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good to know, I have been considering going in october, I just dont know if I should go through a travel agency or a group since my japanese is rusty

First of all - I really (!!) enjoy your channel and I have watched a bunch of your travel videos, learnt many practical things and benefited from your advice. I have a question but I didn't know where to post it exactly, so here it goes ... What are your thoughts about traveling in Japan with an elderly family member, say in their 60s or 70s? What are some good things to consider and keep in mind to avoid troubles and make that holiday trip enjoyable and memorable? Many of your videos involve problem-solving, etc. while traveling with kids, and that's nice, but what about bringing the kids' grandmother or g-father along, or some other older relative or friend eager to experience Japan for a couple of weeks? In the back of my own mind, of course, is the plan of bringing my 79/yo mother to Japan in Dec-2024--Jan 2025 which is an exciting but slightly daunting project. My wife is Japanese and that will help out a lot, but I will be very much responsible for making this trip manageable and enjoyable. Let me quickly add that my mom is in good health for her age, but cannot cope with too stressful daily activities. What are your spontaneous comments and advice on this issue? Or ... why don't you guys make a dedicated video on that topic : ) / Many thanks in advance if you have a chance to address these questions / Mattias Burell / Sweden

Thanks for video but if we have two checked bag I know you mentioned we can't add that on klook do you recommend we book on smart ex app just concerned they will run out of seats with baggage if I just tell them in office after purchase with klook?

Thank you for the informative video. We were there in Hakone Japan last week, and we purchased the Hakone 2 days freepass from Shinjuku station. What a disappointing trip that was. It doesn't matter if two or three days pass once you return back to Shinjuku station, the freepass can not be reused again. In our case the station staff took away our pass. He said it is done. We were shocked and confused. He showed us a print out of the Hakone freepass with a fine print that said " The Hakone Freepass (including those valid for multiple days) cannot be used after returning to your departure station." We gave up arguing after we read that. Basically the freepass is encourages people to stay in Hakone to fully benefit from it. Which I don't mind at all if I knew this information beforehand I can plan the trip differently. We can't believe this kind of thing will happen in Japan. The whole entire trip in Japan was only positive until this happened. Read the fine print.

Wow your videos are great. Super informative

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Hi, Thanks for your video. Are there some cases where the 7 days national JR rail pass would be better than the Hokuriku Arch Pass? Price, more accessible trains, easier way of use...

Great video! Which of these would you recommend for visiting rural areas in Japan? I am leaning towards Japan wireless but your pricing is different from their site. Are you listing the price for the business or the premium Wifi? Your pricing looks closer to their offer for the business option.

This is a bit of a cheat, but is it possible to buy a reserved shinkansen ticket for morning and get the early reservation discount, but then board a shinkansen after the reservation time sitting in the unreserved cart? My understanding is that if one purchases a reserved seat, but misses their train time, they can still ride the shinkansen at a later time within the same day but have to sit in the unreserved seats?

this is so useful in friday i will go to malaysia!

Thank you for the tutorial. I’ve been hearing about this charles schwab, if it’s not too bothersome, would you consider making a video explaining some details and insider knowledge about using the card? 🙏

Quick question about Ubigi. I plan on buying the 30 day plan for Japan. But could I activate it in the US before I travel to Japan. Then turn on airplane mode while I fly until I land in Tokyo. Or could I turn it on once I land in country. Also should I turn off my T-Mobile data while Ubigi is on?

Very informative. Thank you..

How does Klook code on a credit card? As travel, online shopping, commuting expense, or something else? Trying to decide which card to charge the JR Pass on :-) Also, should a card with no foreign transaction fee be used on Klook?

Hi, this is a great video, thank you. I don’t think I heard the steps to actually upgrade to the Romance Car though, assuming I purchased the 3 day pass on Klook. Is that something I would do at the station with a person or is it possible to do online before I arrive? Thanks again!

I've just viewed over 6 of your Japan travel videos....they're simply amazing. So much so, that I plan to return some items, and then use your links to purchase them (again) on amazon through your links. That said I have a few questions. We'll be traveling in July-August 2024 and you mentioned you had a video on what to pack in July - I can't seem to find the video. Also, Heidi mentioned that she can share her what to pack list, I saw it with check boxes on a video, but I'd love to have a link for the actual document. I believe she mentioned she uses an app on her phone? I have an iPhone and would be fine with downloading an app (although I like your google sheets suggestion too). Thank you & gracias, from Miami.

An upgrade alternative to Google Translate, Papago is also free and it is generally better with East Asian languages.

I have a new iPhone 15 that was purchased in the U.S. It has the digital IC card options available in the IPhone wallet. I recently put a small amount of ¥ on a digital Suica card but haven’t tried using it yet.

Watched all your videos on Japan. Thanks a ton for all the useful information. We had a wonderful time in Japan last week.

Looks like the Volta Charger is sold out. Any other suggestions?

Can I take local trains and buses with the JR pass?

You absolutely nail it on the part where issues occur paying on Japan platforms and buying tickets through Klook

The bad thing about eSIM is that you can't stop other devices from tracking your phone. See, tracking a phone is done by tracking the physical SIM card, so to avoid this, one simply removes the SIM card from the phone and toss it away. If the SIM is embedded hardware-wise, though, one has to toss away the phone, instead.

If my flight were delayed, can I change my smart ex reserve seat shinkansen ticket online? Does Narita Airport have a Smart Ex ticketing machine? Can I change the reserve seat ticket thru a smart EX machine? Am I able to change the reservation ticket 10 min before departure? . Sorry that I ask quite a lot of questions hopefully I can get some information from you. Your channel did help explain a lot about shinkansen but I need some details on the change of reservation seats ticket timing.

If my flight to Narita Airport was delayed and arrived much later than anticipated. Where can I change my advance book reserve seat shinkansen ticket at the Airport? Any subway ticketing machine or only Shinkansen ticketing machine? Does Narita Airport have a service counter to make the changes? If I brought the advance ticket thru smart EX, can I change it from the website itself?

i needed this, thank you! Are there any international transation fee-free cards you would recommend?

This video is very helpful...thank you! Ninja Wifi and Japan Wireless do not have pickup counters at Osaka Airport (ITM). Do you know which vendor has the counter at this airport?

Great video. If you use a mastercard branded debit cards there is no 220 yen fee as only applies for visa. Realise you got it refunded but for my visa branded card it was not. My back-up card was a mastercard so just moved to that.

We enjoy your videos! However, we tried to set up Smart ex and it is essentially unusable… We tried several different browsers, several different credit cards, laptop and phone but nothing worked. We noticed the app has 1 1/2 star rating. Sounds like a great service but unfortunately it is challenging to use.

Hi, I kindly ask, I am trying to buy Hokuriko Arch Pass for my son. Ages starting 6 -11 years old from web sides. My son is 5 years old so Hokuriko is free for him ? Thank you.

I will go to Kyushu next october so I'm thinking about purchasing all kyushu jr pass. But I think it won't last for the entire time I'll spend there because I will stay 13 days. What do you think?

For currency exchange, which gives a better exchange? Atm or in person?

A host asked for payment via bank, check, or post, which I found suspicious. Booking confirmed it was legit, so I used Western Union. After payment, the host canceled and claimed they never received the money. Booking now tells me they only accept bank transfers and want a bank statement. Why allow the host to request other payment methods then?

Thank you. These videos are super helpful. Please keep them coming.

Great video! simple to understand, much better than staring at websites comparing and reading changes made 1 by 1.

Japan is kinda behind China and Singapore & Malaysia in some ways

paying by cash is better than using credit cards , the exchange rate is terrible when using credit cards

Can i use IC card to pay the taxi.?

NO cash no shop

Awww the my little pony stickers :) Thanks for the informative sharing!

Excellent updates, thank you!! Quick comment, Japan will be changing to an updated currency bills on July 3rd. So the ¥1,000, ¥5,000 and ¥10,000 bills will be different. One of the impacts will be to those small restaurants that use the ticket machines for people to pay for and order food. Those machines will have to be replaced to accept the new bills. Take care!

Great tips! One question about the digital IC card option: can it be used for several people (kids and parent) or only for one person each time? Thank you

Aeon ATMs charge no fee. Just went on a trip this May and found this out. Wish we had known sooner!

How to activate the data of Mobal? I can't access the internet, Thanks.

We have just come back from Japan, used the pocket wifi and it worked brilliantly allowing us to use multiple devices without any problems. Even worked on our cruise ship whilst we were at sea, only lost connection once.

Thank you so much for this video. I have a tour to Japan the end of this month. This video helped me so much!!

Hi, thank you once again for the fantastic videos you make. This is going to be our first time in Japan in Sept. Is the Hakone area a good place to get views of Mt.Fuji. I’m confused if we should take the Hakone free pass or do the bus tour to Kawaguchiko. We intend to make it a day trip just to get to see Mt.Fuji and get some pictures. Gosh so confused. Please advise. Thank you.

Thank you for your video and information on how to pay in Japan. Very useful for our trip to Japan this October 2024.

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