Thread 2835838

Japan is heavily over-hyped, and, what's more, cannot compete scenically with the best of Appalachia.

I've been planning a Japan trip for 8 years , ofc as soon as I have the money to visit it got ruined by normies. I feel bad for people who didn't get to travel pre-scamdemic.

>>2835838 (OP)
Congrats OP! cute cat pic btw
I'm going next fall and will hopefully catch the leaves changing colors. Be sure to get out of the big cities and see new things. Have fun!

>>2835839
no one cares about your hillbilly shithole

>>2835841
I'm going off-season so hopefully it's not that bad. when do you plan on going?
>>2835842
Thanks!!

>>2835848
What season? That makes a big difference

>>2835838 (OP)
Happy for you! Yes it's true that people have been over-hyping the place, but personally still find it a great place to visit. Do feel bad for those trying to visit Kyoto though, the crowds definitely ruin it a bit.

>>2835839
No trains in Appalachia, apart from one that cuts across Pennsylvania and western Maryland. I liked the scenery on that one, even in wintertime.
>>2835838 (OP)
I guess some people can only put aside $5/day for travel. Still better than not having a travel fund at all.

>>2835838 (OP)
>>2835841
Damn, y'all must be poor af.
You really can't set aside, what, 3 or 4K max for a week or 2 trip?

>>2835853
winter - mid Jan-Feb

>>2835865
Check out nagano. the jp generals are good too. Think we had a thread on japan in winter not too long ago

>>2835860
>No trains in Appalachia
that's simply not true at all
cass scenic railroad
a bunch of little short trains in PA, oil city railroad, potomac eagle through the upper potomac valley of wv

>>2835893
Born and raised white american here and you are wrong. America is lacking in trains just look at China and Europe.

>>2835838 (OP)
Omg I’d love to go to Japan. I’ve been thinking about going to Japan for my honeymoon if I ever get a girl. I’d love to go so much.

>>2835903
well, 120 years ago they had passenger train service basically everywhere
and then people got their own cars
and decided they would rather travel when they wanted to and to where they wanted to

>>2835861
is that supposed to fool people into thinking you're a Southerner?

>>2835848
I'm going the end of January/Beginning of February.

>>2835861
No, I'm a cook at a restaurant in a very high cost of living area.

>>2835838 (OP)
Congratulations anon. But 10 years seems like much. I would gladly buy you a drink at a bar in celebration.

>>2835838 (OP)
Based
>10years
lol, poorfag

>>2835845
japan is S tier traveling. it deserves multiple threads

>>2835886
I definitely will! thanks for the recommendation
>>2835905
dude go, dont wait for the girl

>>2835838 (OP)
bloody hell man you should be saving for that deposit for your house, could've gone to Japan earlier by going with a group to share the cost

>>2836017
This is an extremely low effort thread, and no 10 threads is more then enough at one time

>>2836076
The kitten pic is cute. So it can stay

>>2836017
Japan is literally Baby's First Trip. It's for people who are afraid to visit anywhere else in Asia.

>>2835838 (OP)
I flew there 5 times this year only just to chase my favourite underground idol

>>2835838 (OP)
First-time visitors to Japan may be surprised by how cold Japanese people seem.
I recommend starting with Korea, where people are friendly and kind to strangers.

>>2835838 (OP)
I just got back from Japan yesterday. It's a very cool, organized place with prices that aren't crazy. The major downside was the metric fuckton of tourists in Osaka, Kyoto, and Tokyo trying to experience the same things. I live in Bangkok so it wasn't expensive to fly there. I'll go probably again within the next year and hit up less busy cities.
>>2836171
I wish I had visited Japan years earlier when I was single. Japan is a great country for solo travelers, especially if you don't want to interact with natives or other tourists.

>>2836171
If you mean you don't casually strike up small talk with strangers at a café or smile at everyone in the streets, sure. It's the same here in Finland, we suspect you're either a maniac or a conman, and at the very least you're inconveniencing others.

Inconveniencing others is the thing to avoid. When you have the occasion to interact with them, the Japanese are extremely helpful and kind. Though this too is just surface level hospitality not too different than when an American greets you "how you're doing, it's nice to meet you". Finns don't speak if they don't mean what they're saying.

>>2836175
>go to a unique foreign country with lots of culture
>refuse to interact with the natives
/trv/ has to be the biggest larp board

>>2835838 (OP)
check the catalog next time, retard

>>2835930
not too cold then? Have you thought about visitng December/January or would it be much warmer in January/February?

>>2836266
I'm going to Hokkaido to snowboard, I want it to be cold and snowy.

>>2836191
naw

>>2835861
OP is an african american single mother of 5, stop being racist

>>2836171
It's called disapproval. Disapproval of you.
This phenomenon is much more common in Asia than you think, particularly in such an aged society as Japan.

>>2836178
Queues at bus stops in Finland

>>2836178
Queues at bus stops in Finland

>>2836175
I genuinely feel bad for those who are now visiting Japan for the first time. The recent pics or clips of the tourist spots just look so crowded and miserable. Heck, I walked through Ameyokocho and Akihabara on my last trip and some spots were shoulder to shoulder crowds, which was never the case even a few years ago.

>>2836532
Kyoto was particularly torture. On the first night, we tried to take the city bus to Gion. It was packed to the brim with people and we couldn't even get off at the first stop that we wanted. No problem, we got off at the next stop and walked a little bit to famous temple. But it was fucking packed and full of food vendors. We finished and decided to walk back to our hotel which is only a 20-25 minute walk. I was shocked at the amount of souvenir and luxury shops on the way back. Like this section of Kyoto was specifically designed for tourists to buy a bunch of expensive shit that they can probably already get at home.

Morning the next day, we took a bus to the Kiyomizu-dera area to rent kimonos and take cute pictures. A few people but not too bad yet. In the one hour it took for us to pick out our outfits and get dressed, I guess that's when a bunch of the tour buses landed. It was shoulder-to-shoulder packed on the main street. We were smart to go to the side streets to escape the crowds.

>>2836595
I have family in Kyoto who I've been visiting often, but I haven't really bothered with sightseeing post covid for this very reason. I think the last time I visited some tourist spots in Kyoto was back in 2017 with friends, and though there definitely were crowds it was never a terrible experience.

>>2836753
2017 was a completely different era. Back then it was just Chinese tour groups visiting for a few days and hitting up a few major attractions from 10 AM to 5. Now it's everyone on earth booking their 2 week magical vacation to Japanland. Tourist numbers are double what they were and trip lengths are massively longer.

>>2835930
>No, I'm a cook at a restaurant in a very high cost of living area.
Well, maybe reconsider your lifestyle.
Is it worth it to work like a slave if you can't save a last 30% of your income every month?

My last big trip I traveled America out of my van for 2 months, kind of trip that covered enough ground for travelling for like half my life. My next trip is also going to be Japan because its such an enigma to me that I have to experience it eventually.

>>2835839
whats the best of appalachia? northern or more southern? I live in one of the more northern states and will one day delve into it

>>2836765
I do think the composition of who is visiting Japan plays a big part. Numbers for 2017 and 2023 are pretty comparable, even if you consider the fact that tourism probably didn't fully pick up right after covid restriction were lifted, but from personal experience 2023 felt far busier. Then 2024 comes along and breaks tourism number by 5 million people, and you can definitely feel the difference even more so.

Personally I think visiting Japan is still a fun experience, but it does suck that you now almost have to go to a tourist spot first thing in the morning to actually enjoy them.

>>2836775
>Personally I think visiting Japan is still a fun experience, but it does suck that you now almost have to go to a tourist spot first thing in the morning to actually enjoy them.
That's really the gist of it. I've visited in 2015 and 2024 and Kiyomizu-dera and the buses in Kyoto are the only places where I've felt that they cannot handle the flow of tourists. Both times there were obnoxious tourists being loud in public transports, but nothing worse than that.

>>2836532
I went for the first time this september and it wasn't that bad. The obvious tourists spots like Expo 2025 were overcrowded as fuck but there's still a ton of hidden gems only locals know about

>>2835930
If you have over 10 years of chef experience, you can work on a skilled worker visa if there's a job offer from Japan. Chefs specializing in French, Italian, Indian, and Thai cuisine are in high demand.

>>2835930
>>2836912
Note that the job will pay about 300,000 yen/month. 400k/month if you're fluent in Japanese and have proven experience within the country.

Convert that to your local currency to see how good it is. And note that rent prices are rising as fast as western ones because people are seeing the "japan is cheap!!!!" memes and buying up shitloads of property and letting it rot.

>>2836767
I also live in a 95% White area of the US and snowboard over 50 times every winter. I did the whole "commute to the office to make a shitload of money" thing for a while and that was more of a slave experience than my current living situation.

>>2836912
Thanks for the info, it'd be a similar take home pay to what my current job is. If i was to work in Japan i'd do a season at a Western restaurant somewhere near a ski resort.

>>2835860
Damn Appalachia with trains would be extreme kino. I get the comparison between it and most of the Japanese countryside for sure. Love both places.