Going to Japan in a month

Went to Tokyo a week ago. The 7 big districts, you could probably cover 3 a day.

Shibuya (includes Harajuku), Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Ginza, Ueno, Roppongi, and Akihabara.

Akihabara and Harajuku are where you'll see the lolita girls and the most noticable and unique youth culture. Harajuku on sunday is more busy than any other day, you'll find more cosplayers and harajuku girls on the bridge than any other day. By the way, it's impossible to miss the bridge, look up harajuku in google and almost every picture in the first page is of people on that bridge. Harajuku has a street with alot of fashion, unique to harajuku. Akihabara is the tech district which is also very interesting. Do not, I reapeat, DO NOT hesitate to ask the girls dressed up to take their picture or take pictures with them. Sometimes they will say no, but most of the time they'll let you do it. You'll regret not doing it in Akihabara or Harajuku. Roppongi isn't very intersting, neither is Ikebukuro. Ginza is more of the rich district, full of designer places. Shibuya has alot of shops too, visit OIOI city. Ueno is interesting, avoid Freshness Burger. There are no non-smoking areas in that restaurant. Ameyoko street in Ueno is a must see, lots of stalls and alot of it is post-war blackmarket.

Sorry, I'm not trying to advertise my blog, don't look at the other pages if you think so. But I made a tokyo guide of the famous sites there. http://tripvice.blogspot.com/2006/04...-tokyo_02.html

Is it your first time in Tokyo? And is that the only city you're visiting? How long are you staying? The subway system is a tiny bit complicated in Tokyo. You need to figure out which station you're going to before you go in because you have to pay depending on the station. Also, take advantage of the day pass in Tokyo Metro. It only includes Tokyo Metro stations though, so you can't take JR and Toei lines. The day pass is only 710Y, which is much less than you'd spend if you payed per trip. It averages about 190-230Y per trip.

If you're visiting more than one city, take advantage of the JR pass which is only available to tourists. Very cheap considering you get to take the Shinkansen.

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Tips:
Remember, they don't take tip in Japan. Hardly anyone will take it because they believe that it's their job to do their job right and that they shouldn't get paid extra for doing it.

Speaking English is not a necessity in Japan. They will understand a bit, but hardly anyone can properly speak it. Key is that they will understand a bit... so don't be intimidated to ask question in English and they'll start pointing or you'll practically play charades.

Never ever take taxis. Ever, they'll charge you a fortune.

Unless you want to drink, avoid the resturants/bars. They look, smell and act like resturants but they're not. Very expensive food, cheap drinks. You'll know because the beer will cost you like 280Y for a 600ml bottle. But then you order the expensive dishes and they'll be tiny. It's a classy bar... not a resturant. Also there's an abundance of greasy business men in these classy bars.

Public drinking and being drunk in public is not a crime. Notice the beer in vending machines and scary old men drinking beer by them.

Everything is expensive, everything. Hostel, stay with a friend, anything other than staying in a hotel. In Tokyo especially, it averages to around 180$ for a very small room. Very small. I'm not joking, I'd hit my head every time I tried to shower. Eat at Saizeriya, cheap Japanese interpretation of Italian food.

Crossing the street? Haha, you'll have fun with that one. Notice that no one crosses the street when the "do not cross" signal is on even though there isn't a car in sight. It's funny cause if you start to cross, people will follow you. Try to play red ligh-green light with them, sometimes they'll stop if you stop.

Everyone is polite. Try to stick with it. Learn your phrases, onegashimasu, arigato gozaimasta, gomen nasai, etc. Be polite too.

Toire wa doko desu ka? Eki wa doko desu ka? Konnichiwa. Ohaiyo Gozaimasu.

Ramen, Udon, Soba, etc. Mmmmmmm.

Don't hesitate to ask people if you can take their picture. Being a foreigner, it shouldn't be a problem. It's the thing I regret not doing while I was in Tokyo. Really cool fashion there.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

haha weeaboo, wapanese. Well, I guess I would've been more out of place in Japan if I was white. But my Asian shell is pretty good camouflage. Makes it worse for me though... because they expect me to know Japanese and all the local traditions. I just pointed at the caucasian I was travelling with and they understood. He definately got his fair share of weird and dirty looks.

@Spatula
Opps, forgot. OIOI city is just like a huge mall, mostly designer stuff. As huge as malls get in downtown Tokyo at least... But that and anything around it in Shibuya is kind of cool. Window-shopper's paradise.

And hells yes, I totally agree with Spatula. We actually did 4 sights a day which included 3 districts. Doing alot of walking is the understatement of the year. It's intense... that combined with jetlag? Almost impossible... but we managed. Just avoid getting lost like we did, added a good 5km a day to walking.

There's nowhere I can't reach.