Japan.

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Rule one, unless you speak fluent japanese or know somone who does and you have there phone number and £2000 to phone them dont leave tokyo!! everyone in tokyo speks english, everyone outside of tokyo doesn't

rule two, never go to nagoya... it's 4 times the size of tokyo and it's just one giant depressing industrial estate

Rule 3, never fly lufthansa!! they're the worst and most expencive airline! thire first class/ buisness class is as good as any other airlines econamy on long haul flights :(

edit: if you fly JAL to tokyo you'll probably get a short flicht on a fokker 100 into tokyo city, which is always fun :D twin turbo prop that's about 30 years old and nothing more than a buss with wings, most funn i've ever had in an aircraft
 
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Solouko said:
Rule 3, never fly lufthansa!! they're the worst and most expencive airline! thire first class/ buisness class is as good as any other airlines econamy on long haul flights :(

edit: if you fly JAL to tokyo you'll probably get a short flicht on a fokker 100 into tokyo city, which is always fun :D twin turbo prop that's about 30 years old and nothing more than a buss with wings, most funn i've ever had in an aircraft

Sorry, but what are you on about?

1. Lufthansa is one of the cheapest airlines that fly to Tokyo from London. Economy class is often around £400-450 return, and Business Class is around £1800-1900 return (compared to about £2500 on BA)

2. I've flown Lufthansa in Business, and they were far from the worst out there. You get a fully flat (albeit at a slant) seat which I found easy to sleep on, and food and service was reasonable to good. Seat has laptop power sockets and they are one of the few airlines to have onboard Internet. They're not the best, sure. But comparing Lufthansa First and Business to other airlines' economy is just ridiculous.

Economy - yes, I've heard the horror stories, but First and Business is fine. Not that it's relevant to travelling on a budget.

3. If you fly JAL from London into Tokyo, you will fly on currently the biggest passenger airplane available (747-400) or one of the most modern (777-300ER). Not exactly a 30-seater, "bus with wings", is it? Moreover, there are no flights that take you from Tokyo to "Tokyo City" - wherever that is :o The other airport in Tokyo is Haneda, and there are no flights from Narita to Haneda - it would take about... 5 minutes by plane?

Even their domestic flights between major cities are flown on those huge planes. You'd struggle to find many turboprop planes flown around by JAL and ANA in Japan, full stop. Maybe in the tiniest of cities with tiny airports.

By the way, the Fokker 100 is a jet plane with two jet engines at the back. Also, they seat considerably more than 30 people - more like 100.
 
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So, apart from Accomodation with nearby transport to central Tokyo, i should try to stay in central Toyko?
The only language i know is 'hello'. Ive been told that its often 'productive' if im lost to just point on a map or at a place name? True?

What airlines would you lot recommend that'd fly from manchester, have laptop power sockets, and have good enough seats for sleeping?
 
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1. Hotels around the airport tend to be much cheaper than in the city. They also tend to be of a more decent size, cleaner and generally nicer for the same amount of money.

However, you have to be prepared to travel back and forth each day. That, depending on how you were planning to spend your days and evenings, might work - might not. If you plan on staying out till very late (past 11pm) then airport trains stop running by then, for example. If you plan to stay within sensible hours (i.e. 8am to 10pm) then you should be able to pull off an airport hotel - but be prepared to spend more time getting to/from the airport, and remember to factor in the cost as well.

2. A lot of people (especially young people) speak/understand English. (Not just in Tokyo, as someone else said :/) Tip: If you find that the other person doesn't understand what you are saying in English, it is often helpful to write it down. This is because non-English speakers find speaking and listening much more difficult than reading and writing.

3. As for your question, "What airlines would you lot recommend that'd fly from manchester, have laptop power sockets, and have good enough seats for sleeping?"...

There is no easy answer. Most economy class tend to be very similar to each other - i.e. very sparse in features and packed as much as they can get away with.

To fly from Manchester, you're looking at a minimum of one transit, whether you do it in London (for BA/Virgin/ANA/JAL), Paris (for Air France), Amsterdam (for KLM) etc. Of the airlines that are likely to be the cheapest (that would be the European airlines), I'd say Air France is probably your best bet. I've had some less than stellar experiences on KLM and Lufthansa gets a very bad rep for their economy class.

No airline so far has widely available power sockets in Economy Class. You'll have to supply other forms of entertainment once the laptop battery runs out, I'm afraid - so far, power sockets are more or less reserved for Business Class or higher. Maybe you can ask one of the flight attendants whether you can use the power outlets in one of their Business Class seats to charge your laptop after it has run out - might work, but they might also say no.

Seats for sleeping - basically, don't count on it :( Your best bet is (depending on airline) either phoning ahead to request/reserve a bulkhead or emergency exit seat, or turning up at the airport super-early to request such a seat. But try not to get a window seat on an exit row, because the door often has a large protusion into the cabin which means legroom is no better than other seats. The very best seat IMHO is an emergency exit aisle seat - that way, you're not sandwiched between people, and you get large legroom.

Also, the downside of personal TVs is that they often have the equipment box underneath the seat so it tends to occupy your legroom underneath the seat (if you don't manage to get a bulkhead or emergency exit seat).

If you tell me your exact dates, I might be able to see which airlines are available for how much.

4. If you haven't decided whether to go to Tokyo or Osaka (or if you can go to both), Nara (40mins by train from Osaka) is very nice. Plenty of historical and traditional stuff, as well as a very nice deer park. Perhaps not worth changing the destination just for Nara, but worth considering if you haven't already decided. Also bear in mind that Kyoto (also very traditional and historical) is close to Osaka as well.

I'd say - if you want historical buildings, temples and atmosphere, I'd be inclined to say Osaka. If you want to mainly experience the full-on pace of city life in Japan, Tokyo will probably be better.
 
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Airline, I'd recommend Virgin. Great service. I think you get power supplies in Economy????? Not sure.

Where to go. Well, Tokyo is great, so is Osaka and Kyoto. Hell, it's all great.

Tokyo I think has a higher level of English understanding, though it's still not THAT good (signs at railway stations are all English though).
Osaka though, depsite lower English levels is good though. People are very friendly there.

Food is cheap, if you go to places like Yoshinoya, noodle stands etc etc during lunchtime.

Try to stay in a cheap ryokan if you want to save money, but be warned that English levels are going to be pretty basic.

Linkage for you...

http://www.japan-guide.com/
http://www.jpinn.com/
http://www.itcj.jp/

Recommended food.
Okonomiyaki. (There's two styles as well, Kansai (Osaka/Kyoto area) and Kanto (Tokyo area).
Shabu-shabu or nabe.
Sushi, at 07:00 at Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo. Lovely and fresh!!!! :)
Korean Yakiniku is pretty great too.

If you feel the need for a Burger, PLEASE DO NOT GET ONE FROM McDonalds!!!
Get it from Mos Burger! Much nicer.

BTW, Kamakura is a good place to visit, if you end up in the Kanto region, rather than Kansai.
 
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Balddog said:
I hope its good...I heard japan sucks tho.

It's not that bad.

I presume it was the anti-Japanese nationalist Koreans who told you this.... very similar to the stupid anti-Korean nationlist Japanese.



Seriously, I'm sure you'll have a good time in Japan... and once me and missus head over to Korea for a holiday, I'm sure we'll love it there.
 
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I will also be going to the far east this year sometime... probably end of may - june for 3 weeks, visiting beijing, japan and thailand. Get to practice my japanese as well :)

Only thing I am worried about is... the food! I love chinese food (well, the english version of it) but I am worried about sashimi and other raw fish... don't even have the courage to eat it over here... shame because I love everything else about japan!
 
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Shoseki:

The Japanese don't just eat raw fish - there are plenty of cooked food options available. But it would be a real shame to miss out on the sushi and sashimi! You ought to get over your inhibitions and try it, because it is really quite enjoyable.

Maybe I was lucky in that my parents let me try it when I was very young, before I built my own ideas of what brings out a "eughh".
 
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Sharknose said:
Airline, I'd recommend Virgin. Great service. I think you get power supplies in Economy????? Not sure.
Not as far as I know. The only airlines to have any sort of power ports in Economy are:

1. United (on their "ps" (premium service) flights between NY and LA, NY and San Francisco)
2. American Airlines (some flights, but mostly domestic US)
3. Cathay Pacific (very few planes, not enough to choose them over another airline because you're so unlikely to actually get that plane type)
4. Many airlines' Premium Economy offerings (BA have this on their World Traveller Plus, for example)

There might be a few I've missed, but not many - the list is very short indeed. In short, basically one should not expect to find a power port on their Economy Class seat in general for some time. There are some, but more of an exception rather than the rule.
 
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jhmaeng said:
If you tell me your exact dates, I might be able to see which airlines are available for how much.
It'll be from the 14th October. Not sure when to though, as im still trying to decide an overall budget that i can realistically have saved up by then.
Sharknose said:
Airline, I'd recommend Virgin. Great service. I think you get power supplies in Economy????? Not sure.
They dont have power supplys in Economy on Virgin.
 
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Sharknose said:
It's not that bad.

I presume it was the anti-Japanese nationalist Koreans who told you this.... very similar to the stupid anti-Korean nationlist Japanese.



Seriously, I'm sure you'll have a good time in Japan... and once me and missus head over to Korea for a holiday, I'm sure we'll love it there.

Nah it was an american dude who studied over there for 9 months :o

Koreans dont generally talk badly about japan...well their media seems to..
 
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not trying to be funny but what about if those (such as kamikaze pigeon) let you stay at there house ? ovbiously paying abit less than a hotel but with the notion that you'll atleast know somebody that speaks japanese or the local languages? unless ofcourse your going with someone thats been before in which case the above wont really matter :o
i'd love to goto japan or even china. might do it one day once i've learn the language perhaps :p
 
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First japanese people dont take history offensivly. well not as much as other people.
koreans dont mind japan atall as far as i know. Althought some Chinese people hate japan. There has been many anti japan protests with firecrackers ( how tipycal of them :D). they even burnt a flag in front of media. its all because the prime minister of japan refused to do anything chinese related ( cant be bothered to explane).
Anyway.
There are LOADS of good japanese food, its amazing, but try not to count of beef. they stoped importing beef from america because of the mad cow desies incident. they did start importing for a day then the inspectors found a bone which wasnt supposed to be in there and stoped it again......
 
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BoomAM said:
It'll be from the 14th October. Not sure when to though, as im still trying to decide an overall budget that i can realistically have saved up by then.
It's been a while... but hopefully better late than never?

Usually, Lufthansa is the cheapest but maybe because October is so far away, the cheapest fares don't seem available yet. I'm guessing you might have to wait till sometime between April to June to see the very cheapest fares (although there's no guarantee).

Of the ones currently available, they seem to be around £550 incl. Taxes to Tokyo at the moment. Is that roughly what you were expecting, or more? As I said, cheaper fares will probably become available within a few months.

PS. Airlines like Aeroflot (Russia) are of course cheaper, but I really suggest you stay away from them unless you are a thrill-seeker :o
 
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jhmaeng said:
Of the ones currently available, they seem to be around £550 incl. Taxes to Tokyo at the moment. Is that roughly what you were expecting, or more? As I said, cheaper fares will probably become available within a few months.
I was expecting £600-700 worst case. :)
 
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If you're lucky, it should be right down to around £450-ish, but you will have to wait until those fares become available.

Are you anywhere near London by any chance? The travel agents in Chinatown often have good deals to Japan. Alternatively, one of the specialist Japan travel agents like Gendai Travel is worth a look too.
 
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