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Old 25 Sep 18, 04:46 PM  
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fifi500
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Two week trip to Tokyo and Tokyo Disney

Trip to Tokyo

As part of my 20-year-old DD 4-year degree in Japanese, she was to spend her 3rd year in Japan, so planning for our trip really started on her A levels results day in August 2016. We decided from the start that as this was to be her first move away from home, as she commutes to her UK university, I would accompany her to Tokyo and stay a couple of weeks to help settle her in and of course provide extra luggage allowance.



DD is fluent in written Japanese and not as confident but very capable in spoken Japanese, obviously this year is designed to improve her skills. I have no Japanese at all, but DD has provided me with flash cards if I ever need help. I have tried to learn please, thank you etc. but DD says my accent is terrible.

My DH did a huge amount of online research before our trip and this was invaluable as most things we needed to do we had already seen on You tube.

This trip had lots of major differences to anything we have done before – firstly my first trip anywhere really without my husband of 25 years and of courses DD first trip without her Dad. Also, for us any holiday plans are usually in planning and bookings being made 18 months in advance, so this trip has been extremely different, we were at the mercy of the university. The Japanese university was not confirmed until July and her visa was not through until 5 days before travel! We did take a risk and book flights once she had her university confirmed and had term dates but extremely late for us.

So, our plans were Emirates flights on Monday 27th August from Gatwick to Tokyo Narita airport via Dubai. We pre-booked our seats.
We also booked a hotel in what would be a fairly central place for the university, her accommodation and a train-line to Disney. The Hotel Mystay, Higashi-Ikebukuro. A cheap and cheerful hotel with good reviews. It was small but clean and the rooms seemed completely sound-proof. Certainly, quieter than Disney hotel rooms we’ve stayed in. We guessed it must be down to earthquake regulations.



We ordered a Pasmo and a Suica card from Japan rail pass by Japan experience, a company based in the UK who mailed them to us complete with 2000 ¥ loaded on for £16. These cards were great, just like Oyster cards, worked from day 1 on all train lines in central Tokyo and on the Disney monorail line, they were easy to reload with cash at train station, with an English instruction option. We ordered 2 different cards because when I left my DD would keep both and use one for her University travel which she is able to claim back and one for her leisure travel.



We also both set up Starling bank accounts, with zero fees on overseas transactions. These worked well, and we have tried them in Dubai airport, Haneda airport, Japanese supermarkets and ATMs in 7-Elevens.
DD also purchased a yearlong data sim card from CD Japan. Other big companies are Mobal and SoftBank, but there are plenty of options to pre-purchase cards from the UK or buy one in the airport or BIC Camera stores in Japan.
Japan has a unique mobile phone system and there is a huge incompatibility with the rest of the world. Many places advertise pre-loaded sims for holiday type periods or My-Fi (pocket Wi-Fi). They are all quite expensive.
I went for a Wi-Fi app, which was supposed to enable you to sign up to any available free Wi-Fi, this was very intermittent but as I was alone very little it was not a huge problem, but I would recommend other options. Free Wi-Fi isn’t as abundant as in the west and most important, there is no free Wi-Fi in any of the Disney parks, nor any non-Japanese official mobile site.
Currency was purchased from Fairfx, via the Dibb link and they provided an excellent service as usual.




Travel Day
A huge day, the day our only child left home for the first time.
DH drove us to Gatwick airport ready for our 14.30 flight, check in was smooth, the cases by some miracle were just underweight and it was time to say goodbye. A tearful goodbye just before security and we were on our way. In our emotional state we did make a bit of a mess of security – I left my bracelet on and had to have extra searches, and DD left her laptop in her bag, despite removing her other devices so her hand luggage had to go back through the scanner.

Once in the terminal it was time to take a deep breath and get on with the task in hand. We had panini and chips at Weatherspoon’s, purchased water and magazines and boarded our first flight.
Flights went smoothly, both flights were full, although the flight into Dubai was rather delayed so our trip through that airport was rather quick no time to browse, just enough time to grab some more bottles of water at a Costa outlet. Food was good on both flights, DD has never eaten on a flight before had pre-ordered a fruit platter and managed to nibble some bits from those most meals.



The Emirates staff were efficient and friendly, I liked the fact that they walked up and down frequently with a tray of water and juices to offer to anyone who was awake. The entertainment system was excellent. If you sign up for their reward points system, you can access free Wi-Fi on board – up to a point. As we were flying over the Gobi Desert south of Mongolia, I was exchanging WhatsApp’s with my DH who was working a night shift. Quite amazing.
Before we landed in Tokyo we had forms to fill in for quarantine, one each – it had English options.
We arrived in Tokyo at about 17.30. local time. First stop was immigration, we were confronted by an MCO style queue and joined the end. It moved fairly slowly and about half way along the queue DD and I had to split up as I was just a tourist and she was applying for a residence visa. So off she went, and I was alone in Japan with no language skill, but it was fine, and I made it through to the baggage hall and collected both of our suitcases and the holdall which were already off the carousel and being looked after by staff. DD came along in a further 15 minutes or so and took charge of filling in a Customs form that needed to be filled in and were available at a stand.
We them made our way through customs and into the airport. Our first job at the airport was to go up to level 3 (from 1) and collect DD sim card from the post office, this was easy she was just required to show her passport and was handed her package. This post office closed at 8pm, if we had missed that we could have gone online and had the package redirected to the hotel.

Then to level B1F to the Keisei Skyliner and Teito taxi information center (7am-9pm) to book our tickets for this combined service which gives you a reserved ticket on the next available Skyliner train to Ueno Station, orders a taxi to your hotel.


As you come through the ticket gate at Ueno a Taxi driver is waiting with sign with your name on to take you to the hotel. You pay one price at the information office and then don’t pay or tip the taxi driver. This cost us ¥7,200 for 2 adults, there are varying prices depending on number of adults and the zone your hotel is in. This worked perfectly for us, the Skyliner took about 40 minutes and a taxi driver was waiting exactly where we expected him.



The driver didn’t speak English, but he and DD did chat away in Japanese and he pointed out some landmarks such as the Tokyo Dome on our journey. It would have been manageable with no Japanese just a quieter journey. There are videos on YouTube which are designed to guide you through the airport, they seem quite accurate and we had no problems. Both the Keisei trains and Teito taxi websites that advertise the service and I’d definitely use it again.



Our Driver dropped us in front of our hotel and helped us with our luggage and we checked in easily. The hotel and room looked exactly as the pictures on line. Clean and basic, the room and particularly the bathroom were tiny, only just a 2-person room but a good price and we has a small kitchenette and a microwave.




Also, the step down from the bathroom to floor level was huge so if you have any mobility issues this would be a struggle. We were on the 11th floor with fantastic city views including Tokyo tower. The hotel also had a laundry room downstairs which I used a few times during our stay. If you want luxury this hotel is not for you, but for a clean base and a central location for a good price it was great, £520.00 for 11 nights, we then added 2 more nights at the end of our stay so stayed a total of 13 nights, I think that was a further £137.00.

We had a quick trip to the nearest 7-Eleven shop, about 60 meters from the front door of the hotel. We purchased chilled water, sliced bread, spreadable cheese, crisps and melon pan bread, Skyped home and then fell into bed.



The hotel also had a second 7-Eleven, a Family Mart (small supermarket) and a” Walgreens” type store within 2- 3 minutes walks.
We were well aware of our 8-hour time difference but eager to start our adventure the next morning.
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Old 25 Sep 18, 05:53 PM  
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Rae21
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Absolutely brilliant trip report so far Really useful info especially for first timers (me next year! ) Look forward to reading more
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Old 25 Sep 18, 06:50 PM  
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Pumpkin Pie
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Great detail - thank you. I am looking forward to your next post.
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Old 25 Sep 18, 08:34 PM  
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pink glitter
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Fantastic trip report, your daughter is very brave!
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Old 25 Sep 18, 08:50 PM  
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kevin_cambs_uk
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Wonderful!
She could do English speaking guided tours for us dibbers who go to japan!

I would pay for that!
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Old 25 Sep 18, 09:18 PM  
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pandanne
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Fabulous start - thinking of going to Tokyo Disney within the next couple of years so interested to hear what you thought. Looking forward to reading more.
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Old 26 Sep 18, 08:14 AM  
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AntonyJ
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Great great great! Thank you for taking the effort - but one question, what was the Minnie mouse picture / item? The people that made it I think as toy makers, was it one?
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Old 26 Sep 18, 09:09 AM  
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Rae21
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Looks like a cupcake to me, but I get where you’re coming from with the Bandai logo. Tried google translate and only word I understood was ichigo - strawberry (and that’s only from watching Bleach anime lol)
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Old 27 Sep 18, 07:49 AM  
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AntonyJ
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Credit / debit cards - is it chip / PIN in Japan or still swipe?
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Old 27 Sep 18, 05:20 PM  
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Tourmaline
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Mostly swipe but some chip not so many Mc Donalds is chip lot of the time theres a tray at counter to pay you put your card in it they take care of it for you at Disneyland you give it to them they do it.
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