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What I Wished I’d Known BEFORE Doing My Japan Cruise!
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Jan 28, 2025
We are only ever likely to go to Japan once in our lives and so it's important to get it right. While I didn't get everything 100% spot on, I now know what future cruisers to Japan need to know to avoid my mistakes, work around downsides, and ensure they have the best time. For bonus & exclusive content (including videos, articles, eBooks and more) become a channel member or patron: --------------------------------------------------- * Patreon Patron: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * YouTube Channel Member: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_qE-Obs2ocdmPXY0TIU-cw/join Check out my cruise-themed T-shirts and products: --------------------------------------------------- * T-Shirts: http://bit.ly/TFTStore * Mugs, notebooks, hoodies etc: https://www.teepublic.com/stores/tipsfortravellers?ref_id=22354 My social media: --------------------------------------------------- * Blog: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com * Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/garybembridge * Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tipsfortravellers * Instagram: http://www.instgram.com/garybembridge * LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bembridge
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we're only ever likely to go to Japan
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once in our lives and so it's really
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important to get it right now while I
0:06
didn't get everything 100% spot on on my
0:09
trip I now know what future Cruisers do
0:11
need to know to avoid my mistakes work
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around any downsides and ensure that
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they have the very best time now I
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actually found the biggest and first
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challenge is actually making sure that
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you get to see the right SES and truly
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experience the unique culture I saw many
0:27
of my fellow Travelers Come Away not
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really seeing the best of either by the
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way if you're new here welcome aboard
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I'm Gary benridge and it's my goal to
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make it fun and easy to discover plan
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enjoy incredible Cruise vacations
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including those to Japan you really must
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ensure that your cruise is long enough
0:43
and jam-packed with Japanese ports now I
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recommend if you can at least a 10-day
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Cruise like I did on Regent Explorer
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which had seven Japanese ports plus the
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embarcation port of Tokyo now this is
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really important because you will lose
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at least one one day of your cruise
1:01
exploring Japan because Cruisers out of
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Japan must call on a foreign Port which
1:05
is often Busan in South Korea now the
1:08
next essential thing therefore before
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going is plan what you're actually going
1:12
to see in the ports to avoid making a
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mistake that I saw quite a few people
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did on my cruise who was moaning by the
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end that they were seeing very
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repetitive things very repetitive
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excursions and they were just basically
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going to see Shrine after Shrine after
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Shrine now through my experiences I
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think there are five key experiences and
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sites that I really think you should aim
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to be seeing when you're out in Port and
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please make sure that you plan a really
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good mix of them you should of course
1:39
explore World War II and the atomic
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bombs dropped on Japan by the USA they
1:44
affect two ports on many cruises which
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is Hiroshima and Nagasaki now both have
1:49
peace Memorial Parks Hiroshima is
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dominated by the iconic Atomic PE and
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Nagasaki by the statue of a man pointed
1:57
to the sky and then they also have
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museums I found the hero Kima Museum a
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little bit more challenging with its
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real focus on the injuries and the
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deaths Nagasaki museum is a little bit
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more factual a little bit less kind of
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emotive while you should of course visit
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shrines and temples every port has them
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so what I recommend you do is make sure
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that you focus on really iconic or very
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impressive ones so for example those in
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Kyoto are a must even though it's a 1
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and a half hour trip from coob or Osaka
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we or shiple dock the famous golden
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Pavilion covered in Gold Leaf is here as
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is the and just ajeno Buddhist temple it
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has 1,1 statues of Canon the goddess of
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Mercy an absolute must if you're going
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to shimuzu go to the Kuan tagu Shrine
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this requires a cable car ride on the
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neon Dara ropeway before the cable car
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you'd have had to climb up a thousand
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Stone steps to get there so as you can
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see these kind of big impressive ones so
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for example another musy is the sensor G
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temple in Tokyo which has the iconic red
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lantern that you'll instantly recognize
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from from the many publicity shots of
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the city also by the way in the city is
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the Magi Shrine which is dedicated to
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the empress Heen as the father of modern
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Japan it's located in an incredible
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Forest of 120,000 trees now I went on
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many other excursions which have shrines
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but I now know that it's really
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important to check if the ones on the
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tour or in the port you're in are really
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significant and important because they
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are all just kind of similar otherwise I
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also recommend you include castles in
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that mix of things that you make sure
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you see again like with shrines some are
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better than others in Osaka for example
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I absolutely loved Osaka Castle vast
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grounds massive walls and a moat and the
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impressive Castle Building can actually
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be climbed in Kachi the castle is truly
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absolutely truly remarkable and it's one
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of the remaining absolute original ones
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it was built in the in the 17th century
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there's an amazing view if you climb up
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to the Top If you going to Kyoto try and
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visit the ni JoJo Castle also in big
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beautiful sprawling grounds it was was
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built in the 1600s you can toour the
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castle which has these uh Plank Floors
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that chirp when walked on to war if
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there are Intruders now another thing I
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would say is if a place on your Tiner is
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build as having a castle I also learned
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to check that the castle is actually
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still there so for example I went to
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Obie castle and once I was there
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discovered there's no Castle it had been
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destroyed there was just a museum there
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so a bit of a watch out the fourth
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essential thing to include in that mix
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are Japanese Gardens and there are some
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incredible ones that I discovered so
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again check if these are really
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important ones let me give you some
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examples in Tokyo they have the hamara
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yak Gardens in the center of town
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surrounded by skyscrapers originally
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built for a feudal Lord's Tokyo home
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still has some of the tea houses in
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there in Hiroshima I love the shuken
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Japanese Gardens created 400 years ago
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and meticulously rebuilt after the
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atomic bomb in Nagasaki I found the gloa
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garden just above the cruise port
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fascinating it showcases West W style
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houses that were key to Japanese history
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including Thomas B Glover a Scottish man
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who contributed to Japanese kind of
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modernization and industrialization I
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also recommend you try and build in some
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visits in your mix of things that go to
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kind of iconic Landscapes especially
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because as I'll discuss later there is
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an issue with the ports and towns that
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you will be visiting on your creu so for
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example if you in shimuzu go to the Miho
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no matabar Pine Forest and beach now
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this is the spot where that picture
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postc got shot of Mount Fuji is taken
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now the day I went there it was covered
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in clouds but I did actually get to see
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Mount Fuji from the port later I also
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loved visiting the radoo caves in Kachi
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stalagmite caves 800 steps in and out of
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it fascinating also at aoshima Island as
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well as an important Shrine is the very
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unusual Devil's washboard where Wes have
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created famous grid formations in the
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Sandstone so check your ports to see if
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there are very important incredible
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Landscapes being called out or musty
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kind of natural sites now those are the
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things you should see but I've also
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discovered a couple of key watch outs
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that you should factor in when planning
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all this sightseeing first all of these
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places are on everybody's wish list both
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land and cruise visitors and I actually
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found them to be really crowded
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especially because Cruise excursions
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tend to visit them at really busy times
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also the peak times and when most
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cruises operate are spring which is
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going to march to April to try and catch
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the April cherry blossom and then Autumn
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which is September to November so you
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also will be there bear in mind when
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Japan is at its busiest the second watch
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out is I discovered that much of what
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that we actually get to see is not
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authentic because many sites or
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buildings were destroyed or badly
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damaged either during the second world
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war or many of the original buildings
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which were wood had been destroyed over
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the sort of centuries and years by fires
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so even places like the ancient looking
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Tokyo senoi Temple that I mentioned
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earlier was actually recreated postwar
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so much of what you actually go and see
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is not all original especially because
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things that are close to the port many
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of those cities were actually Naval or
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military bases or had heavy industrial
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factories and were heavily bombed during
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the war the third watch out is if you
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have limited Mobility check the
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Excursion descriptions really carefully
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because it's often a lot of walking
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steep steps strict rules around where
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the tour buses can park so it's often a
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distance from the site and I did
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actually see a number of people on my
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tours struggling at times they hadn't
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checked the details and actually giving
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up because it was just a bit too
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strenuous now the Fourth Watch chart is
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the guys I found on the tours will at
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best be okay they're not brilliant now I
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discovered through talking to the cruise
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line destination services that actually
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being a tour guide in Japan is not seen
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as a really prestigious job so a lot of
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guides do it as a kind of a second job
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perhaps on retirement and so versus some
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other regions I've been in which require
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a lot of training the guides I found
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were just just okay so bear that in mind
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the fifth watch out is because most
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cruises start and end in Tokyo please
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please please plan a pre or post day to
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see everything there because what's in
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Tokyo you just can't see in one day I
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for example had a 3ight pre- stay
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included in my cruise and that was
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hectic an unexpected challenge I
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encountered on my trip was it took a lot
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of effort to actually experience and get
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immersed into the culture so be ready
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for that I found going on Cru with Japan
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it was really easy to get stuck in a
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bubble the tours and the sites of course
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they cater very much to tourists and
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they often are not within or close to
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local communities stores restaurants and
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this was actually kind of magnified
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because many of the cruise ports are
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industrial working ports they're not
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within the city center with the
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exception of a couple like say Nagasaki
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so you couldn't just kind of stroll into
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local areas you know beyond perhaps a
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mall that was by some of the ports also
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on the who of course uh you get serve
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the usual Cuisine that they serve you
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know so you need to make an effort to go
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and try local restaurants I think that's
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really key so something I encourage you
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to check when planning as it was also a
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huge Miss on my cruise was there was a
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lack of Japanese history culture
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enrichment and poort talks we had a
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speaker on board but they were talking
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about volcanoes earth earthquakes
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geological things not immersing me into
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the story the history the of Japan you
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know I found I was really craving more
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of that context to better appreciate
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what I was seeing so guys were talk
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about the the Edo period the samurai why
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and how Japan spent 250 years in
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isolation from the West why the capital
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was changed several times most recently
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from Kyoto to Tokyo what happened to
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World War II and you need to understand
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all that to make the experience the
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places and the sites all make much more
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sense so I recommend at least before
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going buy a really good guide book and
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read up I really wish I'd done more of
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that especially because of the tour
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guide situation I mentioned saying all
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that there is another thing I would
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actually do differently now that I know
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about it and this is that self touring
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is way easier than I had imagined most
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ports had incredible visitor information
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booths with many people manning them
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loads of amazing books maps and guides
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on what to see and how to get there most
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ports had shuttle buses lat on to get to
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the close by places and there were also
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then taxis which would be able to take
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you further field too often at the
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shuttle bus stops on the other side were
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even more people there ready to kind of
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assist and help out I also found the
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Japanese were really helpful to tourists
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and they won't just kind of point you in
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the direction they'll often kind of take
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you there for example when I was off
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exploring in kumato uh there was this
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little elderly lady she stopped what she
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was doing and she insisted on taking and
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showing a couple all the places she need
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they needed to go within the cast and
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the shrine area she didn't just sort of
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explain it and send them off there are
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also by the way police boxes around in
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Tokyo and other towns where they will
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speak English and can help too I found
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in all the tourist areas signs are in
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both English and Japanese and especially
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in tourist areas there's a lot of
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English speakers most of all the ports
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and the Port Towns were really very very
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welcoming of tour and they actually went
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out of their way to make sure it was
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easy to self to as an aside they are so
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welcoming that most ports would also lay
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on bands School choir School Marching
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troops that would perform to say goodbye
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to the ship as we sailed away every
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evening I loved self touring because it
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was also a chance to experience Japan in
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a much more immersive way the local
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restaurants for example they all have
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pictures of food on the menus and they
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have those kind of plastic replicas in
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the windows so I found it really easy to
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kind of point and kind of mime to order
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a meal there are drink vending machines
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all over which are actually really easy
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to use I also loved getting a chance to
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go and visit kind of crazy shops and
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Retail Concepts that the Japanese seem
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to love you know for example some
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stocking toys in capsules and big
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vending machines and playing in the
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bright gy massive game arcades these are
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really really important things to
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experience I think by the way I found it
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less expensive than I expected import
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partly because of the favorable exchange
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rate
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and it was kind of London kind of prices
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once I converted so self touring did not
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feel that costly and I found using cards
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was really easy versus cash I only
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converted $200 into Yen at the start of
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my trip and I didn't even use all of
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that because I used cards mostly I will
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say though that Tokyo hotels were crazy
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costly to stay in trying things that are
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out of that cruise tour bubble is I
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think a real must and as I said way way
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easier to do than I expected however
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there are a couple of important
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considerations that you do need to
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factor in in as I discovered and self-
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explored I found that culturally there
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are some really key differences that I
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think we as visitors need to respect
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really really well I found Japan to be
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very rules-based and respectful of
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others I saw signs all over with rule
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after rule after Rule and the Japanese
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expect us to follow them I did feel
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there are actually many in and around
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ports which I suspect the targeted
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particularly us and our kind of Western
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behaviors you know for example it's
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considered inappropriate to kind of
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speak loudly in public places to be on
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phone calls on the Metro or public
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transport to listen to music where you
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know noise leaks from earphones do
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FaceTime calls or watch videos without
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earphones is an absolute no no even in
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the Japan Airlines Lounge when I was
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heading home phone calls were not
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permitted other than in very specific
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booths for making calls there's a real
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expectation to be polite and very very
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respectful never for example drop litter
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people are likely to going tap you on
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the shoulder if they see litter this
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happen to me because they assumed I was
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the only Western around so I must have
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discarded a bit of litter that was on
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the floor I also found that tipping is
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not a big thing in Japan I found that if
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you leave money in a restaurant they
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kind of hand it back assuming that I was
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leaving it by mistake although tour guys
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of course they're getting more used to
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being tipped I think it is a bit
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disappointing that Japan seems to though
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be sort of becoming more and more
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westernized I saw loads of Western
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chains you know Starbucks which I do
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like McDonald's Burger King loads of 71s
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but certainly from a culture perspective
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I found the Japanese very respectful
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polite tidy and very considerate of
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other people so bear that in mind as you
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start interacting and
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touring Japan should be on your cruise
14:43
bucket list to find out what other
14:45
places I think should be on that list
14:47
too join me in this video where I start
14:49
with two that most people have on their
14:51
list that I think should not be there
14:53
see you over there
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