I shall be visiting Japan soon, on a sightseeing trip. Any tips on things to see other than the prime tourist attractions? Any tips on how to find places to eat? (I assume its much like most other places, with menus on display, when Google image translate invaluable, but is that the case?) The places and time I have with nothing planned are:
Tokyo: I shall have about 2 days free there. Three specific queries:
Restaurant doing good sushi (other than those that are very expensive and require booking ages in advance)?
My two 20-something year old sons would like to see whatever latest technology is around - where best to see that?
I gather the famous fish market has moved - where is it now, and is there a particular time of day best to visit (I assume morning? Is it open every day?)
Takayama - half a day free
Takamatsu - half a day free
Miyajima Island - a full day free
Nagasaki - half a day free
Sapporo - half a day free
Noboribetsu - half a day free
Remember to buy your JR travel pass when you arrive (need to bring your passports) for discounted travel and to reserve seats on the Shinkansen (Bullet Train).
The Ginza Nissan showroom always has 2-3 concept models on displayâŠcue ooohs and aahs
If you can manage a trip down to Nagoya the Toyota Museum is fantastic⊠many historical cars on display ⊠not just Toyota.
When to you plan to go?
Donât know if youâve booked your flights but we prefer to go to Haneda which is closer
Midori sushi has a few branches in Tokyo, but the one at Shibuya Mark Ten is accessible and near the Shibuya âcrazyâ crossing where you should get a photo taken
Sapporo has much better fresh seafood (sashimi, no cooking required) than in Tokyo with more reasonable prices for the same freshness. Sapporo Central Wholesale Market would be my recommendation, with King Crab and Uni (Sea Urchin) being the main stars.
Noboribetsu, please go visit the onsens and see the bears (if you care for the smell of sulphur)
Yes, I was aware of onsens (or rather singular not plural), but not bears!
Thanks for the suggestions. We make our own sushi and sushimi, and look forward to trying âthe real thingâ to learn how close we are and maybe discover new ideas, as well as, possibly, tasting fresh wasabi not the mustard-based pastes we get at home.
Good airport and a good choice ; quieter than Narita.
Food-wise, we donât visit the Sushi restaurants much as neither of our kids appreciate it much but all the department stores have 2 or 3 floors dedicated to restaurants so you canât go wrong if youâre stuck for a place to eat. Quality of the foods is constantly high in these establishments and easy to find. There are also restaurants in the basement areas the JR train stations. The only problem that we encountered is that the Japanese appear to eat out a lot so you have to queue maybe 30 minutes unless you go very early. The majority of the restaurants will have lifelike plastic facsimiles of the foods that they serve in the window shop so you can gauge what sort of food they serve.
Enjoy yourself, itâs a fascinating country and people are polite and gracious.
Not sure if itâs your thing, but I believe there are trips that organise walking sections of the old Samurai way, if you like walking and seeing the âoldâ ways
I hate to say this, but I have trouble eating sushi anywhere after having tried a couple of recommended places in Tokyo ⊠nothing comes remotely close.
We have trouble finding half decent sushi out in UK, so we rarely bother (though there is a great one in City Road, Cardiff that was still good last time we were there a couple of years ago after an absence of more than 10 years. If sushi in Japan is so good that would be great, as we can learn from it to make even better at home!
Find a hole in the wall robota restaurant. No need for a menu in English or Japanese, sit at the counter where the food is displayed, point to what you want and itâs cooked right there and then.