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[Deadly Monk]

I'm leaving for Japan in one month and staying for two weeks. A friend and I are going and he knows very little Japanese. I know a lot but probably not enough for day to day activites. I need plenty of advice and tips and will constantly be adding questions as I think of new ones. I'll probably bold the new questions whenever I have one. If anyone wants to meet up, we'll be staying at the Prince Hotel (anyone know if that place is any good?). It just so happens to be in the middle of every major site and many cool places are in walking distance.

I guess this will be a FAQ thead...

1. When we arrive, should we take a cab or the train? The cab ride would be two hours to our hotel from the airport, how expensive are cabs in Japan?

2. I'm bringing lots of dry food so as to not spend so much everyday on food. Would it be cheaper to eat at our hotel every night or go out?

3. Should we get some kind of train pass since we'll be going around a lot or is that not worth it for two weeks?

4. Should I try and get my sleep schedule aligned with their time or just wait until I get there ( I live in the U.S.)?

5. What's the temprature like early July? I'm kind of afraid of the answer....

6. What's a good place to buy cheap but comfortable summer clothes in Tokyo?

Okay, that's all I can think of for now but i'm going to have a ton more as the time goes on before we go. Any other advice would be appreciated.



p.s. - Hana Yori Dango The Movie comes out the DAY BEFORE we arrive. I didn't even plan for that. Someone out there loves me!

 

[thetrin]

I'm leaving for Japan in one month and staying for two weeks. A friend and I are going and he knows very little Japanese. I know a lot but probably not enough for day to day activites. I need plenty of advice and tips and will constantly be adding questions as I think of new ones. I'll probably bold the new questions whenever I have one. If anyone wants to meet up, we'll be staying at the Prince Hotel (anyone know if that place is any good?). It just so happens to be in the middle of every major site and many cool places are in walking distance.

I guess this will be a FAQ thead...

1. When we arrive, should we take a cab or the train? The cab ride would be two hours to our hotel from the airport, how expensive are cabs in Japan?

2. I'm bringing lots of dry food so as to not spend so much everyday on food. Would it be cheaper to eat at our hotel every night or go out?

3. Should we get some kind of train pass since we'll be going around a lot or is that not worth it for two weeks?

4. Should I try and get my sleep schedule aligned with their time or just wait until I get there ( I live in the U.S.)?

5. What's the temprature like early July? I'm kind of afraid of the answer....

6. What's a good place to buy cheap but comfortable summer clothes in Tokyo?

Okay, that's all I can think of for now but i'm going to have a ton more as the time goes on before we go. Any other advice would be appreciated.



p.s. - Hana Yori Dango The Movie comes out the DAY BEFORE we arrive. I didn't even plan for that. Someone out there loves me!

If you can't do day to day activities, that doesn't really count as a lot of Japanese... (my Japanese is complete balls, and I can do virtually everything I need to live here...that's not tooting my own horn, I'm just setting you up. Prepare to be humbled.)

1) Cabs are insane in Japan. Take a bus.

2) You can find some cheap places to get a bite to eat in a pinch. Worst comes to worst, you can eat convenience store food.

3) Get a prepaid card if you intend to use the same train company the whole time. You won't save any money, but it's convenient.

4) The best way to beat jet lag is to brute force it. Stay away until you're supposed to go to sleep, and then crash. You will go to sleep pretty early still, but you should be okay. It's worse going to America.

5) It's fucking balls hot and humid in July. I hope you like the smell of sweaty crotch.

6) I never buy clothes in Japan. They're too effeminate (and small) for me, so I have no idea.

 

[Stinkles]

1. When we arrive, should we take a cab or the train? The cab ride would be two hours to our hotel from the airport, how expensive are cabs in Japan?


Limousine Bus. There are kiosks everywhere at the airport. They go to your hotel directly. Slow but you get some sightseeing in. Think of it as a free tour of the city. As far as you are concerned, there are no cabs.

2. I'm bringing lots of dry food so as to not spend so much everyday on food. Would it be cheaper to eat at our hotel every night or go out?


Lunch is cheap in noodle places, don't bother taking dry food - noodles and so on at convenience stores cost next to nothing.

3. Should we get some kind of train pass since we'll be going around a lot or is that not worth it for two weeks?


Possibly. Make sure you buy it HERE not THERE. Depending on your country you can find excellent bargain passes. Go see temples and other cities. http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en001.html

Prices:

http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en003.html

Don't worry about "Green Car" as the regular cars are lovely. You will need a stamped passport to get these prces,btw. Instructions at site.


4. Should I try and get my sleep schedule aligned with their time or just wait until I get there ( I live in the U.S.)?

Suck it up. Lag is horrible, so take some Melatonin and go with a Japanese schedule ASAP.

5. What's the temprature like early July? I'm kind of afraid of the answer....


It is like being in homeless person's underwear in the Jungle.

6. What's a good place to buy cheap but comfortable summer clothes in Tokyo?


America.

 

[Furoba]

Clothes: depending on your taste, try Harajuku-Shibuya-Ginza

 

[lunarworks]

1. When we arrive, should we take a cab or the train? The cab ride would be two hours to our hotel from the airport, how expensive are cabs in Japan?

2. I'm bringing lots of dry food so as to not spend so much everyday on food. Would it be cheaper to eat at our hotel every night or go out?

3. Should we get some kind of train pass since we'll be going around a lot or is that not worth it for two weeks?

4. Should I try and get my sleep schedule aligned with their time or just wait until I get there ( I live in the U.S.)?

First of all, if you learned your Nihongo solely from anime, do go out and buy a phrasebook. Or at least take a crash course.

1) Take the train. They're fast and efficient. Then take a cab from the train to your hotel. Also, refer to #3.

2) Why? It takes up valuable space in your luggage, and you can buy cheap freeze-dried ramen (if you're that cheap) at any convenience store. You'll only end up spending a bit more, and you don't have to worry about fussy customs agents.

3) The JR pass is the most valuable thing you can have there. You can order it before you leave, and pick it up at the airport. (This helps with question #1.) They have special rates for tourists:

http://www.japanrailpass.net/

4) From my experience, it took me less than a day to adapt to Japan Time. (Mind you, I barely slept on the plane.) Adjusting to time back home was more difficult.

 

[jacf29]

2. I'm bringing lots of dry food so as to not spend so much everyday on food. Would it be cheaper to eat at our hotel every night or go out?

6. What's a good place to buy cheap but comfortable summer clothes in Tokyo?

If you have enough to go shopping for clothing in Tokyo, then you have enough to eat.

 

[rykomatsu]

This will depend on where in Japan you are, so this post is specifically for Tokyo (since you mention it in question 6) and vicinity.

1. From Narita, the cheapest way to get to Tokyo would be to take the Keisei Skyliner to Ueno, then jump onto the Yamanote line to get to Tokyo station. You can alternatively take the Narita Express directly to Tokyo if you have a Japan Rail Pass (more on this later) but Narita Express is more expensive than Keisei Skyliner (Skyliner is NOT a JR line). Alternatively if you really want to cut costs, you could take the non-express Narita Line (JR) or non-express Keisei Line.

For large baggage, you would need to check with the hotel first, but once you land in Narita, when you come out of customs, if you go allllllll the way to the right, you'll come across a few courier service counters. I think the ones there are Kuroneko, ABC, and...Nittsu. They'll ship your heavy bags overnight for a flat fee of i think 1200yen. You can specify the timeframe in which they'll deliver. If the front counter allows for shipment, then you can just pick up the next day after you're done with your touristy things or what not.

This should be considerably cheaper than a taxi which will run about 16000~20000yen whereas the Skyliner should run between 1900~2500yen (yes, one "0" less) depending on your arrival time to Narita. The nice thing about taking a train and shipping your baggage is, you can always deposit your heavy carryon luggage at Ueno (or most any other station) in a coin locker, and soak in the sites at your convenience, whereas if you take a taxi, you're kinda stuck going to your final destination unless you want to pay them to wait as you tour around.

2. If you're considering bringing dry foods, imho, you're better off spending a little bit more (maybe 10~20%) and buying foods in what are called depachika (short for department store chika = basement level of department stores) where they sell freshly prepared appetizers and what not. There are frequent sales that go on where things like tonkatsu are 70yen a piece, croquette for 50yen a piece, etc. There are also places in metropolitan areas which sell bento for 300-400 yen as well.

Matsuzakaya/Takashimaya/Isetan etc tend to be expensive so you're better off, for food, to goto department stores like Ito Yokado/ Alio, etc. There's also the convenience store route...places like FamilyMart started selling sashimi recently and is relatively inexpensive and quite popular.

3. If you're staying in Tokyo, I would suggest against a JR pass. A lot of the railways are subways in Tokyo and the majority of subways are not owned by JR at all...so you'd still end up paying full retail. If you're planning on going to Kyoto or any remote area of Japan, then it pays to have one, though. Plan out tentatively, and check pricing and see if it's worth it.

For Tokyo, I would HIGHLY suggest getting a PASSMO or SUICA card. There's a 500yen deposit, which you can get back if you turn the card in after your travels. You load it up with a minimum of 2000yen, I think it was. The card has an IC chip in it, so you can then go directly to the trainstation turnstyle, flash it on a sensor, and go straight to the platforms. You don't have to stand in front of the ticket machine, plan out where you're going to figure out how much it would cost, wasting 5~6 min every time to figure out your destination. It's VERY convenient and it basically covers 90+% of the trains and subways in Tokyo...I think also bus routes as well. PASSMO is issued by Eidan (I think) which runs the subway system, and SUICA is issued by JR East (I think). They're interchangeable but I'm not sure if PASSMO can be used to purchase Shinkansen tickets. Stores also accept PASSMO/SUICA for payment in various places...not super widespread, but enough to be convenient imho. The caveat is, if you lose your card, you lose all money on it...no refunds. Because of this, I didn't deposit more than 2000yen at any given time and recharged when friends or what not needed to go use the restroom at a train station.

4. Just get aligned once you're in Japan. It's easy to go from US to Japan...Japan to US is a bitch and a half though.

5. High 20's (celcius) to about 37~38 in a hot year...very rainy so I suggest bringing (or buying) an umbrella...also very humid.

6. UNIQLO is probably the least expensive place to buy clothing in Japan of all the chain stores. Stay away from places like Eddie Bauer...much more expensive in Japan.

Prince Hotel is a famous chain in Japan...it should be very nice.

 

[Phoenix]

2 weeks? Lucky bastard. I was there for 3 days on business and will go back as soon as the exchange rate improves to the point where I can take a 2 week vacation there without selling my house

 

[mrkgoo]

With any luck I'll be going to Japan at the end of August for 2-3 weeks. I know no Japanese apart from, "Waitashi wa banana desu."

It is my magic bullet out of any situation.

 

[tnw]

1. When we arrive, should we take a cab or the train? The cab ride would be two hours to our hotel from the airport, how expensive are cabs in Japan?

lol, cab fare from narita to your hotel would probably cost more than your flight to Japan.
And don't take a bus, that is equally retarded. Tokyo has probably one of the best rail systems in the world. take advantage of it. Use the Skyliner or Narita Express to get into the city. Don't take cabs, you won't ever really need to.


2. I'm bringing lots of dry food so as to not spend so much everyday on food. Would it be cheaper to eat at our hotel every night or go out?

Food in Japan is not expensive and probably a million times more delicious than whatever you're bringing. You can always shop at a convenience store (which will be way cheaper than eating at the hotel). You may not know what everything is, but trying new food is probably the main reason I travel. Japan is particularly blessed in this respect.

3. Should we get some kind of train pass since we'll be going around a lot or is that not worth it for two weeks?

If you're traveling outside of the kanto region, yes. If not, no.

5. What's the temprature like early July? I'm kind of afraid of the answer....

shitty and piss hot. And the cicadas will be out. I hate being here in july and august.

6. What's a good place to buy cheap but comfortable summer clothes in Tokyo?

uniqlo has awesome t-shirts.

 

[smoothj]

It is my magic bullet out of any situation.

I've noticed people mention the magic bullet pretty randomly lately... is it a new meme??
or is it really just as easy as 1... 2... 3....?

 

[Blimblim]

Which Prince hotel? There are many Prince hotel in Tokyo. I stayed at the Takanawa Prince Hotel near the Shinagawa station when I went there 2 years ago, and it was a nice hotel.

 

[tnw]

Which Prince hotel? There are many Prince hotel in Tokyo. I stayed at the Takanawa Prince Hotel near the Shinagawa station when I went there 2 years ago, and it was a nice hotel.

that's down the street from where I live!

 

[Blimblim]

that's down the street from where I live!

Haha, nice. I loved climbing that small hill when heading back to the hotel at night.
Shinagawa is quite convenient, there is the Narita Express for the airport, and it's on the Yamanote line too.

 

[Deadly Monk]

Going from Narita Airport to The Prince Park Tower Tokyo hotel is where we're staying. I think it's supposed to be really nice and it's near a lot of places apperently.

My Japanese goes past manga. lol. My friend and I are going for a vacation. Have about 3 years of school for Japanese Language under me.

I don't have too much money but I wanted to buy a lot of stuff for friends. Clothes were not a definite for purchases, I was just curious.

No cabs, got it.

New question:

Luggage. How much can I take back and what's usually not allowed to be taken back by luggage (instead having to ship out in Japan to America)?

 

[tnw]

and I'm sorry to tell you, two weeks in a hotel with your buddy doesn't really qualify as 'living' somewhere.

 

[lunarworks]

and I'm sorry to tell you, two weeks in a hotel with your buddy doesn't really qualify as 'living' somewhere.

I was just about to say that, actually. (By his definition, I've lived in Japan. And Holland. And the USA.)

 

[xir]

1. When we arrive, should we take a cab or the train? The cab ride would be two hours to our hotel from the airport, how expensive are cabs in Japan?

2. I'm bringing lots of dry food so as to not spend so much everyday on food. Would it be cheaper to eat at our hotel every night or go out?

I'm just going to answer these two as a common sense thingy, regardless of the nation:

1) Cabs are expensive.

2) Room service is super fucking expensive.

Also, the airport is like a gazillion miles away from the city.

 

[jooey]

seriously, what could possibly be differing in your thought process between #2 and #6?

 

[Aruarian Reflection]

1. When we arrive, should we take a cab or the train? The cab ride would be two hours to our hotel from the airport, how expensive are cabs in Japan?


Limousine Bus. There are kiosks everywhere at the airport. They go to your hotel directly. Slow but you get some sightseeing in. Think of it as a free tour of the city. As far as you are concerned, there are no cabs.

Do you have to make a reservation for the Limousine Bus? I'm looking at their website now and my hotel isn't one of their "priority customers", which means that customers in preferred hotels get boarding priority. If I call them, they should understand English right?

Last time I was in Tokyo, I only rode the Limousine TO the airport, not from. Getting tickets was a cinch because the hotel desk took care of it for me.

 

[tnw]

Do you have to make a reservation for the Limousine Bus? I'm looking at their website now and my hotel isn't one of their "priority customers", which means that customers in preferred hotels get boarding priority. If I call them, they should understand English right?

Last time I was in Tokyo, I only rode the Limousine TO the airport, not from. Getting tickets was a cinch because the hotel desk took care of it for me.

I can't imagine why you would do that. I can see why you might take it from the airport (new city, don't want to get lost, luggage, etc), but the train arrives pretty much at a guaranteed time, which is important for your flight. You have no idea when a bus will arrive. traffic is always different, and almost always guaranteed to be ridiculous.

It irks me sooo much when americans, especially the ones that live here, try and pretend it's new york and take cabs everywhere, limousine busses to the airport.

 

[rykomatsu]

It irks me sooo much when americans, especially the ones that live here, try and pretend it's new york and take cabs everywhere, limousine busses to the airport.

Limousine buses, to an extent, are safer if you consider that you can potentially have your bag stolen at terminal 1 of Narita if you're going TO the airport...and this actually happened to a friend of mine, since there's an area in each section to stow away large luggage that is easily accesible to everyone else on the train.

Not as convenient and it's an extremely rare occurence, but buses do have their benefits...easier to keep track of your own luggage since you're in a much smaller area....

however, imho, it's more convenient to ship your baggage the day before to the airport, then just pick it up after arriving....you pay a little extra, but there's added security you won't get on a bus or train

 

[Aruarian Reflection]

I can't imagine why you would do that. I can see why you might take it from the airport (new city, don't want to get lost, luggage, etc), but the train arrives pretty much at a guaranteed time, which is important for your flight. You have no idea when a bus will arrive. traffic is always different, and almost always guaranteed to be ridiculous.

It irks me sooo much when americans, especially the ones that live here, try and pretend it's new york and take cabs everywhere, limousine busses to the airport.

Trust me, I went to Tokyo last year and was dragging my luggage up and down the train stations. I was traveling with a couple other people and we had a lot of luggage. I DO NOT want to repeat that again, it was a total nightmare. Limousine bus it is. I understand I can have courier send my luggage, but I'd rather not.

And don't give me all this "you americans" stuff. I'm more Asian than you are.

 

[BudokaiMR2]

My Japanese goes past manga. lol. My friend and I are going for a vacation. Have about 3 years of school for Japanese Language under me.

I don't have too much money but I wanted to buy a lot of stuff for friends. Clothes were not a definite for purchases, I was just curious.

Yeah that is definitely good for travelling to Japan, but still prepare to be confused as hell quite often unless you had a lot of conversation practice with Native speakers and such. It was quite a humbling experience going there after studying for two years.

Also as far as buying presents and such, I dunno what your friends are into and I know there are going to be some gaffers rolling their eyes but places like Akiba can be great for buying lots of cheap presents. You can always find silly Japanese stuff that people who aren't even interested in Japan will get a kick out of. Its probably one of the cheaper and easier ways to get a lot of presenets IMO.

 

[tetsuoxb]

1. When we arrive, should we take a cab or the train? The cab ride would be two hours to our hotel from the airport, how expensive are cabs in Japan?

lol, cab fare from narita to your hotel would probably cost more than your flight to Japan.
And don't take a bus, that is equally retarded. Tokyo has probably one of the best rail systems in the world. take advantage of it. Use the Skyliner or Narita Express to get into the city. Don't take cabs, you won't ever really need to.

It irks me sooo much when americans, especially the ones that live here, try and pretend it's new york and take cabs everywhere, limousine busses to the airport.

Stinkles is right, tnw is wrong.

Take the limo bus. While you could take a train, you'd have to change trains with luggage. That is a pain in the ass. Take the bus, toss your luggage in the hold, and get taken directly to your hotel. It is only a few hundred yen more than the train anyways. Don't worry about the priority boarding thing.

 

[Deadly Monk]

Bus it is. Thanks guys.

 

[Black_Mamba]

If it's the Prince Hotel in Shinagawa it's decent. Actually, they have a luxury tower and a popular one. Assuming you're in the popular one, you'll find a very small room but ok for japanese standards and a good station that includes the Yamanote line and Shinkansen.

About food, you should try the meals at AM/PM stores all around Tokyo. They're very cheap and not bad at all. But, anyone who enjoys food should splurge in Tokyo.

You have plenty of cheap options for food around Shinagawa station, including McDonalds, Yoshinoya and convenience stores.

 

[Link1110]

http://www.japanrailpass.net/

Those are some expensive trains. How do they afford getting to work over there? Over $350.00 a week?

 

[Stinkles]

Those are some expensive trains. How do they afford getting to work over there? Over $350.00 a week?

Those are long distance trains. Nobody is commuting from Tokyo to Kyoto daily. The JR pass lets you travel anywhere in Japan, basically unlimited.

 

[Phoenix]

Stinkles is right, tnw is wrong.

Take the limo bus. While you could take a train, you'd have to change trains with luggage. That is a pain in the ass. Take the bus, toss your luggage in the hold, and get taken directly to your hotel. It is only a few hundred yen more than the train anyways. Don't worry about the priority boarding thing.

Yeah, I would agree with this. Last time I was in Tokyo I went from Narita to downtown on the bus. It was shitload cheaper than a cab and I had 2+ bags and that would have sucked on the train. That and unless the train stops right at your hotel (like the buses do) you have to haul your shit around.

 

[Link1110]

Those are long distance trains. Nobody is commuting from Tokyo to Kyoto daily. The JR pass lets you travel anywhere in Japan, basically unlimited.

Out of curiosity now, how much do the local trains cost per week?

 

[RevenantKioku]

Out of curiosity now, how much do the local trains cost per week?

Depends on where you're going and what lines you're taking. There are bulk discounts available of course. But a trip to Osaka runs me around ¥1740 ($16.18 approx) for both ways and that's about 3 hours of travel in total on two different rail lines.

 

[rykomatsu]

Out of curiosity now, how much do the local trains cost per week?

depends on the distance you're traveling...usually anywhere from i think 140yen to about 500-600 yen per leg. I spend about 2000-3000yen total over a 4-5 day period in Tokyo on JR, Eidan, and Toei railways with quite a bit of heavy traveling.

 

[Cheesemeister]

My best advice would be to watch out so that you don't run into these guys:

 

[thetrin]

Out of curiosity now, how much do the local trains cost per week?

As RK said, it all depends, but my commute to work WOULD cost me about 500 yen a day one way. I have a train pass for work, which costs me 13.5kyen a month. (my commute is about 25 minutes)

 

[Xabora]

My best advice would be to watch out so that you don't run into these guys:

Somehow that irks me as a gay porno... but with a Kappa and a Camel...

 

[C.Dark.DN]

how much is it gonna cost you?

or, rather, what's your max budget.

 

[tnw]

Out of curiosity now, how much do the local trains cost per week?

virtually all japanese companies give you a commuter pass allowance. you tell them the station you live nearest to, and they'll deposit like 80% of the cost or so into your account.

And I never travel with suitcases. I have a big backpack, and I do just fine. I don't know what a 20 something coming to japan needs a suitcase for, it's not like you have important business clothes to bring with you.

I still recommend taking the train. It's never been anything but pleasant for me.

 

[Osaka]

You're going to a foreign country and you don't want to spend on food.


wat

 

[itsinmyveins]

I wanna go there for a few weeks too, but the ticket alone would cost like my monthly salary :/

 

[tetsuoxb]

And I never travel with suitcases. I have a big backpack, and I do just fine. I don't know what a 20 something coming to japan needs a suitcase for, it's not like you have important business clothes to bring with you.

I still recommend taking the train. It's never been anything but pleasant for me.

Maybe he wants to do shopping and take stuff back in his suitcase. Maybe he has nicer clothes than simple tshirts and shorts. Maybe he has something that might break and a backpack wouldn't work. First he was acting American for riding the bus, now if he has a suitcase he is a self-important twit...

Just because you don't have a need for a suitcase doesn't mean the OP won't bring one. Making suggestions based only on your sole, peculiar experience is not very useful. Nor do you consider that navigating trains with no knowledge of Japanese isn't the easiest thing in the world... Why don't you just post what you truly mean. "If you aren't exactly like me, you're worthless. Be like me and everything will be perfect."

In summary, you're still wrong. Limo bus is the better option in this case.

 

[Jake.]

I wanna go there for a few weeks too, but the ticket alone would cost like my monthly salary :/

welcome to the world of international travel.

 

[thetrin]

The best way to experience a foreign culture: eat your own packed dried food.

 

[RevenantKioku]

The best way to experience a foreign culture: eat your own packed dried food.

You could always cover it in local sauces.

 

[tnw]

In summary, you're still wrong. Limo bus is the better option in this case.

I'm certainly not wrong. If I was, then there wouldn't be two express train services to the airport that are profitable.

enjoy your 3 hour trip into the city and carbon emissions.

You could always cover it in local sauces.

or just drink coke and go to friday's for every meal and be done with it.

 

[cvxfreak]

Limousine Bus >>> Narita Express / Keisei Skyliner

This applies for first-time visitors to Japan. It may be a slower method, but there's like a ¥200 price difference between it and the NEX. No one on the NEX will help you with your luggage, while you'll be assisted when you get on the bus as well as when you get off.

I think the reverse is somewhat true for those going TO Narita Airport, however, as well as for veteran travelers.

I also find Limousine Bus superior for getting from the Shinjuku area to Haneda as well.

I'm certainly not wrong. If I was, then there wouldn't be two express train services to the airport that are profitable.

How many of those people are native Japanese with experience in the city?

enjoy your 3 hour trip into the city and carbon emissions.

Never heard of a first-timer who didn't enjoy the city view going into town.

 

[RevenantKioku]

or just drink coke and go to friday's for every meal and be done with it.

You really SHOULD visit one or two restaurants that they have in your home country. Just to see the differences and similarities. It's interesting.
I mean, who would have thought Denny's could get worse?

 

[tetsuoxb]

I'm certainly not wrong. If I was, then there wouldn't be two express train services to the airport that are profitable.

enjoy your 3 hour trip into the city and carbon emissions.

Hyperbole much?

I'm not going to even bother with how silly your "two express trains" comment is. We will ignore the customer demographics. We will ignore the luggage issue. Hell, we can even ignore the fact you are pulling the "profitable" statement out of thin air (unless you want to link me to some per line profitability statements).

Face of the matter is that, no matter how much you personally love the train, no matter how much other people may use the train, the train is not the best option for the OP.

In summary, nice try, but yep... You're still wrong.

 

[tnw]

You really SHOULD visit one or two restaurants that they have in your home country. Just to see the differences and similarities. It's interesting.
I mean, who would have thought Denny's could get worse?

yeah, denny's is totally different.

but new franchises, like cold stone, friday's, and outback are the exact fucking same, with the 'pieces of flair' and all.

7-11 is my god though. Lawson's accepts credit cards though, so I go there more. (ana mileage point saison visa ftw)

In summary, nice try, but yep... You're still wrong.

if you demand to be right, then fine you're right.

 

[tetsuoxb]

You really SHOULD visit one or two restaurants that they have in your home country. Just to see the differences and similarities. It's interesting.
I mean, who would have thought Denny's could get worse?

Actually, if you are from the US, you should try McDonald's in Japan just once. Not only does it taste better, they actually have good service!