Japan Photo Guide

Sleeping in Japan can quite often be an expensive thing and unlike the USA where hotels charge per room, in Japan it is often a price per person. I am going to run through a couple different options that are decent, cheaper alternatives to regular hotels in Japan.  See the other places to stay.

Internet cafes are one of my favorite things about Japan. The photos for this post are from Fujiyama Internet Cafe in Kyoto, but many internet cafes share the same good qualities. Most internet cafes are open 24 hours so sleeping here is no problem. Some even have beds/futons/sofas you can sleep on. At an internet cafe, besides surfing the net, you have access to the following free things: drinks (usually everything from coffee and tea to sodas and even slushies), magazines, books, comics, tv, dvds, video games (usually PS2s but I can see in the near future some PS3s showing up), and some places you can even use some really fancy massage chairs, or even take a shower. There is food available but you usually have to pay for it, but some places to have some free food. Also some places have a partnership with a restaurant (usually a fast food place in the same building) that will bring you food. As you can see, Japanese internet cafes are a little different from what you might be used to if you come from the states. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Otaru is about a 30 minute train ride from Sapporo and for this simple reason, a lot of people make the trip to Otaru; however, I am not going to lie to you, there are very few reasons to go to Otaru. Seriously, unless one of the reasons I am about to give you applies to you, do not go to Otaru. You would be much better off doing almost anything (Asahiyama Zoo, Furano or Biei to give a few examples). That being said, there might be a reason to check out Otaru. You should go to Otaru only if: See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

A little over 2 hours from Sapporo, about 1 and half by train to Asahikawa and then about a 40 minute bus ride, Asahiyama Zoo is one of Japan’s most famous zoos and is the northern most zoo in Japan. If you plan on going to Biei, Furano or more north such as Wakkanai, Asahikawa is a nice place to stay for a day/night making it easy to make it to the Aasihayam Zoo and continue with your trip. As of February 2007 you could buy a combination ticket including round-trip transportation for an express train, bus and admission to the zoo, from Sapporo for 5500 yen or 7300 yen from New Chitose Airport. If you want to go to the zoo, this is definitely the way to go as it saves you about about 1000 yen. You can purchase this combination ticket at any JR ticket service. If you are in Sapporo and ask them or the tourist information center about the Asahiyama Zoo they will be able to provide you with more information.

I have not been to many zoos in my time but I have to say I was pleased with Asahiyama Zoo. There are some exhibits that are set up really nicely to take some very interesting photographs. The two best for this are the penguin exhibit and the polar bear exhibit. If you are traveling with kids, I highly suggestion considering taking a trip to the Asahiyama Zoo, and come on, let’s be honest, who doesn’t like animals? Especially ones that you most likely will not have a chance to see real life in the wild.

More photos after the jump and check out the official homepage of Asahiyama Zoo (English) for more information or see a video of the penguins.

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A district of Sapporo, Susukino is Japan’s largest entertainment district north of Tokyo and is home to hundreds of restaurants, clubs, bars and other nightlife establishments. During the Sapporo Snow Festival, Susukino gets involved and has it’s own road of ice sculptures on display.

These ice sculptures (are maybe I should say ice advertisements because that is pretty much what they are) are cool but the best part or the little ice bars that open up at night. In 2007, there was a Baily’s, Hennessey and even a Song Park Karaoke place where you could sing a song and you get a score depending on how accurate you were and then depending on your score you would get a coupon for a real establishment of Song Park.

Check out the video of a few of the ice bars here and a few more photos after the jump. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

I have not actually been here, but the latest winner of the Japan Photo Contest has! Congratulations to Laurenz Bobke who took this great photo at Shinjuku Gyoen! Laurenz had this to say about it, “It was taken in the Shinjuku Gyoen Chaya, Tokyo. After a stroll in the garden, we had two cups of Matcha (finely ground Japanese green tea used for the tea ceremony) with the traditional accompanying sweet in the tea house. Although not a real ceremony, the preparation of the is a very meditative process. The woman making the tea was sitting with her back to us, while I shot across the lacquer table with my small Lumix capturing the reflection.”

For more information about Shinjuku Gyoen, check out the wikipedia or the official website of Shinjuku Gyoen. To see more of Laurenz’s photos of Japan go to travelphoto.net. Thanks again for the photo and great shot!

The 2008 Sapporo Snow Festival will be held in Sapporo (of course) from February 5th until the 11th. Basically the Sapporo Snow Festival is a showcase of huge and amazing snow and ice sculptures. I have been to many festivals in Japan and can honestly say that most of them do not live up to their hype, but the Sapporo Snow Festival is one of the few that does…if you can bare the cold weather!

I actually went a few days before it started and left on the second day because it was a lot cheaper to do it that way. I suggest doing it this way not only because it is cheaper, but also because most of the big ones are (almost) done anyway and you can also see how they are made.

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