I found while in Japan that maps were more of a hindrance than a help - the best way to navigate is visually, or locate a railway station and work from there!
big countries tend to have this type of problem.. since there are really too much building around in just a single district.. however i'm quite glad that i'm living in a smaller country where it's accessible in some way or another in most way, especially with a map..
Man, that sure looks confusing! O__o I'm sure if I had to look for an address with a map like that I'd be lost in a second since I can't even read it.
LOL, I just got lost just now looking for Aoyama Spiral Garden in Tokyo. Either I stopped at the wrong station or went out the wrong exit. Didn't managed to find it in the end (T_T) Worst is most of the street names have the same name with just different numbers like you said. Usually I need to google map and print a map of that section if I haven't been there before. Else I will be very very lost. (X_X) Even the train route are confusing as well. Without the convenience of route finder offer by Japan cellphones, I think I need to spend at least 10 minutes each time looking at the train route map.
I've been here for more than 3 years, but I still can't find my way around Shinjuku and Tokyo station - can never tell between the Yaesu and Marunouchi exits and where they take me.
American maps really are better. You can find your way pretty reliably even in New York City provided you are used to the idea of 'streets' and 'avenues'. A monkey can navigate here.
When I was in Tokyo, I didn't get lost even once.. I always made sure I had a map and made sure where I was going. Of course, when I went just for a stroll I didn't take one but just kept general directions. For most situations it's enough to have a solid point of reference. Talk about getting lost and finding things... I'm looking for the guy in Japan who does custom searches for when you're looking for a special figure.. I think I saw a link for his blog here once, but I lost it, so please help, thanks! :D
Got a bit lost around Melbourne when I visited Australia back in 2004. The city was easy to navigate, but I kinda lost my orientation, but thankfully, I managed to go back to my hotel in one piece.
Yes, I got lost at least once, and I'm quite good at navigating. But this was at night, and I decided to use another exit of the subway station that I "thought" was in the right direction... I got lost a few streets and it was dark. I had my map, but nothing to know where on the map I was. But thank god I brought my compass for exactly this kind of situation ;p This way I able to figure out which direction I could go and couldn't go. So I finally found some familiar streets and got back to my hotel, thank god they didn't have a curfew. That was quite an experience ;p I usually also have trouble finding my hotel for the first time (even with a map in the hand), but on these maps you find on the sidewalk, there are usually marked. But oh well, that's the adventure of traveling ;p
Sometimes I got lost in Jakarta, Indonesia.. The roads there are very messy and extremely packed with cars and bikes.. Very hard to navigate.. That hand-written map looks scary.. How could tourists navigate then? O.o"
When i was in Tokyo...looking at the map indeed was confusing for me., esp. the subway map as well. And to consider i can't even read japanese. Good thing there were some kind fellas who helped me get to where i needed to go...the toilet =P
ah you can never get lost in singapore :D did not get lost when i was in japan ... have a hand map which was clearer
Wow that looks insane - -''
lol....
nothing beats a good ol' GPS to navigate in the streets of Japan. And it's true that you can have the adress of a place and still don't find it. It happened to me in Tokyo when i was looking for a car rental...i found the 2-15-5 but i was looking for the 2-15-6, couldn't find it...
O.O Even google maps provide a somewhat better map. They have the area number, sub-area number, but not the building number. At least they have little icons like 7eleven ^.^ My friend just arrived in Japan last week, he occasionally gets lost...(He still cant find his apartment, living in a nursery...) I wonder if I should tell him that hes alright, and not to use a map @.@
my head hurts after looking at that map. mapquest or google maps are better
Seems like GPS technology could really help out over there. Maybe folks should register their "dot" on the GPS map so people who invested in the technology are able to find it easier.
Ah yes - I remember using one of these four years ago when I had to get back to the tour bus line. I almost didn't make it...
Fortunately, not every city is as bad as Tokyo. I occasionally get lost trying to find an address in Hiroshima, but for the most part they're more logically laid out. Whereas in Tokyo, I know people who have lived there all their lives and still get lost.
See, the nice thing about Arizona, is everything is pretty much set up as North/South, East/West main roads. The areas from Main street and Central (Cross roads that denote the center for all roads to start off on) are the transition between 15th st and exactly the same distance on the opposite side 15th ave. Very easy to find your way around.
When I thought that trying to find my way in cities like Paris or London was confusing... This may be the most complicated map I have ever seen so far. I like to walk for hours and wander until I find some metro station or any other way to get home, but if it with the help of that kind of maps and in Japanese on top of that... @_@;
Staying for longer periods of time and living in Japan are different from a few weeks visit. I haven't known anyone who spend at least a good six months in Japan to not get lost. Oh yes, I've gotten really really lost too. ToT I guess everything is ok as long as you can find home again. ^^; Well Osaka is no different than Tokyo. It's easy for native and foreigner to get lost. My fiancee works in Mianmi and is surprised at the places I have found.
I get lost if I haven't visited an area for a while, plus I was never good with street names so I use landmarks to know where to go.
soo sad i haven't even gone to japan... can't even get lost if i wanted to lol
I have a pretty good sense of direction... So even if I get lost, I can usually find my way around things... that is of course, if I am in a country where I can understand the language
D_BLADE; I know what you mean about wanting to wander around, when I was in Pompei in Italy, I kept leaving the "guided tour" to check out some of the amazing places that they walk you right past. Its kind of like Montreal, if you walk around long enough, you see some interesting architecture and places.
That tokyo map sure is confusing. I already get confused with British maps sometimes. I wouldn't have a hope chance with a Tokyo map.
I never got lost in Japan because...I've never been to Japan before. >.< But man, if those maps are already a bit confusing for the locals then they're pure torture for tourists. I'm glad that the adress system here in Holland is very clear and that we have street names on almost every corner.
Hahahahahaha Same here, never been, I'm gonna go next year though thats for sure...^^
lol map :3 i guess you'll get lost even with a map in your land in japan lolz XD
Man, that sounds like it's really easy to get lost... I thought the system they use in Rome was bad, which is basically no system at all. Oh, houses are numbered, but the numbering can go something like this: 014, 015, 015b, 015c, 145, 047, 050 MAKES NO SENSE! The best system I've ever known is in my native Buenos Aires. Basically the city is largely arranged as a grid, with most blocks between streets being around 100 meters long on each side. Each street has a name, not a number (easier to remember, usually named after historical figures). Every block covers 100 numbers (never actually 100 properties, but still). So, say you wanted to go to Avenue X 1456 you know pretty well where it is, specially because a lot of parallel streets have similar numbering as they start or end close by. This is also handy for figuring out the length of a road. Roughly speaking, a road that has over 1000 address numbers is over a kilometer long. Our longest avenue, once the longest in the world, goes up to 14000, over 15 kilmetres (that's up to the city limit, if you count that avenue's length afterward it's 35km!). Rant over :)
Silvera, Looks like maps are not needed in Buenos Aires I guess ^^
Reminds me of standing in the subway trying to figure out how to get to Akhibara from my hotel. First time I saw the female only car all in pink ads made me do a double take, lol.
and to think what most japanese language teaching books teaches seems to make it easy =_=
@DRAGUN: I'd say the worse is when you're a pure tourist. You follow the others and the tour guide blindly and you miss many opportunities to see "behind the scenes" and discover particular shops and attractions that are worth straying a bit. I also always find that places for tourists are plagued by items and services with abusive prices. But on the other hand, tourists don't see the "darker" side of a touristic area (dangerous,shady, etc.) , normally. As long as you find your way to the hotel or home, it is all right, I believe!
D_Blade: The saddest part is that people have no idea what they are missing. When I was in Italy, I found so many amazing piazzas with different architecture and churches, I even found the house that Michaelangelo grew up in in florence! When I told people on the tour at the end of the day what I found they were incredulous. There was even a whole room in the museum packed to the rafters of marble statues from almost every era, the tour guide just walked right by it. I think people like the idea of seeing the washed out presentation so that they dont have to think.
I always tell people bring a compass if they go visit Japan. Even with a map, I really can't tell which direction I am going when I am surrounded by all these skyscrapers.
