Post Trip JP 2016 Home Day 01
Summary
A few notes on what the Cone did before going on the trip to Japan.
Japan's History

Before the Cone left for Japan it familiarized itself with Japan's history by watching the Youtube clip below.
Items that the Cone carried:
  • Valid Canadian Passport
      Take a picture of the first page of the passport and save it on Dropbox/Google drive
  • JR Pass
      The Cone acquired a two week JR Pass for $570. The pass is ordered online from the JTB website. It can then be either mailed to your address or picked up in person from JTB's office in the basement of Vancouver Fairmont hotel (900 W. Georgia) downtown.

      The document you get from JTB office will be swapped for the actual JR Pass once you are in Japan (each major airport has a JR office where upon presenting this document and your passport you will get a JR Pass).
  • International Driving License
  • Non-polarized (same thickness) Canadian power outlet plugs with no ground prong
  • Power extension cord (2m)
  • USB 4W (charges up to 4 devices concurrently) and 4x 30cm USB cables
  • USB spare battery (20,000mAh)
  • Map app for smartphone.(either OSMAnd for Android or MotionX GPS for iOS). Make sure you download the offline maps of the region you are going to (Kansai region is also known as Kinki region).
      Also save the GPS coordinates (latitude, longitude) of your accomodations. It's going to come in very handy especially as you can't easily type street names using Japanese alphabet.
  • Pen and notebook - cause technology sooner or latter fails.
  • Hand Sanitizer
  • Towel (as per Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)
  • Ear muffs (keeps the airplane ride quiet and limits the sleep interruptions at noisy Airbnbs)
  • Empty water bottle (to comply with customs regulations)
  • 20,000 yen to get you out of the airport. Once out of the airport exchange yen using a debit card or CC from any 7-Elevens ATMs. Only 7-Elevens ATMs accept Canadian bank cards.
    • In this age you don't take pictures of anything you take pictures of everything using 360 cameras. The Cone in its wisdom looked into acquiring a Samsung Gear 360 camera but decided it is not worth it as it could use the Google Cardboard camera for similar results. The 360 cameras in that price range have too low of a resolution to be adequate for this type of imaging.
    Post Trip JP 2016 Home Day 01