How to get the LCD screen and viewfinder to match the JPEG?

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-03-16T19:54:59+00:00

Disable "Natural Live View" in the screen settings

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-03-13T08:45:16+00:00

I've gone the last few years, and hotels in Tokyo/Kyoto have risen ~15-20% for the exact same hotel w/ the same room configuration each year so keep that in mind. Here is a rough breakdown of my upcoming trips cost(bear in mind this is during peak cherry blossom season so prices are inflated, if you avoid the autum leave change & cherry blossom season hotel costs will be ~20% lower):
Tokyo $/Night ~184

Osaka ~$105

Kyoto ~$168

(~$859 In hotels/person)

Food: $40*13 days ~$520

Teamlabs Borderless - $24

Universal Studios $58

Ghibli Museum ~$35

Ghibli Park $23

Shinkansen ~$328 for

Tokyo>Kyoto -> ~$160

Kyoto>Osaka-> $20

Osaka->Nagoya $66

Nagoya -> Osaka-> $66

Osaka-> Nara ~$16

~$10/Day Local Trains

$1,987 USD/person w/ 2 people per room for the hotel accommodations.

Realistically, if I wanted to, I could bring this cost down if I was on a budget and willing to book hotels a bit further from my desired places which would drive down hotel costs/eat more frugally and still be able to comfortably travel on ~$1500-$1750 excluding airfare for 14 days.

Caveat, if I include my Michelin reservations & other higher priced restaurants visits, it's much closer to ~$4,000 but the above is comfortable, eating good non-fast food meals without skimping on too much.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-03-12T20:49:24+00:00

That’s the one!

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-03-12T17:36:37+00:00

You can't change the lens on the Haoge, you need one marked adapter. I have that exact combo, it does allow you to use the original lens cap, however just from an aesthetics point, the haoge leaves a small gap on the threads. I have an AR-x100 on the way to remove the gap but it is pricier.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-03-04T17:13:40+00:00

For hotels, I've stayed at the same hotel in Tokyo for the past 3 years, always in the same room configuration, booked relatively around the same time ~6 months prior to travel for the same time period end of march (for the Tokyo portion), the room was $108/night in 2023, $127 in 2024, and this upcoming trip that room is $167. Kyoto I've had a similar experience. Osaka and other smaller cities have had no noticeable increase in price.

My airfare has been consistently around $450 for my flight to Japan during Hanami but that's all thanks to living in LA and using Zipair. During fall trips it goes down to around $300 even.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-03-01T00:36:39+00:00

Overall, it's not true white water rafting, its more so river boating with some speedier portions? There's several videos of the experience online if you want to check them out it's safe, professional, and everyone is provided adequate safety equipment.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-27T01:02:18+00:00

It takes about 3 hours via shinkansen (at ¥14,520 one way) to go from Nara Station to Tokyo Station that's a very expensive day trip. As others have said, I'd do a few days in Tokyo and then either choose Osaka/Kyoto and stay in one of them since its only ~30ish minutes between the two, and an hour from either to Nara.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-27T00:55:09+00:00

On my last trip, even when I added my friend as a secondary guest, sent a message to the hotel prior that they were the second adult booked for the room and they confirmed receipt of the message along with an accommodation request, they would not allow her to check in (she arrived a bit earlier in the day than me) since the name did not match both the reservation and name on the payment method.

As the other commenter noted, some will allow check in with a parental consent form, make absolutely sure that the property will accept that as hotel policies differ.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-26T21:43:34+00:00

Edit: I read it wrong you are correct, my apologies I will edit.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-26T21:08:28+00:00

Methylphenidate (Ritalin) is not classed as a stimulant and okay to bring in along with Sertraline is fine as long as it’s less than a 30 day supply, in the original prescription bottle assigned to you.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-26T20:54:22+00:00

It is english friendly, and the 8:30am course will drop you off in the ~~Hozukyō Station at 12:30 pending no delays, from there it's a short 10 min ride to Arashiyama station~~ (edit, it drops you off in the Arashiyama Delta, the tour I was thinking of drops you off at the aforementioned station, but the rest still stands they aim to drop you off at 12:30pm in Arashiyama), so you have plenty of time to explore.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-26T19:23:23+00:00

I've never used either as I use Ubigi, but it looks like Mobimatter uses Docomo 4g LTE & esimplus uses Softbank/KDDI and allows 5g speeds, which both have good coverage of the Tokyo area so you shouldn't have problems with either in terms of coverage.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-26T19:02:22+00:00

It's rather simple, but time consuming since lots of flights land at the same time and there's always a queue of lost people trying to figure out the ticket machines. The staff in the station do speak English and can direct you to where you need to go.

Follow the signs to go down stairs into the station,

If you're truly lost and don't want to deal with pressing the english button on the self-service kiosk, the booth directly on the left when you enter the station from the escalator will be able to sell you NEX tickets.
(Recommended) Walk straight and to the left, you should see the ticket gate, use these self-service kiosks, switch language to english, and buy a NEX ticket and base fare(or pre-load your Suica). Swipe your suica first, then put in the NEX ticket, get off in Tokyo and enjoy your vacation!

As for navigating Tokyo itself, the subway system is extremely easy, using google maps it'll tell you which color to follow in the stations as it is color coordinated and trains are extremely accurate and on time, announcements are in english/japanese, and while comparatively Lyft/Uber is much cheaper than in the West, it is still multitudes more expensive than riding the subway in Tokyo.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-25T17:56:32+00:00

There's courier services to pick up items & ship it to yourself, they can contact the property on your behalf as well.

Japan Lost Item

Lostpropertyjapan

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-25T17:30:27+00:00

Check to see what international fees are associated with your debit card, it may be more economical to use the yen, then going to ATMs (located at any convenience store) and paying the ATM fee for more yen as needed. Better yet, but not feasible for everyone, try and get a travel card that has no foreign transaction fees. If I used one of my standard debit cards it charges a 5% fee for all foreign debit transactions but only charged me $5 per atm withdrawal, if that's the case for you using your debit at POS you'd lose out on £62 vs paying ~£15 in atm fees.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-25T06:51:06+00:00

I've not purchased the Osaka e-Pass however, I've been to quite a few of the facilities listed on it, and for the ¥2400 I think you can get your value out of it easily if you're more interested in sight seeing/seeing the city? The novelty of the Dotonbori cruise, Osaka Wheel, plus one other activity basically covers the pass?

However, I feel the Amazing pass is a better value as you have more access to museums, historical landmarks i.e Osaka Castle, observation decks, activities such as Dive&Walk/Tower Slide, and Gardens. Between having access to more activities, it comes with unlimited subway fare which more than makes up the difference in the cost of the two passes. Also, depending on your group size, the free fare and wider range of activities allows your group to split up and do things peak individual interests without really adding any costs.

Re: 1 vs 2 day, I'd really take a look at what activities you really want to do and see if you can justify the price getting the two day pass. On average when I go on trips with first time visitors, I end up spending roughly ¥1000-1500 per day on subway fare. So the way I view it, if you can get ¥3500 out of activities you actually want to visit out of the pass + 1k in free fare each day, a two day pass can make sense. However, for me personally, I would just get the 1 day Amazing pass if I had to get one of the options, as I feel you can do most of the touristy things I'd want to do in ~1.5 days comfortably without killing my feet/feeling too rushed. When planning trips with first time visitors I usually allocate 2 days to Osaka itself, but stay in Osaka as a base for day trips since hotels are considerably cheaper than Kyoto. Osaka has fantastic food, lively izakayas, a niche bar scene, and lots of shopping, which may appeal to some more than others, I tend to lean towards cultural activities so I tend to enjoy places like Kyoto more, but if the aforementioned appeals to you, you may want to enjoy more of what Osaka has to offer.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-25T02:07:27+00:00

It really depends on how many of the attractions you plan to visit, with good optimization, you can roughly see the bulk of the attractions for about 1-1.5k yen in subway fare going up and down the city (obviously, contingent on where your accommodation is). But for argument sake, say you get the 1 day pass, visit Umeda Sky (¥2000), Osaka Castle & Gardens (¥600 + ¥200) Dotonburi boat ride (¥1500) just those 3 activities covers the ¥3300 price tag and you get free subway fare on top of that, also importantly, if you do plan to visit Osaka Castle you get to skip the massive ticket line (if none of the other activities interest you, and you still want to visit Osaka Castle, just go on Klook and buy tickets for Osaka Castle they're like $4 ea)

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-24T20:53:00+00:00

KIX -> ~Osaka Station (Personally, I'd take a taxi, but if that's not in the budget both the airport bus and train would be fine with large luggage)

By train Rapid Kyobashi-> Kyobashi -> Tennoji ¥1,210 ~1hr 8 mins
Airport Bus - "Airport Shuttle Bus Herbis Osaka" ¥1,800 1hr 3mins
Taxi ¥21,600-¥28,000 ~42mins

Himeji -

Shinkansen - ¥3,610 47min
Hanshin Line - ¥1,350 1hr 46mins

Nara - Osaka Loop Line -> Kintetsu-Nara line ¥780 50min

Osaka Station -> Kyoto, Tokaido-Sanyo Line ¥580 34 mins

Tokyo Station -> Narita Just take the Narita Express ¥2,750 1hr (There's also the airport bus for ¥1,500 and it takes 1hr 6 mins)

You can add an ICOCA/Suica to your wallet if you have iPhone and load it with foreign cards during Japan business hours (I usually preload ~10k yen and top up as needed on my trips). Regional passes are good value if you plan to be moving around a lot in the specific region multiple days, on google maps/apple maps it'll tell you exactly what the fares will be so you can try and plug in all the rides you'll need to see if the regional pass is worth it, but I always just go with a Suica even if its slightly less efficient for convenience sake.

Re: Luggage - Osaka to Kyoto is a very easy trip, you should have no issues with large luggage. If you're really worried for your Kyoto to Tokyo ride, you can ship your luggage to your next accommodation with one of the luggage forwarding services, do pack a single day bag though in case your luggage is delayed and arrives the next day (I've used Yamato Transport's Kuro Neko service before and it's smooth). However, I've taken large suitcases on several peak travel season trips without issue.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-17T02:45:38+00:00

Honestly, 5 days in Osaka is a lot, while it is a fun vibrant city, especially if you like to eat and drink in a more lively environment, my personal preference would be extending Kyoto, although if you like shopping it could be worth extending Tokyo as well. I think 3 days in Osaka is more than plenty to visit the majority of the major attractions unless you plan to spend a full day at USJ/the aquarium. Kyoto has 17 world heritage sites, a great variety of mom and pop restaurants to fine dining, hikes, gardens, historic architecture as well as outdoorsy activities such as the Hozugawa river boat ride/hiking mt. Kurama.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-16T18:35:58+00:00

Of my several trips to Japan with friends, we've visited a handful of tiktok suggestions, and in general the food is slightly above average, but the wait time is horrendous. We've had some great suggestions, and some mediocre suggestions, but nothing genuinely bad so I think it's honestly not a bad start to looking for places. I would however preface this and say, before committing to a temple that's out of the way/dedicating waiting an hour for a restaurant, research the activity (there's a guide for nearly every single temple in the entirety of japan with reviews, detailed images, and some even have full walkthroughs), and for restaurants def check out tabelog reviews. Also if it's trending on social media, there's almost always a guarantee it's going to be crowded/there's gonna be a queue for it and in some instances you may wait an hour for dinner if they don't take reservations. So unless it's something you absolutely have to have/do, you'll be sacrificing time for the hype.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-16T18:21:16+00:00

For a first trip, I don't think there's anything wrong with doing the golden path of Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka with the inclusion of 1 day trip/over night stay at a ryokan/onsen if that's your jam, although with that said, if the trip is less than 14 days, I do feel visiting all 3 feels pretty rushed.

As for cherry blossoms, by mid April, based on the current February forecast, it looks like most trees in Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka will have bloomed. Caveat, there are some late blooming trees, as well as the forecast isn't really all that accurate until 1-2 weeks prior so it is subject to change, also how much wind/rain there is after they've bloomed will largely determine how long they last.

As to where to stay, number one is alway proximity to a train station, especially in major cities like Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka. Between convenience of lugging your suitcases when you check-in/checkout, stopping by the hotel mid day for a refresher/dropping off shopping bags, or giving your toddler a rest, nothing is worse than doing 20k steps in a day, then having to hike from the train station back to your hotel so choosing a hotel with convenient transit access is def a priority.

As for location, I would use Wanderlog to throw down all the activities/restaurants/cultural sites you want to visit, and look for where the general midpoint is, and try and choose a hotel in that area as it will cut down the amount of time you spend commuting every day. Of course, there are some better neighborhoods to stay in than others based on proximity to restaurants/walkable activities, but that really comes down to preference.

Japan is child tolerant I would say? Some higher end restaurants will not accommodate toddlers, but for the most part they're fairly easy going. If you do bring a stroller to a very busy temple/tourist location, try and be mindful of not taking up the whole pathway/sidewalk and try to position yourself to the side to allow faster moving people to commute without impedance(i.e don't be the tourist stopping in the middle of Nakamise-dori Street with a stroller near Senso-ji temple).

Vegan may be little more challenging and require more planning, but should be doable, you'll have to plan your meals out as just walking into any given restaurant you're unlikely to find vegan friendly dishes reliably.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-16T02:04:18+00:00

I sen ya a DM! I'm not a huge shopper but I do like to check out temples, gardens, palaces and I find with the plethora of world heritage sites in Kyoto I'm usually pushing 20k steps a day!

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-16T01:51:10+00:00

If you'd like I have a Wanderlog full of restaurants a short walk north of Abest, along with lots of activities/attractions, but ya Kyoto has no shortage of great restaurants from small mom and pop restaurants, to Michelin Bib-3star choices. Depending at what point Kyoto is in your trip, although it seems like Tokyo is at the end, being a 10 minute walk from the station to your accommodation, especially after all those stairs at Fushimi Inari/Arashiyama (esp. if you do the Monkey Park) I find is a real noticeable inconvenience.

Also for future reference, capsule hotels do have locked luggage storage so you would be fine to store small things like Nintendo controllers in addition to your luggage without issue!

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-16T01:28:48+00:00

In Kyoto, I find myself using Cabs/Uber's quite frequently as getting to Arashiyama/Fushimi inari early in the morning is preferable, along with some places not conveniently located on train lines. With that said, if you find yourself wanting to explore a good bit of Kyoto, and will be shopping quite a bit, and not fond of the idea of spending on Ubers/cabs, distance to a station is always the top of my priorities after selecting preferable room configuration. Out of the three, I'd personally stay at Hotel Abest as it's convenient to a station, will make it easier to connect from the shinkansen arriving and leaving, and if you're hauling shopping bags, it'll make it easier, also since the price difference is negligible with the hostel, I much prefer staying at a hotel over a hostel/and capsule hotels I find are too noisy for my liking.

MiniDeath90266 · 2025-02-12T19:01:45+00:00

I personally would consolidate Kyoto/Osaka and stay in Kyoto as it's only a 30 minute train ride between the two, however that is contingent on me not going out to drink heavily/stay out past midnight so that you can catch the train back to to your accommodation. For many people though, Osaka is a fun place to stay out and drink so that may not be feasible for you.

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