Do you want to visit Japan?

[vincent_z]

Do you still want to go to Japan, but you're tremulous about going somewhere where you do not know anybody?
Consider this your engraved invitation to get there and be plunged into it accompanied by travelers who have been there before.
Start saving your dollars (or yen) for Flyertalk forum's Japan Do #4 - Osaka. It will occur 25 - 27 March 2016. If you get to Osaka earlier, there will be a night of cocktails on Thursday, the 24th.
This is the fourth Japan Do; but the first in Osaka.
You should sign up for the Flyertalk forum. Perhaps you may opt for a different username there. {I am registered there under my above-ground username.}
The centerpiece of the weekend is a dinner on Friday, the 25th. The dinner is payable in advance. There is a registration fee, which also needs to be paid in advance. But it is not pricey.
How do I know this? Well, I managed to put myself in Tokyo the correct weekend for Japan Do #2, and did select events with them.

A check of airlines for the end of March 2016 found flights from Chicago to Osaka for $940 round-trip on Asiana Airlines, with a change of planes in Seoul, (S.) Korea [ORD-ICN-KIX]. But you probably do not need to book that as yet.
To gauge interest, I include a poll herein. Make a (changable) selection beneath. The poll will close in March 2016.
It is looking probable that I will go on this trip. After eleven trips to Tokyo (and Yokohama), it is time to try another section of Japan.

 

[AcVe09]

yes but not for idols or stuff like that. Id go more for the surreal parts, like the suicide forrest. Be nice to run into a village full of idols catering to my every whim, but then again shit like doesnt happen.

 

[WillEater]

<--- Intrigued, however, I'll be in Australia that month.. Sorry.

 

[Speeny]

I don't think I'd be a user on this site if I didn't!

 

[Kal-El]

Sure! Someday

 

[WillEater]

I just returned from diving the great barrier reef in Cairns Australia.

When I travel to Japan, perhaps here.

 

[supersam]

At first I thought you were going to solicit people for a JAV/idol related tour of Japan, lol.

I've been to Tokyo, very cool city. Didn't see any adult related places, they keep it pretty well hidden in Tokyo. Closest we came to was getting solicited by Nigerians to what sounded like some sort of strip club(?) but they were only soliciting foreigners so I imagine it couldn't have been very good.

Pay a visit to Shinjuku, Kabukicho area next time ;-)

 

[Ceewan]

I'd love to go but I am just too frigging poor atm. Personally, I'd lke to stay out of most of the big cities first....do them last. Start in Hokkaido and work my way slowly south. Does anybody ever "backpack" Japan? Anyway.....this has been an interesting thread to read.

 

[CodeGeek]

I'd love to go but I am just too frigging poor atm. Personally, I'd lke to stay out of most of the big cities first....do them last. Start in Hokkaido and work my way slowly south. Does anybody ever "backpack" Japan? Anyway.....this has been an interesting thread to read.

Backpacking would be a nice idea - if I would be somehow fluent in Japanese...

 

[Ceewan]

Backpacking would be a nice idea - if I would be somehow fluent in Japanese...

I don't know, as long as you were respectful to others I don't think it would be a problem. You can point to things on a menu. Maybe take along a Japanese language phrase book or something along those lines to get you through the basic phrases like "where is the bathroom" and "how much for a room". Living in Japan is one thing but walking around the countryside and seeing the sites is another. A GPS device would keep you from getting too lost and I would think small towns would be friendlier than the big cities.

I've only recently been considering the idea of seriously visiting Japan. It would be nice to do before China ends up starting a war in the South Pacific. China is building their first carrier (second if you count refurbishing a secondhand one) and building airstrips and artificial Islands in disputed territories in Vietnam and the Philipines, not to mention sending their first armed coast guard ship into Japanese claimed waters. I don't think China is in a hurry though but the progression is obvious. Of course all that is offtopic...sry.

I think knowing Japanese though, (back ontopic), really depends on what you want to do. While it would always be a huge benefit I wouldn't think it would be a prerequisite for a little sightseeing.

 

[CodeGeek]

I have to say that I wouldn't feel very comfortable if I would have at least a descent level of the language spoken in the country I'm travelling. Or someone is with me knowing the language.

Yeah, agree. I'm also worried about China and the foreign policy. Maybe the cooling-down of their economy will change that. And hopefully not to the bad...

In my case it would be nice also to have some (deeper) conversation with the people. Also I know communication is possible without knowing the language. But I guess I wouldn't be satisfied with as I'm a very talkative person.

 

[EzikialRage]

I would only go to Japan I had a shit load of spending money to travel Japan,try out different things and buy a shit load of souvenirs. I wouldn't want to be stuck on some travel package limited to only doing a few things.

I was in Japan once and it was during a layover from Korea to the US. I smoked some cigs in the designated smoking room, window shopped and at some curry at a airport cafe/diner.Didn't have the time or money to anything else.It wasn't really fun.

 

[CodeGeek]

I would only go to Japan I had a shit load of spending money to travel Japan,try out different things and buy a shit load of souvenirs. I wouldn't want to be stuck on some travel package limited to only doing a few things.

I was in Japan once and it was during a layover from Korea to the US. I smoked some cigs in the designated smoking room, window shopped and at some curry at a airport cafe/diner.Didn't have the time or money to anything else.It wasn't really fun.

Sounds like you want to become a millionaire before travelling to Japan. Money is surely one point, but in my case also time is a problem - and even a bigger one. When do I have so much free time? Maybe if I take a sabbatical. Otherwise it will be hard.

 

[Ceewan]

Money is surely one point, but in my case also time is a problem - and even a bigger one. When do I have so much free time? Maybe if I take a sabbatical.

Just whose time is it? your jobs? your families? your neighboors?

Time is something we always have to spend until our time to spend time here on Earth is over. So if it something you want to do, make time for it and not excuses. No-one has the right to take what little time was given to you away, except yourself (prison terms, hospice interms and the like must be excluded, somethings actually are out of our control).

 

[CodeGeek]

Just whose time is it? your jobs? your families? your neighboors?

Time is something we always have to spend until our time to spend time here on Earth is over. So if it something you want to do, make time for it and not excuses. No-one has the right to take what little time was given to you away, except yourself (prison terms, hospice interms and the like must be excluded, somethings actually are out of our control).

Yeah, that's true. But still I always think how I would pay my insurances and pensions if I wouldn't get my salary each month. I guess I'm a person who always wants to stay at the safe side of life, also knowing that this kind of safety is more self-suggestion than it is really safety.

How about moving to Japan, living and working there and exploring the country during the free-time?

 

[Ceewan]

Yeah, that's true. But still I always think how I would pay my insurances and pensions if I wouldn't get my salary each month. I guess I'm a person who always wants to stay at the safe side of life, also knowing that this kind of safety is more self-suggestion than it is really safety.

How about moving to Japan, living and working there and exploring the country during the free-time?

Nothing wrong with playing it safe. Smart people take "educated risks" only when the rewards exceeds the penalties. Moving to Japan sounds like the best way to explore it, no doubt.

Just be sure to be honest with yourself., there are always options that are not so safe or even reasonable but no less appealing. When Bill Gates sent about creating Windows, he could not have been sure then if he was truly wasting his time fooling around or not. The path less followed can lead to hidden treasures just as surely as it can lead to dead ends but more often it just goes someplace inbetween the two. Life is what you make of it, no matter where you are or what you do. I admit, judgement has not always been my strong point but I have seen things and done things and met people that I otherwise might never have had an oppurtunity to do if I had played it safe. In the end, who is to say what is the right way to live? We only have so much time allotted and the steps we take, we take with our own feet and nobody elses. Walk the path that you choose and own it.

 

[CodeGeek]

I came across that blog entry here (yes, they advertise their SIM card service, I know) and maybe it's interesting for you, @Ceewan.
Backpacking in Japan: Travel WiFi, Trains, Lodging, Food & Fun

 

[ReiOtaku]

I WILL go to Japan this year, I WILL see ladybaby perform live in Shibuya, I WILL see all the sights of Japan I have seen and loved on NHK world.

I will do all of this THIS YEAR, that is my promise to myself.

 

[vincent_z]

It appears a new air carrier is attempting to gain market share between North America and Asia.
The airline is China Eastern Airlines. A travel bot is revealing a roundtrip airfare of $612 from ORD to KIX. But there is a catch for that low fare. You have to spend one evening in Shanghai, China (PVG). Each way. This may, or may not, be a disadvantage for you. Via an affiliated deal, China Eastern may be willing to pay for your hotel room (if you choose one of its preferred hotels).
China Eastern's destinations in North America are Honolulu, Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Vancouver, Toronto, and New York (JFK). Chicago (ORD) begins on 18 March.
If you can't go to Osaka for Japan Do! 4, there are similarly low airfares to Tokyo during March.

 

[ozone]

Thanks, Vincent. sounds like a good deal considering I like to visit Shanghai too . and free hotel stay, i can stay there more than a day.