site banner
PaperclipPerfector  1yr ago (text post)   3066 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for May 31, 2024

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

5
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

I'm getting overwhelmed planning my trip to Japan.

There is just too much to see and do and optimize. Also the quality floor for most things seems to be pretty high, which should make things easier but is making things much harder because there are just that many more axis/options along which to optimize.

And this seems to be a common enough experience, given there seems to be a bunch of forums and subreddits dedicated just to planning a Japan trip. This doesn't seem to be the case for any other destination, not to this extent.

I'm seriously considering hiring someone to help me plan the trip..

The sage advice seems to be to not overthink it, because you probably won't make one trip anyways. Just to go there and have a loose plan and everything will plan into place naturally given the aforementioned high quality floor and number of things to do.

But I just can't help not plan this thing out. Planning for the trip is almost half the fun!

Is it your first trip? If so you'll probably end up doing Tokyo and Kyoto which is cool. Some general tips from a resident:

  • In Tokyo, try to hit a single area per day. Tokyo is massive and if you have to traverse it each day you'll end up wasting a ton of time on public transport. If you only have 2 days there you could do east/west, or if you have >3 you could do east/central/west, etc.

  • Stay at hotels with public baths, like Dormy Inn or the APA Resorts. These are really comfortable and affordable, and the baths are very clean and pleasant.

  • Kyoto is small but it is absolutely packed with beautiful architecture, restaurants, temples, shrines, fascinating little boutique stores, and more. Plan to spend twice as many days there as you thought you needed.

  • Check out the shrines and hot springs on the north edge of Kyoto. Mt Hiei is nearby and also quite beautiful.

  • Always get a plastic bag from the convenience store when you buy stuff so you'll be able to keep your trash in your bag since there are no trash cans (sometimes convenience stores have trash cans though)

  • Always have cash, preferable at least 10,000 yen, in your wallet. Lots of places are cash only.

  • Hostels and capsule hotels have gotten so expensive lately that you can usually get a mid-range hotel room for only slightly more.

  • Check what events are happening during the time you're coming. Tokyo (and many other places) are always holding festivals (traditional and modern) and other local events.

  • Go to some museums. The average quality level of museums is really high here. Even small local city museums are usually pretty impressive IME.

I'm curious: do you have any recommendations for things near-ish to Chitose? There's a chance I might be going for work sometime in the future, and if that happens I might as well do some kind of sightseeing while I'm in the country.

Chitose, Tokyo? Go see the Asakusa area, maybe see sumo at Ryogoku if you time it right.

Chitose, Hokkaido? No idea, never been up there.

Hokkaido, I believe. It was a long shot though, thanks anyway!

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats