Travel Japan

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basashi said:
Last time I lived in Perth was a few years ago.
Yamahara-san had just closed his own shop and taken a job on the sushi counter at Satsuki in Subiaco. That was the last time you could sit at a proper counter and eat Japanese style sushi, prepared by a properly qualified Japanese sushi chef. At Satsuki, he was working with a general restaurant menu..... so the range was very limited. also, the shop had a lot of salmon on the menu, which is not a real part of top end edo mae sushi. (Good sushiyas in ginza / shimbashi dont even have it in the shop). But the rice was perfectly prepared and the fish quality was better then what I can get on the east coast.
The place I go back to in Perth every time is Jun izakaya on hay St. It is the only izakaya in Australia that has the look, feel menu and atmosphere of an izakaya. It is a yakitori izakaya and they have imported a glass deflector grill from Japan, the menu is arranged in the Japanese style and ordering is done Japanese style. In quaint shitamachi Japanese style, they have their own counting system. It is best to go with a Japanese person or a Japanese speaker to order for you.
In Melbourne I recommend Akatombo in Prahran. In Sydney I recommend daruma in Haymarket for izakaya style, sushi studio in neutral bay and kisuke Willoughby. All of these places are not designed for westerners to go and eat California roll or indulge in a ything the masterchef idiots would recognize. They are full of Japanese people enjoying something from home.
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Thanks for the detailed response! I have been to Jun and really enjoyed it. We ordered a lot of food so I can't remember everything we got but I remember being very impressed. I'm heading to Melbourne in mid-Jan so will be sure to hit Akatombo up.

What are your thoughts on places like The Bonsai and Aisuru Sushi in Northbridge? The Bonsai is a favourite of mine but it is probably more Japanese fusion than authentic Japanese but the quality of food, the ambience and the service is always impressive.
 
electricfeel said:
Thanks for the detailed response! I have been to Jun and really enjoyed it. We ordered a lot of food so I can't remember everything we got but I remember being very impressed. I'm heading to Melbourne in mid-Jan so will be sure to hit Akatombo up.

What are your thoughts on places like The Bonsai and Aisuru Sushi in Northbridge? The Bonsai is a favourite of mine but it is probably more Japanese fusion than authentic Japanese but the quality of food, the ambience and the service is always impressive.
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not a fan of US style sushi and I haven't been to either of those.

If you go to Akatombo in Greville St prahran you have a few choices....

depending on the price and whether or not this will be a special occasion, I would recommend booking a week in advance and having the kaiseki course menu. Last time I had it it was about 100 per head. Kaiseki is the highly developed, exquisite and very traditional style of Kyoto formal cuisine. The guy there is properly qualified and licensed. It is far superior to any of the garbage served up at the high profile trendy fusion joints.

When we lost the grand final I called akatombo from the ground and booked a table, walked to my hotel, showered and was seated by 7pm commencing to drown my sorrows. The good thing about liking the real deal with any ethnic cuisine is that it it usually not that popular with the punters and if you are lucky you can get in on short notice!
 

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There's a place in Glen Waverley which is ok. Can't think of the name at the moment, on Springvale Rd and run by a Japanese. Rarely eat Japanese food here though - happy to save it for when I visit the mother in law. Service, availability and quality just don't get near it.
 
Has anyone caught the bullet train from Tokyo to Nagano, and if so were you able to take a great deal of luggage (snowboards, if you had them) with you?

Also, anyone who has been snowboarding/skiing in Nosawa Onsen, how did you find it?
 
I skiied in Hakuba a few years ago. You can take ski gear on the bullet train to Nagano, but we worked out that it would be much cheaper and easier just to get a coach direct to the resort. Nosawa Onsen is smaller so maybe that isn't an option for you.

Regarding Nagano in general I found the snow a little underwhelming. We picked Nagano over Hokkaido because of the better weather, but if I went again I would probably brave the Siberian winds. That said, it wasn't a great season apparently.
 
Caesar said:
I skiied in Hakuba a few years ago. You can take ski gear on the bullet train to Nagano, but we worked out that it would be much cheaper and easier just to get a coach direct to the resort. Nosawa Onsen is smaller so maybe that isn't an option for you.

Regarding Nagano in general I found the snow a little underwhelming. We picked Nagano over Hokkaido because of the better weather, but if I went again I would probably brave the Siberian winds. That said, it wasn't a great season apparently.
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Cheers for the reply.

I'm going with a mate and his brother and we don't really fancy the 6 hour bus ride, and a bullet train would be kind of cool. I'm pretty sure we can take the bus, I'd rather the train though even if it is more expensive. We're staying in Nagano anyway so apparently the train takes us almost right to our accomadation.

About the snow there - that sucks you got a bad season, a friend of mine went and said he got some great powdery snow on a couple of occasions. I've only ever snowboarded in New Zealand, which was much like a slushy, disappointingly, so hopefully it's an improvement on that (not that NZ was bad).

Have you been to Nisiko as well?
 
I didn't mind the bus ride. It was through some pretty nice scenery so it didn't feel that long. But if you're staying in Nagano the bullet train makes a lot more sense. The biggest turnoff to us was having to frig around with connections from Nagano to Hakuba once we got there - if we were staying in Nagano we probably would have taken the train.

The snow wasn't terrible, still much better than what you'd get in Australia or NZ. There was some nice powder off piste. But we were there in late Jan / early Feb and they'd not had a lot of falls, so most of the main trails were pretty hard-packed and scun off. Weather was great though - cold and crisp but no unpleasant winds. Even with a bad season you should have an absolute ball.

Haven't been to Niseko but keen to try it. Personally I am not too fussed by crappy weather as long as the snow is good and it's not raining. Probably my next overseas trip.
 
Caesar said:
I didn't mind the bus ride. It was through some pretty nice scenery so it didn't feel that long. But if you're staying in Nagano the bullet train makes a lot more sense. The biggest turnoff to us was having to frig around with connections from Nagano to Hakuba once we got there - if we were staying in Nagano we probably would have taken the train.

The snow wasn't terrible, still much better than what you'd get in Australia or NZ. There was some nice powder off piste. But we were there in late Jan / early Feb and they'd not had a lot of falls, so most of the main trails were pretty hard-packed and scun off. Weather was great though - cold and crisp but no unpleasant winds. Even with a bad season you should have an absolute ball.

Haven't been to Niseko but keen to try it. Personally I am not too fussed by crappy weather as long as the snow is good and it's not raining. Probably my next overseas trip.
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The bus ride sounds alright then, thanks for that. Having to organise connections would be annoying, luckily we had some advice and were told to stay in Nagano or Nozawa just for the convenience (can't actually remember which one it was off hand). I'm really looking forward to some powder! Snowboarding in what looks and feels like a frozen coke isn't bad, but could be a lot better. Hopefully we get some good falls prior to arriving there, little wind would be great as well, seems like you got lucky with the weather!

I had the option to go to Niseko as well, but since I'm funding the whole trip myself and my friend and his brother have some support from their parents ( :rolleyes: ), and also he doesn't have to full on relocate up to Perth for Uni, whereas I do ( having a house in Perth as well helps), it cost too much and it was cutting it fine before uni started. I'm still stoked to be going over there though.

Cheers for your help :thumbsu:
 
Kerr's Cur said:
Has anyone caught the bullet train from Tokyo to Nagano, and if so were you able to take a great deal of luggage (snowboards, if you had them) with you?

Also, anyone who has been snowboarding/skiing in Nosawa Onsen, how did you find it?
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You can also get your snowboard couriered from Narita airport to your accomodation in Nagano for $20 or so. Saves the hassle of lugging it around.
 
Just got back from Myoko (Akakura Onsen). Great place, fantastic time. Resorts were a little on the easier side (according to my friends, not me the beginner). The town was great, hard with not many english speaking people but we got through ok - my diet suffered a little as Im not big into fish and noodles.
 

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I haven't used a cash passport, but that does remind me - most ATMs and businesses won't take Australian credit cards.

We were lucky that the 7-11 in the village where we were staying took international credit cards, but that was pretty much the only place in the resort that did. We were relying on being able to use our cards and found accessing money to be a real pain in the arse.
 
Yeah Japanese cards are triangle shaped from memory. We just got a fair bit of cash out at the airport when we got there. Have used a cash passport in the states with no problems.

Also look into a 28 degrees mastercard, its what I've used whenever I've been overseas in the last couple of years with no problems
 
recently got back from my 4 day trip to Tokyo, stayed in Asakusa which was beautiful, within walking distance to Sky Tree as well as the local temples and famous market. went and checked out shibuya crossing and walked around for hours, the place is huge and crowded, then went up to shinjuku which was also a maze. also checked out Harejuku which was a bit of a shopping capitol and Akihabara which was a gaming and collectors Mecca, definitely recommend. the public transport was the best i have ever experienced, and i had been in New York the previous week. literally trains every 2/3 minutes it seemed. food was up and down, i recommend trying the okonomiyaki traditional style at a restaurant
 
Well, I'm packed, papers are in order, and all set. Can't wait, gonna be a sleepless night, and looks like the weather gods are with me. The really cold stuff should miss us. For those asking about cash passports etc, i use an NAB Travelercard. It's MasterCard but can be used as mentioned above, pretty painless to put money in and shift it around, I still had some money in Thai baht that i switched to Yen, and is cheap.. I only use it to get cash, and use my Visa for emergencies or a shopping binge.
 
I'm the same! Do you leave tomorrow T Brett , and where are you off too?

It's looking pretty cold in Tokyo right now, and even frigging colder in Nozawa Onsen, where I'll be for the majority of it.

I committed and ended up getting a Multi-Currency Cash Passport. It's a Mastercard as well so it should be alright just to withdraw cash and make the occasional purchase.

Edit: I have no idea how to tag someone with a space in their name.
 
Clint Beastwood said:
I'm the same! Do you leave tomorrow T Brett , and where are you off too?

It's looking pretty cold in Tokyo right now, and even frigging colder in Nozawa Onsen, where I'll be for the majority of it.

I committed and ended up getting a Multi-Currency Cash Passport. It's a Mastercard as well so it should be alright just to withdraw cash and make the occasional purchase.

Edit: I have no idea how to tag someone with a space in their name.
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yeah leaving tomorrow morning via gold coast. Me and a mate will be based in Osaka, but with the JR Railpass will be moving around, but day trips to Hiroshima etc. It'll still be cold at night, but forecast says max 5 to 15c, so not as bad as a few weeks ago. Tried and failed to learn much Japanese, so that will be interesting.
 
T Brett said:
yeah leaving tomorrow morning via gold coast. Me and a mate will be based in Osaka, but with the JR Railpass will be moving around, but day trips to Hiroshima etc. It'll still be cold at night, but forecast says max 5 to 15c, so not as bad as a few weeks ago. Tried and failed to learn much Japanese, so that will be interesting.
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Sounds awesome. I'm going with a mate and his brother via Singapore. Tokyo temperatures are reasonable but Nozawa Onsen is scarily cold. Yeah, I'm the same, don't know any Japanese beyond "Arigato" "Sayonara" and "Konnichiwa". My chopstick use however is almost passable.
 
I have google translate with a few key phrases preloaded if we get stuck, but usually a smile and some poiting gets you what you need. I read that they do english in high school, but are shy about how they speak it, but can understand a bit. Food is one reason i chose Osaka, apparently good and unique to that area. Can't wait to have a crack at a hot spring, although my mate seems to be having second thoughts due to having to be naked, but i say, when in rome..
 
T Brett said:
I have google translate with a few key phrases preloaded if we get stuck, but usually a smile and some poiting gets you what you need. I read that they do english in high school, but are shy about how they speak it, but can understand a bit. Food is one reason i chose Osaka, apparently good and unique to that area. Can't wait to have a crack at a hot spring, although my mate seems to be having second thoughts due to having to be naked, but i say, when in rome..
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Yeah the food is a major drawcard for me as well, and I've done the same with google translate. The hot springs sound incredible. Where we are staying in Nozawa there's 13 or something, and we don't have a bathroom so we'll have to use the Onsen in our hotel. Exactly right, might as well make use of it if we're there!
 

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