there’s still several alternatives in Osaka, though. Dainibiru 2 has a great showa theme izakaya, ramen, small bars, etc :
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g298566-d3752528-Reviews-Matsuri_Daiko_Osaka_Station_Dai_ni_2nd_Building-Osaka_Osaka_Prefecture_Kinki.html
Bar Gig’l is my favorite bar in Osaka.
2 floors with the 2nd being just kinda like, your friends living room; an electric drum set, guitars, foosball etc.
Great place to meet fellow travelers as well as locals.
The owner speaks english very well and he’s a really cool guy to talk to.
Bible Cub, I’ve heard is a cool cocktail bar.
A friend of mine works at a bar called Farplane a few days a week, he’s also a great resource if you happen to run into him, also speaks very good english.
These places are all in Amemura.
Someone told me recently about a Harry Hosono themed bar in Osaka that I’d love to go to someday.
I don’t have an address or name but i have an image which may allow you to find it, also maybe it’s not even there anymore! Who knows!
Might take some work to find but you should be able to find the general area.
Apparently it has some Harry Hosono posters on the outside of it.
This place is in Kita ward.
Less familiar with Tokyo but last time there i did go to THE Champion Bar and that’s a great if you’re just looking to party/do karaoke with strangers.
There’s a place in I’m interested in called Ace’s Music Salon that seems to be one of the more chill foreigner-friendly bars in Golden Gai.
Keep in mind this in Kabukicho.
I love it there, but it’s not for everybody.
I wasn’t sure if it would be for me at first either.
King Tokyo (and Queen Tokyo) are some of the bigger gay bars in the area, but there are more near them.
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Greetings fellow Japan-fans! I was wondering if anyone may know where would be a good spot to pick up some secondhand, vintage, or alternative clothes. I’m having a year-long ramble through Japan thanks to my shiny new working holiday visa but my nomadic existence means the usual otaku-type trinkets that one may acquire in Japan will be only a bulky hindrance. Clothes are they only practical self-gift I can rationalise treating myself to.
I’m currently staying in Shinjuku (“oh cool that’s the place from Yakuza, let’s stay there”) but will be spending time in Kyoto, Osaka, Nagano, Hiroshima, Fukuyama, etc, etc. I would be very grateful if anyone can recommend shops where I can get cool-guy jackets, military surplus, band t-shirts, jewllery, etc.
On another note, if anyone knows spots to see jazz music please let me know. I’ve been a Ryo Fukui fan since I was a teenager and I’ve always wanted to see jazz perfomed live in Japan.
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Go to every 2nd street, go to every book off super bazaar, and dig til you get lucky is my advice. Alternately you can go to an area known for its vintage and consignment shops like kōenji, harajuku, or shimokitazawa (or umeda or amerikamura in Osaka). Depending on your style you may gravitate toward one place or another, but for me I just go to the far flung suburbs and look for the weird stuff. Last month I had good luck in the makuhari super bazaar.
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Thanks Chief - fashion street here I come!
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This is exactly how I slept in Japan. I wish we had these in the US, but I also don’t, because I know it would be so much shittier.
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When I was in Beijing in 2018 for a month I mostly stayed at internet cafes too, which were like less than $5 a night back then I think. Didn’t have a laundry area lol, but still similar comfort level. Whenever I read old Chinese novels they’re always talking about destitute scholars travelling around, sheltering at a different temple every night. I feel like internet cafes are somehow the 21st century version of that, complete with religion being replaced by video games and manga
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Wow this is wild. I would probably have lived like that for a summer if it was an option.
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Hey everyone. I’m going to Japan for 3 months next year (mid march til mid june) and I was planning on renting a place in Tokyo for those 3 months as a homebase and then traveling around on weekends etc.
But I am really lost as to where I could find a place to rent for those 3 months. Airbnb and Booking are mostly like hotels that are incredibly expensive if you wanna stay longer than a few days…
Can anyone recommend any online platforms to find an apartment (or rooms in shared flats) for longer stays?
I can read/talk a little bit of Japanese fwiw
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Shoutout to @exodus for recommending Mouyan curry, ended up being the favorite food spot for the majority of the group I travelled with (including myself)
Also can confirm that the Nintendo Museum isn’t worth going to, especially considering how much of a pain it is to get in - you’re paying to play a few games that could be anywhere else, not learn anything or get access to anything worthwhile in the gift shop (which is incredibly disappointing)
My small bit of clothing advice would be in amerikamura in Osaka there was a Fatal Fury: CotW pop up that had some sick hoodies (I hope it’s still there when you are), and likewise the TorchTorch fromsoftware pop up in Tokyo had some suprisingly cool shirts. Also not a clothing store, but Takoche in Nakano Broadway had some beautiful tshirt/long sleeve shirts as well (also just a cool store in general).
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you should just get digital nomad visa and stay at a ‘share house’.
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you can still stay at bhuddist temples (shukubo), extremely cheaply, if you speak japanese and are actually interested in bhuddism. I did it when I was younger - I had planned for a week but after 3 days of straight konnyaku and 6 am chanting wakeups with lots of floor cleaning i went back to the city. In terms of money though, I think i spent about ¥200 per day.
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Do you guys think this site is legit? If so which of these neighborhoods would you recommend??
Going to japan again in March. This time for work but I’ll have a week of personal time.
I have half a mind to see Hokkaido, another half to see Gifu, yet another half to go further south into Kyushu, and one half still to do something entirely different.
So I guess I’m soliciting general travel advice for someone who’s seen most of the major stops and even some minor ones too.
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I’m also going back this year, though not until September and only for the second time.
I’ve never been to Osaka so I’m going there this time. I’ve really only been to Tokyo and Kyoto for a real amount of time, but I’m flying into Haneda so I’ll be doing some Tokyo again.
Where would you recommend for a stop over between Tokyo and Osaka? Hakone, Takayama, somewhere else?
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Didn’t notice your posts in this thread, and it’s probably too late but nothing is setting off flags for me about that site, looks good. None of them are in my preferred zones but none are terrible either - at some point you just gotta choose something that’s close to a train station with frequent trains and figure out what that life is like.
I’d probably go okubo (first choice), meijiro, then nippori.
@Garrett.exe they don’t wanna see us shine, bro…
takayama would be a moderate pain in the ass to get to between tokyo and osaka–however i went to that region on my last trip and had a fantastic time, so depending on your timeline etc i would vote for that. hakone is supposed to be amazing as is kamakura but i’ve never made the time to see them because the crowds always turned me off. that said, i had a really good time in the five lakes of fuji region. this of course is also super touristy, but i was lucky enough to go when it was relatively sleepy.
kyoto is very very much worth seeing twice imo, especially if you use your second time to just hang out.
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The reason I haven’t answered your questions is I truly only know Tokyo and to a lesser extent kyoto and Osaka. The only time I went to Japan when it wasn’t for work was 2003 (when I went to Tokyo and Kyoto lol). I’ve been to Japan a lot of times but within a very limited area.
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I had the joke queued up before you posted so it was not directed at you (or anyone lol) my friend
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My partner and I are going for the first time in May and our only plans so far are we land in Tokyo and at some point go to Kyoto. We have a lot of ideas but its a bit overwhelming. Maybe I should just get one of those travel books from the library?