Japan, 2023.
Background.
As a reminder, my newsletter is designed to talk about finance, travel, and auto racing. Most of the time these three general topics are intertwined.
Of course, I will also share my personal strategies about money and travel. I believe money is to be used to trade for stuff. Stuff you and your family can enjoy. I didn’t create a financial plan that allowed me to retire at age 52 so I could see how much money I could save by the time I checked out. Creating wealth is important. Understanding where you are in life (time, place, and circumstances) helps define how that wealth should be used. Now, let’s go see the world.
Where to go?
We have traveled to nearly 100 countries. Depending upon who you talk to there are 193 countries in the world. When you’ve traveled that much where do you go next?
We have a choice to visit what I would call “off-the-wall” countries or return to the countries we have really enjoyed. Many of those out-of-the-way places aren’t very stable or don’t have all that much to see as an American tourist. That being the case, for this trip, we chose to go back to a place where we’d already been and had a good time. That would be…Japan.
I’ve been to Japan half a dozen times. Carol has taken the long trip three times. I had some special attractions in mind that I wanted to show Carol that she hadn’t seen before.
The advance plan.
Several important parts of the trip needed to be planned in advance in order for our adventure to be a success. A couple of months before we would leave I knocked these ideas out before we ever got on the airplane to head to Tokyo.
What’s my overall approach to planning? We’ll figure it out.
You should know I am not a heavy-duty advance planner for this stuff. I have one overall strategy. What’s that? I go everywhere with a “We’ll figure it out” approach. That has always worked well for me…but then I am the most laidback guy, according to our friends, that they know! I believe one of my strengths is simply being comfortable with uncertainty.
Why Japan? Why Japan now?
I had two major Tokyo attractions that motivated me to get back to Japan. I spent a week in Tokyo just six months ago. Carol and I were there together just before the pandemic began.
Sumo wrestling brought us to Japan? Really? C’mon, really?
Japan is noted for its sumo wrestling. I really wanted to see some sumo wrestling. I had never done that. On my last trip to Japan, I attended a professional wrestling match. This was along the lines of the popular WWE wrestling that you see in the United States. But, that wasn’t sumo wrestling.
I do this for Carol!
I also wanted Carol to experience a Japanese major-league baseball game. A few years ago, I was in Nagoya, Japan. On that trip I saw the Chunichi Dragons play in their huge enclosed stadium, the Nagoya Dome.
A Japanese baseball game experience is quite a bit different than what we see in the U.S. I can say that with some confidence since I’ve been to a major league baseball game at every stadium in the major leagues.
I said there were two reasons…but there were three reasons for coming to Japan.
The third most important objective of this trip was to see another automobile race in Japan. I’ve seen two tracks (Fuji Speedway above) in Japan and Carol’s total is one. Adding one more track visit would just add to the overall fun.
Timing is everything.
In order to achieve the above objectives, we needed to travel to Japan when all three of these entertainment items, sumo wrestling, major-league baseball, and auto racing were happening. That wasn’t easy to do. I did find a timeframe in the middle of May when it would all work out.
It was time to start booking stuff.
As soon as I knew we could see all three of these activities in a two-week time frame I booked our airline tickets. Carol and I would be flying nonstop from Los Angeles to Tokyo’s Haneda airport. That’s a 12-hour flight. You probably know that Tokyo has two major airports, Haneda and Narita. And yes…the photo above makes it seem as if the flight shouldn’t take 12 hours to complete!
You probably already noticed this. I don’t use travel agents. I like to travel “ala carte”. I want the trip to be customized…and I want to do the customizing. This doesn’t mean I don’t seek the advice of others. I absolutely do. It’s just that when it comes time to press the “purchase” button I’ll be doing the pressing.
Coach class would be just fine.
We would fly in coach class. I’ve seen racing in 86 countries. I would guess for nearly half of those trips I flew in first or business class. I love first/business class. I just don’t think it’s worth it for the price. When I’m paying for the ticket we will fly in coach.
If Carol really wanted to fly in first class she should have married someone a little sharper than me. In point of fact, Carol and I were both raised poor in the Midwest. We know the value of a dollar. We also know that when you reach the fourth quarter of the “game” dollars don’t need to stay in your investment accounts. See what I did there?
I don’t support for a second the hoarding of money. I want to spend money! However, when it comes to paying for premium airfare I would rather divert those funds to just about anything else. Why? Because I believe “anything else” is a better value than the expense of first/business class airfare.
Could your spouse or significant other pull this off?
There was something a bit unusual about our flight itineraries. Yes, Carol and I would fly together from Los Angeles to Tokyo. However, when the trip ended, Carol would be heading back to Los Angeles from Tokyo. I would be heading flying from Tokyo to Perth, Western Australia by way of Singapore. I know what you might be thinking. Yes! We are international jet-setters!
At this point, I would like to stop and ask the reader this question. If you flew from your hometown to Tokyo, Japan, would your spouse or significant other feel comfortable flying from Tokyo back to your hometown by themselves? I’m happy to report that my spouse can do such a thing. Well, I might want to qualify that. This was our plan! I had full confidence in Carol. She could do this.
Tokyo…expensive.
Tokyo is one of the most expensive cities in the world. According to this source, Tokyo ranks as the #9 most expensive city. Tokyo is right up there with places like London, Hong Kong, and New York. Hotels are very pricey in downtown Tokyo.
We would be staying for six nights at the AC Hotel Tokyo Ginza. This hotel is one of the thirty brands owned by Marriott. Ginza is Tokyo’s most famous upmarket shopping, dining, and entertainment district, featuring numerous department stores, boutiques, art galleries, restaurants, nightclubs, and cafes.
How could we possibly afford a hotel in Tokyo?
There was just one tiny problem. As you know, I am a retiree living on a small fixed income. I have to make my dollars go as far as I possibly can. You also know if you have read what I have shared closely I am the most indebt person that you personally know. I didn’t want to go any further in debt by staying at this hotel.
The nightly rate at the AC Hotel averaged $770 a night. That’s quite a bit more than we normally spend on these vacations. For six nights that hotel bill would be nearly $5,000.
Also, if you read what I share you probably know that I don’t pay retail. I didn’t pay retail for our AC Hotel either.
The deal of the year? Maybe.
I had 100,000 Marriott frequent stay points in my account. That would be helpful. Over the years I have actually earned millions of these miles and that is not an exaggeration. For this trip, I discovered that I could buy more points from Marriott in order to cover this nearly $5,000 hotel expense. What a discovery!
I think of the points that I earn in the Marriott program as simply freebies. I wouldn’t stay at a hotel Marriott hotel if I didn’t think the price was right. When I pay a price that I am comfortable with and also get frequent stay points, the points are just icing on the cake.
I was able to use those 100,000 Marriott points I had in my account PLUS another amount of points that I bought from Marriott for $1,000 to completely cover the $5,000 expense. In my mind, I was paying $1,000 and getting $5,000 in goods and services. This was a smoking hot deal.
What percentage of people in the world have seen sumo wrestling?
I had done some research on getting sumo wrestling tickets. The sumo wrestling people have major tournaments in Tokyo for sumo wrestling three times a year. During each of these time frames, they have about 10 days’ worth of shows.
I hope you read my newsletter for valuable tips.
While I was searching around online, I came up with something that I had never ever seen before. At least I didn’t remember using GYG but in fact, I had. I found “getyourguide.com”.
These folks are a German travel agency. They partner with all kinds of local venues and attractions all over the world. GYG will hook you up with local guides doing tours or visiting attractions from just about anywhere. You can also buy event tickets from them too. I can’t believe, with as much travel as I do, that I had never heard of them or used them.
I was able to book two tickets to the sumo wrestling on a day that would work for us for about $100 per person. The plan, with Get Your Guide would be to meet our local guide at a specific location. The guide would provide our wrestling tickets and get us into and out of the venue itself. That’s no small feat right there. This seemed like a much simpler way to do things than trying to navigate Japanese websites in Japanese and order the sumo tickets directly from the vendor if I could get them.
I was hot. Let’s get some more tickets to more fun stuff in Japan.
Next, I thought it might also be a good idea to buy tickets to one of the Yomiuri (Tokyo) Giants baseball games in advance as well. The Giants play their home games at the Tokyo Dome. I had been to the Tokyo Dome when I saw the professional wrestling there six months ago.
They couldn’t possibly start the games at 2 a.m., could they?
When I went on the Yomiuri Giants website their schedule was a little confusing to me. Yes, the Japanese language confuses me. It appeared that the majority of their games were starting at 2 o’clock in the morning. I couldn’t imagine that was the case. Then I discovered my error.
The Japanese website was showing their game start times in the California time zone because my computer was on California time. Once I went into the settings section of my MacBook Pro and changed the time to Tokyo time, I saw that the games were now starting at a much more reasonable time in the mid-afternoon! If it isn’t one thing it’s going to be another!
It isn’t the easiest thing, when a website is primarily in Japanese, to understand what’s going on and then to order whatever it is you want to order. Nevertheless, one afternoon, I waded through it all and came away with a couple of tickets. Carol and I could see the Yomiuri Giants play the Hiroshima Toyo Carp. Take a look at the ticket above. There’s not a lot of English going on there, is there? The game will be fun. I’ll tell you more about it when we do it.
Wait! This next activity was a 15-hour drive from Tokyo!
The auto race we (my words) wanted to see was at the Autopolis International Racing Circuit in Kamitsue, Japan. This race was part of the Japanese Super Formula series. Wouldn’t you know it? The racetrack was going to be a 15-hour drive from Tokyo. I didn’t fancy doing that.
Ever ridden a Japanese bullet train?
Once again, I did a little research. I found out that we had two other transportation options in addition to driving. We could ride the bullet train which would take us about four hours, or we could fly. I’ve ridden the bullet train (I rode the train above) in the past in Japan and well as France’s version. The experience is a lot like being on an airplane. You simply sit in the train seat and you almost don’t know you’re not on an airplane.
I discovered that we could fly 2 1/2 hours one-way from Tokyo to Fukuoka and back for a very reasonable fare. Flight tickets were just $166 each for the round-trip flight. That was cheaper than the bullet train and faster.
Few Americans have ever driven a car in Japan.
I had never driven in Japan. You may remember that in Japan they drive on the left side of the road and not the right side as we do in the United States. I rented a car for our three-day stay in and around Fukuoka. We’ll use the car to drive around, see the sights, and also to get us out to the race track which is a couple of hours from Fukuoka.
I needed an International Driving Permit? Really?
One of the written requirements for renting a car in Japan was that I would need to have an “International Driving Permit”. I didn’t have a current one although I have had them in the past. Each time I took the time to get an IDP I was never asked to show it. However, I couldn’t risk showing up in Japan without an International Driving Permit.
That being the case I trekked down to our local AAA office and got one. They took a couple of passport-style photos (one for the IDP and one for me to keep for my next travel visa) and collected $20. That was it. There was no driving test. There was no nothing except getting my picture taken (they told me not to smile!) and paying 20 bucks. I think the main purpose of having the IDP was that is sort of “certified” via AAA that I had a California driver’s license!
Going to Tokyo? You’re going to be riding the subway!
Finally, when I was shopping around on the GetYourGuide website I noticed they also sell subway tickets. A three-day pass for the subway in Tokyo was being sold at the more than reasonable price of $11 per person. I grabbed six days’ worth of these for Carol and me.
For the most part, Uber does not exist in Tokyo. Taxis are extremely expensive. Everyone travels by subway. The subway is fast, safe, and convenient. The subway trains are located nearly everywhere and go everywhere. And no, I am not a giant! And yes, I almost always wear shorts.
Google Maps rocks with the Tokyo subway.
One of the advantages of using a subway in Tokyo is that I can use Google Maps on my phone. Google Maps will tell us which subway line to take, what time the train runs, and even how crowded the train is…in English of course!
Japanese people are the best…but they don’t speak English.
It has been my experience that few Japanese speak much English in and around Tokyo. The signs are in Japanese. The Japanese people could not be better at trying to help a stranded or confused traveler. They just don’t speak virtually any English. My iPhone will be smoking from using Google Maps and various translating apps. We’ll figure it out.
This is what I had done with my advanced planning. To be honest this is a lot more advanced planning than I normally make even on these big trips.
We’ll try just about anything once!
Carol and I are adventuresome travelers. We like being on our own. Tour groups are not for us. We did have two various excellent organized tour groups, one in Russia and one in China. We then went back to both of those places later on our own.
We’ll get lost a good deal of the time. I’ll stop strangers and ask for help. I’ll stop strangers to ask them to take our picture. We have the most fun when we’re lost. We will take chances that most people wouldn’t even consider.
We’ll figure it out!
I do know this about the trip. We’ll figure it out!
This is the preamble to an epic trip to Japan. I’ll follow this up in installments. I hope you find what you read entertaining and helpful if you decide to embark on a trip like this.
Randy Lewis and his faithful travel companion, Carol
Worldwide travelers who figure they will figure it out when needed