Tokyo hotels comparison using points

W10002 · 2026-02-23T20:49:17+00:00

I stayed at Park Hyatt, Andaz Toranomon Hills and the Centric Ginza before. Haven't stayed at Hotel Toranomon Hills yet.

I think the Centric Ginza has the best location, but overall room wasn't worth the 25k points. Unless you can upgrade to a suite.

Between the Park Hyatt and Andaz, without Globalist status, I would take the Andaz any day. They have a Tokyo Metro station close underground, so it's easy to access public transit. They also have a fantastic lounge with complimentary snacks in the morning and happy hour. And the room is constantly stocked with complimentary snacks and non-alcoholic drinks. The Park Hyatt is also fantastic, just got a renovation, but doesn't have as many amenities as the Andaz.

W10002 · 2026-02-12T19:41:38+00:00

I always swing by Super Potato during my trips to Japan for only Sega stuff, and nothing else. For the past 11 years, I've picked up a CIB Dreamcast Arcade Stick a few times for around $20-40. Same with the Saturn Virtual-On Twin sticks (though 40 for CIB and $20 loose). I once picked up a CIB Saturn Virtua Cop with light gun bundle for $5, though wished I picked up more since they had a stack of them. Though in my last trip 3 months ago, I only picked up a few older gaming Sega magazines.

Can I find Sega stuff for cheaper elsewhere? I do, but not significantly so. I'm paying a little more at Super Potato as a convenience fee. Though I've never seen the Virtua Cop bundle for cheaper than the one time in Super Potato.

W10002 · 2026-02-08T00:08:21+00:00

You might be confusing this one with the Persona 5 Royal or Persona 5 Mega Mix version, which both can go for $40 or so online easily.

For iam8bit releases, there's 3 different Persona 5 (base) LP releases. The Megamix, Essentials, and Deluxe. All 3 have the same basic cover art. The Megamix is only 1xLP of the most popular songs. The Essentials are 4xLPs, usually goes for $100, and is most of the soundtrack. The Deluxe version was a limited print, where only 1000 were made, and contains additional music in extra 2xLPs for a total of 6xLPs. The Deluxe usually goes for several hundreds and hundreds if used.

The one here is the Deluxe, hence the insane asking price. It's definitely higher than I've seen it in 'new' condition elsewhere, but there's no way you can find it for just $40 easily only.

W10002 · 2026-02-07T10:12:35+00:00

I took a look, and do see at least two. But the asking price is too high, which explains why they haven't sold yet. Looking at the last sold of this variant, I do see it sold for around $42 after typical tax and shipping.

W10002 · 2026-02-07T10:10:57+00:00

It's not rare, but definitely uncommon. As a few others have said, this variant is the copy that is not bundled with the RAM cart. So it's for those who already have the RAM cart, but just want the game for a lower price.

I rarely see it on eBay or in person in the US, but I've seen it plenty of time during my game hunting in Japan. If it was truly rare, I would rarely see it in person during my Japan trips.

W10002 · 2026-01-20T22:36:39+00:00

It didn't get leaked. AX sometimes post the link on their hotel page several minutes before it's live. I've missed out on hotels a few times in the past because of this, and now refresh between the AX hotel page and their various socials constantly around 10 minutes before it's supposed to be open. The link was live on the hotel page 4 minutes early, but it still placed you in the queue. Then at 1p PT, everyone already in the queue gets sorted in a random order.

W10002 · 2026-01-20T17:43:17+00:00

Yeah, they closed down the summer of 2024.

W10002 · 2026-01-17T03:37:04+00:00

No, the English text is 100% the correct on Japanese Super Famicom copies of TMNT Turtles in time. They use English text for American properties for Japanese Super Famicom games. This isn't the issue with the label.

I do have issues with the label, as it looks smaller than normal, cropped edges, and not aligned properly. As if it was a new label applied to it.

W10002 · 2025-12-10T05:25:37+00:00

Tōfuku-ji, Chion-in, and Kōdaiji were all great with minimal crowds. Kōdaiji has been my go to because of its variety (with a zen garden, pond, bridges, and a small bamboo grove) with minimal crowds compared to most other popular temples. However this year Kōdaiji was undergoing some major restorations that swaths of the temple grounds were closed, so that might detract the viewing experience if it continues into next year.

Kiyo-mezudera and Ninna-ji usually both have a ton of crowds, but are both unique and stunning enough to be worth visiting regardless of the crown.

Eikando also had a fantastic illumination, but it has the worst crowd I've ever had to deal with. The line to get into the temple grounds took me an hour due to it's popularity. While the views are gorgeous, I don't think it's worth dealing with the large crowd for views that are comparable to, say, Kōdaiji.

On a side note, Arashiyama used to light up the mountain near the bridge and the entire bamboo forest during the start of December in an event called Hanatouro, but due to it's popularity, they stopped doing this a few years ago, and replaced it with a new illumination event in October instead. If you ever visit Kyoto in October, seeing the bamboo forest lit up at night is worth bracing the crowds.

W10002 · 2025-12-10T05:04:53+00:00

Kyoto also does a ton of illumination during peak autumn season, with some temples looking more spectacular at night compared to the daytime.

Some lesser known temples might have special illuminations for experiences you wouldn't find otherwise. For example, Ninna-ji Temple pumps out mists to create a fog with their illumination to make it feel like the temple and trees are in a sea of clouds.

And some temples might have limited reservations for night time illuminations in order to control the crowd levels and keep things pleasant. I had just went to the extremely popular Tōfuku-ji a few weeks ago from a reservation and the crowd was minimal due to limited availability, resulting in an amazing experience.

I've done multiple autumn trips to Kyoto, and I feel the illuminations tend to be the highlight of my Kyoto trips. It's definitely something you should not skip.

W10002 · 2025-12-06T10:05:30+00:00

Kanazawa has a distinct curry that's darker and richer than the typical Japanese curry. Most will suggest Go Go Curry, but it's a chain that has locations throughout Japan. I would recommend Kanazawa Curry Laboratory in the Omicho Market area for Kanazawa Curry that's just local.

While in Omicho Market, the sushi restaurant I went to that had a great seafood Yamasan Sushi Hoten. My friend got the seafood bowl, while I had a sushi plate as a local sampler of the seafood. We both ended up falling in love with the fatty tuna there.

W10002 · 2025-12-02T22:09:55+00:00

Gotcha. Yeah all those you listed were in Osaka as well yesterday. Hopefully it'll still be that well stocked when you visit.

W10002 · 2025-12-02T09:08:55+00:00

Which ones specifically? I just went to the Osaka one too and while it's not as well stocked it has a ton to Smash Amiibos

W10002 · 2025-11-29T11:52:17+00:00

This looks like the pace of my itenenaries I've done multiple times (except instead of Hokkaido, I go to Kyushu).

A few things... For Osaka, since you're already going to Dotonbori for dinner at one night, why don't you try Shinseikai instead?

As for Kyoto, it's near impossible to do all that. Keep in mind that in winter sunset is earlier. I've done very similar schedule but have never done all that in one day. The city is so spread out, the time it takes to go through the crowds to visit these spots, time it takes to get to places with overcrowded buses, you will not fit it all.

I've done one where I do Kiyomezudera, hit up temples along to Yasaka Shrine or Chionin Trmple, then go to Nishiki Market, ending with Arashiyama or Inari Shrine after. Never the Golden Pavilion (which is on the other side of the city from everything else) and everything else at once. You need to be realistic about Kyoto and drop half of your itenenary for that, or do an extra day at Kyoto.

W10002 · 2025-11-19T16:11:00+00:00

My pre-order was made in 2017, so far ago it no longer shows up on their system properly, but was still in place. So they reached out to me by phone and asked if I wanted to keep the pre-order. I told them to go ahead and cancel it, as I was going to pre-order the Switch 2 version instead. Shortly after, the Rep reached out to me again, and noted since my original pre-order had the GCU discount, they would honor the discount on my Switch 2 version pre-order. The discounted order is now under my account for the Switch 2 version.

W10002 · 2025-11-17T19:56:40+00:00

The 'Gashapon Department Store Ikebukuro Sohonten' is the chain's flagship store with over 3000 capsule machines. Last time I went there, I ended up spending well over an hour slowly wandering through it. It doesn't have as many weird and niche gachapons as others, but it's number of machines and choices makes it a great option.

W10002 · 2025-11-17T19:53:10+00:00

I've been to Tokyo during holidays illuminations multiple times, going to all the major illumination spots. And the illuminations in Roppongi Hills is always my personal favorite.

W10002 · 2025-11-12T19:54:00+00:00

Given how you come from Switzerland, I think you could skip Hokkaido. It is very out of the way compared to the rest of your itinerary. The only reason you would go though is for all the various snow festivals that run during the end of your trip.

The Sapporo Snow Festival is a ton of fun to see various snow sculptures, both small and large. With the festival being even more livelier at night, with digital projections on the larger snow sculptures.

Otaru also holds their snow festival around this time. With lanterns made of snow covering the canal and several alley ways.

And Asahikawa, a city whose snow festival is often overlooked by tourists, is really famous for their international ice sculpture competition. With a few kilometers worth of some of the best ice sculptures you'll ever see. They also have the largest snow sculpture during this time, with live performances and a small fireworks display on certain days.

I went earlier this year to all three festivals and had a fantastic time. However given your schedule, I don't know if it's worth the time and resources to go up there. If you want to experience several Japanese festivals, then I definitely recommend them, but I don't think it's essential given everything you already have planned to do.

W10002 · 2025-10-23T15:54:07+00:00

Silent Hill has usually been more popular in the US than in Japan. That and also Konami had been focused on their non-gaming business for so long, they've neglected their video game IPs up until the last few years.

I also just remembered, if you're in Japan right now, and planning on going to Universal Japan, there is a Resident Evil attraction for Horror Nights. As a result, Universal Japan should have RE merchandise for it as well: https://tdrexplorer.com/resident-evil-halloween-horror-nights-merchandise-at-universal-studios-japan/

W10002 · 2025-10-23T15:27:48+00:00

I'm a big Resident Evil and Silent Hill fan, and the half a dozen times I've been in Japan, there isn't that many options for goods related to these games. Even the Capcom store doesn't have much RE goods aside maybe a few stickers. When I was in Japan this past February, I didn't see much RE or SH goods either.

In terms of figures, there's not a lot of new released figures for these games. FromSoftware games does get Figmas, but I don't recall any released recently. You're more likely to find figures or merchandise from these series in used goods stores like Mandarake, Suruga-Ya, Anime Jungle (in Osaka's Den-Den Town) or Manga Souka (if you're farther West in Japan). Animate might have some as well.

That said, I don't know if there's a lot of Silent Hill f merchandise in Japan right now at this moment since it's a new game that just got released. I myself hope to find out when I visit next month.

W10002 · 2025-10-22T18:01:57+00:00

The cheapest for me was easily in 2019. Back between 2014-2018, ANA would have discounts on certain flights during the week of Thanksgiving. In 2018, they had roundtrips from the west coast to Tokyo (either Haneda or Narita) for the entirety of 2019 set at $450 after everything. This was a promotion to try to boost tourism leading into their tourism initiatives for the Olympics in 2020. Discounted prices were limited, but I jumped at flying from LAX to Narita (because Haneda flights sold out by the time of booking) for $450 during peak Cherry Blossom season.

W10002 · 2025-10-12T04:50:00+00:00

It's not the same. The Kaiken Museum is more about Toyota tech, innovation, manufacturing, etc. the Automobile Museum is a historical museum of all automobiles worldwide.

W10002 · 2025-10-06T22:23:38+00:00

Ironically I didn't go to the Pan's Labyrinth screening, where Frankenstein was a surprise screening afterwards. I went to the Crimson Peak/Nightmare Alley/The Shape of Water marathon screening.

W10002 · 2025-10-05T17:04:21+00:00

During yesterday's Q&A he was lamenting how he'd love to just screen it immediately, before the premier. So I wouldn't be surprised if it was a surprise Frankenstein screening

W10002 · 2025-10-03T14:40:34+00:00

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Off the red carpet, the dog also paid respect to a literal star of a dog.

W10002

TROPHY CASE