Paladin in the Land of the Rising Sun

So, I pulled the trigger on plane tickets for my vacation this year...I'm going to JAPAN!

I'm still very much in the planning stages, but I've got two weeks there and a rough itinerary. I'll be there August 31-September 15.

Any knowledgeable people here have wisdom to share (destinations, must-sees, gotchas, restaurants, etc.)?

Alas, I've only ever passed thru Narita a couple times.

@Anna

I'm a big fan of the film Lost in Translation, so I think I'm going to try to stay in the Park Hotel (where most of that movie takes place/was filmed).

My tentative plan is something like this:

F Aug 31 Depart LAX
S Sep 01 Arrive Narita/Tokyo
S Sep 02 Tokyo
M Sep 03 Tokyo
T Sep 04 Tokyo (Disneyland or Sea Disney)
W Sep 05 Nagano/Jigokudani (Snow Monkeys)
T Sep 06 Kyoto
F Sep 07 Kyoto
S Sep 08 Osaka/Daytrip to Nara
S Sep 09 Osaka/Daytrip to Kobe, Himeji Castle
M Sep 10 Osaka/Osaka to Hiroshima (Universal Studios?)
T Sep 11 Hiroshima/Daytrip to Miyajima
W Sep 12 Hiroshima (Peace Park and Museum)
T Sep 13 Hakone (Onsen?)
F Sep 14 Kamakura (Great Buddha) -> Tokyo (Sumo!)
S Sep 15 Narita/Return

don't drink the water! Wait....wrong place, that's Michigan. I hear they have dehydrated water in Japan!

All I know is "Kit Kats"

Oh, and avoid taro and "red bean" flavors

You are going to have a blast. Japan is awesome.

This might not be doable, but if at all possible, try to get a local buddy/friend/guide to show you around. Japanese will take good care of tourists, often patronizingly so, but they make a huge difference between people who belong there and those who don't. The latter don't get to see a lot of things.

The Hakone hot spring is awesome

If you're able to find a CoCo Ichibanya for curry, go try it. Especially if you like hot food. It's one of the few places besides ramen with what Westerners would consider a decent sized portion.

Kamakura is a nice relaxing place. Definitely try the sweet potato ice cream. It's bright purple, so you can't miss it.

Have fun ❤️

Be careful about

while you're over in Japan @Paladin !

I'll give you a list of things to bring back.

Used panties from vending machines.

Soaplands.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/matado...-freaky-themed-bath-houses-and-bars-nsfw/amp/

I recommend you get one of those Lonely Planet guide books. I think you will really love this trip. I have not been myself but a friend has a Japanese wife and always raves about it when they travel out to see her parents.

Omakase

Ooooh, that takes courage. I may like sushi too much to leave it up to the chef.

FYI you are going at the absolute worst time of the year, climate wise. It's going to be 85 to 95 with an unbelievable level of humidity, and no, your hotel won't lower the thermostat on the AC, if it has an AC.

Apart from that, you'll have an amazing time. I love Japan. Just not the nasty humid late summer weather.

Yeah, I was kinda worried about that. I thought I was a bit past the peak of the nastiness, hopefully not right on it. Sounds like summer in Miami.

I was there at exactly the same time of year in 2004. Don't get me wrong, I had a blast, but man, the humidity really bugged me. Of course, I am from "dry hot" Phoenix, so humidity ALWAYS bugs me.

Definitely go beyond sushi. By now, you can get really good, excellent sushi all over Europe and North America. But most Japanese cuisine is still unknown or only done badly abroad. And it is the absolute best fucking food in the world. And healthy, too! I have no idea how Japanese people ever get used to food in other countries. I love rich fat food, but when I've eaten Japanese, I hardly recognize other stuff as edible for a day or two.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that.

I had no concept of humidity before the Navy. I spent five unseasonably warm weeks in Mississippi for tech school where it actually got warmer after rain, followed by spending the whole summer in Yokosuka that was so humid that I looked forward to being at sea from Jun to mid-August the following year.

I'm kind of jealous...

The countdown has begun.

24 hours from now I'll be in LAX waiting for my flight out.

In the Uber, on my way to LAX.

Fretting, as always, that I forgot something.

But all the things on my checklist are good.

I always tell myself: "Got your passport and a credit card? Then any missing thing can be replaced."

Noise-cancelling headphones weren't on the checklist.

Through security; the hardest part of the flight out is past. (Wasn't bad, actually.)

Sitting in a bar drinking a Bloody Mary. Plane will board in a little over an hour.

However...

$60 Sony set probably won't put my Bose wireless ones to shame, but they'll be good enough to suppress the background buzz of the airplane for a 12 hour flight.

I really enjoyed Japan even though I only spent a weekend in Tokyo.

Into the air! Nothing but Pacific Ocean (and a steadily receding California coastline) below.



Flying American Airlines, Premium Economy. The seats are a couple of inches wider, there's more space between seats, and there's a recliner. Pretty comfy.

12 hours from now, I'll be in Japan!

There's nothing like riding on an airplane to make you really appreciate how much weight you've lost, imo.

Oh, yeah. The weight loss makes a big difference. I can actually be comfortable on a flight.