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Posts Tagged ‘japan’

I don’t know about you, but when I hear about Sapporo, the first thing that comes to mind is beer. I’m a long time Sushi eater and Sapporo is my beer of choice when eating. What you might have not known is that there’s an actual city in Japan called Sapporo. In fact, that’s where the beer comes from. Sapporo is a perfect place for making beer. The hops are excellent and it’s cold.

Sapporo is the capital of Hokkaido Island—located in the West. It’s the fastest growing city in Japan. At last check, there were more than two million living in Sapporo. It is the 5th largest city in Japan.

When many think of Japan, they think of the over crowded life in Tokyo. Life in Sapporo is much different. First of all, the island of Hokkaido is covered with forests. Many Japanese escape to the island and Hokkaido attracts millions of visitors annually. The summer is the peak time.

Earlier I mentioned the beer they make here. Sapporo has been making beer since 1891. If you visit Sapporo, you can take a tour of the facility. It’s one of those must-see attractions. There’s nothing like a fresh Sapporo beer.

Sapporo is also famous for its snow festival, Yuki Matsuri. It takes place for one week each year in February. It continues to grow each year. It started out as a couple of snow sculptures and has now grown to a main event held at multiple sites. Many come for the international snow sculpture competition.

Perhaps the most interest aspect of the Yuki Matsuri is the community effort given to one giant statue each year. If you arrive in Sapporo just before the festival, you can participate in the creating of this statue. It’s advised that you book your stay ahead too. More than two million tourists flood into Sapporo for the Yuki Matsuri.

Another aspect I find interesting about Sapporo, as someone that doesn’t speak fluent Japanese, is the fact that the tourist information centers are English-friendly. They are always staffed with personnel that speak English well. At the International Information Corner, they have maps and information handouts in English. This makes any English-speaking traveler—that doesn’t speak Japanese—at home.

Another great first stop is the Sapporo International Communications Plaza. It’s just across the street from the Tokeidai Clocktower and right by City Hall. It has more literature in English, including newspapers and magazines. You are bound to meet Japanese people there who know English as well. There is so much more to talk about, but this article was meant to wet your whistle for Sapporo, Japan.

Tokyo, it is the largest city in Japan, and the world. The population is over twelve million people, and it has millions of visitors traveling there yearly as well. This can be a bit overwhelming to anyone wanting or needing to travel to Tokyo for any reason.

If traveling there for business, it is critical that the employee know exactly where he or she is supposed to be, how to get there and what facilities such as hotel, restaurants and transportation is available upon arrival. Most of these questions can be answered through the employer, but it is a very good idea to also study Tokyo independently and gain as much information as possible.

For people planning a leisure trip to Tokyo, it is even more critical to take the time to carefully plan out this trip. Knowing which sites to visit, where to stay, what transportation to use once there are all very important decisions, which should and need to be made before arriving in Tokyo Japan.

For most independent travelers, the services of a travel agent are usually needed. Going to someone who is familiar with Tokyo is the best first step in planning this type of vacation. Others will go online to study the city out on their own. To truly make the most of this trip, a combination of both is the best idea.

No matter the reason for traveling, and the information given, either by employer, travel agent, internet or other source, the best information will come from the use of maps. Maps of Tokyo can be obtained by contacted the visitor information center, or by talking to others that have been there. Maps are important as a person tries to navigate this large and densely populated city, especially for those that do not know the language, it would be very hard to ask for directions in a language you are unfamiliar with, much less understand the answer from someone that does not understand English.

After obtaining the necessary maps needed for your trip to Tokyo, making sure you have a wide variety of maps, it is also important to study out these maps, before you find yourself standing in the middle of Tokyo not knowing where you are and where you want to go. Pinpoint the areas you are interested in visiting. Find out how far these locations are from your hotel and know how you are going to get there.

Once you have arrived at Tokyo, do not rely on memory, keep your maps handy and in the event that you do get lost, even if you have no idea which way to go, at the very least you can solicit help from a local by pointing to the place you want to go. Japanese people, for the most part understand English, even if it is just a little, but having a map showing them where you want to go will make the conversation easier and less time consuming on both of you.

Traveling to a foreign country is exciting and adventurous, as long as you are properly prepared. No one wants to find himself or herself lost in the middle of any unfamiliar city, let alone one of the largest cities in the world!