Japan Holiday

[countrugen]

Hello all,

I am coming to Japan on holiday in two weeks and I am looking for advice.

I am on an organised tour so a lot of the itinery is already in place but I do have some time to myself particularly in the evenings and I am looking for things to do.

I am looking for more cultural things rather than touristy such as good tea shops/Kissaten or restaurants and places to go for the odd birru etc.

Also I am looking for cultural places to go to during the day for instance I understand in Tokyo you can see Katana made in the traditional manner.

I will be going to,

Tokyo
Hakone
Kyoto
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
Hirado
and Fukuoka

Also if anyone can let me know what sort of weather I can expect for this time of year I would appreciate it, I am trying to decide whether I will get away with tshirts and shorts or will need warmer clothing.

Finally I have just read that ATMs although plentiful don't take foreign cards and I am wary of carrying around a lot of cash. Is the book out of date or will I need to bring all the cash I think I will need for the holiday in one go?

Many thanks in advance,

Jon

[Bueller_007]

It's true. Most Japanese ATMs don't take foreign cards.

But Lonely Planet or something should be able to tell you where the ones that do take foreign cards are located.

[Alan]

The post-office ATMs apparently accept foreign credit cards, but I didn't investigate it myself, as I went for the piles of cash option.
http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/arrange/essential/money.html#atms
http://www.yu-cho.japanpost.jp/e_a0000000/aa210000.htm

[Belton]

I had no problems with Post Office ATMs. They even had English instructions. That was with a VISA backed card from an English bank.

I didn't often use them. In a small town it was inside the post office so only available during business hours. In Kyoto by the station there is a late night lobby. (There's also late night postal services) This may be 24 hour I'm not sure.

Apart from losing it, I didn't feel uncomfortable carrying much more cash than I would at home (where I use a debit card for most things). A lot of hotels I used had room safes, onsen had safe deposit boxes seperate from lockers.
Because England isn't humid, I made the mistake of putting some notes into my pocket instead of my wallet. I'm not sure the shop owner was happy to get this soggy money! All the notes seem to be crisp and new all the time. No dog eared bills stuck together with scotch tape.

I had slightly more problems with credit cards. Some hotels outside large cities just didn't want to accept them from a foreigner. (I saw Japanese use them, however) And 1 hotel wanted the tax portion of the bill in cash. Other places just wanted cash.
In all cash is easier somehow.

Weather-wise when I went in September it was still quite warm, even hot. a bit humid sometimes. It depends what you are used to.
When it rains, an umbrella is the way to go. A coat gets soaked through from outside by rain and inside from sweat! An umbrella keeps the worst off and you dry out quickly when it stops or you go indoors.

On things to do.
My experience was that places to go to tended to be open 9 to 5. But shopping stays open until 8 or 9 PM in the cities. So shop in the evening.
Can't really help you with places to eat and drink, except to say that after I got over my timidity due to language difficulties I had my best experiences by just going into small untourist-like places and hoping for the best and muddling though. The staff or owner probably surprised to see me usually tried to chat unlike a busy eatery used to foreigners, which while quick and efficient can be a bit soulless .