Tony - Japan 2024 Planning - Take 2

[chadbag]

31 minutes ago, kuro68000 said:

 

Not that my face doesn't give it away instantly, but when travelling outside the Suica area the bright green card stands out against the local ones, and makes it clear I'm a tourist. Might have to get a holder for it.

 

Our physical cards are ICOCA but as iPhone users we now just use the virtual Suica cards on our phones and/or Apple Watches.

 

I've seen a lot of Japanese using card holders for their IC cards so you'd be in good company.  That or they have them in their outside pocket in the wallet and just touch the whole wallet to the sensor (train, bus, vending machine, etc)

[kuro68000]

7 minutes ago, chadbag said:

 

That's interesting.  My experience has been (not in Japan) that the PIN or signaure status is embedded in the card meta data.  I had PIN and everything set up for a US based card and was traveling in Europe and sticking my card in the reader ALWAYS automatically triggered a signature request and never asked for PIN, even though the local card convention was PIN.

 

I don't know if PIN based credit card transactions are common in Japan but they just always hand me the slip and say "sign please"

 

 

Interesting, in the last few years I've found they always seem to default to PIN in Japan, but it might just be as you say the UK bank preference. Europe is all PIN, but retains signatures as an option for people who have issues with numbers. I think you have to request it though, ask your bank to set signature as the default.

 

Now most transactions are done contactless. Getting Google Pay to work reliably in Japan is my next task, but last time (January) few places had machines with contactless support it seemed.

 

Of course my preferred payment method is Hard Off points.

Edited November 6 by kuro68000

[kuro68000]

5 minutes ago, chadbag said:

I've seen a lot of Japanese using card holders for their IC cards so you'd be in good company.  That or they have them in their outside pocket in the wallet and just touch the whole wallet to the sensor (train, bus, vending machine, etc)

 

I wonder if it's a cultural thing, like how when reading books in public people often have a cover. Some book shops offer the covers for free.

 

It might be for protection as well. My Suica is badly worn and makes me feel conspicuous, like it makes me look careless or something. You see it with things like cars, all spotlessly clean and undented. But then there is some threshold beyond which things become youkai and must be preserved but never repaired.

[Tony Galiani]

Back in the USA feeling somewhat subdued and tired but it was a great trip albeit on the short side.  One of the best things about United Airlines is flying its partners - we were on ANA for the trip back and it was very nice.  Easy to see why ANA is considered one of the world's best airlines.

 

And here are a few pictures from the early days of our trip - Osaka Metro, Keihan Railway and Marine Liners at Takamatsu.

 

Ciao,

Tony

[Kingmeow]

Just barely catching up and getting over jet lag.  😁  I will fill things in as the days progresses.  I still have to unpack the stuff we bought, including the stuff in the second bag that we purchased because our two carry-ons just wouldn't do!  🤣

 

The 3 weeks we were there was simply AMAZING!  The weather could have been better in terms of picture taking conditions.  It was mostly cloudy every day.  Rain wise we only had 2 disrupting days which is a plus for me...we went train shopping both days!  😎

 

Regarding the credit card conversion thingy, it was rampant in Italy/Greece when we were three on a 10-day Mediterranean cruise.  Quite annoying to ask for local currency instead of USD each and every time we use a CC.  This is NOT the banks fault as it's on the local vendor at the time as they give you a slightly worse conversion rate and pocket the difference as their profit.  The vendor's rate is not a tremendous difference than the bank rate but you have the feeling of being ripped off no matter how small it is.

 

Strangely while in Japan for the whole time of 3 weeks I did not encounter this at all.  Nobody asked me if I wanted to pay in USD whenever I whipped out the CC.  And my bank, Amazon VISA which is Chase, uses a rate that's around 0.75 point less than the current whole sale Wall St. rate which is VERY good!  I have it set up that each time there's a foreign transaction, I get a text and e-mail showing me the converted USD charge.  When we were in Italy/Greece, in the beginning before we caught on, the messages would say "USD" instead of "converted to $xx.xx" or something like that.  That's how I know all the charges in Japan were in Yens.  Doing the reverse math we were pleasantly surprised at how good of a rate we were getting.

[chadbag]

12 hours ago, Kingmeow said:

The vendor's rate is not a tremendous difference than the bank rate but you have the feeling of being ripped off no matter how small it is.

 

It can be a big difference. I've seen up to around 5%.

 

Also, be awarem that Amazon JP tries the same thing.  Always check out using JPY.  You tell it yoru card is a USD card but check out in JPY.

 

[chadbag]

12 hours ago, Kingmeow said:

Strangely while in Japan for the whole time of 3 weeks I did not encounter this at all.  Nobody asked me if I wanted to pay in USD whenever I whipped out the CC.  And my bank, Amazon VISA which is Chase, uses a rate that's around 0.75 point less than the current whole sale Wall St. rate which is VERY good!  I have it set up that each time there's a foreign transaction, I get a text and e-mail showing me the converted USD charge.  When we were in Italy/Greece, in the beginning before we caught on, the messages would say "USD" instead of "converted to $xx.xx" or something like that.  That's how I know all the charges in Japan were in Yens.  Doing the reverse math we were pleasantly surprised at how good of a rate we were getting.

 

We've had it a few times in Japan where they asked (and we declined) but it's not something I normally saw -- especially at normal stores like super markets.   However, note that whatever you see in your initial text or email from JPY conversion to dollars is not set in stone until the transaction actually closes and is no longer pending.  The rate actually used is the rate in effect when the transaction closes, not the rate at the time of the transaction being authorized, which is the rate they tell you in the email or text.  Chase explains this somewhere on their website.

[RS18U]

@Tony Galiani glad you made it home ok.  For some reason for us the 'jet lag' is worse when we travel west to east, never an issue going the other way.  We have only used Air Canada and ANA for our trans-Pacific flights, and have settled on ANA as out go-to airline.  I am so glad they are part of the Star Alliance so we can use both AC and ANA for the flights, and check in at a small regional airport (YCD) to get to Tokyo (HND) and get our bags.  Not so simple coming back thanks to Canada Customs.

[Tony Galiani]

@Kingmeow and @chadbag - I cannot remember all the places with the credit card conversion but it was definitely at two hotels and also at some other stores with larger purchases.  I get credit card alerts on my spend and so could track the actual cost difference.  At our first hotel, using the dollar option would have cost us an additional $36.  Over the course of our trip my rough calculation is that I saved US$200 but not accepting the dollar conversion.

At least in Japan, the option was low pressure - the clerk just pointed to the machine and asked us which did we prefer.  At some ATMs in Greece, there is verbiage about a "guaranteed exchange rate" which seems to imply using dollars is the best course of action.  This, to me, is not particularly honest and really irks me.  But such is the world we live in.

 

@RS18U - I am lucky - get some jet lag either way but usually not too bad and am good to go after about a day.

Looks to me that you have a good airline situation.  I am not a big fan of Air Canada - the only airline I have ever flown that lost the plane's fuel cap(!) - and one that takes advantage of its virtual monopoly to the Maritime Provinces and essentially price gouges flights there.

However, we can get really good deals on business class as they do not have a big demand for that.  On our trip to Greece this year we opted to fly via Toronto on Air Canada for a substantial saving in Signature Class.  We figure if they delay us (which seems to happen on 75% of our AC flights) my wife can visit family and friends in Toronto.

And you may know this, but just in case, on ANA, you can use the ANA lounge when flying Premium Economy.  Unlike United and AC which do not allow that.  The lounge in Haneda is very nice and just across from their gates so just a short walk when it is time to depart.

 

Funny story about boarding ANA on this recent trip.  We were in the ANA lounge and I needed to pick up something at Uniqlo so left a bit before my wife.  Plan was to meet at the gate.  A little later, I am in line as boarding is about to start and texting my wife:  "Where are you?".  She responds she is in line and I am looking around for her but cannot see her.  When I respond I am in line she says she cannot see me in the line.  Turns out she had walked to gate 109 (for Chicago) while I was at gate 110 (for Washington) which was the correct one.

 

Cheers,

Tony

[Tony Galiani]

Some more pics and a quick story.

 

Mira at the coffee shop in the Keihan Railway station after we parted from the umbrella lady.

 

At Takamatsu:  Sunport Nanpu Relay Go on the left and JR Shikoku Series 7200 on the right.

 

And tissues!  On Wednesday, we were in the ANA lounge waiting for our flight when I had a nose bleed - a real gusher which happens to me on occasion, possibly stress related.  Fortunately, I was in the restroom at the time so was bleeding over tile surfaces and not carpet!  Got it under control and went back to sit in the lounge, holding my head back, pinching my nose and holding a tissue to it - my basic SOP for this.

After about two minutes one of the ANA reps comes over to me to ask if I am okay, provides me with tissues and oshiboris and asks if she can do anything else to help me.  It is such a different world there.

 

Ciao,

Tony

[Kingmeow]

9 hours ago, chadbag said:

 

It can be a big difference. I've seen up to around 5%.

 

Also, be awarem that Amazon JP tries the same thing.  Always check out using JPY.  You tell it yoru card is a USD card but check out in JPY.

 

 

5% seems to be the max that I've seen in Italy/Greece.  My experience when there was a little bit less.  The idea is to "get you" a little at a time so you don't really notice that much of a difference.  $1 here, $3 there, etc.  And if you did, eh, what's an additional buck.  Over time, it all adds up.  It's more noticeable if you did a one time big purchase

 

9 hours ago, chadbag said:

 

We've had it a few times in Japan where they asked (and we declined) but it's not something I normally saw -- especially at normal stores like super markets.   However, note that whatever you see in your initial text or email from JPY conversion to dollars is not set in stone until the transaction actually closes and is no longer pending.  The rate actually used is the rate in effect when the transaction closes, not the rate at the time of the transaction being authorized, which is the rate they tell you in the email or text.  Chase explains this somewhere on their website.

 

Oh!  That's interesting!  I didn't know that.  Hopefully there won't be any drastic movement in exchange rates in 24-48 hours when the transactions finally post.  The only thing I can think of that may cause drastic movements is world calamity.  If that happens, we have something more important to worry about.

 

1 hour ago, Tony Galiani said:

@Kingmeow and @chadbag - I cannot remember all the places with the credit card conversion but it was definitely at two hotels and also at some other stores with larger purchases.  I get credit card alerts on my spend and so could track the actual cost difference.  At our first hotel, using the dollar option would have cost us an additional $36.  Over the course of our trip my rough calculation is that I saved US$200 but not accepting the dollar conversion.

At least in Japan, the option was low pressure - the clerk just pointed to the machine and asked us which did we prefer.  At some ATMs in Greece, there is verbiage about a "guaranteed exchange rate" which seems to imply using dollars is the best course of action.  This, to me, is not particularly honest and really irks me.  But such is the world we live in.

 

@RS18U - I am lucky - get some jet lag either way but usually not too bad and am good to go after about a day.

Looks to me that you have a good airline situation.  I am not a big fan of Air Canada - the only airline I have ever flown that lost the plane's fuel cap(!) - and one that takes advantage of its virtual monopoly to the Maritime Provinces and essentially price gouges flights there.

However, we can get really good deals on business class as they do not have a big demand for that.  On our trip to Greece this year we opted to fly via Toronto on Air Canada for a substantial saving in Signature Class.  We figure if they delay us (which seems to happen on 75% of our AC flights) my wife can visit family and friends in Toronto.

And you may know this, but just in case, on ANA, you can use the ANA lounge when flying Premium Economy.  Unlike United and AC which do not allow that.  The lounge in Haneda is very nice and just across from their gates so just a short walk when it is time to depart.

 

Funny story about boarding ANA on this recent trip.  We were in the ANA lounge and I needed to pick up something at Uniqlo so left a bit before my wife.  Plan was to meet at the gate.  A little later, I am in line as boarding is about to start and texting my wife:  "Where are you?".  She responds she is in line and I am looking around for her but cannot see her.  When I respond I am in line she says she cannot see me in the line.  Turns out she had walked to gate 109 (for Chicago) while I was at gate 110 (for Washington) which was the correct one.

 

Cheers,

Tony

 

Tony, thank goodness SKL didn't pull that stunt on me with my $600 purchase.  🤣  I wished ANA flies to EWR.  That would be a game changer compared to United.  Last year we flew from Osaka to Tokyo via ANA and what a day/night difference.  Plus what you said about lounge access.  On the return flight on this trip the main course was "beef".  There was more fat than beef and I'm not exaggerating!  Of course, this caused more oil that gravy at the bottom.  Yuck!  😬

 

I'm still jet lagged after coming home Tuesday evening, but I am getting better.  No more 3pm hit the wall and go to sleep, wake up at 8pm and eat dinner at 10pm.  But I still don't feel "right".  Going was no issue but whether it's an east-west or west-east thing or just the fact that you get excited GOING to Japan instead of leaving and thinking about what you will face when you get back to EWR.  😒 🤣

[kuro68000]

8 hours ago, RS18U said:

@Tony Galiani glad you made it home ok.  For some reason for us the 'jet lag' is worse when we travel west to east, never an issue going the other way.  We have only used Air Canada and ANA for our trans-Pacific flights, and have settled on ANA as out go-to airline.  I am so glad they are part of the Star Alliance so we can use both AC and ANA for the flights, and check in at a small regional airport (YCD) to get to Tokyo (HND) and get our bags.  Not so simple coming back thanks to Canada Customs.

 

That's very interesting because for me it's always going east to west that does the jet lag.

 

I think though it's more to do with the time of the flight and the psychology of it. I fly in the evening and arrive in the late afternoon, in winter so it starts getting dark soon after. I can't sleep on the plane but I rest with my eyes shut. I tend to be feeling good, with very little stress so I can sleep better.

 

Coming back I leave in the morning and arrive in the evening, in darkness, and being the UK it's always grey and dreary. The welcome you get here is... Not great, let's say, and Heathrow baggage reclaim is incredibly slow.

 

I think it's more about those things than anything else. When I used to arrive in Japan in the morning it was much worse.

[chadbag]

11 hours ago, RS18U said:

For some reason for us the 'jet lag' is worse when we travel west to east, never an issue going the other way. 

 

The US Army did a big study on this back in the 80s.  IIRC they came to the same conclusion.  West to East is a lot harder than East to West.  I feel the same way.  We have some jet lag when we go to Japan -- wake up at 3am and stuff -- but it's not really bad and you don't feel like a lead weight.  Coming back we're all dead for a day or three.  My very first time going to Japan I had no real problem getting there but coming back I was basically dead in bed for 24 hours.  So tired and brain dead.

 

[Tony Galiani]

Still going through my pictures from the trip:  our ride to Ritsurin Garden and a railway schedule book!  It was more than an inch thick and very hefty.  I didn't think these were published anymore but I saw this at two different bookstores.

Ciao,

Tony

[Kingmeow]

So that was what was in that blue bag in Tonkatsu Wako (very delicious by the way)!  🤣

[Tony Galiani]

Actually, the Maruzen bag held a layout planning book and, for Mira, a fabric book.  I passed on the schedule book but was so impressed by it that I had to take a picture.  Plus it might have put us over our baggage weight limit it was so hefty!

 

And that meal at Tonkatsu Wako was not only tasty but a really good value - worked out to something like $10-$12 per person - such a deal!  Really liking the current exchange rate.

 

Tony

[ED75-775]

Train schedules aren’t really that heavy. I should know, I have two myself!

 

 

I picked these up on my first trip in 2019. The one on the right is the fun one - the JR Freight timetable, complete with freight terminal track plans, container and rolling stock recognition guides, and even a photo section and pull-out calendar featuring freight trains across Japan! That’s not something you get everyday - and available to public consumption as well.

 

And yes, the ordinary JR schedules is phone book-sized, but it doesn’t weigh any more than an average phone book. Not that I can speak for the weight of an ‘average’ American phone book, mind…

 

Alastair

[Madsing]

13 minutes ago, ED75-775 said:

JR Freight timetable

I didn’t know this timetable was available. How to get one? Is it also available online?

Marc

[ED75-775]

@Madsing AFAIK they're not available publicly online, but you can buy them at any decent bookshop in Japan. I got mine at Kinokuniya Books in Shinjuku. Heh, I actually meant to buy one on one of my previous trips but never did. Given the amount of stuff I brought back or posted back, perhaps that was for the better!

 

Alastair

[Madsing]

@ED75-775 Thank you! I will look for it during my next trip in December. I see that the 2024 edition is available.

Marc

 

[Tony Galiani]

10 hours ago, ED75-775 said:

Train schedules aren’t really that heavy. I should know, I have two myself!

 

And yes, the ordinary JR schedules is phone book-sized, but it doesn’t weigh any more than an average phone book. Not that I can speak for the weight of an ‘average’ American phone book, mind…

 

Alastair

 

@ED75-775 - well, I am impressed!  I just recall picking the book and having an "I can't believe how heavy this is" moment and knowing I could not manage it.  And, while I have not seen a phone book for some time, I think you are right on the weight in that regard.

Though all the books I bought were pretty hefty - there does not seem to be any skimping on the paper weight and quality when it comes to Japanese books.

 

@Madsing - I shopped at Maruzen Books - two locations, one just northeast of Tokyo Station and one in Kyobashi just two blocks east of the station and both had that book.

 

Cheers,

Tony

[Kingmeow]

1 hour ago, Tony Galiani said:

Though all the books I bought were pretty hefty - there does not seem to be any skimping on the paper weight and quality when it comes to Japanese books.

 

No kidding Tony!  I wanted to pick up a Kato and Tomix catalog because they seem to be more than catalogs as they have how-to sections and tidbits of useful information.  I do have to rely on Google Translate 100% but there's no other alternatives.  The thickness of the pages and the quality of the photography are amazing.  These things are unavailable in the US and cost a fortune to mail order from Japan due to their weight.  The both of them combined is just a hair under 4 lbs.!  😲  When I gave them to my wife to pack in the luggage to come home she gave me this look, like You're Carry This Bag Mr.!  🤣

[Tony Galiani]

 Some more photos - this time an MOW train at Takamatsu.  Spotted it as we arrived - it was parked on a siding just outside the station.  After our ride to Naoshima, I walked down there to get some pictures.  I saw another one during our trip to Oboke but it had a crane on it.  I also took a picture of a unit that had the same platform riser on it but that machine was painted yellow with a white stripe.  All these looked very well kept.

 

Ciao,

Tony

[Tony Galiani]

Some more random trip notes.

 

Just over the Seto-Ohashi bridge is a large JR Freight yard, one of the largest I have seen.  I picked up two freight annuals at Book Off and, for Shikoku, it shows that the only freight lines are on the north shore of the island.  It looks like JRF uses trucks to deliver containers elsewhere on Shikoku - I saw one with two containers in Takamatsu and one with three containers near Oboke.  I need to spend some time with a translation program to set what other info I can glean from those annuals.  I had a Tomix model of a container truck which I have lost track of - hope I can find another one.

 

Book Off had a small selection of train books so I picked up three - two freight annuals and one with that outlines scenic railways around Japan with a little background info.  Prices were really good - half off and more in one case.  Definitely worth checking out.

 

And, on the flights to/from Japan I always try to watch at least one Japanese movie.  To Japan, I watched The Dancing Okami and on the return flight, 90 Years Old - So What.  Nothing earthshaking here, but relatively light enjoyable fare.  And interesting nonetheless.

 

Ciao,

Tony

 

 

[maihama eki]

I bought one of the JR timetable books earlier this year from amazon.jp. I bought it partially because it featured the E8 on the cover.

 

It's almost exactly 3 cm thick and weighs a little over 1 kg. It would be a heavy thing to pack along while traveling. Shipping from Japan to the U.S. wasn't cheap either.