Transportation
JR's Japan Rail Pass offers excellent value
and convenience for the foreign visitor traveling around Japan. Especially
recommended is the "Japan Rail Pass 7 Days." At a price about
equivalent to a round trip on the Shinkansen super express between Tokyo and
Kyoto, it allows the bearer unlimited travel on JR lines throughout Japan for
seven days.
Meanwhile, in large
population centers like Tokyo and Osaka, "1-day Pass" and similar cost-saving tickets
are available. They offer unlimited local transportation in the respective
areas' main systems of intra-city transportation for a specified period of time.
By eliminating the trouble of frequently buying tickets, using such tickets is
very convenient for travelers who wish to move around within a limited area and
within a limited period of time.
Welcome Card (Culture Card)
The card comes with a
guidebook for you as an overseas visitor to Japan to enable you to get discounts
and special services at art galleries, museums, sightseeing attractions,
shopping areas, restaurants, accommodations and transportation facilities. Although
called the Welcome Card, there are also places where you can receive discounts
by presenting a web page printout instead of the card.
This card, in many
varieties, is currently available in Tokyo (Museum
Guide, Handy Guide and Map), Kagawa Prefectures and
Northern Tohoku, Narita, Mt. Fuji, Kobe, Kita-Kyushu, Fukuoka cities
and regions. The card is available free of charge at local information centers
in each region and through the following website.
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/essential/wel
come.html
Dining
Dining out in Japan is
not necessarily "expensive" though, like in most countries, it tends
to be a bit more expensive while traveling. Delicious as well as reasonably-priced
dining can be enjoyed if you keep the following tips in mind:
Ø Concentration
of fast food establishments can often be found
around train stations, which offer inexpensive meals in a casual atmosphere. Hamburger
and sandwich shops not to mention, there are Japanese-style fast food shops, specializing
in "gyudon" (rice topped with cooked beef and sauted onions),
"tendon" (rice topped with tempura), and soba or udon noodles. These
fast food establishments generally offer meals at less than 500. Even more reasonable
breakfast menus are available at some shops.
Ø Shopping, entertainment and
business districts are filled with restaurants which offer weekday lunch at reasonable prices ranging from
600 to 900. Set menus, either western-
or Japanesestyle, are available in abundance. Lunch time is generally from
around 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Ø Sushi is not at all expensive except at
a limited number of high-grade restaurants. With "kaitenzushi" shops
(serving small plates each with a couple of bite-sized pieces of sushi on a
rotating conveyor belts), sushi costs only 100
and up per plate. At other sushi shops, a set-menu sushi meal run about 1,500 and up per person. Sushi
lunches can be enjoyed at around 800
and up.
Ø The basement of department stores
is usually the food floor, offering a rich variety of take out deli selections and lunch boxes -
delicious as well as inexpensive. Select one or two and enjoy your own lunch at
a nearby park.
Shopping
Ø "100-yen shops" are constantly growing in number.
A wide range of items - from foods to articles for daily use - are all sold at
a uniform price of 100. 100-yen shops can be found near train stations and in
shopping districts. You may find small souvenir items there such as Japanese tableware
and many other items on sale.
Ø For consumer electronics, the Akihabara district in Tokyo is the first
place you should visit. An amazing variety of consumer electronics can be found
here. Get off the train at Akihabara Sta. on JR's Yamanote Line, and you'll
find countless shops, including volume sales outlets and electronics parts
shops, standing side by side.
Ø Japanese retailers, especially
department stores, hold large-scale bargain sales twice a year, selling seasonal products such as
clothes and sundry goods at remarkable discount prices. If you happen to visit
a department store during such a bargain sale period, you'll be impressed with
the number of price tags on display at "30% off" and "50%
off." Usually, the bargain sale seasons are in January and July.
