Headed to Tokyo

[Weltall]

Haha, well we were planning on pre-gaming with cheap liquor already, but thanks XD

Will have to find a white girl while I'm there...lol

[Correction]

Is it worth it to have the JR pass if we stay in Tokyo the entire time? I have read its not worth it at all. Paying $400 for a JR pass seems like a waste if we stay to Shinjuku / Roppongi / Shibuya. I can see buying a 7 day one if we are going outside of Tokyo.

We were planning on buying a Saicu pass when arriving at Narita. If we stay in Tokyo, can we just buy this Saicu package and refill the card as we go?

This is correct. JR Rail passes are only worth it if you take a round-trip shinkansen ride, which you won't be doing unless you plan on visiting another prefecture.

Suica passes are convenient for getting through the turnstiles quickly and not having to wait in line to buy tickets, so yes on that account as well. What's cool is that you can even use the money on a suica card to buy shit at convenience stores in rail stations.

[Metah]

Haven't read the thread but I think you like fighting games right? My favourite arcade hands down is Mikado in Takadanobaba. This is their website:

http://mi-ka-do.net/baba/

They have a fuckton of fighting game machines and other arcade games, but their prices are the lowest I've found yet. Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R is the most expensive fighting game at 100 yen per best of 5 game, but it is extremely new. 3S and AE2012 are 50 yen a play, 3S gets best of 5 while AE2012 is best of 3 if I remember right. Ton of other fighting games including Hokuto no Ken, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Vampire Savior, and a bunch of others I can't remember off the top of my head.

[Weltall]

Yeah, I am a huge FG fan. I talked to Latif already, and he told me to stick to Taito Station in Shinjuku where Daigo/Fuudo play daily. I will check that one out too though, thanks!

[Dryr]

I was there for a couple weeks on 08 but I can't remember what most places were called.

The gov't building tower was a great way to see how vast the city is and it's just a few blocks from the loop tram. Same as the imperial palace and a major shrine the size of central park or so.

You can basically walk down any street to find a micro or normal bar/club/yakatori place.

[Franzer]

A few tips, as I travel to Japan multiple times a year for work.

One of my favorite places to stay while in Shibuya is this place. http://www.granbellhotel.jp/shibuya/ In terms of cost, its decent, but the rooms are awesome, the halls are pitch black, with green accents to find your way around, and its in a neighborhood, outside the bustle of the shopping area, but easily accessible to it.

I'll second Cocoichibanya, that place is pure gold. Another fast type place that is good is yoshinoya.

Assume any Nigerian (I say nigerian because they are literally from Nigeria as people tell me) will scam you, and you'll be alright. This goes for their shops and shit too.

The Ghibli museum is awesome, especially if you're into that stuff. Its super cheap, i think about $10?, and its a little outside of Tokyo. http://www.ghibli-museum.jp/en/ You can buy the tickets from Lawson, which is a convenient store you can find pretty much anywhere.

For train passes, while the regular train pass is pretty expensive, there's a pass that will take you around the tokyo region as much as you want, including shinkansen. http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/kantoareapass/ Its only 8000 yen, compared to the 40000 i think the full pass is.

If you want to get laid, especially at the clubs, look dapper as fuck, and say you have some really great job. They like military guys, but they love rich white dudes. A friend of mine that lives there and teaches English learned this real quick, as they don't want some guy who's there teaching English, they want an all-star. They don't know who you are so you can play this up easy.

Also if you want more stuff to see, like temples and shit, i can list those too, just let me know. The temple is Asakusa is the most popular and easiest to get to, but if you want out of the way ones, i can do that.

[Lliandra]

My husband and I were looking into going to Tokyo before we settle and have kids but it looks like it may be too expensive for us We were looking to go round about the same time you guys are going in 2013 but struggled with finding somewhere cheap(ish) and decent to stay. Can I ask where you're staying? Apologies if you mentioned it earlier, I kinda skimmed through trying to find the bits where you said about accommodation but may have missed it

[Weltall]

These are the places we have eyed so far. All are pretty cheap.

Hostel/Hotels:

So far I found these 3, which were relatively cheap and in good locations:

Shibuya area: http://www2.gol.com/users/ryokan-fukudaya/

Shinjuku area: http://www.toyoko-inn.com/e_hotel/00078/index.html

Roppongi: http://www.theb-hotels.com/the-b-roppongi/en/

@Franzer: Thanks for the info; I may have some more questions for you as we get closer!

[Weltall]

Bumping this because are flights were bought in December. April 11th we head out. Will anyone be in Tokyo around this time from BG!?

[Viq]

I'll be in Busan if you want to take a quick flight over to Korea. If that wasn't right in the middle of my semester, I would fly over to Tokyo.