in 京都。That would be sweet! =)
If I could get a round-trip for 10k yen give or take then that would be great.

Thank you guys!
Luv
Z..

You don't know Kyoto?

Kinokuniya and Junkudo each have great Japanese learning materials.
For DVDs and stuff I'd check out some cheap dvd places off the street.

There will be tons of stores around that sell used video games too. There's no game rental in Japan so the kids buy them new and beat them and sell them back to these places.

Not sure the best way to get to Kyoto. I usually fly long distances in Japan. There are no rail passes for the bullet train that I know of.

Ah, of course, Kyoto. I just couldn't recall it, haha.
I went to Kinokuniya in New York, when I was there, and it was really cool. It's probably much better in Tokyo, so I'm definitely going there! Thanks! =)

I recommend BookOff. I feel like a little kid in a toy store each time I go! They can be a little hard to find sometimes (not next to stations), but they're all over Tokyo. Shinjuku, Ikebukuro, Akihabara...

I have friends in the US that literally bring an empty suitcase to fill it with books/manga/games when they come to Japan!

Another tip you might want to do is order stuff online (Used Amazon, for example) and have it shipped to a friend's house, then pick it up when you're here. The used stores here are absolutely great for Japanese material, but sometimes they just don't have what you're specifically looking for.

(this cracks me up everytime I watch it, so bad hahahahhaa)

When I was in Japan I traveled between Kyoto and Tokyo on the cheap with http://www.123bus.net - I think it was about 4000yen one way, but it might be slightly different now. It's mainly night buses and the cheapest seats are pretty uncomfortable to be honest, but if you consider the money your saving against the Shinkansen (plus, not paying for accommodation for that night!) then it's slightly more bearable.

The other approach would be to consider a Japan rail pass, which is unlimited travel for a week, if you think you could then use it for enough other travel to justify the extra cost. (NB: you have to buy it outside Japan!) You can't use it on 'Nozomi' shinkansen, but 'Hikari' and 'Kodama' (slower because they stop more often) are fine.

Edit: to be clear, 'Nozomi', 'Hikari' and 'Kodama' are all shinkansen.

Thank you guys so much!
That 123bus.net site is perfect! I can get back and forth for under 10k, plus, like you said, I don't need accommodation for the two nights I'll be traveling! My back might kill me, but hey... I'm a musician, and I've had my share of terrible road-tours. This will be business class compared to that!

pm215 Wrote:The other approach would be to consider a Japan rail pass, which is unlimited travel for a week, if you think you could then use it for enough other travel to justify the extra cost. (NB: you have to buy it outside Japan!) You can't use it on 'Nozomi' shinkansen, but 'Hikari' and 'Kodama' (slower because they stop more often) are fine.

A 7-day JR pass is about 28300 Yen, but it also covers the Shinkansen. A Shinkansen ticket is around 8000 Yen, so two of them makes 16000 and then it'll cover the NEX train from Narita for 2800... yeah. It's great if you want to JR everywhere but you'd have to make up 10000 yen in JR trips in a week and I don't think you can unless you ride indiscriminately.

I think from Narita to Tokyo using NEX it's an hour, then it's two and a half hours to Kyoto by using the Hikari, that's as fast as it gets unless you fly into Kansai Airport instead, one way to Tokyo, and then fly out of Narita.

I second the recommendation for Book Off.

DVDs, music and games are expensive in Japan (the anime that was available in Australia was 1/2 to 1/4 of the price, even after being subbed in English). Even second-hand DVDs and music is expensive, seems to keep about 85+% of the value if it's good condition.
But you can get some really good prices on manga at Book Off (e.g I found Death Note for Y100 an episode).

They are all over the place, but best to look up where they are in advance
http://www.bookoff.co.jp/shop/shop.php

Kinokuniya is good for new books.
http://www.kinokuniya.co.jp/04f/index.htm

If you can get your money's worth out of it, totally do the JR pass. Riding on the shinkansen feels like going to the future. It's really awesome. It makes you understand why there are so many train nuts in japan.

If time is an issue - go for the JR Pass. It's good on all JR trains anywhere in the country.


But if you want to save money and don't have the need for the JR pass, then bus is the way to go. I've done a couple of trips by over night bus (one to Okayama, one to Kyoto) and a few others during the day (Nagano, Sendai, etc). And really have never had a bad experience. The more comfortable buses are more expensive, but usually Tokyo to Kansai will run you 4000 - 5000 yen one way. Last time I went to Kyoto, I took this bus: http://kakuyasubus.jp/kanto_kansai/youth...index.html , which is one of the cheaper JR buses that runs from Shinjuku Station to Kyoto Station (there's one that leaves from Tokyo Station as well). It was just a standard coach bus that you ride all night, but it wasn't terrible. And if you book early and online, you usually get a discount of some sort. With JR buses, the long haul daytime routes tend to stop every couple of hours for bathroom breaks/time to stretch. The night routes typically stop once before lights out.