Japlanning 101 - Asakusa

August 4, 2013

Today we are looking at one of Tokyo’s more historic areas, Asakusa. Home to Tokyo’s most famous and visited Buddhist temple, Sensoji, with it's rich history and great shopping, Asakusa attracted tourists for centuriesm. Come with Japlanning, as we take a look at the history, sights and shopping of Asakusa.

Asakusa, located north of central Tokyo, on the banks of the Sumida River, began as a quiet fishing village, then later thrived as people arrived in numbers to worship at Sensoji. For most of the early twentieth century, Asakusa was the entertainment district of Tokyo, and it became home to the first cinema in 1903, as well as many theatres. During World War II, the area was quite damaged, due to this, in the later years of the century, the area was surpassed for being the entertainment district by Shibuya and Shinjuku, amongst other areas in Tokyo. More recently, however, this has been making a comeback, with a downtown entertainment district that is rivalling Ginza, Shinjuku and others.

Japlanning 101 - Tsukiji Fish Market

July 31, 2013

oday Japlanning is back with a new entry in our 101 series, it's the biggest seafood market in the world, and one of Tokyo's biggest tourist draws: Tsukiji Fish Market, in central Tokyo. Each day this market sells the most seafood in the world, and the freshest catches with over 2000 tonnes of seafood handled a day! Read on to find out when to plan your visit, and where you'll find the freshest sushi breakfast in the world, at Tsukiji Fish Market.

Tsukiji Market is a massive fruit and vegetable market, however the biggest item on sale, and what draws the tourists is the seafood. Handling over 2000 tonnes of fresh seafood produce a day makes Tsukiji the biggest and busiest fish market in the world. The market opened in 1935, as a replacement for the Nihonbashi Market, which was destroyed by fire during the great Kanto earthquake in 1923.

Flight Review - Qantas

July 28, 2013

Today we’re revealing our review of our latest flight to Japan. Recently, the team at Japlanning flew Qantas direct from Sydney, Australia to Tokyo, Japan, flying into Narita international Airport. Read on to hear how the flight went, on one of only three direct routes to Tokyo from Australia, with Australia’s biggest airline, Qantas.

In April 2013, some of our team took flight with Qantas out of Sydney heading to the biggest city in the world, Tokyo, Japan. Qantas is Australia's oldest and largest airline, with daily flights to Tokyo direct from Sydney, this is the only route that the airline flies with their Qantas brand, all other routes flown from Queensland to Tokyo and Osaka are all under their low-cost brand, Jetstar, which we recently reviewed.

Day Trips - Nikko

July 25, 2013

After spending time in the biggest city in the world, Tokyo, Nikko is a great escape from city life and an excellent day trip to plan, and just a short trip out of Tokyo. Nikko is home to spectacular natural sights, and one of the most elaborate shrines in Japan, Toshogu.

Nikko is a small town just 125 kilometres out of Tokyo. It is a town rich in history and culture, and was once the centre of Shinto and Buddhist worship in the mountains for centuries, and is home to Japan’s most lavish shrine, Toshogu. If you happen to be there from November to December, the area around lake Chuzenjo, is particularly know for the beautiful autumn colours of its trees. The autumn colours start earlier in October at higher altitudes, and make their way down to the town centre of Nikko in the first half of November.

Japlanning the Movies - Lost in Translation

July 19, 2013

Ever wanted to hop on a plane and live out the classic indie film, Lost in Translation? Well, never fear, Japlanning has a plan for you! Today we’re giving you the Lost in Translation guide to Tokyo! Visiting the karaoke lounge they sang in, wander through legendary areas from the film, even stay in the same hotel they filmed in; it’s Japlanning the movies – Lost in Translation style.

Japan is an amazing country, yet finding western movies that use Japan as their back drop are few and far between, especially modern Japan. The most iconic movie that shows contemporary Tokyo would have to be Sophia Coppola’s 2003 classic, Lost in Translation.

Flight Review - Jetstar

July 16, 2013

Today, Japlanning is launching into its latest airline review. On our late-2012 trip to Tokyo, we flew with Jetstar from Melbourne to Tokyo, via Gold Coast. Read on to find out how they were, and what we loved and didn’t like about Australia’s number one low-cost airline.

Today we are flying with Jetstar, in economy, from Melbourne, Australia via Gold Coast to Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan.