Cheap travel in Japan

Apr 24, 2010 16:39

I was talking to pikacheeka about my Japan trip and I realised that maybe other ppl reading my travel journal might find it helpful and it was a bit long for a comment -  so here goes:

Japan Rail offers a thing called the Rail Pass, which is Pass that can be used on all JR transport for 1, 2 or 3 weeks. You can buy one that covers all of Japan, or get one for ( Read more... )

geeek!, nihon-go!

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Comments 12

senior_witch April 24 2010, 18:37:57 UTC
I have enjoyed all your travel reports, and they made me interested in travelling to Japan too. I am not a group travelling type, so what I am really interested in is whether it's possible to survive in Japan without knowing Japanese - do people understand English so that you can survive as a tourist?

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kaphinated April 25 2010, 08:14:25 UTC
Yeah, I hate travelling with a big group. It much better to be able to go at our own pace. Pus then you dont have to put up with endless toilet breaks and ppl screaming at thier annoying kids...

You can get by with no Japanese at all, most signs are dual language and people in Hotels/shops/resturants etc can speak a bit of English. Its pretty easy.
I would however learn a little bit - I think it just makes you seem more polite - such as the numbers 1-10, hello, thank you, please, excuse me etc. and these words go a long way in a lot of situations.

As for reading kanji I find knowing a few also helps, but again you can get by without it, such as north, south, east, west, as often they make up road names and it makes it much easier to orient yourself in a new city or a station. Most train stations have the exits named like this too, but sometime it will be in English as "Higashi dori/guchi" which literally means "East street/exit"

Let me know if you want a list of useful words.

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senior_witch April 26 2010, 21:00:57 UTC
Many thanks! I don't know when I will be able to afford to go to Japan, but knowing that it's possible without knowing the language, or with only a few words, means a lot! I guess I will take some class in Hanover, but I know now that one class is enough and that I don't have to learn it for years before I survive there.

But first it will be Dutch, because I want to visit my friend eowyn_unquendor... I normally get through everyday situation as I understand short sentences when the context is clear, and I can say things as thank you and please, but I have also sometimes messed up because I did not want to resort to English (well, I got a book packed that was for myself actually.) I think I do quite fine, given that I have never had any formal training in Dutch but that I only picked things up.

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kaphinated April 27 2010, 14:17:28 UTC
The good thign abut japanese is that it is not a tonal language, so you say it how it is spelt, unlike Mandarin or Thai. So you can write out cards that say ARIGATOU it really is arigatou!

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pikacheeka April 27 2010, 00:43:02 UTC
Thank you SO much. This is very useful, more useful than what I was finding in travel guides, to be honest, which just gave me long lists.

When I lived in Europe I just bought a monthly pass that covered all buses and subways within Rome, and I never had to swipe it or anything (just show it to the police if they asked) and that was...a LOT easier than this, so it's nice to have it laid out.

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kaphinated April 27 2010, 14:25:44 UTC
Well the good thing to rememeber is that travel in Toyko is very very easy. The subways are really extensive; you never have to walk far to get to one, and then its very simple to change lines to get to just about anywhere. So where ever you choose to rent a place its still pretty easy to get anywhere in the city.

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pikacheeka April 28 2010, 21:50:08 UTC
How fluent are you in Japanese, though? Because that may affect things.

And where are you staying (which ward?)

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kaphinated April 29 2010, 12:24:24 UTC
I learnt it at night school for about a year, but that was about 2 years ago. Mostly its fine if you can do the basic hello/thanks type of words but, as I think I said in a comment above, knowing a few basic Kanji can help, but isn't essential. I'll put a list together for ya ( ... )

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beeees April 27 2010, 11:55:47 UTC
I hope your flights home go ok. I'm looking forward to catching up and hearing all the stories that I've not managed to read. We're going to be away for your birthday so we'll definitely have to meet up before we go on 13th May. See you soon!

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kaphinated April 27 2010, 14:21:09 UTC
Yeah we fly home tomorrow which makes me a SAD PANDA. I am not looking forward to going back to work at all. AT ALL.
I'll give you a call when I know whats what at home and we can do beer and food (Rusholme curry meybees?) and I can give you stuff.

We have done much cool stuff and I havent posted about it in so long!

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