Japan: Where to go, what to see, must-do activities while there...

[rayDC2R]

Hey all... I'm planning a trip to Japan in February, specifically for snowboarding. But we will also be going to Tokyo and wherever else is worth checking out while there. So my question is for those who have been, what are the must-do must-see activities and places while there? I'm interested in everything from shopping in general, car parts, car scene (think the fast and the furious style car meets), restaurants and eating, clubbing and pubbing! Probably spend a week snowboarding and then maybe another 5 days doing the other activities.

If you know anything and anywhere worthwhile to do while in Japan, please let me know! When my friends went at the start of this year, they told me they didn't see any cars or even big car parts stores or anything, because they didn't know where they all were. I would love to see hot JDM cars and parts and workshops... Then check out night scene for drinking, dancing, girls, etc.

Is it worth going on actual tours? Which tours should we go with? We just wanna make the most of the trip... Don't want any boring lazy days...

[felixR]

Japan: Where to go, what to see, must-do activities while there...

I reckon for car shops, go to the Toyota museum and Type One (Spoon).

Eat lots of ramen too lol.

[Perry]

Shops on top my head would be Js racing, spoon (top one), car parts shop autobacs or super autobacs and crystal.
I'll dig around for trip plan from 2 years ago for places to go.

[rndy444]

car parts shop would be in my mind. type one spoon.

[dc_]

UPGARAGE? is meant to be pretty good but then again I have no idea what im on about

[wongy]

We need a CITR field trip to japan :P

[fr4n]

shibuya.

[PG_DC5]

bumping an old thread, any new tips?
planning a solo 2 week trip in june...

[dnapol]

Interested too! Anyone have any good plans? Directions to travel with places to see

[rayDC2R]

For fashion shopping in Tokyo, go to shibuya and Shinjuku, and harajuku is worth one visit... clubbing, probably shibuya, or if u don't mind shady places, roppongi...

[PG_DC5]

More just after cool car stuff =p
I wanna go the Honda collection and an upgarage at least.

[ggwpty]

Definitely worth checking out tsukuba circuit if there's some sort of event on the day (you can check this by looking at their website). I was lucky enough to go there when they had a track day full of super loud and fast jap cars.

Autobacs (automotive store) is also good to check out. There's some cool stuff you can buy there and it's just worth having a look because there's so much car stuff available there.

There's a busy shopping strip just outside Harajuku station. You'll probably see some of the young folk there dressed in a gothic lolita type fashion. And if you're obviously a tourist, then you'll probably get constantly stopped by the african guys trying to get you to buy their fubu fashion stuff, haha.

Shibuya and Shinjuku is great for all your fashion stuff.

Akihabara is where they have that big multi-level electronics store. I didn't really buy anything there because most of the stuff were similar price to what I could get here. But it's still cool to check out.

For accommodation, I would recommend trying out the little hostels that are a little bit further away from the big prefectures. It's a bit small but cheap and clean. I think I spent something like $40-50 a night. There was one particular place I stayed at where the owners are very friendly and they try to promote a nice and relaxed atmosphere for all the tourists staying there. I'll see if I can find the name of it later.

The public transport system (namely the trains) are very organised. Might be a bit hard to get your head around it initially when you look at the map (it just looks like a spider web at first glance), but pretty easy to get the hang of. There are also trains that come and go regularly (every 5-10min). Best to get one of those smart-card train passes. Important to note that there are two different train networks, one is a public network and the other one is privatised so there are two separate train passes.

I found that food was generally more expensive when you're in one of the big prefectures / districts. Still a fair bit cheaper than Australia though. Otherwise, if you're in one of the smaller districts, the food is pretty cheap but really tasty. It's a pretty interesting experience eating ramen in one of the busy ramen stores ... the whole atmosphere is so rushed that you end up eating really fast otherwise you hold up other people trying to find a seat to eat lol.

That's all I really remember at the moment about Japan. Oh and this is assuming you're heading to Tokyo haha

[PG_DC5]

Wow mate, epic response. Hope the teeth fixing is going well. My pants are currently dripping in somone else's blood, something I'm sure u dont get...

[stienerv2]

I agree, thanks for that post.

How about places in Osaka or Kyoto?

[felixR]

If you're going to Osaka, the castle looks like it's a must.