Japan this November

Hey Guys,

Will be in Japan with the wife for two weeks this November (last two weeks of the month). Mostly looking for recommendations on places to visit, see, experience in terms of culture, nightlife, and food. Sake recommendations would be great, beer is not a priority, but maybe I will attempt to go to a beer bar at some point.

Will be in Tokyo and then the rest is up in the air. Being a first timer, I’m thinking just a Kyoto and Osaka side trip will be about it.

Cheers!!

GT

Hi GT,
I’m in the US now, so won’t write a lot at the moment, but can give you all the advice you need about Kyoto and Osaka. I should be around during most of that time, so can probably take you to some nice sake places. It will be great to see you guys again.
Mark

Places
Tokyo
Kyoto - must visit
Takayama/Shirakawago
I would then look for places that have excellent Fall foliage. Tokyo and Kyoto foilage start late Nov. Japan is amazing for foilage.

Nightlife - in Tokyo you should hit Shinjuku, including Golden Gai and Kabukicho and Piss Alley. Ebisu is probably my favorite area to eat and drink. #1 tourist destination for all my visitors is a wine bar that is VERY different (I can reserve for you - no website and only give phone number to people they know). Roppongi is love or hate, but it does have some worth beer bars.

Day time - Asakusa (and check out Campion) and Ginza are good contrasts.

If you want to see some alternative neighborhood check out Koenji and Shimokitazawa.

Tokyo is better for checking out neighborhoods than specific sights -Kyoto is better for that.

Don’t know why you wouldn’t want to hit some beer bars, there are lots of good options.

Sake - do you want food with it or just like sake bar? I would say Shimbashi area is best for sake, but without Japanese language your options are a bit limited. If you want specifics let me know.
For English speaking with great food, 17 taps that are well chosen and crazy good sake, Bakushuan in Ebisu is the winner. One staff there explains each sake in detail in English

I would also add that osaka doesn’t offer much, other than eating and drinking. Conversely Kyoto can not be underestimated by how much it offers in terms of sights, plus good places to eat and drink though not at same level as osaka.

Nara is fine for one day. Hiroshima one day, Himeji castle is ok, but under construction so which means lots of scaffolding.
Lonely planets recommends seeing Nagoya from you Bullet Train seat when it stops over between Tokyo-Kyoto and I agree.

Having lived in Osaka for 4 years,and visited many times before living there,Osaka has so many things to see that you have never seen before it will blow your mind.You just need to go with someone who can look farther then travel books!I am now in Canada,but live in Fukuoka&#59;maybe more a very good place to live then to visit.If you do decide to do 2 days in Nagasaki & 2 (midweek) days in Fukuoka,let me know!Have a good trip.

Hey GT2,

This is Arturo. we met at RBSG12 and and Bobby’s house before. I will be there around the same time. I can show you around.

In Kyoto, Fushimi-ku is where the sake action is centered. I did a small sake tour awhile ago that I enjoyed. I hit Gekkeikan-sake museum which is like 300 yen to enter which also gets you a small sake bottle as a souvenir. Then I went to Kizakura Kappa Country for lunch did their beer sets as well as trying their aged sake - the beer was so so but that sake was amazing. From there we walked to
Fujioka Shuzo Sakakura Bar "En". It made a nice afternoon, you could also visit the Fushimi-Momoyama Castle and tomb for an emperor up the hill.

In terms of sights in Kyoto: Kiyomizu Temple, Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kinkakuji, Kitano Tenmangu temple (also visit Yamaoka shop for Japanese Craft Beer nearby), etc. If in town on the 21st go to Toji’s flea market while the 25th is Kitano Tenmangu’s flea market.

All of the Tokyo suggestions are very good. My advice, get out of the major cities at some point. Japan isn’t just huge bustling cities, it is also a wonderful countryside with majestic mountains, wildlife etc.
You can take trains pretty easily to come cool places. I recommend Takayama which is an old school small city. It gets lots of snow, and you might see some then.
The central Alps are amazing though much of it will be closed by late November. But it would be worth it. Other regions could work as well.
Stay in a ryokan one night.
Kyoto is really amazing and the shinkansen trip is very easy. 3 hrs. It’s a must see I think.
For me personally, I want to get away from the main tourist traps that cater to westerners. Roppongi was fun when I was 18 and single. You wanna meet people down for partying, gas panic is cool. But not for me anymore.

http://www.abebooks.com/books/features/tokyo-bookstores/index.shtml

Infinity Books in Tokyo?

(From the article) "Owned by British ex-pat Nick Ward, this English language bookshop combines two of the great things in life - books and beer. His ground-level shop, which specializes in first editions, out-of-print books, rare and general reading books, contains a bar surrounded with shelves on either side."

It’s not in the database, so it might be best to talk with some locals to see if it’s worth a stop.

Originally posted by ContemplateBeer
http://www.abebooks.com/books/features/tokyo-bookstores/index.shtml

Infinity Books in Tokyo?

(From the article) "Owned by British ex-pat Nick Ward, this English language bookshop combines two of the great things in life - books and beer. His ground-level shop, which specializes in first editions, out-of-print books, rare and general reading books, contains a bar surrounded with shelves on either side."

It’s not in the database, so it might be best to talk with some locals to see if it’s worth a stop.

Originally posted by douglas88
All of the Tokyo suggestions are very good. My advice, get out of the major cities at some point. Japan isn’t just huge bustling cities, it is also a wonderful countryside with majestic mountains, wildlife etc.
You can take trains pretty easily to come cool places. I recommend Takayama which is an old school small city. It gets lots of snow, and you might see some then.
The central Alps are amazing though much of it will be closed by late November. But it would be worth it. Other regions could work as well.
Stay in a ryokan one night.
Kyoto is really amazing and the shinkansen trip is very easy. 3 hrs. It’s a must see I think.
For me personally, I want to get away from the main tourist traps that cater to westerners. Roppongi was fun when I was 18 and single. You wanna meet people down for partying, gas panic is cool. But not for me anymore.

I probably would not have made this post if I did not read douglas88’s post first,but if the op was a friend of mine-and wrote what he did about beer during his trip-I would tell him that anything more then 50% of your time in Tokyo is a mistake!