I'm going to Japan in May for a technical exchange. I will be going to Tokyo, Nagisaki, and Nagoya. Any suggestions on what I should do during my free time? I'll be there for a week.

A week to cover all three places isn't going to leave you much spare time!

Nagoya isn't that exciting, more of a regional industrial centre. Nagasaki of course has the Atomic Bomb Museum, which you should go and see: it's very sobering.

In Tokyo you'll probably have to choose between culture, food, temples, and gadgets. Gadgets are good...you need gadgets...gadgets are your friends... Also, it's a big place, and getting from A to B if A is one side and B is the other can take a looonnnng time. But assuming you are in the centre or thereabouts, then Akihabara for gadgets, Asakusa for culture/temples, Ueno for culture/museums, Shibuya and Shinjuku for food/beer/bars/general bizarreness. All these places are 30 minutes or so from Tokyo centre (= the imperial palace). Additional thought - if you are on a high level exchange program, and it's to a very Japanese environment, your hosts will expect to take you out every night for entertainment and beer. This will be a Good Thing in Nagoya, but might be a bit frustrating in Tokyo if you're trying to grab some time for yourself.

Regards

Mark

Yup, you sure hit the Tokyo spots. Personally, Tokyo was not my favorite city in the world. I much preferred Kyoto. The Kinkakujin is my absolute favorite "tourist attraction" that I've ever been to.

But yeah, Akihabara is great. I just hope you don't feel too crowded. Probably not, since you won't be there too long.

Akasaka (sp?) is fun too. Its the 'night district'.

The first time I went to Tokyo, I actually had a day off (completely surprising). I spent that day on a bus tour of Tokyo. That tour covered everything. We went to the moat surrounding the palace (which is right across from our hotel, so I saw it before), the WTC, and the oldest temple in Tokyo, among other attractions. Its the best way to see the city IMHO.

Thanks guys for the suggestions. I've never been there before and as you noted I won't have a lot of free time. I would really like to see the shrine in Nagisaki. In Tokyo I would like to buy gifts for my family. Komonos and stuff like that. Of course I'm interested in gadgets for myself!

The temple area (Asakusa?) has a huge outdoor market area. When I was there the first time, I got the girls komonos, and picked up a bunch of other neat stuff (lighters, ash tray, decorative fan).

I need to ask my travel buddy about shrines - there are some amazing ones.

If you get a chance, take a ride on the Shinkansen (bullet train). It is so different from any other train ride you've ever been on. (warning, rocket scientist speak ahead) The aerodynamics of the train are unbelievable. When you go through tunnels, the pressure actually causes your ears to pop. Really cool

Awesome! I will be taking the bullit train back to Tokyo from Nagoya.

Awesome indeed! Those trains are amazing. When I was in Japan, I went from Tokyo to Kyoto to Hiroshima and back to Tokyo, taking that train each leg. It's amazing how fast and smooth they are!

I had to spend a few days in Ice (sp? - pronounced E-say). We took the bullet train as far as we could, then the regular train the rest of the way. The contrast was phenomenal.

When you can, make sure you get the green car (1st class)

I miss Japan. Unfortunately, that campaign is over, and I won't be going back for at least a year

If it sounds like E as in "easy" and say as in, well, "say", then in English you would most likely spell it as "Ise". It looks weird, but that's it

That's it! I have been spelling it Ice instead of Ise since day one, and haven't broken the habit yet.

Hehe, that's okay Normally, I wouldn't really try to say that I knew much Japanese, since it's been so long since I took it. I only remember a good portion of the character alphabet

I suggest maybe skipping the Bullet Train

From the article:

Drivers normally take over and steer the train manually in the final stretch to a station.

Um... I know I'm no expert on trains, but... isn't there a slight technical error in there somewhere?

Turn left, I SAID LEFT!!!!

Several of my friends are pilots - one of them calls flying 'dozing for dollars'. He says the hardest part is staying awake in the cockpit (yeah, he flies regional jets right now). Whether a pilot of a plane falling asleep or a train operator (as long as both are on autopilot) is worse, I'm not to judge

On an interesting side not, cruise ships that depart from New Orleans are always piloted by local river masters. As soon as they leave the mouth of the river, they hand control back to the cruise pilot and literally jump off onto another boat and go back to shore. Every time I cruise, I watch them jump off. Strange....

On an interesting side not, cruise ships that depart from New Orleans are always piloted by local river masters. As soon as they leave the mouth of the river, they hand control back to the cruise pilot and literally jump off onto another boat and go back to shore. Every time I cruise, I watch them jump off. Strange....

Not strange...this routine is a fixture of harbor/inshore navigation of large ships around the world whether Nawlins, the Columbia River, Le Havre, the Panama Canal, Puget Sound, or wherever. My friend's neighbor is a pilot in Alaska. Great job.

I can't help but paste a snippet from the history that we encouraged my Dad to write out a few years back:

During 1941 I was employed as a welder in the body shop of Fords assembly plant in Somerville. Following Pearl Harbor the plant was shut down and I was again out of work. Too bad, as I was making $1.25 per hour.

...I then went to work as Apprentice Pilot for the Boston Pilots on the schooner "Pilot" and "Roseway" from 1/6/42 to 3/7/42. World War II had started, business in the port of Boston died, and the pilots had to cut expenses. I was the last in so I was the first laid off.

The Boston Pilots were a family affair and not inclined to accept or hire Catholics. As it turned out I was only the second Catholic employed there and I was advised by the first Catholic in never to deny I was but never to brag that I was.

Later on in the spring I was offered the chance to go back as apprentice with the Boston Pilots but I declined as I had already signed up to go to school for my license. Also bearing in mind it was a ten-year apprenticeship starting at $55 per month.

All of my employment up to this point was work at $55. As the saying goes everything works out for the best.

Meaning that he passed for a license and went on to make a bit more money elsewhere (without the 10-year apprenticeship!) And, yes, a schooner. A typical pilot boat in that era.

Not strange...this routine is a fixture of harbor/inshore navigation of large ships

When I was in CCF (combined cadet force) at school, I was in the Naval section. This was cool -- less marching and shouting than the army branch, and we got to play with boats a couple of times a year. Usually this meant sailing in Dover harbour.

Anyway, one trip we went on was to the Pilot station near Southampton. Bear in mind that this is the English channel -- one of the busiest (if not the busiest) shipping channels in the world. Anyway, while we were there, we went out for the day on one of the Pilot boats. These boats are used to deliver the pilot from the port to the ship that requested one. They're great little boats -- they can do 20 knots in fairly choppy weather.

The best part -- I got to drive one. At 20 knots. In choppy weather. Sweet.

In fact, while we were out messing about in the boat we got a call to collect a pilot for taking out to a ship in the channel. The cadet at the wheel got to drive all the way back to the harbour to pick up the pilot, and one of the other cadets drove all the way back to the ship to deliver the pilot. Cool.