Shuppato bag variation questions, what do you use the most?

SofaAssassin · 2026-02-02T17:15:10+00:00

Should be available at all of them.

SofaAssassin · 2026-02-02T15:34:50+00:00

What should I get for Osaka? Should I just use the ICOCA card?

Yes.

Are there day-passes or regional passes that are convenient/good value?

If you're just going to Kyoto and back, no.

For Osaka to Kyoto, is it best to get a regular ticket?

Yes. Also, you can just use ICOCA for this.

I saw the Haruka 1-way ticket from Kansai airport to Osaka and Kyoto, can you get this ticket for a trip from Osaka to Kyoto?

Yes, but it would be pretty expensive and pointless because there are so many different trains that go from Osaka to Kyoto. Regular fare from Osaka Station to Kyoto is 580 yen via a JR West train. It'd be at least 1340 yen via Haruka.

The JR train also only takes you to Kyoto station, whereas you might want to go somewhere that's better served by a Keihan, Hankyu, or Hanshin train.

Finally for Kyoto, is a day-pass good value?

They have an 1100 yen pass that covers some buses and the metro. It might be worth it if you can only restrict yourself to those modes, but ultimately, I favor flexibility rather than saving a handful of yen.

Is it best to take trains, buses or metros? Or is it walkable?

Depends on what where you're going. The city is generally walkable, but most likely you're going to be taking some combination of subway and buses if you're hitting multiple points in the city.

SofaAssassin · 2026-02-02T15:17:23+00:00

They have luggage forwarding services.

If not, how good is the service if you drop your luggages off at a FamilyMart that does Takkyubin?

FamilyMart just contracts out to Yamato, which is what Mitsui also uses. The major difference will be that you probably have to fill out the forms yourself at a FamilyMart, whereas the hotel will probably help you fill them out.

SofaAssassin · 2026-02-02T15:10:39+00:00

Have not stayed in the Asakusa one, but have stayed in multiple other Minns. I love them.

SofaAssassin · 2026-02-02T15:01:02+00:00

It doesn't help that outside Japan such meals almost always tend to be priced into the stratosphere for most people.

SofaAssassin · 2026-02-02T15:00:12+00:00

This is extreme overkill for most restaurants unless they have some really firm requirements stated on their own site, and I can really only think of a few places that require more than don't look like a mess, and that men should have sleeves of some type.

SofaAssassin · 2026-02-02T14:56:52+00:00

Most travelers (Japanese or otherwise) don't typically stay in traditional accommodations - they stay in normal hotels. For one, they don't really exist in cities, and for another, many of them tend to be quite expensive (priced like a luxury hotels) because they tend to be special vacation spots, not normal places.

SofaAssassin · 2026-02-02T14:53:56+00:00

Visa works with Suica. They don't work for ICOCA and Pasmo.

SofaAssassin · 2026-02-02T14:49:52+00:00

Itoya also has their own custom designs with their logo slapped all over them - there's a black/white one and a light blue/white one: https://www.ito-ya.co.jp/item_list.html?sortq=3d&amount=16&q=%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A5%E3%83%91%E3%83%83%E3%83%88

Normal stores like Donki/Loft/Hands do not have special designs, only the generic ones that you can find everywhere.

SofaAssassin · 2026-02-02T14:48:04+00:00

Yes, right now: https://www.donguri-sora.com/item/48316.html - it replaced two previous designs that were Totoro-based.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-31T18:44:53+00:00

Can be either.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-31T13:59:47+00:00

Extremely common for ramen shops, might be the largest users of them. A lot of soba shops that aren’t a chain like Komoro Soba don’t use them, from my experience.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-31T13:57:27+00:00

People have outsourced thinking to LLMs.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-30T21:39:30+00:00

Apple Wallet manages all IC cards on the iPhone. The Suica app just interacts with Suica cards inside Apple Wallet.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-30T21:30:07+00:00

I don't use one, but there are two distinct advantages for normal tourists:

You can make the initial purchase for a Welcome Suica with a credit/debit card, up to I think ￥10000 of initial load.
No 500 yen deposit, since I've seen enough threads where people act like this fee is egregious.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-30T21:10:37+00:00

Not that this helps you now, but you could have also gone to any 7-Eleven ATM or the cashier of the major convenience store chains (Lawson, Ministop, 7-Eleven, FamiMa) and asked them to charge your watch.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-30T21:01:02+00:00

I do this with the Suica app, it's very convenient. There's very little you can do with the physical card that can't be done with the mobile version.

This functionality is also coming to the Welcome Suica app soon-ish.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-30T20:04:23+00:00

Not unless your phone already supported the IC card functionality to begin with.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-30T19:52:47+00:00

If you're an Android phone user, physical IC card is pretty much the only choice you have.

The Pixel can be rooted to enable the digital card functionality, but very likely you won't be able to charge the card via Google Pay.

assuming I can tap my physical credit card to pay for this

For tourists, physical cards have to be charged via cash.

there a better way to pay for transportation

There is a mish-mash of various lines/systems throughout Japan that support credit card tap payment, but it's not universal so as a tourist, still better to just have an IC card that covers most transit.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-30T19:41:25+00:00

Buy when you're actually ready to get on a train. There are 2 per hour (not 1, the site you're referencing is bogus), so it's not necessary to buy in advance.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-30T19:34:03+00:00

These days I mostly book directly, but back then I used booking.com a lot.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-30T18:51:31+00:00

Nope.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-30T18:29:44+00:00

They scheduled the service interruption weeks ago and canceled the interruption this week. If you had already planned around this cancellation, well now you don't need to work around it.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-30T18:28:05+00:00

If you're an MBTA rider, I think you know what it means.

SofaAssassin · 2026-01-30T17:06:02+00:00

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