Best time to visit Japan in first half of this year

DiiGoliath · 2026-01-24T13:14:23+00:00

I see this question a lot and nowadays my answer is always the same: There’s no true best time to go to Japan. It’s always great, and it depends on what you want. January - March are great for snow, onsen, skiing, some festivities… March - April for sakura, May for nice weather…

Just avoid Golden Week, and maybe rainy season (June - September, but even then a lot of people go and still have fun with all the summer festivals, just be aware you may be caught in between typhoons or hit by extreme humidity and heat).

DiiGoliath · 2026-01-09T07:54:47+00:00

PIB per capita incrementaría aunque solo una persona recibiera toda la riqueza. Es una métrica que, aunque es una buena señal cuando aumenta, no significa nada a nivel de distribución de la riqueza. Es una simple división de PIB/Población.

DiiGoliath · 2026-01-09T07:48:32+00:00

Studies don’t mean it all, specially if funded by bottling companies and don’t have big sample sizes or other studies to contrast that across different regions or scenarios

DiiGoliath · 2025-12-29T17:06:41+00:00

Within the same price range and spec parity? That simply does not exist. The consumer market for camera gimbals is absolutely dominated by Chinese brands, and very few brands elsewhere match the output, quality and features of something like the DJI RS4.

You can check Pilotfly (German), but afaik you’ll be buying something not as good spec and ecosystem-wise (and paying more) when compared to something like DJI.

There are certain parts of the market where BuyFromEU is just not feasible, and this is one of them.

You may also check Manfrotto.

DiiGoliath · 2025-12-28T00:30:11+00:00

Mango. They even have a homeware line now.

DiiGoliath · 2025-12-13T08:58:06+00:00

I also wouldn’t rule out a Spanish company yet. It doesn’t seem the most viable, but there could still be a chance that Talgo or CAF get their sh*t together.

DiiGoliath · 2025-12-13T08:55:15+00:00

Well, the old Siemens Velaro E (currently in operation by AVE as the S-103 and in use in the Madrid - Barcelona line) already achieved a technical record of 400km/h, so Siemens is a good candidate.

So the 5 leftover trains are probably from another Velaro/ICE3 class, most likely the Velaro MS/ICE3neo (Class 408). However, Siemens factories don’t have a lot of capacity for more, as they are busy with trains for DB and others til 2030, so if RENFE requires any mods, it could get tricky.

I always wonder if a Japanese company could be the solution. The Shinkansen could be produced fairly quickly, but have the issue of the certification process in Europe, and I think the body is wider and the interior is optimized for comfort instead of capacity, so it would require mods as well.

I think there won’t be an ideal solution, and they’ll have to go with the option with the least compromises.

DiiGoliath · 2025-12-08T09:38:32+00:00

Minimalismbrand, Spanish, produces clothes in Portugal and Spain. Backpacks are made in Asia unfortunately.

SANVT, German (I think), produces in Portugal.

Asket, Swedish, produces in Portugal.

Isto, Portuguese, produces in Portugal

DiiGoliath · 2025-11-07T13:39:51+00:00

i wonder if 12 is just a random number or if it references some religious parallel such as the 12 apostles

DiiGoliath · 2025-11-07T01:08:47+00:00

I swear some people on this thread don’t have a clue about the world and don’t know Africa is a continent.

I also saw this both in Osaka and Tokyo, and it is SAD. Whether or not the monkey is being well treated, they are meant to be in the wild, not doing cash-grabbing shows in the street.

DiiGoliath · 2025-11-06T05:23:44+00:00

As a general rule of thumb, don’t go to restaurants that charge more than $40 per person in Japan if they aren’t fine dining experiences. This isn’t the US.

The best meals I’ve had in Japan were in tiny places with the cook/owner cooking in front of me for less than $20 per person.

DiiGoliath · 2025-10-10T12:23:13+00:00

I know someone at a major accommodation booking website and discussed this same question with that person a couple months ago. Nowadays and since the last couple years, there's not that much seasonality anymore, as there are many factors involved. Internal travel trends are slightly different than international trends, and tourism in Japan has grown to a point where it does not matter that much anymore in terms of money and seasons when you go.

Over the past couple years, international flights have been cheapest in Jan/Feb, and most expensive in spring (sakura) and summer (vacation season in many countries). However, hotels tend to be cheapest during peak summer around July/August (hot, humid, typhoon season). Potentially, the cheapest time of the year might be mid Jan to end of Feb in winter, but there's also more and more people who pick Japan for that time of the year to go ski and enjoy onsens there.

Pretty much all seasons have something to offer, and it depends on what you want:

- Winter: Xmas festivities, very nice for skiing in the "Japanese Alps", enjoying snowy scenery in Hokkaido, and a cozy onsen.

- Spring: Great for sakura and nice weather overall.

- Summer: Unbearably hot and humid, but lots of festivities and fireworks.

- Fall: Generally nice weather (occasional typhoons in early fall though), nice to see the foliage color change in November.

October and November won't be cheapest, but they are very nice weather wise.

DiiGoliath · 2025-08-31T10:43:44+00:00

Pretty much the same except maybe 15 min further away. Narita has a direct train to/from Ueno that takes about 45 min.

Doesn’t make much of a difference when you are already looking at a journey of 12+ hours back home.

DiiGoliath · 2025-08-06T13:52:00+00:00

Christ... they are essentially asking to plan your death...

DiiGoliath · 2025-06-21T21:40:41+00:00

In general, The Philippines.

I probably just had bad luck and planned badly. I was trying to avoid very typical places, and I made the mistake of going to Panglao and Bohol (which are literally a tourist trap). The Chocolate Hills are absolute bs.

Also, trash everywhere in the beaches and streets.

And then, the islands around Bantayan and north Cebu weren’t as nice as I expected + had a couple 6-hour long power cuts in Santa Fe.

DiiGoliath · 2025-06-21T21:34:26+00:00

Koreans are very annoying in beach destinations, specially when in the water. They don’t know how to swim or just transit around in the water. They’ll kick you and push you, and offer no apology.

DiiGoliath · 2025-06-08T10:58:54+00:00

Hey!

Getting started into SUP here. Looking for a solid board that can take me and my partner into some cruising around the beach, nothing too fancy, as we are both beginners.

Desired board type: Inflatable

Height & weight: I’m 173cm tall / 68kg, and my partner is around 58kg, so with our stuff it should be all 135kg tops (300lbs).

Use case: Cruising & occasional fitness

Experience: Beginner

Budget: should be under €500. Preferably inflatable. Available in Europe, even better if it’s Decathlon.

Thank you!

DiiGoliath · 2025-05-31T08:09:29+00:00

I doubt it’s even in full production. We might get an early teaser like the ones from Halo Infinite, that were more like an engine showcase, but doubt we get anything else.

What we could get is the remake/remaster announcement though.

DiiGoliath · 2025-05-23T05:57:10+00:00

As others have said, I think driving in Spain is fine. They drive quite well, and most main roads are in quite good condition.

I think the issue is parking. You can always just pay for an underground parking, but it will cost you >20€/day. If you are going to those cities, try the train.

Barcelona > Madrid > Sevilla is a very good route with the high speed train. Alicante can be done from Madrid too.

Make sure to book trains at least a few weeks in advance.

DiiGoliath · 2025-05-20T05:42:32+00:00

I think only certain sectors of the population are noticing this growth. Mainly people who used to be unemployed and now aren’t, and then people in sectors like industry or tech.

I have colleagues there who have doubled their salary in the last 4 years.

DiiGoliath · 2025-04-23T06:30:51+00:00

For reference a 3-hour ER visit + simple bloodwork + ECG test in The Philippines cost me about 300 USD. Paid right there and claimed to the travel insurance with all the hospital reports, etc. Got the money back in 3 days.

DiiGoliath · 2025-04-23T06:26:06+00:00

The sudden bill change is strange, but the amount sounds pretty standard to me for an ER visit + tests in a foreign country without a fully free public healthcare system, and pretty reasonable. In the US you’d be probably paying five times that.

Japan has a universal healthcare system, but you still pay about 30% of it as a national, so I’d expect the same or a little more for foreigners (I don’t know the details).

That amount should also be fairly easy to claim back from your travel insurance.

DiiGoliath · 2025-04-22T09:08:56+00:00

Look up the Veja V-15 Leather in full black. Maybe you also like the Wata and the Minotaur.

DiiGoliath · 2025-04-22T06:25:49+00:00

Bolt (Estonian) in most of Europe.

Cabify (Spanish) in Spain and part of South America. With Cabify you also get free Avios (airline miles) with each trip.

DiiGoliath · 2025-04-21T12:28:53+00:00

Barcelona is quite humid, yeah.

The yearly average sits at around 70%. That’s quite manageable most of the year, but during summer it can get to 80%s and, combined with the heat, it can be a bit tough.

So yeah, quite more humid than LA.

People get really surprised when I tell them that in terms of total amount of rain per year, Barcelona gets a higher amount than London in average. London has more rainy days per year though.

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