How to travel Japan without once paying for a hotel

by Tynan on

I love hotels, especially nice ones. It’s great to know that you have a comfortable place to come home to after a full day of adventure in a foreign city. However, in Japan hotels are expensive, and if you’ve got a limited budget you can get more bang for your buck spending your money elsewhere.

I had this idea a week ago, and have been dying to write about it. But first I had to test it out firsthand to make sure that it actually works and is practical.

The one prerequisite is that you get a JR rail pass. If you come to Japan, this is an absolutely essential purchase. Basically you pay a fixed fee (just under $300 for a week or up to $570 for three weeks) for unlimited travel on all Japan Railways trains. This will take you all the way from Hokkaido in the north (where I am right now) to Fukuoka in the South. Everywhere.

The JR pass is good for travel on all of the JR trains except for sleeper trains and the fastest bullet trains, which is no big deal since the second fastest are almost as good.

However, I have found a loophole in the sleeper train rule. Certain sleeper trains have beds which are classified as seats, and can thus be used with the rail pass.

The first type is called “Nobi Nobi Carpet Cars.” They are trains full of little bunkbeds made out of wood with carpet on top, and a blanket and pillow are provided. Your taste may vary, but I’ve found sleeping in these cars very comfortable.

The second type is called “Goron to Shito.” I don’t know exactly what that means, but basically you get a bunkbed with a mattress, but no pillow or blanket. These are a bit more comfortable that the Nobi Nobi.

There are also overnight trains without beds. These aren’t nearly as comfortable as the bunk beds, but the seats usually recline way back. I’ve slept in one for the past two nights and have had no problems getting a solid night’s sleep.

One important point, which I’ve learned the hard way, is that the beds-classified-as-seats can fill up quickly, so it’s best to book them as far in advance as possible. During peak season that can be a few days. In the off season you can get them hours before they leave.

These sleeper trains are very slow, which means that where they end up is almost irrelevant. You can take a Shinkansen bullet train back to wherever you want to go that day.

Whether or not the train has a shower seems to be random, but they all have bathrooms and sink areas to brush your teeth. If yours does have a shower, use it. They’re really cool and it’s fun to shower in a moving train.

If not, look for an onsen. These are public baths fed by natural hot springs. You’ll never feel more clean or relaxed after visiting one, and they’re a great part of Japanese culture to enjoy. They range in cost from a few dollars for a small one tub onsen to more that twenty dollars for a more elaborate one.

Japan-Guide has a great overview of the night trains which is a pretty complete list of the loophole cars. I found at least one not listed that was also a nobi nobi.

Tokyo’s Grand Sumo Tournament kicks off

by Grant Martin on

The Nihon Sumo Kyokai Tokyo Grand Sumo Tournament kicked off in Japan this past Sunday, beginning two action packed weeks of Sumo excitement. Naturally, Gadling had room in the travel budget to send a couple of bloggers, so we captured some video from the first round of matches.

If you’ve never seen real Sumo wrestling in action, it’s a pretty fantastic spectacle, complete with everything from traditional salt throwing and the closing bow dance to all of the white people in the only concession stand line that serves hot dogs and popcorn.

The concept is simple: the first man to push the other outside of the ring or (sometimes) off of his feet is the winner. But the delicacies of the game, the tradition surrounding the event, the excitement of the crowd, the roaming wrestlers in the hall and the energy surrounding the entire building are amazing.

If you’re ever on holiday in Japan and considered looking into tickets, best pony up the fifty bucks for the cheap upper ring seats — it’s totally worth it.

“Bizarre Foods” on the Travel Channel: Asia potpourri

by Jamie Rhein on

Location: Tokyo and Kobe Japan; Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand; and Penang, Malaysia. (This episode was a repeat of a previous season. I missed this one the first time, so I was happy to catch it.)

Episode Rating: 4 Sheep Testicles (out of 4) using Aaron’s system that certainly works well for this episode–if you trade sheep for pig.

Summary: After watching this episode, it might seem like there is nothing but bizarre food in Asia. I can attest that the eating is among the finest. I’ve been to all three countries and promise there’s food to suit most people’s palate. Being an adventurous eater helps. What Andrew Zimmern honed in on is foods that are thought to give power. Feeling a bit blah? There’s nothing like some frog meat.

In Japan, frog sashimi is a real health pick me up. Sashimi is usually raw seafood–unless it’s frog. Chase it down with some lizard sake and you’re good to go. The lizard was leaning out of the glass like a garnish one might see at a Halloween party. Even more macabre, but maybe that’s just me, is eating the frog’s beating heart. Zimmern proclaimed it “not bad…not a lot of flavor.” To eat a beating heart, I’d need a bit more than “not bad.” See the YouTube video for the full effect.

Suppon, a soft-shelled turtle has been eaten in Japan for 450 years. In Japan, turtle is mega power food. It gives men extra get up and go, if you know what I mean. For women, it’s supposed to do wonders for the skin. The soup version looked tasty, if one ignored the detail of Zimmern gnawing on the turtle leg. Watching the turtle bleed beforehand, though, was a big ick. Zimmern downed some turtle blood mixed with rice wine before he dug into the soup. I’d like my rice wine plain, thank you.

Another bizarre dish Zimmern tackled was fugu, poisonous blowfish. I’d pass on it. First of all, 100 people a year die from eating fugu when it’s not prepared correctly. Secondly, even when it’s prepared correctly, there’s enough poison in it to make your mouth numb. See Matthew’s post that gives more specifics.

The detail about Kobe beef was interesting–those are some happy cows, and I got a kick out of the yakitori contest when Zimmern and a Japanese pal had dueling moments of eating chicken part skewers. Evidently, not all chicken parts are tasty. “I’d rather be tied naked to an ant hill than eat the rest of this,” Zimmern declared.

Once Zimmern left Japan for Thailand, it was market browsing past ant larvae, grubs, beetles, grilled frog on a stick and a host of other taste treats. I have eaten bird’s nest soup, however, and thought it not bad–for swallow nests. Zimmern went shopping and pointed out that swallows’ nests cost up to $1,000 for a package of 12 of the finest.

Outside Chiang Mai, Zimmern ate street food which were hits and misses. One miss was some sort of red sausage that was a mix of pork and organ meats. A real gag with that one. He also downed spirulina, a drink made from live algae that’s supposedly one of the healthiest foods. It’s gotta be good for you. It’s green. Plus, he said it smelled like the bottom of an aquarium. You can get it in pill form if you want.

Although visiting a hill tribe in Thailand is a wonderful experience, the bat eating is something I’d do without. Those fruit bats, when stir fried, look like fruit bats stir fried–perfect for that Halloween party with the lizard sake chaser.

When Zimmern hit Penang, an island of Malaysia, I had flashbacks to some awesome meals. Sambal, the sauce made from shrimp paste is good–I wouldn’t eat buckets of it, but it’s good. Zimmern ate the fiery version and in between fanning his hands in front of his face, asked, “Is their steam coming out of my ears?” Penang is also a wonderful place to spend time. One thing I appreciated about this segment was the inclusion of Indian food. Indian food in Malaysia (and Singapore) is superb. I ate Indian food in Georgetown myself.

The food that Zimmern spit out was durian, the smelliest fruit on earth. It’s so smelly it’s not allowed on public transportation in Malaysia or Singapore.

Although this episode was a repeat, it was a good one for a trip around high points of places I’ve been. Next week, Zimmern’s back with a new episode. Stay tuned for India.

For Gadling recaps of this season:

Goodbye Cherry Blossoms

by Tynan on


The past two days have been extremely rainy here in Tokyo, which means that hanami, or flower viewing season, is over. The rain has pulled all of the delicate blossoms from the trees, lining the sides of the streets with thin carpets of white flowers.

The blossoms are still in season further North, so pretty soon I’ll be heading up there to show visiting friends the majesty.

Until then, here are some pictures I took of the blossoms in Yoyogi Park.

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Big in Japan: Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo’s top tourist attraction, is limiting access

by Matthew Firestone on

No trip to Tokyo is complete without a visit to Tsukiji Market (????????, Tsukiji shij?), the largest wholesale fish and seafood market in the world. According to estimates, over 2000 tons of fish worth over US$15 million are sold here daily – that’s a total of 616,000 tons of fish worth over US$4.25 billion each year!

If it comes from the ocean, then chance are that you’ll find in at the Central Fish Market, which is literally home to acres upon acres of commercial vendors. Of course, the highlight for both foreign and domestic tourists has always been the daily tuna auctions, where hulking 600 pound behemoths can fetch prices of up to several thousand dollars per head.

If you’ve never had the privilege of watching Tsukiji’s famed tuna auction, the action commences around 5am when buyers are admitted onto the showroom floor. Here, rows upon rows of frozen tuna are meticulously poked and prodded by expert hands in search of the highest quality meat. Soon after, the scene erupts into a frenzy of calls and responses as buyers seek to outbid one another for the choicest fish.

Sadly, tourist access to this incredible scene is being restricted following increasing complaints by fish traders that tourists were distracting them from their work.

As of April 1, 2008, tourists will only be able to watch the tuna auctions from a designated area, and entry times are also being restricted from 0500 to 0615. Depending on how successful these new regulations are in curbing distractions, there is a chance that stricter regulations may be implemented in the near future.

According to Ihei Sugita, who works at the Central Fish Market, foreign visitors were taking to the habit of touching and photographing fish that came from their home countries. “At a place that auctions several hundred tunas in a day, this is affecting our business. We do feel bad to completely turn them down since they are visiting all the way from abroad, so that’s why we are keeping this window of time that will affect us the least.”

In the past, the daily tuna auctions at Tsukiji were only attracting a handful of in-the-know foreign visitors each day. However, in recent years the popularity of the event has surged, especially sincemore and more world travelers have becoming increasingly more curious as to the humble origins of their favorite sushi.

Since there is a good chance that the tuna auctions may become completely closed off in the years to come, it’s probably worth trying to catch a glimpse of this wholly unique event while you still can. If you happen to find yourself out at night in Tokyo, our recommendation is simply to party hard in Roppongi until the sun rises, and then hop a quick cab to Tsukiji. True, an impending hangover and the smell of raw fish are anything but a wise combination, but trust us – being in the middle of the auction madness is worth the risk!

** All photos were snapped by yours truly at a time when foreign visitors to Tsukiji were still permitted to get up close to the action. **