I've been all over Japan on multiple occasions in the past 2 years. LOVE it. Taking Mrs. Motion in April for 10 days. It will be her first time there. We'll get the week JR Pass and travel around as much as we can. Main focus is Tokyo and Kyoto, but we'll check out a ryokan in the mountains and an onsen town, too. I've done this before and really dug the experience.
I'm pretty intimidated by the culture and their, uh, 'derision' for Westerners. I'd like to know how to gracefully access more of the culture, and if its possible at all. In the past, I've relied on Tripadvisor recommendations for hotels and restaurants, but find them to be crowded with Westerners, which to me, dilutes the experience. I'd like to visit more of the 'underground' of Kyoto and Tokyo... the intimate restaurants and bars that most Westerners don't get to see.
Any tips on how to do this? I have a bunch of questions....
What are all the funky spaceship-like buildings in the backstreets of Shinjuku, Tokyo?
How do we get into a small restaurant in the Gion district of Kyoto? The ones with the geishas along the river?
How do we enter a small restaurant or bar with no Westerners present?
Questions, questions
I know we have some experts here, so thought I'd throw it out.