"Japan" a Japan Travel Page by syrin

There are just so many place to see in Japan, modern mixed with old. From traditional temples, shirnes, palaces & castles which can be similar or very diffrent along with very modern buildings. You will also see structures made out of bronze, wood and gold. Not to mention the beautiful landscapes, waterfalls and mountains, ponds zen gardens, tropical islands and so on. You will never run out of places to visit ever. You could spend your whole life here and never see everything. There are also many festivals held here and the Japanese love to celebrate them. Just about anytime you go they will be holding some kind of festival. The best festivals seem to be in spring or fall mainly due to the cherry blossoms in the spring and the burnt orange and red leafs in fall. You can even gamble a little if you want at their pachinko slots.

The best ways to find out the best spots is to do research before going, pre planning your trip, getting a guide book, booking hotels in advance, booking shows or acts in advance and getting your transportation taken care of before you go like the rail pass, and if you know someone that speaks Japanese it will make your searching much easier.

Japan also loves to have fun weather it being going out for drinks, dressing up as cartoon charecters, karaoke or just sitting around with the family. Just about anything they can do to relax after a day at work. They also know how to show you a good time if you are visiting. My fav is all the dress styles, gothic, dolls, cartoon charecters, superheros; it is definatley something new on every block.

The weather here is another thing that can be diffrent in an instance it seemed like. One day its supposed to be sunny and you find out a hurricane is coming or its supposed to rain and instead it is hot a muggy.

Hotels here can vary in price too from bussiness hotels to luxury hotels or a ryokan. All these can range from $55 all the way one up. Bussiness hotels save you lots of money.

There are lots of ways to save money. Japan can be much cheaper then vegas if you know where to look and how to look. You can also save money by looking on Japanese based websites not english websites and booking there, and you can also find places that have not yet been found by westerners. Anything made in america is definatley expensive. Were talking double the price so whatever you do, do not purchase american things here. A coach purse that runs you around $400 USD can easily cost you $800. So stay away from american stuff.

To see more about how to save money on hotels, transportation, food, souveneirs and where to go, what to take and what foods to try check out my other pages.

If you plan on getting around in Japan get a rail pass, it pays for itself. One trip from Kobe to Hiroshima can cost $200 round trip. Rail pass for two weeks is $300pp and very worth it. Its very expensive to get around Japan and the further you go the more you pay. Buses are much cheaper but if your traveling long distance it will take to long. Driving in cars can be really expensive. You have to pay a toll after a certain distance which can add to a lot of money. Japan is the only place I know you can be riding a train and they all of a sudden the same train goes underground into a subway. Here you will use all types of transportation. Boat, ferry, train, subway, bus you name it you will use it. Also if you want to get around better try to get your hotel near a major train line. It will make everything so much easier.

To see more helpful hints, places to see, foods to try, how to save money look at my other pictures.

The foods are so yummy here. You would not belive that they can make a great italian dish with a Japanese twist while making deserts that looked like they came from Europe. What ever thoughts might be looming in your head shake them out because it is nothing you would ever expect, granted what you would expect can be found by Japan is very eclectic and influenced by places all over the world. Many places are hard to find since there are many many places like in Tokyo so its sort of a hit and miss type deal if you go to Japan without a plan.

Food is very mixed from very tradtional fairs like ramen, yakatori, sushi to other ethnic foods like Italian, steaks, hamburgers. The clothes are even very diffrent from Kimonos to more modern trendy clothes. This is the one place in the world where you can see it all. Japan has had many influences over time from where they were, where there going and where they remain. The only thing that stays mostly similar is the peopel being it is mostly populated with Japanes. This place really does take you back in time and at the same time you will still be in a modernized city.