5 Costly Japan Mistakes to Avoid (From 20 Years of Travel Experience)
Planning your first trip to Japan? Don’t make these costly mistakes.
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Music Credits:
Cosmonkey – Your Smile
Jimit – Through Your Love (Instrumental)
Aves – Waterfalls
Skygaze – Kissing the Moon
MILANO – Café de Paris
Michael Shynes – Your Voice (Instrumental)
Video Sources:
Nomad Journal
Matsuri-san Traditional Japanese Festival
Map by Vecteezy (Ruslan Maiborodin)
11 Comments
Excellent perspective with some really good insights. I’ll have to think a bit about some recommendations. One easy spot is neat Kappabashi. The “kitchen town’ in Tokyo. The name of the restaurant is “Menkobo”. It is a modest place that is a few blocks off of the main line of shops. The noodles are handmade buckwheat noodles. All cash, no kids under 12 and a few tables….excellent soba!
A spot worth sharing in Nikko is Manten chicken grill. After a bunch of walking to see the shrines around Shiraito Falls, it was lifegiving stuff
Not only is your advice salient, but your attitude about having the experience is something we can engender not only in our travels, but in our daily lives in our communities. Thanks, Desmon!
I love this approach! It's definitely the approach to my trips since I went to Japan: have the main things planned, while leaving room to explore and feel the local vibe. And chill.
Do you want to do a day trip? Convert it to a one night stay! You will have more time to visit the place and you won't rush, suddenly the half a day converted into a day and a half! This is what I did with Hakone and Nikkō, and enjoyed them very much.
Visit the local tourist office! They will tell you about things you didn't see in online guides, and the recommendations are from a local. They know stuff. This is what I did in Tōyako and Otaru.
Enjoy the onsen and sento! At least once! I'm very surprised when I talk to friends that have gone to Japan and didn't experience the best side of the country from my point of view. They add so much to the experience, and they invite you to pause, which is what Japan is about for me. I understand if being naked in front of people are not one's thing though.
And finally, go see kabuki theatre, that thing is incredible.
Great vid again!
True facts presented. I did exactly that for my first trip, roaming around the neighbourhoods and stumbling into random spots. Led to the best encounters and exchanges with locals. Also being on the lookout for spots around special interests (what Desmon mentioned last vid) helbs to connect faster. For example I got to talk with the owners and customers in a brewpub in Nagoya, and they gave me wonderul recs for the city itself as well as the next city I went to, where I also met cool people as well.
Fukuoka and Kyushu in general was a great time.
5:00 was with you until this point – yes some of us have been to Japan multiple times & can speak language etc – but not sure it's fair to say the average tourist that just wants a two weeks exploring a new country "isn't really in Japan" just because they stayed in Shinjuku or Dotobori etc
Dude. If I weren't already subscribed to you, I'd be subscribing to you right now. I like your angle!
Stumbled upon this channel in my recommendations. Great content! Your channel feels like it should already have a million subscribers.
A tip about omiyage : I brought a bunch of postcards and keyrings from home to hand out. They at least seemed to appreciate it. I gave a postcard to the owner of a small donburi restaurant in Kamakura: when I looke dit up on G'maps he had put my postcard up outside the door! A train conductor helped me when I had confused the tickets (you need an extra ticket for a "limited express"). I gave her a keyring from home, and later I saw she had clipped it to her equipment holder.
I love your channel because it hits the nostalgia of when I started traveling to Japan in 2004, but it is also awesome for my current trips there.