🇯🇵 TOKYO Travel tips 🇯🇵 | Watch BEFORE you go!

you're joining me in a very special city let's start with my preconceptions I expected Japan's capital and home to the world's largest urban population to be over the top and really in your face with neon lights and animate every turn and I certainly wasn't disappointed the streets are lined with towering multi-story buildings each filled with mind-bending department stores and arcades offices - some of the world's biggest brands and restaurants serving their best food you'll ever taste but despite all the apparent madness and chaos spend a few days in Tokyo and it just makes sense here efficiency is an art form Japanese attention to detail is legendary and it runs through everything from food to public transport and urban planning and yes even the toilets this trip was an educational and weirdly enlightening experience I've been lucky to visit a lot of amazing places making these videos the Tokyo is in a league of its own [Music] [Applause] [Music] so Tokyo it's big it's busy and it's brilliant as ever let's start with the airports [Music] flying from the UK you'll come into one of Tokyo's two major international airports Haneda or narrator of course you don't need me to tell you that Tokyo is a really long way away direct flights from Europe will take a whopping 12 hours for the nine and a half thousand kilometer journey they've got her nadir Airport which is roughly 13 miles south to city and then you've got Narita which is about 50 miles east fortunately both are really easy to get to noisy noisy Tokyo here's what you need to know from Haneda you have three main options the airport limousine bus a taxi or the monorail the airport limousine takes between 30 and 45 minutes stopping at most major hotels in the center of town with prices increasing for the night service between midnight and 5:00 a.m. a taxi should take about half an hour depending on traffic with prices depending where you're being dropped off there's also a 20% extra charge between 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. however the quickest option is the airport's dedicated monorail it'll get you into hammamet Sutro station in 13 minutes and from here you can connect to the circular Yamanote a metro line to reach other parts of the city the monorail runs between nine and seven on weekdays and then nine to five at weekends and public holidays that's annada here's what you need to know about Narita narrator is a whopping 50 miles east of Tokyo so all of your transport options are going to take a while the airport limousine bus and taxis run from narrator but both will take anywhere between 90 minutes to 2 hours to reach central Tokyo instead take the jr. and narrator Express it'll whisk you into town in a little under an hour and with this being Japan the trains are on time and super efficient a word of warning about getting home if your flights on a Sunday make sure you check the train times because there's a reduced service check your departure time and then allow plenty of extra time to get to the airport I cannot stress enough how huge Tokyo is so if you are planning on doing most of your sightseeing by foot I'd give that a serious rethink you're going to need to use the Metro so here's what you need to know the Metro can be pretty daunting at first glance for starters just looking at the map alone could prove a little overwhelming to even the most seasoned traveler and to make things really complicated is run by two separate companies Tokyo Metro and torii subway which can require two separate fares depending on which lines you use it's not all bad though we've found easy solutions to travel better on the Metro the first thing to do is get yourself a tourist travel card this means you won't have to worry about which line you're using as your card will cover them all they're available at the tourist information centers at Buena Ginza Shinjuku and on mrs. Santos stations as well as both airports and some hotels you'll need proof you're a tourist so make sure you have your passport with you otherwise single tickets are available vending machines in every metro station they have an english-language option and you can search by station to make sure you purchase the appropriate ticket they only accept credit cards been buying day passes to make sure you have enough cash if you're buying a single as well as making sure you've got the right ticket type there's a few things you're gonna need to know before venturing on the metro no smoking and giving up priority seats are given however did you know you shouldn't use your mobile okay texting on Wi-Fi is fine but definitely and no phone calls it can get very crowded so many services provide women only carriages during rush hour and speaking of rush hour avoid using the Metro between 8:00 and 9:00 in the morning and 5:00 and 6:00 in the evening when its busiest another thing don't be fooled by the abundance of n English you either eat there or you take it with you but definitely do not eat on the carriage as for navigation good old city mapper has been a godsend as ever why because I kid you not the metro stations are absolutely Marui civ the great thing is citymapper tells you exactly where you need to get off and at what stop and what exit so that's the Metro next taxis there absolutely everywhere in Tokyo they start at 710 yen and have a surcharge after 10:00 p.m. so watch out for that taxi doors are automatic and will open and close by themselves which can be really surprising for the first time you use a taxi here in Tokyo it's also worth mentioning that your driver is unlikely to speak English so try and have an address printed in Japanese for them so that's the transport cupboard next up is my favorite the food [Music] take it from me the food in Tokyo doesn't just rival any other city it completely surpasses them in 2017 for the tenth year running Tokyo was voted the most Michelin stars of any other city on the planet that's more than London Paris and New York combined and it's not just the fancy hired restaurants either just about all the food I had in Tokyo was of exceptional quality right down to a quick fire in the department store the quality of ingredients and the attention to detail in the preparation is unlike any other city I visited so to learn more about how to eat like a local I met with tour guide and translator Yuka Faria in Harajuku while waiting for our food to arrive I got a quick lesson in how to correctly use chopsticks a vital skill for anyone visiting Japan it's practice okay cuz I can't I can't use them I'm sorry I will live to hand it but so please hold your one stick with your two fingers like that yes like holding a few yes another man holding a pencil yes this side like this only a pup please move only pack a puppet with chopsticks fully mastered it was on to our main course of soba noodles oh we are the different types of a soba noodles okay so yours in hot broth what soup smells lovely yes so this is Duncan - it's lovely and the mine is very cold one okay it's very special for you maybe and the way the system is all off like this this is dipping sauce okay while I enjoy sub-code noodles wasn't tempting me it's a popular choice in summer yeah my dish of hot noodles with duck meat was delicious and as I pointed out make sure to slap loud ly as a sign of appreciation so do you kind of slap them yes yes thank you for asking in Japan when people eat know those so making son they always make him sound okay so it's a fine / it's delicious how lovely so if we try - no too much noise as possible yes okay that's perfect [Laughter] no it's really tasty so huge thanks to aya we'll catch up with her again later to learn some basic Japanese but now we're gonna take a quick look at some of the different districts of Tokyo [Music] Tokyo's big we've already established that it's made up a 23 wards where each ward is then divided into a smaller district and then each one is different from the last now there's no way I've got enough time in this video to talk you through them all so I'm just going to go through some of my favourites a key harbour ax is best known for its electric town a mecca for local otaku videogame lovers and anime fans the world over to the northeast of Akihabara lies asakusa a district of Taito it's most known among travelers for the Giants in Shoji temple Tokyo's oldest and an absolute beauty Ginza is the place to go if you have some serious cash to burn with upmarket shopping malls and flagship department stores not to mention boutiques art galleries and high-end restaurants you'll have no problem spending a small fortune a short walk from Ginza is the legendary Tsukiji fish market in my opinion this is the place in Tokyo to go to sushi and fresh fish however a note of warning the market is due to be relocated in autumn 2018 so do check online before planning your visit Shibuya is home to the iconic Shibuya crossing and is an important center of youth culture and fashion Harajuku is a district of Shibuya and extreme cultural Mecca not only to the youngest and trendiest of Japan's residents but the rest of the world Shinjuku is Tokyo at its finest and is the largest of the districts that make up the city proper there are skyscrapers neon lights giant Godzilla statues businesses cat cafes a massive park arcades of VR theme park and the concentrated craziness of the robot restaurant Shinjuku has it all and my top tip is to head to memory lane for the best yakitori Intel's so those are my favorites next up time to learn some Japanese [Music] communication can be a big concern for tourists heading to Japan the language is very different to those in Europe and Japanese script is indecipherable for us Westerners confusingly there are several different versions of written Japanese with the most common being traditional hiragana and the Chinese influenced kanji science have translations into English and romaji which is Japanese written with familiar Roman characters the great thing about romaji is that its phonetic say it how you see it making sure to pronounce all the vowels and keeping your intonation flat for example Shinjuku narrator Shinzo our Bay and edamame beans now of course English isn't widely spoken and learning a little Japanese will go a long way with locals always appreciating the effort after touring Harajuku we sat down with Iyer again to get to grips with some Japanese basics so I thought maybe we can set some basic how do I say hello it's corny - ah konnichiwa another one I've been bumping into a lot of people and I don't know how to say sorry or pardon or excuse me that's very useful while the weekend years it's just safe sumimasen sumimasen yes okay okay how do I tell someone my name is Dan mm-hmm so what does she were done this what yes no yes is hi hi hi hi no no it's a yeah yeah yeah yeah someone in a restaurant hello else the receipt of the bill but we say okay okay okay okay and also in the restaurant how do I ask for a table for two yes see daddy daddy daddy daddy means two people after okay how do I say thank you it's very easy it's arigato arigato okay and he was saying earlier there was like a bit on the end I'm gonna get oh okay God very massive we've got famous voice a man yes what does that mean I thought that Roma afraid is more polite expression okay like the difference between thank you and thank you very much okay so shall we talk about bowing yes okay so there's there's varying degrees yes it's for the meaning is totally different from degrees so I will show an example okay yes okay so in business situation when two people meet yes always without showering like this 30 degrees that's degrees yes so nice to meet you three two and as for 60 degrees middle one so when we express self something yeah to someone so like to thank you very much thank you yes thank you very much yes and there was a third one yes the third way is a very serious one it's 90 degrees 90 degrees yes okay so can you imagine in which situation people use this probably you've done something crazy bro like I'm so sorry yes yeah to apologize okay yes like I'm very sorry I thank you so much for showing us to race in Tokyo walking toward a packet visit her website there next money [Music] currency here is the Japanese yen swear one pound between 140 and 150 now in fight Tokyo's love of everything futuristic and technological it's still a heavily cash reliant fitting favoring coins and notes over your credit or debit cards this has proven to be a bit tricky my advice once you've checked the exchange rate worked out your budget bring the whole lot in cash you need to know that ATMs can be found at post offices 7-eleven stores and JP post banks though they generally close at 9 p.m. or earlier and may not be available at weekends or national holidays so plan ahead fortunately some convenience stores and shopping centers are available 24/7 now and the risk of turning stingy I love Japan because you just don't have to tip it's not done here which is fantastic why because leaving a tip it's seen as being charitable rather than generous and it's just massively insulting so don't do it one of the great things about Tokyo is its distinct lack of street crime so don't worry about carrying large amounts of money around with you this includes are spending money obviously don't be stupid with it and take more care in areas such as the cab Akito red-light district in Shinjuku but in general there's far less to worry about here than almost any other city on earth in fact Tokyo placed first in the Economist safe city index in 2017 and is Tokyo expensive in a word yes however for those of us used to prices in London Paris or New York then Tokyo shouldn't hold too many surprises here's a look at our costs during our state my stay at the beautiful Heathrow Hilton t4 before my flight was 215 pounds flights should cost around 650 pounds returned from London to Tokyo worldwide travel insurance with holiday extras were 16 pounds our three bedroom apartment in Shinjuku was 205 pounds per night entry to the crazy robot restaurant was 8,000 yen per person entry to the shinjuku PR zone with poor games was four thousand four hundred yen each and weekday entry to the cat cafe was one thousand yen for sixty minutes if you want to check conversion rates go to EXCI calm or download the app as my time in tokyo comes to an end don't forget to subscribe as we have loads more exciting travel content to come so that's it for Tokyo it's been awesome I cannot lie it's busy it's brash its noisy it's super loud but it's also colorful vibrant really really humble the people are are wonderful they are so friendly and so polite but as always of these trips I've got to hone in on the food it's spectacular get yourselves here get some ramen and and just have an amazing time exploring Tokyo do it [Music] [Music]

Channel: Holiday Extras Travel Guides

Views: 1,621,146

Keywords: holidayextras.com, holiday extras, tokyo, tokyo travel, tokyo travel guide, shinjuku, asian travel, otaku, asia, anime, sushi, kanji, fish market, how to use, metro, monorail, food, robot cafe, travel guide, vr arcade, vr theme park, things to do in tokyo, travel the world, tokyo 4k, bucket list, tokyo travels, cuisine, japan, japan travel, haneda airport, tokyo airport, narita, weeb travel, japanese, new japan, tokyo 2020, tokyo 2020 travel, tokyo olympics travel, tokyo travel advice

Id: bC9m_id_Yds

Length: 18min 46sec (1126 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 13 2018