RawAlex, what do you think of this trip?

[Winetalk.com]

I had a dream of going to Japan since 1970's...I don't wanna travel tourist coaches and stay in 5 stars hotels,
I wanna be as close to real thing as possible.

I found Samurai Tours and you were in Japan,
what do you think of it?

http://www.samuraitours.com/bestofjapandetail.htm
and
http://www.samuraitours.com/bestofjapan.htm

[RawAlex]

Serge that is a nice trip, hits all the major stops and gets you to do many of the "things to do in Japan". riding the shinkansen. There seems to be a good amount of time for "doing what you want" as well, which helps. This will certainly get you to see a good chunk of Japan. Staying in ryokan style accomidations is a nice plus, although I am sure it will be "americanized" to a certain extent. It is a nice experience, for sure!

This one made me laugh:

"the evening, visit the Kabuki-cho entertainment district to see how the Japanese businessmen let off steam"

Kabuki-cho is the red light district... massage parlours, pink salons, fashion health, role playing clubs... however, 99% of the are off limits to non-japanese. I can assure you it is a bunch of fun! ;-)

My recommendation is if you are going to travel that far (it is a pretty long haul) you might want to consider some other countries in the area as well for a visit, such as Hong Kong, Thailand, China mainland, etc. Hong Kong is looking like the chinese are finally going to screw it up, so you might want to see it before they kill it.

Alex

[Winetalk.com]

Alex,
thanks for your assesment,
I feel better having your blessing.

As for other countries in the area...I don't wanna have "cultural punch" and rather save it for next time.

As for Red Lights- I guess no tax deductable "research" for me
;-))))

did you have problems communicating with locals? in your expereince, how many % of them speaks English?

[Winetalk.com]

Alex, one more question:
if I take bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo,
how far is Narita Airport from the station in Tokyo?


does bullet train stop at airport?

[RawAlex]

When you take the bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo, you end up at the "tokyo station"... this is a hub that has many rail, subway, and bullet train lines all coming together at the same place.

Connection to the airport is this:

http://www.narita-airport.or.jp/airport_e/...n/contents.html

Narita express leaves from Tokyo station regularly.

Normally I stay in Ueno, which is a different rail line, but that trip is about an hour, slightly less.

Communicating with the locals is interesting, some speak passible english, some nothing at all. However, I never had any problems finding what I wanted... their levels of service are extremely high, and they will for the most part work VERY hard to make sure you are very happy.

As part of a tour like this, you should have no issues at all. If anything, it is VERY fun.

;-)

Alex

[Winetalk.com]

Alex,
thanks a million,
this is a great help! Seems like we won't have a problem leaving around 4 pm if we leave Osaka around 9-10 am...

I'll definatelly bug you more before we go,
it's nice to have somebody who been there and familiar with locale!

any unusual foods you can recomend?