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Van Life in Japan

kumazen.com

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Re: Van Life in Japan

#71

Post by randomopining »

yreg wrote: post #67
BryantD wrote: post #19

Lovely piece! Any thoughts on whether or not speaking Japanese would be a requirement? It would of course be the polite thing to do.

Not OP, but I traveled through Japan with a few friends before the pandemic and none of us speak Japanese. It's true that almost no one there speaks english. However, everyone we've encountered (especially the people working in the service industry) was super friendly and tried their best to be helpful. The public transport system is thought out and labeled very well, even in english + it plays well with Google Maps,…

I found it kind of boring/isolating though. Did you? It's unbelievably easy to move through their society, eat well, etc etc. But not truly interacting with anybody for weeks at a time besides tourists is kind of annoying.

Re: Van Life in Japan

#72

Post by scandox »

Loughla wrote: post #49
scandox wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is absolutely fine for a young kid. Kids are way less conventional than adults at that age. If a kid gets food, warmth and attention they're basically golden.

It solidly depends on the age/stage of development of the child. When you say young, that really means like <3 years. Anything above that, and they really need stability, routine, and regular/stable interaction with individuals outside of the immediate family group to avoid long-term developmental and psychological issues.

Yeah I think one could quibble on the exact age...I think even up to 4 it would be OK. After that I think a more stable setup is definitely positive. I would say though that a stable environment where they get little attention from parents is not superior.

Re: Van Life in Japan

#73

Post by Vrondi »

yreg wrote: post #56
binanc wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. Why not install a toilet in the van? I remember watching videos where peopled installed toilets in their van. Didn't seem too complicated.

>Our van doesn’t have toilets, considering how difficult it is to dump trash I wouldn’t recommend using your own toilets while traveling.

Japan has no campgrounds with RV hookups? At such facilities, you can hook up and flush out your sewerage.

Re: Van Life in Japan

#74

Post by ym705 »

EngCanMan wrote: post #11

"An empty water bottle/adult diaper can become a luxury in the middle of the night to avoid putting on your clothes/shoes and exiting the van in the coldness" You lost me when adult diapers became a luxury.

Author here: Just to clarify: We don't wear diaper everyday... But it happened and was a good option during snow for the lady.. The luxury was an expression (I'm not English native speaker).

Re: Van Life in Japan

#75

Post by duffyjp »

bradleyjg wrote: post #21
BizarreByte wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s hard to imagine putting up with stuff like this when for the same amount of money it takes to do “van life” in Japan you could live quite well elsewhere.

What does it cost to live in rural Japan? I was under the impression the countryside is depopulating, which I would think would mean reduced costs.

I lived in rural Japan for two years as a single guy and it was very, very cheap. I was making ~30k USD and saved half of it without really trying. I didn't have a car, but you don't need one even in the countryside if you can bike. These days you could Uber etc too which didn't exist yet when I was there.

Re: Van Life in Japan

#76

Post by more_corn »

BizarreByte wrote: post #18
EngCanMan wrote: post #11

"An empty water bottle/adult diaper can become a luxury in the middle of the night to avoid putting on your clothes/shoes and exiting the van in the coldness" You lost me when adult diapers became a luxury.

It’s hard to imagine putting up with stuff like this when for the same amount of money it takes to do “van life” in Japan you could live quite well elsewhere.

They could have bought a house in rural Japan for peanuts. Probably less than they spent modifying the van let alone buying it. They did it to travel. Not what I’d choose, but interesting.

Re: Van Life in Japan

#77

Post by blamazon »

orliesaurus wrote: post #60

I wish there was a way to experience this as a foreign tourist

It's not that hard really, I recommend it. RV rentals are a thing in Japan. I am from USA, so I went to a local shop here that offers International Driver's Permits. All they do is look at your driver's license to ensure it's valid, and then stamp a little paper brochure that has a bunch of translations of what your country permits with a driver's license. You can get as many of these as you want, it's not an actual license but just a certified translation, so you still need to carry your regular license. I got pulled over once at 3am in the middle of nowhere and the officer didn't speak any English and was so confused when I handed him my documents but once I pointed to the Japanese section of the IDP he studied it for a bit and then made the sounds of "ohhhh, I get it now" and let me go.

(Aside: If you're traveling to a country where casual roadside police bribes are a fact of life, (NOT Japan, more like Turkmenistan) multiple IDPs can be really handy, since the mechanism of the bribe is often 'I will hold your important document for you until you are ready to give the money' and they may not realize the IDP isn't actually your license, so you can just drive away.)

Also, language barrier isn't really an issue day to day. Most people in the huge urban centers (such as where you'd pick up the RV) speak English well. Once you get off the beaten track, English is a lot less common but translation apps work well (i enabled the Japanese keyboard on my iPhone and often we'd just pass the phone back and forth, typing messages) locals off the beaten path tend to be interested in foreign travelers, happy to take time to help, learn more about you, etc. Small regions in Japan tend to have strong local identity and there is generally an interest in sharing that with travelers.

I only did it for 2 weeks but Japan would have let me stay for 90 days without a visa.

Re: Van Life in Japan

#79

Post by yreg »

randomopining wrote: post #71
yreg wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not OP, but I traveled through Japan with a few friends before the pandemic and none of us speak Japanese. It's true that almost no one there speaks english. However, everyone we've encountered (especially the people working in the service industry) was super friendly and tried their best to be helpful. The public transport system is thought out and labeled very well, even in english + it plays well with Google Maps,…

I found it kind of boring/isolating though. Did you? It's unbelievably easy to move through their society, eat well, etc etc. But not truly interacting with anybody for weeks at a time besides tourists is kind of annoying.

I was there only for a bit more than two weeks, so I crave to go back. We are rather introverted so we socialized (for more than a short dialogue) only two times IIRC.

Once was with other foreigners at a hostel. But the other time it was at some tiny pub in Hiroshima. They had like 3 tables and there were only the owners (a couple) and 2-3 regulars. All of them wanted to drink and hang out with us and they were very loud and enthusiastic even though we didn't understand each other almost at all. We loved it, I will never forget it.

Re: Van Life in Japan

#80

Post by petodo »

Liuser wrote: post #23
petodo wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm living in apartment and shower twice a week (at least in winter). Never understood obsession with daily shower as seen is American movies, no wonder Americans have extreme water consumption, I wonder how common is eczema and skin diseases over there compared to countries which shower less. EDIT: instead of downvoting rather prove me wrong, do you think Americans don't have extreme water consumption? US water cons…

Is that link for personal water use or does it account for farming? What do you suggest to people who exercise everyday?

It doesn't really matter, ebcause it applies same to all countries, so it doesn't explain why Americans need to consume 4 times more water per capita (3794 litres) than Germans (855), while Czechs for instance even half of the Germans (422).

And don't go at me with average temperatures nonsense, Spain and Greece are warmer than most of the US and have half of US water consumption, Thailand little bit over half, Malaysia less than 1/3 of US consumption.

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