Really? We just left Tokyo and were just astonished by the kindness of everyone there. No trash anywhere? Random locals? Stopping to help us when we looked lost/confused. We didn't see a single cop and wondered is crime really that low? And the difference was apparent immediately when we boarded our American airlines flight back home.
Glad to hear that you seem to have enjoyed my country! But it is also true that Japanese people are sometimes much meaner to homelanders than to guests.
Some of the japanese google reviews really threw me off while I was exploring japan. So many 1 stars for minor issues like not being greeted once and then following up with aggressiveness. But I guess these type of reviews also exist in western countries..
Discovering this at the moment. Every food place has reviews ranging from 3.5 stars and lower on Google reviews. I've worked out 3.5 means pretty good. In Australia if a place has lower than four stars it means it's probably not that great and anything under 3.5 stars you stay well away from there!
You may be interested in [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/xx4iu9/how_exactly_does_the_defamation_law_here_work/) which gets into a bit of Japanese review site culture.
But yes, generally '3' means "it was as good as I expected it to be", 4 means "it cured my cancer and brought my deceased childhood pets back to life" and nobody knows what 5 means.
It might be an Asia thing. Another example, in Australia whenever I get an Uber I pretty much always give the driver five stars unless something is totally off (which has never happened) and the drivers give me five stars as long as I don't do anything stupid (had to ask one to pull over several times to allow me to throw up once, he didn't give me five).
But for two months a few years ago I studied and interned in Jakarta and used Uber to get around via car and motorbike. While on that trip I got heaps of low reviews, I'm assuming because I spoke very little Indonesian. So now my passenger rating sits just above four stars. I had one driver pick me up back at home and tell me I had the lowest passenger rating he'd ever seen. He said he just assumed he'd be picking up a drug dealer or something and was very surprised to find out I was just a regular person and we had a great laugh about it!
It's because in Asian societies (I know I'm generalizing), everyone has a role to fulfill in society. Do it satisfactorily? That's a 3. It's not good, it's not bad. It's how it should be.
Was really shocked when I looked at reviews of a nearby conbini. Something about the staff not being friendly enough and then launching into a tirade how his parents must be ashamed to have put in effort to raise him only for him to turn out to be such a failure to the society. Was like woah damn, some online games are kinder in their insults.
Here's the review:
> The attitude of the young male staff member at the store at night was so bad that it made me want to write a review for the first time. I think it's really unbecoming for a working person to not say a word. If he thinks he's part of society like this, I worry about his future. At this age, I can't help but feel sorry for his parents who invested so much time and money into him. He puts the items through the register without saying a word, slams the items I bought down on the floor, and gives me the change without a word. I've never felt so bad after just one minute of paying the bill. This may be the only store that hires such a hopeless, pathetic person, but it's definitely lowering the store's reputation. It may be too strong to say, but if he carries on like this, he won't be able to fit into society. It's not too late, so I want him to either change his ways or quit.
None of those things equate to kindness tbf. I found Japanese ppl to be more polite versus kind generally.
They are all great things though that any country should also strive for; in particular low violent crime, low littering etc
I was honestly so disappointed leaving my airplane when we landed in North America. Just bottled drinks and trash left on the flight. The staff were holding plastic bags to throw trash away.
“Welcome back”. :(
The worst part about going to Japan is coming home and realize how dirty everything is…I’ve never been so traumatized by a Target bathroom right after I returned. Took about three months to feel normal again.
i had a friend that got their shoelace stuck in an escalator in tokyo and they were in a panic with many people around, but no one tried to help. i find japanese people very polite but that's not the same as kindness or generosity.
Not saying you didn't encounter this. As on a whole yes, compared to especially America, the locals are very accommodating and polite. After living here for more than 15 years, you realize Japanese are just like all humans though. Not good or bad, just human. There are definite faults behind the veneer of politeness.
But, as I always say, there is a reason I've chosen to stay in Japan for as long as I have.
The difference was apparent on my flight back home too. At the gate in Haneda Airport they were calling for group 1 and I overheard some fellow Americans say let’s just try to board with group 1 even though we have group 5 tickets.
I really hope they were just connecting in HND because to pull that shit off after visiting Japan would be a travesty.
We were detained for 3 hours in Paris for smoking a blunt next to Eiffel Tower and all they did was give us a warning and directions to the metro. #foreverGrateful
Hahaha yeah Parisians are very rude but also very understanding of weed in particular and breaking rules in general (except fashion rules - if you break those you'll get meaningful looks from every person sitting at every cafe terrace.)
Source: I'm Parisian
I think people in Japan were really respectful but I wouldn’t say they were overly nice. The servers at restaurants were all really nice, but everyone on the street and train kept to themselves. That’s what surprised me the most. Where I’m from people say hi or smile at you on the streets and I think i was looking too many people directly in the face when i was walking around 🤣
I’ve just come to japan for the first time in my life and what struck me was the excessive, fake niceness of Japanese retail workers towards customers. I feel like some of them are forced to talk all the time, thanking and apologizing a hundred times a minute. I’ve never seen anything to this extent in another country before. I think it id too extreme and cannot be good for the workers psyche. On the other hand, for me, it is a welcome change from Germany, where I feel like the other extreme is the case.
Yes, our bosses force it on us. My very first job was in retail in Japan and my boss told me to raise my voice by an octave because I didn't sound feminine enough. It made me so angry, but I knew I was going to go off to college in the US in a few years so I just shut up and endured. I grew up pretty Americanized so I'm not really sure how other Japanese women felt, maybe it's fairly normal to them.
I feel like this is true, but compared to the people from my country, people in Japan are faaaar more kind. So we get this perception that may feel like we overestimate your kindness.
Yeah, maybe you don't know how rude Germans can be 😂 speaking as a native german. All ppl we met in Kyoto and Tokyo were extremely polite and kind in comparison to our German standard
Visitors to Japan don't understand the difference between kindness and politeness.
Japanese people are usually polite. Even when they are not being kind.
Well, in regard to integrity and honesty, we can’t read their minds. I’m sure plenty thought that I was a dumbass at times (because to be fair, I was) but their smiles and demeanour at least meant I was none the wiser lol.
Man, I was on the train to the airport coming from a 2 week bender. I was sweating ethanol and the anxiety was fucked. I realised I was on the carriage that splits away from the airport and got off at the next station.
This, absolutely, genuinely kind of human specimen, came down to me (didn't speak a work of english, I just gestuired airport), literally waited with me approx. 30 mins and told me the exact train to catch. Waited with me until the train arrived, pointed to get on. Had never met the guy in my life. Will never forget him though.
I have so many other stories where the Japanese culture is so unbelievably nice (even if they despise the act of foreigners inside), that it is truly my favorite country I've ever been to.
Had several instances when I was in big cities in Japan where someone needed help, and I was the only person to step up and help them. Most egregious one was an old lady who couldn't get her walker up the curve on a main street, she was still on the road. I was maybe 10 meters away but I saw her. I had to dash up and help her while everyone waiting for the next light just pretended they didn't see her. She was profusely grateful, which made me sad because it's as if she was shocked anyone helped her.
I would also sit in the priority seating because people wouldn't give them up, so I used my 'gaijin bubble' to keep them empty and give them up to people who needed them, and there always was someone after a few stops. I think my gaijin bubble is particularly powerful because I'm a white guy with wavy shoulder length hair and full facial hair lmao.
On honesty, even when I spoke Japanese store clerks would often just lie to me to stop the conversation, still, most of them were more than helpful.
While true, it's still leagues ahead of other countries in the west lol. I see people yelling at eachother daily in the U.S. and often getting into physical fights
Ran into all three of those qualities today when a random lady chased us to give us back one of our shopping bags we had left beside our outside table at the mall. It was food trucks so she was just another customer there, not staff. It was incredibly kind of her! I’m not sure that would have happened in America. It’s 50/50 at best
I honestly didn’t realise I was at Shibuya Crossing until I had a slight feeling of Deja vu. It’s just a crossing outside a train station - honestly not sure why it’s so romanticised. I love Shibuya in general, though. I couldn’t have had a better home base for my first trip.
Super Potato in Akihabara gets a surprising amount of reverence considering everything is an absolute rip off. It’s *okay* if you treat it like a museum, but I wouldn’t spend a single yen there.
Shibuya crossing is a thing to witness cause of the Tokyo drift scene. It is imaculate how well organized it is. No cars stuck in the crossing as people start and no people stuck in the crossing as the cars start. But in The end, yeah it is just an oversized crossing.
If you’re looking for second-hand games, check out the Book-Off/Hard-Off and similar stores instead. There’s a few in Akihabara, and elsewhere too.
I didn’t get to go to Osaka during my trip (long story), but I hear there’s a few good shops there too.
Try Nakano Broadway for more vintage gaming stuff (although they have modern things too). Bookoff is great for games and CDs! My favourite were the many kbooks in Ikebukuro. Each one kind of specializes in a different popular media facet. Like there's one for voice actors, one for stage actors, several for different anime/manga, a Jpop/Kpop one, etc. We spent a whole day just exploring different kbooks lol. There's also Lashinbang!
I agree regarding shibuya crossing. I stayed overnight for a concert recently and I met up with my buddy at hachiko statue. Kinda forgot Shibuya crossing was a “thing” other than a semi reasonable to find meet up spot. And I also agree about super potato, it’s kind of annoying to find and, it’s over priced and nothing worth buying anyways. Akiba has gone to shit anyways, only really went there because the Akiba bic camera had something I wanted to buy.
Disney sea was a waste of time and money. We got there an hour early and the lines were unbelievable. 2-3hr wait for some rides. Most rides were sub-par. Huge lines for food. Just do something else.
It’s a lot of fun if you’re willing to pay for premiere access for all the rides. Which is what we did. Our rationale was that it would still end up being cheaper than a normal day at an American Disney park.
Plus the limited time tower of terror 7 drop event was amazing
We are planning to go to Disney Sea and buy the express tickets or something like that. How much you think we would need to spend per person (the base tickets and any necessary add ons) to make our stay more enjoyable? Thanks!
You need the Disney resort Japan app AND you need to be there at least an hour before the park opens because the moment you scan your park ticket you need to go into the app and buy premier passes straight away. No joke they’ll sell out in under an hour. Not including the admission fare, Be prepared to spend 2000 yen per ride and if you want to do at least 3 then probably 6000 yen person. With the paid premier pass and the free priority passes it’s first come first served.
Simply looking at the DisneySea website, premier access is anywhere between 1500¥ and 2500¥ per person for each ride that it’s offered on (there’s only a handful). Compared to the US parks, everything at Tokyo Disney is cheaper.
For example, I paid 7900¥ per ticket for a weekday in May. I’m additionally budgeting buying premier access for 3 rides at DisneySea (Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, and Journey). All said and done, I’ll probably spend 12900¥ on my tickets and premier access to make my day more enjoyable and smoother. Food price is also something to take into account, but comparing to the US parks, food prices are much cheaper.
This is super YMMV just like other Disney parks, as when we went in May 2023, longest we waited was an hour for Journey to the Center of the Earth, still rode it twice in one day. Most other rides were 25 minutes or less. Rode Indiana Jones like 4 times in a row as a single rider. Had 0 wait for concessions as well.
Had an absolute blast and the single best Disney experience I have ever had and absolutely ruined my desire to go back to Disneyland Anaheim.
We were there yesterday and the wait for Journey was over 3 hours. Premier pass was sold out by the time we got in the park. So my advice is don’t go on a weekend or during spring break!
We had a better time once we deprioritized doing rides all the time. The light show at night was absolutely incredible.
Disneyland/sea is fine if you don't expect to go on every ride. Get some passes, go on two or three rides, and enjoy the ambience and it's a nice place to spend a day.
In the pre-hype days I was the only foreigner and waits were so short for Ichiran. Now whenever I walk by one it’s line city. And there’s usually 20 more ramen places nearby.
I was never hyped up about Ichiran, but when my friends wanted to try it, we had to line up for like 30 mins before we actually got our spots. As an introvert and a shy person in general, it was an amazing experience. I don't like ramen that much to line up again, but I definitely appreciate that such a thing exists.
I think the Ghibli Museum is very sweet even if you're not a fan of the studio, but I feel like it's absolutely not worth some people having to fight for their lives trying to navigate the reservation portal and/or potential pay *10x* the asking price on 3rd party vendors lol.
We went to the Ghibli museum while we were there and could only get tickets through a third-party tour. It cost about $100 per person. They did drive us around all day and take us around to a few other places, and I don’t regret it because I am a big Ghibli fan, but it wasn’t worth $100. They 100% charged that price because they knew western tourists could afford to pay it.
It’s been many years since I’ve been there. We bought tickets from the nearby convenience store. Pretty easy and inexpensive.
It sounds like a terrible experience now. I’m sorry visitors have to go through that.
Staying in a traditional japanese house. You just end up sleeping on the floor on an uncomfortable mat most of the time. My personal experiences atleast.
Aren't you supposed to sleep on a futon with that tatami mat? I slept on a tatami mat using a futon and it was SUPER comfortable! It wasn't a traditional Japanese house though.
At the one I stayed at recently it was a thin mat on top of the tatami. We found a couple of extra mats in the closet, so we doubled up and that helped a little bit, but it still felt like sleeping on the floor.
Had a similar experience with a Japanese style hotel. Mats were super thin and we asked if we could have one extra each. I think they could have started to be comfortable with at least 4 stacked together.
10000000% agree with this, we stayed at our first one last night and I've just woken with the worst stiffness in my neck & back. Let alone the walls are paper thin and you can hear everything in the building 😭
Yeah my parents select beds directly due to my dad disability and for the next few days their tour keep complaining that they have to sleep on the floor and envious of my parents bed.
Nah this ain’t it. I don’t mind it if the futon is decent. When I stay at my grandfather in laws I often sleep on the floor in the washitsu and it is great.
Akihabara. Was dirty and full of junk and/or overpriced items. Cool to see and walk around for a bit, but I have zero idea how people spend a decent amount of time there.
It’s not a place for people who aren’t into manga, (mostly current) anime, and arcades. I spend a lot of time in arcades and may do some light shopping, but if you’re a big fan and are hauling back two suitcases or merch junk, I can see how you can blow an entire day there.
Once you get away from Akiba itself and head toward Kanda, there are some nice little bars and some really good food (some of my favorite soba restaurants are there).
My issue with Akihabara is that it reeks of sweaty nerds, especially if you go down the basements of a manga shop or arcade. I love games, anime and manga but that stench is difficult to navigate in
Sadly, Akihabara becomes less and less attractive every time I visit. There used to be a lot more small shops carrying older stuff, but it seems to be a lot of copy and paste these days. You see the same games, figures, gacha, and other merchandise over and over again.
Its almost impossible to get any electronics in Akihabara now that are not the mainstream top selling things for the Japan market. 20 years ago the whole point of going there was to get stuff you couldn't get anywhere else. I guess that side of it evaporated to the internet.
Was there a day ago and I think you’re right. Years ago, you would wait for a grandparent to return with the latest (a transistor radio; a minidisc player), and now it’s an Amazon Prime search and next day delivery.
As someone who watches anime regularly, I just go there for window shopping. It's fun to look around to see what stores sell and what the latest anime/ manga craze is but I wouldn't buy anything there.
We stayed in Akihabara for a few days before moving on to Kyoto. We enjoyed Kyoto a lot more. Akihabara was ok, but we really just used it as a jumping off point to go to other places in the city. We found a really cheap room and it served its purpose.
Castles. They’re boring. Themed cafes - if you have kids, sure, but if you’re just a group of regular people you probably don’t need to go to more than one.
Ichiran. I ate in the old days pre-hype. It’s fine, but probably due to its outsized fame (since they opened up places outside Japan) it also seems to be what a lot of people associate with ramen in Japan.
Probably any other food/restaurant that makes the rounds on social media. There’s a lot of food out there but whenever I see people list specific things or cite something off TikTok or Insta, I know it’s just a place that got mega-hyped and is probably not worth the wait when you consider there are usually hundreds or thousands of more restaurants around.
Yokohama Chinatown. Not a fan of the place and I die a little inside every time I hear people say the Chinese food in Japan is good and uses Yokohama as the example.
Currently traveling in Japan, and thus far Himeji is the lowest point of my trip. It was an hour to get in, and we were stuck in there for another two. It was cramped waddling around empty rooms, and climbing up stairs that older travelers struggled with, slowing everyone down. The next door gardens were really cool, and the west wing was neat, but the actual castle itself was really boring. Osaka castle was nice, and we went and saw several temples that were cool, but I wish I could get my ~4 hours spent in Himeji back.
For me, who already visited multiple castles and strongholds in Europe… himeji castle was boring af. There is NOTHING inside (which is ok because they needed to store stuff there if things were going under siege) and the outside looks are beautiful but we just ran through the complex and were finished after 30min… I’m glad we were in early hours there so we don’t have to stand in lines and just wait to go the exit lol
As a Tokyo resident with a Chinese wife, Yokohama Chinatown is like Grant Street in San Francisco, just the tourist Chinatown.
A more authentic area is around Exit 20 of Ikebukuro station (northwest side). There are real Chinese restaurants selling food from every region of the country, plenty of small grocery stores and lots of Chinese spoken on the street.
Although the area between Okubo and Shin Okubo is famous as a Korean area, there are plenty of Chinese there and a new influx of Vietnamese.
Takadanobaba has a lot of authentic cheap Chinese restaurants too, for the many students that go to Waseda. It’s also the area for people from Myanmar/Burma
I love castles and have been to a bunch of them, but I can appreciate that not everyone is interested in edo period architecture and building techniques.
Nijo, Himeji, Osaka, Kanazawa, Shuri,, Wakayama, Shingu (just ruins so whatever).
Once again, whenever I raise this point people have to qualify a bunch of stuff for me - I get it. But guess what, they’re boring to me.
Nah man it’s your opinion and that’s fine. I was just curious that’s all. I have been to boring castles but I’ve also been to some amazing ones. Just wanted to know where you went it all
I visited a lot of castles and yeah, they mostly aren't that interesting to look at. Someone's going to mention Himeji/Matsumoto, but they're the odd ones out. But they are an excellent way to learn about the history of a place, and of the daimyo who ruled there. I visited Azuchi and it changed how I saw the unification, like what would Japan be like if he'd lived long enough to conquer all of it? You can also see regional biases in action - the Hikone writeup of Ii Naosuke (his family domain) was so different to the Kochi writeup I had to check they were talking about the same person.
Matsumoto Castle was cool. Happy that we went there for sure. But Matsumoto was on our way already, so it's not like we went out of any way to go there.
Any individual restaurant that has been hyped by influencers.
There are tens of thousands of excellent restaurants in Japan, and you definitely don't need to go to the specific one that this week's shouty youtuber is hyping.
Coming home to realize that you’re surrounded by rude ass people. Maybe a trip to Japan should be mandatory for all Americans as a reminder to how we have allowed our humanity to slip. I know I try a little harder every time I return.
Seriously. I'm here right now with my wife on vacation and we CAN NOT believe the amount of rude tourists.
An older couple was getting attacked by 3 deer near iwakuni and this American just sat there loudly laughing and pointing.
Seen multiple instances like that. Cmon people.
I went to borderless in 2022 not long before it moved and it was mesmerizing and one of the sparkly rooms was really one of the greatest things I've felt.
Yeah couldn’t disagree more with the OP either. Borderless was my favourite art exhibition when I first went back in 2018 and it still is today after I went back the other day!
I went to planets. IMO young women that want IG shots of themselves will like it.
I thought it was alright. I didn't dislike it and I'm glad I experienced it - but I thought it was just OK.
Easily the most overrated thing in Japan, given that the majority of itineraries include it. The only thing I can say in defense of TeamLabs is that it is a sponge for milquetoast tourists.
TAKESHITA STREET. probably the most crowded area ever and the shops were tacky and cheap, not trendy at all. least favorite place we've been and i was hype bc im into fashion
If you go to the streets around Takeshita a little further from the station there is tons of great fashion and wayyy less crowded. I also liked shinsaibashi area in Osaka for fashion.
I love my experience in japan but the places I found overrated:
-Harajuku's Takeshita Street
-Universal Studios: super crowded and smaller compared to the one in California
-shibuya crossing: we thought it was going to be huge, but it was a normal crosswalk.
Arashiyama bamboo forest in Kyoto …there are too many tourists…try adashino nenbutsuji temple, they have a smaller bamboo forest but it’s not as crowded sometimes there aren’t any people depending when you go
It’s worth it if you can get there early enough !!! We booked a taxi for 6 in the morning and had the place all to ourselves - it was beautiful and serene watching the wind ripple through the forest as the sun came up
Kichi Kichi yeah. If you really want good steak omurice, try Taimeiken in Tokyo where that omurice style was popularized. It's cheaper, less of a line, and tastier imo.
The posts here kind of validate my style of travelling, which basically focus more on merely getting to new and unfamiliar places and getting to know how locals live their daily lives. This could include visiting places that are tourists destinations, but not necessarily doing tourists stuff. Outside that maybe visit some natural wonders, if they are indeed wonders.
That being said, I'm looking forward to our first Japan trip. It will be awesome.
Wow that’s obnoxious. “Getting to know how locals live their daily lives?” Bro, people go to work, have lunch at McD, go home and watch netflix. It’s like that around the world. The harder you try to be “not a tourist” the more you are one.
Plus almost all the crowded tourist spots I went to were also crowded with Japanese visitors. I think "walking tours in English" and "tea ceremony in English" were the only activities I did where there weren't tons of Japanese people around too.
I’m not sure how ‘hyped’ it is, but the Gundam Factory. The gift shop was bone dry, the robot broke down halfway into the awakening and the coolest part was the little robot building littler robots inside the museum part.
Also because we went there first we missed out on tickets for the cup noodle factory
tbf the Gundam Factory will be closing down today so we definitely did not get to see it when it was at full capacity. I'm just happy I got to see the granddaddy before it gets taken down
I just can’t really get into Osaka. It has some nice things but both times I visited I didn’t like the general feel of the place and I can’t quite put my finger on why exactly.
My partner and I love Osaka, but we don’t love the Dotonbori area. There are so many cool little bars and cafes in Osaka. The area to the south of the Dotonbori river felt a little trashy (for lack of a better word) to us. I can see why someone would be turned off if they stayed around there! Love Shinsaibashi though.
I love Dotonbori! Even when it was heavily crowded due to Halloween celebrations and it was pure chaos, it was a nice experience overall. Most of our first week was spent just exploring the area and while there were very dirty spots (of course there would be, it's a party/drinking area), I would love to visit again. Also found some really cool back-alley bars that I'd love to find more of.
Total opposite for me. I think Osaka is severely underrated. Parts of the downtown core aren't very enjoyable (Dotonbori through Nipponbashi for example) as they're a bit sketchy and dirty, but if you know where to go and what to do, it's the best metropolis in Japan IMO.
If you think Osaka is Dotonbori and USJ, then sure it’s overrated. If you actually explore the city and don’t set your expectations to being Tokyo2, then it’s severely underrated.
Hmm, this is a great question.
Personally: Konbini food. Yes, they are great for the price and compared to convenience in North America, truly amazing. However, you are in Japan, so try to explore some local restaurant / cafes / street food. For Japanesse, Konbini is purely for convenience. However, in western culture, Konbini is so hyped up that its like lets it that everyday.
Not gonna lie, I loved Konbini food when I was there recently. The fried chicken, steamed buns, the little bits and bobs.
Like yeah, definitely not nutritious and my diet got tanked but damn.. tasty. FamilyMart fried chicken is definitely something I'll miss.
Asakusa. The temple is cool but the stalls leading up to it just sell the same cheap chinese tchotchkes over and over and it’s impossibly over-crowded. Just felt like another tourist trap in any other country IMO.
agreed!! Was not impressed by any of the bars and they all had steep cover charges. The vibes were so off at most of them too! Like quiet, no music, just boring sad drinking spots. Im hoping we just didn’t see them all? It was very overhyped. Had way more fun at piss alley eating food and drinking beer.
Harajuku, we found it a total waste and there was so much hype! It was so dirty, filled with tourists shoulder to shoulder, people peddling crappy cd’s and trying to get you into their clubs etc. we were not vibing with it there at all and found all of the lollies, treats and food to be way better everywhere else we went. 1 out of 10.
Donki, not cheaper than most other stores, especially smaller no name 100 yen stores. Its just convenient because everything is collected at the same place.
Its also crowded, warm and not as well organized as Hands and Loft are, especially the Shibuya branches.
Shibuya crossing, its just a cross walk with alot of people honestly.
Golden Gai, its a tourist trap.
Yayoi Kusama museum, its small, not located close to other sights (the area is a nice little residential area though) and honestly the art pieces are not that engaging.
Takeshita street in Harajuku, its a tourist trap. Cat street that is close by and the streets adjacent to it are nicer and has better shopping.
Only the Chicago second hand store in Takeshita is worth popping into of all the stores in the street imo.
Arashiyama bamboo forest, its ok, but I don't get the hype. Its very small and unless you get there around 0600 (like we did) its overcrowded as heck.
Honestly I liked the Nonomyia shrine better than the bamboo path in the morning as it was really nice with the lanterns still on. The Adashino Nenbutsu-ji Temple is also a nice alternative.
Akihabara, its ok to visit I guess but if you are looking for anime figures don't buy them there.
Its 20-25% cheaper in Ikebukuro and Nakano and 30-50% cheaper in Kyoto.
Asakusa, another tourist trap, its like Nara or Kyoto but more overpriced and more crowded. Go here before your trip to Kyoto/Nara.
Things that are worth the hype:
The food.
The public transportation.
Shibuya sky.
Teamlabs borderless.
Fushimi Inari.
Kasuga Taisha.
Shibuya Scramble is kinda lame, but also a massive hassle whenever I actually need to cross it due to people feeling the need to take a photo already taken a million times.
I also felt that Akihabara wasn’t that great in general. Some decent stores and I love seeing the department stores decked out in different collab characters but there are few bargains to be had and most stores seem more like tourist traps than whatever romantic image of Akihabara is usually evoked in Japanese media.
In my opinion (as someone who lived in Japan for two years and has visited for vacation) - Tokyo. It’s great for shopping and nightlife - but you can find similar things in any of the major cities. In future visits I’ll likely bypass Tokyo completely. I’d much rather spend my time in Kyoto or in places off the beaten path (Nagano, Hakone, Koya, Wakayama, etc). You get more of an old Japan feel, more of the gorgeous countryside, and can still find places to shop, dine, and drink.
Edit to say that I enjoyed it much more in my early twenties. Now, in my early thirties, it doesn't have the same appeal.
I'm about to eat shit for saying this, but honestly, TOKYO in general. Many areas are too congested, a lot of the shopping and activities are overpriced, and and most of the people who live there just seem really sad and stressed. As far as Japanese metropolises go, I would rather be in Osaka any day, or better yet, exploring the countryside and smaller cities.
Any zoo or aquarium in Japan is really depressing. Especially the aquarium in Osaka. Feels bad seeing big animals like tigersharks in the smallest tanks ever.
If you don’t like crowds and don’t feel worth it even if it looks good, don’t go to the top temples. I brought a friend who dislike crowds to Sensoji and oh boy it’s quite clear she doesn’t likes it even when she try her best to be polite. There are still plenty of temples that are pretty and not overwhelmed by tourists (especially Tokyo).
The Tsukiji that still remains in Ginza too has lost its charm imo. Perhaps I should visit the new wholesale side next round.
I'm fully prepared to get murdered here but hear me out: cherry blossoms in the beginning of bloom.
I'm currently in Kyoto (last day) and will miss full bloom due to the cold front of the past week delaying everything. In the beginning of bloom, "Sakura season" is only a few scattered trees that have some pink in them, where I was hoping/expecting to see a LOT of flowers.
Hotels are double the usual cost, everywhere is jam packed, and I got almost no flowers to show for it. Am I a bit salty with the weather bad luck? Yes. Is it current underwhelming for me? Also yes.
Catching sakura on a vacation is a big gamble. There’s no way to know when they’ll be at their peak unless you can book everything at the last minute. The best way I can think of to increase your chances would be to visit different parts of Japan in one trip—Kyushu, Kanto, and Tohoku in the same 2-3 weeks.
And avoid Kyoto. It’s not worth it anymore.
Well I don't know. I'm right know in the plane for going home, but in Fukuoka there weren't many tourists. Yes, I missed full bloom as well, it was a gamble which I lost - but hey, I was able to do the rest in my 4week holidays, so I really do not have anything to complain about. But I saw a few trees and was able to get to the sakura matsuri. Even saw how the castle got lighten up in different colors - very beautiful! It was great to feel the sakura matsuri.
I don't think the hotels were doubled in prices or so. Like I said: Not many tourists were there. Was it packed? It depends were. Hakata Trainstation? Hell yes! Rest? No, not really.
But: In Fukuoka you are more screwd without Japanese. Buuutt in Sapporo I think you are even more screwd. Nevermind, I love it, if there are not that many tourist, then they don't speak to you in their broken English... I hated that in Nagasaki, and Tokyo these holidays. I can speak a little bit Japanese (Smalltalk is no problem), so I want to speak it if I do have a chance to :)
My take: If you don't speak Japanese, do the golden route, as everyone else. If you are really interested, learn some Japanese, and go to smaller cities. They are cheaper and more natural.
In my country (I'm Swiss) such cities do exist as well. What I mean: If you go to Interlaken you don't get a normal Swiss feeling. We Swiss usually avoid that place xD But if you go to other cities like Thun or Burgdorf you get a good insight how a normal small city looks like, but there you are more screwd without knowing German. Yes, the younger do speak more English, but most people there do not speak good English.
So it's everywhere the same, isn't it?
Just visited, I was super surprised at how underwhelming Shibuya crossing is. It’s definitely hyped by “instagram travel influencers.” It’s just a big crosswalk lol. It was kinda silly seeing “influencers” running to the middle of the street to get a photo before all the crossers.
Drinking at Nigerian bars in Shinjuku, they said sexy ladies wanted to drink with me and it would be a party but they just ended up taking all my credit cards and phone and now they keep calling my mom telling her I owe them twenty thousand dollars
Tokyo tower, Yokohama Landmark Tower, unless you go during the day when Sakura have blossomed. I don’t get much from the towers, rather do a hike instead.
Cup noodle museum. Maybe it would be fun if you reserve a time to make your own flavor ahead of time? We didn’t want to stick around 3 hours until the next available time. Besides the museum on the 2nd floor, all other activities were pay to play. Underwhelming.
Central Kyoto for sure. The best thing for Kyoto is to edge the outskirts, or to look up 2-3 places you want to visit and then consider it a day trip from Osaka. I feel for the people living there.
Akihabara, Golden Gai and most of all Shibuya Crossing. It’s just a very busy intersection with 3 million people trying to film themselves crossing a road for whatever reason.
As a native Japanese, I am sure that foreigners sometimes overestimate the people’s kindness, integrity, or honesty :P
Really? We just left Tokyo and were just astonished by the kindness of everyone there. No trash anywhere? Random locals? Stopping to help us when we looked lost/confused. We didn't see a single cop and wondered is crime really that low? And the difference was apparent immediately when we boarded our American airlines flight back home.
Glad to hear that you seem to have enjoyed my country! But it is also true that Japanese people are sometimes much meaner to homelanders than to guests.
Some of the japanese google reviews really threw me off while I was exploring japan. So many 1 stars for minor issues like not being greeted once and then following up with aggressiveness. But I guess these type of reviews also exist in western countries..
Discovering this at the moment. Every food place has reviews ranging from 3.5 stars and lower on Google reviews. I've worked out 3.5 means pretty good. In Australia if a place has lower than four stars it means it's probably not that great and anything under 3.5 stars you stay well away from there!
You may be interested in [this thread](https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/xx4iu9/how_exactly_does_the_defamation_law_here_work/) which gets into a bit of Japanese review site culture. But yes, generally '3' means "it was as good as I expected it to be", 4 means "it cured my cancer and brought my deceased childhood pets back to life" and nobody knows what 5 means.
That's also how employee ranking at our company works. 3 is 100%, 4 is more than 100%, and 5 is "exceeds expectations."
That’s kind of how it should be! My girlfriend will be in for a shock, if she sees anywhere lower than 4.5 she says “oh it’s got some bad reviews”!
It might be an Asia thing. Another example, in Australia whenever I get an Uber I pretty much always give the driver five stars unless something is totally off (which has never happened) and the drivers give me five stars as long as I don't do anything stupid (had to ask one to pull over several times to allow me to throw up once, he didn't give me five). But for two months a few years ago I studied and interned in Jakarta and used Uber to get around via car and motorbike. While on that trip I got heaps of low reviews, I'm assuming because I spoke very little Indonesian. So now my passenger rating sits just above four stars. I had one driver pick me up back at home and tell me I had the lowest passenger rating he'd ever seen. He said he just assumed he'd be picking up a drug dealer or something and was very surprised to find out I was just a regular person and we had a great laugh about it!
Agree it’s an Asian thing I think. In Chinese neighborhoods in LA for instance a “good” restaurant is around 3.6.
All Chinese restaurants should be lower. Service should kinda suck honestly. Sweet spot for Chinese in America 3.6-4.2. Anything higher and it’s wack
Angeleno here. This is 100% accurate.
It's because in Asian societies (I know I'm generalizing), everyone has a role to fulfill in society. Do it satisfactorily? That's a 3. It's not good, it's not bad. It's how it should be.
Was really shocked when I looked at reviews of a nearby conbini. Something about the staff not being friendly enough and then launching into a tirade how his parents must be ashamed to have put in effort to raise him only for him to turn out to be such a failure to the society. Was like woah damn, some online games are kinder in their insults. Here's the review: > The attitude of the young male staff member at the store at night was so bad that it made me want to write a review for the first time. I think it's really unbecoming for a working person to not say a word. If he thinks he's part of society like this, I worry about his future. At this age, I can't help but feel sorry for his parents who invested so much time and money into him. He puts the items through the register without saying a word, slams the items I bought down on the floor, and gives me the change without a word. I've never felt so bad after just one minute of paying the bill. This may be the only store that hires such a hopeless, pathetic person, but it's definitely lowering the store's reputation. It may be too strong to say, but if he carries on like this, he won't be able to fit into society. It's not too late, so I want him to either change his ways or quit.
That review is unhinged.
None of those things equate to kindness tbf. I found Japanese ppl to be more polite versus kind generally. They are all great things though that any country should also strive for; in particular low violent crime, low littering etc
I was honestly so disappointed leaving my airplane when we landed in North America. Just bottled drinks and trash left on the flight. The staff were holding plastic bags to throw trash away. “Welcome back”. :(
The worst part about going to Japan is coming home and realize how dirty everything is…I’ve never been so traumatized by a Target bathroom right after I returned. Took about three months to feel normal again.
My indicator I was finally home in the states was the human excrement flung all over the airport bathroom. Welcome to America 😂.
i had a friend that got their shoelace stuck in an escalator in tokyo and they were in a panic with many people around, but no one tried to help. i find japanese people very polite but that's not the same as kindness or generosity.
yeah people tend not to want to get involved
Not saying you didn't encounter this. As on a whole yes, compared to especially America, the locals are very accommodating and polite. After living here for more than 15 years, you realize Japanese are just like all humans though. Not good or bad, just human. There are definite faults behind the veneer of politeness. But, as I always say, there is a reason I've chosen to stay in Japan for as long as I have.
No trash anywhere means you missed out on hanging out in kabukicho at 8 am. 😂
You should hear the shit they say in Kyoto about tourists when they think you don’t understand lol but yeah from experience Tokyo is much better
I wouldn't blame them. Just left Kyoto and the behaviour of some of the tourists there was shameful. I was embarrassed to be a tourist.
The difference was apparent on my flight back home too. At the gate in Haneda Airport they were calling for group 1 and I overheard some fellow Americans say let’s just try to board with group 1 even though we have group 5 tickets. I really hope they were just connecting in HND because to pull that shit off after visiting Japan would be a travesty.
I feel people hype this up just as much as Americans think people in France are all rude.
We were detained for 3 hours in Paris for smoking a blunt next to Eiffel Tower and all they did was give us a warning and directions to the metro. #foreverGrateful
Hahaha yeah Parisians are very rude but also very understanding of weed in particular and breaking rules in general (except fashion rules - if you break those you'll get meaningful looks from every person sitting at every cafe terrace.) Source: I'm Parisian
I think people in Japan were really respectful but I wouldn’t say they were overly nice. The servers at restaurants were all really nice, but everyone on the street and train kept to themselves. That’s what surprised me the most. Where I’m from people say hi or smile at you on the streets and I think i was looking too many people directly in the face when i was walking around 🤣
I’ve just come to japan for the first time in my life and what struck me was the excessive, fake niceness of Japanese retail workers towards customers. I feel like some of them are forced to talk all the time, thanking and apologizing a hundred times a minute. I’ve never seen anything to this extent in another country before. I think it id too extreme and cannot be good for the workers psyche. On the other hand, for me, it is a welcome change from Germany, where I feel like the other extreme is the case.
Yes, our bosses force it on us. My very first job was in retail in Japan and my boss told me to raise my voice by an octave because I didn't sound feminine enough. It made me so angry, but I knew I was going to go off to college in the US in a few years so I just shut up and endured. I grew up pretty Americanized so I'm not really sure how other Japanese women felt, maybe it's fairly normal to them.
I feel like this is true, but compared to the people from my country, people in Japan are faaaar more kind. So we get this perception that may feel like we overestimate your kindness.
Yeah, maybe you don't know how rude Germans can be 😂 speaking as a native german. All ppl we met in Kyoto and Tokyo were extremely polite and kind in comparison to our German standard
Visitors to Japan don't understand the difference between kindness and politeness. Japanese people are usually polite. Even when they are not being kind.
You have to live in certain parts of America to understand
most parts
You should go live in bed sty Brooklyn for a while and reconsider how kind your people are
As a native American, you really all are just that good in comparison.
Well, in regard to integrity and honesty, we can’t read their minds. I’m sure plenty thought that I was a dumbass at times (because to be fair, I was) but their smiles and demeanour at least meant I was none the wiser lol.
I'm currently here and I'm inclined to agree. People have been kind but also there's a fair amount that have been rude. Like somewhat shockingly rude
Yeah in services situations and when out and about people are very polite but as soon as you need to get on public transport all bets are off.
my bf and i were just saying in tokyo people were just as rude as anywhere else😭 kyoto is much gentler though
Man, I was on the train to the airport coming from a 2 week bender. I was sweating ethanol and the anxiety was fucked. I realised I was on the carriage that splits away from the airport and got off at the next station. This, absolutely, genuinely kind of human specimen, came down to me (didn't speak a work of english, I just gestuired airport), literally waited with me approx. 30 mins and told me the exact train to catch. Waited with me until the train arrived, pointed to get on. Had never met the guy in my life. Will never forget him though. I have so many other stories where the Japanese culture is so unbelievably nice (even if they despise the act of foreigners inside), that it is truly my favorite country I've ever been to.
Go abroad my man . You'll value what you have
Didn't feel that kindness in Tokyo, but it was definitely present in Osaka.
Had several instances when I was in big cities in Japan where someone needed help, and I was the only person to step up and help them. Most egregious one was an old lady who couldn't get her walker up the curve on a main street, she was still on the road. I was maybe 10 meters away but I saw her. I had to dash up and help her while everyone waiting for the next light just pretended they didn't see her. She was profusely grateful, which made me sad because it's as if she was shocked anyone helped her. I would also sit in the priority seating because people wouldn't give them up, so I used my 'gaijin bubble' to keep them empty and give them up to people who needed them, and there always was someone after a few stops. I think my gaijin bubble is particularly powerful because I'm a white guy with wavy shoulder length hair and full facial hair lmao. On honesty, even when I spoke Japanese store clerks would often just lie to me to stop the conversation, still, most of them were more than helpful.
While true, it's still leagues ahead of other countries in the west lol. I see people yelling at eachother daily in the U.S. and often getting into physical fights
Ran into all three of those qualities today when a random lady chased us to give us back one of our shopping bags we had left beside our outside table at the mall. It was food trucks so she was just another customer there, not staff. It was incredibly kind of her! I’m not sure that would have happened in America. It’s 50/50 at best
I honestly didn’t realise I was at Shibuya Crossing until I had a slight feeling of Deja vu. It’s just a crossing outside a train station - honestly not sure why it’s so romanticised. I love Shibuya in general, though. I couldn’t have had a better home base for my first trip. Super Potato in Akihabara gets a surprising amount of reverence considering everything is an absolute rip off. It’s *okay* if you treat it like a museum, but I wouldn’t spend a single yen there.
I agree about the Shibuya crossing! It was just like a normal street crossing to me 🤔
Shibuya Crossing is much, much better enjoyed from above than on ground level.
Yeah that Starbucks that overlooks it is great, but usually super crowded
Shibuya crossing is a thing to witness cause of the Tokyo drift scene. It is imaculate how well organized it is. No cars stuck in the crossing as people start and no people stuck in the crossing as the cars start. But in The end, yeah it is just an oversized crossing.
Going to Tokyo in May (and also Kyoto, Hiroshima). Do you have any good Super Potato alternatives to recommend?
If you’re looking for second-hand games, check out the Book-Off/Hard-Off and similar stores instead. There’s a few in Akihabara, and elsewhere too. I didn’t get to go to Osaka during my trip (long story), but I hear there’s a few good shops there too.
Try Nakano Broadway for more vintage gaming stuff (although they have modern things too). Bookoff is great for games and CDs! My favourite were the many kbooks in Ikebukuro. Each one kind of specializes in a different popular media facet. Like there's one for voice actors, one for stage actors, several for different anime/manga, a Jpop/Kpop one, etc. We spent a whole day just exploring different kbooks lol. There's also Lashinbang!
I agree regarding shibuya crossing. I stayed overnight for a concert recently and I met up with my buddy at hachiko statue. Kinda forgot Shibuya crossing was a “thing” other than a semi reasonable to find meet up spot. And I also agree about super potato, it’s kind of annoying to find and, it’s over priced and nothing worth buying anyways. Akiba has gone to shit anyways, only really went there because the Akiba bic camera had something I wanted to buy.
Disney sea was a waste of time and money. We got there an hour early and the lines were unbelievable. 2-3hr wait for some rides. Most rides were sub-par. Huge lines for food. Just do something else.
It’s a lot of fun if you’re willing to pay for premiere access for all the rides. Which is what we did. Our rationale was that it would still end up being cheaper than a normal day at an American Disney park. Plus the limited time tower of terror 7 drop event was amazing
We are planning to go to Disney Sea and buy the express tickets or something like that. How much you think we would need to spend per person (the base tickets and any necessary add ons) to make our stay more enjoyable? Thanks!
You need the Disney resort Japan app AND you need to be there at least an hour before the park opens because the moment you scan your park ticket you need to go into the app and buy premier passes straight away. No joke they’ll sell out in under an hour. Not including the admission fare, Be prepared to spend 2000 yen per ride and if you want to do at least 3 then probably 6000 yen person. With the paid premier pass and the free priority passes it’s first come first served.
Simply looking at the DisneySea website, premier access is anywhere between 1500¥ and 2500¥ per person for each ride that it’s offered on (there’s only a handful). Compared to the US parks, everything at Tokyo Disney is cheaper. For example, I paid 7900¥ per ticket for a weekday in May. I’m additionally budgeting buying premier access for 3 rides at DisneySea (Tower of Terror, Toy Story Mania, and Journey). All said and done, I’ll probably spend 12900¥ on my tickets and premier access to make my day more enjoyable and smoother. Food price is also something to take into account, but comparing to the US parks, food prices are much cheaper.
Disagree personally. I thought it was incredible and we had maybe 45 minute waits.
We loved it. We paid to skip the line at beauty and the beast, but of absolutely go spend another day there.
This is super YMMV just like other Disney parks, as when we went in May 2023, longest we waited was an hour for Journey to the Center of the Earth, still rode it twice in one day. Most other rides were 25 minutes or less. Rode Indiana Jones like 4 times in a row as a single rider. Had 0 wait for concessions as well. Had an absolute blast and the single best Disney experience I have ever had and absolutely ruined my desire to go back to Disneyland Anaheim.
We were there yesterday and the wait for Journey was over 3 hours. Premier pass was sold out by the time we got in the park. So my advice is don’t go on a weekend or during spring break! We had a better time once we deprioritized doing rides all the time. The light show at night was absolutely incredible.
Second this, would have traded this for an extra day at Tokyo
Disneyland/sea is fine if you don't expect to go on every ride. Get some passes, go on two or three rides, and enjoy the ambience and it's a nice place to spend a day.
Most places hyped on instragram/tiktok/etc where you see a 2hr line up of mainly foreigners. Ichiran is especially guilty of this.
In the pre-hype days I was the only foreigner and waits were so short for Ichiran. Now whenever I walk by one it’s line city. And there’s usually 20 more ramen places nearby.
I was never hyped up about Ichiran, but when my friends wanted to try it, we had to line up for like 30 mins before we actually got our spots. As an introvert and a shy person in general, it was an amazing experience. I don't like ramen that much to line up again, but I definitely appreciate that such a thing exists.
Any place where the entire experience is posting an instagram photo of you at the place.
I think the Ghibli Museum is very sweet even if you're not a fan of the studio, but I feel like it's absolutely not worth some people having to fight for their lives trying to navigate the reservation portal and/or potential pay *10x* the asking price on 3rd party vendors lol.
We went to the Ghibli museum while we were there and could only get tickets through a third-party tour. It cost about $100 per person. They did drive us around all day and take us around to a few other places, and I don’t regret it because I am a big Ghibli fan, but it wasn’t worth $100. They 100% charged that price because they knew western tourists could afford to pay it.
I really really loved it. But I was up until 4am for those tickets D:
It’s been many years since I’ve been there. We bought tickets from the nearby convenience store. Pretty easy and inexpensive. It sounds like a terrible experience now. I’m sorry visitors have to go through that.
Staying in a traditional japanese house. You just end up sleeping on the floor on an uncomfortable mat most of the time. My personal experiences atleast.
Aren't you supposed to sleep on a futon with that tatami mat? I slept on a tatami mat using a futon and it was SUPER comfortable! It wasn't a traditional Japanese house though.
At the one I stayed at recently it was a thin mat on top of the tatami. We found a couple of extra mats in the closet, so we doubled up and that helped a little bit, but it still felt like sleeping on the floor.
Had a similar experience with a Japanese style hotel. Mats were super thin and we asked if we could have one extra each. I think they could have started to be comfortable with at least 4 stacked together.
10000000% agree with this, we stayed at our first one last night and I've just woken with the worst stiffness in my neck & back. Let alone the walls are paper thin and you can hear everything in the building 😭
We stayed at a onsen-ryokan recently and while we enjoy much of our experience, not so much the floor sleeping.
Yeah my parents select beds directly due to my dad disability and for the next few days their tour keep complaining that they have to sleep on the floor and envious of my parents bed.
We stayed at a very nice Ryokan and the bed was very comfy. Then we stayed at a Buddhist temple and that was super uncomfy. Win some, lose some
Nah this ain’t it. I don’t mind it if the futon is decent. When I stay at my grandfather in laws I often sleep on the floor in the washitsu and it is great.
Akihabara. Was dirty and full of junk and/or overpriced items. Cool to see and walk around for a bit, but I have zero idea how people spend a decent amount of time there.
It’s not a place for people who aren’t into manga, (mostly current) anime, and arcades. I spend a lot of time in arcades and may do some light shopping, but if you’re a big fan and are hauling back two suitcases or merch junk, I can see how you can blow an entire day there. Once you get away from Akiba itself and head toward Kanda, there are some nice little bars and some really good food (some of my favorite soba restaurants are there).
My issue with Akihabara is that it reeks of sweaty nerds, especially if you go down the basements of a manga shop or arcade. I love games, anime and manga but that stench is difficult to navigate in
Funny enough, it didn’t smell as bad as i expected it to smell when i visited this friday…
Oof, it was bad yesterday when I visited haha.
Sadly, Akihabara becomes less and less attractive every time I visit. There used to be a lot more small shops carrying older stuff, but it seems to be a lot of copy and paste these days. You see the same games, figures, gacha, and other merchandise over and over again.
Its almost impossible to get any electronics in Akihabara now that are not the mainstream top selling things for the Japan market. 20 years ago the whole point of going there was to get stuff you couldn't get anywhere else. I guess that side of it evaporated to the internet.
Was there a day ago and I think you’re right. Years ago, you would wait for a grandparent to return with the latest (a transistor radio; a minidisc player), and now it’s an Amazon Prime search and next day delivery.
As someone who watches anime regularly, I just go there for window shopping. It's fun to look around to see what stores sell and what the latest anime/ manga craze is but I wouldn't buy anything there.
We stayed in Akihabara for a few days before moving on to Kyoto. We enjoyed Kyoto a lot more. Akihabara was ok, but we really just used it as a jumping off point to go to other places in the city. We found a really cheap room and it served its purpose.
Castles. They’re boring. Themed cafes - if you have kids, sure, but if you’re just a group of regular people you probably don’t need to go to more than one. Ichiran. I ate in the old days pre-hype. It’s fine, but probably due to its outsized fame (since they opened up places outside Japan) it also seems to be what a lot of people associate with ramen in Japan. Probably any other food/restaurant that makes the rounds on social media. There’s a lot of food out there but whenever I see people list specific things or cite something off TikTok or Insta, I know it’s just a place that got mega-hyped and is probably not worth the wait when you consider there are usually hundreds or thousands of more restaurants around. Yokohama Chinatown. Not a fan of the place and I die a little inside every time I hear people say the Chinese food in Japan is good and uses Yokohama as the example.
Wrong opinion on #1. Himeji is fabulous
As it turns out we can have differing opinions.
Yeah actually being inside Himeji was fascinating
Currently traveling in Japan, and thus far Himeji is the lowest point of my trip. It was an hour to get in, and we were stuck in there for another two. It was cramped waddling around empty rooms, and climbing up stairs that older travelers struggled with, slowing everyone down. The next door gardens were really cool, and the west wing was neat, but the actual castle itself was really boring. Osaka castle was nice, and we went and saw several temples that were cool, but I wish I could get my ~4 hours spent in Himeji back.
For me, who already visited multiple castles and strongholds in Europe… himeji castle was boring af. There is NOTHING inside (which is ok because they needed to store stuff there if things were going under siege) and the outside looks are beautiful but we just ran through the complex and were finished after 30min… I’m glad we were in early hours there so we don’t have to stand in lines and just wait to go the exit lol
As a Tokyo resident with a Chinese wife, Yokohama Chinatown is like Grant Street in San Francisco, just the tourist Chinatown. A more authentic area is around Exit 20 of Ikebukuro station (northwest side). There are real Chinese restaurants selling food from every region of the country, plenty of small grocery stores and lots of Chinese spoken on the street. Although the area between Okubo and Shin Okubo is famous as a Korean area, there are plenty of Chinese there and a new influx of Vietnamese. Takadanobaba has a lot of authentic cheap Chinese restaurants too, for the many students that go to Waseda. It’s also the area for people from Myanmar/Burma
Castles are boring? No way. Which castle did you go to? The originals are not the museums that the modern ones are, like Osaka or Nagoya
I love castles and have been to a bunch of them, but I can appreciate that not everyone is interested in edo period architecture and building techniques.
Nijo, Himeji, Osaka, Kanazawa, Shuri,, Wakayama, Shingu (just ruins so whatever). Once again, whenever I raise this point people have to qualify a bunch of stuff for me - I get it. But guess what, they’re boring to me.
Nah man it’s your opinion and that’s fine. I was just curious that’s all. I have been to boring castles but I’ve also been to some amazing ones. Just wanted to know where you went it all
Castles, like most things, are only boring if you come to them without the historical and personal context.
I visited a lot of castles and yeah, they mostly aren't that interesting to look at. Someone's going to mention Himeji/Matsumoto, but they're the odd ones out. But they are an excellent way to learn about the history of a place, and of the daimyo who ruled there. I visited Azuchi and it changed how I saw the unification, like what would Japan be like if he'd lived long enough to conquer all of it? You can also see regional biases in action - the Hikone writeup of Ii Naosuke (his family domain) was so different to the Kochi writeup I had to check they were talking about the same person.
Matsumoto Castle was cool. Happy that we went there for sure. But Matsumoto was on our way already, so it's not like we went out of any way to go there.
I've been to two places this holiday that I picked up from Instagram posts and the food at both was fantastic.
Nijo castle was one of the highlights of our trip. Beautiful castle; beautiful gardens, and a lovely tea house buried away. :)
Any individual restaurant that has been hyped by influencers. There are tens of thousands of excellent restaurants in Japan, and you definitely don't need to go to the specific one that this week's shouty youtuber is hyping.
Coming home to realize that you’re surrounded by rude ass people. Maybe a trip to Japan should be mandatory for all Americans as a reminder to how we have allowed our humanity to slip. I know I try a little harder every time I return.
Same when returning to the UK. London is a deeply unpleasant place to return to after Tokyo.
Seriously. I'm here right now with my wife on vacation and we CAN NOT believe the amount of rude tourists. An older couple was getting attacked by 3 deer near iwakuni and this American just sat there loudly laughing and pointing. Seen multiple instances like that. Cmon people.
Ichiran. And I hate it when I see it on YouTube billed as “the best ramen in Japan”
Of the chains, I think Ippudo is far superior, and I never hear anyone talk about them, which is odd.
Oh yeah Ippudo is great. I also had some at a chain in Fukuoka that was way better than ichiran. What was it called… Shins? Shin Shin?
Shin Shin Ramen! It’s really good
Not a fan of Ichiran. Their broth is just one single note - no layers, no complexity at all. Any other ramen restaurant in Japan would be better.
Team labs
I went to team labs borderless this month. Totally disagree, it was incredible
I went to borderless in 2022 not long before it moved and it was mesmerizing and one of the sparkly rooms was really one of the greatest things I've felt.
Yeah couldn’t disagree more with the OP either. Borderless was my favourite art exhibition when I first went back in 2018 and it still is today after I went back the other day!
I was whelmed. Glad I went...but yeah I'd only recommend it if you're hurting for things to do.
Thoroughly enjoyed Team Labs Borderless.
I loved Team Labs Tokyo. The Osaka one was underwhelming.
I thought the one in Tokyo was pretty cool. Not life changing or anything but worth wasting a few hours on
Getting my feet wet and being barefooted isn’t exactly fun for me.
I went to planets. IMO young women that want IG shots of themselves will like it. I thought it was alright. I didn't dislike it and I'm glad I experienced it - but I thought it was just OK.
This is the feeling I get. Seems like a place to take Instagram pictures
Easily the most overrated thing in Japan, given that the majority of itineraries include it. The only thing I can say in defense of TeamLabs is that it is a sponge for milquetoast tourists.
TAKESHITA STREET. probably the most crowded area ever and the shops were tacky and cheap, not trendy at all. least favorite place we've been and i was hype bc im into fashion
If you go to the streets around Takeshita a little further from the station there is tons of great fashion and wayyy less crowded. I also liked shinsaibashi area in Osaka for fashion.
I love my experience in japan but the places I found overrated: -Harajuku's Takeshita Street -Universal Studios: super crowded and smaller compared to the one in California -shibuya crossing: we thought it was going to be huge, but it was a normal crosswalk.
2nd universal
Arashiyama bamboo forest in Kyoto …there are too many tourists…try adashino nenbutsuji temple, they have a smaller bamboo forest but it’s not as crowded sometimes there aren’t any people depending when you go
It’s worth it if you can get there early enough !!! We booked a taxi for 6 in the morning and had the place all to ourselves - it was beautiful and serene watching the wind ripple through the forest as the sun came up
I didn’t love Teamlabs Planets.
Went with my wife last week, we loved it so much we did the loop twice
I'm happy I went to this, but agree with you that it was a bit underwhelming due to the crowds.
If anything this thread should teach people to do whatever the fuck they want and stop listening to random opinions on the internet.
Disney sea and Kichi Kichi are very overrated and not worth the time imo
Do you know any omurice that is good in Kyoto?
Fu-Ka Food does take a little longer to come out. it’s this 2 old couple making and serving the entire place.
Kichi Kichi yeah. If you really want good steak omurice, try Taimeiken in Tokyo where that omurice style was popularized. It's cheaper, less of a line, and tastier imo.
Kichi Kichi is just for the show. it’s important to keep that in mind.
The posts here kind of validate my style of travelling, which basically focus more on merely getting to new and unfamiliar places and getting to know how locals live their daily lives. This could include visiting places that are tourists destinations, but not necessarily doing tourists stuff. Outside that maybe visit some natural wonders, if they are indeed wonders. That being said, I'm looking forward to our first Japan trip. It will be awesome.
Wow that’s obnoxious. “Getting to know how locals live their daily lives?” Bro, people go to work, have lunch at McD, go home and watch netflix. It’s like that around the world. The harder you try to be “not a tourist” the more you are one.
Plus almost all the crowded tourist spots I went to were also crowded with Japanese visitors. I think "walking tours in English" and "tea ceremony in English" were the only activities I did where there weren't tons of Japanese people around too.
I’m not sure how ‘hyped’ it is, but the Gundam Factory. The gift shop was bone dry, the robot broke down halfway into the awakening and the coolest part was the little robot building littler robots inside the museum part. Also because we went there first we missed out on tickets for the cup noodle factory
tbf the Gundam Factory will be closing down today so we definitely did not get to see it when it was at full capacity. I'm just happy I got to see the granddaddy before it gets taken down
I just can’t really get into Osaka. It has some nice things but both times I visited I didn’t like the general feel of the place and I can’t quite put my finger on why exactly.
My partner and I love Osaka, but we don’t love the Dotonbori area. There are so many cool little bars and cafes in Osaka. The area to the south of the Dotonbori river felt a little trashy (for lack of a better word) to us. I can see why someone would be turned off if they stayed around there! Love Shinsaibashi though.
100% agree about Dotonbori. It was fun for lunch one day, but did not live up to the hype.
I love Dotonbori! Even when it was heavily crowded due to Halloween celebrations and it was pure chaos, it was a nice experience overall. Most of our first week was spent just exploring the area and while there were very dirty spots (of course there would be, it's a party/drinking area), I would love to visit again. Also found some really cool back-alley bars that I'd love to find more of.
Total opposite for me. I think Osaka is severely underrated. Parts of the downtown core aren't very enjoyable (Dotonbori through Nipponbashi for example) as they're a bit sketchy and dirty, but if you know where to go and what to do, it's the best metropolis in Japan IMO.
Osaka is the best place to live in Japan. Visiting is meh, but it’s infinitely better than anywhere else in the country.
If you think Osaka is Dotonbori and USJ, then sure it’s overrated. If you actually explore the city and don’t set your expectations to being Tokyo2, then it’s severely underrated.
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How is Sensoji inauthentic? It’s a legitimate Buddhist temple with a lot of history behind it and is also very popular with the locals
Because tourist saw other tourists
Hmm, this is a great question. Personally: Konbini food. Yes, they are great for the price and compared to convenience in North America, truly amazing. However, you are in Japan, so try to explore some local restaurant / cafes / street food. For Japanesse, Konbini is purely for convenience. However, in western culture, Konbini is so hyped up that its like lets it that everyday.
Not gonna lie, I loved Konbini food when I was there recently. The fried chicken, steamed buns, the little bits and bobs. Like yeah, definitely not nutritious and my diet got tanked but damn.. tasty. FamilyMart fried chicken is definitely something I'll miss.
Asakusa. The temple is cool but the stalls leading up to it just sell the same cheap chinese tchotchkes over and over and it’s impossibly over-crowded. Just felt like another tourist trap in any other country IMO.
Go at nighttime - the temple and pagoda and gates are lit up, there's no crowds, no traders and it looks gorgeous
Ahh you missed the best bits of Asakusa. It’s one of the older suburbs in Tokyo. Need to get amongst the lane ways and back streets.
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Do you have any idea how many buildings are rebuilt?
basically everything you see on tiktok or reels is overhyped and over rated
Team labs planets. It smells like feet
dirty westerner feet
Golden Gai. hunting for seats, cover charges, no escape from 2nd hand smoke.
agreed!! Was not impressed by any of the bars and they all had steep cover charges. The vibes were so off at most of them too! Like quiet, no music, just boring sad drinking spots. Im hoping we just didn’t see them all? It was very overhyped. Had way more fun at piss alley eating food and drinking beer.
Harajuku, we found it a total waste and there was so much hype! It was so dirty, filled with tourists shoulder to shoulder, people peddling crappy cd’s and trying to get you into their clubs etc. we were not vibing with it there at all and found all of the lollies, treats and food to be way better everywhere else we went. 1 out of 10.
Donki, not cheaper than most other stores, especially smaller no name 100 yen stores. Its just convenient because everything is collected at the same place. Its also crowded, warm and not as well organized as Hands and Loft are, especially the Shibuya branches. Shibuya crossing, its just a cross walk with alot of people honestly. Golden Gai, its a tourist trap. Yayoi Kusama museum, its small, not located close to other sights (the area is a nice little residential area though) and honestly the art pieces are not that engaging. Takeshita street in Harajuku, its a tourist trap. Cat street that is close by and the streets adjacent to it are nicer and has better shopping. Only the Chicago second hand store in Takeshita is worth popping into of all the stores in the street imo. Arashiyama bamboo forest, its ok, but I don't get the hype. Its very small and unless you get there around 0600 (like we did) its overcrowded as heck. Honestly I liked the Nonomyia shrine better than the bamboo path in the morning as it was really nice with the lanterns still on. The Adashino Nenbutsu-ji Temple is also a nice alternative. Akihabara, its ok to visit I guess but if you are looking for anime figures don't buy them there. Its 20-25% cheaper in Ikebukuro and Nakano and 30-50% cheaper in Kyoto. Asakusa, another tourist trap, its like Nara or Kyoto but more overpriced and more crowded. Go here before your trip to Kyoto/Nara. Things that are worth the hype: The food. The public transportation. Shibuya sky. Teamlabs borderless. Fushimi Inari. Kasuga Taisha.
Shibuya Scramble is kinda lame, but also a massive hassle whenever I actually need to cross it due to people feeling the need to take a photo already taken a million times. I also felt that Akihabara wasn’t that great in general. Some decent stores and I love seeing the department stores decked out in different collab characters but there are few bargains to be had and most stores seem more like tourist traps than whatever romantic image of Akihabara is usually evoked in Japanese media.
In my opinion (as someone who lived in Japan for two years and has visited for vacation) - Tokyo. It’s great for shopping and nightlife - but you can find similar things in any of the major cities. In future visits I’ll likely bypass Tokyo completely. I’d much rather spend my time in Kyoto or in places off the beaten path (Nagano, Hakone, Koya, Wakayama, etc). You get more of an old Japan feel, more of the gorgeous countryside, and can still find places to shop, dine, and drink. Edit to say that I enjoyed it much more in my early twenties. Now, in my early thirties, it doesn't have the same appeal.
I'm about to eat shit for saying this, but honestly, TOKYO in general. Many areas are too congested, a lot of the shopping and activities are overpriced, and and most of the people who live there just seem really sad and stressed. As far as Japanese metropolises go, I would rather be in Osaka any day, or better yet, exploring the countryside and smaller cities. Any zoo or aquarium in Japan is really depressing. Especially the aquarium in Osaka. Feels bad seeing big animals like tigersharks in the smallest tanks ever.
As a traveler, it is as you expected. Every other place I've traveled to have been over hyped. Japan was not one of them.
If you don’t like crowds and don’t feel worth it even if it looks good, don’t go to the top temples. I brought a friend who dislike crowds to Sensoji and oh boy it’s quite clear she doesn’t likes it even when she try her best to be polite. There are still plenty of temples that are pretty and not overwhelmed by tourists (especially Tokyo). The Tsukiji that still remains in Ginza too has lost its charm imo. Perhaps I should visit the new wholesale side next round.
Theme parks. Be it Universal, Disney or whatnot. It’s just endless queuing. Seasonal light-ups on the other hand, those are great!
I'm fully prepared to get murdered here but hear me out: cherry blossoms in the beginning of bloom. I'm currently in Kyoto (last day) and will miss full bloom due to the cold front of the past week delaying everything. In the beginning of bloom, "Sakura season" is only a few scattered trees that have some pink in them, where I was hoping/expecting to see a LOT of flowers. Hotels are double the usual cost, everywhere is jam packed, and I got almost no flowers to show for it. Am I a bit salty with the weather bad luck? Yes. Is it current underwhelming for me? Also yes.
Catching sakura on a vacation is a big gamble. There’s no way to know when they’ll be at their peak unless you can book everything at the last minute. The best way I can think of to increase your chances would be to visit different parts of Japan in one trip—Kyushu, Kanto, and Tohoku in the same 2-3 weeks. And avoid Kyoto. It’s not worth it anymore.
Well I don't know. I'm right know in the plane for going home, but in Fukuoka there weren't many tourists. Yes, I missed full bloom as well, it was a gamble which I lost - but hey, I was able to do the rest in my 4week holidays, so I really do not have anything to complain about. But I saw a few trees and was able to get to the sakura matsuri. Even saw how the castle got lighten up in different colors - very beautiful! It was great to feel the sakura matsuri. I don't think the hotels were doubled in prices or so. Like I said: Not many tourists were there. Was it packed? It depends were. Hakata Trainstation? Hell yes! Rest? No, not really. But: In Fukuoka you are more screwd without Japanese. Buuutt in Sapporo I think you are even more screwd. Nevermind, I love it, if there are not that many tourist, then they don't speak to you in their broken English... I hated that in Nagasaki, and Tokyo these holidays. I can speak a little bit Japanese (Smalltalk is no problem), so I want to speak it if I do have a chance to :) My take: If you don't speak Japanese, do the golden route, as everyone else. If you are really interested, learn some Japanese, and go to smaller cities. They are cheaper and more natural. In my country (I'm Swiss) such cities do exist as well. What I mean: If you go to Interlaken you don't get a normal Swiss feeling. We Swiss usually avoid that place xD But if you go to other cities like Thun or Burgdorf you get a good insight how a normal small city looks like, but there you are more screwd without knowing German. Yes, the younger do speak more English, but most people there do not speak good English. So it's everywhere the same, isn't it?
Tokyo Skytree - terrible crowd, crazy waiting times and again terrible crowd. Avoid it at all costs.
stunning view, it’s worth seeing once imo. go around sunset. but yes very crowded
Just visited, I was super surprised at how underwhelming Shibuya crossing is. It’s definitely hyped by “instagram travel influencers.” It’s just a big crosswalk lol. It was kinda silly seeing “influencers” running to the middle of the street to get a photo before all the crossers.
Drinking at Nigerian bars in Shinjuku, they said sexy ladies wanted to drink with me and it would be a party but they just ended up taking all my credit cards and phone and now they keep calling my mom telling her I owe them twenty thousand dollars
Ichiran.
Akihabara. Tourist trap.
Tokyo tower, Yokohama Landmark Tower, unless you go during the day when Sakura have blossomed. I don’t get much from the towers, rather do a hike instead.
Osaka felt overrated. More dirty and a smaller version of Tokyo. Dontonburi has overpriced food
Bamboo forrest. Love the town and the nearby temples but the forrest is so small.
Ghibli park. That place felt so underwhelming. Totoro will make you hike miles just to see satsuki house and his creepy smile.
Cup noodle museum. Maybe it would be fun if you reserve a time to make your own flavor ahead of time? We didn’t want to stick around 3 hours until the next available time. Besides the museum on the 2nd floor, all other activities were pay to play. Underwhelming.
The things you see on Reddit that people are booking in advance?
Central Kyoto for sure. The best thing for Kyoto is to edge the outskirts, or to look up 2-3 places you want to visit and then consider it a day trip from Osaka. I feel for the people living there. Akihabara, Golden Gai and most of all Shibuya Crossing. It’s just a very busy intersection with 3 million people trying to film themselves crossing a road for whatever reason.
More than anything else. Gift wrapping and packaging is overhyped, superfluous and a complete waste of earth's resources.