Yokoso! Japan

maichan · Post by **maichan** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 13:42 -0700

My wife & I usually try to go to Japan every year to visit friends and family. My wife is from Kamakura, so we normally do things in Tokyo, Yokohama and Kamakura.

Anyone have any recommendations on places to go, things to see, etc.
I normally figure out a few things to do in between visiting with family and friends, but it's always neat to hear other peoples ideas. Of course my wife has her own ideas.... like shopping in Ginza... LOL! We don't plan on traveling far, so anything within a day trip of Yokohama is good.

I'm into Toyotas and diecast cars, so I usually visit a number of hobby shops, including the Tomica Shop at Tokyo Station. In the past I've traveld to Nagoya to visit the various Toyota facilities there (Toyota HQ is near).

A few years ago we visited the Ghibli Museum. That was fun, but I accidently deleted all my pictures from that visit (was still learning about my camera at the time).

I also enjoy - trains, Japanese history, nature and dinosaurs. I've thought about visiting Toho Studios, and maybe check out one of the Ninja Houses I've heard about.

Anyway, I hope to hear back from some of you.
Thanks!

Post by **Steve Hubbell** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 16:06 -0700

I know next to nothing about contemporary Japan and places to visit, but I have developed an interest in Japanese cinema over the past dozen years which would make visiting the Toho studios a must see if I were ever to get to Japan.

maichan · Post by **maichan** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 22:07 -0700

I'm not sure if there is much to actually see at Toho Studios, but I have seen photos of some impressive murals and a few statues... including Godzilla. Nevertheless, what I have seen is enough to make me want to go there...

Post by **Steve Hubbell** » Tue Aug 02, 2011 23:05 -0700

I think the Toei studio in Kyoto might be more interesting from what I have seen / read about it on the internet. I am a big fan of samurai films and they have swordfight reenactments and a working ninja village (if I remember correctly).

khyron82 · Post by **khyron82** » Sat Sep 03, 2011 18:53 -0700

Steve Hubbell wrote:I think the Toei studio in Kyoto might be more interesting from what I have seen / read about it on the internet. I am a big fan of samurai films and they have swordfight reenactments and a working ninja village (if I remember correctly).

Heh, I was lucky enough to visit both Toei Motion Picture Park and Toho Studios as part of G-Tour 2 in early August. Granted, Toho Studios is not exactly open to the public like the Toei Park (save for the big Godzilla statue in front of the main gate offices), but we were invited by actor Akira Takarada himself to tour the grounds inside. One of the biggest highlights of the visit was this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV1ZzJU0Uhk

Yes, I'm sure Sensei will recognize me among the lucky people who got to hold that, and even get a photo with a internationally known Japanese movie star.

Most of the August entries of this blog covers the first day of G-Tour 2's visit to Tokyo Tower, Ultraman Shopping Street in Soshigaya, and the Toho Studios Tour in Setagaya. It was rather hard to top the first day of the tour after that.

http://sidelongglancesofapigeonkicker.blogspot.com/

As for Kyoto's Toei Motion Picture Park, I originally had reservations about going there, but ended up really liking it. The ninja house was closed for renovations, and paying extra for the haunted house didn't interest me enough to visit it, but there was a "hidden" exhibit of the props and battleship miniatures from the MEN OF THE YAMATO WWII movie, and a museum of the Japanese superhero genre (i.e. "Power Rangers") with a wide number of the costumes on display. The hourly stage show involving samurai & ninjas was excellent, except when they tried to inject humor into the proceedings, which made things a little eccentric at times (imagine Toshiro Mifune walking off the stage and suddenly becoming Billy Crystal for the"ninja rest time" audience entertainment, or a curtain call to the theme music from THE A-TEAM). The biggest downside to the park was the extreme heat and humidity of early August, and it was no wonder many of our group retreated to the air conditioned shopping complex (which also had the Sentai museum). I didn't spend much time in the old Japan village sets because of the heat, but it was kinda fun to imagine a samurai rabbit wandering through the place (only I doubt any courtyard pools he'd come across would have sea monsters in 'em like this place). There were even buildings dedicated to Toei motion picture history and it's famous animation productions.

Overall, I'd say it was worth the visit, only not in the Summer time which lead to some great photos, but forced me to scuttle from shade to shade.

maichan · Post by **maichan** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 8:39 -0700

@khyron82 - pretty cool! Thanks for sharing!

Toei Motion Picture Park looks like it'd be neat to visit, especially with those old town sets. Gives me yet another reason to try & visit Kyoto one day.

khyron82 · Post by **khyron82** » Sat Sep 10, 2011 14:12 -0700

You're welcome, and your photos are really nice as well!

I just hope you didn't have to go through the miserable heat and humidity that our tour experienced last month. Many of my photos look like the weather is calm and cool, anything but furnace hot and sticky.

I ended up really liking Kyoto a lot more than Tokyo, mostly because it was what I had envisioned Japan to be really like. If and when I go back, I do want to put Kyoto on the itinerary again, as well as Osaka and Fukuoka.

maichan · Post by **maichan** » Wed Sep 14, 2011 9:44 -0700

Thanks, I'm glad if you have enjoyed my photos a little. I've really enjoyed yours too - good stuff!

I just hope you didn't have to go through the miserable heat and humidity that our tour experienced last month. Many of my photos look like the weather is calm and cool, anything but furnace hot and sticky.

Yeah, my wife keeps telling me I will die if we go in the summer. I've been to Japan in early summer and things were just starting to heat up and get humid. I still want to go in the summer and experience the countryside during that season - I want to sweat & listen to the Semi (cicada)

I ended up really liking Kyoto a lot more than Tokyo, mostly because it was what I had envisioned Japan to be really like. If and when I go back, I do want to put Kyoto on the itinerary again, as well as Osaka and Fukuoka.

I would love to visit Kyoto. As far as Tokyo, I like it. I don't consider myself a big city boy, but going to Tokyo and experiencing the the life there is interesting and fun. I think the ease of getting around has something to do with it. Maybe if I had to actually work & commute there I would think otherwise. I do however prefer the countryside.

Normaly we stay in and around Yokohama or Kamakura, since that is where family and friends are. No matter where we go, there is alway plenty to see and do. I figure we have many trips ahead of us, so eventually I'll get to see more of the country each time.