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Van Life in Japan

kumazen.com

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Re: Van Life in Japan

#181

Post by TylerE »

killingtime74 wrote: post #178
jack_pp wrote: post #173

While I'm happy for OP I'm afraid finding a "paradise" and telling the internet about it has the risk of ruining it. If 10k people read the article and 1% go to the same place and blog about it and bring even more people, then sooner or later it will be ruined and chances are localities will ban such adventures. I've done something similar.. some years ago there was a casino I would go to where you would pay 10$ entr…

If not you someone else would have talked. Same for this post. Japan has a population of over 125 million (4x US?). Over 2000 children are born there per day. We are not movie protagonists, don't worry about it

Closer to 1/4th not 4x. US pop is over 400M.

Re: Van Life in Japan

#182

Post by yan »

TylerE wrote: post #181
killingtime74 wrote: post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If not you someone else would have talked. Same for this post. Japan has a population of over 125 million (4x US?). Over 2000 children are born there per day. We are not movie protagonists, don't worry about it

Closer to 1/4th not 4x. US pop is over 400M.

331M

Re: Van Life in Japan

#183

Post by fomine3 »

pancrufty wrote: post #113
chaostheory wrote: post #111

Given Japan’s problem with depopulation, is this better than just renovating a free house? For context, in many prefectures there are houses that are either free or cost $15,000 or less.

Nobody renovates houses in Japan. You're supposed to destroy it and build anew. For 15k you're buying the lot and the right to spend a lot more than that.

This is myth now. Renovation is getting more popular. Tax valuation isn't real value for resident.

Re: Van Life in Japan

#184

Post by wrp »

twblalock wrote: post #158
pancrufty wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nobody renovates houses in Japan. You're supposed to destroy it and build anew. For 15k you're buying the lot and the right to spend a lot more than that.

People renovate older homes, which have historical value, but most homes built in the postwar period are rightly discarded because they are thin, flimsy junk.

Yeah, it most cases it would be like renovating a used kleenex.

Re: Van Life in Japan

#185

Post by nagonago »

jack_pp wrote: post #173

While I'm happy for OP I'm afraid finding a "paradise" and telling the internet about it has the risk of ruining it. If 10k people read the article and 1% go to the same place and blog about it and bring even more people, then sooner or later it will be ruined and chances are localities will ban such adventures. I've done something similar.. some years ago there was a casino I would go to where you would pay 10$ entr…

I doubt there's much risk of that in this case. A person who wanted to imitate this would need to:

- Live in Japan, or be able to get a Japanese visa

- Have a Japanese driver's license

- Have a remote working job with flexible enough hours

- Be willing to live a van life with all its inconveniences

Plus it's not like there's any particular single paradise to be ruined. Japan is a big place. Even if 1000 people did read this and suddenly started van-lifeing around Japan I doubt it would make a difference.

Re: Van Life in Japan

#186

Post by codazoda »

entaloneralie wrote: post #78

We've lived in a sailboat in Japan for a while and wrote a little provisioning guide that might also be of interest for van folks in Japan. http://100r.co/site/provisioning_in_japan.html

I love your site and your work. It inspired my own little CSS framework. Thanks for sharing your stuff.

Re: Van Life in Japan

#187

Post by freetime2 »

rr888 wrote: post #150

Japanese people are usually very organized and neat, I can't imagine they'd appreciate backpackers coming through like this. Where I come from there are ever increasing number of people living in vans and its a real problem. They usually just cause problems, dont pay hotel or property taxes and ruin the area for everyone else. Some towns have banned them which is worse for the few locals that used to do it on a short…

Recently Japan is in the midst of a "camping boom", and car camping is quite popular. Whenever I visit highway rest stops in the early morning, there always seems to be at least one person/group sleeping in their car (easily identified by the covers they put over their windows for privacy and insulation). And a nearby campsite is always hopping on the weekends, during the temperate months at least. So I would say the general attitude is quite supportive in terms of infrastructure, laws, etc.

But yeah if folks are not well behaved, especially with regards to properly disposing of trash and human waste, it would not be well received.

Edit: For fun I just googled "キャンプブーム" (camp boom) and found this article calling it annoying, and complaining specifically about people with bad manners not keeping campsites clean, being noisy at night, and starting fires where they are prohibited [1]. Note this is more from the perspective of veteran campers complaining about newbs, and more directed at Japanese people rather than foreign visitors. But yeah maybe you are on to something.

[1] https://ramunecamp.com/campboom-uzai/

Re: Van Life in Japan

#188

Post by mixmastamyk »

hutzlibu wrote: post #160
mixmastamyk wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not the main problem. It is a stinky bacteria infection in the armpits. Coincidentally uncommon in Japan. No amount of washing will fully get rid of them because they are beneath the skin in the sweat glands.

"It is a stinky bacteria infection in the armpits. " If it is a infection, then something is very wrong. Otherwise you can and should clean them with care, especially when you cannot shower.

Not at all, hundreds of millions have it. Normal but stinky.

Most folks don't realize, but sweat itself has substantial odor.

Re: Van Life in Japan

#190

Post by recuter »

calsy wrote: post #176
PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From my reading, that's not where "modern living" comes from at all. For that, we should look to middle class folk living in the Netherlands, in roughly the late 1700s. They were (so I have read) the first to develop the modern concept of "home" with distinct rooms for different purposes, at least on a scale that be attained/reasonable aspired to by regular people. The account I read of this strongly suggested that t…

And I'm sure the kids still remained with their parents at night. Through all of our known history across all cultures families have slept together. It is only in the past few centuries that European wealth and individualism changed that. So why is this the 'better' option? What is the benefit from separating a child from their parents at night? More likely it just how our parents did it and everyone else does it so…

> And I'm sure the kids still remained with their parents at night. Through all of our known history across all cultures families have slept together. It is only in the past few centuries that European wealth and individualism changed that.

I am sure you are so sure because you are attempting to shoehorn reality into some vague political philosophy.

> So why is this the 'better' option? What is the benefit from separating a child from their parents at night?

Privacy for one. Some people claim letting your baby cry in the other room is healthier for their development, 'etc. If you insist on being post-modern about everything lets take it all the way, what even is 'better'? Why is 'better' even 'better'?

I'll keep my individualism thank you. You do your better and I'll do mine.

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