Tour companies - chattering | Picture blogs

[Sgirl]

Hey guys - I went last year with JTB which was all arranged through the then travel office at Mitsuwa Chicago . (That office was consolidated with the other one last year.)
It is /was a bit higher overall I think in terms of costs since you're using their travel package and such, and I want to go back next year and am wondering if you guys have used other companies?

I'm curious if any of you did the pop-culture ones operated by smaller groups here in N.A. (e.g., PopJapan/Akidot, PacSET). I'd like to see pics, read blogs, etc. to see what the experience is like. While I do like the pop culture stuff, I think I can do some aspects of shopping by myself. (And no thanks to Karaoke since I did my fill of it in Korean music rooms here in the U.S. already.)

For reference - here's my photoblog: http://red-bird.org/japangalleries/

I did a package with JTB/Sunrise and added a few free days at the end to pick up some of the fun random tours... Expensive, but staff were awesome... had a few hiccups in Kyoto but loved the Tokyo and HIroshima staff.

[greg]

If you have experience with Japan, I highly recommend traveling Japan alone. You can go at your own pace, get better rates on hotels and such, see what you want to see, avoid what you don't want to see, you don't have to put up with annoying tourists, and you don't have to feel silly going around in a tour group. With smartphone technology the way it is, it's easy to track down any location with GPS. I know places in Tokyo where you can stay for only 3,000 yen a night. If you don't mind a tiny room or having to take turns using a shower, you can stay for cheap if all you care about is a place to sleep. Some are rather nice, too. Part of the excitement of visiting a city like Tokyo is just wandering the back streets and finding great places to eat and drink in the narrow back alleys and such. There's so much you don't get to do when you are being herded around in groups on buses and such. I prefer the freedom.

However, there is a certain benefit to taking certain tours, such as if you want to visit certain companies, animation studios, and specific targets like that.

I am interested in taking a look at your pictures when I am not at work (most every picture site and blog is blocked here).

[Sgirl]

Oneo f the things that sort of concerned me was the process of making reservations. Without the ability to speak Japanese and without a credit card they'd directly accept , I think I'd have to still broker rooms in advance.

But yeah - I definitely am glad for a phone in Japan... a few times my friend and I weren't quite sure which way to go in Tokyo... thank goodness for Google maps.

[greg]

The next time you're in Tokyo, you can book a room at the Hotel Meigetsu. You can make your reservation online, even. I'm pretty sure they will accept credit cards. The catch is that if your credit card is like the ones I've had, you must first phone your card company and have them place a notice of when and where you will be overseas and give a timeframe. Otherwise, you may end up flying to Japan and have your credit card declined!

[kndy]

For cheap hotel in Tokyo, I recommend the Sakura Hotel & Hostels:

http://www.sakura-hotel.co.jp

https://www.facebook.com/SakuraHotelTokyo?fref=ts

It's the cheapest hotel you are going to find, with an internet cafe and the one in Ikebukuro is not far from Animate. They also have one in Hatagaya, Jimbocho, Asakusa. But with the Ikebukuro site, you're not far from Shibuya, Akihabara, Shinjuku, etc.

And they also speak English!

[Path]

When we went to Japan in October we didn't sign up for any tours. We used JTB in Manhattan to book our room in Morioka plus rail passes and my boyfriend used work connections to book at the Hilton Tokyo Bay for the other week. The Hilton was a pain to get to and from the main hub of Tokyo, especially since we didn't go to Disney.

I second Greg in that the best things we found in the country were found wandering aimlessly in the streets. Akihabara was great for that, with so many tiny stores and ramen shops hidden in corners.

[Sgirl]

Yeah JTB also does just the transfers and hotels independent of tours. It's one good thing about them... you can just arrange the bare minimum here in the US and then do everything else yourself.

Thanks for the recommendations!