Holy shit fuck America. I also got a tea from a vending machine and got a minor stat boost (bad Yakuza reference).
Yeah, the public transit is great here (by the way, you just barely missed the October 7th anniversary demonstrations in Tokyo, assuming you just got here)
I saw pro-Palestine protesters last time I was in Japan, nothing pro-Israel.
Yeah I went to a pro Palestine protest in shibuya a few weeks ago, it was super cool! Everyone in the crowd was vibing, not a single Zionist to be seen
I did just get here. There was a banner drop in my bumfuck town that surprised me, though. Only like 4 people but they showed up.
I'm going to Japan in 2 weeks and I'm so excited for it. Where are you going? I'm planning to rent a car as well to see some of the country side
Shikoku and Osaka mostly. I did a whirlwind tour of Tokyo today and I'll have another day in Tokyo at the end.
i only got to do the trains across tokyo, as the rest of the time i lived there was way out in a small rural community in a region underserved by trains due to its geographic position at the far south of kyushu (so it was just buses). but the bus service was incredible, of course. even out in those areas that would have been devastated by sprawl and collapse in the US, the divide between urban and rural/hinterland spaces was sharply defined such that there were forests (some preserved and some under silviculture conservation), farms, parks, recreational spaces and lots of scenic beauty but also bus routes, well maintained roads, services, and all of those civic features we tend to associate exclusively with urban life (high density housing, places to eat, places to gather, venues, fiber internet, public art, gyms, pools, schools, etc).
it was explained to me that there are significant wealth transfers involved in investing in the personnel and maintenance of all this, but that this was understood as the logical bargain struck between the communities of the hinterlands and the urban markets where the wealth from brokering hinterland resources tends to accumulate. just one of those things that older cultures seem to understand that settler states are like, "LMAO WE EXTRACT FROM THERE, NOT EXCHANGE, ITS SUPPOSED TO BE FUKT AND POOR AND HEMORRHAGING PEOPLE"
Yoooo, I want to do a sleeper train so bad but I planned haphazardly this time. Next time I'm doing a sleeper to Hokkaido or something.
Japanese sleeper trains have been seriously cut back, unfortunately. There's the Sunrise Izumo and the Sunrise Seto which run from Tokyo, but very, very, stupidly, there is no sleeper train from Tokyo to Sapporo. The Cassiopeia was a top tier sleeper train that was cancelled before the Shinkansen even reached Sapporo. I believe they still run a few services each year as cruise trains, but those look to be exorbitantly expensive. Also lacking from the sleeper train roster is the lovely Hokutosei which was a more modest train that still had some very nice features.
Now that I'm done ranting the Sunrise Seto and Izumo still look very nice to ride, if you get a second trip I recommend trying one out.
I’m in Sapporo right now and it’s unfortunately nearly burger levels of car brain. The buses and trains run once or twice an hour with very limited routes, I couldn’t even go to the big national park just south of here via public transit. My gf was quite shocked at how poor the public transit here compared to Tokyo so just be aware that if you come to Hokkaido you really need a car
Go to Osaka and make finger guns at people and see if they really do the shoot out thing or if that is just a stereotype
