Postby Clienad » April 9th, 2007 8:48 am
Money:
You were right the best bet is the post office. For getting cash out with a foreign card. They are inside the building and only open from 9am - 6pm in local stores so get there early if you want to avoid a disappointing night out. Some towns have a giant post office building near the station and they have a service corner サービスコナー or cash キャシコナー where you can pull out money anytime but don't let that be your only fall back plan.
other than that there is city bank they are few and far between so forget about it as a major option
Now where to spend your cash??
Kipp:
Get a ryokan if you can they are bigger and often cheaper than a business hotel if you can take lying on a futon but often not English speaking and some have no internet at all so well your choice.....
Travel
Get a JR pass before you go!! Its indispensables and could save you an astronomical and i do mean astronomical amount of money and finally whatever you do! FFS don't lose it! You wont get a new one!
Bars and clubs:
Bars and clubs are best on a Sat and Thurs not Fri for work reasons. From what i could tell from speaking to the local people.
Bars: You will have to order food and a beer its not London style where you just turn up and try to drink the bar dry. Watch out as some have a cover charge Just for entry to a bar.
But I recommend Izzakaya where you get food and drink in copious quantities and some really good laughs with random workers can be intimidating if you don't know any Japanese though. The Japanese currently seem to have a thing for theme bars now too so expect your local (sort of ) Irish bar or brit bar to appear and be stuffed full to the brim with people in suits and ties. and you will be more likely to encounter someone who wants to have an English language conversation.
Clubs: find some one who knows the lay of the land If you've been to the bars above and had a laugh then you've probably met one. As its hit and miss on your own. (im sure that s the case in everyones country) this i have not too much experience in as i didn't go to many club nights.
Gizmo's and gadgets:
Obviously Tokyo would be the best place here and as splashing out cash on gadgets probably will be most peoples ideal time my mates took me to Akihabara to get gizmo's.
so start there.
Big camera was cheaper than i thought with some really new gear but off Akihabara you won't get a camera that has a language change function so kind of defeats the point.
Language:
Best to admit that not everyone in Japan speaks English but those that do are generally willing to help. be pre-paired to not be understood its not like traveling in touristy Europe. especially in the country side.
To be honest you will get a better guide out of the copious guide books around and i recommend lonely planet but these were my experiences as a lone traveler in Japan. thanks goes out to Japanese pod 101.com as i did manage to get on extremely well in Japanese for the most part only lapsing into English occasionally.
Theres lots more id love to write about like sights and stuff like that but i think that i have taken up too much f your time now.
Well my thoughts on Japan are pretty damn nice place to visit! and don't loose you JR pass. I mean it!
Is there a link for AMEX 
