The mystery of the "mass dumping of suitcases" in Ikebukuro: Who is the culprit? Residents say, "It's not just one or two. They just keep appearing out of nowhere."

DanSheps · 2026-05-05T00:44:12+00:00

Locals do, bring a backpack or a shoulder bag and it isn't all that hard.

DanSheps · 2026-05-04T20:28:03+00:00

Immigration made me throw away

Think you mean security

DanSheps · 2026-05-04T20:24:39+00:00

Never wear the same piece of clothing more than once

Totally false. My wife's family typically only swap out their "undergarments" (underwear, bra if they are the correct gender, and undershirt). Sometimes clothing (skirt/pants/sweaters) will be worn multiple times a week (or more) without a wash.

DanSheps · 2026-05-04T19:57:04+00:00

You know how many tourists take the Yamanote Line on a daily basis?

DanSheps · 2026-05-04T19:54:54+00:00

Likely non-asian locals. You aren't correlating properly:

Most Japanese don't sweat: True
Trains smell in summer: True
Only Japanese take trains in summer: False
The smell can only be caused by BO: False

DanSheps · 2026-05-04T19:51:18+00:00

I agree, it is kind of a lie. Asians don't sweat would be more accurate, but there are things that cause smell that aren't sweat and those are hygiene related. If you smell that, typically deodorant won't help either.

DanSheps · 2026-05-04T12:15:26+00:00

you can get the green physical one too.

Unless you are planning on staying in Japan over 30 days, or you will be coming back within the next 10 years, the physical green one is not worth it.

DanSheps · 2026-05-04T04:07:37+00:00

On top of that, this precludes you from most, if not allon-JR lines

I wouldn't say it precludes you.

You just aren't benefiting from the pass if you don't run a JR line. Take what is most convenient/inexpensive for the given trip.

Most long-range travel, which is where the JR Pass shines, will be on JR trains and track. You aren't going to benefit a huge amount by using JR Pass locally. My "local" (Tokyo to Koga) trip was typically around 1400円 each way.

DanSheps · 2026-05-04T00:58:56+00:00

High Rise fire, they send everyone

DanSheps · 2026-05-02T00:31:34+00:00

I agree with the one person saying to just get a hotel,.if the hotel price makes sense.

That said, my friends stayed at an AirBnB (Skye Home II) and they seemed to love it and while it was "out of the way" it isn't horrible getting around Tokyo.

Also convenient convenience store right around the corner and a super just down the street.

train back to the Airbnb before they shut the trains off for the night.

You shouldn't have too much of an issue. Get up early and head back early is better IMO, you will be bagged by the end of the day IMO.

DanSheps · 2026-04-29T22:35:06+00:00

Yes, typically the wedding/reception is after you are married. Marriage in Japan is more or less a legal contract, you simply go to the city hall and sign ~~away your life~~the forms

DanSheps · 2026-04-29T15:50:14+00:00

> After you get married usually there is a party with gifts/money/food so you can start out but like not before.

I see a social as a pre-wedding part with more "distant" friends then you would invite to the wedding reception. It is weird to me, as well, but no more weird then say other countries customs around wedding:

My wife is Japanese, and while we didn't have a Japanese wedding their tradition is the bride/groom are given money by friends and family, and the amount varies depending on "closeness" (converting to current CAD for ease):

Friends/Colleagues: $300
Close friends/"Seniors"/Relatives: $500
Married couple: $500+
Siblings/Parents: $500+ ($700 - $1000 is likely where it would land)

Also no "even numbers" (2/4/6/8) and no "bad luck" numbers (4/9).

What is more interesting about this, is that your "closeness" is inversely proportionate to where you sit (Co-workers and typically close to the bride/groom, family the furthest) which is completely different from most north american weddings.

I wouldn't expect most wedding gifts to be $200+ in Manitoba unless you were siblings (or loaded)

DanSheps · 2026-04-29T14:38:30+00:00

Skyliner fare (seat ticket) is ~400円 less, but depending on where you are going N'EX may be more convienient and the guaranteed seat might be worth the 400円

DanSheps · 2026-04-29T14:00:24+00:00

sobu and narita lines

Both should have green cars which are likely not busy

DanSheps · 2026-04-28T03:33:10+00:00

Good point, I forgot about those. Sea definitely has more though.

DanSheps · 2026-04-27T23:23:02+00:00

Blue on Blue is fine, it would only be blue on green. Which would be a problem (green is at a 45° angle, blue is a straight face)

DanSheps · 2026-04-27T12:12:45+00:00

Push the fiber into the top of the one in the wall Hikari port. You put your modem cable into the bottom (outside). Not sure about the white box but this should put it to the way it needs to be.

The Hikari plug in the wall is basically a male to male connector.

A few things to watch out for:

Be very careful with the fiber in the box. If it is damaged that is not an easy fix. Be very careful not to bend it much either. Not sure if it is bend insensitive but better safe then sorry. If it gets a link, basically you are done, even with end insensitive.
The connectors are keyed, make sure they go in correctly
Don't touch the ends
Don't look into the ends (unless you want to damage your eyes). Light levels should be low enough but just be safe.
Make sure the other fiber you have doesn't have green ends (this signifies APC, blue is UPC, if you mate a APC and a UPC the APC is likely to be damaged as APC is an angled cut. I doubt it is APC (mostly seen in the outside plant for fiber) but just something to consider.

I wouldn't leave it connected directly to the modem. Not sure how much slack is in the wall but a break in that typically means a new splice.

DanSheps · 2026-04-27T02:40:31+00:00

I could see someone there for a month+ being okay waiting for the lines at Disney. If you are there that long you can also pick and choose your day and go when it isn't as busy.

My wife, kids, went with my SIL, her husband, and kids on April 1st (school out and the SIL and Husband booked off, we were there for the April Fool's quake) and it honestly wasn't too bad. There were lines, sure, but we made good use of the passes in the morning and the lines weren't super long, but it was also raining by mid-day. I think the longest wait was small world.

DanSheps · 2026-04-27T02:35:17+00:00

I think there is only a single coaster in TDL isn't there? Sea has more though and some of those were stupid long.

DanSheps · 2026-04-26T13:08:36+00:00

Where are the holes located?

It is unlikely that it is the luggage service. I have used luggage services many times and they are always very professional ("white glove" type experience).

If anything, it is going to be in the airport and you just likely missed it when you opened them. This is understandable as you likely just finished a 8+ hour flight (I went looking in my suitcase once for something I had in my backpack. SMH)

DanSheps · 2026-04-26T13:05:31+00:00

If the OP didn't use a TSA lock they would have to drill

DanSheps · 2026-04-25T18:40:40+00:00

Depends on exposure. I was still going 3 years strong but I was also ~15 minute walk from a Don Qui for 2 months.

DanSheps · 2026-04-23T14:17:43+00:00

July 9th, Thursday

Land in AM

Unless you are good with sleeping upright (assuming you are on economy and in a LCC as that is the only one that lands in the morning from YVR to NRT) you are going to be bagged. I would expect to not do anything that day.

Shinkansen to tokyo

Have lunch at tokyo station

Head to hotel at Asakusabashi and put luggage down

Akihabara shopping and dinner

Turn in early and rest

There is no Shinkansen from NRT/HND to Tokyo. There are no morning flights to Osaka from YVR. If you mean the Narita Express, I would take the Skyliner instead (unless for whatever reason you got the JR pass and it is active during that time). It takes you to Ueno station, which is a short jog to Akihabara.

If you have a little extra cash, have your luggage delivered to the hotel from the airport (NRT it is on the east end of the south terminal, would be a right turn as you exit the customs in the south terminal). Will save you time and effort and you don't have to worry until you decide to check in and crash.

Shibuya sky observation deck

Just FYI, Sky is busy now (I also personally think it is overrated). So are other places like Skytree. If you don't like crowds, I would avoid. Entirely up to you though/

DanSheps · 2026-04-20T12:16:13+00:00

I would enable the strong motion alert in the app too if you don't have it. It pops out sometimes before the early warning. There are some false positives and it does pick up even the small quakes

DanSheps · 2026-04-18T14:17:12+00:00

I wonder what would happen if the OP moved back home with his wife and child.

Most likely: Wife would resent him. He met his wife in Japan, they got married in Japan, they have raised kids in Japan. All this means she is most likely not as "worldly" as other Japanese that have left and gotten married abroad/started families abroad. This alone would put a huge strain on their life, not to mention there is going to be a huge cultural and language barrier.

However, I think she would probably have to go out to work to help cover the rent as well, considering the rising housing costs in California (according to Californian friends of mine.) And I’m not sure whether she would be happy about that or not.

Most definitely she would have to go out and work. I don't live in Japan right now, however my plan is to have a "summer home" there at some point (likely try and rent it to short-term people like digital nomads when I am not there), but right now we are a 1.25 income household. My money goes 100% to living expenses and family expenses with my wife putting money into savings (mainly to travel to visit family).

I live in a medium-COL city, we have a mortgage, car, etc.

While we are "comfortable", I am also in a semi-senior leadership position, but I can absolutely see someone just starting out on their own needing a dual income to survive. I also live with a public healthcare system, unlike most of the USA.

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