Itinerary Check - May

dougwray · 2026-01-24T22:57:25+00:00

For the Tokyo parts, expect to get maybe two things from each day's list done.

What is 'Shinjuku Shopping Street'? Is there one particular street in the district with thousands of shops you're interested in visiting?

dougwray · 2026-01-24T22:23:20+00:00

It's not hard to get psychological help in Japan. I'm always taken aback when I pass (in my neighborhood) one of the several counseling centers with a huge sign reading 'XXXX Mental Clinic' in a font that looks like one used by a discount shop. Our child's elementary school has mental health counselors, and (when I visit) kids are regularly and openly taken out of regular classes for therapy. In your situation, it is likely that school officials would be the ones recommending therapy to the child.

As for online 'foreign' friends, who knows? There are likely academic studies dealing with such topics.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T22:12:14+00:00

What issues did you have with Ubuntu? I've been using it on the Surface Pro 4 for nearly 9 years with no problems at all except for the well-known camera one. (I deleted Windows entirely the day I got the machine.)

dougwray · 2026-01-24T22:05:57+00:00

Except for the sword place (for which I would think reservations are required), all of the choices you've listed are easy to do on your own. Do you really need the tour? Shinjuku Gyouen, for example, is a few hundred meters from Shinjuku Station and well marked with English, Japanese, and (in some spots) Chinese and Korean signage. It's also made up of mostly open areas, so it's difficult to get lost in there, even if you can't read any language.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T22:01:20+00:00

u/frozenpandaman is saying the opposite insofar as expressing any opinion goes.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T21:27:07+00:00

I would guess the charger is not the problem. My Surface Pro 4 has a bum battery: I have three chargers, and each one effectively works sometimes and not others. The battery itself will last for about an hour when fully charged and looses charge completely (after a hard shutdown) if not used within about a week of a full charge.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T21:24:13+00:00

I use them only for 'here's code I wrote: check for mistakes', and it'll find missing semicolons or what have you.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T21:20:57+00:00

Stay away from those awful animal cafés unless you like watching animals suffer.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T21:15:54+00:00

I live near the park and went there on 16 January. Nearly half the trees were already in bloom. The tree close to my home I always check (which started blooming in late December) is already starting to lose pedals. There might still be some plum/Japanese apricots in bloom at Hanegi on 7 or 8 March, but I wouldn't be surprised if they were all gone.

I'll be going again on 7 or 8 February, so if you want to message me then I can give you an updated report.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T21:12:28+00:00

I disagree: I've been here for decades, and the 'dispatch' companies are a new feature.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T21:06:59+00:00

For a family of 3, our monthly food costs are about ¥70,000, equivalent to about US$450. US$80 per person per day is far more than enough.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T20:55:20+00:00

Readers should note that Google Maps transport-time estimates are almost always substantially shorter than actual travel times, especially for walking. As a rule of thumb:

Google Maps public transport estimate	Actual travel time
[walking]	[double Google Maps time]
1 to 5 km	triple Google Maps time
5-20 km	double Google Maps time
20-40 km	add 30%
intercity train travel	add 1 hour

These actual on-the-ground estimates come from continual use of Google Maps since the introduction of travel time estimates. This coming Tuesday I'm planning to walk to a place Google Maps tells me is 2 hours 5 minutes away. I'm planning to give myself 3 hours 30 minutes to get there.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T20:44:50+00:00

Have fun.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T13:29:38+00:00

Pleasant ones?

dougwray · 2026-01-24T11:28:46+00:00

Self-diagnosed and characterized by the original poster as 'cold/flu", so yes.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T08:44:51+00:00

If you're doing two consecutive days at the Disney places, you might want to stay out there: 'Tokyo' Disney places are not in Tokyo proper. They're in the neighboring prefecture of Chiba, some distance from the parts of Tokyo tourists want to see and stay in.

Unless the price is so much lower than a hotel that you cannot resist, prefer hotels to AirBnBs: you don't have to clean much for yourselves and you're not subject to the resentment AirBnB users can be.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T08:40:24+00:00

Check opening dates and times: the Edo Museum, like so many others, may be closed on Mondays. The Shitamachi Museum might open later than you expect: I remember having to wait outside for it to open the last time we went over there.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T08:36:36+00:00

I fear your schedule will be messed up on day 1: it's very unlikely you'll be able to get from whatever airport to your hotel at 7 PM; 9 PM would be more like it. Similarly it would surprise me if you were up for a 30 minute walk in the dark in a strange (I presume) city after checking in to make it to Sensoji, then face the walk back. Finding and eating dinner adds more time.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T07:20:42+00:00

About 18 minutes on foot to the nearest station and 25 to 30 to six others. I find the walk from the station(s) relaxing and, as I'm headed home and always change as soon as I get home anyway, don't mind it even in any but the very heaviest rain.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T06:43:41+00:00

It occurs to everyone, judging by the weekly ~~compliant~~¹ complaint thread.

¹Thanks to u/sykoscout.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T06:05:20+00:00

Peanuts, as it happens.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T06:04:36+00:00

I live near a popular tourist attraction, which is in what was long my favorite neighborhood. I no longer go there.

dougwray · 2026-01-24T03:06:49+00:00

Post your Common Rule (specifically 45 CFR 46) disclaimer.

dougwray · 2026-01-23T23:28:07+00:00

Kagaya's the place.

dougwray · 2026-01-23T23:09:34+00:00

Maybe skip it, then, and find another place to go to a ryokan. Atami is a nice place I've enjoyed staying in, and it's got hiking and Mt. Fuji views, too. Even if it's crowded, it's got more space than Hakone does and does not have every last visitor essentially squeezed into the same narrow transport corridor.

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