so like i said, i'm leaving in april so i got a while to plan. thankyou to everyone for the early birthday wishes!

now for a ton more questions...

alice/andy: is the JR rail pass still worth it if i only plan to stay in tokyo? like i said, ORIGINALLY i was planning to go to kyoto as well but i figure its going to be cheaper for me just to stay in tokyo. how long does a pass last and is it based on time limit or the amount of trips you make? i also have no idea about acommodation, when i went to europe/england i just stayed with friends and family but i don't know anyone in japan at all apart from one girl who lives in kobe. should i just go to a travel agent or something for hotels? i'm guessing there's no ryokan and stuff like that in tokyo.

andy: so you think i'll have enough money to 'enjoy myself'? i've asked a few people and half seem to think i'll be fine and the other half though i had nowhere near enough for tokyo (gatchabert on here for example)?

life_slicer: is it cool if i could get your email?

meary: thanks for the links, i'll definately check out the 2nd one. the longest i'd be in japan would be 3 weeks or so, i doubt i could get a guest house for that amount of time?

deadbone: definately, that would be awesome. send me an email/pm sometime!

if anyone wants to contact me my email is xdaybydayx@hotmail.com.

You could be wicked hardcore and live out of a capsule hotel, and stash all of your goods in a locker! Or youth hostel it. Me, when I finally go hopefully this autumn or around then, I will want to be in a comfortable hotel room. If you're staying in Tokyo, don't plan to go toooo apeshit buying up the country's vinyl reserves, and your ~US$5000 budget for, say, 2 weeks doesn't include airfare, it's tough to imagine that not being enough to have a great time. I'm thinking Tokyo for about a week, maybe a little longer for the first trip, and probably won't budget as much as you. Of course then I will probably go nuts drinking sake and beer at nightclubs, so who knows...

$5 grand for 2 weeks in Tokyo is BEAUCOUP unless you're a seriously hard partier and plan to treat half the bar every night.

Finding somewhere to stay is easy. Just Google Tokyo accommodations and you'll see mountains of listings. I'd just avoid some of the places that shut you out during the daytime. That can be a hassle.

If you're only going to be in the Tokyo area, a JR Pass would not be worth it. I would still say it's a waste even if you're going to Kyoto or Osaka, since night buses are so cheap. Include Hiroshima and it is worthwhile. Actually it's pretty easy to Google for Shinkansen rates to get an idea of what you'd pay with or without the pass.

The way I see it, the pass (which I have used before) is worth it if you're going to zip around for a couple of weeks. Start basing here and there for 5 days and you really dilute its value.

The pass activates (and keeps rolling till time is up) starting on the first day you use it. In Europe, they have (or at least used to - not sure if they still do) passes that you could use 5 or 7 days out of a month. Would be nice to have that sort of thing in Japan.

One thing I'll recommend in Tokyo is getting the "All Day Discount Pass" (or something like that) every morning. It costs around 720 yen, if memory serves, and will get you unlimited use on all the JR lines in the city (including the most useful one - the Yamanote line). Mind you, transfer to one of the other rail systems (there are 3 in the city, as I recall) and you have to buy a supplementary ticket, which is sometimes confusing.

Oh yeah I just remembered another thing which rocks hard - the Suica pass. It's a stored valued card that you can use, as I recall, on ANY rail system in Tokyo. Super convenient and my oh my how nice not to have to buy tickets all the time! You can also use it to buy drinks and shit at 7-11. So plop down like 5,000 or 10,000 yen and Suica away for a couple of weeks! (having said that, if you're going to go hardcore on the Yamanote line, the All Day Discount Pass will be a better bargain)

i'll google some hotels, i might end up booking with a travel agent though just because it might be easier in the end. what did you do out of interest? i

if you can use the suica pass on any rail system, why would it be better to get the all day discount pass if you can use the suica one on the yamanote (did that make any sense? haha). i don't know if i'll be using the yamanote line alot since i have no idea where it goes or anything. i do want to go to kyoto but i probably won't because its just gonna be more expensive obviously and i'll have to plan for it on top of the rest of the trip. i figure i am just gonna leave it till the next time i go and (hopefully) do kyoto/hiroshima/osaka all in one go.

you mention there are 3 different rail systems just in tokyo, talk about confusing...

by the way, i appreciate all the help. thankyou.

my cousin slept under a bridge for 7 nights in tokyo cos they spent their 10K(nz) video grant on hiring gear and flying it/people over there to make it. he had to shave his head cos he got nits. sucker!

your trip sounds cool conqueror, my brother-in-law is going back there before coming to europe in a few months, jealous of you both!

The Suica Pass charges your card everytime you use a train, no matter what line it is. Basically the money you put on it is just taken out each time it is used until it gets to 0 then you ned to recharge it. The all day pass is good for only JR lines, ie: no SUBWAY or any other line is included, you would have to pay extra for those. But with the all day JR pass it is only a one time pay and you can use it as much as you want for that day, its cool if you are only going to use the JR lines in Tokyo.

Ikebukuro and Shinjuku are good to stay in, actually anything from Ikebukuro to Ebisu would be good as its easy to get just about anywhere you want quickly.

Yeah, $5000 should be no problem like everyone says, just dont go ape shit at the bars and you will be fine.

Yep as Master Dennis says. But even if you're going to use a combo of JR + subway in Tokyo, the all day pass can work out. Heck, going from Nakano to Akihabara and back will cost around 400-500 (from memory), so check out the map, calculate where you'll be going, and make a decision then.

Eh, what am I saying. For a first-time traveler to Tokyo, just go with the Suicam, especially since you'll be there 2 weeks. Only the most dedicated masochist would want to spend hours figuring out Tokyo's public transport system. Suica suica!!

SUICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!! Andys right, it will save you some major headaches.

this is becoming really confusing/harder to plan than i thought, i think its mainly because a) its not an english speaking country and b) when i went to europe i had friends/family who could help me out. so i appreciate you guys giving me some advice!

so the suica card is the way to go? i was reading about it on wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suica) and it seems its all pre-paid. wouldn't the machines you get it from/charge it on all be in kanji (ie impossible for me to read/know what to do)? i'm finding all the different railway systems/companies etc hard to follow.

at the moment i also have no plan what the fuck i am gonna do when i'm there. i guess i basically just wanna do the typical touristy kinda crap in tokyo and then also do the nerdy toy/electronic shopping too. originally a friend was coming with me who is into all sorts of japanese cars/bikes but he isn't now so i don't have to worry about that.

also you say ikebukuro and shinjuku, are they prefectures? i obviously have no clue about the geography/layout of tokyo at all. how far away are they from tokyo cbd? is there many hotels in those areas? i want something central so i can easily get around but i will have to look into that myself.

alot of this is actually stressing me out which is ironic since going on holiday is meant to be a relaxing experience.

sorry for the countless retarded, newbish questions but if you guys ever head to the UK or europe i can return the favour! haha.

oh yeah, at the moment i don't need any hand-holding with flights. i'm pretty sure it will be adelaide > melbourne > narita airport with singapore airlines.

You are now ready to travel to Japan, where confusion is the traveler's constant companion.

(Seriously, though, I think you're trying too hard to plan the whole trip before you get there. Leave some room for exploring, stumbling, and wandering around. Welcome the adventure, mate!)

How's the smell though, I was there in 2001, stinky sulphur!! I loved the signs around for how to identify whether you were suffering the effects of poisoning while walking around, haha. I also ate 3 of those eggs, so I should be good for a couple of hundred years, woot!

Different onsen have diff smells. Some are odorless, actually. Yeah the Hakone onsen are the stinky kind. Not at all poisonous, but you wouldn't catch me slurping it up, eh!

Only thing to watch out for is staying in too long - can make ya dizzy n light headed. Or was that the saki?

Oh yeah the Suica comes with an instruction book telling you more about the Suica than you ever want to know. OK, yeah I read it on a train - so sue me!

I think the Suica vending machine has English instructions. Actually, I bought mine (in Koenji, actually - Koenji rules yeaaaaaaaaaah boooooooooooy!!!!) from the little office next to the machine.

Don't freak too much about the language thing, For simple stuff like buying tickets, cards, etc. you should be OK using English. If you do freak out, go to Tokyo station. There's a little info booth designed to help foreigners. They rule hard - can print out a map of any address in Japan for you. OK, that's not as cool as it was 5 years ago. You can use Google Maps for that now.

Oh yeah - write this down. Google Maps is the shit!! I'd use and abuse it with impunity before the trip. Could save you a lot of headache wandering the streets in search of street addresses. (Now THAT is all kinds of fun in Japan! )

Conqueror you ABSOLUTELY NEED to get a copy of Tokyo Underground RIGHT NOW off the S7 store site. DO it, it will make the trip seem much less intimidating!

If you have a friend there, leave stuff at the pad and sleep in capsules, shop during the day, sleep in a capsule, change. saves bucks and is great if you are clubbing and drink enough where you don't care where you are sleeping. UFO catchers and pachinko are way more addicting than they first appear. You will never figure out where you are going ever just get used to it, karaoke and small restraunts have the cheapest drinks and best pre-party with friends atmospheres. My good friend runs bodyglove japan and lives in tokyo, he still doesn't really know how to get around and he has been there for 2 years.

and this is why traveling is an adventure. When I went to Japan a couple of years ago, I didn't even worry about the language barrier. Okay...so I found my hotel an hour after arriving at the station, but that was my fault for being just a little unprepared . If you haven't looked at the railway map for Tokyo, it really is pretty easy if all the places are along the JR Yamanote line. It's just a loop so if you catch the train going the wrong way, well...change your plans and visit another place. It is super easy. The Tokyo Underground book is pretty funny. It tells you what train to take, where to transfer if you need to, and uses landmarks for reference points (kinda like how most guys navigate when driving).
The biggest advice I have for you: No matter how home sick you start to feel (cause you can't get your favorite kangaroo burger or vegemite), DO NOT stay in your hotel all day. Go and be home sick out in the city. You'll be glad you did. Don't know anyone in Tokyo? Who cares!! Just go out there and explore. Just don't walk from Shinjuku to Shibuya...it's a bit farther than you think .

probably the best advice on here hahaha

You guys are wusses! It's not too far. I'd have to say, don't walk from Shibuya to Nakano (now that's far), no matter how bored you get. After you wake up between 4-6am every day and discover that nothing (with the exception of Tokyo Hands, Blister, and Excelsior/McDs) is open before 11am or 12, you'll know what I mean.
Walking through Tokyo is fantastic! Once you get your bearings, you'll find you can walk from Shibuya, to Harajuku, to Aoyama quite easily. If the weather's good and we aren't carrying too much stuff, we always do this instead of taking transportation.

My bit of advice is to check out superfuture.com. The maps they have will give you a TON of landmarks, which will help you more than knowing an address. Helpful store reviews and hotels are listed as well.

If a person is going to tokyo for 1-2 weeks, what are the MUST SEE things (for most peeps anyway) while you are there, not toy-related? Any museums, parks, shrines, temples, nightclubs, etc. that are really key, especially for a first trip? I think when I (hopefully) do Japan autumn '08 I will stay around Tokyo, and then come back to Japan some other time and do a non-Tokyo trip.

But, let's say a person does 2+ weeks in Japan, and wants to spend, say, a week in tokyo. Where else would be a good place to visit in the country, maybe some place you could do the ryokan thing and see some temples and mellow out mediating all zen-like and check out some shinto shrines and stuff? And I'm not thinking another big city like kyoto. Any littler places you can bullet-train to for 3-5 days that would be a nice compliment to the hustle & bustle of tokyo?

I walk from Harajuku to Shibuya when I'm in the city. It's a nice walk and not too long (20-30 minutes).

Meguro Parasite Museum, 2 stops from Shibuya station and about a 20 minute walk that is not confusing.

Although it costs a little more (¥1580/day) I recommend the Tokyo Free Kippu day pass...it lets you use the JR trains or either subway system. I figure I have better things to do on my short vacations than waste time getting to where I want to go the cheapest way possible, and you don't need to worry about whether you can transfer from one line to another without paying again.

But most of all don't be afraid of the Tokyo transportation system. It is super easy to figure out.

I remember back in the day, before this "Tokyo Underground" and "Cruising the Anime City"....people had to do research and shit. Books are your friend. If you can pony up 5k for a trip, you can fork over 40 smackers for a "Lonely Planet" and a "Tokyo Undergrond". And you WILL use the Yamanote Line. Stops are in English AND you can just count the number of stops, worst case.