Photos of My July 2007 Japan Trip

Hi everybody,

I went to Japan for 3 weeks this July 2007 and I had an amazing time.

10 days in Tokyo and 10 days in kyoto ( during Gion Matsuri ), plus lots of daytrips.
The JR Rail Pass worked perfectly and I was easily able to reserve window seats the day before I took a trip or on the same morning. Everyone associated with JR Trains was helpful and that made getting around a piece of cake. Subway trains in Tokyo were the best.

I visited Tokyo, Kamakura, Sendai, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Takayama, Himeji, Kobe and more.

I had such a great time, I have to go back, especially to Tokyo, that was where I had the most fun.

Thank-you Uji, John, Saitama Dave, Sira and everybody else on this for making good suggestions and and helping with questions about how to do stuff when in Japan... it was a big help.

Here are some photos I took while in Japan.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/wasted-down/sets/72157601332349908/

Here are some random videos I took in Japan on You-tube.

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=shortaybrown

Here is a trip report with pictures of travel going to Japan and coming back if anyone is interested :

Part 1 :

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/trip_reports/read.main/107138/

Trip Report Part 2 :

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/trip_reports/read.main/107141/

Thank you for posting this informative trip report!

Thanks for posting your trip report. I am going to Japan for 5 and a half weeks in 2008 so it was really good to read a recent report with photos. I'll be flying with JAL from YVR to NRT. Crossing my fingers that they'll have personal entertainment systems.

On one of your flickr photos you were asking what the small squares of vegetable were. Looked like squares of a type of seaweed to me.

Hi, I'm planning to go to Japan at end September for 10 day(2 weekends and 1 week). I will buy JR and want to travel around like(Kyoto, Nagoya, Osaka, Nagasaki etc.... I have Japanese friend waiting for me but they are working, so they don't have much time to travel around with me. Can you help me to arranje a nice 10 days trip. Helder

your photos are truly remarquable. I do sincerely hope, thought, that you asked the permission to take their photos from all the people you took in a tight close up!!.
a few very important points:
the Yurikamome is not a monorail, despite what all the USA guidebooks say. It has set of wheels on each side, with rubber tires, running on flat concrete tracks. It is all very obvious if one take a seat right in the front (there is no driver) and you can also check photos of it on the internet. The green bridges you showed in the Kobe pictures carry a similar Automated guided transit called the Portliner.
I know Kobe well as I have relatives there. I was there the week before the 1995 earthquake and again one year later. There was a terrible loss of human lives unfortunately..but most of Kobe wasn't destroyed, including the houses of several relatives, who live not that far from downtown (we watched at least 20 hrs of videos from the Japanese TV news, have books of photos taken during and after the quake and have our own photos taken just days before). In any earthquake the destruction is random. One old house stays and a new one is destroyed etc. At the Sannomiya main intersection the Sogo store, the one across the street (used to be the Printemps, can't remember the current name) and the JR station were not dammaged. Most buildings in Kitano-cho weren't destroyed either..neither were most buildings on Rokko Island.etc.
This is important to mention as this is how misinformation spread.

For as long as I can remember I always want to buy the Yurikamome company a giant sign that says "This is not a monorail" lol.

Btw glad you enjoyed the trip.

Can you help me to arranje a nice 10 days trip. Helder

by Helder 2007/8/22
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Just tell people what city your flying into and the date, and what city your flying out of and that date; and people will make some suggestions.

One of the best suggestions I heard was to slow down and spend 5 days exploring Kyoto, and I'm glad I did.

The best site for planning Train trips is Hyperdia. Enter in start and destination and select "not airline" + "not Nozomi" (Super super fast trains that you cant ride with railpass.) The Hikari bullet trains were great and seemed to go 160 mph... I loved it.

http://www.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi

You'll want a 1 week Rail Pass which is about 250$ USD but you could get a 2 week rail pass for about USD 380 to maximize you time in Japan.

Think about Flying into Osaka, and visiting Kyoto and Osaka without a rail pass because they're so close, then get the railpass for the last 7 out of 10 days.

Ask specific questions and somebody on this site will have the answer.

I dont know what to call it, but technically it isnt a monorail.

The Wikipedia page explains it well.

The funny thing is even the all day ticket I bought for it said "Yurikamome Monorail"

Its a fun way to see Odaiba with amazing views.

I've got to go back to Tokyo soon....10 days wasnt enough.

I wish I had taken more photos on my trip like you did.

And that's kinda different that you would travel from YYZ. We in the Toronto area always complain about the airport taxes being higher here than Buffalo airport, so travelling out of an airport besides YYZ is always preferred.

Great pics BTW!

I took as much photos in Japan but they are not as good as yours. Tried to take some pictures from the plane when taking off but was stopped by the flight attendant because of security reason, she said. Just wondered how you managed to do that while taking off.
Enjoy your photos very much!

dear Sh0rtaybr0wn,
I must apologize to you for beeing perhaps a bit too hard on you. It just that those of us that have some experience of various types of transit get crabby at people repeating the mistakes made by guidebooks that should know better. Unfortunately you were the "one time too many" and I just had to scream !!! .anyway the Japan Rail Transit Review calls the Yurikamome an A.G.T. or Automated Guided Transit. in English. (G. can also mean Guideway).

Looks like you have got the Japan fever! Welcome to the club!.

Just wondered how you managed to do that while taking off.
Enjoy your photos very much!

by tju 2007/8/22

I think the thing to do is have your camera ready between your leg and the seat, out of sight.... and dont start taking pictures until the flight attendents are seated for take-off.

If I pay attention to the safety video and smile I think the FA's think I'm a nice, alert, normal person and they never seem to have any problem. But if they say to wait to take photos, I'll have to wait.
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by Sensei 2

No problem. I didn't take offense. Your comments on monorails and Kobe were interesting. I was just generalizing and exaggerating... I meant its a wonderful city and I couldnt imagine that degree of destruction as recent as 1995 could be cleaned up so well.

Did exactly what you said. Thought the FA was out of sight but out of nowhere she appeared right in front of me. I must admit she was very polite but firm. Ten minutes later in the air, she came back. This time she appeared apologetic and offered to take some photos with me!!! Good PR and if you want which airline, it is All Nippon.
Cheers!

I ALSO had some photos from my Japan trip. I also would love some help identifying some locations (I've made 2 attempts at posting this on its own thread but it's not being allowed through moderation. Boo!0

See here:
http://awesomeness.net/blog/archive/my-trip-to-tokyo-japan-part-1/

Where it says "Shrines and Mausoleum", I have no idea what location that is. All the googling and reading is not bringing me any close to a name.

Also if anyone wants to skim through my 3 part photoblog on my Japan trip and identify any mistakes in locations (some of it I had to wing it due to it being quite a long time ago). That'd be much appreciated!

Nice Pics. I recognize many of the places you went. What a great room at the Tokyo Dome. Your night pictures of Odaiba were cool too. I never got to visit Odaiba at night.

Did you get a free hug at the entrance to the Meiji shrine in Harajuku? I had to go back to Harajuku twice to see the Cosplay girls because it rained the first time I was there.

I missed "Snoopy Town" but I got to Pallet Town, Venus Fort and Mega web and I even wait to take a car for a test drive. Fun.

Tokyo was so exciting and now that Im back in the US nothing compares unless I get down to NYC.

No, I didn't get a free hug :( But I did hear about these infamous people with "free hug" signs, I just don't remember coming across any of them on my trip. Would've been kind of funny.

You didn't miss much at Snoopy Town. Unless, of course, you're a big Peanuts fan ;)

Yeah, I too miss the Japan atmosphere. I'm back in Toronto, which is fine and all, but I'd love to be back in Tokyo. Or New York City for that matter (they have a Uniqlo there and after discovering that clothing store chain in Japan, I'm kind of obsessed. I'm sure people in Japan consider Uniqlo as how we in North America consider the Gap or Old Navy... but I still like it)

Sh0rtaybr0wn, those pictures were brilliant! They all looked incredibly professional!

You should portfoliothem and try to sell them to travel agencies for their brochures!