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Tokyo / Fukuoka / Sapporo (Japan ) - Massage / Sauna / Places To Visit (Compiled)


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As the name says, it's only valid on the JR lines, which are the main lines. But it also has some local smaller lines.

 

If you need to travel within a city using their public transportation or subway, it won't be too expensive. The JR RailPass is really meant to save you big bucks on the inter-city trips, which cost an arm, especially the Shinkansen! Make sure you don't take certain shinkansen though, as they are not covered by the Pass (Nozomi and another one, forgot the name).

 

have fun in Japan though, it's a really really cool country to visit and to get lost into! :)

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I know that one can get private rooms at 24 Kaikan Ueno. Does anyone know if that is for "real staying" or for use by people who prefer not to use the private areas? If the former, does anyone know how much a nights stay is and what this price is compared to lodging not at 24 Kaikan Ueno but in that area?

 

Am thinking of heading to Tokyo but not too sure where to stay. Prefer to not stay in the newer part of the city i.e. Shinjuku, looking to stay around Ueno or Asakusa. Not too fussed about where I stay, as long as the place is safe, clean and convenient. Recommendations appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance for info.

 

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I know that one can get private rooms at 24 Kaikan Ueno. Does anyone know if that is for "real staying" or for use by people who prefer not to use the private areas? If the former, does anyone know how much a nights stay is and what this price is compared to lodging not at 24 Kaikan Ueno but in that area?

 

Am thinking of heading to Tokyo but not too sure where to stay. Prefer to not stay in the newer part of the city i.e. Shinjuku, looking to stay around Ueno or Asakusa. Not too fussed about where I stay, as long as the place is safe, clean and convenient. Recommendations appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance for info.

Oops, sorry, "private" above should read "public".

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how about massage in Tokyo?

Will be traveling to Tokyo tis coming Oct, reach there around 7am but hotel only allow to check him at 4pm.. duhh...

 

wondering where can i go... lol

 

Where is the hotel? By the time you clear customs, immigration and get to the city, it will be close to 9am. Most hotels allow you to leave your things at the hotel reception/storage area. Shops open at 10am so perhaps you can go wandering around? Akihabara or "the electric town" is a place where you can kill quite a bit of time. Go look at the latest gadgets, some of which are made only for the Japanese market. For example, one building in Akihabara contains 6 floors of electric/electronic gear - from laptops and phones on the ground floor to speakers and music systems, cameras on other floors to the topmost food floor.

 

Massage places probably dont open till 10am too. Note that massage in Japan is rarely "oil massage" i.e. there is very little skin to skin contact and is usually more expensive than in other countries (starting from JPY8000 per hr) . Many of the people offering massage are Chinese Nationals.

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I know that one can get private rooms at 24 Kaikan Ueno. Does anyone know if that is for "real staying" or for use by people who prefer not to use the private areas? If the former, does anyone know how much a nights stay is and what this price is compared to lodging not at 24 Kaikan Ueno but in that area?

 

Am thinking of heading to Tokyo but not too sure where to stay. Prefer to not stay in the newer part of the city i.e. Shinjuku, looking to stay around Ueno or Asakusa. Not too fussed about where I stay, as long as the place is safe, clean and convenient. Recommendations appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance for info.

 

The private rooms are for real staying but I find the rate to be quite high. A basic rate allows you at least 12 hours of stay and if you are not carrying a lot of things, the locker can suffice. I recall the 6 hour stay to be around 2200 yen. A private room should be about 4000 - 6000 yen. Can't remember :/

 

Rate-wise, I'd still recommend Ueno or Asakusa. Shinjuku is pretty expensive and the reasonable rates are the capsule hotels.

 

how about massage in Tokyo?

Will be traveling to Tokyo tis coming Oct, reach there around 7am but hotel only allow to check him at 4pm.. duhh...

 

wondering where can i go... lol

 

Try 2-chome for massage? But they won't come cheap.

 

Check in at 4pm. Must be a business hotel I guess? 

 

If you like anime, go to Akihabara. If you like Burberry, go to Ginza. If you like shopping in general, go to Shibuya or Harajuku if you are a ginna. If you like walking around town, go to Shinjuku.

 

Personally, I prefer to have a nice cone of ice-cream at Odaiba.

Image00109.jpg

I'm always running after you.

You are my ideal.

You are me.

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The private rooms are for real staying but I find the rate to be quite high. A basic rate allows you at least 12 hours of stay and if you are not carrying a lot of things, the locker can suffice. I recall the 6 hour stay to be around 2200 yen. A private room should be about 4000 - 6000 yen. Can't remember :/

 

Rate-wise, I'd still recommend Ueno or Asakusa. Shinjuku is pretty expensive and the reasonable rates are the capsule hotels.

 

 

Try 2-chome for massage? But they won't come cheap.

 

Check in at 4pm. Must be a business hotel I guess? 

 

If you like anime, go to Akihabara. If you like Burberry, go to Ginza. If you like shopping in general, go to Shibuya or Harajuku if you are a ginna. If you like walking around town, go to Shinjuku.

 

Personally, I prefer to have a nice cone of ice-cream at Odaiba.

 

Thanks darkflame. Am planning to stay for 4 days and have a suitcase to match i.e. wont go into the lockers. Am sure I wont get much rest if I dont go into a private room :). Where do you normally stay, mind sharing? You have obviously stayed in Tokyo before. Is Odaiba worth visiting i.e. overnighting at?

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how about massage in Tokyo?

Will be traveling to Tokyo tis coming Oct, reach there around 7am but hotel only allow to check him at 4pm.. duhh...

wondering where can i go... lol

If you're landing in Narita, don't worry. By the time you clear immigration and customs it will be 8. Train to Shinjuku will take you 1h30-2h depending on the days.

If it's a big hotel chain you can always try to check in early. If they have rooms available, they should let you in.

I checked in once at noon and once at 1pm. Hyatt and Westin.

Smaller hotels might be a problem.

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Odaiba - venus fort is good for shopping, and the one and only Factory outlet/premium outlet in city is at Odaiba

If u love cars and CARS, the car showroom(is it toyota?) is there too!!!!

 

Cannot afford to go usa to view statue of liberty, Odaiba has its all...

 

Romance is possible for a solo traveller, and odaiba promised you ALL that.....

 

 

 

 

My friend need help for travelling in kyusyu, anyone can help?

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Guest Firstcity

U can try Ueno First City hotel. Small hotel , 5 minute walk to Okachimachi station, about 20 mins walk to Ueno. Located in a quiet but still convenient location. A couple of streets nearer to Ueno train station, the sleaze starts with prostitutes loitering and touts. But none of this around Ueno First City hotel . Book early to secure a room. Of course don't except the counter staff to speak more than basic English.

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For example, one building in Akihabara contains 6 floors of electric/electronic gear - from laptops and phones on the ground floor to speakers and music systems, cameras on other floors to the topmost food floor.

Yodobashi Camera building. Nice place to explore.
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Guest Firstcity

U can try Ueno First City hotel. Small hotel , 5 minute walk to Okachimachi station, about 20 mins walk to Ueno. Located in a quiet but still convenient location. A couple of streets nearer to Ueno train station, the sleaze starts with prostitutes loitering and touts. But none of this around Ueno First City hotel . Book early to secure a room. Of course don't except the counter staff to speak more than basic English.

typo. Should be 10 to 12 mins walk to Ueno, not 20 mins.
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If staying in Ueno area, should visit Asakusa Senso-ji temple and Skytree Tower as they are nearby. Walkable from Asakusa is a street selling kitchen utensils and sushi replicas (expensive) but most shops closes at about 6pm.

And nice to stroll in the huge Ueno Park. Ueno Park also has museums and houses Ueno Zoo, where there are pandas.

Ueno area, Shopping wise, not so fantastic. If u are into electronics, Akihabara is just 2 stops away from Ueno. Ueno station has a famous cruising toilet but nowadays there are warning signs pasted in the toilet alerting that cruising takes place there etc. Near to Ueno station is the Big Gym gay sex toy shop, go in and see see.

Around Ueno station and Ueno park u can see homeless people sleeping in cardboard boxes at night. But they don't bother u.

Odaiba has the futuristic Fuji TV building, a hot spring theme park (onsen monogatari, I think that is what it is called), Venus Fort shopping mall, Diver City shopping mall.

Visit the restored Tokyo station building.

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If looking at capsule hotel in Ueno area, can check out Capsule Land Yushima. Can search for it on Agoda.com. Very near to Ueno station. Never stayed there but walked by it a few times. If u walked the shortest way from Ueno station to the capsule hotel, could run into prostitutes but u can just ignore them. Or u walk a slightly longer way. Around the hotel itself is no problem . Quite quiet at night, along it is along a road as the road is quiet at night.

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Thanks darkflame. Am planning to stay for 4 days and have a suitcase to match i.e. wont go into the lockers. Am sure I wont get much rest if I dont go into a private room :). Where do you normally stay, mind sharing? You have obviously stayed in Tokyo before. Is Odaiba worth visiting i.e. overnighting at?

 

For the capsule hotels, I think it should be relatively comfortable. If it is a sauna like Kaikan, it can be a problem sleeping in the open because before you know it, some guy crawls into your bed and hugs you before it turns into a scene in some Japanese porn.

 

Odaiba is not worth overnighting if you are talking about staying. I was told the hotel there has lowered its rates but it's considered not reasonable to me as I have a preference for minimalist business hotels.

Cost-wise, I stay at Ueno. If I can't get a good place, I'll get Kamata. I stayed at Kawasaki last time and had a great experience with the megamall there. (The hotel staff was friendly too.)

 

Preferably, during the weekend, I'd prefer to stay at Shinjuku 2-chome so that I can walk back after clubbing or pubbing. But if I'm backpacking next time, I may just settle for Kaikan since it has the cheapest rates.

 

Anyone going Tokyo during new year? Late dec to early jan?

 

Tempted to go! Argh!

Image00109.jpg

I'm always running after you.

You are my ideal.

You are me.

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just checking out... i m planning to go snow boarding trip nearby tokyo

I see. Enjoy the snow boarding. CX flies to Sapporo isn't it? I was thinking that perhaps Hokkaido has more snow, it should offer good snowboarding too, but I have not checked it out. And late January and Feb should have more snow than end Dec early Jan.
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haha come come.. CX having promo with DBS card.. DL also having promo.. $633

SIA also has offer. Around $700 but the promotional tickets could have been sold out on popular dates.

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SIA also has offer. Around $700 but the promotional tickets could have been sold out on popular dates.

 

Tempted to get SIA actually lol

 

Hi

 

Which hotel did you stay in (kamata and ueno, shinjuku)?

 

For Kamata, I stayed in Urban Inn Kamata. For Ueno, it was Touganeya.

 

And for Shinjuku, it was Shinujuku Park Hotel or something. (I don't recommend it. The conditions aren't good.)

Image00109.jpg

I'm always running after you.

You are my ideal.

You are me.

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They have some discounts sometimes at Imperial Hotel, if they are not too busy.

Nice rooms,excellent bars and restaurants, and not far from Ginza.

And I can confirm that thay are not racist at all in 24 kaikan saunas, specially the Ueno one... ;)

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SIA also has offer. Around $700 but the promotional tickets could have been sold out on popular dates.

Yep. I have check. The SIA Inbound flight is very early though it's fr HND. So I have chosen CX. And SIA date are very limited and promo tic r only on two flights which CX has more choice and u can even get out in HK during layover if you wanna be. =D

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And I can confirm that thay are not racist at all in 24 kaikan saunas, specially the Ueno one... ;)

 

I too can confirm that they are not at all racist in the Ueno 24 Kaikan. Went to experience the Asakusa 24 Kaikan, did not like it but the people were really friendly. They are more like a family and know who is new. They even showed me around the place :).

 

Does anyone have any experience with Arty Farty? I just happen to stumble on a bear bear party in Shinjuku years ago, around Chinese New Year. There was a group of stocky guys mainly "driving" the party - they were sort of the back up party to the guest DJ or perhaps they were part of the DJ hired for the party. It was a lot of fun. Since trains stop at 1am and since travel by taxi is costly, many locals party till the first train i.e. 6am. I cant remember if that place was Arty Farty or not and am trying to get more info on it. All I remember is that it had a dance area, was relatively large and there are very very few pubs/dance places that are relatively large in Shinjuku.

 

As a side note, strangely enough or maybe not strangely enough, when I went to 24 Kaikan Ueno after CNY years ago, I hooked up with Singaporeans who thought I was Japanese :).

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I too can confirm that they are not at all racist in the Ueno 24 Kaikan. Went to experience the Asakusa 24 Kaikan, did not like it but the people were really friendly. They are more like a family and know who is new. They even showed me around the place :).

 

......

 

As a side note, strangely enough or maybe not strangely enough, when I went to 24 Kaikan Ueno after CNY years ago, I hooked up with Singaporeans who thought I was Japanese :).

You are right, they are really friendly in Asakusa 24 kaikan (strange place..., but funny!).

And in 24 kaikan Ueno, I hooked up with Japaneses who thought I was French (which is true). :D

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I too can confirm that they are not at all racist in the Ueno 24 Kaikan. Went to experience the Asakusa 24 Kaikan, did not like it but the people were really friendly. They are more like a family and know who is new. They even showed me around the place :).

 

Does anyone have any experience with Arty Farty? I just happen to stumble on a bear bear party in Shinjuku years ago, around Chinese New Year. There was a group of stocky guys mainly "driving" the party - they were sort of the back up party to the guest DJ or perhaps they were part of the DJ hired for the party. It was a lot of fun. Since trains stop at 1am and since travel by taxi is costly, many locals party till the first train i.e. 6am. I cant remember if that place was Arty Farty or not and am trying to get more info on it. All I remember is that it had a dance area, was relatively large and there are very very few pubs/dance places that are relatively large in Shinjuku.

 

As a side note, strangely enough or maybe not strangely enough, when I went to 24 Kaikan Ueno after CNY years ago, I hooked up with Singaporeans who thought I was Japanese :).

 

I chanced upon Arty Farty on a Friday night. Was too shy to enter, and somehow it feels like Tokyo's answer to PLAY.

 

I like Dragon Men for the music though.

Image00109.jpg

I'm always running after you.

You are my ideal.

You are me.

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any good capsule hotel to recommend?

 

I tried before green plaza, but i hope to have something with more facilities and more convenient to mrt

 

http://www.hgpshinjuku.jp/

 

Remember, low crime does not mean no crime. I have heard that thiefs like to frequent capsule hotels just cos there can be opportunities to pickpocket or steal valuables. Lock your valuables away and make sure the key is not easily accessible when you are asleep - some people sleep so soundly that they dont even know when keys are removed from their wrists or pockets.  The same advice for when you are in any sauna or spa. Crime in Japan is low but it still happens.

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I chanced upon Arty Farty on a Friday night. Was too shy to enter, and somehow it feels like Tokyo's answer to PLAY.

 

I like Dragon Men for the music though.

 

Dragon's the gaijin-friendly one with some gay SM/bear comic drawings on the walls right? I don't remember the names very well but yeah it was my fav pub in Tokyo too.

 

What I really like about Nichoume is that there's something that just feels damn right about going for drinks and then getting some takoyaki with a new friend after that on the way out.

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Dragon's the gaijin-friendly one with some gay SM/bear comic drawings on the walls right? I don't remember the names very well but yeah it was my fav pub in Tokyo too.

 

What I really like about Nichoume is that there's something that just feels damn right about going for drinks and then getting some takoyaki with a new friend after that on the way out.

 

I don't recall gay SM/bear comic drawings. It's a nice place. Yeah, it is full of gaijin.

 

I wish I could get a new friend at nichome.

I howl'd so many times on 9monsters there but I didn't manage to talk to anyone.

Image00109.jpg

I'm always running after you.

You are my ideal.

You are me.

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Oh it has lockers outside! The comics are drawn at the wall at one side of the bar area, between the bar and the toilet passage. I did end up talking to some Americans that night at Dragon, but it wasn't the most exciting since I would have gone somewhere else to talk to Caucasians. Like HK lol.

 

But I think it's not very likely to make a Japanese friend, since Nichoume isn't the most foreigner friendly place around anyway. You might get picked up at the saunas for fun, but friends is a bit harder I guess.

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Oh it has lockers outside! The comics are drawn at the wall at one side of the bar area, between the bar and the toilet passage. I did end up talking to some Americans that night at Dragon, but it wasn't the most exciting since I would have gone somewhere else to talk to Caucasians. Like HK lol.

 

But I think it's not very likely to make a Japanese friend, since Nichoume isn't the most foreigner friendly place around anyway. You might get picked up at the saunas for fun, but friends is a bit harder I guess.

 

There are tons of foreigners in Nichome, expats or tourists. I always see them when I walk around there. They are at those corner bars or those tiny little clubs on upper floors. Not always easy to find when you're there alone for the first time.

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Oh it has lockers outside! The comics are drawn at the wall at one side of the bar area, between the bar and the toilet passage. I did end up talking to some Americans that night at Dragon, but it wasn't the most exciting since I would have gone somewhere else to talk to Caucasians. Like HK lol.

But I think it's not very likely to make a Japanese friend, since Nichoume isn't the most foreigner friendly place around anyway. You might get picked up at the saunas for fun, but friends is a bit harder I guess.

Yeah, I knew I won't get picked up unless I fake it that I was Japanese.

Some of the bars need you to speak Japanese too, otherwise you won't be welcome.

Thinking of going to Japan during gay nite events @ ageha in future.

Image00109.jpg

I'm always running after you.

You are my ideal.

You are me.

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Yup yup! So true!!!!!!!

Actually I felt that there were only 2 groups of gaijin (non-expat) at Nichoume.

1. Those at the bars/clubs listed on websites like travelgayasia/utopiaasia

2. Those lost and walking around lol

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  • G_M changed the title to Tokyo / Fukuoka / Sapporo (Japan ) - Massage / Sauna / Places To Visit (Compiled)
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