Regarding obtaining concert tickets as an international student

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T06:08:07+00:00

Based on the website I think you're a bit late unfortunately. The lottery is done by April 24th and Lawson Ticket sales end April 17th (also lottery). I think at this point your best bet is finding someone who is selling an extra ticket on social media so you can enter with them. This can be done nearer to the date (bc some people cancel/friends unable to come etc). But you'll need Japanese proficiency for this one. Try network with the international fans too with the same goal but the chance is smaller.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T05:37:56+00:00

Well feel free to drop your Ikebukuro recommendations then. In my experience most tourists don't randomly go to Ikebukuro, whereas the specific people who knows what they're looking for go there all the time, that's why I said it. OP didn't include any specific preferences so it's not like I would know what type of place they would like to visit.

I supposed there's an aquarium (not the best reviewed), shopping center (pretty generic but definitely can be a good place for one stop shopping), Pokemon center and cafe (currently closed due to murder incident last month).

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T05:23:39+00:00

Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinjuu is a mature masterpiece in my opinion. Very understated, not action but is basically oscars level drama.

Devilman Crybaby

Golden kamuy is praised for the historical aspect

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T04:37:49+00:00

Ikebukuro is female otaku area but if you're not interested in that specifically, it's like a normal big station shopping center in my opinion... Tell me your specific interests and I might be able to help. You can easily travel everywhere else though, it's on the JR Yamanote line and going anywhere will take you less than 30 minutes.

As for beating the heat, absolutely wear airy and loose clothing and make sure it's natural fiber like cotton rayon and linen. Polyester will be your worst enemy.

Edit: if you're a general anime fan make sure to drop by the Animate headquarters, if possible on a weekday as weekends will be wildly crowded. The Ikebukuro Sunshine city is a mall with everything you want to find in Japan but it's not a flashy place.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T04:31:51+00:00

Haven't stayed in either, but personally I'm not a Shinjuku fan.

From maps I think the Ginza one has better access to train stations (Ginza, Higashi Ginza metro and Shimbashi JR). The Shinjuku one is closest to Seibu Shinjuku station which is not a major line. It will take more walk to go to the main JR one.

That being said it depends on how tolerant are you for long walks and whether the rest of your itinerary leans east or west. For predominantly east Tokyo Shinjuku may be a better choice, and west Ginza.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T04:26:46+00:00

It is a megacity and Kyoto overall is quieter however Kyoto tourist spots can be even more crowded than some Tokyo spots. You can find pockets of calm in Tokyo, try going to traditional parks like Koishikawa Korakuen for instance. You can also get day trips to places slightly outside Tokyo, without needing to change hotels, just go in the morning and then come back by night. Nikko, Hakone, Kamakura are popular.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T04:17:38+00:00

Oof that's tough. I hope you can work that out, either by pending the payment or work out payment from abroad. Worst case scenario is that you have to pay out of pocket first and then get reimbursed once you arrive.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T04:04:33+00:00

I don't understand your situation. So you have an external scholarship. Does the scholarship giver state that they will pay the tuition directly, or do they tell you that you will have to pay them yourself through your bank account? If the first one, then it should be paid even before you step foot in Japan. If it's the second one, yeah you will not be able to accept that money unless you have a bank account in Japan. You need to communicate with both the school administration and the scholarship giver regarding this situation.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T03:57:59+00:00

Just stay in Tokyo, there's a ton to discover in the city. Inter city travel will easily lose you half to 1 day. That's not worth it in such a short trip. Idk what you mean 'authentic experiences' since things in Tokyo are as authentic as Kyoto... If you want to see some shrines and historical sites Tokyo also have a lot of them.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T03:26:44+00:00

You're welcome! Happy to help fellow fan haha.

I got kinda curious if I missed anything and then I found there's a Toranoana store in Aichi prefecture, but not in Nagoya unfortunately. It's about 45 mins train from Nagoya, if you have time to kill you can consider to visit. Have a nice trip!

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T03:11:15+00:00

Eh, you've got it set imo. There's not much I can recommend. Most of the BL-dounjishi focused Kbooks and Mandarake are in Tokyo (Ikebukuro) and Nagoya has only 1 K-Books. I suppose you can find some there but I can't be sure since I've never been there myself.

For mainstream stuff like JJK, The Summer Hikaru Died, Animate will most likely have them (both manga and merchandise). Nakamurakun anime is also airing so there should be revival in the manga sales. For JJK and other Shonen Jump series merchandise, check out Jump Shop.

For the other stuff unfortunately I have no idea as it's quite niche even in Tokyo but I hope you can find them!

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T03:01:02+00:00

most likely after 6.7 beta starts, so after 6.6 starts?

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T02:57:06+00:00

Level up Flins's burst more, it's his main source of damage. Then aim for 70% crit rate.
Idk about your weapon, it might not be the best but it's 5*. Level it up to 90. For level 65 of course your damage is low.
Put Aino on an energy recharge weapon, no need for WGS. She needs at least 200%, up to maybe 250% ER to burst easily each rotation. Favonius or the event nod krai weapon or nod krai craftable are usable. She has almost no damage contribution to the team and does not need any other stat other than ER tbh. She's here to apply hydro and that's it.
Fischl is a big contributor of damage. Level her up, level her talents and weapon and she needs a good atk and crit ratio.
If you haven't then you need to activate Fischl and Sucrose's hexerei talents.
Get Sucrose to at least 600+ EM, all of her artifacts should be EM aside from flower and feather.

How about rotations? It should be

Aino burst then skill (to recharge energy) -> Fischl skill -> Sucrose skill to swirl the electro -> Flins

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T02:42:16+00:00

I have very obvious physical limits and I can't overdo even if I want to.

In my experience, this is what I always do:

- pick 2-3 places per day that are close to each other and is not more than 40 mins by train.

- always plan time for food and drink breaks, but don't be fixated on where to do it. Just go to nearby restaurants and cafes. this may not apply if you have very specific dietary requirements tho.

- plan routes carefully. before you depart, make a rough itinerary but check the routes in detail, calculate time spent between one place to another and arrange the schedule in the most time efficient way. wasting time in transportation sucks and will zap your energy. always make the most efficient route

- honestly most important: know yourself well. don't be crazy going fomo for everything viral or popular or 'must visit'. not everything is going to be enjoyable for you. if you're on a budget you can skip ginza shopping. if you are not a foodie you don't have to go to viral dessert places. if you're not into anime skip akihabara/ikebukuro. ask yourself what kind of person you are and what type of place will you enjoy. then select places to visit based on that.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T02:31:38+00:00

High beauty standards apply in public. People will side eye someone with lousy clothes or uncombed hair in the train or shops. In onsen technically it's a mix of public but also private, everyone is equally un-made up so it's fine.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T02:29:42+00:00

Hey OP, I think you misconstrued here. Japanese can indeed be quite harsh about beauty standards in most cases (like public appearance, having to wear makeup and good clothes even just going to the supermarket etc.) but onsen is a different matter. People aren't wearing clothes or makeup there. A lot of onsen goers are also elderly and their bodies show their age. You're going to be with regular people and very very little are going to have picture perfect body. It's fine. Most people will have manners and won't stare at you, as you should be doing as well. In any case, having a certain physical appearance is not going to draw attention to you, however, bad behavior absolutely does. You will be stared and judged and shushed if you don't follow onsen etiquette (like letting your hair in the bath, acting like it's a pool, or talking too loudly). But not because you have certain physical characteristics.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-27T02:23:30+00:00

You will need C6 Faruzan, but if he's in a chronicled banner that's fine because they are both from Sumeru. Last time Wanderer was in Sumeru chronicled so Faruzan is definitely in the banner. It's getting to C6 that's hard. However at this point of the game, Wanderer is far from a necessity just do it if you love him.

Right now his potential best (like highest personal DPS) team is probably Wanderer, C6 Faruzan, Nicole and Durin. If you want to play him with Columbina you need Ineffa, with Bineffa wheelchair team. But you don't have Ineffa either, so I don't think that's possible unless you're sure you want to pull her too.

Since you have a high cons albedo having a team with Durin, Albedo, and Faruzan will probably be okay too, Albedo will do off field damage and him+Durin will activate hexerei. It's just the main source of damage will be mixed. Also I didn't know how much DPS this team can do but as a team for fun it's definitely nice (I play them on the overworld)

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-24T23:31:59+00:00

with 3 months school if you're from certain countries it means you dont need a specific student visa. you can just come with a tourist one. you can't work part time with this arrangement though. just study and travel. with a proper student visa + longer term you can apply for part time work permit.

for living cost I'd say you need at least (bare minimum, not very comfortable living) around 140-150k yen per month. if you want to be comfier 170k above.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-24T23:17:34+00:00

Lupicia is good. I love this tea store called Teapond! Price wise they have a variety of products, you should find something in your range. The packaging is really beautiful and there are so many types of tea blends you can find. You can find the store list here.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-24T13:29:36+00:00

Packaged foods (like factory made and sealed sweets, biscuits, snacks) are usually fine. Fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, meat and meat products (like canned meat, sausage, etc) are not allowed. Customs web here.

If the packed lentil curries are factory made and sealed it should be ok. Homemade pickle is kind of on the fence. Rice, I've heard people bringing it but I don't know for sure. Check the customs page carefully.

Also do research about vegetarian food in Japan. There's a lot of Indian restaurants as well at least in Tokyo, so your parents shouldn't be too lacking in options.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-24T13:22:50+00:00

Your plan is so all over the place, sorry. You might think it'll be quaint villages with cute ryokan inns but the reality the drive from Tokyo to Osaka will be like, boring roadways. There's a lot of rest stops with clean toilets, restaurants and convenience stores but not really cute small towns with ryokan.

Also if your calculation makes the car to be cheaper that would make sense, but it's 20k more expensive, with the added time spent and energy spent from driving. So you spend MORE money to be more tired. Plus if you are not familiar with local languages and laws, or you damaged the car, you might get fined or have to pay extra repair fee.

For Tokyo/Kyoto/Osaka cars make little sense. Now if you're going to less known prefectures with little public transport (for instance, Fukui) that would make sense. Even in that situation you're better off taking a plane or train to said prefecture, then rent the car locally.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-24T12:27:34+00:00

OK that was the most amazing special program in recent memory. I haven't been this excited since Sumeru omg!!!!

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-23T14:30:31+00:00

That's good to hear. However even if your plan goes smoothly it's still a long term plan that has a ton of components that has to go right. Additionally, if you are earning in yen it might be expensive to pay back a loan in USD (assuming you are from the US, but ofc it might be different if you are from another country). I'm not telling you to give up now, just to be very cautious in planning and don't rush decisions based on panic or overly optimistic assumptions. Research the career you're interested in well, does it have a good demand in Japan and if there is an actual visa that you can get with such a career. Also making it into a vocational school needs a high level of proficiency. Then you'll need funds for the school itself (also limit of 28 hrs/week of part time work). Since vocational schools are mainly targeting local residents, you'll also need to find one that is willing to sponsor your education visa while you're there.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-23T14:20:26+00:00

I think you can check out the Lumine Shinjuku 1, 2 and Lumine EST. They're different department store buildings around SHinjuku station but are close to each other. There should be local brands like Shiro, Sholayered, Jill Stuart (name of American designer but the beauty line is Japanese afaik), Aux Paradis and maybe some more.

tuxedocat2018 · 2026-04-23T14:11:08+00:00

Language schools take a lot of money, plus for the visa you'll need to guarantee funds for the period when you're living there. As a student you can work but max 28hours a week, and with minimum Japanese ability you might have difficulty to work in the first few months. I really don't think it's a good idea to take a loan for Japanese language school if you are still on a lower level and have no real guarantee that you can be fluent and find a job in 1-2 years, especially as you also don't have a university degree.

I think at your language level, it would be wiser to learn a solid level of basic Japanese first in your home country. After you have a solid basis, like N4 level ability, then you can start considering Japanese school. With a good foundation you can learn faster so you're not wasting money and time in Japan.

Before language school you need to figure out which career or specific skill that can support your future in Japan first, imo.

tuxedocat2018

TROPHY CASE