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IDK fam, I liked Lawson's for savories, 7-11 for sweets, Famimart for hot stuff. Maybe I just got the wrong items but I'm gonna take the POV of "all conbini are great, and we in the west are lacking a critical piece of joy by not having them"Kaddish posted:So yeah, I should have done even a little research before my big-brained idea that staying near Umeda Station would make it much easier to day-trip out of Osaka. It would be no easier than our original hotel in Namba/Dotonbori really. Thankfully I can cancel. Might take up the suggestion up-thread for that much cheaper place. It looks small but much, much cheaper. Avoid the City Plaza and you're good. Find a sento nearby if you want daily Big Japanese Bath Experiences. Dotonbori isn't that noisy if you're one or two blocks away from the Actual Dotonbori Area. Maybe have a look at the Excel? It's in Namba, right near Hommachi, so it'd be very centralized. Speaking of Osaka, do not miss Space Station Retro Game Bar. It's run by this Melbournite who sounds like he just stepped out of Dublin, plays a baller synthwave soundtrack, and has old and new-ish consoles and a Steam PC. Cramped and wonderful. Drinks are on the pricey side for Osaka but still cheap overall - 900 yen for a bottle of craft beer, which is still an NYC metro area bargain.
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Apr 10, 2023 14:25
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Star Wars Celebration 2025 will be in Japan. It'll be my first time going to Celebration, third time in Japan after this coming December. It'll be nice to be around (maybe?) for hanami.
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Apr 10, 2023 16:50
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The latest story from our favorite Japanese streamer: https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/kick-streamer-suspendas-exposed-allegedly-having-sex-in-front-of-child-while-live-2108766/
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Apr 10, 2023 17:24
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So I'm thinking of going on a trip next year to the Tokyo area with my SO since they've never been and I haven't been since a college study trip in 2006. I know we'd love to go to the Kirby cafe cuz they're a huge fan but was wondering how much is say a good amount to save for the trip ahead. I'm not sure the average prices in USD for flights etc. and having a twoish week (prob more like 10 days) stay in the country. So I guess my question is like...any tips on what is a good amount I should save? Things to look to seeing while we're there etc. It would most likely be a summer trip due to it being summer break for my SO's job, though I'd prefer to go a cooler month. The last time I went, like I said was a summer study trip in Nagoya/Seto/Hiroshima/Nara/Kyoto and Kobe for a day. Thanks for any help!
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Apr 10, 2023 17:38
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Busy Bee posted:The latest story from our favorite Japanese streamer: What the gently caress
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Apr 10, 2023 18:54
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Busy Bee posted:The latest story from our favorite Japanese streamer: 
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Apr 10, 2023 22:18
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MJP posted:Speaking of Osaka, do not miss Space Station Retro Game Bar. It's run by this Melbournite who sounds like he just stepped out of Dublin, plays a baller synthwave soundtrack, and has old and new-ish consoles and a Steam PC. Cramped and wonderful. Drinks are on the pricey side for Osaka but still cheap overall - 900 yen for a bottle of craft beer, which is still an NYC metro area bargain. Uhh I'm not sure how you confused Maryland for Melbourne, haha. There's even a small state flag hanging near the drink list. Maybe the bartender the night you went was Aussie? The owner is 100% American though. The bar is my favorite hangout downtown, I've been around since it opened and it's a nice place to hang out and socialize with travelers and other local friends. Place has been an absolute madhouse though since the new year, though, just crushed by visitors since the tourists started flooding back in en masse.
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Apr 10, 2023 23:32
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Summer job post All-English adventure camps https://www.evergreen-hakuba.com/evergreen-employment/ http://www.english-adventure.org/index.php?UserLang=EN&PageId=21
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Apr 10, 2023 23:34
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Seems like there’s basically an infinite amount of data SIM providers for tourists to pick from. Any specific firsthand recommendations? I decided to not go with a WiFi router this time, but the catch is that I need to find a provider that will issue an e-SIM instead of a physical SIM card. Doesn’t seem like that’s going to be a problem, but not sure if that’ll affect recommendations? I’ll be there for three weeks, and I’ll have wifi in all my hotels. So my data use would probably be limited to email/web/maps/translate. No streaming/etc. I’d obviously still prefer it to be whatever passes as “unlimited” these days, fully knowing I’ll get throttled hard if I suck down the bits. Rando google for Japan e-SIM pulls up vendors like bytesim dot com where I can get 20gb 30 day plan for like $40 CDN. $90 if I want to throw caution to the wind and go for 50gb. Not sure how to tell a good provider from bad, if such a thing exists. Presumably I’m going to be on the major carrier networks anyway so … yeah, not sure how to make a choice here. some kinda jackal fucked around with this message at 02:25 on Apr 11, 2023 |
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Apr 11, 2023 02:21
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Busy Bee posted:The latest story from our favorite Japanese streamer:
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Apr 11, 2023 02:26
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Nanigans posted:It'll be nice to be around (maybe?) for hanami. April 18-20. Very unlikely unless you include a run up north as part of your trip.
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Apr 11, 2023 02:33
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Good Listener posted:So I'm thinking of going on a trip next year to the Tokyo area with my SO since they've never been and I haven't been since a college study trip in 2006. I know we'd love to go to the Kirby cafe cuz they're a huge fan but was wondering how much is say a good amount to save for the trip ahead. I'm not sure the average prices in USD for flights etc. and having a twoish week (prob more like 10 days) stay in the country. Flights can still be a bit expensive because they're still getting spooled back up after COVID, in the past they were ~$900-1500 round trip per person depending on time of year and deals available. Don't think there's much in terms of true low-cost carriers doing the trips from the U.S. either, so Delta/United or ANA/JAL and just suck it up. Hotels are the real big variable, depending on how close you want to be and how much you want to spend it can be from maybe $100 per night (assuming more than a solo traveler because Japan likes to charge per person) or much more if you go high-end. So that would be let's say $3,000+ for the major parts of the trip - flights and 7-10 nights of hotels. But that's before meals, transport, and goodies.
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Apr 11, 2023 02:54
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Gabriel Grub posted:April 18-20. Very unlikely unless you include a run up north as part of your trip. Aw, dang. I guess it would be nice to go to Hokkaido for the first time.
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Apr 11, 2023 03:13
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harperdc posted:Don't think there's much in terms of true low-cost carriers doing the trips from the U.S. either There's Zip Air from San Francisco, San Jose, and Los Angeles.
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Apr 11, 2023 03:15
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harperdc posted:Flights can still be a bit expensive because they're still getting spooled back up after COVID, in the past they were ~$900-1500 round trip per person depending on time of year and deals available. Don't think there's much in terms of true low-cost carriers doing the trips from the U.S. either, so Delta/United or ANA/JAL and just suck it up. Hotels are the real big variable, depending on how close you want to be and how much you want to spend it can be from maybe $100 per night (assuming more than a solo traveler because Japan likes to charge per person) or much more if you go high-end. So that would be let's say $3,000+ for the major parts of the trip - flights and 7-10 nights of hotels. Yea I'm HOPING I could maybe get a deal off the one hotel in the Tokyo area that's associated with my workplace but I never got a response from them in the past. Dunno if I should try CALLING them or what lol. Also yea, it'd be 2 of us so it'd automatically be more money huh...that kinda blows 
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Apr 11, 2023 04:41
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Good Listener posted:So I'm thinking of going on a trip next year to the Tokyo area with my SO since they've never been and I haven't been since a college study trip in 2006. I know we'd love to go to the Kirby cafe cuz they're a huge fan but was wondering how much is say a good amount to save for the trip ahead. I'm not sure the average prices in USD for flights etc. and having a twoish week (prob more like 10 days) stay in the country. I'm currently planning a full 2 week trip for late June/early July, with just me and my nephew going. I was given a budget of $5000 for my nephew's main costs (not counting souvenirs), and I'm figuring around the same for myself. It's looking like that, $10,000 total for 2 people, should make for a fairly comfortable trip (aside from the likely heat/humidity/rain, anyway...). Per person, ~$1500 for flights from the west coast, somewhere around $250 for a 7-day rail pass, a bit of money for an e-sim, etc., leaves around $200 a day each for hotels/food/entertainment/non-rail pass transportation. I'm expecting that somewhere around $125/day will be left after hotels, give or take $25. You could save several hundred dollars each on the flights if you're flexible, we paid a bit more for direct flights and had a relatively limited window for going. And I think you could probably spend a bit less on hotels, and of course a shorter trip will be cheaper. Anyway, I think from what I'm seeing that this should make for a decent trip, though we won't be going to any theme parks or doing anything super fancy or anything (maybe just a few really nice meals if we can manage it). I've also never been there, so I could be wildly misunderstanding the costs of things.
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Apr 11, 2023 05:13
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some kinda jackal posted:Seems like there’s basically an infinite amount of data SIM providers for tourists to pick from. Any specific firsthand recommendations? just got back from a 15 day trip where all 6 of us used ubigi's 30 day 10 GB $12 plan. had zero issues, could not be easier. just toggled the sim when we landed in haneda and were good to go.
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Apr 11, 2023 12:42
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some kinda jackal posted:Seems like there’s basically an infinite amount of data SIM providers for tourists to pick from. Any specific firsthand recommendations? I ordered mine off of Amazon Japan. The one thing I remember is that some of these SIM / eSIM providers will piggy back off of some random network outside of Japan where you'll be roaming instead of connected to a Japanese network. I purchased a physical SIM card, this one here - https://en.nipponsim.jp/product-page/DHA-SIM-134?page=3 just installed it, no setup required and was connected directly to the SoftBank network. You can also buy it from Amazon Japan. Busy Bee fucked around with this message at 13:36 on Apr 11, 2023 |
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Apr 11, 2023 13:31
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I am so goddamn fat now.  I’m gonna have to diet for like a month to work off all that udon.
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Apr 11, 2023 13:52
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Hey Japan thread, so we have our itinerary of 5 guys in our 30s all roughly worked out, something like: • 4-6 nights in Tokyo (6 nights for first arrival, 4 for last arrival) • 4 nights in Matsumoto (3 nights in a normal hotel, 1 night in a ryokan) • 5-6 nights in Kyoto (4 nights for people leaving earliest, 5 for people leaving 1 day later) • Everyone flies out of Tokyo but all at late hours (earliest 3pm, latest 8pm) Does that look fairly reasonable? Especially for the Matsumoto part. We want a mixture of countryside and big city, want to do mostly mainstream Japanese cultural stuff (food, historical sites) but also would like to enjoy the outdoors even if the Japanese Alps are the same as mountains anywhere else. Matsumoto looks like it's super well connected by public transport including into the mountains like Kamikochi, Kiso, Kashiwabara Trail, so it doesn't look like a car would be particularly useful (?) but I didn't check if the public transport times run at extensive hours, or if the last bus down from Kashiwabara Trail is like, 4pm. Matsumoto also looks like there's enough cultural stuff to do there in case we get a day or two of just pouring rain in the mountains (?). I see that it rains a ton in July in the mountains of Honshu, but I couldn't figure out if this was usually just a huge thunderstorm at sunset as you often get in the summer in the Italian Alps where the rain is irrelevant, or if it's more like summer in the Swiss Alps where you get days of just gray drizzle and hiking often unenjoyable for extended stretches. It also sounds like we kind of have to pre-commit to specific days though for ryokans and decent lodging, and if we want to be last minute and adaptable to the weather conditions, we'll stay in lovely, expensive, inconvenient hotels? I think we're pretty set for Tokyo and Kyoto for those amounts of time ±1/day but the outdoors stuff we're less sure about. Alternately, Hakone looks cool but based on how easy it is to access I imagine it's packed in summer (?), and any hikes would start basically at sea level and thus be miserable in July. The Nikko area also looks neat but a little more "second tier" as compared to the Matsumoto area and public transport less extensive. If we spend 4 days in Matsumoto and it just rains the whole time, are we going to want to go all hara kiri on ourselves, or is there enough good food and cultural stuff there that is neat even with lovely weather? A lot of the towns nearby like Tsumago and Narai also look neat, but I'm not sure if you could spend more than like an hour in places like that. They're awesome to pass through by car or when doing a hike, but by public transport sometimes I get island fever in those places. It looks like public transport through Kiso Valley is good until around 6:30pm. After 6:30 it just falls off a cliff and dies -- no trains between 6:45pm and 9:45pm (at least in April, maybe it's better in July?). It looks like there are pretty decent trails through the Kiso Valley that follow along the towns, that we could do if the weather was drizzling and meh for real hiking, but decent enough to walk through a forest?
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Apr 11, 2023 14:36
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Saladman posted:Matsumoto also looks like there's enough cultural stuff to do there in case we get a day or two of just pouring rain in the mountains (?). I see that it rains a ton in July in the mountains of Honshu, but I couldn't figure out if this was usually just a huge thunderstorm at sunset as you often get in the summer in the Italian Alps where the rain is irrelevant, or if it's more like summer in the Swiss Alps where you get days of just gray drizzle and hiking often unenjoyable for extended stretches. Monsoon rear end-sweat rain. Second rainiest month of the year for that city, and average humidity of 70% in July. It might be a little cooler and better than in Tokyo, but it’s not comparable to the Swiss Alps at all.
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Apr 11, 2023 14:45
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By all accounts, Japanese summer is disgusting.
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Apr 11, 2023 14:54
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Pollyanna posted:I am so goddamn fat now. You weren’t skinny the last time we met? But hey I’m fat too!!! Now little fat
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Apr 11, 2023 15:00
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Wonton posted:You weren’t skinny the last time we met? wait when did we meet………..
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Apr 11, 2023 15:03
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For Matsumoto leg, I recommend getting a car. Oh and do look into hokuriku arch pass, it’s great for you guys, goes from Tokyo, up the north and there’s the third bird to Kyoto. Does it have to be Matsumoto? Kanazawa is nice and Toyama next to it have really nice valleys. Getting a car means you can drive to other areas in case of poo poo rain, or to nicer hiking trails. Thanks for the euro travel tips!!
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Apr 11, 2023 15:03
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Am I getting owned by being bad with names again. edit yes yes I was.
Pollyanna fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Apr 11, 2023 |
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Apr 11, 2023 15:04
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harperdc posted:Monsoon rear end-sweat rain. Second rainiest month of the year for that city, and average humidity of 70% in July. It might be a little cooler and better than in Tokyo, but it’s not comparable to the Swiss Alps at all. So... it looks like on any given day we have about a 50% chance of it actually being suitable for hiking in July? Weather.com seems to suggest that Kiso gets 24 rainy days a month in July with an average of 260mm, which doesn't seem ultra promising as that's roughly 4x the average July precipitation in the Swiss Alps. It looks like the mountains in Honshu go from snow covered, to super rainy, with intermittent "actually pleasant to hike" windows? I'm not as worried about the heat -- we'd take a bus or drive up to Kamikochi (1400m elevation at the parking lot) or to the Kiso or the Takase Valleys (1000m elevation at the parking lot for Takase / ±1000m for the cute towns in Kiso), so an early start and going up to 2000m+ would be pleasant even if it's 30° in the valley floor, but pouring rain is a mixture of completely un-fun and potentially dangerous. Wonton posted:Does it have to be Matsumoto? Kanazawa is nice and Toyama next to it have really nice valleys. Getting a car means you can drive to other areas in case of poo poo rain, or to nicer hiking trails. I looked at it but Kanazawa is sea level though so it'd be further to start any hike that is July suitable (I think? didn't look carefully) if we do get a good weather window. I also thought about Takayama but that looks like we'd be more trapped there without a car and with lovely weather. Saladman fucked around with this message at 15:08 on Apr 11, 2023 |
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Apr 11, 2023 15:05
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While those areas do have shuttle buses and some kind of public transit, 5 of you guys is the perfect number to rent a van and go to even more nicer remote ryokans(the nicer ones tend to need car access or have some form of limited pickup) Pick up the car in Kanazawa then drive up to the mountains and then return car sounds way more flexible. And the price of trains for 5 aint the cheapest for inter regional transportation.
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Apr 11, 2023 15:24
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Busy Bee posted:The latest story from our favorite Japanese streamer: we should give him like, nine more chances
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Apr 11, 2023 15:45
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Well, he's in Thailand now, so there shouldn't be any more trouble.
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Apr 11, 2023 16:00
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One day in Tokyo Five days in kochi Twelve days in Sukumo Forty days in Muroto And a day trip to Yuzuhara 
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Apr 11, 2023 16:08
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Why in god's name would anyone travel to Japan in the middle of summer lol smdh Sounds like the perfect way to hate the country and yourself for spending $2000 or whatever to go there
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Apr 11, 2023 17:10
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Navaash posted:Uhh I'm not sure how you confused Maryland for Melbourne, haha. There's even a small state flag hanging near the drink list. Maybe the bartender the night you went was Aussie? The owner is 100% American though. Dude looked like Borat and sounded crazy Irish - I wasn't THAT drunk. I deffo missed the Maryland flag. The crowd owned, I overheard a comparison of nihongo jozu war stories from one guy who worked in marketing. some kinda jackal posted:Seems like there’s basically an infinite amount of data SIM providers for tourists to pick from. Any specific firsthand recommendations? I used Ubigi as my data eSIM provider. It was inexpensive and easy to follow their setup instructions. They advertised 5G compatibility but I only got 4G LTE speed the entire time. Occasional but understandable low signal at Senkyoro in Hakone. I was able to configure the eSIM at home before we left, and have service start the day we arrived. I just had to switch the eSIM on and that was that. My wife's phone didn't support eSIM so we used Mobal. Pickup was quick and easy at Haneda. It took a few minutes for the service to pick up once we put the SIM card in and booted the phone but it too was flawless. Good Listener posted:Budget planning If you have good credit and can plan your spending accordingly, churning credit cards basically paid for 90% of our trip. Round trip business class United EWR-HND, 7 nights at the Hyatt Regency Tokyo, 1 night at Senkyoro (you could easily find a better ryokan), 4 nights at the City Plaza Osaka, for a total cost of $3800. I had a ton of United miles to throw at things but if you have flexibility in your airlines, you might do OK. Churning is way off scope for this thread but it's worth looking into if you can put all your spending on a credit card and pay it off as you go. MJP fucked around with this message at 17:48 on Apr 11, 2023 |
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Apr 11, 2023 17:38
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MJP posted:
I like to think my credit's pretty good. I've got my personal cards which have $2000 and $3000 on 'em. And worse comes to worst, there's a family AMEX too. AHH F/UGH posted:Why in god's name would anyone travel to Japan in the middle of summer lol smdh Also cuz my partner doesn't wanna take off during the school year even though I'd love to go any other month tbh haha. Maybe I can convince them over the course of the next year. What IS the best time to go? I know in Spring you get cherry blossoms in mid March-April haha.
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Apr 11, 2023 19:23
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Good Listener posted:What IS the best time to go? I know in Spring you get cherry blossoms in mid March-April haha. You can see Cherry Blossoms in February in Kawazu which is less than a few hours away from Tokyo on the train. Personally, I enjoy visiting Japan in October ~ November. The foliage on the trees in some regions during that time are very beautiful, more so than cherry blossoms and not as crowded. The weather is not that bad and typhoon season is wrapping up.
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Apr 11, 2023 19:29
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Fall is my fave season in general so this sounds super appealing tbh.
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Apr 11, 2023 19:35
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The best time to go to Japan was last fall before all the tourists showed up. Now the best time to go is whenever there are the fewest tourists. I second the fall. January is cool, too. And cold.
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Apr 11, 2023 19:39
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Maybe one day I'll just do a solo trip over in the fall time. Seems like there is no actual way to swing this trip in any time but during summer break in the end haha. Soooo...June July or August, which is best? I know June is raaaaainy.
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Apr 11, 2023 20:03
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So how much do you need to spend with your credit card for that business class ticket?? Just curious
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Apr 11, 2023 21:03
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Hello I really like the countryside and would like to go off the beaten path. I heard that Sadogashima is a good place for that and would like to go for 14 days between 7/7-7/21. How would I go about creating a 14 day itinerary for Sadogashima?
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Apr 11, 2023 21:17
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