Japan Planning

February 2024

I LOVE planning, especially Japlanning for Japan. It’s now only 24 days until we go to Japan. Although we have been a number of times, we are going to some different places, with different conditions. So, our packing requirements will be different. I am also expecting many things to have changed since July 2019.

CHANGES

Firstly, I have heard that more people are speaking English now. I wonder if this is due to the preparations made for the unattended Olympic Games. Evidently, more stations and tourist destinations have English signposting. On a recent trip, fellow blogger Anthony, who writes Today’s Perfect Moment, was disappointed to be unable to impress his girlfriend with his Japanese language skills. When Anthony wanted to speak in Japanese he found everyone wanted to practice their English.

I must admit, for Super Sake Boy and me, this is not a bonus. We have spent years trying to learn Japanese, and we want to practice when we can. I never found the language a barrier to accessibility, anyway. But, it can be a challenge. I like challenges like this when I travel, to be pushed outside my comfort zone. I understand it’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

Secondly, the cost of moving around. I won’t dwell on this, as I wrote about the price hike on the JR Pass last week. If you’d like to know more about that read Is A JR Pass Value for Money in 2024.

Thirdly, I believe the number of tourists is increasing. I was there in 2019 when a record number of tourists visits was recorded. More than 32 million people travelled to Japan that year. And then we had COVID, which dropped the number significantly in 2020. Super Sake Boy and I were two of the millions of people who had to cancel their trips is 2020. Last year, 2023, 22 million visitors were recorded from January to November. I’m interested to see how many Australians we come across.

PACKING

On our impending trip we are staying in Kakunodate, Akita, and Nagano. There should be snow and temperatures may drop to -8℃ overnight. We are also staying in Kanazawa, Tokyo, and Kyoto. So those places will not be as cold. Being a Melbourne girl, my snow experience is limited. We live in the Dandenongs, but at our mountainous home, snow is very infrequent.

Luckily, I have Super Sake Boy, the Canadian Winnipegger. Winnipeg is the coldest big city in Canada, and SSB lived there for 23 years. The temperature can drop to under -50℃ in winter, and with a windchill, even colder. I consider Super Sake Boy to be an expert on cold weather dressing.

He is also an expert on the North American tendency to overheat places during winter. In my experience, this is also the case in Japan. You come in from the blasting cold and it’s 25℃ inside the department store. If you can’t unzip and take off layers, you’re in trouble. The suffocating feeling of being roasted alive is very uncomfortable.

Unbelievably, last time I was in Canada, and it was between -15℃ and 10℃, I didn’t wear any of my long sleeve tops. I have a great puffer jacket, and wore only t-shirts underneath. This meant I was comfortable when I went inside. I wore a beanie, to keep my head warm, and a scarf, to keep out the wind. If I had been standing around outside I probably would have been cold. But for day to day dressing this is the secret to comfort indoors. By the way, I don’t ski. I love temples, history, sake bars and breweries, yakitori, snow, wildlife, bookshops, libraries, and lots of other things.

Have you recently visited Japan?