New Year 2024/2025 trip

[kuro68000]

I'm headed to Tokyo and beyond again over the new year, from December 7th to January 12th. Kind of wish I had done it a week later now, there are some good sales in Japan, but on the plus side I can mostly escape xmas in the UK.

 

Obviously my Hard Off addiction is going to dominate, but I have some other goals. I want to visit Nagoya again, maybe for an extra day this time to do a few more shops. I must get up to Niigata too.

 

Every year I say I'll rent a car, and every year I don't. So this time, for real... Unless I don't. I have a few ideas for trips I want to make. I want to visit Yamanashi again, and there is a Hard Off in Iida. Also some around Nagano... So I could in theory drive east to west over to Nagoya, or the other way. As much as I'd love to visit Iida, it's very out of the way and their Hard Off looks quite small. Sometimes the small, out of the way ones are the best though. It'd like one of those RPG computer games, where the harder it is to get to the shop the better the stuff in it.

 

So maybe I could go Nagano and then Toyama and Kanazawa. Or maybe Nagano and then Niigata. Anyone tried it by car or by train? Any suggestions?

 

 

Looking at the map and the locations I want to visit, I could do two loops. One west, Yamanashi, Matsumoto, Toyama, Fukui, Nagano, Hamamatsu, Shizuoka. Hard to say how long it would take, it's probably about 1000km, maybe 18-20 hours of driving plus all the stops. Hard to say by train, some sections are about the same, others much slower.

 

Then the second loop up to Nagano, Niigata, Koriyama, Ibaraki. I'd like to go to Doai Station, but it's a bit awkward unless maybe I include Nagano in the other loop.

 

Maybe I should just cancel a week or two of my Tokyo hotel and spend it travelling, same day booking with Booking.com.

 

 

I had grand plans last time though, but health issues got in the way a bit. I think I'm getting a little better with them now though.

 

I also need to improve my shopping skills. I want to bring a backpack to carry larger stuff, as before the prospect of heavy stuff in carrier bags put me off. I have a nice Samsonite one I take with me, and it can go fairly flat so it's not going to cause issues on the train etc. The next problem is postage... Well, I could pay for an extra suitcase, but that's a lot to haul around. It's a lot to keep in my hotel room too, even two is more than the room is really designed for. It might be worth it, as the alternative is buying boxes and packing materials, and then lugging it to the Post Office, and quite likely getting hit with import duty.

 

Lastly I need to eat more. Aside from there being so much great food, my Hard Off addiction gets in the way. Unless I'm waiting for a bus or train I don't want to stop to eat, and it's rare to be waiting both somewhere with food and long enough to eat it properly.

 

I think the priority will be going to new places this time. There are some Hard Offs I definitely want to visit again, but I really must take advantage of the weak yen and see some new areas too.

[Kingmeow]

7 hours ago, mojo said:

Kind of wish I had done it a week later now, there are some good sales in Japan,...

 

Are good sales typically at the end of the year in Japan?

[kuro68000]

10 minutes ago, Kingmeow said:

 

Are good sales typically at the end of the year in Japan?

 

They typically have some in the run-up to new year, yeah. Hard Off in particular has some new year discounts too. It's kind of weird, they usually start around the 5th of January. You would think they would want to get people in on the first few days of the year when it's usually quiet. They are usually pretty significant too, like 20% off everything.

 

They also have the mystery bags on the 1st of January. Hard Off don't really do them, but a lot of the model shops do. They aren't cheap either, 5000 yen, 10,000 yen, sometimes even more. It's quite funny really, gambling is illegal in Japan but man do the Japanese love to gamble. The law is overly specific about what constitutes gambling, so there are lots of not-gambling things to gamble on. From what I've seen on YouTube the bags are often pretty good value, but I've never bought one.

 

I ordered some cash at the weekend, looks like I timed it perfectly too!

 

[Tony Galiani]

7 hours ago, mojo said:

Lastly I need to eat more

I second that!

Hope you have a great trip and provide trip reports and photos.

I don't think I will try driving in Japan though I would like to.  I have driven on the "wrong" side of the road in the UK and the Caribbean but think I would not be comfortable with road signs and general traffic rules - or rather my ignorance around those items.

NHK has some Japan driving info in a series called Hit The Road - haven't looked at that myself yet but it might be worth checking it out.

Cheers,

Tony

[kuro68000]

12 hours ago, Tony Galiani said:

I second that!

Hope you have a great trip and provide trip reports and photos.

I don't think I will try driving in Japan though I would like to.  I have driven on the "wrong" side of the road in the UK and the Caribbean but think I would not be comfortable with road signs and general traffic rules - or rather my ignorance around those items.

NHK has some Japan driving info in a series called Hit The Road - haven't looked at that myself yet but it might be worth checking it out.

Cheers,

Tony

 

Thanks Tony, I will do my best!

 

I've driven in Japan before, long ago now but it was very easy. Obviously the UK being RHD helps, but generally speaking the speed limits are low and most other drivers seem to be quite relaxed outside of the cities. Then again my friend often gives me a lift and he drives like a maniac... Apparently there is zero enforcement of speed in Tokyo! It's not possible to go really fast in the little Kei boxes I would rent though. What is it, 600cc max? Turbo charged but still...

 

Or maybe a Nissan Note ePower, as I worked out that the fuel savings might be worth it. I'd like to rent an Ariya EV, but aside from the cost I'm not sure what the deal is with public chargers. Do you need cards to use them etc? And most hotels don't seem to have EV charging. It's not like Europe where I wouldn't hesitate.

 

Traffic signs in Japan aren't too bad. There are still some with Japanese only in more rural areas, but most have English now. Really the only two with Kanji you need to understand are

 

Slow down (徐行 jyoko)

 

 

Stop (止まる tomaru)

 

All the others are I think self explanatory from the pictures on them, and generally speaking quite uncommon. Get an ETC thingy in the rental car to avoid any issues with that too.

 

As for rules the main one for you would be that you must come to a complete stop and look both ways at level crossings. In the UK we drive straight through unless the barriers are down.

 

There is another big one for Brits which is that you can turn left on a red light, and people do it all the time, even threading between pedestrians crossing over. We don't have that in the UK but I understand that you can do it in the US (but right turn of course). I found it really hard to get used to.

 

I see they have episode of Hit The Road on YouTube so I will take a look. Thanks!

[Tony Galiani]

@mojo - you may know this already but just in case - you can also find Hit The Road on the NHK World web site.

 

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/shows/

 

Tony

[Gunzel]

I've never driven in Japan, but I can see why visiting HARD OFFs it's attractive, especially in more out of the way locations where public transport is also less frequent. I've been watching a streamer the last six months or so who travels around Japan by car and one of the things he does is visit HARD OFFs. Watching him driving around Hokkaido and Tohoku last winter I'd be a little worried at some of the areas you are talking about in winter with all the snow they get that a rental car from somewhere like Tokyo may not be setup as needed for the snow and ice, but where I come from in Australia we don't have conditions like that so it's also probably a lack of familiarity on my part.

 

A  good chunk of your western loop is on the Shinkansen now, just Tokyo - Yamanashi - Matsumoto - Nagano and Tsugaru - Nagoya on the narrow gauge. If you leave out Yamanashi out then you could make Matsumoto just a side trip from Nagano, and then if you went anti-clockwise you could reverse course at Takasaki and do the eastern one. You're always going to have to backtrack, but if you can make a pass work then the trick is to try and keep the backtracking on the Shinkansen where trains are pretty often and nice and fast. If you're not using pass then this may make less sense. For example the Ban'etsu West line is pretty spectacular but for a transit from Niigata to Koriyama it's going to be a lot faster to jump back on the Shinkansen and change at Omiya, though it's about four times the price at headline rates.

 

You could make Iida and Yamanashi a third loop, and it would probably be better to put Matsumoto in that one. Or join them into the western loop and save Hamamatsu and Shizuoka for a trip out from Tokyo (even not on a pass so you have a bigger selection of trains, the Nozomi Mizuho upgrade tickets don't look like a real good deal to me).

 

Anyway I feel bad talking about all these Shinkansen options as travelling on local trains on rural lines is what I enjoy most, so if you think you can really get into the rhythm of slow trains then get yourself a Seishun 18 ticket (it should be available most of the time you are there) and travel only on local trains.

 

I'd also be hesitant using same day booking through the new year period. You could consider a middle ground of mapping out a trip with a few days in each location, booking the hotels (and 30 days out perhaps the transits) and then filling in the days as needed on the ground. 

 

Doai is definitely worth a visit, most people seem to come by car, but we arranged our travel to arrive at the ground level station and depart via the tunnel, saves walking up all those stairs. The JapanTransit app is good for working this sort of stuff out as you can easily look up all the departures for a station each day.

 

I've always wanted to try a Nissan Note ePower, the concept really appeals to me. You can buy a grey market import in Australia, but the price put me off a bit. 

 

 

[kuro68000]

48 minutes ago, Gunzel said:

I've never driven in Japan, but I can see why visiting HARD OFFs it's attractive, especially in more out of the way locations where public transport is also less frequent. I've been watching a streamer the last six months or so who travels around Japan by car and one of the things he does is visit HARD OFFs. Watching him driving around Hokkaido and Tohoku last winter I'd be a little worried at some of the areas you are talking about in winter with all the snow they get that a rental car from somewhere like Tokyo may not be setup as needed for the snow and ice, but where I come from in Australia we don't have conditions like that so it's also probably a lack of familiarity on my part.

 

That's a really good point. I will have to check the weather closer to the time, it's usually not snowing in the areas I want to travel to, but I haven't checked the mountain passes.

 

 

48 minutes ago, Gunzel said:

A  good chunk of your western loop is on the Shinkansen now, just Tokyo - Yamanashi - Matsumoto - Nagano and Tsugaru - Nagoya on the narrow gauge. If you leave out Yamanashi out then you could make Matsumoto just a side trip from Nagano, and then if you went anti-clockwise you could reverse course at Takasaki and do the eastern one. You're always going to have to backtrack, but if you can make a pass work then the trick is to try and keep the backtracking on the Shinkansen where trains are pretty often and nice and fast. If you're not using pass then this may make less sense. For example the Ban'etsu West line is pretty spectacular but for a transit from Niigata to Koriyama it's going to be a lot faster to jump back on the Shinkansen and change at Omiya, though it's about four times the price at headline rates.

 

That's a good idea. It raises the question about if the JR Pass is worth it, but I'd have to check. The idea of being able to jump on the Shinkansen repeatedly is attractive, but of course it's not quite like that and you still need to book tickets. I'd use them more if booking tickets wasn't much a mind bogglingly complicated and confusing process. Last time I had to go to the ticket counter, and then once inside the station I had to ask at the window which platform I wanted.

 

 

48 minutes ago, Gunzel said:

Anyway I feel bad talking about all these Shinkansen options as travelling on local trains on rural lines is what I enjoy most, so if you think you can really get into the rhythm of slow trains then get yourself a Seishun 18 ticket (it should be available most of the time you are there) and travel only on local trains.

 

On the face of it that seems like a very good deal. A bit frustrating that you can't use the automatic gates though.

 

 

48 minutes ago, Gunzel said:

I'd also be hesitant using same day booking through the new year period. You could consider a middle ground of mapping out a trip with a few days in each location, booking the hotels (and 30 days out perhaps the transits) and then filling in the days as needed on the ground. 

 

You could be right. I've never had an issue in cities, but more rural areas might be a problem.

 

 

48 minutes ago, Gunzel said:

Doai is definitely worth a visit, most people seem to come by car, but we arranged our travel to arrive at the ground level station and depart via the tunnel, saves walking up all those stairs. The JapanTransit app is good for working this sort of stuff out as you can easily look up all the departures for a station each day.

 

I've always wanted to try a Nissan Note ePower, the concept really appeals to me. You can buy a grey market import in Australia, but the price put me off a bit. 

 

That was my plan. Get the bus or a taxi to the station, go down the stairs, and then get the train. I bought a Nissan Leaf some years ago and I'm completely sold on EVs now. Actually I'd be happy to rent one of the bigger battery Leafs. For some reason though Nissan Rental charges a lot more for EVs. I expect the little Kei cars will be frustratingly slow on uphill mountain roads.

 

I just had an email from HR, apparently I've got a lot more holiday than I though I did and they want me to use it up. Technically I have 28 days that are supposed to run up to September. I have no idea how I managed to do that, I though I was in the red until the end of the year. I know, what a terrible problem to have, but I really don't know what to do now other than take August off, and even that wouldn't be enough. I suggested I could add another two weeks to my year end trip into January.

 

Oops.

[Kingmeow]

TWENTY-EIGHT holidays????!!!!  😲😲😲  My goodness, you must not be in the US.  You will need at least 15, if not 20, years of service in your typical US company to get that many.  And, unfortunately, many don't last that long due to layoffs, budget cuts, the job sucks, etc.  🙂

[Gunzel]

Plenty of unreserved seating on most Shinkansen's, I think it's only the Hayabusa I think that is always reserved, and Nozomi and Mizuho during busy holiday times (like the week around new year) that require it, though I would book anything I could during that time period anyway. The self-serve reservations using ticket machines introduced since COVID are reasonable (just wish you didn't have to scan your pass and re-enter the last four digits of your passport number for every trip), and next trip we will probably buy our Japan Rail Pass online so we can use the online reservations, which I've heard are serviceable, beats spending an hour at the Midori-no-madaguchi anyway, and the machine will always issue your reservations in English.

 

I've never really had an issue using the manned ticket gate anywhere, except maybe in Tokyo, and now the Japan Rail Pass is magnetic it should be less of  an issue. Plus once you get a bit further out it is only big stations that have automatic gates anyway.

 

For Doai if you come from the Echigo-Yuzawa side you can do it by train in both directions, I think we arrived on the 1242 and after a look around up top and a trip down the stairs departed at 1341, seems you could catch that train to Muikamachi and go to the HARD OFF there, looks like it is about a mile from the station.

 

August is a bit hot I reckon, tell them you'll go for all of October, the mountain areas are beautiful that time of year and then you can go to Kyushu and Shikoku over new year 🙂

[kuro68000]

2 hours ago, Kingmeow said:

TWENTY-EIGHT holidays????!!!!  😲😲😲  My goodness, you must not be in the US.  You will need at least 15, if not 20, years of service in your typical US company to get that many.  And, unfortunately, many don't last that long due to layoffs, budget cuts, the job sucks, etc.  🙂

 

I know, one of the major downsides to moving to Japan, ridiculously low holiday entitlement. I've only been here for about 3 years in September, so it's basically the legal minimum I think. Some European countries get more.

 

Apparently I somehow rolled over 24.5 days in 2022/23 and it's been building up since then too. I think I might ask if I can take an extra week into January, and then maybe do a few 4 day weeks. As it stands I will have 53 days in September, although of course some of those are due to accrue during the coming year.

 

 

1 hour ago, Gunzel said:

Plenty of unreserved seating on most Shinkansen's, I think it's only the Hayabusa I think that is always reserved, and Nozomi and Mizuho during busy holiday times (like the week around new year) that require it, though I would book anything I could during that time period anyway. The self-serve reservations using ticket machines introduced since COVID are reasonable (just wish you didn't have to scan your pass and re-enter the last four digits of your passport number for every trip), and next trip we will probably buy our Japan Rail Pass online so we can use the online reservations, which I've heard are serviceable, beats spending an hour at the Midori-no-madaguchi anyway, and the machine will always issue your reservations in English.

 

I did have to stand once coming back from Utusnomiya, that wasn't fun, but I also missed the first one due to a queue at the machine and had to wait. It would be so much better if you could just use the JR Pass by itself and didn't need a ticket, but I suppose they have to ensure the train is not too crowded.

 

I did try to book the ticket online, but my bank kept refusing the payment. The website didn't support the Mastercard secure payment thing. I will email my bank about it but I have a feeling it's basically impossible to use any of my cards.

 

 

1 hour ago, Gunzel said:

For Doai if you come from the Echigo-Yuzawa side you can do it by train in both directions, I think we arrived on the 1242 and after a look around up top and a trip down the stairs departed at 1341, seems you could catch that train to Muikamachi and go to the HARD OFF there, looks like it is about a mile from the station.

 

That's certainly a possibility, but I think I need to arrive by bus so I can do down the stairs. There is no way I'd make it up them with my knees. There doesn't seem to be a bus from the north side, and the Shinkansen doesn't stop anywhere near on the south, so I think I'd have to take the Joetsu Line.

 

Maybe I should make a trip of it. Book one of the mountain top onsen or something.

 

 

1 hour ago, Gunzel said:

August is a bit hot I reckon, tell them you'll go for all of October, the mountain areas are beautiful that time of year and then you can go to Kyushu and Shikoku over new year 🙂

 

Yeah no way I'd go in August again, September or October are okay.

 

The flights aren't cheap... Unless you go via China, which is less than half the price of flying direct with ANA or JAL. The total time is about the same because Chinese airlines can still fly over the northern route.

Edited July 19 by mojo

[Gunzel]

7 hours ago, mojo said:

That's certainly a possibility, but I think I need to arrive by bus so I can do down the stairs. There is no way I'd make it up them with my knees. There doesn't seem to be a bus from the north side, and the Shinkansen doesn't stop anywhere near on the south, so I think I'd have to take the Joetsu Line.

That’s what I was trying to (poorly) explain, trains coming from Echigo-Yuzawa stop at a surface level platform. 
 

 

And then you head down the stairs for the platform for trains to Echigo-Yuzawa. 
 

[kuro68000]

Ah yes, I see now! I looked on the satellite view and you can see the platform. Thanks, that's really helpful.

[tridentalx]

That looks like a hardcore trip. Keep us posted on how you get on. I have flights booked for June but no itinerary yet.

 

What sort of stuff are you hoping to buy in the hard off shops? (I'd never heard of them before this post)

[Kamome]

On 7/19/2024 at 5:41 AM, mojo said:

It's quite funny really, gambling is illegal in Japan but man do the Japanese love to gamble. The law is overly specific about what constitutes gambling, so there are lots of not-gambling things to gamble on. From what I've seen on YouTube the bags are often pretty good value, but I've never bought one.

Yes, there's a very weird mentality to what constitutes gambling. Although you are allowed to bet on horse racing, Keirin (short track cycle racing) amongst a few other sports. Then there's the Lottery, Pachinko and they also don't seem to have any issue with small kids in game centres buying metal tokens with real money to put into games to win more tokens. Tokens can then be used against prizes, but it's not gambling!! With Pachinko, prizes rather than money is awarded for winners, prizes which can then be exchanged for cash at a shop, usually next to the pachinko parlour. Legal Loopholes!

 

 

As for retail sales, generally the bigger ones are in June and December when most workers get their bonuses. The biggest are always on January 1st as in addition to bonuses, children receive otoshidama (New Year Money) from parents and grandparents.

 

For some Industries, rather than an actual bonus, I've heard salaries can be divided into 16, each month they are paid 1/16th of their annual salary and then in June and December, they get 3/16ths (1 normal payment plus 1 half of the missing 4/16ths) Think this is just common practise that you get a bonus at these times of year, whether a true bonus or not.

 

The lucky bags are probably pretty hit and miss, although I believe they have to contain a retail value of the same or above the asking price, to ensure its not illegal.  Hobby lucky bags are also avaialble at places like Hobbyzone, although their stock is varied you may get some puzzles, collectibles or trading cards. Hobbyland Pochi do them too and there is usually a queue for these before store opening. Not seen them in places like Poppondetta or Tam Tam though, so Hobbyland Pochi is probably one of the few train-related stores that does them.

[kuro68000]

13 hours ago, tridentalx said:

That looks like a hardcore trip. Keep us posted on how you get on. I have flights booked for June but no itinerary yet.

 

What sort of stuff are you hoping to buy in the hard off shops? (I'd never heard of them before this post)

 

Sounds like fun, June is an interesting time to go, lots of cultural stuff and very warm. What sort of thing are you interested in doing?

 

It is pretty hardcore... I need to be careful not to overdo it. I just like browsing Hard Off, although I'm on the lookout for a few bits. Mostly retro computing and video game stuff, things you can't get in Europe. Also stuff I can repair. I found a Neo Geo that was in need of repair last time, sold for a bargain price, and I was able to fix it. I need a joystick for it. I also have a think of obsolete media formats and drives. I'd like to get a plotter printer too, they were only really popular in Japan. They look a lot like dot matrix printers, but use a pen like a plotter.

 

I'm setting up a Laserdisc archival system here. I have a player on the way, and the final bits for a Domesday Duplicator on the way. Basically you connect it to the laser head output directly, and that signal gives you better picture quality than the composite output of the player. I have a few discs but will grab some more, rare discs, Japanese stuff.

 

You can just order it all on Buyee and have it shipped, but this way I get to travel around a lot and visit places I normally wouldn't go. I'm not too big on touristy stuff when going solo (long story, I'll get my wife to tag along eventually), and I see a lot of the "real" Japan this way.

 

 

1 hour ago, Kamome said:

As for retail sales, generally the bigger ones are in June and December when most workers get their bonuses. The biggest are always on January 1st as in addition to bonuses, children receive otoshidama (New Year Money) from parents and grandparents.

 

Indeed, you see queues in the evening of December 31st in some places. I've long wondered how big those sales really are, if there are mega bargains to be bad, but never managed to get up early enough to really find out. I've seen a few places in Akihabara had some decent offers some years ago, but these days I rarely go there.

 

 

1 hour ago, Kamome said:

The lucky bags are probably pretty hit and miss, although I believe they have to contain a retail value of the same or above the asking price, to ensure its not illegal.  Hobby lucky bags are also avaialble at places like Hobbyzone, although their stock is varied you may get some puzzles, collectibles or trading cards. Hobbyland Pochi do them too and there is usually a queue for these before store opening. Not seen them in places like Poppondetta or Tam Tam though, so Hobbyland Pochi is probably one of the few train-related stores that does them.

 

Yeah, they're not my thing really, I'd rather just dig through the junk section at Hard Off.

 

The feeling when you find some incredible bargain or rare item, it's hard to replicate. It's the joy of repairing stuff too. I bought a Sharp calculator from the junk section once, with a burnt LCD, fixed it up and now I use it every day. It's early 80s vintage and of course there are better calculators available now, but as well as the amazing build quality (metal case), this one is mine. I found it, I fixed it, it reminds me of that day and the feeling I had when I saw it for the first time. And now it's preserved, a bit of cultural heritage that would otherwise have ended up in landfill, gone forever.

[kuro68000]

I added an extra week to my trip. Still got too much holiday.

[Kingmeow]

4 hours ago, mojo said:

I added an extra week to my trip. Still got too much holiday.

 

First world problem!  (I say that in a jokingly way.  😁)

[kuro68000]

 

[kuro68000]

I see the Yen is getting stronger again. I don't understand it, the Nikkei is apparently in freefall so shouldn't that weaken the currency?

 

Wish I had ordered more cash when it was over 200¥/£ now.

[tridentalx]

On 7/22/2024 at 10:29 AM, mojo said:

Sounds like fun, June is an interesting time to go, lots of cultural stuff and very warm. What sort of thing are you interested in doing?

Thanks for the explanation of Hard Off. I'll try and find a couple of those and have a browse.

 

I've been to Japan a few times so will be aiming to travel on some secondary routes such as the Tatyama Kurobe Alpine route, Kurobe Gorge Railway and, if I can squeeze it in, a whizz over to Shikoku for a couple of routes over there. But the plan is yet to be firmed up; I wanted to secure the flights first. Also will try and fit in some model train shops, a museum or two and some tourist stuff.

 

[kuro68000]

4 hours ago, tridentalx said:

Thanks for the explanation of Hard Off. I'll try and find a couple of those and have a browse.

 

I've been to Japan a few times so will be aiming to travel on some secondary routes such as the Tatyama Kurobe Alpine route, Kurobe Gorge Railway and, if I can squeeze it in, a whizz over to Shikoku for a couple of routes over there. But the plan is yet to be firmed up; I wanted to secure the flights first. Also will try and fit in some model train shops, a museum or two and some tourist stuff.

 

I would like to do the Kurobe Gorge Railway too, but I'm not sure what it will be like in the winter. It may also be closed if the weather isn't ideal.

 

I'm still trying to decide if I want to rent a car or not. I don't want to pack everything up and check out of my hotel to cart it around with me, just travel light with a backpack. So that means other hotels are all extra on top of that. Logistically if I don't have a car and find some treasure, I'll have to pack it and take it to the post office there and then. It's a decent size backback, and Hard Off sometimes has packing materials they will give/sell you, but it's less than ideal.

 

With a car it will reduce the number of nights spent away from my primary hotel, and make buying easier. Actually, I suppose if I was less lazy I could pack my stuff up into suitcases and stick them in the car as well, and check out. Hmm. The owner is my friend though, I don't want to mess him about.

 

So is fewer nights and money saved not using public transport going to be less than rental + parking? Impossible to say really. But maybe worth it for the convenience. I should probably just do it and cry later when the bill comes.

[Tony Galiani]

Challenging decision on the car.  It can be really convenient and I am thinking that in Japan it is probably safe to leave things in a parked car?

How is the cost factor?  There is always some transportation costs one way or another but if the car is not too costly, the convenience factor might be worth it.

The potential downside is that you might buy more than you intended since it would be so easy to put stuff in the car!

Cheers,

Tony

[MeTheSwede]

On 8/5/2024 at 10:33 AM, mojo said:

I see the Yen is getting stronger again. I don't understand it, the Nikkei is apparently in freefall so shouldn't that weaken the currency?

 

It's complicated. If the yen gets stronger, that means the export industry and the tourism sector will make less profit resulting in falling stock prices to be expected in those sectors.

 

 

[Gunzel]

I think the Kurobe Gorge Railway shuts down for winter. We went mid November and it was fairly chilly. You could use takkyubin to send your stuff back from your current hotel to your base. Costs as well of course.