Job Discussion Forums

ilikerice · Joined: 05 Aug 2004 Posts: 14

hello, a bit of a selfish post here, but it's about vacationing. I will be teaching english in japan, near tokyo and I don't get that many entire weeks off over my contract year, so I want to plan something for golden week (29april-6May), which will be one month after I arrive. I won't know much, but probably anything I do will be cool, in my opinion, after only being there one month.

so if anyone has some ideas for golden week, please let me know, or things you never got around to doing, that you wish you had, festivals...or anything else that deserves more than 1-2 days etc.

- mt fuji is definitely on the todo list, but is only open summer time (right?)
- seeing those island way up north that apparently are still under dispute with russia would be very cool, or not at this time of year?
- any music festivals or music cities? I like music, all kinds, classical concerts, rock, and especially jazz
- anything particular to golden week in tokyo?
- kyoto, that is also on the todo list, is that good during golden week?

Thanks for any thoughts, advice or comments.

Brooks · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Posts: 1369 Location: Sagamihara

Kyoto will be crowded. Don`t go.
Once I went to Nara and Kobe for Golden Week, and it was fine there since the tourists tend to go to Kyoto.
In Tokyo what I remember was that I could actually get a seat on the Yamanote line. Golden Week is a good time to see Tokyo since a lot of people leave.

If you can get 8 days off in a row, consider yourself lucky. Often my Golden Week is broken up with a day or two of work.

shmooj · Joined: 11 Sep 2003 Posts: 1758 Location: Seoul, ROK

Nismo · Joined: 27 Jul 2004 Posts: 520

Unfortunately for you, Golden Week is the heaviest travel time out of the entire year, and prices/crowds will reflect that. Everyone tries to get out of the cities and go somewhere else, which is why I spent my Golden Week in a relatively less-populated Tokyo last year. As an example, the average price for a round-trip ticket From Tokyo to Okinawa during regular season travel is $300 USD. For Golden Week it is $1000 USD. Also, good luck finding an open hotel room. I don't mean to sound discouraging, but I'm just trying to be realistic. Don't get your hopes up and don't get frustrated looking for alternatives.

sildentokyo1 · Joined: 14 Jan 2005 Posts: 9

Yeah, I think your best bet is to go somewhere relatively unpopular. My first year here I went to the Kii Penninsula (near Nagoya and Osaka), which is basically all rural. My friend and I went to Inuyama, Ise and spent a night at a monestary on Koya-san, where they made the most amazing food. Despite the fact that neither of us spoke much Japanese at all, we didn't run into any serious difficulties and had a great time. All in all, it was one of the best trips I've ever taken.

bearcat · Joined: 08 May 2004 Posts: 367

Save your money and take short trips instead. Fuji can be done in a weekend or a 3 day weekend during the summer and there are tour packages available for it. May is way too early for and I don't think its open for climbing (really its hiking) then.

Golden Week is insane travel wise and I just stay home then. News always show the poor souls in long lines everywhere during that period and its pathetic. A teacher went to disneyland during that time and stood in line all day for rides... how many did he get to do? 2 rides and one show for the whole day. What a waste of money!

If you are just darned adamant about traveling then, stick to areas around where you live. You cant go too far without seeing something of interest... especially if you are new to the country.

Save Kyoto etc for a less crouded time.