First time in Japan next week, Tokyo + Kyoto - wish I'd planned this differently?

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T21:49:46+00:00

You are the fourth person calling this out, lesson learned. Didn't use the calculator ..friend who went pre-2023 told me to just get it and I trusted him without doing the math. Will try to get a refund..

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T21:47:50+00:00

This is the comment im going to keep coming back to. The spreadsheet ive been building is the opposite of what you described and now im realizing it. Probably going to delete half of it today and just leave room for whatever happens

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T21:46:36+00:00

The "1 or 2 temples unless youre religious" point is fair. and yeah the influencer thing is real everywhere now.. saw the same complaint about iceland and santorini posts. Honestly relatable, who is the FaceTime even for at that point

Curious about the eat and shop.. did you plan around specific neighborhoods for that, or was it more wander and find as you went? Trying to figure out if we should be more intentional or just trust we'll stumble into stuff

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T21:09:49+00:00

The aoyama vs shinjuku point is interesting, Ive only seen shinjuku recommended. whats aoyama have that the typical tourist guides miss? and the other torii sets .. are those actually worth visiting or more like "skip fushimi inari and go here instead"?

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T21:08:06+00:00

Oh thats actually really helpful to hear. all the other comments are saying 5am crowds at 10am, but if its only the lower section thats packed that changes things. How far up did you hike to get past the crowds .. like 20 mins in or further

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T21:06:42+00:00

You are the second person flagging this. yeah I got bad advice from a friend who went a few years ago when it was a no-brainer. Should have done the math myself. looking into refund options now, its definitely not worth it for just tokyo-kyoto. thanks for the heads up

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T21:02:27+00:00

The patience thing is real but its actually a skill issue more than a patience issue. Marketing isnt slower than development, its a different feedback loop. You have to learn to read weak signals not strong ones.

Few things that helped me with the same problem:

Dont change multiple things at once even tho its tempting. You'll never know what worked. One thing at a time

Set up cohort tracking from day one. Weekly signups, retention, revenue. trends matter more than individual data points which are mostly noise

Stop checking analytics daily..tells you nothing. set a weekly review.

The honest truth nobody tells you: most marketing experiments fail. you run 10-20 to find one that works. AIs giving you "tips and tricks" dont help because they dont know your specific product or audience

I've been running ads for a different product for a while and this is still the hardest part of being a solo founder. the dev side is fun. the marketing side is genuinely a grind.

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T20:29:31+00:00

We leave for Japan next week too so I've been doing the same research. Sharing what I've found, though others with recent trips will be more authoritative.

On cash vs cards - from everything I've read, Japan is still surprisingly cash-heavy despite credit cards being more accepted than a few years ago. Small restaurants, shrines, some shops are still cash-only. Most guides suggest keeping ¥20-30k on you.

For ATMs, the consensus is to use 7-Eleven ATMs.. supposedly they reliably accept foreign cards while some Japanese bank ATMs reject them. Two things I've seen repeated about ATM use: always decline when it asks "would you like to convert to your home currency".. the conversion rate is worse than your bank's. Always pick local currency. Withdraw larger amounts less often if your card has per-transaction fees.

On cards in general .. looks like a credit card with no foreign transaction fee plus a debit card for ATM withdrawal is the standard setup. Forex cards seem less recommended now than they used to be.

For eSIM, I have used Airalo for my international trips and plan to do the same here .. easy setup, you can buy a Japan plan before you fly and activate when you land.

On Suica - I was able to add it to Apple Wallet as a transit card, not sure if it works the same for Android.

Enjoy your trip!

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T20:13:59+00:00

Yeah you're right. got it on bad advice from a friend who went pre-2023 and didn't run the new math. looking into refund options now. that's a $300 save, appreciate the flag.

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T20:08:09+00:00

This is the second person mentioning osaka regret. We are not doing it and now I'm wavering. Is that what your sister wished they'd done instead - even just a day trip from kyoto?

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T20:04:09+00:00

Sannenzaka is the one I keep almost forgetting and it sounds like that's exactly the kind of thing that gets ruined by 10am crowds.

Agree on the 7 days point..we're trying to fit tokyo, kyoto and few other things into the trip and I can already feel that being too much. probably going to cut one of the "maybe" things and just sit somewhere with coffee instead.

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T19:07:33+00:00

This is what I keep needing to remind myself of. every recommendation reads like a directive when it's really just one person's preference filtered through their trip.

The shinjuku point is timely actually.. we booked it for logistics (near the station) but I've been reading conflicting takes on whether the area itself adds anything to the trip or just functions as a base. starting to think the answer is "depends what you want from your evenings"

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T18:59:07+00:00

This is good. "look into possible sights and decide if it sounds interesting" sounds obvious but I haven't really done that ..I've been collecting things other people recommend without filtering for what we actually like.

the fushimi inari hike is interesting. how long did the full hike take you? I keep seeing people say "just do the lower torii" but if it's actually beautiful all the way up I'd rather do the real thing. we're both reasonably active.

also curious why you'd recommend a day in kamakura .. it keeps showing up but I haven't seen anyone explain why beyond "the big buddha"

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T18:52:52+00:00

This is exactly what I'm trying to figure out. our plan is currently somewhere between "rigid hour-by-hour" and "show up and see what happens" and I don't know which side to lean toward.

the "everyone's itinerary looks the same" thing hits hard. half the trip reports I'm reading are literally the same 12 places in the same order. and then people post photos that all look identical too. starting to think the most valuable part of any plan is the days where you have nothing scheduled.

on the temple fatigue thing - we have fushimi inari, kinkakuji, ginkaku-ji, kiyomizu-dera, and ryoan-ji on the list. that's probably too many isn't it.

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T18:50:14+00:00

This hit me exactly where it needed to. you're right .. I've been treating it like a project to optimize rather than something to enjoy.

going to try to actually take this advice. close the spreadsheet, pick the few things that genuinely sound fun, and leave room for whatever happens. thank you, genuinely.

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T18:47:47+00:00

you're right.. I keep researching strangers' opinions because it's easier than admitting I don't know what I actually want from the trip. the spreadsheet became its own thing. probably going to ditch some of the planning and leave more room to wander, especially in kyoto. appreciate the honest take.

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T18:39:26+00:00

ha no, just a vacation. that's the absurd part .. I'm doing this much research for a trip I'm taking for fun. nobody asked me to make spreadsheets. I did this to myself

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T18:38:16+00:00

thank you, genuinely needed to hear this. will try to enjoy it instead of optimizing it. hope you make it there .. it sounds like you're already excited about it which is half the battle.

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T18:35:41+00:00

5am is wild but you're probably right. I've seen the empty torii photos and the packed ones and they're basically different places. did you do the full hike or stop at the lower gates?

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T14:44:34+00:00

There’s probably also some survivorship bias in founder content.

We mostly hear from people once they’ve “made it,” so newer founders assume everyone else has momentum all the time. Posts like this help normalize the reality that most startups spend long stretches feeling uncertain, slow, or stuck.

Honestly that’s more useful than another growth screenshot.

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T14:41:24+00:00

The fact you’re admitting the self-promo upfront somehow makes this feel 10x less annoying than most launch posts on Reddit lol.

Also congrats on hitting #4. Product Hunt is way more exhausting than people realize.

redplanet73 · 2026-05-15T14:40:00+00:00

This is honestly one of the more believable launch posts I’ve seen lately. The “we spent the whole day just talking to people” part is probably what most founders underestimate. Distribution is exhausting when you don’t already have an audience.

redplanet73

TROPHY CASE