International > Japan

Japan for Christmas

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alicevyxle:
If you're set on Tokyo, then the JR Rail pass is definitely the way to go--having the freedom to ride the shinkansen will make life much more convenient at save a lot of time. The Seishun 18 is great if you have unlimited time and little money, and don't mind sitting on a train forever.

Like ironopolis said, you shouldn't run into any Christmas closures, though New Year's is more of a concern. Some stuff is closed, and for some reason some ATMs are given a holiday too, so be careful!

Paul:
Yeah, everything's open on Christmas. Christmas Eve however you may find restaurants are pretty packed as it is the equivalent of Valentine's Day essentially (yeah, they celebrate that too, but Christmas Eve moreso). Don't dream of going to KFC for lunch on the day itself unless you've camped out ahead.

In the lead up to Christmas, there won't be many differences except for the commuter crunch hour progressively getting pushed back as people rush to meet deadlines before their New Year's break. Mondays are the usual day off as always for the tourism industry. If Monday is a public holiday, the break gets bumped to Tuesday. If Tuesday is a holiday, then Monday becomes a freebie holiday ("Happy Monday") and the break gets bumped to Wednesday.

The New Year's period is pretty much limited to expat-aimed establishments. Something worth noting is that contrary to popular belief New Year's Eve is in fact celebrated in Japan (midnight counting and all but with a bell ringing it in afterwards not actual numbers counting down) but in a more religious and local way. People tend to stay up all night and flock to the beaches to watch the first sunrise. As such, an exception is made and the trains claim to run all night. In reality, you'll see a lot of staff simply abandon their post and leave stations unlocked and deserted so don't dare bank on this. Feel free to venture a bit further beyond your hotel but have a plan to get back if your local line abandons you. Truly a bizarre sight.

Freeto: What cosplay folks? We're into 2011 now, last I went there they were all but one American tourists.

Freeto:

--- Quote from: Paul on December 05, 2011, 01:09:58 PM ---Freeto: What cosplay folks? We're into 2011 now, last I went there they were all but one American tourists.

--- End quote ---

Harajuku was not a frequent stop on my trips to Tokyo but I've always run into cosplay folk there. Judging by the photos of this summer's cosplay convention that popped up on my Facebook newsfeed, I wouldn't consider it dead either.

kps1:
I'd recommend a rail pass if you plan on going all over Japan, but not if you are just staying in Tokyo. I like Osaka better myself though. If you go there you can hit up Kobe, Kyoto and Nara pretty easily. Also think the food is better and people are friendlier. Plus I think it's cheaper to fly into KIX anyway.

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