I'm new to the board, though I've been reading posts on here for months. I've always wanted to go to Japan for years, and I'll finally have the chance to next summer. I'm going on my own with one friend. We're trying to get there and stay spending the least cash possible (allowing us to buy more random items while there!).
We're planning on going for a few weeks (2-4 weeks) - hopefully long enough to see everything. Maybe at the end of the article you could suggest how long I'll need based on what I want to see/you suggest doing. We plan to take trains around Japan perhaps every half week or so to stay in and experience the different cities, and perhaps some rural areas too.
I have very limited knowledge of Japan and it's various cities or islands. The only two places I know are the obvious Tokyo and Kyoto, where I intend to go. Could you suggest some other cities to visit where there is plenty of things to see and do?
The type of things we are interested in is: The food,The culture,Anime/Manga,Asian Film,Life in Japan,Shopping,Landmarks etc. I'm sure I've missed stuff off.
Could you also perhaps suggest some places to visit, and where to find them. The places I know I want to visit are:
- Banpaku Memorial Park and see the Kyoto Tower. Is it worth visiting to see this? The tower looks very interesting at least. Does anyone know which day of the year it is when you can actually go inside? Also, when is the festival/fair type thing there?
- Kyoto Station. We will most likely be taking the bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto so this is an obvious place to visit and have a good look around.
- The Studio Ghibli Museum. I gather this is in Tokyo?
Places I have heard are good, but don't know too much about:
- Akihabara - the apparent "Home of Anime"
- Golden Pavalion, Kiyomizu dera Temple, and Fushimi Inari Shrine in Tokyo.
Are these any good, and worth visiting? Bare in mind, while in Japan we'd like to see a few temples etc. but not too many. It'd be nice to see the main ones that are quite different, but similar ones are of no interest really due to time constraints.
Could you suggest some other places to visit in Tokyo, Kyoto and any other cities you think are worth a visit. It'd be useful if the various places were either along route when travelling from one city to another or not too far away from a city. For example, I wouldn't be interested in travelling on a train for much more than 2 hours to see a temple.
Some places we'd like to visit: Some sushi bars,Some traditional Japanese restaurants,Bath House,Local Shops etc. We'd like to sort of immerse ourselves in the local culture for a few days.
At night time we'd like to go to some nightclubs or the like. Is this the best/most popular nightlife in Japan? If it is could you please suggest some decent ones in the various cities, and if not suggest some of the alternatives.
Finally, it would of course be very nice to have some female company either just over night

I know I've asked a lot of questions, but I really hope someone or a few people can give me some advice, tips and suggestions. I'm sure it'd not only help me, but a lot of other people also planning a trip to Japan.
Also, sorry if this sort of thing has been posted before, I did do a search before I posted, but I'm new to this particular forum.
Thanks in advance, and hi to you all.
