This trip is going to be a lot more interesting than my last, simply for the fact that I'm going to be getting chance to travel and experience some of the summer festivals in the north of the country. The time I managed to get off work actually falls on a really good time period, even though it's earlier than I first planned to travel, but the first week of August is festival season in Aomori! For those who don't know, Aomori prefecture is the very north before you cross to Hokkaido. At this time of year they have a lot of snow, but in the summer it's still as warm as ever. (Thankfully not as hot as Tokyo, but only by a few degrees!)
As you can see it's a distance from Tokyo. I'll be taking the bullet train the day that I land in Japan. First I'll have to travel from Narita into Tokyo itself and get the train from the central or Ueno station. It's a trip right to the end of the Tohoku line to Aomori city itself and then a regular train out to where I will be staying. Hopefully I'll be able to sleep on both the plane and the bullet train, if not I'll be super jetlagged when I arrive!
After then I'll be staying north until the friday, then back to Tokyo for 10 days until I fly home.
Once in Tokyo I'd like to see a band or two, shopping obviously, and then a few things like Namja town and Sunshine city, The Lockup ect ect. Recommend me your favourite places to go and I'll be sure to check them out !
For those who wanted to find out more about the bullet train here's some information pages which I found useful. I've used the bullet train before to travel south to Hiroshima and Osaka, but not everyone knows how to use it! I can recommend getting a 'JRP - Japan Rail Pass' if you plan to take any kind of long journey by train, it can make things a LOT cheaper.
Shinkansen Guide
Official JR Site (timetables ect ect, all in english)
JRP information and purchase (UK)
Suica card (Like the London Oyster)
3 comments:
Namjatown was really fun when I went, there was a Macross exhibit and that made it even better ~
You're going to have so much fun!!
Ahh will you be there during the Aomori Nebuta matsuri? If so that really is a must see!
We went to the Lock up in Shibuya, little disappointed at the entertainment though. They gave a massive build up when you entered the place but once you were seated nothing actually happened. Our waiter was HOT though ;D
NamjaTown is ok, but I wasn't really that impressed. It's cheap to get in but you need to pay extra for the 'Namja currency' to go on the 'rides' etc.
The Lock-Up is great! I saw Marie's comment above and I'm wondering if it's because they missed it. About every hour or so, something happens...I won't say much but it's creepy, scary and hilarious. The food is tasty, as are the cocktails but I would suggest going with a group. It's more fun that way and cheaper.
I would suggest Eggnam in Shibuya for purikura, it's wonderful. Also Kabukicho was one of my favourite places to hang out when I was living in Tokyo. The Uta Hiro karaoke there is big and cheap!
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