Warriors of Legend Tour of Tokyo 2006
PLEASE NOTE: The tour is
SOLD OUT. The tour will take place June
26-30, 2006. We are leaving the details below online. Please look forward to
an online tour diary, containing pictures and videos, this July.
Thank you for your interest in the Warriors
of Legend Tour of Tokyo, a one-time only exclusive event. Below is
information on this for-fans, by-fans tour. If you have any questions feel
free to contact us.
The price of the tour package is USD$1,100. The breakdown of the
costs is as follows.
3 days, 4 nights (double-occupancy rooms)
INCLUDED:
1.) Four nights at the luxurious MIELPARQUE HALL in Shiba-Koen, in the
shadow of the Tokyo Tower. Not only is the Mielparque Hall one of Tokyo's
premiere lodgings, positioned conveniently in downtown Tokyo and right where
we want to be in Minato ward, it holds a special relevancy to our tour. As
will be detailed in Warriors of Legend Volume 2, the Mielparque Hall was the
location the Dark Agency used in the Sailor V manga as its base of
operations! That's right, if we can reserve the rooms early enough, we'd be
STAYING IN an important series location.
The hotel's rooms will be based on double occupancy, which means you'd be
sharing a room with someone. The rooms are $170 a night, but double
occupancy means we can split that cost in half. The total cost for 4 nights
would be half of what people would pay normally, at $340 total.
This is CHEAP for a hotel like this in that part of Tokyo. Once you see what
the Mielparque Hall is like (there are some nice shots at their website
http://www.mielparque.or.jp/tky/sty_sise.htm ) you'll see why it'd be
incredible to make our stay in this city at that location. But there's a
problem, to lock in that low price we need for those four nights to be
weekdays (prices shoot up even higher on weekends), and we need to make the
reservations as soon as possible. We are hoping to accept payments beginning
in March, at which point we'll be able to reserve the rooms, but they may
even be sold out by then. Keep your fingers crossed!
2.) Four dinners with the whole group together in several upscale Tokyo
restaurants. With a tour like this, we're not going to be feasting together
(and feast we shall!) in a ramen joint (although we'll certainly go to one
for lunch some time, so you can experience what it's like to have real,
freshly prepared ramen). We are figuring $50 per person per meal, totaling
$200.
3.) All transportation costs within Tokyo proper and to Yokohama if the
group wants to go there. Subway, bus, train. $150 for 3 days.
4.) Costs of tickets and cover charges for the various events and locations
we'll be going to. Tokyo Tower observation (and special deck!), karaoke
joints, etc. We believe $200 is a reasonable estimate to cover these fees.
This alone is nearly $900, but we also have to cover miscellaneous expenses
such as phone cards or prepaid cell phones for the entire group (so you can
keep in contact if you get separated), custom Warriors of Legend Tour hats
and polo shirts, and many other tour related items such as the various color
information packets you'll be receiving. (Just printing stuff is expensive!)
Then there is taxes and fees that we have to pay (both in America and
Japan), which is why the total cost, $1,100 for everything above, is so high.
NOT INCLUDED:
-Airfare to and from Japan. (Once again, this is NOT INCLUDED in the
total price.)
-Transportation between the airport and the hotel.
-Breakfast, lunch, and personal expenses.
--
The pricing is NON-NEGOTIABLE, this is the final setup we've come up with
after a lot of thinking, but it is possible it will change (e.g. increase),
particularly dependant on factors such as the unavailability of the hotel,
or the possibility of studio tours which would add to the fees.
There is a 6 person minimum for the tour to take place, and a 10 person
maximum. The cut-off date for the 6 person minimum is March 12, 2006. If 6 people
do not send in deposits by then, the tour will be cancelled and all deposits
REFUNDED.
Payment will work as follows: deposit
registration is now CLOSED. Information on how to
do so is below. USD$100 guarantees you one of the 10 slots. If the ten slots
are filled, we will turn back any other deposits and put them on a waiting
list. [Please note: As of 4/22/06, all 10 slots have been filled. Thank you for your interest!]
The people who pay the deposit will then negotiate what days in June they
would like the tour to be held. We urge you to consider early or mid-June,
because late June is hot and the tourist season is in full swing. In
addition, the four days must be weekdays if we are to get a decent price on
the hotel. Also, keep in mind you will be losing and entire day in the air
(Japan is one day ahead of the US and Canada).
When the date is settled, those who cannot make it will have their deposits
refunded, and those on the waiting list will have a chance to join the tour.
If we do not have at least six tour members who can agree on tour dates, the
tour will be cancelled.
Once the date has been settled, we will require full payment immediately. We
need to go about arranging the hotel, getting the tickets for our various
events, etc. It must be paid at one time, as soon as the dates are settled;
we are sorry but we cannot do a payment plan, as we cannot risk the possibility
of not receiving the full payment. In addition,
there will be no refunds of the full payment. Please be aware of this!
We will accept the money either through bank check or money order.
We believe a fair estimate for the total cost you should expect to pay for
this tour is about USD$2500. If you can get to a NY or LA airport, direct
flights to Tokyo's Narita airport can be gotten at bargain prices of around
$650. In addition to this flight cost and the tour cost, the rest of the
$2500 would come from the various expenses we suspect you'll incur, such as
airport transportation, food, and of course all the anime goods you'll want
to buy.
And to be frank for a moment, this is an unbelievable bargain for a custom
tour of Tokyo. We are doing this tour solely for our love of Sailor Moon as fans; for-profit tour companies would charge nearly double for what you'll be
receiving on the Warriors of Legend Tour. (As you can see from the cost
breakdown above, the tour is effectively at cost.)
Of course, by now you may be asking yourself, what is it you will be seeing
on the Warriors of Legend Tour? Not only will we visit nearly every place
mentioned in the
Reflections of Japan book, but we'll be going to many, many
other places (that will be discussed in Warriors of Legend Volume 2, whose
chapter on locations is nearly double in size!) from Sailor Moon, as well as
key sites important to Tokyo's history and modern Japanese culture. Places
you've seen in Sailor Moon but also many other anime and manga, like
Shibuya's famous multi-directional crossing. You'll get to experience this
with other fans, and furthermore, you'll have a personal guide to take you
through this vast city, giving you the background to understand the
relevance of what you're seeing, hearing, and smelling; in turn learning a
lot about Japan, Sailor Moon, and maybe even yourself in the process.
TO REGISTER:
A $100
deposit is required, payable via check, money order, or Paypal. (Full balance
will be check and money order only.) Please contact
us via the feedback form writing in the message box your name, age,
address, and method of payment. We will respond to you right away if you are
within the deposit cutoff.
We will not be holding this tour again. Please join us on this
once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience what very few fans from the millions
across the globe (and indeed even in Japan) have ever seen or done.
Sincerely,
Jay Navok
Sushil K. Rudranath
Jonathan Mays
Genvid L.L.C.
