When packing for a three week trip to a foreign country which youd never visited, you packeverything you'll need and not want to go searching for in the unfamiliar stores in an unknown languagge. But when youre backpacking, this becomes trickier because of the space and weight issue. We were really good in this department, but nowI know we could have been better. So many things we didnt need to bring. Which brings us to toothpaste, and toothbrushes if we get down to the details.
Its not that we didnt brush our teeth for three weeks, or that we didnt use toothpaste, its that every hotel left fresh toothbrushes and toothpaste for us. Even when we were staying five nights, as in Kyoto, they threw out the used one and put two new packs every day.
Why am I saying this? Because this happened in every hotel, even in the simplest of the hotels.
Oh, and another thing that you dont need to bring? Shampoo, Conditioner, Body soap. Hotels have those in every room in huge bottles. No little sample sizes for Japan, here they have full sized luxury brands, Really, my hair had never felt softer and looked shinier. Also, for those hotels with onsens, there are large bottles there of everything. And thats not necessarily only the fancy ones. The guest house we stayed at in Hakone, had an awesome onsen, probably one of the better ones we:d visited. They too had plenty of the good stuff.
So in short, with the shampoo and conditioner and all the other stuff, probably would have saved over a kilo in each bag. Oh, and we brought with us two towels, just in case. Not necessary either.
Next lesson - bug spray and after bite. Dont let them tell you its not mosquito season. No one told this to the mosquitos. I dont remember when, or IF, i was ever bitten like I was in Japan. And this is even after I bought bug spray; those monsters were impervious. Or maybe it worked and the bites would have been more and worse had I not sprayed. They get through your clothes, they make no noise, the bites swell up and they itch like -------- . It took me two weeks to get over the itch of some of them and the scars are still visible for most of them.
Sweetener - if you prefer to use sweetener rather than sugar, dont worry, its around. But I still recommend you carry some around with you. I had brought along with us a little sweetener mushroom from Israel. Its a small plastic container with sweetener tablets. It saved me a few times when there was no starbucks around or in the mornings and the hotel had breakfast coffee but no sweetener.
Speaking on the Train - in general, dont do it. Specifically, if you must, speak quietly only when on a train, and not at all on the phone. If you must, get up and stand in the space between the cars so that you dont disturb any of the other passengers.
Arigato Goizomas - learn it, live it. Thank you very much - for everything.
Sumimasen - Still havent learned for what it cant be used. Excuse me, hello, youre welcome, pardon me, sorry. You think Canadians apologize a lot? HA! Japanese live the apology. Theres even a Japanese company specializing in apologizing. You can hire someone to go and apologize to someone youve wronged in case youre too embarassed (or dont want) to do it in person (sorta contradicts the purpose of an apology, but whatever).
Dont blow your nose. This is one of the rules Ori and I continuously ignored. I feel I must inform you and let you make your own decision. What do they do? They pull it in. Yup, its even grosser than you think.
Eating and walking. Thats a difficult one. One which we still havent figured out. When we did the walking tour with our Japanese guide, we were given samples of some kind of red bean cookie (umm, acquired taste). We were about to walk away but she stopped me and told me to finish eating it while at the booth. She said it wasn't polite to eat and walk. Maybe she was referring to free samples. Why do I question it? Cause we were at several markets and festivals and peple ate and walked all the time. then again, maybe its just something her mother told her and isnt widespread in Japan. So this is one quandry that remained unsolved.
Negotiation - Dont do it. Japan isnt Hong Kong. And I dont say that from experience, at least not one gained from my time in Hong Kong. Rather from being told this by a salesman. This kinda shocked me because Im not normally the bargain hunter nor negotiator. I was buying several not cheap pieces such that the total was getting up there. All I did was ask whether there was a discount for multiple pieces. The wife looked at her husband, he looked at her, said some stuff in Japanese and then turned to me and said in an angry quiet voice - This is NOT Hong Kong. I was so shocked all I could do is apologize several times. On second thought, all I did was ask if a slight discount was possible. Youd think I ran over his dog with a smile. So basically, save yourself the embarassment and dont ask. Either pay the price or be ready to walk away without a glance. They wont be calling you back.
Oh, Kit Kat - theyre everywhere and not in milk chocolate. There are flavours youd never even imagine. Im sure youve heard of green tea kit kat and can imagine dark chocolate kit kat. But what would you say to wasabi kit kat, spicy chilli peppers kit kat, red bean sandwhich kit kat, and so many more. Google it if you want the full list. We broke down and got a few of them, including a limited edition Rum Raisin kit kat (oh and the pumpkin kit kat we could have skipped over). I suggest trying the odd flavours, at least for the experience. Youll never know which one will have chemistry with your pallet. 
Trains are never early or late. If youre running to catch a train in the hope it will be 30 seconds late, stop running, it wont be there a second after the set time. Take your time and catch the next train. And early? Nope, if theres a train on the track in advance of the set time, dont get on it, its not your train. Thankfully, neither of these lessons come from learned experience just conclusions made from observing the trains over the three week period.
Budgeting - Yes, Japan is not cheap by any measures, but its also not the wallet breaking trip that everyone was warning us about. It is possible to be budget conscious in Japan. We set an approximate budget in advance of the trip and pretty much stuck to it. Of course, you could blow the budget with ridiculous hotels the whole way through, but you could also do that in Tel Aviv and New York. You could also eat Kobe beef several times on your trip (meals START at 18,000 yuen - approx $180 per person), and you could do Kasekai dinners (starting price about the same as that of Kobe dinners), and spend an interesting evening with a Geisha (about $300 per person), etc. In short, there are endless options of blowing the budget. But I think that Ori and I made the right decision about skipping out on the Kobe dinner (especially after hearing a review of "Ive had better steak") and we definitely had more fun chasing a surprise sighting of a Geisha than paying to sit with her for a few hours and probably not being able to communicate on top of it all. Theres no reason to go to all the temples. Actually, I would go further and say, dont try to go to all of them, or even most of them. After a day in old Kyoto we were totally templed out. In terms of food, we were always able to find delicious food in affordable prices. And we didnt skimp, Ori had a beer with dinner and we had dessert if we felt like it (and if it was available). There are endless options of Udon and Soba restaurants, and even better if they also serve tempura. And dont get me started on the sushi. Oh sushi, I miss you.
In short, totally doable and soooo worth it.
So thats it for now, I think. Ill let you know if theres anything more and you let me know when youre going (Ill need a refill on my kit kat pretty soon)
