こんにちは！ Welcome to the general thread for all things Japan!
I wanted to create a place to share the interesting or cool things I discovered while researching for my trip and I know I’m not the only one on Grouvee interested in Japan.
Feel free to post things such as:
Marunouchi Sadistic is a song written and composed by Ringo Sheena. It was released on her debut album Muzai Moratorium in 1999. The album has sold over a million copies since its release. The song title references the Marunouchi Line and the lyrics are praised for its wordplay. Utada Hikaru also covered this song in 2017.
I knew the cover version but I didn’t know this background info!
When are you going? I am planning a 2027-2028 trip because I want to stay as much as possible.
I went in 2017 for 6 days and in February 2025 for 2 weeks. I definitely recommend at least 2 weeks so you don’t feel rushed though if your flight isn’t as long as mine was, probably could afford to go more often hahaha.
EDIT: If you’re interested, I made a list of where I stayed and all the places I visited that I can share. I took loads of photos too. 
PLEASE SHARE.
I am targetting going at least for a month. It will be expensive af but that’s why I am targeting a year or two of savings for that.
I am going with my boyfriends - one of them plays along with otaku culture a little bit (watched some highly ranked animes, and played some games with me) but the other is a complete normie, so let’s see how that goes lmao.
For now I know I want to visit the giant Gundam, Akihabara, Nintendo World, some good otaku cafe, etc. Of course I will staying some time in Kyoto and some other time in Tokyo. Considering Hokkaido or any good beach too, depending on the time of the year.
I am a little bit concerned of how they will receive 3 LGBTIQ+ viisitors, so any tips on that are welcome too.
Also, language barrier, but I’ll get over that.
Loving the idea of this topic, bookmark’d.
Being publicly gay shouldn’t be an issue but some hotels may act weird if they suspect same-sex coupling. I think this won’t be a problem with most hotels, especially those who often cater to tourists but I have heard issues with love hotels specifically. So keep that in mind.
Also while I didn’t visit this neighborhood, there is a gay district in Tokyo called 2-chome / Nichome that may be some interest to you. I found there were a lot of gay bars in that area so if you’re looking to socialize and support the gay community in Tokyo, maybe check it out!
Now here is my list to every place I went to in Tokyo and Atami (minus a couple things in Atami but I’ll try to add those later):
Accommodations
Recommended Things to Do
Recommended Places to Shop
Overhyped Things to Consider Skipping
Recommended Places to Eat / Drink
I went to Japan in 2018! It is the only time I have ever been outside of Australia. I spent a week in Kyoto for BitSummit and the rest of the month was spent in Tokyo. I don’t have all my notes from when I went, but here are a few places I’d recommend that popped into my mind:
Foods
Shoppings
Funs
This is all that’s coming to me right now (that I know still exists)… I’ll be sure to update if I think of anything else!
Anyway, here’s a picture of me with SWERY.
Wow. Those burgers look amazing. I had a wagyu burger at a restaurant directly next to our hotel in Shinjuku and while it was good, it wasn’t something to highlight as a place to visit. It was just an easy place to get a burger.
Akihabara, and Tokyo in general, has so many hidden nooks that are incredibly easy to pass by. Thankfully we live in the era of GPS and maps, otherwise finding the good places to eat would be so much harder. I remember during my first trip, I was really anxious to go into places like Vault Coffee because it felt so off the beaten path and like I was going to accidentally end up in someone’s apartment, but after you do it once or twice, it just becomes the norm.
Nakano Broadway was on my list but it was one of those places that we didn’t end up visiting. Hopefully we’ll be able to try again someday. :))
While clubbing sounds fun, I literally cannot imagine signing up to stand on my feet more. I walked nearly 90 miles during our last trip. My feet were DEAD.
Oh man, I completely forgot about all the walking. Yeah… most every evening my feet were extremely sore, too… I was glad I spent a month there so I had some down time to recuperate between massive bouts of more walking. My favourite days there were just spent relaxing and exploring the surrounding neighbourhood… and, admittedly, a few too many trips to the local 24-hour 7/11.
While I was in Japan, I did too much research on too many burger places… some I heard of and always wanted to try (MOS Burger and the like) or others I heard were good (Fire House in Bunkyo, Whoopi Goldburger in Shibuya), and tried to rank them. I called it my Burger Quest, and Henry won by a country mile. I don’t really know what compelled me to do this, but I think it was because burgers were the one thing there that reminded me of home. When I felt isolated, I was grounded by the humble burger. Probably for the best I was walking around so much to burn some calories!
I try to eat a lot healthier nowadays… my Burger Questing days are far behind me. I leave it to the next generation to pick up where I left off.
