No Regrets!

Credit to Dave for the witty title. Occasionally, he throws out a gem.

After a call with Dave to hammer out the dates and basics, it was time to dive deep into Japan research. It’s a monumental effort, partly because I’m unfamiliar with the country, but also because there’s so much to do and see. And the Japanese names for everything tend to run together, making it hard to keep things straight.

But that’s what TripAdvisor and ChatGPT are for. After banging around dates, must-do activities, and recommendations from friends, I’ve come up with a 2½-week itinerary that feels comprehensive and efficient without being rushed, the best kind of itinerary. It starts with a few days in Tokyo, where we’ll explore the sights and hopefully score some tickets to Game 3 or 4 of the Nippon Series.

It’s a gamble. Tickets are only released a few weeks in advance and are so in-demand that they’re distributed through a lottery system. Our best chance of getting tickets is through resale, where they will likely cost a fortune. Even then, the games might not be in Tokyo. If that happens, Dave and I will have to rework our itinerary to chase the game. A Japanese baseball game is a big bucket list item for both me and Dave, and we’ll do almost anything to make it happen.

And the math is not on our side. With some impressive number-crunching by ChatGPT, I was able to deduce that, given the current Nippon Series odds and the series format in 2025, there is a 17.7% chance that Games 3 and 4 will be held in the Tokyo area, either at the home of the Chiba Lotte Marines or the Saitama Seibu Lions. Unfortunately, the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks are the Series favorite, and there is a 49.2% chance, the most likely outcome, that Games 3 and 4 will be played in Fukuoka. That would be worst-case scenario, as Fukuoka is prohibitively far from Tokyo. Will have to keep an eye on this as the season progresses.

From Tokyo, we’ll bullet train our way southward to Hakone, Fuji Five Lakes, Kyoto, Nara, Osaka, Himeji, and Miyajima, ending in Hiroshima. Dave and I are both history nerds, and Hiroshima would be a fitting bookend after visiting Pearl Harbor last fall.

I hope Dave approves of all this. Next step is going to be getting flights, locking in hotels, and booking tickets for some of the excursions.

Now that the hard work of planning the itinerary is mostly done, it’s time to begin our cultural preparation. I’ve watched Lost in Translation several times, so that’s a good start. I’ve also started compiling a list of social tips and etiquette:

• 💳 Get a Suica card (digital or physical) – essential for trains and convenience stores
• 🧼 Bring a small hand towel – public bathrooms often lack dryers
• 🈶 Cash is king – many places still don’t accept credit cards.
• 🚷 Don’t tip – it’s considered rude in Japan
• 🥢 Expect “one person, one dish” and “one drink” rules in restaurants/izakayas
• 🛗 Follow escalator etiquette: stand left in Tokyo, right in Osaka

And then there’s the language. Dave boasts about a flair for languages and says that he’ll get Japanese down in a couple of months. Sure thing. In any case, the first Japanese phrase I’ve given him to learn is:

こんにちは！私の膝の上に座ってもらえませんか？
Kon’nichiwa! Watashi no hiza no ue ni suwatte moraemasen ka?

which translates to:

Hello! Would you please come over and sit on my lap?

This could be helpful in many places, such as a bar, sumo match, museum, or on the bus.

It’s happening!

Hawaii with my 3GD friends last fall was such a success that, upon returning home, conversations quickly turned to where we could go next as a group. Alas, Scott has a lot of things going on in his life and has bowed out of a trip this year, leaving me and Dave to choose our own adventure. So the next trip will be 2GD, not 3GD.

Among the contenders were Croatia, Italy, and Greece, all places I’ve been to and would very much enjoy going to again. But Japan has emerged as the top seed. It’s a place I’ve always wanted to go. It’s different from everywhere else I’ve been, very different, and that has particular appeal since travel has become a homogenous experience for me in recent years. But I haven’t been able to go, because Japan is a really big trip. The time difference and properly seeing the country requires a trip of 10-14 days at least, and for a trip of that length, work and family stuff has always been an obstacle. But things are starting to fall into place this year, and maybe, just maybe, if Dave and I can line up our schedules just right, we can make a trip to Japan happen this fall.

Dave also has an increasing fascination with Japan, and we both have friends that have been and love it.

Of all the things to see and do in the world, one of the things that has been on my bucket list for decades is Japanese baseball game. Friends have told me that Japanese baseball is like American baseball but with the atmosphere of college football, with passionate fans and cheerleaders and everything. I would love to experience that. And if we time things just right, we can arrive in Japan just in time to catch a game or two of the Japan Series, Japan’s baseball championship equivalent to our World Series. Dave has also expressed an interest in seeing a live sumo tournament as well. Fun!

My only hesitation about a trip to Japan is that it seems more of a cultural trip than a nightlife experience. After the nightlife letdown that was Hawaii, we were hoping for a trip where we could be more social. But maybe we just haven’t done enough research.

I don’t know very much about Japan. I’m excited to start learning! I started by firing up ChatGPT and monkey around with some potential itineraries. With two weeks to work with, it seems that we might be best served by an itinerary covering:

• Tokyo (Modern Japan & Nightlife)
• Hakone & Fuji Five Lakes (Nature & Culture)
• Kyoto (Traditional Japan & Cultural Deep Dive)
• Osaka (Food & Nightlife)
• Hiroshima & Miyajima (History & Scenic Beauty)

And it seems we can take relatively affordable bullet trains up and down the islands to see it all.

If we could time things perfectly to catch some Japanese baseball, that would be incredible. There’s a pretty good chance we could coordinate our arrival to catch games 3 and 4, the last two guaranteed games, of the best-of-7 Japan Series. But the season hasn’t even started over there, and there’s no telling which teams will be playing or which stadiums they’ll be playing at. For potential planning purposes, I thought it would be interesting to check the current odds for teams heading to the Japan Series (March 17, 2025):

• Fukuoka Softbank Hawks +200
• Yomiuri Giants +350
• Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters +650
• Yokohama DeNA BayStars +700
• Hanshin Tigers +900
• Chiba Lotte Marines +900
• Hiroshima Toyo Carp +1100
• Orix Buffaloes +2000
• Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles +2200
• Chunichi Dragons +2800
• Tokyo Yakult Swallows +3500
• Saitama Seibu Lions +5000

Fukuoka’s a bit out of the way, but we could make it work. Yomiuri seems to be nestled in greater Tokyo and would perfectly accommodate the start of our trip.

Still so much to brainstorm, research, and plan. But this is all very exciting. Stay tuned!