Japan
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Navigate: Main_Page ...Asia ...Japan Major Cities: Nagoya, Osaka, Sapporo, Tokyo, Yokohama, (edit) Popular Areas/Cities: Fukuoka, Hiroshima, Kagoshima, Kyoto, Matsue, Mt Fuji, Nagasaki, Narita, Okinawa, Takayama, (edit) Overview • Discuss! • Hotels • Restaurants • Photo gallery • Attractions • Shopping • Transport • Numbers to know • Maps • Everything else • External resources |
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Overview
Japan, popularly know as “The Land of the Rising Sun” is a country of Asia, and consists of more than 3,000 islands of different sizes covering a total area of over 377,872 square kilometres (145,898 sq mi). Many of Japan’s islands are mountainous and many have volcanoes, including its highest peak, Mount Fuji. Japan is the 10th most populous country of the world, and its population is around 128 million. Its capital, Tokyo coupled with the Greater Tokyo Area, with over 30 million people, is the largest metropolitan region of the world.
Archeological findings indicate that people were living in many of the islands of Japan as early as 40,000 to 10,000 years ago.
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Tips for: backpackers • business travelers • luxury/exotic travel • hitchhikers • families • seniors • LBG travelers • pet owners |
Hotels and lodging
In Japan, you can find good accommodations to suit your preferences. Many sightseeing spots offer lodgings at a reasonable price. But there are 3 seasonal peaks during the year. Golden week (from 29 Apr to 5 May), Obon (on or about 15 Aug), and year-end to New Year holidays (from 29Dec to 4Jan). At a peak period, the room rate is always higher.
Standard room rate is calculated by per person. V.A.T. is not included. Tax rate is 5%. Some hotels add 10% of room charge as service charge.
Types of Accommodations
- Hotel: suitable accommodation for business travelers ($100-500/night)
- Business Hotel: cheap but decent hotel ($50-120/night)
- Ryokan: Japanese traditional lodging ($60-300/night including dinner and breakfast)
- Minshuku: family-run hotel with Japanese lifestyle ($50-150/night)
- Pension: resort inn with western lifestyle ($60-120/night)
- Youth Hostel: suitable for young people and foreigners ($30-50)
- Guest House: Economy domitories in Japan
Attractions
| Find out where to go in the maps section below. |
Shopping
Maps and transportation
Getting to Japan
Public transportation is well established in the cities in Japan. However, it is difficult to see the signs and change train lines in such big crowds. http://www.jorudan.co.jp/english/ is an online train route finder service, and it is very useful when you have to change the trains to get to your final destination.
Exploring Japan
Japan Railway company(JR)
In Japan, there are 6 major railway companies. These were divided from one organization in 1989. The Shinkansen connects each railway with the others (except Shikoku, Hokkaido). Everyday Japanese use Shinkansen for business, sightseeing, and transport. The trains are well-equipped, fast and very comfortable. If you want to enjoy railway travel in Japan, it is best to buy a Railway Pass before leaving your home country.
Highway Bus
There are so many bus companies in Japan. They provide good service for travelers that is value for money.
Practical information and resources
==National Holidays in Japan==
Holiday Name
New Year's Day (Gantan) 01-Jan
Coming of Age Day (Seijin no hi) 9-Jan(2006) 2nd monday of Jan
National Foundation Day (Kenkoku Kinenbi ) 11-Feb
Vernal Equinox Day (Shunbun no Hi) 21-Mar
Greenery Day (Midori no hi) 29-Apr
Constitution Memorial Day (Kenpou Kinenbi) 03-May
National Holiday (Kokumin no kyuujitsu) 04-May
Children's Day (Kodomo no Hi) 05-May
Marine Day (Umi no hi) 17-Jul(2006) 3rd monday in Jul
Respect for the Aged Day (Keirou no hi) 18-Sep(2006) 3rd monday of Sep
Autumnal Equinox Day (Shuubun no hi) 23-Sep(2006)
Sports Day (Taiiku no hi) 9-Oct(2006) second Monday of Oct
Culture Day (Bunka no hi) 03-Nov
Labor Thanksgiving Day (Kinrou Kansha no hi) 23-Nov
Emperor's Birthday (Tennou tanjoubi) 23-Dec
If the holiday is on a Sunday, then Monday will be considered a substitute holiday. (Exceptions are "Coming of Age Day", "Marine Day", "Respect for the Aged Day" and "Sports Day".)
There is no set date for these holidays. "Coming of Age Day" is on the second Monday of January, "Marine Day" is on the 3rd Monday of July, "Respect for the Aged Day" is on the 3rd Monday of September, and "Sports Day" is on the second Monday of October.
On Saturday, Sunday and public holidays, banks, post offices, and companies are closed. Most department stores and shops are open.
At the year-end and for the New Year holiday (from 28 Dec to 3 Jan), many department stores remain open. However, in smaller towns, shops may be closed during this time.
==Special attention for smokers==
In Japan, the smokers can smoke everywhere except crowded space. There are currently approximately 620 thousand cigarette vending machines in Japan. The price is very cheap, it costs around 300yen per one case. But recently smoking while walking is prohibited by some local authorities. In case of Tokyo metroporitan goverment, some ward(Chiyoda-ku, Shinjuku-ku, Shinagawa-ku) issued a regulation for smoking while walking. Especially in Chiyoda-ku enforce regulations about smoking on the road. The fine is around 2000yen. Other in the train. In local trains, smoking is strictly prohibited. But in Bullet train (Shinkansen) to Kyoto and Osaka, smokers can use smoking cars. Before smoking, watch the alert warnings around.
Restaurants
Wide variety of restaurant is available in most places. You can eat Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Franch, Indian, and pretty much any kind of food from all over the world. Some restaurants are very reasonable, from less than 500 yen and some others are very expensive. If you are Japanese food lover, sushi restaurants can be found in many places, but they are often expensive, so why don't you try something new? Japanese food includes so much variation of food. Also, you will find the difference within Japanese food, depending on which part of Japan you are in. If you are over 20 and looking for a place to drink, try some Japanese traditional bars, called izakaya. All kinds of Japanese beer, sake and alcohol will be served. Enjoy the friendly atmosphere and great food with alcohol. At any restaurant, you don't need to pay tips.
Text with links to user-reviews on other pages
Nightlife
Roppongi nightlife in Tokyo supposedly caters to foreigners but this should come with a caution. It's expensive, can be very seedy & you can find more elegant genuine atmosphere elsewhere. Such as The Old Imperial Bar @ the Imperial Hotel,Chiyod-ku or Bluestone a small intimate bar in Minato-ku where you might have an intimate conversation with a real live local businessman winding down from his long day.
"Concierge.com's Nightlife Recommendations". Concierge.com 2008 CondeNet Inc. 23 March 2008<http:www.concierge.com/destination/tokyo/nightlife/detail/?id=17109&destinationGuide>.
Photo gallery
| Add a new photo to the Japan gallery. Vote on which images to feature in the featured images forum. |
Everything else
| Got something to say that doesn't fit in the other sections of this page? Create a new page about it. Start by adding a paragraph exactly as above: for example, copy (from the EDIT BOX) the heading "Nightlife" and the three lines below it, paste in below that section, and change "Nightlife" (in all three places) to your new subject. If it's great, add a snippet below the heading. Then click on the new link and start on the new page. |
External resources
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If you want to add personal links, please do that on your user page (you can also write your profile there). If you have a link with great content that travellers need, you can add it at Japan/Links |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Japan. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with World Wikia, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License. |
