have you been to japan?

[waterwell]

yes, free before. but since they only accept visa applications coursed through the accredited travel agencies, parang nagbayad ka na rin ng visa fee.

[red_track]

hala! san mahahanap *** list ng mga accredited travel agencies?

[illumina]

Visa. Regarding the visas, theoretically, you can get the visa for free if you apply in person at the Embassy, but the Embassy "highly recommends" that you course through an accredited travel agency. We used Budget; they charged us PhP 800 (per person) for the tourist visas last year; other agencies charge much higher. You may find somewhere else that may be cheaper for processing.

Tip when submitting the tourist visa requirements: I think it's better if you present more proof that you have a reason to return to the Philippines, other than what is written on the website. I also submitted my certificate of employment and leave authorization from my company. I also think that the daily itinerary and booking confirmation would help.

We even submitted an invitation letter in Japanese, although I think the requirements state to only submit it in English. If you're going to submit invitation letters, dapat one per applicant, kahit pareho lang ang mag-iinvite. I also have a tita who married a Japanese national, but we made the invitation letters sound like they were addressed from the Japanese national.

All in all, I think it's easy to get a tourist visa, just as long as your requirements are complete. Your birth certificates and marriage contracts have to be printed on the NSO security paper.

Tour package cost. I went to Tokyo in October last year, and a 4D3N stay, including a morning Tokyo city tour and whole day Hakone/Mt. Fuji tour cost a little over US$900 at the time. We just extended to 8 days, and tumuloy na lang kami to my tita there.

The guided tours were the least favorite part of my trip, but it's probably ideal to go through them for a day or two if you're traveling in a large group (7 pax kami when we went), so you'll have lesser problems with planning and organizing the trip. Unless, of course, you're going with a friend/relative who'll tour you instead.

Flights. As for the flights, we took Northwest, because it's the cheapest that we found, and maganda ang schedule niya: leave from Manila to Tokyo in the morning, and depart from Tokyo in the evening. NWA's service is crappy though, and you'll be stuck with all the US-bound passengers who are going through Tokyo. Unless PAL added or changed their flights to Narita, their flights leave in the afternoon, so sayang naman, pagod ka na when you land in Tokyo.

Food. As for food in Japan, can you even go wrong anywhere? Lahat ng napuntahan namin, masasarap, and usually, restaurants will also have English menus, so just request for one. If not, just point to the picture or plastic model, and good luck! If you don't like Japanese food, I noticed that there seems to be a lot of pasta shops anyway.

[Direwolf]

isn't it Japan is one of the most expensive place in the world to visit? the cost of living is so high. following logic, i can only imagine how expensive it is to shop for electronics in Japan. depending on the cost involve, electronics are least of our priority while in Japan for holiday. anyway, thank you BeerhandBop

There had been surveys that resulted to Tokyo being the most expensive city to live in, but I guess it entirely depends on the person. I can burn all my cash here in one day if I wanted to, yet I can choose to travel in a budget-friendly manner as well.

For food, it can cost for ten thousands of yen if you choose to splurge. But there are always great meals that go under 1,000.

Actually, electronics here in Japan is cheap, most especially if you know where to look. I usually find gadgets close to a 1 : 1 ratio with prices in the Philippines (i.e., a specific IXY digicam is 25,000 Pesos and yet only 25,000 here).

[denmarck]

Food. As for food in Japan, can you even go wrong anywhere? Lahat ng napuntahan namin, masasarap, and usually, restaurants will also have English menus, so just request for one. If not, just point to the picture or plastic model, and good luck! If you don't like Japanese food, I noticed that there seems to be a lot of pasta shops anyway.

hindi naman pasta eating nation ang japan pero sarap ng pasta nila.

[f0rk]

even if youre not a gaming addict or a gadget freak you will surely find Akihabara interesting! I dont know if the "live shows" they have on weekend afternoons there are commonplace throughout Japan, but it's really something to see in Akihabara. Other places i was able to go to were Odaiba and Disneyland. Ganda! Lalo na kung spring or fall season, very colorful ang buong Japan

[the_apprentice]

Dito ako ngayon sa Yokohama.

Yodobashi ang bilihan ng electronics. Mura nga dito.

[plasticity]

red_track:
List of accredited agencies that accept Japan visa application:
http://www.ph.emb-japan.go.jp/visiti...tofagents1.htm

My friends and I backpacked throughout West and Central Japan last October-November for 3 weeks. We applied for tourist visa at PHILIPPINE INTERACTIVE AUDIOTEXT SERVICES, INC.(PIASI) at their Arnaiz Ave. office. Sila yung pinakamura so dun kami sa kanila nag-apply personally. If I remember correctly the fee was around 800pesos. Mas mahal if you'd rather they pick up your application package from your house. We preferred to do things in person kasi baka may kulang sa requirements namin. Anyway, we got our passports with visas after 3 days via Air21 delivery. Super bilis, walang hassle.

Total expenses
Not including airfare, I probably spent PhP60,000+++ for the trip. As in kasama na dyan yung mga chinarge ko sa credit card (na last month ko lang natapos bayaran, haha). Mas malaki pa siguro yung nagastos ng mga kasama ko kasi maya't maya naka-vending machine sila at mas malakas sila kumain kesa sakin.

Our biggest splurge was the 7-day Japan Rail Pass which cost 28,300yen and our overnight stay at a shukubo (buddhist temple lodge) in Koyasan, 10,100yen.

I highly recommend buying the JR Pass (meron ding 14 days and 21 days) if you plan to visit a lot of cities. Ang ginawa namin nag JR West rail pass muna kami for the Kansai region (6,000 yen valid for 4 days), and then saka namin in-activate yung JR pass na 7 days nung nag-cross country na kami. We almost always rode on the shinkansen or limited express trains, and if you add the total train fares that we used our JR pass on, siguro ilang libong yen ang natipid namin.

Dahil dyan, ito ang mga narating namin:
Kyoto
Kobe
Nara
Osaka
Hieizan
Koyasan
Hiroshima
Nagasaki
Fukuoka
Kanazawa
Takayama
Tokyo
Kamakura
Nikko
Hakone
Yokohama

wow ang dami pala...haha

We tried to be as frugal as possible when it came to the other expenses. Here are some tips if you want to minimize your expenses:
1) Stay at backpackers hostels (pretty self-explanatory) or guesthouses. Ang budget namin dito ay 2,500 yen to 3,000yen per night.
2) Kung may malapit na supermarket sa hostel mo, take advantage of the one hour before they close kasi discounted na yung mga pagkain. Nakatipid din kami sa pagbili ng grocery kesa yung kakain sa fastfood (mahal din kahit papano). Otherwise, the value meals at konbinis (convenience stores) are also a good option.
3) If you're a member of frequent flyer program, take advantage! I only spent around 10k for my airfare (return na) sa PAL.
4) Wag magtaxi! We bought the bus passes that were being offered at the tourist information offices. Sometimes pwede rin ito for some subway lines.
5) Note down all your expenses at the end of the day (habang fresh pa sa memory mo). Laking tulong nito sa akin kasi nacontrol ko yung sarili ko from going overbudget. May mga expenses kasi like temple entrance fees and such na hindi pwedeng iscrap sa budget, so you have to sacrifice other things like souvenirs.

Yun lang maisip ko ngayon. Medyo hazy na yung memory ko, but if anyone wants more info (e.g. some of the places we've been to), I'll try my best to come up with something.

October - November is a great time to be in Japan. We were able to witness the koyo (autumn leaves). Hope to go back soon! Sana ngayon spring naman para sakura leaves.

Btw, Akihabara is indeed an awesome place. Nakabili yung friend ko ng DS Lite for around 6k pesos. Nakalimutan ko kung ano yung store. Tapos may sale pa ata non ng 5% off. Nakakagigil bimili ng ps3 haha.

[denmarck]

pero PS3 made in japan, hindi yata gagana ang US made games.

[plasticity]

pero PS3 made in japan, hindi yata gagana ang US made games.

yeah buti na nga lang hindi ako napabili. saka kasi nung time na yon malapit nang ilabas yung bagong version (yung 40g ata, i can't remember) so sayang naman.

By the way, for those planning their trips, we found japan-guide.com to be more helpful than the latest version of LP. We didn't even bother bringing it with us during the trip.

We also had great luck timing our visits to a couple of festivals like the Jidai Matsuri in Kyoto and the Samurai Festival in Asakusa, Tokyo so if you have the time, witnessing one of these festivals would be a memorable part of your trip.

[heymikey]

plasticity, that seems like a great trip! I wish I can go back and stay for at least 3 weeks.

[denmarck]

tagal ko na dito pero hindi pa ako nakaka-Kyoto. sana matuloy na.

ganda ganda dito sa japan, baka dito na ako magresident waaahhhhhhhhhh!

[jaboy]

Hello everyone! I'm planning on going to Japan on my own. Do you think it's wise to go there alone or on a packaged tour?

[denmarck]

lakas naman ng loob mo kung magisa mo lang hehehe basta ba may railway map ka at may idea ka na kung saan saan ka mamamasyal okay lang.

[yoroshikuonegai]

I ADVICE YOU GO ALONE

packaged tour dadalhin ka sa mga disney land at universal studios masasayang lang oras mo hindi mo maeexperience *** real japan.

isa pa overcharged ang mga package tour (nabiktima na kami dyan swear). You can spend up to 2000 with packaged tour pero pag sariling lakad kung matipid kaya kaya mo *** gawing 1000 dollar lang na one week stay.

i suggest u spend one week at tokyo and only at tokyo. It's more than enough and best of all u dont have to pay much to sightsee around.

Fuji TV Building
Tokyo Tower (spend a little)
Sony Building
...etc

The only thing is that you have to learn even a little bit of japanese. If you can read much better

[illumina]

Yup. The days I took packaged tours were the least favorite part of my trip. But if you want to go to Mt. Fuji, it's best to take a tour. Or is it not?

[xyzseaman]

Take the trip. Just make sure that you're fit when you do.

[heymikey]

Hello everyone! I'm planning on going to Japan on my own. Do you think it's wise to go there alone or on a packaged tour?

Definitely alone. You can join walking tours for a day if you want for the entire trip, definitely do it alone. I was surprised that traveling around Japan is not as hard as people say it is. China was tougher.

[plasticity]

You also have the opportunity to meet people from different countries especially if you opt to stay at backpackers' hostels. And, if you're friendly enough, you can invite them to go sightseeing together, para naman hindi ka talaga "alone".

Plenty of english maps and signs in Japan, especially if you'll just be touring Tokyo. Of course, better if you visit AT LEAST Kyoto as well. Just plan everything ahead and you'll be fine.

[illumina]

Would the Japanese Embassy be tougher on issuing a visa (assuming jaboy will still need to apply for one) if they see that an applicant traveling alone doesn't submit an itinerary of some sort of tour package from a travel agency?