FIRST
-for foreigners who want to travel Japan and who have time to linger, or
-foreigners who travel on a tight budget:
willerexpress.com is the website to go. they provide overnighttravel by bus to all the big cities in Honshou and Kyushuu. and if you are a foreigner you have the chance to buy a willerexpress bus pass. (HAS TO BE PURCHASED OUTSIDE OF JAPAN, THEY CHECK IP-ADRESS!)
the bus pass works a bit like the interrailticket in Europe. You pay between 10`000 and 14`000YEN and you can travel on 3~5 days withing two months. in order to travel you just have to check with the website if there`s a seat aviable, reserve it at least an hour before check in et voila!
(I bought the one for 5 days and travelled tokyo-osaka-fukuoka-aomori-tokyo-osaka, for 2800YEN per ride. without the bus pass I would have easily have to pay 5000 to 6000YEN per ride, not to mention 10`000 to 15`000 by SHINKANSEN)
SECOND
Don`t avoid contact with locals.
Sometimes it seems like they don`t notice you, or that they purposly try not to make eyecontact. But my experiance learnt me, that most of them just don`t know how to approach you. Try to learn a little basic Japanese like the appropriate greeting and how to say where you`re from and what you like about Japan. You will see, it`ll open many doors and hearts and more often than not ends in an invitation to their home or a place only locals know about.
THIRD
If you missed your last train or couldn`t find a Hostel for the night, don`t worry. In Japan it actually legal to sleep at public places, such as parks or riverbenches. If you don`t want to sleep at a remote area even trainstations are ok. But there is one thing to pay attention to (that`s what I didn`t do and therefore stranded in Yadoya Guesthouse): always put your passport¥creditcard¥etc in a little bag, wrap something around it and use it as a pillow.
->I didn`t do that when I was in Aomori and couldn`t find a Hostel (turns out there really isn`t one O__O). I bought some food and walked along the seashore but I was so tired that I just lie on the floor and fell asleep. next morning one of my bags was gone. At first I didn`t mind terribly much, as there was only some food in it and some dirty cloths. But then I remembered that I put my briefcase in the bag and forgot to put it into my “pillowbag”. So there I was, with little more than 10`000 YEN left, because I hid it in my backpack for emergencies, and a busticket to Tokyo and another ticket to Osaka a week later (from where I will fly home).
wich brings me to
FOURTH
Don`t be afraid to ask for help. There will always be a place like Yadoya where you will be understood and where people actually want to help you and let you stay even though you cannot pay the full price. From the very fist moment I talked to Aki-san and Alice-san they made it clear that they will help me and make sure that I have a roof over my head and some food in my stomach.
And that`s how I became the newest staff addition at Yadoya Guesthouse untill next Tuesday evening
and I will cook a traditional Meal from Switzerland on Tuesday for the “one coin dinner”, called Roesti (the oe is supposed to be an Umlaut). It is like an omlet made of potatoes with vegetables and an egg. and in addition to that I will make a green salad with appels.
So I hope to see You there
best wishes
Lauralii, from Switzerland
