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Your Blessings in my trip to Japan



 
 
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  #1  
Old October 15th, 2004, 01:50 AM
FamousDave
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Posts: n/a
Default Your Blessings in my trip to Japan

Hello All!, my name is Dave.

I will be traveling in 2 weeks to Japan for the first time in my life, i'm
very exited about my trip and would like to get some advice from people who
live there or have taveled to Japan before.

I'm amazed how much information I've been able to gather because of this
newsgroups, you are all very helpful guiding people on their trips.

Below is my trip itinerary for which I would like to get your blessing,

- I'm 24 years old
- I will be traveling ALONE
- I've always wanted to Visit Japan, I'm obsessed with the whole Japanese
culture, temples, shrines, Buddhism, etc.
- I love cold weather
- One important thing that I'd like to mention is that I like to party A
LOT, I drink too much and smoke too much, I'm looking forward to find out
how the whole party scene is in Japan, especially in Tokyo and Kyoto
- I'll pack as light as I can, probably a small suitcase and a mid size back
pack
- I bought a 7 day Ordinary JR Pass
- I'm on a low budget (I know how expensive Japan is)

DAY 1 - Fly FLL - ATL and then ATL - NRT ( 14 hours on a Delta 777 )

DAY 2 - Arrive NRT at 1:25pm, Get to Tokyo (how?), check in, walk around,
Roppongi at night and go to bed early. (JR PASS NOT ACTIVATED YET)

DAY 3 - (Tokyo) (JR PASS NOT ACTIVATED YET)
- Tsukiji Fish Market for breakfast
- Visit nearby Hama Rikyu Garden
- Board a cruise down the Sumida River to the district of Asakusa
- Visit Sensoji Temple
- Take the Ginza Line for Asakusa, check the shops selling traditional
products and Sensoji Temple.
- Walk around Ginza's fashionable shopping district
- Head toward Harajuku
- Spend the evening in Shinjuku or Roppongi partying
- Sleep in Sunroute Asakusa Hotel (Y 9500 (open for suggestions))

DAY 4 - (Tokyo) (JR PASS NOT ACTIVATED YET)
- Harajuku to see Meiji Shrine
- Tokyo Tower Observatory
- Imperial Palace Plaza
- Asakusa Kannon Temple
- Great Buddha
- Hase Kannon Temple
- Visit Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine.

DAY 5 - (Tokyo - Mt. Fuji) (JR PASS ACTIVATED TODAY)
- Train to Hakone (I'll check out of my Tokyo hotel so I don't pay for the
night)
- Lake Ashi
- Hakone Shrine
- I'll try to find a way to get to Fuji Five Lake to get a closer look at Mt
Fuji. (a train maybe?)
- Spend the night at a Ryokan in Hakone (haven't found one yet)

DAY 6 - (Hakone - Takayama) (USING JR PASS)
- Take an early train to Takayama get a place to sleep (ryokan or guest
house probably)
- Higashiyama Walk
- Hida Folk Village
- Sanmachi Suji (the town)
- Spend the night in Takayama

DAY 7 - (Takayama - Kyoto) (USING JR PASS)
- Take an early train to Kyoto
- Find a place to sleep and leave luggage (Ryokan or guest house probably)
- Visit Nijo Castle
- Kinkaku-ji Temple
- Old Imperial Palace
- Higashi Hongan-ji Temple and Handicraft Center
- Heian Shrine
- Sanju-Sangendo Hall
- Kiyomizu Temple
- Party at night

DAY 8 - (Kyoto) (USING JR PASS)
- I don't have a schedule for this day yet, but I probably want to spend it
in Kyoto or maybe a half day trip to Nara (open for suggestions)

DAY 9 - (Kyoto - Mt Koya) (USING JR PASS)
- Take a early train to Mt. Koya
- Find a Temple to sleep and leave luggage
- I don?t know any special destinations here, I chose it because I've read a
lot of good things about it and it looks like a very interesting place. I'm
open for suggestions on places to visit here.
- Sleep at a Buddhist temple

DAY 10 - (Mt. Koya - Himeji) (USING JR PASS)
- Leave after Mt. Koya after Buddhist praying and take a train to Himeji
- Get a locker for my luggage and take a day pack.
- Stay in Himeji most of the day, I don?t have specifics here but I want to
see the Himeji Castle for sure.
- Leave Himeji at night to Osaka
- Spend the night at Osaka (haven't found a hotel yet)

DAY 11 - (Osaka - Tokyo) (USING JR PASS)
- Spend the day in Osaka
- Visit Osaka Castle
- Umeda Sky Building
- Perhaps pay a visit to Osaka Aquarium
- Visit Sumiyoshi Taisha
- Take a late night train to Tokyo
- Party at night
- Maybe stay at a capsule hotel just to live the experience

DAY 12 - (Tokyo)
- Last minute shopping
- Take a train at noon to Narita (my flight is at 4:45pm)
- Leave Japan


I also have some punctual questions:

- I'm planning to activate my JR pass after spending 3 days in Tokyo,
meaning the first 3 days in Japan I will not have a JR Pass. How expensive
do you think it'll be for me to move around the trains in Tokyo without a JR
Pass? The problem that I have is that I bought a 7 day only pass and I will
be in Japan for 11 days, so I'm trying to find the best cost effective way
to use it.

- What type of transportation (cheap please!) would you recommend me to take
from Narita to Downtown Tokyo? (I won't have the JR PASS active yet by then)

- In regards of the distances between cities, I have no clue how many hours
it'll take me between one city to another, is there a way you can guide me
with this? As my itinerary shows, I'm planning to take the following route:
Tokyo - MT. Fuji - Hakone - Takayama - Kyoto - Nara - MT Koya - Himeji -
Osaka - Tokyo

- Any recommendations on clothing for end of October / Beginning of
November?

- I want to rent a phone while in Japan, I found a company that will charge
me $75 per week + $1.50 per min to the US and free incoming calls, do you
think that's reasonable?

To all:

Thank you VERY much for any comments to this post, I'd really appreciate
your help.

Best regards

Dave


  #2  
Old October 15th, 2004, 02:43 AM
Jim Ley
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Default

On Thu, 14 Oct 2004 20:50:22 -0400, "FamousDave"
m wrote:

- Sleep in Sunroute Asakusa Hotel (Y 9500 (open for suggestions))


This is expensive! You can almost certainly halve that without
problem in Tokyo.

- I'm planning to activate my JR pass after spending 3 days in Tokyo,
meaning the first 3 days in Japan I will not have a JR Pass. How expensive
do you think it'll be for me to move around the trains in Tokyo without a JR
Pass?


A few hundred yen at most per trip. mostly in the 160 or 230 range I
think from your description. Getting from NRT to Tokyo is the
expensive part.

- I want to rent a phone while in Japan, I found a company that will charge
me $75 per week + $1.50 per min to the US and free incoming calls, do you
think that's reasonable?


That sounds ridiculously expensive! Do you really need it? (150cents
per minute is just ludicrous)

Jim.
  #3  
Old October 15th, 2004, 03:52 AM
John W.
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Posts: n/a
Default

FamousDave wrote:
Hello All!, my name is Dave.

I will be traveling in 2 weeks to Japan for the first time in my life, i'm
very exited about my trip and would like to get some advice from people who
live there or have taveled to Japan before.

I'm amazed how much information I've been able to gather because of this
newsgroups, you are all very helpful guiding people on their trips.

snipped


DAY 2 - Arrive NRT at 1:25pm, Get to Tokyo (how?), check in, walk around,
Roppongi at night and go to bed early. (JR PASS NOT ACTIVATED YET)

You're going to have to either take a train or bus to Tokyo (ok, you
could also take a taxi...). If you're hotel has a shuttle, that's your
obvious choice.

snipped


DAY 5 - (Tokyo - Mt. Fuji) (JR PASS ACTIVATED TODAY)
- Train to Hakone (I'll check out of my Tokyo hotel so I don't pay for the
night)
- Lake Ashi
- Hakone Shrine
- I'll try to find a way to get to Fuji Five Lake to get a closer look at Mt
Fuji. (a train maybe?)
- Spend the night at a Ryokan in Hakone (haven't found one yet)

I'd hit Kamakura as well. I really enjoyed my time there.

snipped


DAY 8 - (Kyoto) (USING JR PASS)
- I don't have a schedule for this day yet, but I probably want to spend it
in Kyoto or maybe a half day trip to Nara (open for suggestions)

DAY 9 - (Kyoto - Mt Koya) (USING JR PASS)
- Take a early train to Mt. Koya
- Find a Temple to sleep and leave luggage


Decent idea, but you might wind up wasting a lot of time doing this.
Personally, since you like partying I suggest spending all of your
Kansai time in a hotel in Osaka; try to get a place in either
Shinsaibashi/Namba or around Umeda (Osaka station). No matter where you
stay, though, I personally don't like to bounce around so much. You
waste a lot of good traveling time checking in/out of places, lugging
bags around, etc. Just get one place and stay there. The beauty of
staying in Umeda is that you're more or less in the middle of Kansai; a
short trip puts you in Kyoto, Himeji, Koya, Nara, and a slightly longer
trip takes you to the Japan Sea if you so desire. It's a good location
from which to base your travels in the region, and you're also a short
subway (non-JR) ride from some excellent bars/restaurants in either
Shinsaibashi or Kobe.

snipped

DAY 10 - (Mt. Koya - Himeji) (USING JR PASS)
- Leave after Mt. Koya after Buddhist praying and take a train to Himeji
- Get a locker for my luggage and take a day pack.
- Stay in Himeji most of the day, I don?t have specifics here but I want to
see the Himeji Castle for sure.


Google some of my older posts on Himeji; I've written some stuff at
length on the city. The castle is the main highlight, of course, but
Shoshazan (north of the city) is also nice. But by this point you might
be templed out....

- Leave Himeji at night to Osaka
- Spend the night at Osaka (haven't found a hotel yet)

DAY 11 - (Osaka - Tokyo) (USING JR PASS)
- Spend the day in Osaka
- Visit Osaka Castle
- Umeda Sky Building
- Perhaps pay a visit to Osaka Aquarium
- Visit Sumiyoshi Taisha
- Take a late night train to Tokyo
- Party at night
- Maybe stay at a capsule hotel just to live the experience

Like staying in a temple this probably sounds much more cool than it is.
But you might enjoy it, if you're not too tall. Personally I'd go for
meeting someone and hitting a Love Hotel; the capsules are better known,
but the Love Hotel is a better experience. But STDs are always an issue....

snipped


I also have some punctual questions:

- I'm planning to activate my JR pass after spending 3 days in Tokyo,
meaning the first 3 days in Japan I will not have a JR Pass. How expensive
do you think it'll be for me to move around the trains in Tokyo without a JR
Pass? The problem that I have is that I bought a 7 day only pass and I will
be in Japan for 11 days, so I'm trying to find the best cost effective way
to use it.

That's probably the best thing to do. One round trip from Tokyo to Osaka
pretty much pays for the pass. I'm a big walker myself and prefer to
walk around a city as opposed to using trains, where possible. Tokyo is
a bit spread out, but if you get your hands on a decent map you can
probably arrange to save a few bucks by walking.

- What type of transportation (cheap please!) would you recommend me to take
from Narita to Downtown Tokyo? (I won't have the JR PASS active yet by then)

See if your hotel has a bus. There are probably shuttle buses but have
no idea how much they cost.

- In regards of the distances between cities, I have no clue how many hours
it'll take me between one city to another, is there a way you can guide me
with this? As my itinerary shows, I'm planning to take the following route:
Tokyo - MT. Fuji - Hakone - Takayama - Kyoto - Nara - MT Koya - Himeji -
Osaka - Tokyo

Use www.hyperdia.com/cgi-english. Great tool to figure this stuff out.

- Any recommendations on clothing for end of October / Beginning of
November?

Sweatshirt/sweater weather. Are you familiar with the weather in
Atlanta/East Tennessee (my home) that time of year? Tokyo, Kyoto, and
Osaka are more or less the same basic climate. Probably won't be warm,
but that possibility exists.

Good luck!

John W.

  #4  
Old October 15th, 2004, 04:51 AM
himtkitk
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

FamousDave m wrote
in message :
DAY 2 - Arrive NRT at 1:25pm, Get to Tokyo (how?), check in, walk around,
Roppongi at night and go to bed early. (JR PASS NOT ACTIVATED YET)

You should better take Keisei Skyliner to downtown Tokyo, the last
stop is Ueno, most rapid, accurate and cheap, it's cost \1920.
http://www.keisei.co.jp/keisei/tetud...ei_us/top.html

DAY 3 - (Tokyo) (JR PASS NOT ACTIVATED YET)
- Tsukiji Fish Market for breakfast

need to get up early, visit there around 6AM if you want to see actual
working market.

- Board a cruise down the Sumida River to the district of Asakusa
- Visit Sensoji Temple

Sensoji is called as Asakusa Kannon, no need to visit in day 4 again.:-)

DAY 4 - (Tokyo) (JR PASS NOT ACTIVATED YET)

spend hole day in Kamakura, it's toooo busy to visit both Harajyuku
and Kamakura.
Take Yokosuka line ealy morning and get off at Kita-Kamakura, then
walk to Kamakura, cost about \800 a way.
if you have a time, take Enoden to Enoshima, then take Odakyu line to
Shinjyuku. \250 for Enoden and \610 for Odakyu line.

DAY 5 - (Tokyo - Mt. Fuji) (JR PASS ACTIVATED TODAY)

Take JR line to Odawara, and change to Hakone Toxan Tetsudo to go
to Hakone, JR is not going to Hakone.

- I'll try to find a way to get to Fuji Five Lake to get a closer look at Mt
Fuji. (a train maybe?)

No train, bus route only, Fuji five lakes are behind the Mt.Fuji, difficult
to get back to hakone again in a day.

DAY 6 - (Hakone - Takayama) (USING JR PASS)

need to take Shinkansen bulet train from Odawara to Nagoya.

DAY 8 - (Kyoto) (USING JR PASS)

plan to visit Nara visit great Buddha and go south and stay closer
to Koya-San at night.

- I'm planning to activate my JR pass after spending 3 days in Tokyo,
meaning the first 3 days in Japan I will not have a JR Pass. How expensive
do you think it'll be for me to move around the trains in Tokyo without a JR
Pass?

in Tokyo, there are a lots of subways and other private rails, so no need
to activate JR pass, one recommendation is Tokyo-Metro one day pass,
which cost \710 and you can ride as many times as you like free for the day.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/e/ticket/oneday.html

- In regards of the distances between cities, I have no clue how many hours
it'll take me between one city to another, is there a way you can guide me
with this? As my itinerary shows, I'm planning to take the following route:
Tokyo - MT. Fuji - Hakone - Takayama - Kyoto - Nara - MT Koya - Himeji -
Osaka - Tokyo

Your trip plan is very busy, you have to omit Mt.Fuji which you can see from
Hakone, then it may be possible however sitll you have to wake up very early
every morning, don't drink too much. :-)

- Any recommendations on clothing for end of October / Beginning of
November?

need over coat, colder than Florida, especialy in Hakone, Takayama or Koya-san.

- I want to rent a phone while in Japan, I found a company that will charge
me $75 per week + $1.50 per min to the US and free incoming calls, do you
think that's reasonable?

Too expensive no need to rent, purchase a telephone card, you can find a public
phone every where, unless if you need to be called by your girl friend. :-)

be carefull for pickpocket especially in downtown, and enjoy Japan.
  #5  
Old October 15th, 2004, 09:26 AM
Miguel Cruz
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

FamousDave m wrote:
- I want to rent a phone while in Japan, I found a company that will charge
me $75 per week + $1.50 per min to the US and free incoming calls, do you
think that's reasonable?


I think it's complete insanity. Buy a used phone and a prepaid card when you
get there, you'll own the phone for less than the cost of one week's rental.
The going rate with discount cards is 3 cents a minute to the USA
(admittedly not including local airtime); you want to pay 50 (!!!) times
that much? Incoming calls are free anyway; that's nothing special.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 32 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu
  #6  
Old October 15th, 2004, 09:26 AM
Miguel Cruz
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Posts: n/a
Default

FamousDave m wrote:
- I want to rent a phone while in Japan, I found a company that will charge
me $75 per week + $1.50 per min to the US and free incoming calls, do you
think that's reasonable?


I think it's complete insanity. Buy a used phone and a prepaid card when you
get there, you'll own the phone for less than the cost of one week's rental.
The going rate with discount cards is 3 cents a minute to the USA
(admittedly not including local airtime); you want to pay 50 (!!!) times
that much? Incoming calls are free anyway; that's nothing special.

miguel
--
Hit The Road! Photos from 32 countries on 5 continents: http://travel.u.nu
  #7  
Old October 15th, 2004, 01:03 PM
IIJIMA Hiromitsu
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

- I want to rent a phone while in Japan, I found a company that will charge
me $75 per week + $1.50 per min to the US and free incoming calls, do you
think that's reasonable?


I think it's complete insanity. Buy a used phone and a prepaid card when you
get there, you'll own the phone for less than the cost of one week's rental.
The going rate with discount cards is 3 cents a minute to the USA
(admittedly not including local airtime); you want to pay 50 (!!!) times
that much? Incoming calls are free anyway; that's nothing special.


Unfortunately, $1.50/min is considered not-so-high price for international
calls from Japan. $75 for a week is too expensive, though.
#We can buy a brand-new one if we pay $100!

And additionally, you can't get used phone with tourist visa.
Any phone company, with no exception, does require "certificate of foreign
citizen resistration" issued by city office where you "live" in Japan.
This is because there have been so many scams that employed prepaid-card
cellphones.

I recommend public phones if you want to call from Japan, and web-based
email (yahoo, hotmail, etc.) for contacting from US to you in Japan.

================================================== ======================
(Mr.) IIJIMA Hiromitsu,
aka Delmonta http://www.ht.sakura.ne.jp/~delmonta/
  #8  
Old October 15th, 2004, 01:46 PM
Iceman
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Posts: n/a
Default

- I'm 24 years old
- I will be traveling ALONE
- I've always wanted to Visit Japan, I'm obsessed with the whole Japanese
culture, temples, shrines, Buddhism, etc.
- I love cold weather
- One important thing that I'd like to mention is that I like to party A
LOT, I drink too much and smoke too much, I'm looking forward to find out
how the whole party scene is in Japan, especially in Tokyo and Kyoto


Tokyo has a great bar scene. The clubs are good if you like techno.

- I'll pack as light as I can, probably a small suitcase and a mid size back
pack
- I bought a 7 day Ordinary JR Pass
- I'm on a low budget (I know how expensive Japan is)

DAY 1 - Fly FLL - ATL and then ATL - NRT ( 14 hours on a Delta 777 )

DAY 2 - Arrive NRT at 1:25pm, Get to Tokyo (how?),


The best way is a train called the "Keisei Skyliner", which takes you
to central Tokyo in about 90 minutes. DO NOT TAKE A TAXI - the
airport is more than an hour by car outside the city and a taxi would
cost hundreds of dollars.

check in, walk around,
Roppongi at night and go to bed early. (JR PASS NOT ACTIVATED YET)


Roppongi doesn't get started until around midnight. And it's pretty
dead except Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.

DAY 3 - (Tokyo) (JR PASS NOT ACTIVATED YET)
- Tsukiji Fish Market for breakfast
- Visit nearby Hama Rikyu Garden
- Board a cruise down the Sumida River to the district of Asakusa
- Visit Sensoji Temple
- Take the Ginza Line for Asakusa, check the shops selling traditional
products and Sensoji Temple.
- Walk around Ginza's fashionable shopping district
- Head toward Harajuku
- Spend the evening in Shinjuku or Roppongi partying
- Sleep in Sunroute Asakusa Hotel (Y 9500 (open for suggestions))


Consider the Sakura Hotel.

DAY 4 - (Tokyo) (JR PASS NOT ACTIVATED YET)
- Harajuku to see Meiji Shrine
- Tokyo Tower Observatory


Skip Tokyo Tower. It's expensive, and if you just want a view of the
city you can get that for free from a lot of buildings in Shinjuku. A
lot of the hotels in Shinjuku have top floor bars with great views
also - you might try to Park Hyatt hotel's bar, that was featured in
"Lost in Translation".

- Imperial Palace Plaza
- Asakusa Kannon Temple
- Great Buddha
- Hase Kannon Temple
- Visit Tsurugaoka Hachimangu Shrine.

DAY 5 - (Tokyo - Mt. Fuji) (JR PASS ACTIVATED TODAY)
- Train to Hakone (I'll check out of my Tokyo hotel so I don't pay for the
night)
- Lake Ashi
- Hakone Shrine
- I'll try to find a way to get to Fuji Five Lake to get a closer look at Mt
Fuji. (a train maybe?)
- Spend the night at a Ryokan in Hakone (haven't found one yet)

DAY 6 - (Hakone - Takayama) (USING JR PASS)
- Take an early train to Takayama get a place to sleep (ryokan or guest
house probably)
- Higashiyama Walk
- Hida Folk Village
- Sanmachi Suji (the town)
- Spend the night in Takayama

DAY 7 - (Takayama - Kyoto) (USING JR PASS)
- Take an early train to Kyoto
- Find a place to sleep and leave luggage (Ryokan or guest house probably)
- Visit Nijo Castle
- Kinkaku-ji Temple
- Old Imperial Palace
- Higashi Hongan-ji Temple and Handicraft Center
- Heian Shrine
- Sanju-Sangendo Hall
- Kiyomizu Temple
- Party at night

DAY 8 - (Kyoto) (USING JR PASS)
- I don't have a schedule for this day yet, but I probably want to spend it
in Kyoto or maybe a half day trip to Nara (open for suggestions)

DAY 9 - (Kyoto - Mt Koya) (USING JR PASS)
- Take a early train to Mt. Koya
- Find a Temple to sleep and leave luggage
- I don?t know any special destinations here, I chose it because I've read a
lot of good things about it and it looks like a very interesting place. I'm
open for suggestions on places to visit here.
- Sleep at a Buddhist temple

DAY 10 - (Mt. Koya - Himeji) (USING JR PASS)
- Leave after Mt. Koya after Buddhist praying and take a train to Himeji
- Get a locker for my luggage and take a day pack.
- Stay in Himeji most of the day, I don?t have specifics here but I want to
see the Himeji Castle for sure.
- Leave Himeji at night to Osaka
- Spend the night at Osaka (haven't found a hotel yet)

DAY 11 - (Osaka - Tokyo) (USING JR PASS)
- Spend the day in Osaka
- Visit Osaka Castle
- Umeda Sky Building
- Perhaps pay a visit to Osaka Aquarium
- Visit Sumiyoshi Taisha
- Take a late night train to Tokyo
- Party at night
- Maybe stay at a capsule hotel just to live the experience

DAY 12 - (Tokyo)
- Last minute shopping
- Take a train at noon to Narita (my flight is at 4:45pm)
- Leave Japan


I also have some punctual questions:

- I'm planning to activate my JR pass after spending 3 days in Tokyo,
meaning the first 3 days in Japan I will not have a JR Pass. How expensive
do you think it'll be for me to move around the trains in Tokyo without a JR
Pass? The problem that I have is that I bought a 7 day only pass and I will
be in Japan for 11 days, so I'm trying to find the best cost effective way
to use it.


Tokyo's subway is cheap, so no problem. A day pass on the subway is
710 yen, and one ride within Tokyo proper is 160-300 depending on the
distance.

- What type of transportation (cheap please!) would you recommend me to take
from Narita to Downtown Tokyo? (I won't have the JR PASS active yet by then)


Keisei Skyliner or Narita Express trains, or the "Limousine Bus",
which is just a normal bus and stops at all the major hotels.

- In regards of the distances between cities, I have no clue how many hours
it'll take me between one city to another, is there a way you can guide me
with this? As my itinerary shows, I'm planning to take the following route:
Tokyo - MT. Fuji - Hakone - Takayama - Kyoto - Nara - MT Koya - Himeji -
Osaka - Tokyo


The bullet train is really fast, and none of those are long trips.

- Any recommendations on clothing for end of October / Beginning of
November?


A light jacket should be fine as long as you're not hiking up any of
the mountains.

- I want to rent a phone while in Japan, I found a company that will charge
me $75 per week + $1.50 per min to the US and free incoming calls, do you
think that's reasonable?


Don't bother, just get a phonecard and make calls from public phones.
  #9  
Old October 15th, 2004, 02:33 PM
Alec
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"IIJIMA Hiromitsu" wrote in message
...
- I want to rent a phone while in Japan, I found a company that will
charge
me $75 per week + $1.50 per min to the US and free incoming calls, do
you
think that's reasonable?


I think it's complete insanity. Buy a used phone and a prepaid card when
you
get there, you'll own the phone for less than the cost of one week's
rental.
The going rate with discount cards is 3 cents a minute to the USA
(admittedly not including local airtime); you want to pay 50 (!!!) times
that much? Incoming calls are free anyway; that's nothing special.


Unfortunately, $1.50/min is considered not-so-high price for international
calls from Japan. $75 for a week is too expensive, though.
#We can buy a brand-new one if we pay $100!

And additionally, you can't get used phone with tourist visa.
Any phone company, with no exception, does require "certificate of foreign
citizen resistration" issued by city office where you "live" in Japan.
This is because there have been so many scams that employed prepaid-card
cellphones.

You can still buy pre-paid keitai at most convenience stores. True, there is
a requirement to register your details with phone company and for an ID, but
a contact address and foreign passport is normally acceptable. Some conbini
don't bother with registration - earlier this year I was told to 'just do it
yourself in your own time'.

I recommend public phones if you want to call from Japan, and web-based
email (yahoo, hotmail, etc.) for contacting from US to you in Japan.

You normally need an IC card (like the one from KDDI) to call abroad from
public phones (usually coloured grey or orange). Rates are typically in
70-100 yen a min range to US and Europe. Cheapest phone cards require a
residential address and Japanese credit card/bank account.

Alec


  #10  
Old October 15th, 2004, 02:33 PM
Alec
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Default


"IIJIMA Hiromitsu" wrote in message
...
- I want to rent a phone while in Japan, I found a company that will
charge
me $75 per week + $1.50 per min to the US and free incoming calls, do
you
think that's reasonable?


I think it's complete insanity. Buy a used phone and a prepaid card when
you
get there, you'll own the phone for less than the cost of one week's
rental.
The going rate with discount cards is 3 cents a minute to the USA
(admittedly not including local airtime); you want to pay 50 (!!!) times
that much? Incoming calls are free anyway; that's nothing special.


Unfortunately, $1.50/min is considered not-so-high price for international
calls from Japan. $75 for a week is too expensive, though.
#We can buy a brand-new one if we pay $100!

And additionally, you can't get used phone with tourist visa.
Any phone company, with no exception, does require "certificate of foreign
citizen resistration" issued by city office where you "live" in Japan.
This is because there have been so many scams that employed prepaid-card
cellphones.

You can still buy pre-paid keitai at most convenience stores. True, there is
a requirement to register your details with phone company and for an ID, but
a contact address and foreign passport is normally acceptable. Some conbini
don't bother with registration - earlier this year I was told to 'just do it
yourself in your own time'.

I recommend public phones if you want to call from Japan, and web-based
email (yahoo, hotmail, etc.) for contacting from US to you in Japan.

You normally need an IC card (like the one from KDDI) to call abroad from
public phones (usually coloured grey or orange). Rates are typically in
70-100 yen a min range to US and Europe. Cheapest phone cards require a
residential address and Japanese credit card/bank account.

Alec


 




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