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Sometimes ryokans that see a lot of foreign visitors will have larger yukatas, but a larger size in Japan is still pretty small if you're a big ol goon. It's fine if you don't wear it. They may want you to wear slippers instead of going around in socks, though from personal experience if the biggest slippers they have are still hilariously tiny for your feet they will let you get away with socks. No bare feet, and no shoes of course.
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Nov 16, 2023 05:00
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I mean I lost a ton of weight this year but still not enough to not have to seek "special sizes" where I live so I wouldn't expect anything different in east Asia. Good to know it's fine not to wear it, but I'm seriously considering buying one since it would be a neat keepsake. Maybe I dunno, like lots of things for this trip I haven't decided much yet 
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Nov 16, 2023 05:15
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It's good to wear something under the yukata, believe me, when you're sitting cross legged on tatami there will be impossibilities of fabric and specific lines of sight
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Nov 16, 2023 11:02
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peanut posted:It's good to wear something under the yukata, believe me, when you're sitting cross legged on tatami there will be impossibilities of fabric and specific lines of sight Seiza or go home.
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Nov 16, 2023 11:23
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If I seiza I’ll need to find a knee replacement the next day
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Nov 16, 2023 13:15
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I know that in Kinosaki the place that rents and sells yukata carried lots of different sizes, as mentioned though they probably encounter enough foreign tourists that they decided it was good to carry larger ones. Perhaps if there is a rental/seller shop in the place you are going they also do the same?
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Nov 16, 2023 15:06
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I got on an ANA domestic flight from Haneda to Fukuoka and holy poo poo those econ seats are small. I'm a big goon, and regular economy seats are normally fine but those had me squished for 2 hours jesus.
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Nov 17, 2023 10:33
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Revitalized posted:I got on an ANA domestic flight from Haneda to Fukuoka and holy poo poo those econ seats are small. I'm a big goon, and regular economy seats are normally fine but those had me squished for 2 hours jesus. Enjoy FUK! I don’t think I have any real recs to share that’d appeal to a tourist, although there’s a strip of p decent recycle shops across the street from Costco. Getting out there by public transport is basically impossible though IIRC. A friend and I walked from the nearest train station one time and it was… an adventure. There also is/was a sixth grade classroom izakaya somewhere but we never got around to going. One of my biggest regrets from living 3 years in Kyushu!
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Nov 17, 2023 14:29
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What about weather in june? I am hoping to go near the start of June, haven't booked yet, but is it usually before the big heat?
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Nov 18, 2023 18:19
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Depending on what you're used to, the "big heat" could be between May and October. Also it's gonna raaaain.
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Nov 18, 2023 19:09
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roomtone posted:What about weather in june? I am hoping to go near the start of June, haven't booked yet, but is it usually before the big heat? Usually that is the rainy season and it's hot but not the super brutal legendary Japan hot that happens afterward, but it will be raining literally the entire time so, humid even by Japan standards. I think there have been a couple recent years where rainy season didn't happen though.
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Nov 18, 2023 19:13
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so june maybe not a good time i have to fit it around college semesters otherwise i'd just aim for the obvious april or october time. maybe i can do that anyway.
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Nov 18, 2023 22:23
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There was a p cool write up on Reddit recently of a guy who told a taxi driver “omakase” in a not-touristy area and got a great tour/experience. I kinda wanna try it next time. roomtone posted:so june maybe not a good time Spring break? I only had MW classes so skipped one of each and made it a two week holiday my first year. I guess it depends how much stuff you wanna do in June is outdoors. It is rainy, but it’s not like the whole country is shut down. I am aiming for June/July personally, bring on the rain and heat baby.
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Nov 18, 2023 22:37
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If you're stuck with summer I would take June over July or August. The rainy season rain isn't like typhoons all day long, it's more that there's a drizzle going on 24/7 and occasionally it gets stronger. Though if you have a decent chunk off off in December/January I would go then instead for sure. Fewer tourists, pleasant weather. It's only cold/snowy a fair bit north of Tokyo, or if you head over to the Sea of Japan side of the central mountains. If you're on the Pacific side it's 5-10C, sunny, and dry most of the time. E: Hokkaido isn't too bad in summer, that's another option. Unless you're just sticking around Sapporo you'd want to seriously look into renting a car though, not a lot of train service. Grand Fromage fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Nov 18, 2023 |
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Nov 18, 2023 22:46
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June is when it starts to suck mega rear end, and December is firmly into "grey dry depressing winter" season I would probably only ever advise someone to visit in March or November. That's it.
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Nov 18, 2023 22:58
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My trip was the first half of February and when we went to the Eastern Imperial Palace gardens, there were plenty of things in bloom. Outside of that there were also things blossoming so it wasn't exactly dull and gray. The weather was chilly especially when it got windy, yeah, but that's February in most places I've lived. It actually snowed in Tokyo the day we left for Kyoto, though. That and a particularly gross cold/rainy day in Kyoto were the worst.
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Nov 18, 2023 23:29
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Go at the end of July and come to Fuji Rock.
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Nov 18, 2023 23:34
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I’ll be flying in December 2nd and leaving two weeks later. I’ll be doing Osaka/Kyoto/Tokyo. I’m expecting cold, but not freezing. Gray skies, but very little rain. Is this about right? I would’ve done November, but that’s basically impossible work wise for both my wife and I. And last time I went in October in 2019, it was great until Tokyo got hit with the worst typhoon in 50 years, cutting out trip short.
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Nov 19, 2023 04:54
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We've got our hotels set for Japan next summer so now it's down to just figuring out what we wanna do/when we wanna do it~ Flying in on July 9th to Haneda, landing the 10th. Then we'll stay in Kamata til the 16th before heading to Numazu for 2 days. Then back to Kamata on the 18th before returning on the 22nd. Then we're stuck in Chicago for a night but that'll give us time to decompress a bit and get used to US timezone again. I think we might try to hit up Enoshima on the way back from Numazu since it's kind of a side jaunt but we can hop back up to Kamata from there. Are there any interesting spots related to youkai that y'all know of in the Tokyo era that aren't crazy out of the way? I know there's the Kappa-dera one.. Good Listener fucked around with this message at 05:15 on Nov 19, 2023 |
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Nov 19, 2023 05:12
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Beer at the Hobgoblin in Roppongi is hilariously expensive — ¥1000 lol. Went to Nakano Broadway earlier… so much Mandarake. And yet not one place selling models of a ST205 Celica or JZZ30 Soarer, but was a neat wander. But, it’s showing the race so can’t complain too much. Any other Tokyo goons watching? E: I should go look at the LAN thread (if one), oops.
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Nov 19, 2023 06:19
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It's the same people in both threads, this one is more active.
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Nov 19, 2023 06:32
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Does anyone have experience staying at a high end ryokan like a Takefue? We’re considering. I’m balking a little at the price. My starting point was “outdoor mixed gender onsen” so a ryokan where you can reserve time at a private one seems like a good bet for that? We’ve done onsen (small local ones and Spa World) and we’ve stayed at a (nice but not as $$$) ryokan and the experiences were amazing - other than we can’t enjoy public onsen together. So I think we would love this. The cost, though.  Is it worth it? Am I missing a better option?
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Nov 19, 2023 07:14
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movax posted:Beer at the Hobgoblin in Roppongi is hilariously expensive — ¥1000 lol. It is both Hobgoblin and in Roppongi, that’s just the cost of doing business in that part of town. And I’m watching from home.
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Nov 19, 2023 07:27
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kaom posted:Does anyone have experience staying at a high end ryokan like a Takefue? Not stayed here, but at this price point it would be pretty weird for any room to NOT have a private onsen attached, usable for the entire duration of your stay. The phrase to look for is 露天風呂付 instead of 家族風呂... The latter is as you say private time booked in a common smaller bath. For outdoor mixed gender public onsen that's called 混浴露天風呂 and it often requires everyone to wear "manner towels" for obvious reasons. Very different experience from private time with your partner.
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Nov 19, 2023 07:50
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We did a $$$ one in Kyoto (definitely focused towards Westerners) at $700 total and a more modest one in Matsushima run by a very sweet couple, which we caught on a super discount at $100 for both of us.. TBH I preferred the smaller, family run one, and we still had our own private bath. I just don't think it's worth it after a certain price point. Also the family run one had way more comfortable futons.
cheese eats mouse fucked around with this message at 09:12 on Nov 19, 2023 |
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Nov 19, 2023 09:10
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Stay in the ones that have modern beds. "Oh no it's not authentic." Stop pretending you're comfortable and just be comfortable!
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Nov 20, 2023 04:18
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Unironically that Not sure why some tourists are desperate to be intentionally uncomfortable in the pursuit of some half-baked historical roleplay or something
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Nov 20, 2023 04:36
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I’m sorry I’m actually a weirdo who likes sleeping as low to the ground as possible. (I’ll still probably book a modern bed for my partner’s sake, given the choice.) I’m learning there’s wide variety in ryokan services - the small family-run one I’ve stayed at only had shared bathing facilities. The more expensive one had a private bath in our room and shared (gender-separated) facilities outside, although the women’s were covered with a fake cave roof which sucked because one of us missed out on “onsen in full winter storm” action this way. I get that it’s to prevent voyeurism.  zmcnulty posted:Not stayed here, but at this price point it would be pretty weird for any room to NOT have a private onsen attached, usable for the entire duration of your stay. Thank you for the search terms! I’m not really opposed to public as long as it’s not crowded or noisy but I can check out reviews for that. 
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Nov 20, 2023 06:44
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Gonna disagree about futons solely because it will probably limit the choices too much. Searching jalan real quick for ryokan in Hida Takayama gives 37 results, but if you add a filter for ones with any Western or hybrid room type, it drops you down to 18.
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Nov 20, 2023 06:51
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Futons are not inherently bad. I strongly prefer firm mattresses and get back pain from ultra soft hotel beds, but a good quality futon on a proper tatami floor is just about ideal for me. On the other hand, yes, a poo poo futon or on a hard floor is is pain.
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Nov 20, 2023 07:40
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The futons at nice ryokan are super thick and fluffy, not the ancient flat ones you get at your inlaws’ house or whatever.
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Nov 20, 2023 08:06
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We had the super thick and fluffy at the cheaper ryokan and it was the best. I hate hard mattresses to the point I travel with my own blow up camping pad to hedge against bad beds and didn’t have to use it that night.
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Nov 20, 2023 09:55
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The pillows across Japan I would also put at universally bad, no matter the price point.
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Nov 20, 2023 09:56
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LyonsLions posted:The futons at nice ryokan are super thick and fluffy, not the ancient flat ones you get at your inlaws’ house or whatever. The ones you get for hard/Japanese sleeper class on the overnight ferries are little better than beach towels.
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Nov 20, 2023 14:46
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To be fair, the bunk beds on the ferry are just as hard.
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Nov 20, 2023 18:50
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The ferry bed I had was basically a slab of concrete, couldn't sleep at all. Don't think I'll be doing that again.
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Nov 20, 2023 18:56
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go_banana posted:I am visiting Japan for my third time, and my soon to be wife’s second time (honeymoon). Very rough outline is below, happy to hear constructive criticism Made the above post earlier, got some helpful suggestions. So helpful that it sent me into frantic research into Kyushu vs Shikoku. Finally after a week of researching I decided its better to take it slow rather than try and see everything. There is 3 nights between post towns - Tokyo we could head back, but it might be easier to continue through the Kiso Valley. We've also been able to extend our stay for 3 nights, so now leave HND on 17/12. 28/11 - Stay near Shinagawa Station 29/11 - Shinagawa to Osaka 30/11 - Universal Studios Osaka 1/12 - Mt Koya, perhaps leave main luggage at Osaka station and stay there overnight? 2/12 - Mt Koya to Fukuoka 3/12 - Fukuoka 4/12 - Fukuoka to Nagasaki 5/12 Nagasaki 6/12 Nagasaki to Nagoya 7/12 - Studio Ghibli (one of the last remaining days, would have preferred earlier or later in the trip but ah well) 8/12 - Post Towns, Magome to Tsumago , maybe stay there or Nakatsugawa 9 /12 10/12 11/12 12/12 Tokyo 13/12 Tokyo 14/12 Tokyo 15/12 Tokyo 16/12 Tokyo 17/12 HND to SYD We have 3 days between the post towns and Tokyo. I was really keen on Shikoku but I am unsure if it is worth doubling-back for 3 nights only. Otherwise, we are near the Kiso Valley - any suggestions for 3 nights? Outdoors, romantic, off the beaten track. Happy to travel anywhere else in the surrounding area too. We've been to Takayama before, and spent 1 night in Nagano to see the snow monkeys last time. I'm also unsure whether its worth stopping at Osaka or changing the route entirely that we start at Nagasaki and get the 7 hour train ride out of the way up front and make our way back up, any advice?
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Nov 21, 2023 05:45
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Grand Fromage posted:No soap is still pretty normal. I bring a little empty squeeze bottle and fill it up with some hotel room soap, keep that with me. Is there some specific term one should look for when it comes to buying alcohol wet wipes? I like to keep around some just in case and airlines tend to be rather negative about letting you bring potential flammables along.
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Nov 21, 2023 20:35
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Bofast posted:Is there some specific term one should look for when it comes to buying alcohol wet wipes? I like to keep around some just in case and airlines tend to be rather negative about letting you bring potential flammables along. It will say alcohol on the package. IIRC the Family Mart ones have it in English or look for アルコール. Airlines also do not care if you bring alcohol wipes on the plane.
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Nov 21, 2023 20:45
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kaom posted:Yeah fair, I wasn’t expecting psychic knowledge more “what does it look like right now?” We’re paying for the flights with points so we need to decide super early. Just in case it helps, here's what it looked like for me around the first few days of November in 2022. Somewhere between Tokyo and Sendai:  A bit northeast of Sapporo:  Kobe: 
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Nov 21, 2023 20:55
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