School me on Japan
 

I'm going to japan for a couple of weeks at the end of june.
my break down will be 6 days at Tokyo, staying at the Grand Prince.
and another 10 days at Osaka at RIGHA.

I've looked around, but don't really want to do the tourist trap things.

Anything i must do, or i'll regret things at either location?

TIA

What are your interests?

Here's a summary I did on another forum for auto related stuff:

Toyota Mega Web

見�乗��感�る クルマ�テーマパーク MEGA WEB（メガウェブ）

This is a showcase of Toyota cars. They also have a History Garage that's in the building next to the Toyota showcase and it happens to be attached to a mall too! You can buy automobilia at the Euro Sports located inside the Toyota showroom or at the History Garage.

Super Autobacs

ƒI�[ƒgƒoƒbƒNƒX ƒhƒbƒgƒRƒ€ - ‚¨“X‚Ì‚²ˆÄ“à - ƒX�[ƒp�[ƒI�[ƒgƒoƒbƒNƒX

Direct link to list of stores: AUTOBACS.COM - ‚¨“X‚Ì‚²ˆÄ“à - “X•ÜŒŸ�õ

It's like a big Lordco, except they have a couple of racks full of wheels and a lot of neat stuff. I went to the one at Tokyo Bay - Shinonome (35°38'31.34"N 139°48'12.19"E) it's huge! I followed these instructions someone had posted on Japan-Guide to get there (it's basically in the middle of nowhere):
Tokyo - Shin-Kiba (Keiyo Line)
In the station go through the gates and on your left there is another gate for a sep train line.
Shin Kiba - Shinonome. (NOT JR! Its like a Sep Line kinda like the Ginza - Costs 160yen IIRC) When you get out of the train, look towards the platform and you should see the store
Walk out Shinonome station with the 7/11 on your left (not a 7/11 anymore), Walk to the end of the street, turn right and cross 2 roads and you'll see the HUGE autobacs sign!!!!

Honda Collection Hall

Honda Worldwide | Honda Collection Hall

This is pretty much a full day trip. I think most would've heard about this place so not much to say. If you get there early enough go out for a ride in a stock car (like an NSX). One thing to note, it doesn't say this in English, but the buses only run on weekends.

Honda Welcome Plaza

Honda ƒEƒGƒ‹ƒJƒ€ƒvƒ‰ƒU�ÂŽR�b“Œ‹ž�E�ÂŽR‚ÌHonda�»•iƒVƒ‡�[ƒ‹�[ƒ€�AƒCƒxƒ“ƒgƒXƒy�[ƒX

If you want to buy Honda Souvenirs without having to leave metro-Tokyo, visit this place in Aoyama. It's located just outside the subway station. You can also see Asimo here, he comes out to play a few times a day!

J's Racing

J'S RACING (DO NOT GIVE UP JAPAN)

J's Racing requires some travel from metro-Tokyo as it is located in Osaka, Japan. To get there take the bullet train Tokyo Station.

Spoon

SPOON OFFICIAL WEB

Spoon Sports can be found from the 1st station on the Oeido line. You'll have to walk a bit, also the address for spoon is the headquarters. Walk further down the road to Type One to purchase anything and to see the real "shop". A little out of the way but worth going to.

Mugen

–³ŒÀ | MUGEN official web site

No idea how to get here.

Audi Forum Tokyo

Audi Forum Tokyo > Audi Japan

Located in trendy Shibuya District in "the Iceberg" building. They seem to take the cosplay thing to an extreme in this district (at least when I was there a few years ago)!

Also, I wouldn't rule out all the "tourist" things b/c some of them are actually quite good! Like the "Tsukiji Fish Market". Go here to eat fresh Sashimi (if you like it). Tuna is therir specialty, it taste a lot different (imho, better) than in NA! Go early though, some stores close around noon.

just curious as to why ur staying in osaka for 10 days and tokyo 6 days. osaka can be explored in 3 days imo. i was in osaka for like 5 days and it started to get a bit boring near the end. id only go there for the food. and as speed2k said, what are ur interest?

tokyo skytree just opened so u can probably check that out. also, the gundam that use to be in shiokaze park has been relocated to a mall i think in odaiba somewhere so u can check that out.

food-wise, in tokyo ull probably want to specifically eat: monjayaki, unajyu, sushi, kaiseki (assuming u dont goto kyoto)

osaka: takoyaki, okonomiyaki (both hiroshima style and osaka style), horumon, fugu

Hard to cover Tokyo in 6 days.

Weekend: go to Yoyogi Park and check out the musicians and the cosplay chicks outside Meiji Jingu.

Interest would be eating an insane excessive amount of food, nature walks and hikes, and good old relaxation. Shopping if anything would be on the bottom of the list.

Why i choose those time frame, i just wanted to get away for awhile. The hotels and such were having insane discounts. So that's just kinda how everything turned out.

Anyways thanks for all the inputs so far.

For a nature walk, take the train to a nearby town called Kamakura. I think it's a bit outside of Tokyo. The entire place is full of various shrines and huge Buddhas if you're into that sort of thing but it's a totally beautiful and serene place. There's a nice mountain hike that ends at this famous enormous Buddha. I'll dig up some pics when I get home.

Ask SkinnyPupp. He likes that place too.

Food...it's hard to go wrong. I had maybe 2 meals in four months where I didn't enjoy myself. What kind of Japanese food are you into, how adventurous are you and how much do you plan to spend?

if u havent checked it out already, japan guide is a great resource for most things u want to do in japan. the site itself and the forums are good for finding out things to do.

in tokyo, id suggest visiting tsukushima's "monja" street. its a quirky 1/2 lane street with a bunch of different monjayaki restaurants. theres also a small store there selling amazing fresh melon pan.

in shinjuku, id suggest walking through omoide yokocho (memory lane or "piss alley") right beside the main JR station. theres a lot of great izakaya/horumon/yakitori restaurants in a small confined area.

if ur bored in shinjuku at night, id suggest walking through kabukicho to see how the red-light district is there. some great restaurants in the area and just an interesting sight overall. just ignore the black/sri lankan/japanese guys trying to hustle u to go to soaplands/kyabakura (cabaret bars)/strip clubs/bars.

if u have the time, take a daytrip over to yokohama as well.

take the train to kyoto and visit many of the unesco sites, like kinkakuji, kiyomizudera, etc.
stop in kobe to try some cheap kobe beef, or wagyu at the very least

osaka really is partying food and shopping

tokyo pretty much the same

I went to Kyoto back in the Summer of 2010. There are many 'vacation' packages that include bullet train+hotel for a very reasonable amount. I ended up paying less for the package than if I were to get a roundtrip bullet train ride from Shibuya (Tokyo)

this is probably the best thing i ate there.

I have no hang up on food, if it's good, i will eat it.
budget is anything reasonable...
so i'm guessing no more than 40 bucks a person for lunch and 100 bucks per person for dinner..

thanks for everyone's input so far

Sushi Dai at Tsukiji Market is one of the best meals I've ever had in life. If you don't want to line up, I'm sure Daiwa Sushi next door is just as good although I think you get more for your $37 (approx) at Sushi Dai as well.

Eat at the convenience stores. Not even kidding. When you come back, you will WISH our 7-11s were like that. I once had a spaghetti carbonara from a Family Mart that was fucking delicious. Seriously.

SkinnyPupp and I really like Torigen. I believe there are a few of these in a few different areas of Tokyo.

Cold soba and udon from just about any ol' place will be delicious on a hot summer day. I actually sort of prefer udon. For truly masterful soba, check out Kanda Yabu Soba.

Here's a few more along with a bunch of other stuff I wrote about Tokyo when I lived there for a summer four years ago: Japan 2008

Japan Forums is a great resource!

Sushi Dai is more like $50 for a set, not $37.

OP: 09 Great Restaurants in Tokyo - List09

When we were there, it was roughly $1 = 100Y. Now it's under $1 = 80Y.

Still worth it. I got 10+ extra pieces of toro on my second visit at $7 a piece and I still thought it was worth it.

I know, it's just fucken crazy how expensive the yen is now.

10 days in Osaka... I would do more in Tokyo, but seeing as you want the hikes and such, maybe you should check out Kyoto. It's like 1 hour or less by train from Osaka. There are lots of temples and sightseeing opps there.

Also someone mentioned Kamakura. Lots of temples there to sightsee as well. That one with the big buddha. Can also visit Enoshima as well.

What kind of budget do you need for 2 weeks in JPN? per day? not counting hotel+flight, just food and fun

depends how you spend your money. clubs in tokyo (roppongi/shibuya) run almost 1000yen a drink. theres a lot of izakayas that have all you can drink from 11pm-5am as thats when the trains are closed. Im not really an expert on places in tokyo but in kyoto ive found a place where you can drink from 11pm-5am for 1500 yen($20ish). theres also ones that do 2hrs for the same price during peak hours. depending on where you go theres lots of free things you can see but of course it takes money to get there(train/bus). You can find business hotels in tokyo that run for 35 a night but they usually lock their front doors by 2am. as ive been here for 7 months already if you specified your plans a bit more i could probably tell you a budget.

All I want to spend money on is sightseeing, tourist attractions, food, bed and transportation. Different people spend different money on fun/sightseeing and attractions, so I am mostly interested in what one will spend on food and transportation ( I plan to move a lot ) per week or day.

is that JR Rail Pass for tourists or whatever worth it? Planning a trip next spring/early summer and will probably be staying in Japan for about 10 days ~ 2 weeks. Destination is mainly at Tokyo but were wanting to explore Kyoto/Osaka for a couple of days too

Back when I went, the JR rail pass was definetly worth, just because we were travelling a lot at different spots in the city let alone travelling to ANOTHER city like what you are doing.