Kobe - The city of low profile

The first thing that goes through most people's mind is Kobe Beef when you mention Kobe. Little about this city is known to the outside world. The modern days Kobe region is one of the oldest settlement in Japan. Stone artifacts and tools found in western Kobe demonstrate that the area was populated at least from the Jōmon period.






Comparing to major cities like Osaka, Yokohama and Tokyo, Kobe really isn't a place of interest for most travelers, however if you do decide to pay Kobe a visit there are several attraction that I'd recommend






- Kobe's own Chinatown. Its small, but it has great food


- Kobe Port - one of the best view of Kobe, you can also get up to the Kobe Tower which offer a decent view of the city


- Harborland - Major Shopping area of Kobe, with a small theme park that attracts a lot of young couples to spend a romantic evening






All three attractions are within walking distance, you can easily walk from Chinatown to Kobe Port, then to Harborland.

Time needed: Half a day. Try to make Kobe an afternoon stop, so that you get to see the port at night when its all nice and lit, spend the night there before you travel again

Destination Himeji

Himeji, also known as the Himeji castle town, home to one of the UNESCO World Heritage Site - The Himeji Castle.

Himeji is not too far from Hiroshima or Kobe, however hotels at Himeji cost quite a bit, so your best option is to either stay in Hirohima or Kobe and take the JR train to Himeji. It takes about 1 hour to travel to Himeji from Kobe (JR Kobe Line), also 1 hour from Hiroshima on the Shinkansen Nozomi 70 or 72. It will take 1.5 hour if you are to travel from Hiroshima on the Shinkansen Hikari RailStar 440

There are several attraction in Himeji, but with the castle being the most common tourist attractions. Other attractions include the Engyō-ji temple, Mount Seppiko-san, Himeji Central Park (a safari park), Mount Sosha, and the Himeji City Tegarayama Botanical Garden.

Originally known as the Himeyama castle, the castle was planned in 1331 and built between 1333-1346, with major expansion work done during 1601-1608. Himeji was bombed twice in 1945 during World War II, while most of the surrounding area was destroyed, the castle survived. Castle restoration work began in 1956, and to date, restoration work is still on going.

Himeji castle is visible from the Himeji station, it takes about 15 minutes to walk to Himeji castle from the City's station. It really depends how detail you want to look at the castle, however, it will take you at least 2 hours to go through the castle. Admission - 600￥

Himeji Central Park is a safari park, and the ONLY safari park in Kansai region.

History of the west - Hiroshima and Miyajima

Hiroshima is the largest city in the Chūgoku region of western Honshū. It is known by most as the first city subjected to the nuclear bombing by the US during World War II. With a good 65% of the city being destroyed during the event of World War II, modern day Hiroshima is extremely modernized partly due to the massive rebuild and reconstructions work after the war.

You will most likely be traveling in/out of Hiroshima by train, as a guideline, it will take approximately 5 hours to travel to Hiroshima Station from Tokyo Station by Shinkansen. The Hiroshima station is located literally in the center of tourist attractions.



The "Peace Memorial Park" is one of the major attraction in Hiroshima. The park was built to commemorate the dropping of the atomic bomb in 1945. It is located near the detonation site, housing the park and a Peace Memorial Museum (Admissions: Adult-50￥　Children-30￥)as well as many other related monuments. The museum display (graphical display) the affects of the atomic bomb, while this is a great educational trip, I do fore-warn you that the museum is not meant for people with a weak stomach.

Within the memorial park stood the A-Bomb Dome, which is the remains of a building that survived the blast, making it the city's only remaining bomb damaged structure.

There is a shopping arcade call "Hondori" in Hiroshima, this is their local "sheltered shopping alley". I won't spend time here if you are to visit other major cities as Major Cities like Osaka and Kyoto each have one of these shopping arcade, and they offer more and unique merchandise.



My recommendation is to take a side trip to Miyajima while you are at Hiroshima, as there isn't really much to see in Hiroshima anyways. You probably won't need to spend more than a day in Hiroshima, but it will definitely last a full day.

Miyajima (Miya - Palace, Castle, Jima - Island.) It literally translate to the "Palace Island", Shrine and Temples cane be written in Kanji as 神宮 - "God's Palace", so this is the Island of Shrine". There are several ways to travel in/out of Miyajima:

By train and ferry

From JR Hiroshima Station, take the JR Sanyo Line to Miyajimaguchi Station. The trip takes about 25 minutes and costs 400 Yen. Alternatively, you can take the tram line number 2 bound for Miyajimaguchi. The tram is slower, but costs only 270 Yen and stops on the way in Hiroshima's city center.

From Miyajimaguchi Station, it is just a few steps to the ferry pier. Frequently departing ferries take 10 minutes and cost 170 Yen for the crossing to Miyajima. There are two companies operating the ferries, JR and Matsudai. The Japan Rail Pass is valid on JR ferries.

By direct boat

Boats also connect Miyajima directly with Hiroshima Peace Park (55 minutes, 1900 Yen one way, 3-9 round trips per day) and Hiroshima Port (30 minutes, 1460 Yen one way, 6-8 round trips per day).



Miyajima's name came from the Itsukushima Shrine, which was constructed partially over water, featuring the famous floating Torii Gate. The Shrine itself is not a very big place, but it will take you almost 2 hours to visit the shrine and surrounding attractions. Right by the shrine (in front of the JR Pier) is a small town that is filled with souvenir shops that sell unique gifts and souvenir that is only available in Miyajima, featuring the floating Torii. Wild deer roams around Miyajima, they are regarded as a messenger from the Gods, it is considered as a highly respected animal in Miyajima.



If time permits, there is also the Misen Mountain that is approximately 20 minutes away from the Ferry Pier. Home to wild deer and Monkeys the Misen Mountain is a great relaxation walk. Climbing it to the ropeway gives you a breath taking view of the wooded island and the Seto Naikai.

Debut - Preparing for Japan

So, instead of grunting and complaining about everthing else that happen in life, I have decided to start another blog to talk about places I've been and things I've seen. This is how I would structure it. At random, I would post tips and etiquettes for specific destination, but I would like to focus on one city per post. Transportation advice will also be available, but it will only be based on major transportation hubs and stations.

For this debut post, I will target my favourite destination - Japan. Here are some hints and tips on where to start when planning for a trip to Japan. All comments and suggestions are only base on a very subjective view



Travelling to Japan doesn't have to be expensive. A lot of people seems to have an image of Japan being the one country that is not affordable to travel. Its not, you just need a good plan in place to ensure that you are getting be best bang for the buck.

Flight - Plane ticket prices changes drastically depending on the season. There are three major travel seasons in Japan - During New Years (Dec-Jan), During Golden Week (April-May), and November. If possible try to avoid traveling during these months, as plane ticket can potentially cost up to twice as much. Though, if money is not a concern, you can catch a glimpse of many festivities and cultural activities during this time. Try to see if you can find a travel agent name IACE, they have depot all over the world, and plane tickets are usually very reasonable there. An average plane ticket will cost about US$1000 (100000¥)to travel from Toronto to Narita

Currency exchange - Your choice to do this locally in your own country or to do it in Japan. Most postal outlet in major cities (Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima, etc) will have an international debit machine that let you withdraw money directly from your account using your debit card, the beauty of this is that it will use the current exchange rate with no service fee.

Yen (en - ¥) is the currency is used in Japan. In all my guides, I will provide an example of exchange rate base on the rate I was working with when I traveled. In this case, consider US$1.00 is approximately equivalent to ¥100 at the time (October 07) when I last visited Japan. This wasn't any different in 06 or 05.

Local Transportation:
A) Shinkansen - The "Bullet Train", this will be your main source of transportation across cities. I recommend getting a Japan Rail Pass, information is available here: http://www.japanrailpass.net/. You can use this on almost ALL JR services, including Ferries in some cases. If your plan is to stay within the Tokyo Ward area (note, there is no city named Tokyo) or any other area (Osaka ONLY or Kyoto ONLY), then you don't really need the Pass. Alternately, you can take the bus between major cities, but it can take up to 3 times as long to travel by bus. The Japan Rail Group also provide a great tool for you to look up train schedule here:

http://grace.hyperdia.com/cgi-english/hyperWeb.cgi

DO make use of this tool while planning your trips in Japan, arrival and departure time can potentially affect your expereience of Japan.

B) Local train - The JR pass mentioned above also let you take trains operated by JR, such as the Yamanote line and the Chuo line in Tokyo ward. Non JR trains are also available at additional cost. Amount varies based on destinations and distance. If you are traveling with a big group, it may cost less to take a Taxi depending on the distance, one example will be from Roppongi to Akihabara on the Tokyo Subway Hibiya Line, it will cost ¥190 (a little under two dollars Canadian), if you have a group of 5, it will cost you ¥950, while it will cost just around ¥700-900 for a taxi ride.

C) Taxi - A luxury but expensive way to travel. If you are only traveling between one or two station in a big group, it CAN potentially save you money (See above), however, do take traffic condition into your consideration, especially around larger cities like Osaka, Kyoto, Yokohama and Tokyo.

D) Ferries - SOME of them are JR operated, so the JR Pass IS valid

E) Local bus - Bus cost about the same as taking a local train, except its more frequent. Most major cities have sightseeing bus that you can purchase a daily pass for, these bus travel special routes and make stops at specific tourist destinations.

Most trains and public transit have English maps, station name are also displayed in both Hiragana (or Kanji) and English. Train attendant also announce station names in English (Automated)

Accomodations - Its a general misconception hotel will be very expensive in Japan, actually its not as bad as rumored, you can get decent hotels for less than $40 per person per night, and yes, they charge base on per person/night. I paid as little as ¥1,200 for a night, that’s equivalent to just under $12 Canadian. These are not bad hotels either, you can start with this site http://www.japanhotel.net/ for your reservation, I had good experieince with them and the customer service is great. Look for the "Super Hotel" chain, which has amazing rooms and services, and are extremely clean. Do spend a night or 2 at a traditional Japanese Ryokan (Hotel), which cost a bit more, I paid around ¥7500 a night per person.

Some other sites you can consider:
http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/ (largest hotel chain in Japan, decent price, acceptable quality).
http://www.japanhotels.com/
http://www.japan-hotel.com/
http://www.japan-hotels.net/
http://www.j-hotel.or.jp/en/index.html

Food - Its also a misconception that food is expensive in Japan, you just need to know where to eat. In most cases, restaurant operators (including tourist area) don't speak English, but they usually have pictures in the menus. Street food vendor, on the other hand, can communicate with basic English. Tokoyaki (BBQ octopus dumplings) and Yakitori (BBQ skewered chicken), they normally cost about around ¥150 ($1.5) to ¥500 ($5.00). Conveyor belt sushis are very fresh, and you should be able to have a decent meal for about ¥1500 a person. Donkatsu (Katsu Don), Ramen are also a must have, while you can find cheap beef specialty store for ¥350-¥500 for a bowl of white rice with roasted beef

The following is a rough estimate for a 2 weeks stay in Japan in October 07:

- Flight: $1100 (considered to be high season)
- JR Pass: $434.5 (14 days ordinary pass)
- Hotels: $780
- Food: $400 (approximate)
- Non JR Transport $200 (approximate)
- Site entrance fee $100 (approximate)
- Total $3014.5
- Avg Daily Spending $215.32

Shopping: Almost every single city will have an alley way shopping street, these are usually covered either with a full concrete roof or a simple canopy roof. Traditional goods at a bargain can be found in this type of shopping street. There are also giant department stalls like Takeya and other full fledge shopping malls/buildings across all cities

Other Tips and Etiquette:
- It is normal to pay a restaurant or bar bill at the register instead of giving money to the waiter/waitress.
- There is no tipping in Japan. Tipping is considered to be an insult, its an implication that they are only doing their work on the basis of the extra from the tip.
- It's considered rude to count your change after paying the bill in a store or restaurant, but the Japanese themselves do give it a cursory look-over.