u/Lemonio

I’m planning a Kyoto trip in late November and thinking about a day for Kibune/Kurama.

A few logistical questions:

1. What is the best combination of train/bus/taxi to get from Kyoto Station to Kibune and back?
2. Is Kibune → Kurama a sensible direction for this plan (I was thinking of combining with the onsen). Or is it much better in the other direction and/or I should just do a different onsen in Kyoto or Tokyo instead of combining?
3. With November’s early sunset, what is a sensible latest time to begin the hike/leave Kyoto Station? I assume I don't want to be on the hike after dark.
4. How much time is realistic at Kurama Onsen, including changing and the shuttle from Kurama Station? Does the onsen ever reach capacity or require advance planning?
5. Is it better to eat lunch in Kibune before hiking and have dinner back in Kyoto, or is there a good reason to eat at Kurama Onsen afterward? Not sure if dinner there would mean an awkward gap between finishing the hike and waiting for dinner to open.

Thank you!

I’m planning a solo trip to Japan in November and would appreciate advice on two things:

1. Is an in-person English-speaking guide worth it at the Tokyo National Museum and/or Himeji Castle? I’m interested in Japanese history, art, and samurai history, but I worry that I may not fully understand what I’m seeing on my own. I’ve seen that the Tokyo Samurai Ninja Museum is often not recommended on reddit, but if Tokyo National Museum is a good place to learn about samurai history I'm wondering if I should get a guide for that. I’m currently assuming I can explore Edo-Tokyo Museum, Enoshima/Kamakura, Nara, Kiyomizu-dera/Higashiyama/Gion, and Tokyo neighborhoods independently.
2. Are some Tokyo neighborhoods better than others for a food tour? Many food tours seem to be in Shinjuku or Shibuya, but I only have one day planned there with no time for food tour. I was considering an Asakusa food tour, but may cut my day in Asakusa from my plan. Do food tours differ meaningfully by neighborhood or would I probably eat mostly the same foods/same quality in a food tour in any neighborhood? Are there certain reputable operators or good way to pick a food tour?

Thanks!

I’m planning a solo first Japan trip in November 2026 and will be in Tokyo for 7 nights (maybe Nov. 11–18). I’m considering Shimbashi as a base because it appears to have very convenient train lines for my plans including Shibuya, Shinjuku, Asakusa, Ueno, Akihabara, Ryogoku, Odaiba, and an Enoshima/Kamakura day trip. I’ll then travel to Kyoto from Tokyo Station.

I’m deciding among:

• YOTEL Tokyo Ginza
• Karaksa hotel premier Tokyo Ginza
• Hotel The Celestine Ginza
• The Royal Park Hotel Iconic Tokyo Shiodome
• The Blossom Hibiya

My highest priorities are an exceptionally clean, odor-free room (hardwood floors preferred), a comfortable bed, and very good soundproofing—I’m fairly sensitive to noise and smells. Bonus for a comfortable table and chair or a place to sit outside the room and a concierge.

Has anyone stayed at these recently? Which would you choose for quietness/cleanliness/bed comfort, and are there specific room categories or room-location requests you’d make?

I’m also confused about the Royal Park Iconic Shiodome renovation: I understand its Executive Floor on the 38th floor was renovated in 2024, were Premium rooms renovated?

Kmele said in SOTR that the government had not run grocery stores.

The US government currently runs 178 grocery stores within the US with subsidies and has run them through the current agency for over 30 years. It has run commissaries generally for over 100 years.

Since Tangle issues corrections is Tangle going to issue a correction?
If what was meant was the New York City government, this is an expanded version of La Guardia’s markets, so of course you should mention that if making claims about the government’s history running grocery stores. I understand that’s different, but I still think the statement would be misleading and an oversimplification, since those markets still involved government running the markets and using subsidies.

I understand SOTR is about expressing opinions, but nevertheless I think incorrect or misleading facts should be corrected

Would appreciate some advice

I have around $350k in FXAIX in a fidelity account (not 401k regular account).
A fidelity advisor was telling me that FXAIX is a mutual fund and I can owe some tax on it (from distributions? Not sure I understood this)

but that I should do instead a large cap SMA strategy https://www.fidelity.com/managed-accounts/separately-managed-accounts/us-large-cap-strategy/overview , because they do tax loss harvesting which will accumulate and this will save me .54% on taxes which would be bigger than the .4% I would pay in fees
I didn’t really understand perhaps someone can advise, since I don’t know if that’s actually better for both me and fidelity, or better for fidelity and worse for me

He also said if I didn’t do an SMA that I should do a S&P500 ETF which will be better tax wise than a FXAIX mutual fund

Thank you!

I’m starting to plan a solo trip to Japan, sometime November maybe 10–22, 2026 and would appreciate some feedback.

I’m interested in temples/castles, gardens/parks/foliage, samurai, tea, gaming/arcades, museums, robotics, neighborhood walking, hiking, immersive art, and any weird experiences that are unique to Japan. I’m not interested in anime/manga, theme parks, alcohol, nightlife, kabuki, sumo or shopping.

Here is my current work in progress itinerary:

Nov 10: Fly Boston to Tokyo

Nov 11: Arrive NRT around 2:40pm → hotel → easy evening

Nov 12 – Meiji/Shinjuku/Shibuya: Meiji Jingu → Shinjuku Gyoen and chrysanthemum exhibition → Shibuya neighborhood and Crossing → Shibuya Sky around sunset

Nov 13 – Asakusa/Ueno: Senso-ji early → Asakusa streets → Ueno Park → Tokyo National Museum, concentrating on the Japanese galleries

Nov 14 – Ryogoku/Akihabara: Edo-Tokyo Museum → possibly Japanese Sword Museum → Akihabara

Nov 15 – Western Tokyo: Edo-Tokyo Open-Air Architectural Museum (is this worth going to? it is far) → Kichijoji if time → possibly Shinjuku in the evening

Nov 16 – Toyosu/Odaiba/Ginza: teamLab Planets early → possible robotics attraction → Hamarikyu Gardens → Ginza

Nov 17 – Tokyo to Kyoto: Early shinkansen → leave luggage at hotel → Sanjusangen-do → Fushimi Inari around 2:30–3pm, ideally reaching Yotsutsuji around dusk

Nov 18 – Nara: Nara day trip

Nov 19 – Northwest Kyoto: Kinkaku-ji at opening → Ryoan-ji → tea ceremony → Samurai Kenbu class/show or another samurai experience

Nov 20 – Himeji: Himeji day trip

Nov 21 – Eastern Kyoto: Kiyomizu-dera → Sannenzaka/Ninenzaka → optional Kodai-ji → Yasaka Shrine → finish in Gion around dusk/evening

Nov 22: Fly back from KIX

Questions

1. Overall thoughts on itinerary?
2. Are there any cool robots experiences in Tokyo? I saw there is Kawasaki Robostage, Mirokan, DAWN Robot Cafe, perhaps Humanoid Robot Expo? Not sure if any of those are interesting options, feels like maybe there is a better experience somewhere I'm not aware of
3. What is a good place in Kyoto to do a tea ceremony in english? Is tea ceremony Camellia good?
4. What's a good samurai related experience (I'm fine with something touristy if its well executed). Thoughts on Samurai Ninja museum or Samurai Kenbu?
5. Also don't have onsen or ryokan in the itinerary, do people think its worth changing the itinerary just to get that experience or is there onsen I could do in kyoto? My days are somewhat flexible I could add a day. I could maybe add an overnight in Hakone, but not sure if worth it? I've seen mixed reviews about it.

Thank you very much!

What is a reasonable expectation for price of flights from Boston to Japan (Tokyo or Kyoto)? I was thinking of traveling in October, but could consider other months.

I'm seeing there is a nonstop flight from Boston to Tokyo which seems like its always over 2000 (for 1 person)? I could actually afford that, but seems like a lot. Maybe flights have gotten a lot more expensive these days. Seems like I can get flights closer to 1500 with layovers. Any tips for which layovers are good when flying to Japan from the east coast? Some of them have very short layover, 1hr layover seems risky if flights get delayed.

Also wondering if there are particular routes or particular days people find convenient that have experience with Boston->Japan or East Coast->Japan

Perhaps I should travel to new york first and then fly from new york or do the same with SF or LA?

Thank you!

My grandmother is almost blind and also doesn't really understand how to use a laptop. She seemed to enjoy talking to chatgpt, but has trouble finding the two buttons to start chatgpt voice mode on her laptop.
She has a device for audiobooks that works well that only has one large physical button to turn it on and off.

Is there something similar with one big button or other simple on switch that she could use to talk to ChatGPT/Gemini in voice mode?

Thank you!

The SOTR commentary in multiple episodes expressing confusion about Trump’s judgment and his endorsements being suboptimal for the Republican Party genuinely confused me.

What does Trump care about most among Trump, MAGA, America, and the Republican Party? The answer is obvious and not controversial, right? His priority stack looks something like: Trump > Trump >>>> MAGA >>>>> America >>>>> Republican Party. Lots of MAGA openly hates traditional Republicans.

Running an all-out campaign claiming the election was stolen was bad for Republicans. His offensive tweets were bad for Republicans. His current schemes to pay himself with taxpayer money are bad for Republicans. None of that should confuse anyone, because all of it was good for what Trump wants. One could argue some of his wants are stupid and not good for him, but that’s not the same as accusing him of making decisions with someone else’s best interests in mind.

We saw lots of traditional republicans interfere with some of Trump’s more wild ideas in Trump 1. It seems clear that Trump appointing sycophants who he knew would back him as far as knowingly lying about the election has been valuable in helping him make his new billions in Trump 2.

So if Paxton is a corrupt sycophant, and you are someone who wants to elevate corrupt sycophants to enable your own corruption, Paxton is the most correct pro-Trump choice available. We can’t criticize Trump’s judgment for hurting the Republican Party when that was never his priority. By his actual priority, endorsing Paxton might be exactly the right call. And we have to give it to Trump, he has been very successful in making the party all about him so I trust his judgement on enriching himself.

I haven’t tried this, but regarding Isaac’s deer grievance, my understanding is you can buy online coyote pee and spray it around the edges of your property and that might keep the deer out?

Perhaps others know if this actually works, but maybe a fixable grievance

I recall Isaac defending Bari Weiss from people attacking her and painting her as doing similar work to what he's doing and not being a partisan hack.

How can we explain then CBS being in talks for a deal with Katie Miller whose podcast has no viewers? If that actually goes through, how can you make an honest case that the leaders involved aren't all just doing pay-to-play partisan hackery to please the current administration.

Isaac had a nice piece focused on all the Trump corruption. But the corruption money needs to come from somewhere. I could see an interesting story focused on how big tech or corporate media have been happy to participate in the corruption to further their financial interests

I’m interested in the idea of a group tour that might have people around my age (I’m 34)

I’d be interested in a somewhat social group of people my age, but also not exactly interested in just hours of drinking every night. I don’t drink, happy to tag along to bars, but I did a intro travel tour before and I felt like we were missing potential sightseeing at the expense of people drinking

Also preferably I’d like a guide who actually has knowledge about the trip, vs just someone whose role is herding people together

Also happy to pay extra for actually premium experiences, but don’t need to pay extra for bad experiences

Intrepid has been good before, but also has more older people and groups so perhaps less social environment

Interested in people’s experiences with FTLO and Flash Pack, seen some pretty mixed reviews in threads, but was hoping to hear from people who have experience with groups like this

Thank you!