There is a commonly held misconception that Japan is one of the most expensive countries in the world where everything is available – but at a crippling price. This is only true for anyone hoping to buy property – anyone going on holiday and used to living in England will be very pleasantly surprised.
Accommodation will be your biggest expense and there is a good selection of hotels and hostels to suit every taste and budget. Arrange this from the UK for the best deals.
The food is brilliant and very cheap. All restaurants do lunchtime specials for about 1000 yen (six pounds) and with a little initiative (or a good guide book) you can find some amazing restaurants and dishes. Particularly interesting dishes are fugu (poisonous blowfish), soba (noodle soup), okonomiyaki (Japanese omlette), shabu shabu (finely sliced meats boiled at your table) and, of course, sushi and sashimi. Sushi here is about 1000 times better than the rubbish they serve in London restaurants and even if you can’t stand the idea of raw seafood – should be tried. Just don’t chew it too much. If this doesn’t take your fancy there are always the hundreds of familiar hamburger, coffee, pizza fast food places where the American tourists hang out.
As for shopping – Akihabara (2 stops from Tokyo on the clean/fast/reliable subway system) is one of the essential Tokyo experiences. Electronic goods are previewed here up to 18 months before release in the UK. From recordable DVD players to playstation 2 – this is where you will see these things first.
Sightseers should avoid Ueno zoo – for anyone who hasn’t worked in a vivisection laboratory this will be an intensely depressing experience. Still, you don’t fly a third of the way around the world to go to a zoo do you? Instead, walk around the Imperial Palace, shop in Shibuya and Shinjuku, take an early morning trip to Tsukiji fish market, go clubbing in Roppongi, investigate the market at Harajuku, visit a few temples and if you can possibly arrange it – take in some Kabuki in the Ginza area.
Tokyo is also a brilliant starting point for some excellent day trips – Nikko, Kamakura and Hakone (where you can climb Mount Fuji if the weather / time of the year is right).
All in all, a fascinating city well worth a few weeks holiday at anytime of the year.
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Advantages: Exotic for people from the west, it is a very safe place, toilets :-) Disadvantages: Expensive accommodation, language barrier can cause problems, a bit crowded
gard 27.07.2005 (27.07.2005)
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Review of Tokyo (Japan)
Jul 14th, 2000
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