Meetup

Had an email from another gaijin intrested in meeting up at the festival.

If there's anyone else that fancies meeting up, my email is at the side of the page --->

Offbeat

Nice offbeat guide here

Getting there

I have received my confirmation letter for my Fuji Rock tickets!
I have also booked a room for a couple of nights in Roppongi...

Getting excited now :)

Grr

I'm still waiting for my ticket confirmation from Smash Corp - The people who put on the Fuji Rock Festival. I have emailed them twice but have had no answer :(

Will book my first two nights accomodation in Tokyo this weekend. I would prefer to stay around Harajuku or Roppongi. There are some good online accomodation finders listed in the Rough Guide book.

Forum

Yes, the Ghibli museum is well worth it mate. Its in Inokashira Koen, which is a beautiful park too. Kichijoji is the station you need on the Inokashira line. Its a really great district/part of town. I highly recommend the bar (forgot the name) on the second storey as you leave the main inokashira koen exit, its on your right. You won't miss it, down the street with all the cool shops/restaurants. As for the Ghibli museum, they've got a lifesize robot from laputa and stained glass windows!!! from several ghibli films. Enjoy yourself mate, Japan is wicked, you'll love it. Check out Roppongi hills, Shibuya at night. SHIBUYA at niiiiite!!!! And Shimokitazawa. That's Tokyo only, tho! TOO many places to enjoy! HAVE FUN! I've only been to Osaka once, but stayed for a few days in Kyoto too which is WELL worth it if you're in the Kansai region. Head there for a bit at least, its only 25 minutes from Osaka on the train. Very green, beautiful city. Have fun, and try to forget about Bart for a bit. Niice

-Recomendations from someone on SquatJuice.com

Rough Guide

I had a look through my Rough Guide last night and marked things that I would find interesting and places to stay. It was only after an hour of research that I realised the book is the old edition :(

I've ordered the new one off Amazon.

Quick Ideas

Here's a brief lists of places / attractions I'm interested in visiting around Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto.

Tokyo / Around Tokyo
Shinjuku Large entertainment, shopping and business district.
Shibuya Busy district for younger generations.
Harajuku Japan's teenager capital.
Rikugien Beautiful Japanese style landscape garden
Ghibli Museum Hayao Miyazaki's small theme park for Studio Ghibli who did Princess Mononoke / Spirited Away.

Osaka
Osaka Castle Reconstruction of the great castle.
Minami Famous entertainment and shopping district.
Peace Osaka Museum about the horrors of World War II

Kyoto
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3950.html Will probably do one of these day tours around the temples, or find something guided at the tourist office in Osaka.

Will take a look at my Rough Guide and Lonely Planet in the next few weeks and add some more ideas.

Fraud

I got a call from the Fraud deparment of my bank this morning thinking that someone had tried to transfer ticket money out of my account without my permission. I had to answer about ten questions to confirm my identity.

The bloke from the bank said that they had quite alot of money laundering problems with Japan.

That'll be the Yakuza then.

Wired

I wired the money this morning...

I used to work in a bank organising wire transfers but because of a few years of cannabis use, It took me a while to work out what to put where on the form.

Here's hoping some random Japanese person doesn't end up with my 40,500 yen.

JR Pass

My JRpass exchange form showed up with the post at 7.30 in the morning. Luckily my housemate crawled out of bed to get it before the postman got bored of knocking on the door.

I had a bit of a problem getting hold of a festival ticket. I received the reservation form, but I had forgotten to request a camping pass. I've emailed them back asking for a new reservation form but they haven't got back to me yet :( I hope they get back to me quickly, I don't like waiting for things like this.

I'm Booked!

OUT

Depart London [LHR] TERMINAL 3 Heathrow 13:00 Tue 26 Jul 05
Arrival Tokyo [NRT] TERMINAL 1 Narita 09:00 Wed 27 Jul 05

RETURN

Depart Tokyo [NRT] TERMINAL 1 Narita 11:00 Tue 09 Aug 05
London [LHR] TERMINAL 3 Heathrow 15:30 Tue 09 Aug 05

All for £583 which I got from shopping around a bit on traveljungle.co.uk

Sent a request to Japan Travel Centre in London for a green 14 day rail pass, and because I've saved money on my flight I'm getting a first class train pass. *BLING*

Sent a request for one Fuji Rock Festival ticket, I will be wiring them the money as soon as I get a ticket reservation number.

Got a great deal on insurance from moneysupermarket.com

I have

Just booked off work the 26th July to the 9th of August. I will be booking my flights, tickets and rail pass over the weekend.

It looks like KLM are the cheapest airline from the UK at £683 which is a little more than I expected, but it's coinciding with the British school holidays which is understandable.

Hello World

Here is the first post about my trip to the fuji rock festival 2005.

I will be booking my tickets and flights this weekend, so I'm quite excited! I have saved £3500 for the trip to the festival and for some travelling around Japan afterwards.

The Fuji Rock festival costs £200 including campsite entrance, so I will take a cheap tent out there and give it to some homeless person or trash it once i'm done with it.

The flights should cost between £600 and £700 although you can get courier flights for around £250. Courier flights look like they could be a pain as you have to suit your travel dates around them.

A nationwide bullet train pass costs about £290 for 3 weeks,. I am looking to stop in hostels and budget hotels for the rest of my trip which cost between £20 - £35 a night, I'm going to try and get hold of a Youth Hostel card before I go which entitles you to various discounts.