Japan has so much to see and do
Went on a quick three day trip to Iwate and Akita last weekend with my wife and granddaughter. We stayed at our favourite hotel, saw Iwate’s famous Dragon Eye pond, hiked around Hachimantai, went kayaking through a sunken forest in Akita, and ate all sorts of delicious things. It was so much fun, and we saw so many beautiful places.
I am taking a trip to Europe again next month (more family stuff) but not really looking forward to it. I think it will be my last trip outside Japan for a while.
With the weak yen it is so much cheaper to travel domestically, and there is so much to see and do here, so it doesn’t feel worth it to actually leave Japan.
We used to take an annual holiday to Thailand, or head to Europe regularly, but I don’t think we’ll be doing that anymore.
Okinawa is cheaper and easier than Thailand, and there is so much in Tohoku and beyond that we haven’t explored yet. Unless something changes, I expect to spend most of my time exploring Japan from now on.
How about you? Have your travel patterns changed?
Sage advice
This is basically what my wife and I did, and it was completely worth it. Now I’m not saying everyone can do this, or that everyone should do this, but it is possible.
And you can save a bit less for a bit longer, and get the same results. The bare minimum is 10% of income in my opinion. As long as you can do that you should be okay financially.
Anything else is a bonus.
YouTube
Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. We’re getting closer to 10,000 subscribers. If you are not subscribed yet but watch our stuff, you know what we’d like you to do 😉
We published a video about the differences between detached houses and manshons in Japan. Check it out and leave us a like, comment, and subscribe. It really helps us reach as many people as possible.
The Forum
Speaking of which, the Forum is doing well (41,695 posts so far). The forum rules are here. In essence, they are:
- Be nice
- Ask any question you like
- Only answer questions when you have relevant knowledge or experience
Here are the latest active threads:
This week’s books
I am still reading the Parker series. Really good, quick reads. Just finished The Handle (#8) which was great.
Finished Joe Abercrombie’s The Devils. Enjoyed it. It is set in a new setting and not connected to his other books.
Started Adrian Tchaikovsky’s Dogs of War series. Seems quite promising, but I have only read a few pages so far.
This week’s links
- If I ever get around to naturalising, I don’t think I would describe myself as ‘Japanese’. I would say I am a Japanese citizen. Becoming Japanese: Questions of Citizenship and Ethnicity
- I have no problem with any of this. It seems ridiculous that tourists can get Japanese driving licenses at all: Japan’s police chief seeks tougher rules to convert to Japanese driver’s license
- This also makes sense, but might take some getting used to: Denmark to raise retirement age to highest in Europe
- Whereas this seems kind of unnecessary? I can think of more important infrastructure, like making sure all stations have elevators Japan sets goal of having doors on 4,000 train station platforms by fiscal 2030
- So important to take care of your finances so you have options in life: ‘Ludicrous and unfair’: older workers react to pressure to delay retirement
- I like both of these guys (come for the content, stay for Paul Krugman’s dad jokes): A Conversation With Barry Ritholtz
- This is (on the face of it) pretty outrageous: How a Visa Meant for Entrepreneurs Became a Backdoor to Accessing Japanese Healthcare
- Just a matter of time: The State Of Same Sex Marriage in Japan
- A lesson for other areas in Japan? The Dragon Eye: Iwate’s Genius Marketing
- I am concerned: Japanese infrastructure and the future
- I think restrictions on real estate purchases by non residents or additional taxes might be a reasonable policy: Japanese govt. to look into condo purchases by foreigners
- I’ve been very dismissive of AI until recently, but it is getting better. And better. Kind of worrying, to be honest. Hallucinations and human work
- This is good. I’m a fan of DIY but would definitely ask these: 6 QUESTIONS TO MAKE AN ADVISOR SQUIRM
- I hope this is priced at a decent level (around 10,000 yen): Japan officializes “JESTA”, its electronic travel authorization system
- This was really good: Simon Sinek: You’re Being Lied To About AI’s Real Purpose! We’re Teaching Our Kids To Not Be Human
- Adam (long term friend of RetireJapan) doesn’t like (generative) AI: I love technology, but artificial intelligence makes me sad
- Nice to see Chris having a better time in Japan this time: Walking Hokkaido: From Sapporo to Tomakomai
What do you think? Anything interesting in there?
If you enjoyed today’s Monday Read and want to contribute to our costs, you could buy me a coffee (more like some web hosting, amirite?) or become a paid subscriber on Substack. All donations much appreciated.
The Monday Read, going out to more than 2,950 subscribers each week. Please share this post/email with friends/colleagues who may be interested in it.
If you were forwarded the email you can sign up to our Substack here.
Or you can subscribe through WordPress below if you want to get each post the moment it is published:
Check out the RetireJapan website for more information, the Forum for discussions about personal finance and investing in Japan, and our coaching page if you need more help.
Please share this post on social media:
I did a road trip the week after golden week, 1400km. Ishikawa > Amanohashidate, Matsue/Izumo Taisha, Onomichi, Imabari, Marugame, Okayama, Himeji, and back. Will definitely go again, more of Shikoku and over to Kyushu, probably with some ferry time in the mix.
That sounds pretty epic. Nihonkai and Shikoku are awesome. I’ve only been through Onomichi but want to take a closer look. How did you like it?
As a cyclist, I needed to get a look at the shimanami kaido (but didn’t try riding it this time). I think it’d be doable in two days–one over, back the next (or not go all the way, just stop/stay on the last island before Imabari (boring), and then back), and there are convenient bike rentals in Onomichi.
Daisen, was nice, tho not as impressive as I thought it would be. But the mountains on northern Shikoku looked huge, like a giant wave. Interior Shikoku seems like it could hold a lot of potential. And Shimanto, down in the SW corner is supposed to be nice. Maybe in October or so?
#2 – Another thing harder to tighten up on, but which might help, are the rules regarding the use of an IDP here after becoming a resident. It would probably be hard, due to international agreements, reciprocity, and so on, to restrict true visitors use of these. But over on reddit there seem to be repeated cases where someone using one when they shouldn’t be. Most recent is this: https://www.reddit.com/r/japanlife/comments/1kxyyyv/accidental_illegal_driving_with_idp_international/
In addition to better publicizing the rules, I wonder if the police/gov’t could lean on insurance companies, such that when an IDP user wanted to buy the supplemental (but very necessary) extra insurance, someone buying insurance could be warned, or perhaps have to sign a waiver acknowledging that once they have gone over the legal period for their IDP, their insurance will no longer be valid.
Aren’t you a bit young to be pivoting to domestic travel? My mother always recommended that we first travel internationally before 80 when health issues & higher insurance premiums kick in. Domestic travel is stage 2.
I can understand why international travel is less appealing though. The generally lousy food, poorly run airports, pervasive threat of scams and pickpockets, overtouristed sights, and weak yen don’t encourage flying afar. For us it means that Europe or Nth America will be every 3-4 years at most and more travel within Asia, including cruises.
It’s not an age thing, but more like value. It is so expensive to go overseas, and the quality of the experience is often going to be inferior to what you can get in Japan.
So for us at least, under current conditions, it makes sense to spend our time and money here.
If the yen got stronger again or something changed, it might be time to travel abroad again.
I’ve visited around 40 countries and lived in six, so it’s not like I haven’t seen at least a bit of the world…
Totally with you on number 2, I can only imagine what the average licensed driver here thinks, especially with how expensive and time-consuming the process is in Japan.
I agree about the attractions of Japan. We took a swing through Fukuoka, Saga and Nagasaki Prefectures for the first time last month, endlessly fascinating, and tasty too. I’d go overseas more if the wife were willing, especially since we can fly standby for very little owing to my son’s pilot status, but even so, I prefer being a foreigner in Japan to almost anywhere else. Okinawa cheaper than Thailand? That’s interesting. I spent a night in Bangkok on the way back from the UK last year, and was surprised at the cost of dinner, about 3000 yen with a beer, in what was a pretty standard eatery. It was a lot cheaper back in the early 2000s when we went as a family of 6.
3) Raising the retirement age to 70. While it seems to make sense. I am wondering if we can imagine some people/professions working until they get ill or injured.Yes, we may see office workers working until 70, but I’m not sure I can see construction workers, nurses, firefighters, heavy manual labourers, factory, and warehouse workers able to work until 70 healthily and for extended periods. Some positions get more difficult as we age. But it does remind me of Japan, and how they try to keep the older generation at work, especially in passing on knowledge. (Much to the chagrin of those who think they should be forcibly retired, so the companies can save on cost, boost profits and increase dividends). It might mean pushing those costs onto companies, and I’m certainly up for that. Will that be at the expense of the younger generation, seeking employment? With the Obesity rates in the U.K. reaching epidemic proportions, can we expect them to remain healthy and productive? When 40% of hospital admissions are older, and over 65s, it places a large strain on the health services. Put it another way, if we retire at 70, we will have about 96 months to live for a male. And for most of that won’t be healthy. The “healthy” Life years in the UK are 61ish. compared to Japan, which is 73, before ill health starts to take its toll. So for some jobs, yes, and some people. For others, they may need to retire at 67, 68. I fear that the politicians would start to stigmatise those who can’t work, as we often see with the disabled now, and they are even younger! Sorry for the long post. https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/feb/01/ageing-britain-two-fifths-nhs-budget-spent-over-65s