!! Under construction !! This chapter is for your leisure time: you will surely travel across the country during your holidays and week-ends, won't you ? Table of content : Accommodation (the different types of hotels) Getting around (trains, planes, cars, bicycles, ....) Travel agencies Accommodation Japan offers a great variety of accommodation, from "not so expensive" to "very expensive" and from "very Japanese" to "like elsewhere". Youth Hostels Japanese Youth Hostels are clean, comfortable and inexpensive... by Japanese standards. ! Warning : some Youth Hostels have early closing hours : 10 o'clock for example, sometimes even 9pm. If your aim is to enjoy the night life, it's definitively not the best place to be ! Shukuboo - temple lodging If you want to experience something very Japanese, this is something for you : temple lodging. This category can overlap with the first one as some Youth Hostels are temples or shrines. Info : TIC - Tourist Information Centre (Tokyo, Kyoto) Camping grounds Probably the cheapest form of accommodation. (Not experienced, sorry) Minshuku (family-run private lodging) This is the equivalent of our European Bed & Breakfast system. It can also be an opportunity to see how the everyday life of a family at home can be. Ryokan The ryokan is the Japanese version of what we would call "Hotel". There are all kinds of ryokans, from cheap (~4'500 yens) for everyone to ultra-expensive and reserved to theJapanese Elite. A good guide for ryokan which accepts "gaijins" is the ........ Capsule Hotels Can you sleep in a 2 x 1 x 0.8 metre space ? If yes - and for 3'500 -> 4'000 yens per night - try a capsule hotel. It's not an empty box, as it is usually equipped with a TV set, reading light, radio, alarm clock and even a smoke detector. These hotels -which can often be found near the main stations - are often well equipped with bar, relaxing room and even sometimes with a sentoo (Japanese bath). Business Hotels Business hotels are hotels like the ones which have only one or two stars in Europe. It's oftenprecised "business" in order to be distinguished from the next category, the love hotel. The rooms are usually very small and there are vending machines on each floor. Only high-class hotelsare simply called "hotel". Love Hotels That's certainly something you've heard of. There are love hotels in every Japanese city. They have been invented so that couples who doesn't have any place to enjoy privacy can have some (andthat's a big part of the population, including married couples !). It's usually easy to recognise if a hotel is a love hotel, as : Lot of them have a very "kitsch" design. There are two entrances, in order to prevent those who are coming out to meet those who are coming in. You'll find two different prices : one corresponds to "one hour use" and the other to a full night (11pm to 8am approx.) It's often surrounded with small bushes (real or plastic). More details concerning the inside in the following edition ;-) NOTE : For long-term accommodation, see the "settling in" chapter Getting Around Trains Your main mean of transportation will certainly be the train. In Japan, the train system is very well developed. The most famous is certainly the "Shinkansen", or "bullet train". You will certainly find that there are clean, comfortable (if you get a seat !) and on time. It's also considered as very expensive by people who haven't heard anything about the Swiss Federal Railway. There are 2 different classes : you will find 'regular' and 'green' cars. For the Gaijin there are mainly two problems : - How do I get from A to B ? By JR or by one of the private companies ? As none of the railway companies wants to advertise the services of the others, you won't find any map displaying the lines of all the companies. - How do I distinguish between a slow and a rapid train ? All the name of the stations are also written in latin characters, both at the stations themselves as on the line maps, but the different type of trains aren't translated. So here a small table : - futsuu = stopping at all stations. - kyuukoo = ordinary express. - kaisoku = rapid. - tokkyuu = limited express. Also, the stations are very often the town centre. One thing really useful for the tourist is the Japan Rail Pass. Busses A practical, cheap and time-saving mean to travel across the country are the busses travelling at night. Booking is mandatory. Cars What about getting a car and then explore Japan without having to look atunreadable timetables ? Well, that's not a very good idea, as the expressways are tolled and very expensive (i.e. the train is cheaper). The alternatives to expressways are small roads where it will be difficult for you to drive fastand find your way. You also will have to drive on the left side of the roads. Bicycles Widely and wildly used. In Japan there seems to be a rule for each thing, butthe bicycles are an exception. Driving on the left ? on the right ? on the road ? on the pavement ? All four seem allowed. Travel agencies The JNTO (Japan National Tourist Organisation) has three TIC (Tourist InformationCentre), one in Narita airport, one in central Tokyo and one in Kyoto. They canprovide you everything you want : maps, brochures, information about current event, etc... [ home page SJA ] [ Practical Guide ] [ e-mail ] [ give feedback! ] Visitors: Last update: 7th June 2002