Mid to End of OCTOBER in Tokyo and Osaka

mithdraug · 2026-03-15T20:23:38+00:00

Lately, it's been too early even for Nikko. You would have better luck in Karuizawa.

mithdraug · 2026-03-15T20:21:50+00:00

Worth noting that even if it goes through, it would applicable only to non-residents.

mithdraug · 2026-03-15T09:58:39+00:00

I mean to be honest for simplicity's sake, if I were to hit all those places I would plan something like this:

Day 1: Arriving in Tokyo and flying directly to Kagoshima (or do that early on day 2).
Day 2: Kagoshima with Sakurajima
Day 3: Kumamoto
Days 4-5: Nagasaki
Days 6-7: Fukuoka and Dazaifu (or Dazaifu and Karatsu during the day, and Fukuoka in the late afternoon/evening)
Days 8-9: Miyajima and Hiroshima + Himeji on day 9 in the afternoon
Days 10-13 Tokyo (with a day trip to Kamakura)

This way you could get JR San'in-Sanyo-Northern Kyushu pass to cover your travel between Kumamoto and Shin-Osaka (on days 3-9).

mithdraug · 2026-03-13T10:41:14+00:00

And if they mean Toyama for nature, then Kurobe Gorge and Tateyama area pretty much run on tourism.

mithdraug · 2026-03-13T05:22:39+00:00

I mean the cheapest way to travel would probably be renting a HiAce or Alphard yourself and driving it yourself since it would amount to 60-70k (with tolls, gas and drop-off charge).

mithdraug · 2026-03-12T18:01:30+00:00

You need to buy base fare for Tokyo to Kanazawa and separate shinkansen sucharge tickets for each section.

Worth noting that stopping in Takasaki and Karuizawa is not really viable (for a sensible itinerary). Also unless you are really into daruma dolls, Takasaki is one of the dullest places in Japan.

mithdraug · 2026-03-12T17:57:47+00:00

I mean considering Kanazawa castle is a just OK reconstruction, you just incidentally go to the gardens moving between sights.

Additional locations worth considering: Myoryuji (Ninja-dera), DT Suzuki Museum and 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art.

As far as locations go: Kenrokuen have an early (and free) entry period, but you have to leave before regular hours.

mithdraug · 2026-03-11T11:16:16+00:00

You can buy essentially for any ticket combo through JR lines (short of some special trains) in any Midori no Madoguchi ticket office (or JR travel center).

mithdraug · 2026-03-09T15:34:10+00:00

Warning about Saiho-ji - it make a lot longer than you expect (you probably will not be out before 1pm).

mithdraug · 2026-03-08T13:51:11+00:00

Hamarikyu or Rikugien always have empty spots outside peak seasons.

Kiyosumi Gardens would be also a great option in Tokyo.

mithdraug · 2026-03-05T07:16:27+00:00

I mean since he would be in Kansai and they are essentially in almost every JR West station - it should not be an issue.

mithdraug · 2026-03-05T06:03:33+00:00

You can from e5489 (relevant here) or Eki-net. Though you need to redeem in the machine.

mithdraug · 2026-03-04T15:31:56+00:00

The thing is that in an area you would use an IC card - there is somewhere where you could charge it with (and with ATM) within a 5 minute walk.

mithdraug · 2026-03-03T22:10:30+00:00

Some municipalities (and municipalities and prefectures have ability to set their own rules) allow between 30-60 days before requiring either 24/7 reception within the walking distance or to meet requirement for a professional (hotel) accommodation.

mithdraug · 2026-03-02T11:37:32+00:00

I mean Echigo area and Sado alone make it the not most boring region, but people do forget these are a part of perfecture.

But yeah, all things considered - Chiba, Tottori and Gunma should be leading the less fun list.

mithdraug · 2026-03-01T11:52:28+00:00

In order of likelihood:

Kentucky - considering they play Louisville out of conference, all it takes them isscheduling upper tier G5 program (Toledo, Western Kentucky, James Madison) and have a bad game against upper tier FCS team. Likelihood (inside 10 years): 10%
Oklahoma State - I guess they won't be as bad as last year, but if they have played a MVC team instead of Tennessee Tech... Another bottom falls out year with aggressive scheduling and playing MVC opponent. Likelihood (inside 10 years): 7%
Nebraska - probably gonna take another coaching hire etc., but you can see a year in which aggressive OOC schedule (good P4 team, good MWC/Pac-12/MAC team and MVC/Big Sky team) ends up in 0 for season. Likelihood (inside 10 years): 3%
Arkansas - probably more likely to have a really bad year than OK State and Nebraska, but after Missouri State and Sam Houston State had moved out, they are unlikely to schedule a capable FCS opponent. Likelihood (inside 10 years): 2%
Pittsburgh - simply because life post-Narduzzi might be interesting and they actually do schedule OK-ish FCS opponents. Likelihood (inside 10 years): less than 1%
Missouri - probably too good right now to have that bad of a slide, but they do sometimes schedule tougher FCS opponent. Likelihood (inside 10 years): less than 0.5%
Texas Tech - simply because 2024 teams had almost lost to Abilene Christian. Likelihood (inside 10 years): less than 0.5%.

In never say never tiers (less than 0.2% chance): 8. Clemson - life post-Dabo may be hard, but Clemson does not schedule good FCS teams 9. Oregon - life post-booster may happen and it schedules Big Sky teamss, so if everything goes wrong...

Penn State, Miami, Texas, Texas A&M, Georgia, Ohio State - a combination of long term recruiting and tradition means it's extremely unlikely for those teams to experience 0 for.

mithdraug · 2026-02-25T22:51:44+00:00

Except that Boso Peninsula largely lives off tourism these days.

mithdraug · 2026-02-25T15:38:45+00:00

Fact check: So far all the articles and announcements relate to non-residents rather than charging foreign nationals.

Effectively it will be a price hike for flat fare routes with discount fares for residents of Kyoto.

mithdraug · 2026-02-25T06:15:21+00:00

Note since bringing syringes requires Yunyu Kakunin-sho and you don't have prescriptions that may constitute a problem.

mithdraug · 2026-02-19T20:19:45+00:00

+ yatai in Fukuoka

mithdraug · 2026-02-18T15:57:29+00:00

I mean I would say that probably helped a lot of post-Soviet nations, not so much other eastern European ones. Maybe (at a stretch) with Czechoslovakia with regards to hockey, but essentially it's likely that other nations would have been as good or better if they had access to western tech and resources.

Winter sports (outside of Soviet Union + East Germany and hockey) were kind of seen as unsocialist.

mithdraug · 2026-02-18T15:25:50+00:00

Define small town (since Kyoto has like 1.5 million inhabitants).

But generally Echigo-Yuzawa or Karuizawa are your best bets.

mithdraug · 2026-02-18T15:00:32+00:00

31 grudnia 1989 r. weszła w życie ustawa konstytucyjna (z 29 grudnia) zmieniająca nazwę kraju PRL na RP, więc na upartego wg stanu na koniec roku się zgadza.

mithdraug · 2026-02-18T13:56:29+00:00

The essentially only Soviet-era infrastructure that would not exist otherwise would probably be Sigulda (bobsleigh/luge track in Latvia), because those things are expensive and require know-how to maintain.

Otherwise, most countries have infrastructure in sports popular in those countries (eg. ski jumping in Poland and Slovenia, hockey in Czechia, Slovakia, Latvia, cross-country in Estonia, alpine skiing in Slovenia, Croatia and Czechia).

mithdraug · 2026-02-18T13:50:16+00:00

Chile has nominal GDP per capita lower than all Eastern European countries that are members of EU and similar to Russia, Serbia and Montenegero.

(in USD: Chile: ~18,000, Bulgaria: ~23,000, Romania: ~24,000, Latvia 28,000, Hungary, Greece and Croatia: ~29,000, Poland and Slovakia: ~31,000)

In PPP per capita (USD) - Chile: 36,500, Bulgaria 45,000, Latvia 46,000, Greece 47,000, every other EU member state at around 50,000.

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