Tourists tend to turn right when entering a temple, shrine or other tourist attraction. If given the choice go left as much as you can.
As many temples require visitors take off their shoes when entering, ideally wear shoes that can be taken off and put on easily (like Blundstones).
If your phone is less than 1 year old its camera is better in all photography regimes than most point-and-shoot cameras from 6 years ago. So don't bring an old point-and-shoot camera with you, your new phone will do a much better job.
When arriving in a new city the Cone identified a few ways to find its way around. Here they are:
The bus driver sometimes can offer directions to exact locations.
Fast (when not stuck in traffic) but expensive and not very immersive.
Sometimes this type of touring ends up taking one to the most common shopping districts in town.
Use latitude and longitutde coordinates not street addresses. This way the language becomes a non-issue.
For cities where you can't use your JR Pass buy a IOCA (Kyoto and Osaka areas) or SUICA (Tokyo area) card and load it with 2,000 yen - it will save you time searching for spare change when getting off the bus. It can also be used to buy products from train station convenience stores.
After all the duty free hassle Cornelius has been through it turns out no checks are performed and the receipts are just dropped off before customs. With that in mind the Cone decides to purchase duty free items more often next time it returns to Japan.
Stationaries stores: Sublo
Until next time.
