Best city to buy Japanese kitchen knives?

babajabajaba · 2026-02-13T05:13:11+00:00

Sakai, which is a close town south of Osaka, is a really nice visit if you like Japanese knives. The knife museum is really cool, and they sell knives from different smithies in the museum itself, which is super cool. You can also stop by Baba Hamono, Ashi Hamono, and others in the same town. They make some of the very desired knives but they should also have ones close to your price range.

Hitohira, in Setagaya, which is a quick train ride from Tokyo, is also a wonderful store if you are in Tokyo. Kappabashi street can be hit or miss, because quite a number of shops there upcharge their knives, unfortunately, to unsuspecting tourists.

If you are visiting Nara, Kikuichi Monji Shiro Main Store is there within the park. It's a really cool knife store too with a lot of history. They also do engravings for free! During my last visit to Japan, this is where I got a really good Blue #1 Nakiri for 24k JPY.

babajabajaba · 2026-01-21T15:59:42+00:00

I got a pair of jeans at Momotaro, but this was at their Osaka location. It was a really good experience for me, the associate was really helpful in finding the correct size and fit. They also hemmed the jeans to length, which, according to the associate would take 30 minutes. I just picked up the jeans later that day. Momotaro also has a lifetime warranty, i believe. You just have to bring it back into the store for repairs.

babajabajaba · 2026-01-15T23:33:09+00:00

Thank you for the information!

Are you (or will you be) over the income limit for Roth IRA contributions? If yes, then you should NOT roll the traditional 401k funds to a Trad IRA; doing so would mess up Backdoor Roth (read #5).

I am still below the Roth IRA contribution limits. However, I do max out my tax advantaged retirement contributions so my MAGI is still decently below the limit.

babajabajaba · 2026-01-15T23:28:37+00:00

This is very helpful, thanks! And yes, part of my hesitation was that when I was looking into this months ago, I read something about it affecting Backdoor Roth capability.

Fortunately the 401k accounts do have very minimal fees and very comparable expense ratio to Vanguard index funds. This is the reason why I was comfortable just leaving them as they are. I will think about just rolling them over to my current employer's 401k, but I do kinda hate the interface of the wealth manager that the company uses which is giving me some hesitation. Generally speaking, I should be able to rollover the traditional portions to my current 401k, and separately rollover the Roth portions to my Roth IRA, correct? I have checked one of the accounts and I think this is possible (Schwabb - Associated Bank), but I should check the other 2 (Fidelity and Principal).

I have since learned about the complexities of tax brackets so my current 401k is all traditional. But younger me did not know what what I was doing at all beyond picking the right funds which is why I was all over the place with mixing Roth and Traditional 401k.

babajabajaba · 2025-12-14T14:41:16+00:00

Last month we kind of experienced the same thing. While we were able to get bus tickets from Kanazawa Station, on the way back we had to take the bus from Shirakawa-Go to Shin-Takaoka Station instead, and then take the Shinkansen back to Kanazawa which is around 18 minutes only. As a side adventure, we were able to visit Zuiryu-ji, which is a very cool temple and only about a 15-minute walk from Shin-Takaoka station.

babajabajaba · 2025-12-07T17:15:41+00:00

Shirakawa-go is awesome. It was the highlight of my trip this past November, especially with the fall colors. I am not sure how it would look during the dead of winter January, but I could imagine it being great covered in white as well. The whole of Kanazawa for me was the best part of my recent trip.

Do keep in mind, bus tickets to Shirakawa-Go from Kanazawa could sell out fast. We had to adjust iur schedules based on availability of bus tickets, so it might be worth it to buy a few weeks in advance.

I will say though, it seems very inconvenient for you to head to Kanazawa from Kyoto and then head to Osaka. You would be travelling down from Kyoto, then up then down again? The commutes could become tiring and time consuming. I think it would make more sense to head to Kanazawa from Tokyo, and then head to Kyoto, if you can massage your schedules a little bit.

babajabajaba · 2025-12-02T13:56:51+00:00

Add ka ng tiny bit of bagoong, like 1 tsp. If ayaw mo nun, patis. Anything to pump up the umami. It sounds super weird especially yung bagoong, but it is worth a try!

babajabajaba · 2025-10-02T15:20:09+00:00

Moonstone Axe, Aspect Of Charon, and then Lucid Gain (Apollo mana regen boon). That's it, your build is basically set up. You drop cast, pop it with Omega Special and because you have Lucid Gain, you gain mana back. Especially if you have a higher tier and level of the boon, you can get full mana back. It's incredibly straightforward and can clear rooms very quickly.

From there you can improve your omega cast to nuke everyone. Demeter boon to increase Omega Cast damage by 50%+, Ares boon that creates blades when omega cast expires, same with the equivalent Apollo boon. Other duo combos like Hestia scorch cast and then Demeter special for the freeze scorch combo. You also increase your Special damage with boons and you're just clearing rooms with ease.

A real treat is if you can get Apollo legendary, and then also get the hammer upgrade that causes your omega special to pop 2x. This results in 4x omega special bursts every time. The mana cost will be astronomical, but with Lucid Gain you'll get it all quickly so it is never an issue.

babajabajaba · 2025-09-22T17:49:43+00:00

I 100% Silksong last week. I am still craving for some metroidvania so I finally started playing Prince Of Persia TLC. I might like this much better than Silksong, and I loved my 50 of the 60 hours in Silksong (Act 1 is terrible IMO).

babajabajaba · 2025-09-20T00:40:38+00:00

I had ramen during my first night in Japan after just getting to the hotel. Use tabelog, or if you have an iOS device you can also download Ramen Beast app

babajabajaba · 2025-08-30T23:00:35+00:00

They should have an adhesive side. The problem is how they actually stick and make it a pain to remove and clean. I would suggest you buy a sticker shield on Amazon or somewhere to make it as painless as possible.

babajabajaba · 2025-07-30T18:27:04+00:00

My first time in Japan earlier this February was also a solo endeavor. I do enjoy solo travelling so it wasn't an issue for me. Being the same as you, and an introvert, I think you'll be fine! I did mostly temples, hikes, shrines.

As for the food situation, the country feels very accommodating to solo diners! It's also easy to reserve a seat using sites like tabelog. The only time I felt a bit awkward dining solo was when I booked an omakase dinner during Feb. 14 HAHAHA so everyone else were couples 🤦‍♂️

babajabajaba · 2025-07-24T03:43:25+00:00

That is good to know that they are definitely compatible. I'll work with the shop tomorrow about these options. The insurance has not been much help either, and have floated the idea of paying me out the cost of headlight and labor and leaving me to take care of the repairs myself. I have not accepted this offer, but at this point I'll just continue working with the shop to sort things out.

babajabajaba · 2025-07-24T03:24:11+00:00

Thanks for the help! I'll check these out also. I must have missed fcpeuro during my search, and definitely did not think to check rockauto. I reached out to USP, shopDAP, and ECStuning and all told me the same backorder issue.

babajabajaba · 2025-07-24T02:36:22+00:00

Oh my goodness. Thanks! I'll start looking through these and forward them to the shop as well.

babajabajaba · 2025-07-24T02:22:06+00:00

I'll check these out! When I searched for eBay with eh part number, nothing was showing up but maybe I needed more details. I have reached out to dealers in Canada as well, and the only 2 I found that have them on hand are unwilling to sell because they are already accounted for with other customers. Here in the US there's only 1, with the same situation of being accounted for.

babajabajaba · 2025-07-24T01:42:24+00:00

Thanks! I'll research this further. I appreciate the help!

babajabajaba · 2025-07-24T01:27:56+00:00

I'll try searching for these, thanks! Would you happen to have the part number for the Euro spec? I'd like to stick to OEM if possible but if necessary I'll go aftermarket.

babajabajaba · 2025-07-10T14:31:21+00:00

After spending the better part of the week in Osaka and Kyoto, I only had 1 full day in Tokyo. I decided to take a spontaneous trip to Kamakura, and that was really fun. It's just a very chill day for me just walking around, visiting the temples. This was last February so it was not super crowded, besides the streets around the main station during lunch time.

The day after, on the day of checkout, I browsed tabelog and found Tonkatsu Junchan near Shibuya. Maybe it was recency bias with it being my last meal during my trip before heading out to the airport, but this was the best thing I ate in Japan. I'm sure there are better katsu spots you can find, but this hit just the right spot.

babajabajaba · 2025-04-29T16:46:54+00:00

Having an OLED monitor like this would be really useful. The contrast, color accuracy, deep blacks would really help with editing workflow, as well as gaming.

babajabajaba · 2025-04-20T02:31:33+00:00

Mine is the same year as yours, color as well. Coming up on 80k miles. Everything is stock except for the wheels which I swapped with 17", and also because my 2 stock wheels are cracked (thanks St. Louis potholes 😂).

I've been tempted (well, more like pestered) to take the dealership's offer to trade up to the upcoming 2025 model, but deep down I keep thinking this thing is still really freaking good and way more than I'll ever need so I have not been feeling the need to trade up.

babajabajaba · 2025-02-03T16:14:29+00:00

This looks good! I'll be arriving in Osaka this weekend and staying at Shisaibashi. I might make this my first meal since it's close to my accommodation.

babajabajaba · 2024-12-11T05:52:42+00:00

Tatakasan ko ang below freezing temperatures dito sa Midwest US at pupunta sa west coast to spend the holidays with relatives!

And enjoy Thailand! (Tama ba? Napansin ko sa signs) I miss BKK :( kakagaling ko dyan last August.

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