I’ve compiled a list of some sorts of what I should do, but just wanted more input.
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Download Google maps of Tokyo area (for offline use)
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Google Translate with Downloaded JP Package (for offline use, I have to check if this is reliable).
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Get a Suica card, most transactions can use Suica Cards
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DiDi Taxi App (tourist friendly taxi app).
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Book an AirBnB instead of a hotel (bonus if AirBnB gives out Portable Wifi)
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Buy data sim/portable wifi in the airport (expensive but useful if no other options).
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Try International data instead
Hopefully I’ll have time to visit some real life anime places like
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Gyonmae Park in Shinjuku (Garden of Words).
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Cafe La Boheme (Your Name)
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ofc Akihabara
What other tips/places can you give to this weeb.
Always book a hotel (or AirBNB) close to a Yamanote line station. 90% of attractions are along the Yamanote line.
Nakano broadway is worth seeing if you like older anime from the 80s and 90s.
For cheap used retro games, anime goods etc go to Bookoff. The well known stores in Akihabara like Super Potato etc are a bit of a ripoff.
If you want to visit the Ghibli museum, you need to book it at 10AM (Japan time) on the 10th of december. Tickets sell out in less than an hour. Found the museum to be slightly underwhelming though, personally.
Ghibli museum tickets gets sold out in an hour for the whole year?
I’ll keep in mind the Yamanote Line AirBnB thing, that seemed extremely useful.
I don’t know if I’ll be buying figures tbh, but I heard that I should at least go to akihabara just for the atmosphere and the experience.
Nah you can only book a month ahead of time. OP, if you’re in the US, that’s going to be anywhere between 19:00 and 22:00 on the 9th for the booking, depending on what part of the US you’re in.
Plot twist: op is in Hawaii
Okay then I think it’d be 17:00.
If you want a cheap shinkansen pass, buy it before the trip from outside the country. It’ll cost a lot more once you’re there.
I think we’ll only be staying in Tokyo, but I’ll keep this in mind if we plan another trip to Japan.
Speaking of trains though, I’ll be landing in Narita Airport and I remember seeing that the train from Narita to the heart of Tokyo is expensive or something.
How long are you there? It’s a shame to only stay in Tokyo tbh
about less than a week I think, so we might not have enough time to visit other areas
Ah fair enough. If you’re walking around and like the film “Your Name” you should go check out the stairs at Suga Shrine.
I think I have the list of places found in Your Name, hopefully I can go to at least one.
The NAVITIME app is more reliable than Google Maps when it comes to transit planning. Plus, you can check the ticket prices including if you’re using tourist passes (e.g. JR pass or local subway passes). Taxis are expensive af.
Tbh if you’re not going in a big group, hotels are far more reliable than AirBnBs and their odd regulations.
Use coin laundry or washing machines in hotels instead of packing a lot of clothes.
Nakano Broadway >>> Akihabara IMO.
Unfortunately it’s a big group (20+)
Oooh I’ll think about the coin laundry thing.
I’ll check out Navitime as well.
Is nakano brodway better because price?
I guess it might depend on which Akibahara store you’re going to, but at least a good number of them when I went this year (IMO) are just too ‘generic’ with a lot of the floor space dedicated to just the most popular franchises, with uninspiring merch (e.g. tshirts, acrylic stands) that can easily be found online. Though this might also be cause I’ve been there a few years before and the magic has been lost.
Stuff in Nakano Broadway (where a large portion of the floorspace is dedicated to Mandarake’s secondhand shops) are rarer and more diversified, and there’s even a shop selling original animation cels of old anime (I was salivating over a Cardcaptor Sakura one which cost JPY500,000…). There’s also the JOJO bar which is insanely cool.
I browsed r/JapanTravel a lot to look up tips and general recommendations.