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| Asakusa town represents the style of antique
Tokyo (Edo). |
| It is one of the Shita-machi towns in Tokyo,
where you can let yourself be enchanted by
the air of temple incense. As a contrast
to the neon lights of Tokyo's many nightlife
attractions, in a Shita-machi you can experience
the atmosphere of Edo-the old Tokyo. |
|
| History |
| Asakusa was founded as fish village. About
1500 years ago (in 7th century?), one fisherman
scooped Kannon sama (Goddess Kannon) from
Sumida River while netting fish from the
river. Dedicated her to the temple which
was the origin of Sensouji Temple. Tokugawa
Shogun visited and devoted. After Meiji Restration,
town becomes one of the shopping and entertaiment
district in downtown Tokyo, lasted as such
before Ginza took place. After the war, Asakusa
returns back into cultural center of Japanese
tradition as seen in Edo era. One of the
interesting places to live in Tokyo. |
|
| Location |
| Asakusa is located on the north-east of central
Tokyo, easy access to many popular sightseeing
spots like Ueno (3 min.), Akihabara (5 min.),
Tokyo main station (15 min), Ginza (16 min.),
Roppongi (20 min.), Shinjuku (25 min.), Harajuku
(25 min.), Shibuya (26 min.), and you can
also take ferry from Sumida River Park to
the Tokyo Bay area, for instance, to visit
Odaiba. Nikko can be reached by direction
on Tobu Line. There are also direct connections
to Narita Airport and Haneda Airport. |
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|
| Health |
Tap water is safe to drink anywhere inside
Japan. Although, you may not like a slice
bit of taste of swimming pool, you know the
white tablet called Chlorine. Although, Tokyo
Water is getting better each year, and you
may be interested in reading
http://www.waterprofessionals.metro.tokyo.jp/index.html
for the improvement.
No inoculations nor vaccinations are needed
to enter Japan from anywhere around the world.
Younger doctors are well educated in English
these days, medical systems and facilities
in Japan are well established so that you
can expect to receive a high standard medical
treatment if you were not scared of IT style
ER Amburance needed? Please call 119, no
need coin nor telephone in such emergency. |
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| Climate |
Japan's fiscal year starts April 1st. Spring
blooms flowers, grasses are getting greener,
new office, new boss, new classmate are excited
to the day for new era (if not scared to
be cheated on April Fool). Except Hokkaido,
whole Japan experiences rainy season in most
of whole June and July. Summer is hot and sticky, but Asahi beer
is cold, Sapporo beer is tasty, Kirin is
spectacular. Summer events represent fireworks
throughout the islands, which can be enjoyed
from river banks and waterfronts usually.
Asakusa has rare "in-city-activities"
along with Sumida river. Tokyo Ryokan is in the right spot. Colorful autumn is expected
in October, November and December. Next to
the rainy season (June and July), actually,
autumn front line pours a lot of rain as
well. Winter is the season for ski, snowboard
and onsen! December through February or March
is indeed fun season in Japan.
Today's Weather Condition |
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| Time Zone |
| All of Japan has a single time zone, nine
hours ahead of GMT. There is no system of
Daylight Saving Time (Summer Time) in Japan,
so you don't need to change your watch/clock
by season. Hokkaido in summer gets sunrise
at 3:30 am, early birds get three yen (JPY3),
Hokkaido in winter sunsets at 3:30pm, long
hour night owl activities! Interested in
Lunar/Solar calender in Japan? Please click
here to be "lunatic". Easy to handle
your body clock, but watch out for the jet-lag!
Wherever you come into Japan from, try stay
awake until it gets dark, sleep well like
log or child, so next morning (JST) will
be super fine without jet-lag. |
|
| Electricity |
| 100 volts AC. 50Hz in Tokyo and eastern Japan,
100 volts AC. 60Hz in Osaka and western Japan.
Sockets or power points have a two-pin plug
with rectangular shape. What does it look
like? This page has a picture with detailed information.
North Americans, please don't you worry,
Japan is as same as yours, almost! |
|
| Business Hours and Holidays |
| Department stores, shopping stores,
restaurants are open on Saturdays, Sundays
and National Holidays in Japan. Banks and
Post offices are closed on Saturdays, Sundays
and National Holidays, but some main post
offices are open seven days a week. Banks
open 09:00-15:00, and Post pffices open 09:00-17:00.
Offices are closed on Saturdays, Sundays
and National Holidays. Most museums are closed
on Mondays. |
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| Japanese National Holidays |
| January 1st |
New year's holiday |
| The 2nd Monday of January |
Coming-of-age (20-year-old) day, used to
be fixed on January 15th |
| February 11th |
National Foundation Day |
| March 20th |
Spring Vernal Equinox Day |
| April 29th |
Showa Day |
| May 3rd |
Constitution Memorial Day |
| May 4th |
Greenery Day |
| May 5th |
Children's Day |
| The 3rd Monday of July |
Maritime Day |
| The 3rd Monday of September |
Respect for the Aged Day |
| September 23rd |
Fall Autumnal Equinox Day |
| The 2nd Monday of October |
Health and Sports Day |
| November 3rd |
Culture Day |
| November 23rd |
Labor Thanksgiving Day |
| December 23rd |
The Emperor's Birthday |
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|
| Money |
Yen is the currenty used in Japan. Sometimes
people say that we all have Yen (En) = Pratiya
Samutpada to deal with this life. If you
know how the life game works, you know how
the happiness appears. Anyway, Coins have
1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 500, Notes have 1000,
2000, 5000, 10000. These days, more credit
cards and e-money are widely accepted. Edy and Suica can be referred at each page, please.
Are you mileage fan? Then, ANA is strongly recommended at less than JPY3.5
per mile (PLT).
*Money Exchange*
Exchange Rate at Narita Airport
Exchange Rate in city center
*Credit Card Inquiries*
VISA : 0120-133-173 (toll-free)
Master Card : 03-5531-6100
American Express : 0120-020-202 (toll-free)
*ATMs*
Foreign credit card and cash cards can be
used at Post Office (there are over 26,000
post office ATMs in Japan) and Seven Bank
ATMs (Over 14,700 Seven Bank ATMs are placed
at 7-Eleven convenience stores in Japan)
throughout Japan. Accepted credit cards
include VISA, Master Card and American Express.
Japan Post Bank
Seven Bank |
|
| EMS by Japan Post Service |
If you bought too much presents and souvenirs
in Japan, don't pay airlines for excess luggage
fee, but post them to your sweet home at
any post office found in Japan (including
airport post offices). It is as easy as 1-2-3
as shown at this page. No Japan Post Service around you? Alternate
service by cute black cat will be right beside
you (pick-up service as well as walk-in service)
at this page. If you had ski gear or snowboard gear,
Ski Takkyubin and Airport Takkyubin are recommended. Let's travel with free
hands!
Domestic Mail :
Post Card : 50yen
Letter : 80yen (up to 25g)
International Mail :
Post Card : 70yen
Letter : 90 to 130yen (up to 25g) |
|
| Foreign Embassy in Japan |
| Officially need help from your own country
while here in Japan? Please find your own
embassy at this page. |
|
| Japan Embassy in Your Country |
| Working permission is required for those
who wants to have job in Japan. Please contact
your local Jpaan Embassy in your country
at this page. Good news for those less than 30 years
old. Working-Holiday Programme is still available
for those come from Australia, Canada, Denmark,
France, Gremany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Korea,
New Zealand, Taiwan and the UK. |
|
| Tokyo Regional Immigration Bureau |
Address : Konan 5-5-30, Minato-ku, Tokyo
108-8255
Telephone : 03-5796-7111
Office hours : 09:00-16:00 (except 12:00-13:00
lunch time)
Closed : Saturdays, Sundays and National
Holidays |
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| Telephone |
*Domestic Calls*
Public telephones accept 10 yen and 100 yen
coins and/or telephone cards. A local call
(within Tokyo's central 23 Wards and some
other metropolitan cities) costs 10 yen per
minute. If you put in two 10-yen coins and
speak for less than one minute, one of the
coins will be returned to you. No change
is given for partial use of a 100 yen coin.
Prepaid telephone cards cost 1,000 yen from
vending machines, kiosks at train stations,
and convenience stores. Charges for inter-city
calls vary according to the distance. |
|
| City (Area Code) |
| Sapporo (011) |
Hakone (0460) |
Nagoya (052) |
Hiroshima (082) |
| Sendai (022) |
Kawaguchiko (0555) |
Kyoto (075) |
Matsuyama (089) |
| Aizuwakamatsu(0242) |
Ito (0557) |
Osaka (06) |
Fukuoka (092) |
| Nikko (0288) |
Nagano (026) |
Nara (0742) |
Beppu (0977) |
| Tokyo (03) |
Matsumoto (0263) |
Kobe (078) |
Kumamoto (096) |
| Yokohama (045) |
Takayama (0577) |
Wakayama (073) |
Kagoshima (099) |
| Kamakura (0467) |
Kanazawa (076) |
Himeji (0792) |
Naha (098) |
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|
*From Outside*
03-XXXX-XXXX from outside Tokyo (in Japan)
090-XXXX-XXXX from anywhere inside Japan
81-3-XXXX-XXXX from overseas (outside Japan)
81-90-XXXX-XXXX from overseas (outside Japan) |
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*Rental Mobile Phone*
There is mobile phone rental service for
foreign tourists in Japan.
For further information
please contact any of the
following companies.
NTT DOCOMO International Roaming Center
SoftBank Global Rental
G-Call
JAL ABC Domestic Mobile Phone Rental
Pupuru |
|
| Tourist Information Centers |
*Tourist Information Center Main Office*
Address : Tokyo Kotsu Kaikan Bulding 10F,
Yurakucho 2-10-1, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0006
Telephone : 03-3201-3331
Office hours : 09:00-17:00 (office closed
on January 1st, but only telephone service
is available)
*Tourist Information Center (Narita International
Airport) Terminal 1*
Address : Arrival Floor, Passenger Terminal
1 Building, Narita International Airport,
Chiba 282-0011
Telephone : 0476-30-3383
Office hours : 08:00-20:00 every day year-round.
*Tourist Information Center (Narita International
Airport) Termimal 2*
Address : Arrival Floor, Passenger Terminal2
Building, Natita International Airport, Chiba
282-0004
Telephone : 0476-34-5877
Office hours : 08:00-20:00 every day year-round.
*Kansai Tourist Information Center (Kansai
International Airport)*
Address : Arrival Floor, Passenger Terminal
Building, Kansai International Airport, Osaka
549-0011
Telephone : 072-456-6025
Office hours : 08:30-20:30 every day (April-October),
09:00-21:00 every day (November-March) |
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