Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Sapa]

Anyone got any personal recommendations for budget accommodation in Tokyo? Hopefully want to find a place in a good location and relatively cheap. It will be for me and my gf.

[Beeyee]

I cant remember the name but I stayed in a capsule hotel in Shinjuku. That was pretty fun. You would have to be away from your gf however so this is probably useless advice....

[CentralCali]

There used to be a nice capsule hotel right next to Ebisu Subway Station (Ebisu's in Shibuya). When I was stationed in Ayase City, I stayed at that capsuru a few times. IIRC, there was even one floor for female guests.

If you do stay in that area, be sure to hit up the Garlic Restaurant down the road too. They didn't take reservations and thus there was always a huge line out front.

[Sapa]

thanks, will check those out.


p.s.
Where can I buy a 7-day JR pass in Seoul? I'm told this is the best option even if your only going to use it for Tokyo-Kyoto-Tokyo. I'm thinking with Nara, Nikko and somewhere round Mt Fuji thrown in, there really is no other option.

p.p.s
Mt Fuji. Where is a good area to view this from, perhaps as a few hours stopover between Tokyo and Kyoto?

I figured some of you might know the answers to these and it's better than starting new topics.

[farrepatt]

I'm not sure if it's cheap enough for what you're looking for but I always stay at the Toyoko Inn when I'm in Japan. They're clean, cheap and have a free Japanese breakfast. Rates vary depending upon the area.

http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/

I've gotten my JR rail pass at Unique Travel in Itaewon, but I suspect most travel agents can get you one. The price is pretty standardized I believe. I takes about a day or two as they need to order them from the official Japan Travel Agency.

As for Mt. Fuji, You can glimpse it from the bullet train. If you want to see it closer you can get off at Odawara station and catch a bus closer (or a day package if you buy the Hakone pass). A plus about Odawara is there's a decent castle just down the road from the station (though if you're going to see Himeji castle don't worry about Odawara's castle).

There's also a Shin-Fuji station which I believe can see Mt. Fuji, but I've never gotten off there.

I highly recommend stopping to see Mt. Fuji though. It's a great site. Winter is the best time to see it as well as the sky is generally much crisper.

[TeeBee]

I'm on my way to Tokyo for the first time in two weeks, so I can't give personal recommendations on what this place is like, but I've booked accommodation here: http://www.aizuya-inn.com/rate.html

I got a rate of 5,800 yen per night. They have good reviews on a number of websites, and, well, it's the cheapest place I could find for accommodation for couples.

Re viewing Mt Fuji - I heard you can do a day trip to Hakone and see it from there. http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e5200.html

But maybe someone else can give some advice from personal experience...

[Xuanzang]

[Tiger Beer]

www.hostelworld.com will have everything from $17/night up to whatever else.

[salohcin]

[The_Source]

The best places to view Mt. Fuji are from Lake Yamanaka and Lake Kawaguchi. However, both are out of the way from the Tokyo-Kyoto route. It may be more practical for you to go to Lake Ashi in Hakone (near Odawara). The japan-guide.com site that the above poster mentioned shows the view of Mt. Fuji from Lake Ashi.

[bangbayed]

[Donghae]

OP, for seeing Mt Fuji I'd recommend doing it via a detour to Hakone en route to/from Kyoto. As was suggested above, you can get off the Shinkansen at Odawara and take a bus from there to Ashinoko (Lake Ashi). However, be warned that not so many of the faster Hikari Shinkansen stop at Odawara (and none of the Nozomi) so you'd need to do a bit of timetable checking. If you're on the way back from Kyoto, you might need to change to a Kodama Shinkansen (the one that stops everywhere) at somewhere like Shizuoka to get to Odawara.

Do NOT get off at Shin-Fuji! On my first ever trip to Japan, about 16 years ago, I was travelling around with a JR pass and was seduced by the name of that station to get off there and have a look around what I assumed would be a nice place. And a big mistake that was! Shin-Fuji station is in the middle of a grim industrial area with absolutely nothing to see. Ok, you'd perhaps be able to see Mt Fuji in the background, but it'd one of the most depressing places to do your Fuji viewing from.

If you go the other route to view Mt Fuji - Fuji-go-ko (Fuji 5 Lakes, including the 2 mentioned above) - you need to take a Chuo Line train from Shinjuku to Otsuki and then transfer to the Fujikyu line to take you up to the end of the line at Kawaguchiko (Lake Kawaguchi).

I'd agree with the previous poster than you can get more spectacular views of Mt Fuji from this side, but in your situation, Hakone/Odawara would be much more practicable. For the train to Lake Kawaguchi, the JR pass will only cover you as far as Otsuki. The Fujikyu Line is not JR, so you'd have to pay separately. Then it's either quite a long walk or a bus from Kawaguchiko station. There are buses from Shinjuku also, but you couldn't use the JR pass on them. This route would also be a lot more time consuming.

[Sapa]

thanks for all the great info