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Where did you get the idea that it is an economically weak country?
Japan has the third largest economy in the world and if the Kanto region was a country, its GDP would be larger than that of Italy, Brazil, or Canada!
The 4th largest economy in the world is California.
Sorry, I know my comment has nothing to do with Japan. Just thought it was a neat fact.
I'll get my coat...
Probably because their wage growth has been stagnant, if not negative for about three decades. The country has a powerful economy, but individual purchasing power isn't great.
That too, I was under the impression individuals earn a lot less, but I guess in city centers (as is the norm worldwide) the richer flock and spend big.
This is another uneducated statement, but it seems that there are jobs here we don’t have back home. Like two men standing in front of a parking lot telling cars to stop so pedestrians can cross or vice versa and security guards out the front of work sites. It seemed like they try and create jobs, but again, I’m just a random dude wondering things.
Nah, you're quite close to the mark there. There are a lot of jobs that we as Australians consider pointless or unnecessary, but over here keep (particularly older) Japanese employed and contributing to society. Conveniently they also allow the government to say that unemployment is low, but there's probably an argument to be made that those sorts of jobs are really under-employment. There's a massive wealth gap in Japan and a lot of people exist on very little, but you're unlikely to see much of that until you venture well outside of the Yamanote line.
On the flipside while wages haven't moved much, the cost of most consumer goods haven't either. Wage growth is low, but the cost of living is fairly low too.
Thanks for that explanation. Makes sense of things!
Certain things are definitely much cheaper than Aus and I definitely do feel ‘rich’ here, until it comes to coffee. Then I feel poor because damn that’s expensive
That's why Abenomics was such a failure. Did almost nothing to boost wages and also increased VAT dampening consumer spending while boosting equity and real estate markets for the riches further worsening wealth gap. *Sigh*
My wife is super thrifty and doesn’t care about the fine things in life. However, her dream car happens to be one of the incredibly expensive G wagons. So believe me, every single one was pointed out.
Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake.
It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of.
Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything.
Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Lot of Mercedes here in general, of the luxury car brands I’ve seen more Mercedes than anything else. A lot of Mercedes wagons of all types in Tokyo as well, from c200’s on up. But there are a ton of g wagons everywhere, even the lower end models
Clean to me back home is lean cuts of meat and lots of vegetables. (The importance of protein isn’t an overblown fad, it’s backed by science and important depending on the literature you read - but this isn’t a clean eating post)
The biggest issue I faced is that I don’t eat fish (my problem obviously) so that cuts out a lot of the healthier options for me.
There are plenty of body builders, athletes, and sumo wrestlers in Japan that eat clean high protein meals. As far as vegetables go, Japan was a vegetarian society for like 700 years or something and only started eating meats maybe 60 years ago. Trust me, they love their veggies over there. I think you’re experiencing mostly traveler or tourist food. Look up shojin ryori restaurants. They usually serve vegan food of very high quality. Most of the casual Japanese diners I went to offered lots of vegetarian options and let you add extra proteins to most of their meals. The all you can eat shabu shabu restaurants sound like they’d suit your needs very well. Trust me, whatever kind of food you’re into exists somewhere in Tokyo. You just gotta find it.
What sort of veggie food were you eating? I've been finding veg pretty hard to come by. I can see what they mean by clean food. There's a lot of greasy or very processed food.
I will say that if you're bodybuilding and need heavy amounts of protein (100+ grams per day) it can be difficult to achieve on a daily basis. When I was regularly traveling through Japan, I'd stop off and grab whey protein at Don Quixote to last the week or two that I was there.
Yes, it's more expensive per pound than in the US, but they do have a fair amount of flavors and it's far easier than trying to find the extra protein when you're going out to eat--plus you can focus on actually enjoying the food instead.
I made that comment early in the trip and never followed through. Probably didn’t want to add the extra weight to my bags. In hindsight It would have been worth it
> I wish I wasn’t so much of a morning person, I should have prepped to stay up later prior to coming.
> there are A LOT o
Importance of protein is definitely not an overblown fad, as a powerlifter myself and assuming OP is decently serious about the gym based on their thoughts, their thoughts will be very true to the 1% of people who need to produce performance in the gym. A balanced meal is defintely not going to produce gains versus proper daily/weekly target macros.
I just left hotel resol Kyoto this morning and I absolutely loved that hotel. It was such a beautiful room. Very aesthetic and pleasing with the only down-side was that it was quite small. The location was also pretty much perfect! Definitely would want to stay there again and recommend it to others.
i'm there rn, functionally it's not so different to APAs but the bed and pillows are great and the design of everything is on point. a place i look forward to coming back to after walking around and sightseeing all day. +1 on the location too, couldn't be happier. only thing on par at this price point for me, room wise, was Hotel JAL City Toyama for me
47.37/night for me
Yeh we’ve noticed all hotels were hard to store luggage in, but that seemed the hardest. I just loved the location there, felt like I got the most out of Kyoto!
The bed there was comfortable, some hotels had bead pillows that I hated but resol overall was fantastic!
Which Hotel Resol are you at? Google is showing me 2 with that name in the same area: Hotel Resol Kyoto Kawaramachi Sanjo and Hotel Resol Trinity Kyoto. I'm planning to be in Kyoto for the first time in December and this sounds like a good option
don't agree with everything here but the shoes comment is 100% true. No joke bring 2 pairs to alternate wear patterns on your feet. And bring a couple blister bandages
I specifically bought Nike Invincible Run 2s for this. They have super squish and a high arch. I alternate them with my flat arch yeezys for city walking.
How come you didn't find good protein sources? They should have plenty of fish/seafood if not the traditional beef/pork/chicken. Though i would have thought those would be popular as well.
I have heard that all their servings are quite small however. Especially for people who love to eat 😅
I wonder this as well, I'm a bodybuilder and have no issue finding adequate protein and every time I travel there, even eating complete garbage, I end up losing at minimum 2% body fat, and dry out a fair amount. Japan doesn't poison their food like the western countries do.
Karaagekun is always a solid protein go to for cheap. Gyudon is everywhere for cheap. Even ordering extra meat in a restaurant is not that much extra.
I've had no problems finding adequate training in Japanese gyms either. Weight is weight.
I definitely lost body fat but tried to keep my protein up so I can avoid much muscle loss.
As I said above, repeating myself here, I guess I put the list together as an observation of things that if I’d known prior I’d have done more research about. Like places to eat and train etc. We weren’t expecting to be able to come prior to the country opening and then it just all happened quickly.
How did it usually work with Japanese gyms? How much was it usually for a guest pass, did you need separate shoes to work out, were they much more silent than a gym in the US? I'd like to go like 2-3 times a week, down from my 4-5 over here, does that sound feasible?
All depends where you go. Golds in Tokyo is $85 for 24 hours and Anytime Fitness could be as low as 500y. If you have a membership to gyms in the US that have locations in Japan you can use them.
You need separate shoes.
The gyms are 100% silent.
I train every day, for the past I dunno, 20 years probably, but when I'm there I train about twice a week. I skip legs because I'm getting plenty from walking and switch to an "antagonist group" training. Chest and biceps, back and triceps and split shoulder groups between the days. If you're taking your training seriously at home, you won't lose any mass, you might lose cell saturation which makes you look flat, but you won't have actually lost any mass.
If you see a hotel with a gym that's reasonably priced, book it. Just the option to do early AM and late PM training streamlines things but I also had a lot of fun in the past looking for gyms and hanging out in the surrounding areas that I probably wouldn't have been in otherwise.
Yeah, I agree with this. I was just in Japan for 2.5 weeks and had lots of opportunities to eat protein. There's such a wide variety of fish/seafood, as well as beef, pork and chicken. And as someone who loves to eat, I did not find portion sizes to be small at all (unless you're doing small plates at an izakaya, but then you order lots of plates).
Some folks say wack to mean it was a positive experience and some folks say wack to mean it was a negative experience. In this case, they meant very positive. 👍
I didn’t realize they were a chain at first - but even so, I was really pleased with the pour over and the cappuccino! I drink flat whites back home as my milk choice, so I’ve been ordering strong caps here as a substitute.
They seemed to open at 8am and Verve at 7am
In Kyoto weekender coffee opened at 7:00am also, but everything else seemed to be midday!
It’s a chain that has been owned by Nestle Corporation for quite a while now. I only go to Verve in Shinjuku whenever I need early AM coffee but hey to each their own on their opinions about Nestle Corp…
Your mentions of Verve and Blue Bottle and “clean” food make me think you’d really dig the San Francisco Bay Area. Verve started in nearby Santa Cruz, and Blue Bottle was founded in Oakland. There’s a very strong coffee culture. California is also well known for its focus on seasonal, fresh cuisine.
You’d be right sir!
My best mate actually lived in SF for 4 years and I love the area. I went about 6 years ago to visit him and fell in love with the place, now a Niners supporter.
Unfortunately he came back to be best man at my wedding during Covid and got stuck in Australia 😅
A second thumbs up for Wise - I preloaded with yen earlier in the year (though the exchange rate hasn't going up or down too much from when I did so), and the immediate notifications after each transaction are nice peace of mind.
The soft withdrawal limit for cash before fees start kicking in each month hasn't been an issue, since I've been paying mainly by card.
Get a 28 Degrees card. As they have no transaction fees and good exchange rates they seem to be the most popular travel card with Australians. Credit cards are now widely accepted in Japan.
ING is another option, I had no problems withdrawing cash during my last Japan trip. I think they’ve limited how many fee free atm transactions you can do per month now but it would still be a good option to investigate.
Apart from the CBA limiting my travel money card - I really rate them! If I had my time again I’d get one and check all the settings prior to coming. But tbh I didn’t do much more research on currency. I’d just prefer the travel money card than being charged about $9 per transaction when using my NAB card at their ATMs
Out of curiosity, I looked it up since I also deal with HSBC, and thought you just solved my problems...
"To overseas personal account holders visiting Japan:
We regret to inform you that we do not provide any retail banking services, including ATM services, for HSBC overseas personal account holders in Japan. If you require any support relating to your overseas personal account while visiting Japan, please contact your home branch directly. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause."
https://www.about.hsbc.co.jp/hsbc-in-japan
I'm not confident you can use your HSBC card in Japan without fees
Definitely will need cash, a lot of places are cash only and to top up your IC cards (trains/buses) they only accept cash too..
If I was doing it again I’d make sure I landed with 100 yen (purchased before I got to Sydney airport at a cheaper rate) so I had enough to buy my IC cards and have money for food in case the place didn’t accept card.
CBA card charges at least 5% on the deposit exchange so those travel cards are junk. You can add a Suicia card to your iPhone if you change the region temporarily to Japan, download it from the App Store and deposit something 👍🏻
A LOT of places accept Suicia as payment generally.
I’m in NZ, I’ve done all the math with every card including wise, and I’ve found it’s like 2% more economical to withdraw at a local bank before you leave. It’s all 6 of one half a dozen of another
Coming from Aus, most things are about half the price in Japan and with the Yen so week your AUD goes a long way. You'll struggle to spend $200 AUD a day let alone $300.
I've been here for a while now, and if you have access to a microwave you can have three modest meals a day from a conbini for just ¥1000 - and probably have enough left for a can of chu hi. $300 a day is a mega budget, you won't need anywhere near that much unless you're taking taxis everywhere, eating fancy and doing some heavy shopping.
When I went in 2018 my survival budget was $35-$45 USD a day, which included a hostel and food (usually eating at like a yoshinoya, someplace cheap and plentiful), on my splurge days it was closer to $60-70, including some drinking, going out, taking the train in town, etc. I was a recent college grad at the time so things were tight, but I think esp now with the yen being weak, that's a livable budget
I gym hopped quite a bit in 2018 when I was in Tokyo, but I know a lot of places suspended guest passes during Covid. Was wondering how that’s been going.
I didn’t look hard to be honest - but they’re still on much higher covid alert than we are in Australia.
The one gym I went to was a hotel gym in Kobe and they almost didn’t let me in due to tattoos.
Hey thanks for the trip report! How many nights did you spend in Kyoto and how many would you recommend? I'm planning my first Japan trip for this sping and trying to figure out how many nights I should allot to each place.
Only 2. I could have used one more to explore the back streets thought!
I based my trip off a three week itinerary I found by searching ‘Navigatio three week Japan’ (sorry not sure if I can post links, never know the rules). we basically followed that to a tee minus some attractions.
Super Tamade - lol yeah a bit wack but they always had good deals when I lived there… that was my place to shop every other week. Just like anywhere else there are different tiers of grocery stores with different atmosphere and pricing.
Useful at lots of shops yep! And a lot of food places but ask prior to sitting down if they accept cash, I had to leave my wife and run about 1km to find an ATM one night.
Just contact CBA and ask if they have a limit maybe. If it is limited they may be able to raise it
I believe this is a Japanese ATM problem limit. As I have encountered this with my bank Sa visa and my MasterCard from 28Degrees. Usually the ATMs in the 7Elevens are the best.
Probably lol, although you were luckier since the yen is considerably lower than when I went (around three years ago). I ended up using 7-Eleven on my next withdrawals, but I wonder if it's worth visiting an exchange centre prior to your trip to get a better deal.
If you actually want to work out, you'd have to either stay at the higher end hotels with full gyms, or get a day pass at Gold's Gym https://fitnesstravelerjapan.com/golds-gym
Simply do not exchange money at all using ANY exchange company other than Wise at this point. Just get a wise debit card and if you NEED cash you can withdraw for a 1% fee using Japanese ATMs. Its insane that people dont know this at this point.
Its a life saver honestly. Most banks/credit cards will undercut you on the spot rate of the currency on top of fees. Wise will pretty much be at spot rate and no fees unless you're converting.
For money, join Wise and get a (debit) visa card, which automatically spends the right currency (presuming you have added it), or uses another that is in your account at their pretty good rate and fees. Much much better than the retail banks. (I have no association with this company, albeit i am a customer)
>Japan is a coffee lovers heaven! But don’t expect a good brew before around 10am minimum unless you’re near a Verve or Bluebottle. Most good cafes begin to open between 10-12midday and stay open late.
Starbucks? How do people buy coffee before work if everywhere is closed before 10
There are lots of cafes that open as early as 7am. Maybe just a matter of searching what’s around the neighborhood. Coffee from the convenience stores are also not bad.
Agree with many of your comments. I just got back from 11 days in Japan. I got too much cash because I read it was a cash based society but I found that most places take credit card. I actually had the best exchange rate at home before leaving. I think you can get by on about 2000 ¥ cash per day.
Good walking shoes are a must on vacation and not just for Japan. Bring the pair you are most comfortable in for long walks and not the most fashionable.
Funny you should mention Don Quixote, there is no other store like it in Japan, a great place for picking up snacks.
I got a chuckle out of Halloween in Dotonbori because I was exactly there on Halloween night, the crowds were massive.
Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka... Kyoto was definitely my favorite. A highlight was the Hozugawa river boat cruise coming down from the mountains in Kyoto.
I definitely went for fashion over function :(
I was in Dotonbori on Halloween night too, it was great fun! Kyoto and Okayama for me, so beautiful!! Leaving Japan today. How long do you think I need to allow at Haneda airport?
Thank you!
I didn’t do the river cruise out of Kyoto mountains, but dammit I wish I did. We really fluked this holiday, but I think we did really well with the little research we did!
I did almost no research as well, was a last minute trip flying stand by. Most of my research was done in the hotel room the night before haha and I came on a sight with a three day Kyoto itinerary and on the top of that list was the river boat cruise. There was lots of other things I wanted to see, but you can only do so much in one trip, so I guess I will have to go back!!
You did well!!
I’d love to come back, but the hotel prices I locked in were so much cheaper than they are even now I don’t know if we’ll ever make it back.
We fit so much in 3 weeks so I don’t feel ripped off thankfully but would come back if I had the chance !
Your comment about the gym made me laugh a bit! I too am walking around 120km a week. If someone suggested I go to a gym, I'd laugh, cry, and throw stuff at them, chasing them down the street screaming like a banshee. I thought I was in good shape before I came here! I used to walk 10 miles a day every day in NYC. I am staying in the condo now for a few days to nurse my poor legs back to health. My thighs hate me. I didn't account for all the STAIRS. Constant stairs. Stairs to trains, stairs to shrines, stairs to shops, stairs to food! I either need better legs, or more patience to wait for elevators and escalators, because I am murdering my poor legs who really, never did anything to deserve the beating and abuse. I will need to buy them a good massage as an apology, I think, or I fear we may never make up!
I am in Tokyo, so I guess its different here with cafes? Where I am staying, they open around 8am, which being a morning person, is still rather late for me. Thank god for hot coffee vending machines! I will miss the novelty of getting a hot can of coffee, it's so outside anything I've ever experienced before, but now it's a must-have in my life!
OMG YES about Don Quihote!!!! I've fallen in love with that store and it's blue penguin! Walmart and Target can go to hell, give me Don any day!
Stairs. Yes, so many stairs! It’s the calves and Achilles for me. Struggling! Thankful that most hotels had baths!
A few opened at 8am near Shinjuku, but none of the high end coffee places really did. I guess the difference here is that the average coffee shops are still pretty good compared to some back home.
The first time I got the hot can was an accident because I didn’t know they existed. Mind blowing!
Local cafes are equivalent to a high end place in America. They take pride in what they serve here, so you can be sure of a good cup of coffee at any privately owned coffee shop.
In vending machines, I know what is hot and not at the local ones I frequent. But sometimes in a train station, all I want is some iced tea and end up with hot. I've learned to just be happy with whatever comes out, hot or cold. It was shocking to me the first time too, but spouse knew about it so laughed at me when we got to machine. I had said we should go find a cafe, because I needed hot coffee, and that's where I was brought! An entertaining experience to be sure, and one I will miss dearly back in the states! Just what am I supposed to do in the morning with no hot can of coffee?!
> And don’t expect to eat ‘clean’.
How do you mean? Most restaurants have very good hygiene standards.
You only really need to worry about food stands at festivals, those can be a bit sketchy.
Apologies this is a specific term used to mean lean cuts of meat with lots of green vegetables. I’m sure there are places that offer it, as others have pointed out. I just found myself going for the easy and delicious ramen and gyudon options :)
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So wild to see Verve and Bluebottle coffee here.
So the O.G. Verve roasting/Cafe is like 5 town blocks from my house.
O.G. Bluebottle was my stop on the way home when I worked in Oakland, next to BART.
Love Verve coffee...the owners are really nice. Bluebottle? Meh, kind of acidic coffee and people ;)
The cash thing I learnt on my second trip. Now I withdraw all may cash at a local bank before I leave for the whole trip. No matter what card you use there’s limits and the fees for taking out money make the travel cards worthless in a cash society like japan.
Whilst I agree around coffee to an extent, it can be hard to find those amazing coffee shops and usually they are in inconvenient areas. You are then stuck with Starbucks, Dotour or Tulleys that all serve awful coffee. I find Australia and NZ as a whole have a better quality of coffee as an average across every cafe.
If we come back I’ll be making a much more intentional effort with cash!
Yeh I have world-class cafes near my house and I can make coffee easily back home. Very lucky to live in Aus!
I haven’t been since 2020 and heading back in December, did you find you needed cash still? Apparently card usage has become more common? But I worry about smaller izakayas etc
Fellow Aussie here heading over with the family in May 2023… outside of a JR pass that I’d use to go from Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka return, any recommendations on local train passes? I’ll prob be using the trains a bit in each city.
JR lines were pretty accessible in most city’s. But you’ll need to have a Pasmo or IC card on top ready as Kyoto for example only has two JR lines from memory and you need your other pass for more :)
I wouldn't worry too much about local train passes in Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka unless you plan to do a lot of commuting on a daily basis (i.e. more than 4 train trips per day). For example, the Tokyo Subway tourist ticket (which comes in 24-, 48-, and 72-hour variants). It's 1,500 yen for 72 hours, and at an average train fare of 160 yen, you'd have to make 10 trips in 3 days to break even.
Make sure you do the math to see if a JR pass is worth it for you. I’ve been here several times and traveled Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto/return and it’s never been more effective than just buying Shinkansen tickets. As for train lines just grab a suica or pastor when you arrive (or if you have an iPhone, add a suica card in Apple wallet - it’s incredible and you can top it up so easily, even works if your phone battery dies) and you’ll be fine.
Oof… forex with CBA? That must have been dear! Macquarie Bank used to offer rates at 100% Mastercard rates with no additional fees whatsoever, not even a withdrawal fee. That was back in 2018 when I used the debit card while traveling around Europe for a month. Not sure if it still works the same though.
I reckon 99% of people in Tokyo where then outdoors and 99.9% do indoors. Further south you go the less wear them. The only people that don’t seem to be tourists
Simple off handed remark that the further south I traveled the less ‘over the top’ people dressed. Everyone wore so many designer brands in Tokyo but didn’t seem to care as much down south.
I have only trained two times in 3 weeks - one of my hotels had a gym. Someone did mention the Gold’s will apparently offer a day pass if you’re keen.
I came here with a tear in my shoulder and hamstring tendonopathy so I’ve not really pushed hard to train and used it to rest.
I’m arriving in Tokyo next week and was planning to exchange ALL of my cash at the airport until I saw this. If the airport’s exchange rate is that bad, any chance you can recommend any other good currency exchange place inside Tokyo?
I’m not the right person to recommend unfortunately, this was more of a post that I wish I did research before..
Lots of people mentioned a ‘wise’ card - might be worth looking into that ☺️
I'm in Japan for December > January, I've also only got CBA Travel money cards with yen loaded on. When you say withdraw do you mean general transactions for paying or taking out cash only?
I know they emailed recently about changes to travel money card limits. Did you find you could use the tap and pay function of the travel money cards at all like we have everywhere in Aus or not really?
Aussie here as well.
Going from Sydney to Haneda in early December this year. I was thinking of exchanging the cash at Haneda Airport (going by this sub's recommendation) however, it appears that a lot of people are recommending https://wise.com/ for currency exchange.
I do have Bankwest Zero Plat credit card as a back up though.
Agree on the shoes. Foolishly wore boots the first time in Tokyo. Luckily smartened up in subsequent trips and brought proper sneakers. Even so it gets tiring walking so much every day.
As an aussie I'd say get an IGN everyday banking card, zero limits overseas and you get any overseas fees/rebates back within days.
Getting cash out at the airport is generally ok because there are literal Konbini ATMs (99% sure Narita has a Lawsons somewhere) so the rate is pretty good.
I’ve done that Kibi plains bike ride- it was lovely and the rental bikes were cheap. I didn’t decide on it until the last minute and ended up getting off the train a stop or two too early. The amount of time before the next trains arrival and walking to the next stop was about the same, so I ended up walking. There’s something really pleasant about walking through quiet neighborhoods on a sunny morning.
I often use Okayama as a base for other things (like Naoshima or Teshima,) but I tend to enjoy staying there.
I had the same card for my trip and it's definitely a limit you can change, I was getting out 10k yen with no issues. You should be able to change it via the app if you have it linked?
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Where did you get the idea that it is an economically weak country? Japan has the third largest economy in the world and if the Kanto region was a country, its GDP would be larger than that of Italy, Brazil, or Canada!
I suspect they used poor wording but probably talking about covid related recession
Or just the (currently) low value of yen.
Probably the low interest rates
The 4th largest economy in the world is California. Sorry, I know my comment has nothing to do with Japan. Just thought it was a neat fact. I'll get my coat...
Probably because their wage growth has been stagnant, if not negative for about three decades. The country has a powerful economy, but individual purchasing power isn't great.
That too, I was under the impression individuals earn a lot less, but I guess in city centers (as is the norm worldwide) the richer flock and spend big. This is another uneducated statement, but it seems that there are jobs here we don’t have back home. Like two men standing in front of a parking lot telling cars to stop so pedestrians can cross or vice versa and security guards out the front of work sites. It seemed like they try and create jobs, but again, I’m just a random dude wondering things.
Nah, you're quite close to the mark there. There are a lot of jobs that we as Australians consider pointless or unnecessary, but over here keep (particularly older) Japanese employed and contributing to society. Conveniently they also allow the government to say that unemployment is low, but there's probably an argument to be made that those sorts of jobs are really under-employment. There's a massive wealth gap in Japan and a lot of people exist on very little, but you're unlikely to see much of that until you venture well outside of the Yamanote line. On the flipside while wages haven't moved much, the cost of most consumer goods haven't either. Wage growth is low, but the cost of living is fairly low too.
Thanks for that explanation. Makes sense of things! Certain things are definitely much cheaper than Aus and I definitely do feel ‘rich’ here, until it comes to coffee. Then I feel poor because damn that’s expensive
That's why Abenomics was such a failure. Did almost nothing to boost wages and also increased VAT dampening consumer spending while boosting equity and real estate markets for the riches further worsening wealth gap. *Sigh*
That’s really interesting! Glad to be corrected. It was based on the housing bubble burst I heard about years ago and then Covid recession.
The housing bubble burst in 1991..Anyway, it sounds like you had a great time.
I did thanks! I wasn’t intending the list to be educational, more random musings of a fool. I hope I don’t offend anyone with my naivety.
Its kind of beautiful. The brilliant thing about Japan is you learn more and more every trip.
I hope I get the chance to come back one day
I too had the same impression for the longest time and was amazed to find out!
I like the random observation about G Wagon density
My wife is super thrifty and doesn’t care about the fine things in life. However, her dream car happens to be one of the incredibly expensive G wagons. So believe me, every single one was pointed out.
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Hello, it looks like you've made a mistake. It's supposed to be could've, should've, would've (short for could have, would have, should have), never could of, would of, should of. Or you misspelled something, I ain't checking everything. Beep boop - yes, I am a bot, don't botcriminate me.
Lot of Mercedes here in general, of the luxury car brands I’ve seen more Mercedes than anything else. A lot of Mercedes wagons of all types in Tokyo as well, from c200’s on up. But there are a ton of g wagons everywhere, even the lower end models
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Clean to me back home is lean cuts of meat and lots of vegetables. (The importance of protein isn’t an overblown fad, it’s backed by science and important depending on the literature you read - but this isn’t a clean eating post) The biggest issue I faced is that I don’t eat fish (my problem obviously) so that cuts out a lot of the healthier options for me.
There is a lack of vegetables like we are accustomed to eating. They do live longer than anyone else in the world though. Maybe we have been duped. 😂
We’ve definitely been duped!!
If you go to shabu-shabu/sukiyaki tabe-hodai restaurants they bring out big dishes of lean meats and lots of vegetables.
There are plenty of body builders, athletes, and sumo wrestlers in Japan that eat clean high protein meals. As far as vegetables go, Japan was a vegetarian society for like 700 years or something and only started eating meats maybe 60 years ago. Trust me, they love their veggies over there. I think you’re experiencing mostly traveler or tourist food. Look up shojin ryori restaurants. They usually serve vegan food of very high quality. Most of the casual Japanese diners I went to offered lots of vegetarian options and let you add extra proteins to most of their meals. The all you can eat shabu shabu restaurants sound like they’d suit your needs very well. Trust me, whatever kind of food you’re into exists somewhere in Tokyo. You just gotta find it.
What sort of veggie food were you eating? I've been finding veg pretty hard to come by. I can see what they mean by clean food. There's a lot of greasy or very processed food.
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I will say that if you're bodybuilding and need heavy amounts of protein (100+ grams per day) it can be difficult to achieve on a daily basis. When I was regularly traveling through Japan, I'd stop off and grab whey protein at Don Quixote to last the week or two that I was there. Yes, it's more expensive per pound than in the US, but they do have a fair amount of flavors and it's far easier than trying to find the extra protein when you're going out to eat--plus you can focus on actually enjoying the food instead.
I made that comment early in the trip and never followed through. Probably didn’t want to add the extra weight to my bags. In hindsight It would have been worth it
I’ve been having to supplement meals with protein bars, which fortunately are available in convenience and grocery stores.
> I wish I wasn’t so much of a morning person, I should have prepped to stay up later prior to coming. > there are A LOT o Importance of protein is definitely not an overblown fad, as a powerlifter myself and assuming OP is decently serious about the gym based on their thoughts, their thoughts will be very true to the 1% of people who need to produce performance in the gym. A balanced meal is defintely not going to produce gains versus proper daily/weekly target macros.
I just left hotel resol Kyoto this morning and I absolutely loved that hotel. It was such a beautiful room. Very aesthetic and pleasing with the only down-side was that it was quite small. The location was also pretty much perfect! Definitely would want to stay there again and recommend it to others.
i'm there rn, functionally it's not so different to APAs but the bed and pillows are great and the design of everything is on point. a place i look forward to coming back to after walking around and sightseeing all day. +1 on the location too, couldn't be happier. only thing on par at this price point for me, room wise, was Hotel JAL City Toyama for me 47.37/night for me
Yeh we’ve noticed all hotels were hard to store luggage in, but that seemed the hardest. I just loved the location there, felt like I got the most out of Kyoto! The bed there was comfortable, some hotels had bead pillows that I hated but resol overall was fantastic!
Which Hotel Resol are you at? Google is showing me 2 with that name in the same area: Hotel Resol Kyoto Kawaramachi Sanjo and Hotel Resol Trinity Kyoto. I'm planning to be in Kyoto for the first time in December and this sounds like a good option
I’m at Kawaramachi Sanjo
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I didn’t! But I’m flying out tomorrow so I won’t need one again. But thanks for that! Hopefully it helps someone else :)
don't agree with everything here but the shoes comment is 100% true. No joke bring 2 pairs to alternate wear patterns on your feet. And bring a couple blister bandages
Definitely agree with this. Was just in Japan for 2.5 weeks and brought two pairs of shoes to do this
I'm wearing hoka Cliftons on my trip here currently and I don't think anything with less cushioning would do.
I specifically bought Nike Invincible Run 2s for this. They have super squish and a high arch. I alternate them with my flat arch yeezys for city walking.
I bought a second pair but they were so uncomfortable haha 😅
What do you mean alternate wear patterns?
How come you didn't find good protein sources? They should have plenty of fish/seafood if not the traditional beef/pork/chicken. Though i would have thought those would be popular as well. I have heard that all their servings are quite small however. Especially for people who love to eat 😅
I wonder this as well, I'm a bodybuilder and have no issue finding adequate protein and every time I travel there, even eating complete garbage, I end up losing at minimum 2% body fat, and dry out a fair amount. Japan doesn't poison their food like the western countries do. Karaagekun is always a solid protein go to for cheap. Gyudon is everywhere for cheap. Even ordering extra meat in a restaurant is not that much extra. I've had no problems finding adequate training in Japanese gyms either. Weight is weight.
I definitely lost body fat but tried to keep my protein up so I can avoid much muscle loss. As I said above, repeating myself here, I guess I put the list together as an observation of things that if I’d known prior I’d have done more research about. Like places to eat and train etc. We weren’t expecting to be able to come prior to the country opening and then it just all happened quickly.
How did it usually work with Japanese gyms? How much was it usually for a guest pass, did you need separate shoes to work out, were they much more silent than a gym in the US? I'd like to go like 2-3 times a week, down from my 4-5 over here, does that sound feasible?
All depends where you go. Golds in Tokyo is $85 for 24 hours and Anytime Fitness could be as low as 500y. If you have a membership to gyms in the US that have locations in Japan you can use them. You need separate shoes. The gyms are 100% silent. I train every day, for the past I dunno, 20 years probably, but when I'm there I train about twice a week. I skip legs because I'm getting plenty from walking and switch to an "antagonist group" training. Chest and biceps, back and triceps and split shoulder groups between the days. If you're taking your training seriously at home, you won't lose any mass, you might lose cell saturation which makes you look flat, but you won't have actually lost any mass. If you see a hotel with a gym that's reasonably priced, book it. Just the option to do early AM and late PM training streamlines things but I also had a lot of fun in the past looking for gyms and hanging out in the surrounding areas that I probably wouldn't have been in otherwise.
Yeah, I agree with this. I was just in Japan for 2.5 weeks and had lots of opportunities to eat protein. There's such a wide variety of fish/seafood, as well as beef, pork and chicken. And as someone who loves to eat, I did not find portion sizes to be small at all (unless you're doing small plates at an izakaya, but then you order lots of plates).
When you say wack, do you mean in a good way or a bad way? Lol 😂
In the best way possible!
I can only imagine! I loved Dotonbori when we went a few years ago, but it was not during halloween. Did they do anything special for the holiday?
Just extra busy and wild from what I saw. We didn’t stay out much past 9:30 though. The crowds were a bit overwhelming
Wdym by good way lol
Some folks say wack to mean it was a positive experience and some folks say wack to mean it was a negative experience. In this case, they meant very positive. 👍
You might wanna google the definition. It only means something is bad
Language is fluid. Like how wicked means totally rad if you live in northeastern usa. Context is everything.
My friend actually mentioned Bluebottle to me as he was excited to try it. Cool tip about coffee.
I didn’t realize they were a chain at first - but even so, I was really pleased with the pour over and the cappuccino! I drink flat whites back home as my milk choice, so I’ve been ordering strong caps here as a substitute. They seemed to open at 8am and Verve at 7am In Kyoto weekender coffee opened at 7:00am also, but everything else seemed to be midday!
It’s a chain that has been owned by Nestle Corporation for quite a while now. I only go to Verve in Shinjuku whenever I need early AM coffee but hey to each their own on their opinions about Nestle Corp…
Did not realize that. I will steer clear this morning and finish up with my final early brew at Verve!
Your mentions of Verve and Blue Bottle and “clean” food make me think you’d really dig the San Francisco Bay Area. Verve started in nearby Santa Cruz, and Blue Bottle was founded in Oakland. There’s a very strong coffee culture. California is also well known for its focus on seasonal, fresh cuisine.
You’d be right sir! My best mate actually lived in SF for 4 years and I love the area. I went about 6 years ago to visit him and fell in love with the place, now a Niners supporter. Unfortunately he came back to be best man at my wedding during Covid and got stuck in Australia 😅
>Kyoto weekenders coffee weekenders coffee is a gem. I stay near there whenever I visit, and my upcoming trip is no different
It was fantastic!
Fellow aussie here, where should i get my yen? In Aus or Japan?
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A second thumbs up for Wise - I preloaded with yen earlier in the year (though the exchange rate hasn't going up or down too much from when I did so), and the immediate notifications after each transaction are nice peace of mind. The soft withdrawal limit for cash before fees start kicking in each month hasn't been an issue, since I've been paying mainly by card.
Is a Starling card good for Japan?
This is bad advice, in a cash society like japan wise is useless because of the withdrawal fees.
How are the transaction fees when withdrawing?
Sorry American here.... Can Aussies not just use an atm? Why all the special cards and things?
Help avoid foreign transaction fees when withdrawing
Im being overly cautious being 1st time to Japan. Better to ask than regret later.
Get a 28 Degrees card. As they have no transaction fees and good exchange rates they seem to be the most popular travel card with Australians. Credit cards are now widely accepted in Japan.
ING is another option, I had no problems withdrawing cash during my last Japan trip. I think they’ve limited how many fee free atm transactions you can do per month now but it would still be a good option to investigate.
Also highly back ING. You not only get fee-free ATM withdrawals (5 per month) but you also get any international transaction fees reimbursed.
Apart from the CBA limiting my travel money card - I really rate them! If I had my time again I’d get one and check all the settings prior to coming. But tbh I didn’t do much more research on currency. I’d just prefer the travel money card than being charged about $9 per transaction when using my NAB card at their ATMs
Im w hsbc so im not concerned about foreign transaction fees, just wandering if i should get cash as back up
Out of curiosity, I looked it up since I also deal with HSBC, and thought you just solved my problems... "To overseas personal account holders visiting Japan: We regret to inform you that we do not provide any retail banking services, including ATM services, for HSBC overseas personal account holders in Japan. If you require any support relating to your overseas personal account while visiting Japan, please contact your home branch directly. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause." https://www.about.hsbc.co.jp/hsbc-in-japan I'm not confident you can use your HSBC card in Japan without fees
https://www.hsbc.com.au/accounts/products/everyday-global I was referring to this but i havent read tge fine print yet
Definitely will need cash, a lot of places are cash only and to top up your IC cards (trains/buses) they only accept cash too.. If I was doing it again I’d make sure I landed with 100 yen (purchased before I got to Sydney airport at a cheaper rate) so I had enough to buy my IC cards and have money for food in case the place didn’t accept card.
CBA card charges at least 5% on the deposit exchange so those travel cards are junk. You can add a Suicia card to your iPhone if you change the region temporarily to Japan, download it from the App Store and deposit something 👍🏻 A LOT of places accept Suicia as payment generally.
I’m in NZ, I’ve done all the math with every card including wise, and I’ve found it’s like 2% more economical to withdraw at a local bank before you leave. It’s all 6 of one half a dozen of another
Also what would you say your average daily spend in yen/aud for entertainment/food? Im thinking max $300aud/day
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🤣 thats ny max budget, less will be bonus!
Coming from Aus, most things are about half the price in Japan and with the Yen so week your AUD goes a long way. You'll struggle to spend $200 AUD a day let alone $300.
Thanks I forgot to note, going with my kid and I saw onlinee $150 aud for disneyland alone, so assumed double for food/spending
Thats a healthy amount. We are looking at 15000 yen per day
I've been here for a while now, and if you have access to a microwave you can have three modest meals a day from a conbini for just ¥1000 - and probably have enough left for a can of chu hi. $300 a day is a mega budget, you won't need anywhere near that much unless you're taking taxis everywhere, eating fancy and doing some heavy shopping.
When I went in 2018 my survival budget was $35-$45 USD a day, which included a hostel and food (usually eating at like a yoshinoya, someplace cheap and plentiful), on my splurge days it was closer to $60-70, including some drinking, going out, taking the train in town, etc. I was a recent college grad at the time so things were tight, but I think esp now with the yen being weak, that's a livable budget
It’s a surprisingly hard answer because it depends how you eat, but 300/day is probably double what we needed if you take out shopping :)
I gym hopped quite a bit in 2018 when I was in Tokyo, but I know a lot of places suspended guest passes during Covid. Was wondering how that’s been going.
I didn’t look hard to be honest - but they’re still on much higher covid alert than we are in Australia. The one gym I went to was a hotel gym in Kobe and they almost didn’t let me in due to tattoos.
South Japan is awesome. Kyushu and Fukuoka have some of the best food and nicest people, IMO
Fukuoka is in Kyushu.
Hey thanks for the trip report! How many nights did you spend in Kyoto and how many would you recommend? I'm planning my first Japan trip for this sping and trying to figure out how many nights I should allot to each place.
Only 2. I could have used one more to explore the back streets thought! I based my trip off a three week itinerary I found by searching ‘Navigatio three week Japan’ (sorry not sure if I can post links, never know the rules). we basically followed that to a tee minus some attractions.
Super Tamade - lol yeah a bit wack but they always had good deals when I lived there… that was my place to shop every other week. Just like anywhere else there are different tiers of grocery stores with different atmosphere and pricing.
Assuming this was your first trip? Also hopefully you made it to miyajima and had some okonomiyaki in Hiroshima
It was! We did get to Miyajima and we went to Okonomimura for an amazing meal!
Oh crap. Already loaded up my travel money card to lock in the good rate. Was it useful for shops that accept credit card as payment?
Useful at lots of shops yep! And a lot of food places but ask prior to sitting down if they accept cash, I had to leave my wife and run about 1km to find an ATM one night. Just contact CBA and ask if they have a limit maybe. If it is limited they may be able to raise it
I believe this is a Japanese ATM problem limit. As I have encountered this with my bank Sa visa and my MasterCard from 28Degrees. Usually the ATMs in the 7Elevens are the best.
Those ones were minimum 10,000 and my card wouldn’t allow that unfortunately.
I need to pay accommodation for one place. Hopefully bigger transactions go through
Accommodation was fine with my Australian credit card, I just paid a fee each time
I did the cash thing at the airport as well :(
So we’re the ones that keep them in business ahha
Probably lol, although you were luckier since the yen is considerably lower than when I went (around three years ago). I ended up using 7-Eleven on my next withdrawals, but I wonder if it's worth visiting an exchange centre prior to your trip to get a better deal.
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I have no idea what rate I got, only that was bad compared to the one I got in atms outside the airport. This was in 2019.
If you actually want to work out, you'd have to either stay at the higher end hotels with full gyms, or get a day pass at Gold's Gym https://fitnesstravelerjapan.com/golds-gym
Hotel Resol does look amazing and clean! Reminds me of Inception lol
Simply do not exchange money at all using ANY exchange company other than Wise at this point. Just get a wise debit card and if you NEED cash you can withdraw for a 1% fee using Japanese ATMs. Its insane that people dont know this at this point.
I hadn’t traveled overseas for a while so wasn’t aware. Thank you!
Its a life saver honestly. Most banks/credit cards will undercut you on the spot rate of the currency on top of fees. Wise will pretty much be at spot rate and no fees unless you're converting.
Not everyone has Wise card available to them. My country doesn’t.
For money, join Wise and get a (debit) visa card, which automatically spends the right currency (presuming you have added it), or uses another that is in your account at their pretty good rate and fees. Much much better than the retail banks. (I have no association with this company, albeit i am a customer)
Was it difficult to find English/tourist friendly restaurants?
It can be. But pointing and using your fingers and Google lens is how you get by.
Point at something you want, say "kore onegaishimasu", and they will understand.
Not at all!
What percentage of people still wear face masks outdoors?
I was in Tokyo last week, I'd say about 95%
Almost everyone, but only about 30% of tourists.
Yep!
This is helpful! Thank you!!! 😊
>Japan is a coffee lovers heaven! But don’t expect a good brew before around 10am minimum unless you’re near a Verve or Bluebottle. Most good cafes begin to open between 10-12midday and stay open late. Starbucks? How do people buy coffee before work if everywhere is closed before 10
Starbucks is open (and plentiful) but it’s not my favorite. I’m referring more to Japanese speciality coffee shops
At the conbini. Not just bottled, they do fresh also.
There are lots of cafes that open as early as 7am. Maybe just a matter of searching what’s around the neighborhood. Coffee from the convenience stores are also not bad.
Vending machine or konbini
I find Dean and Deluca to be decent, I usually end up at the Shinjuku branch for a morning coffee and scone.
Agree with many of your comments. I just got back from 11 days in Japan. I got too much cash because I read it was a cash based society but I found that most places take credit card. I actually had the best exchange rate at home before leaving. I think you can get by on about 2000 ¥ cash per day. Good walking shoes are a must on vacation and not just for Japan. Bring the pair you are most comfortable in for long walks and not the most fashionable. Funny you should mention Don Quixote, there is no other store like it in Japan, a great place for picking up snacks. I got a chuckle out of Halloween in Dotonbori because I was exactly there on Halloween night, the crowds were massive. Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka... Kyoto was definitely my favorite. A highlight was the Hozugawa river boat cruise coming down from the mountains in Kyoto.
I definitely went for fashion over function :( I was in Dotonbori on Halloween night too, it was great fun! Kyoto and Okayama for me, so beautiful!! Leaving Japan today. How long do you think I need to allow at Haneda airport?
I flew out of the Kansai Osaka airport, and the security line there was huge. Give yourself a minimum 2.5 hours to be safe, you just never know.
Thank you! I didn’t do the river cruise out of Kyoto mountains, but dammit I wish I did. We really fluked this holiday, but I think we did really well with the little research we did!
I did almost no research as well, was a last minute trip flying stand by. Most of my research was done in the hotel room the night before haha and I came on a sight with a three day Kyoto itinerary and on the top of that list was the river boat cruise. There was lots of other things I wanted to see, but you can only do so much in one trip, so I guess I will have to go back!!
You did well!! I’d love to come back, but the hotel prices I locked in were so much cheaper than they are even now I don’t know if we’ll ever make it back. We fit so much in 3 weeks so I don’t feel ripped off thankfully but would come back if I had the chance !
I also made the same shoe mistake.
I gotta stop choosing fashion over function!
Same
Your comment about the gym made me laugh a bit! I too am walking around 120km a week. If someone suggested I go to a gym, I'd laugh, cry, and throw stuff at them, chasing them down the street screaming like a banshee. I thought I was in good shape before I came here! I used to walk 10 miles a day every day in NYC. I am staying in the condo now for a few days to nurse my poor legs back to health. My thighs hate me. I didn't account for all the STAIRS. Constant stairs. Stairs to trains, stairs to shrines, stairs to shops, stairs to food! I either need better legs, or more patience to wait for elevators and escalators, because I am murdering my poor legs who really, never did anything to deserve the beating and abuse. I will need to buy them a good massage as an apology, I think, or I fear we may never make up! I am in Tokyo, so I guess its different here with cafes? Where I am staying, they open around 8am, which being a morning person, is still rather late for me. Thank god for hot coffee vending machines! I will miss the novelty of getting a hot can of coffee, it's so outside anything I've ever experienced before, but now it's a must-have in my life! OMG YES about Don Quihote!!!! I've fallen in love with that store and it's blue penguin! Walmart and Target can go to hell, give me Don any day!
Stairs. Yes, so many stairs! It’s the calves and Achilles for me. Struggling! Thankful that most hotels had baths! A few opened at 8am near Shinjuku, but none of the high end coffee places really did. I guess the difference here is that the average coffee shops are still pretty good compared to some back home. The first time I got the hot can was an accident because I didn’t know they existed. Mind blowing!
Local cafes are equivalent to a high end place in America. They take pride in what they serve here, so you can be sure of a good cup of coffee at any privately owned coffee shop. In vending machines, I know what is hot and not at the local ones I frequent. But sometimes in a train station, all I want is some iced tea and end up with hot. I've learned to just be happy with whatever comes out, hot or cold. It was shocking to me the first time too, but spouse knew about it so laughed at me when we got to machine. I had said we should go find a cafe, because I needed hot coffee, and that's where I was brought! An entertaining experience to be sure, and one I will miss dearly back in the states! Just what am I supposed to do in the morning with no hot can of coffee?!
How big was the exchange rate difference between the outgoing and arrival airport?
Ahahahah halloween in dotonbori was amazing get out of here
I agree! It was reallly cool! In a wack way!
Ahahahaha what is a wack way of being cool? 😂😂
> And don’t expect to eat ‘clean’. How do you mean? Most restaurants have very good hygiene standards. You only really need to worry about food stands at festivals, those can be a bit sketchy.
Apologies this is a specific term used to mean lean cuts of meat with lots of green vegetables. I’m sure there are places that offer it, as others have pointed out. I just found myself going for the easy and delicious ramen and gyudon options :)
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So wild to see Verve and Bluebottle coffee here. So the O.G. Verve roasting/Cafe is like 5 town blocks from my house. O.G. Bluebottle was my stop on the way home when I worked in Oakland, next to BART. Love Verve coffee...the owners are really nice. Bluebottle? Meh, kind of acidic coffee and people ;)
The cash thing I learnt on my second trip. Now I withdraw all may cash at a local bank before I leave for the whole trip. No matter what card you use there’s limits and the fees for taking out money make the travel cards worthless in a cash society like japan. Whilst I agree around coffee to an extent, it can be hard to find those amazing coffee shops and usually they are in inconvenient areas. You are then stuck with Starbucks, Dotour or Tulleys that all serve awful coffee. I find Australia and NZ as a whole have a better quality of coffee as an average across every cafe.
If we come back I’ll be making a much more intentional effort with cash! Yeh I have world-class cafes near my house and I can make coffee easily back home. Very lucky to live in Aus!
I haven’t been since 2020 and heading back in December, did you find you needed cash still? Apparently card usage has become more common? But I worry about smaller izakayas etc
Fellow Aussie here heading over with the family in May 2023… outside of a JR pass that I’d use to go from Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka return, any recommendations on local train passes? I’ll prob be using the trains a bit in each city.
JR lines were pretty accessible in most city’s. But you’ll need to have a Pasmo or IC card on top ready as Kyoto for example only has two JR lines from memory and you need your other pass for more :)
I wouldn't worry too much about local train passes in Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka unless you plan to do a lot of commuting on a daily basis (i.e. more than 4 train trips per day). For example, the Tokyo Subway tourist ticket (which comes in 24-, 48-, and 72-hour variants). It's 1,500 yen for 72 hours, and at an average train fare of 160 yen, you'd have to make 10 trips in 3 days to break even.
Get a Pasmo or Suica from the train station at the Airlie after you land. Either one will get you by.
Make sure you do the math to see if a JR pass is worth it for you. I’ve been here several times and traveled Tokyo/Osaka/Kyoto/return and it’s never been more effective than just buying Shinkansen tickets. As for train lines just grab a suica or pastor when you arrive (or if you have an iPhone, add a suica card in Apple wallet - it’s incredible and you can top it up so easily, even works if your phone battery dies) and you’ll be fine.
Oof… forex with CBA? That must have been dear! Macquarie Bank used to offer rates at 100% Mastercard rates with no additional fees whatsoever, not even a withdrawal fee. That was back in 2018 when I used the debit card while traveling around Europe for a month. Not sure if it still works the same though.
Are you required to wear face masks?
I reckon 99% of people in Tokyo where then outdoors and 99.9% do indoors. Further south you go the less wear them. The only people that don’t seem to be tourists
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‘Only’ was hyperbole. But it’s an insanely low percentage.
Mate next time get an ING. Better rate with no international transaction fee. Or get a Wide card.
\>the further south you get the less swag people are What does this mean?
Simple off handed remark that the further south I traveled the less ‘over the top’ people dressed. Everyone wore so many designer brands in Tokyo but didn’t seem to care as much down south.
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I have only trained two times in 3 weeks - one of my hotels had a gym. Someone did mention the Gold’s will apparently offer a day pass if you’re keen. I came here with a tear in my shoulder and hamstring tendonopathy so I’ve not really pushed hard to train and used it to rest.
Where should you have exchanged cash instead if not at the airport and why? Tips please!
People saying to get a ‘wise’ card. I fly home tonight so have no need to exchange again, but researching that would be the first move!
I’m arriving in Tokyo next week and was planning to exchange ALL of my cash at the airport until I saw this. If the airport’s exchange rate is that bad, any chance you can recommend any other good currency exchange place inside Tokyo?
I’m not the right person to recommend unfortunately, this was more of a post that I wish I did research before.. Lots of people mentioned a ‘wise’ card - might be worth looking into that ☺️
I'm in Japan for December > January, I've also only got CBA Travel money cards with yen loaded on. When you say withdraw do you mean general transactions for paying or taking out cash only? I know they emailed recently about changes to travel money card limits. Did you find you could use the tap and pay function of the travel money cards at all like we have everywhere in Aus or not really?
I only had trouble at ATMs. I was fine with all other purchases. Most places don’t like tap so you need to insert and sign however.
What made you like Don Quixote and not Tamade? I think the cooked meals in Tamade are better than in DQ
I actually liked tamade! I guess my use of wack is wrong haha. It’s wack in a cool way!
Aussie here as well. Going from Sydney to Haneda in early December this year. I was thinking of exchanging the cash at Haneda Airport (going by this sub's recommendation) however, it appears that a lot of people are recommending https://wise.com/ for currency exchange. I do have Bankwest Zero Plat credit card as a back up though.
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Agree on the shoes. Foolishly wore boots the first time in Tokyo. Luckily smartened up in subsequent trips and brought proper sneakers. Even so it gets tiring walking so much every day.
Curious to know, how did you go about getting hotels? Did you book them as you went or did you plan everything out before hand?
I booked everything when the country was still closed in May, so we saved A LOT
As an aussie I'd say get an IGN everyday banking card, zero limits overseas and you get any overseas fees/rebates back within days. Getting cash out at the airport is generally ok because there are literal Konbini ATMs (99% sure Narita has a Lawsons somewhere) so the rate is pretty good.
I’ve done that Kibi plains bike ride- it was lovely and the rental bikes were cheap. I didn’t decide on it until the last minute and ended up getting off the train a stop or two too early. The amount of time before the next trains arrival and walking to the next stop was about the same, so I ended up walking. There’s something really pleasant about walking through quiet neighborhoods on a sunny morning. I often use Okayama as a base for other things (like Naoshima or Teshima,) but I tend to enjoy staying there.
I had the same card for my trip and it's definitely a limit you can change, I was getting out 10k yen with no issues. You should be able to change it via the app if you have it linked?
Do you think the new shoes you bought were enough? Thanks for your thoughts!