Yokoso! Japan: Prologue

This is a journal of my first trip to the land of anime and electronic gadgets. It was totally last-minute and virtually unplanned but nevertheless a memorable experience.

The trip fit well into a greater plan: Make a short stopover in Hong Kong, head over to Japan for 8 days, then fly direct back to Bangkok in time to celebrate a birthday.

Itinerary

• Day 1: Arrive at Narita Airport, visit Yokohama, stay at Tokyo
• Day 2: Travel to Kyoto to meet friends
• Day 3: Tour Kyoto & Nara, head over to Nagoya to spend the night
• Day 4: Check out Nagoya and then head to Tokyo, dinner at Yokohama
• Day 5: Tokyo
• Day 6: Head up to Matsumoto, spend the night
• Day 7: Head back to Tokyo via Nagano
• Day 8: Depart from Narita Airport

Click above dates for more!

Travel Tips

1. Most round-trip airline tickets allow for 1 free stopover.

2. Buy a Japan Rail Pass if you plan to travel a lot! It allows unlimited rides on all Japan Railway lines including the Shinkansen bullet trains. A real bargain.

3. For Japan, you dont necessarily have to book hotels beforehand. The travel agencies at the Japan Railway stations are very effecient and can get you good hotels at good rates.

4. You can use your GSM phone number in Japan! 3G UMTS phones can roam in Japan. 2G GSM phones cannot. Exception: Some older SIM cards will not work on a 3G network. My Singapore 2G SIM card didn't work, but my Thailand 2G SIM card worked.