Hi everyone!

I have been a member here for a while, but haven't been active for many years. I have studied Japanese for probably 2 years seriously and on/off for about 4-5. I recently went on the website http://www.fluentin3months.com/ and was inspired to pick up my passion of Japanese again and so am travelling to Japan for the whole of September!

I have never been to Japan before and am planning to book some hostels in the major cities like Tokyo and Kyoto and just make it up in between. Has anyone else done the hostels route? I am going alone so I really want to meet as many new people as possible while I am there and was thinking that using hostels is the best way to do this.

If anyone is in Japan during September and would like to meet up/show me around any places I would be eternally grateful! I really want to go into the inaka where no one speaks English to test my (poor) Japanese skills and to experience the real Japan.

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Good luck with your trip!

If you plan on going into the inaka it might be a little harder to find hostels (at least that's how it is for me up here in Tohoku) and hotels/motels that can do English are kinda sparse too/really expensive, so I'd recommend http://www.jalan.net for finding places to stay during the evenings. The whole website is in Japanese, but at least it'll be a good way to try out some of those things you've probably been studying ^_^! Most train stations close up early (the last train for all the stations around me is around 9:30p.m.) so it might be a little difficult to find a place to crash, but I know some people who have even randomly gotten picked up by strangers/stationmasters and spent the night at their houses.

I find this site to be invaluable in general as well:

http://www.hyperdia.com/en/

Hope you have a lot of fun!

While the countryside (田舎) may lack hostels, there are plenty of manga cafes! I live in Tohoku too, and even the most desolate towns are sure to have at least one manga cafe. They are often equipped with showers and extremely comfortable reclining chairs/sofas, and they're dirt cheap. You can directly experience the lifestyle of one of Japan's ネットカフェ難民. There's no such thing anywhere else.

I tried a few hostels on my most recent trip to Japan, and I enjoyed it a lot. I was rather hesitant as it was my first time trying a hostel (i rather prefer my privacy), but I must say that they had a really nice atmosphere and made it easy to meet people, even if for nothing else than to kill some time at the end of the day.

In tokyo you can find some reasonably priced single room hotels if that's more your thing though. I've stayed at several in the minami-senju area (probably the cheapest location?) and can give recommendations.

Also I know a guy in osaka who might be able to rent you an apartment cheap, and potentially show you around kyoto as well.

Manga cafes are definitely quite awesome and I'd recommend staying at one if you get a chance, but there aren't any within a 2-3 hour drive in any direction from where I live ;_;. (So there are still some really desolate, desolate towns up here I suppose lol)

And that jalan site has a ton of deals too. I stayed in a Tokyo hotel in Shinjuku for three days for 600 yen total (a birthday deal that hotel had going on for 200 yen a night for up to 3 nights), it's definitely worth taking a look at since you can sometimes find hotels a lot cheaper than hostels if you look at the right time.

I've stayed in capsule hotels a few times. Most of them weren't too bad, and pretty cheap.

I'm going to put in a vote for WWOOFing if your willing to do some work. You work on farms and get food and accommodation in return. I did it last year and found it to be a great way to meet locals and experience local life rather than tourist life. You can get pretty close to the centre of cities too. I spent some time in the 'Tokyo metropolitan area' and travelled everywhere on my days off. Couchsurfing is worth checking out as a free alternative too.

I also agree with everyone else on manga cafes! I mean, you get free drinks refills and pretty much any manga you want. What's not to like?!

Thank you for all the answers guys!

I will definitely have to check out the manga cafe's! Can you sleep there? Sleeping in a cafe seems a little strange to me!

@Zarxrax I would love to rent a cheap apartment in Osaka thank you very much! If you would like to PM me the details if it is possible that would be amazing!

Literally just booked the flights aaaah!! So excited

I went to K's house in Tokyo and Kyoto. It was great and there were seasoned travelers there that said they have been to many hostels in many countries and K's house is the best.

http://kshouse.jp/index_e.html

In Kyoto there is even a bar, and there was live music while I was there. They are very helpful and give you maps of the areas and suggestions of where to go.

In Tokyo there were lots of people always banding together to go to places like the fish market, or disney land, etc.

Oh, I was in Tokyo for 2 weeks and they had a few parties that included free drink such as Sake and plum wine, and one day even free sushi. No guarantees on that though as I was there on the 6th anniversary. That reminds me black plum wine is the sweetest drink I have ever had...

For an idea of what it's like there is a blog at http://www.kshouse.jp/blog/c3-.html Just found a pic of me on there..lol...

Wow that looks amazing! I have literally just booked Khaosan Kabuki in Tokyo. I will definitely check out K's house when I am in Kyoto though and might book it when I return to Tokyo! Thank you very much for the recommendation!

[Zgarbas]

You probably know about this already, but just in case.
http://www.couchsurfing.org/ is a hosting community. Lots of nice people there(might be hard to find a host before you get a reference or two though), and it's a surefire way to meet people . Lots of hosts will give you a tour of the city or take you to their favorite places, which are way cheaper/better than whatever a hotel will offer you (since they're places for locals rather than for tourists ). Also, free hosting and more often than not free food to boot =).

Hi I just signed up to couch surfing although I had to pay $20?? Seems like a worthwhile community though!

Kewickviper Wrote:Hi I just signed up to couch surfing although I had to pay $20?? Seems like a worthwhile community though!

It's free but... okie dokie.

There is a hostel in kyoto i like. they eat communal meals and it's a majority japanese scene. if you meet dai-chan, perhaps you can say sly (surai in katakana) from NY referred you, though i doubt he'll remember me.
it's called

月光荘　ゲッコウソウ
http://www.gekkousou.com/
〒603-8225
京都市北区 紫野 南舟岡町73-18
075-200-8583
kyoto@gekkousou.com

last time i was there, i only could remember the name of the 銭湯 across the street. after i got off the bus in the general area, i asked an old man if he knew the direction to get to the 銭湯. He seemed pleased that I was looking for a local bathhouse, and he walked with me for about twenty minutes until we found it. haha, i can't imagine that happening in tokyo, but i guess anything is possible.

[Zgarbas]

o.O what did you pay 20$ for?

kanjiking Wrote:I'm going to put in a vote for WWOOFing if your willing to do some work. You work on farms and get food and accommodation in return. I did it last year and found it to be a great way to meet locals and experience local life rather than tourist life. You can get pretty close to the centre of cities too. I spent some time in the 'Tokyo metropolitan area' and travelled everywhere on my days off. Couchsurfing is worth checking out as a free alternative too.
...

This is fantastic! I didn't know about it! What else one would ask for? Thanks!

undead_saif Wrote:

kanjiking Wrote:I'm going to put in a vote for WWOOFing if your willing to do some work. You work on farms and get food and accommodation in return. I did it last year and found it to be a great way to meet locals and experience local life rather than tourist life. You can get pretty close to the centre of cities too. I spent some time in the 'Tokyo metropolitan area' and travelled everywhere on my days off. Couchsurfing is worth checking out as a free alternative too.
...

This is fantastic! I didn't know about it! What else one would ask for? Thanks!

Haha, go for it! i almost did this in France. each country with WWOOF has their own website and there is generally a fee you pay to gain access to contact info for the farmers. I stayed and helped out at a tea farm in shizuoka, but that was not through WWOOF. I just met the farmer at a train station in kakegawa where he was doing a presentation on tenocha and he invited me to do a 'homestay'. it was, as is to be expected when invited into someone's home like that, a rewarding and intimate experience.

kanjiking Wrote:I'm going to put in a vote for WWOOFing if your willing to do some work. You work on farms and get food and accommodation in return. I did it last year and found it to be a great way to meet locals and experience local life rather than tourist life. You can get pretty close to the centre of cities too. I spent some time in the 'Tokyo metropolitan area' and travelled everywhere on my days off. Couchsurfing is worth checking out as a free alternative too.

I also agree with everyone else on manga cafes! I mean, you get free drinks refills and pretty much any manga you want. What's not to like?!

Sorry I completely Missed this post earlier! I have just looked up WWOOFing and it looks interesting! I have never done any farm work before though! I'm kinda going to Japan to escape from work, so I'm not sure if this is for me?

Thank you very much for the suggestion though!

Also I paid $20 because it said that was the minimum expected donation for my country or something to get verified for the website unless I've been conned?

@tashippy I will have a look into that Hostel, I still haven't booked anywhere in Kyoto yet!!

As a side question, does anyone know any super cool places that I should visit while I'm there? I only really have Tokyo and Kyoto on the list at the moment and was planning on following a generic tourist guide.

Thanks everyone!

Kewickviper Wrote:As a side question, does anyone know any super cool places that I should visit while I'm there? I only really have Tokyo and Kyoto on the list at the moment and was planning on following a generic tourist guide.

if i was to pick one place in japan that you should not miss, i would go for teshima's 母型

http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/9/v...useum.html

naoshima is also very cool.
i can give you some more detailed information on some inland sea islands, if necessary. they were the best part of my japan trip.

my only regret was that i wasn't able to get permission to visit ooshima, a former leper colony island.

[Zgarbas]

Kewickviper Wrote:Also I paid $20 because it said that was the minimum expected donation for my country or something to get verified for the website unless I've been conned?

Aaah. Verification is not mandatory on the website and most people just stick to the free version(references are more important verification anyway). Should've warned you about that >.<.

ya the inland sea is amazing. I stayed on shoudoshima for 3 months this summer and it was a fantastic experience. Also if you're into art there is a large contemporary-oriented museum in Naoshima built by Tadao Ando worth checking out.

Kewickviper Wrote:As a side question, does anyone know any super cool places that I should visit while I'm there? I only really have Tokyo and Kyoto on the list at the moment and was planning on following a generic tourist guide.

If you are interested in alternative Tokyo, check out the Tokyo Damage Tokyo Tour Guide. Guaranteed non-generic : )

Do some of the standard tourist things as well though. Tourists (both internal and external) flock to them for a reason. I am jealous. Tokyo is an amazing city. September is a great time of year to visit as well.

If I was in Tokyo in September I'd go to the Tokyo Game Show. @.@

I'm in Asakusa in Tokyo at the moment until the 7th and then I'm on to Kyoto for 6 nights if anyone would like to meet up for a drink or go to an attraction that would be great as I have nothing set in stone.

Kewickviper Wrote:I'm in Asakusa in Tokyo at the moment until the 7th and then I'm on to Kyoto for 6 nights if anyone would like to meet up for a drink or go to an attraction that would be great as I have nothing set in stone.

I'd offer to meet up, but I'm a bit out of the way on the other side of Tachikawa. If you were still around over the weekend, I might be able to do something, but you're off to Kyoto by then.