Differences

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--- japan [2025/05/29 00:33] – [Topics for foreign residents of Japan] particles
+++ japan [2025/07/17 04:41] (current) – [Tokyo is not a city] particles
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   * [[journal:令和7年2月02日|令和7年2月02日]]
   * [[Suica reactivation]] - a report I wrote about reactivating a Suica that supposedly had expired using the JR Central workaround.
+  * [[osaka_expo_notes|Expo 2025 notes]]
 ===== Advice for visitors to Japan =====
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 If you are traveling with young children, I strongly suggest you avoid the areas in the safety tips section for hotel stays entirely. Around these stations at night, it is typical to encounter drunk salarymen or tourists and things of that nature.
+==== Tokyo is not a city ====
+It is helpful to know that Tokyo is not a city. Tokyo Metropolis consists of 23 special wards, all of which call themselves cities, as well as other cities that aren't special wards. If you arrive in Tokyo, the laws slightly change between ward (like smoking outside). You may be surprised to find that a destination "in Tokyo" is significantly farther away than you expect. For example, Tokyo Disneyland is a significant distance away from Tachikawa City, Tokyo, home to Showa Memorial Park, the largest park by land area in Tokyo. Tokyo Disneyland is not, in fact, in Tokyo. It’s in Chiba.
+Also, "Tokyo Narita International Airport" is in Chiba, not Tokyo. It's about 1 hour and 30 minutes away from Tokyo by train. It's also about $150 by taxi to Tokyo from Chiba.
 ==== Data plans ====
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 ==== Phone numbers for visitors ====
-If you're a visitor to Japan, you may be tempted to go down the rabbit hole and try to get a phone number that can send send/receive phone calls and SMS. In Japan, unlike some other countries (namely, the US), you need to provide photo ID to get service that includes these features. The best provider for this is [[https://www.mobal.com/|Mobal]].
+If you're a visitor to Japan, you may be tempted to go down the rabbit hole and try to get a phone number that can send send/receive phone calls and SMS. In Japan, unlike some other countries (namely, the US), you need to provide photo ID to get service that includes these features. The best provider for this is [[https://www.mobal.com/|Mobal]], in my opinion. You may also consider [[https://www.hanacell.com/japan |HanaCell]], which was suggested by a friend at a suggested cost of $8 a year.
   * Mobal service is more expensive than other types of service.