etiene

Internet connectivity being famously seamless on American high speed trains… Oh wait.

iwanm

Wow, you obviously have no idea of the challenges that providing an internet connection on a high speed platform entails. Having read your other thread on having to use the train I really struggle to accept that you're a seasoned travelller, you just come across as an entitled ......

williamluk

u do get 5GB, they just didn’t tell you at what speed ….

paperwastage

That 5GB is supposed to be not purposefully restricted (i.e. not throttled to 256kbps).

Of course reality speeds will be slower , because

1) might be lower priority on the network.
2) you need to proxy back to USA T-Mobile.
3) other technical issues

Pseudo Nim

Exactly this. The reason people love Japan and keep going to it is precisely BECAUSE of this, in my opinion (and this includes me). I never cease to complain about the idiosyncrasies of Japan, but if Japan ever went and announced they’d change ANYTHING I am complaining about, I would be the first in line to object because that would just make it “like everywhere else”, and t would be a huge loss to everyone. As for the thread here.

- yes, most forms in Japan are Japanese-only, particularly for domestic things (which is what you had here). I agree it’s annoying, and it’s compounded by the fact that nobody is on hand to even do a verbal translation. But that’s Japan and it caters to 120 million locals - if one doesn’t like it, basically stay home. Not everyone owes everyone an explanation in their native language. Why go far? Try going around Quebec
- anyone claiming to be a frequent traveller should know very well that there are almost no domestic flights from Kansai to Tokyo on major carriers, so there are VERY few plan B options. Domestic travel is HUGE in Japan, so anything OTHER than what you have booked is going to be full - on Itami to Haneda it might work, but Kansai? nope. Also, yes, it’s annoying, but trust me - if you had to switch to Itami and THEN fly it would’ve taken you FAR longer.

Pseudo Nim

Don’t forget the iD sign, not that it helps any, since those cards are also domestic issued. It’s amusing, in fact, that for a cashless society there’s such a ridiculous number of cashless payments, both as QR codes and tap-to-pay - QUICPay, iD, AliPay, WePay, MercariPay, RakutenPay, waon, nanaco, and probably dozen others, and I didn’t even get to the IC cards issued by the local transport agencies (JR Suica, JR ICOCA, manaca, nanaca, pitapa, pasmo, and that’s only a couple of markets - and no, I didn’t make these words up).

The saving grace is that you can issue a JR Suica card on your iPhone and charge it from your credit card from the comfort of your own home, and while it’s a bit of a left hand scratches right ear situation, it solves a good number of cash issues.

mlbcard

Do you have the "magenta max" or "go5g plus" plan? Those are the only ones that provide 5GB of high speed data in Japan. The rest are throttled.

lsquare

I have T-Mobile Magenta Max.

Roaming through T-Mobile is more than usable. Speed and connectivity was only an issue on the Shinkansen. I never said it was a problem elsewhere.

phil94028

I am off to Japan this week and did an eSIM on Airalo. 5GB/30days was about $11. I have not been there in years but was assuming it was pretty seamless these days. Did work fine in Europe for me. Obviously it is data only.
Anyone else have experience with this vs roaming?

BuildingMyBento

The country has worsened since pre-pandemic.

The only pro that comes to mind (as a foreigner) is the much wider acceptance of credit cards.

However, I'd say things are much less efficient now.

Some convenience stores require you to tap on a screen to choose the payment method; if it's cash, then you have to tap again when you're done dropping in the money. Some supermarkets go even farther backwards, and ask if we want to pay everything in a lump-sum, or use different payment methods ... then ask if we want an a receipt for expense reports, or just a standard issue receipt.

And why are train station queues still lengthy at times? Those ticket machines are sorely lacking in capabilities. (ironically, I've had no success using a foreign credit card at those ticket machines, so time is further wasted).

I've also come to realize that Japanese airports suck. Landside, they're fine, with plenty of food options. But Japan Airlines at HND? Slim pickens, plus the lounges are rubbish. NGO domestic Priority Pass lounge? Crap.
Just eat before security, and buy a couple of snacks beforehand, too.

More and more Japanese airports are turning to self-check-in. Because most people aren't traveling all of the time, it's much slower. Not to mention, my passport routinely offends the scanners, so I need to yobidasu help anyway.

Osaka has also gone to the dogs. It reminds me of a Chinese city but with potable water. Smoking seems popular once again, and the Namba area is a miserable place for wandering.

OTOH, Tokyo is still neat. But not being able to refund those stored-value cards anywhere in the country is stupid. It's not as if JR East and JR West are competing with each other.

LapLap

There is a book called “Splendours and Miseries of the Brain” by Semir Zeki.

He explains how when you first visit somewhere and return home, your brain has a strong tendency to remember all the good things about the holiday and this gives you what he calls a “platonic ideal” about that place which crowds out all the bad things. The bad things are just forgotten about.

Of course, that “platonic ideal” rarely remains intact with repeat visits.

Culture shock manifests itself in many ways, but I think S Zeki has nailed the process that instigates these feelings.

lsquare

Are you trying to say that's what I'm going through?

LapLap

Not you. But it’s worth being aware of this process.

IggySD

I’m here now and kind of like that change, have primarily seen it in 7-11. Makes it much easier to get rid of spare change, especially yennys when I can see the numbers in front of me. It was a bit strange at first but now that I’m used to it I’m a fan. I feel less bad about making a machine wait while I try to remember which is 5, 10, and than a person.

As far as the OPs comment about Wi-Fi on the Shinkansen, completely agree that the unreliability came as a surprise. Makes sense given the number of tunnels and how that can complicate things but my (uninformed) assumption was that it would be stable, however I’ve found myself constantly having to re-log in. Not really an issue, just contrary to what I expected.

SkyLich

Meanwhile in Bangkok I see barefoot laborers pay for a 1usd lunch in 3 seconds by flashing their phone at a vendor's whose entire business is attached to a scooter.