Luck Surface Area

You’ve probably heard about the concept of increasing your luck surface area. If not, it refers to our ability to directly influence “the amount of serendipity that will occur in your life”. It was coined in 2010 by Jason Roberts, a serial tech entrepreneur and interesting thinker. He writes about it in terms of applying it to sharing your passion and expertise about what you’re doing with more people. You can read more here.

You can also focus and increase your luck surface area for specific things. For me, that’s interacting with people, and finding tasty food. I will get to how to find amazing food in Japan at a later date. Today I’m talking about interacting with locals.

Here’s how to do this while traveling:

Choose places based on the possibility of interaction. A small 4 to 8-person izakaya will be an optimal place for conversation. That’s what these places are designed for. A larger, fancier restaurant can be fun, but it’s not like the people at the other tables will invite you over to join them or ask you to karaoke after your meal. In the right place, anything’s possible. You could meet your new best friend, you may end up going to karaoke and singing your heart out, and you might even meet the person you will marry (as was the case for a friend of mine).

If you are at a slightly larger place, choose your spot within that place with interaction in mind. Sit at a counter seat instead of at a table or booth. Sit in a central more visible area close to high-traffic areas of hotels, parks, restaurants, etc., instead of being in a corner, or facing away from high-traffic areas. 

Maintain an open posture. Don’t bury your face in your phone or a book. However, the right book can also be an invitation to conversation. Carry an interesting book with you (I’ll let you decide what’s interesting). Make it visible on your table. 

Wear a welcoming expression. If you have a resting “unfriendly” face or unknowingly wear an intense expression like I often do, you can always work on that. Think about things that make you smile and use that slight smile as your expression. Just don’t go overboard and become a creepy Joker-looking person.

Wear something that stands out, is slightly unusual, or invites commentary. This could be anything from a band t-shirt to a unique piece of jewelry. Don’t underestimate the power of a hook. If someone comments on something you are wearing, keep the conversation going if it makes sense. Read the room, a passing comment may not warrant further interaction lest you make things awkward. You be the judge.

Be in a place you are most likely not from. Based on your ethnicity, nationality, clothing, etc… This is easy in Japan if you are a non-Asian foreigner as you will instantly stand out. Only a small percentage of people in Japan are not Japanese and an even smaller subset are not Asian. If you fall into the non-Asian foreigner category that gives you one freebie in terms of standing out and being recognizable. 

Go to smaller cities and towns. Places that aren’t as popular for tourism. The percentage of travelers in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka is way higher than in Nagoya, Kobe, and Fukuoka. This is even more effective if you go deeper into the countryside. You can expect people to be curious about why you are there, which can lead to interesting conversations and even invitations to do things on other days.

Go to places locals go. Don’t just go to the classic tourist destinations. No one will be super interested in you at the Eiffel Tower. Well, maybe some pickpockets or scammers will be, but certainly not the locals. You are essentially a walking dollar sign (euro sign?). It doesn’t mean it’s not worth visiting. It just means don’t expect more than a perfunctory interaction. It can be a friendly perfunctory interaction, but it’s unlikely to be more than that. This holds for any highly touristed locations.

Become a temporary regular at a small or smallish place. Go to an izakaya early in your visit and then return multiple times. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by how the other regulars welcome you into the group and give you cool suggestions of other places to visit. 

Some of these suggestions may be obvious to you but it does help to keep them in mind. Over time they add up, increasing your odds for interesting outcomes.

The Shop 

If you’re interested in the finest things life has to offer, you may enjoy visiting “The Shop”. Located near the Shibuya Scramble, this concept store is created with the vision of only selling the optimal version of a thing, not just for people, but also for the environment, economy, and culture.

Here’s what it says on their website:

“Living with the Best

We don’t need to revisit the details of our history on this small planet to know that our civilization has excessively made, excessively used, and excessively disposed of too many things.

But…

We don’t need more than what is truly necessary.

We must determine if each item is the right one

—–the best one—–

to become a part of our everyday life.

What is appropriate for not only human beings,

but for other living things?

What is best for the trees, land, sea, sky, and our planet?

It’s time to ask ourselves these questions.

This is why we will continue to thoughtfully craft truly sophisticated essential items that will help us make our environment, economy, and culture the best they can be.”

Store website 

Online shopping website 

Cheap and Delicious Sushi

Cheap and delicious sushi is an oxymoron in the USA. If sushi is delicious, you can pretty much guarantee it won’t be cheap. And if it’s cheap, well, it’s best to just avoid those places. In Japan, pretty much everyone can afford good sushi.

You can get tasty sushi from a konbini, in a bento at a train station, at any market, at izakaya, at standing sushi bars (which have lower prices while maintaining greater quality than many sit-down places), and even the sushi at kaitenzushi (sushi train/sushi robata/conveyor belt sushi) is better than what you get in average places in the USA.

And by “average places” I’m not talking about special occasion places, super-expensive places where the fish is flown in daily from Japan, where you need to be a celebrity to get a table, and ready and willing to drop a week’s salary to get a filling meal. I’m talking about good every day sushi places where normal people eat regularly. I will discuss fancier places in another newsletter.

Here are some places in Japan where you can eat satisfying sushi without doing a lot of damage to your finances.

Uogashi Nihon-ichi (Dogenzaka, Shibuya)

Known for aburi sushi (sushi that’s lightly charred, usually with a small blowtorch). The aburi-oo-toro (charred fatty tuna), aburi-toro-salmon (charred fatty salmon), aburi-unagi (charred eel), and aburi-kani (charred crab) are all fantastic; a little crispy, balanced by the rich buttery flavor. This popular standing sushi chain has an English menu, takes credit cards, and has numerous locations.

Nigi Nigi Ichi (NishiOgikubo. Very close to the station.)

Nigi Nigi Ichi has super fresh sushi at a smallish, standing sushi shop. No English menu. The uni (sea urchin), aji (horse-mackeral), oo-toro (fatty tuna), salmon, and ikura (salmon roe) are all outstanding. I’ve never had anything bad here. Those are just my favorites.

*This isn’t exactly a cheap sushi place. It’s an affordable sushi place with fantastic sushi. It is at a higher level than Kura Sushi, Sushiro, and Sushizanmai in terms of quality and therefore the price is also higher. But the price is low compared to the USA.

Kura Sushi (Sushi Robata with locations all over Japan)

This inexpensive chain sushi restaurant is a great choice if you want to eat a lot of sushi at a bargain price. Kura Sushi is a massive chain that has even expanded to the USA. They have four locations in the Los Angeles area alone. This is interesting because it allows us to compare prices, apples to apples.

1 plate (2 nigiri sushi - tuna, salmon, shrimp) as of 7/28/24

L.A. $3.85(before tax and tip) vs. Tokyo 150 yen/$0.98

+ 10% for tax ($0.38) = $4.23 vs. Tokyo still $0.98 (tax is included)

+ 15% tip (based on pre-tax price) $0.57 + $4.23 = $4.80  vs. Tokyo still $0.98 (no tipping)

Los Angeles $4.80 for 1 order vs. Tokyo: $4.90 for 5 orders

Kura Sushi is almost 80% cheaper in Tokyo than in Los Angeles.

That’s a crazy value!

Ginza, Tokyo Kura Sushi menu

You shouldn't have trouble finding one with 62 locations in Tokyo and 551 in Japan.

Some Kura Sushi locations in Japan have an even cheaper menu that only charges 115 yen/$0.75 for an order of 2 pieces of nigiri sushi (only certain fish are on this menu, but it includes tuna, salmon, shrimp (raw and cooked), albacore tuna, beef kalbi, and Japanese omelet among other things. So, even more savings! (6 orders for less than one order in LA). Here’s the 115-yen menu in case you’re curious or want to decide in advance what you will order.

Kura Sushi has a “guide for first-time visitors” that explains how to make reservations via their app, how to order from your phone or the electronic tablet at the table, how to pay, etc. You don’t even have to interact with any humans if you don’t want to. BTW, you don’t need to make reservations in advance unless you are going at one of the more popular times. I usually just go when it’s not that crowded.

Whether you order from an electronic tablet at your table or your phone via the app, you can switch the language to English. So, there is an English menu.

Sushiro (Sushi Robata with locations all over Japan)

This is the biggest kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi) chain in Japan. Their prices are even lower than most of the Kura Sushi stores, as the menu starts at 120 yen/$0.78 USD (as of 7/28/’24).

Sushiro’s website is easy to navigate. You can see all the Tokyo locations here. Pretty much everything I wrote about Kura Sushi applies to Sushiro as well. The electronic tablets can be set to English (or other languages), you can download their app and make a reservation that way, and you can eat a ton of inexpensive sushi here. I won’t do another price comparison, because if I have to do that again I may just stop writing this newsletter altogether.

Sushizanmai (Sushi Robata with locations all over Japan)

Another kaitenzushi restaurant in Tokyo and all over Japan. Sushizanmai started in Tsukiji and there is still one there that is a great option for breakfast as it’s open 24 hrs (There’s a 24-hour Roppongi location as well).

They have all kinds of sushi, but their specialty is tuna. The owner, Kiyoshi Kimura, even calls himself the Tuna King and he’s quite a character. The shops have his charismatic face all over them and some even have a Kiyoshi Kimura statue. I always say, if you won’t promote yourself, who will? It seems like Kimurasan is a man after my own heart. The quality here is higher than Kura and Sushiro, and so are the prices.

Check out their menu here. 

With 48 stores throughout Japan, this chain is much smaller than Sushiro and Kura Sushi. You can find all their locations here. 

Cheap and delicious sushi is plentiful in Japan, so there’s no need to trek to these specific places. I put them here for people who are in those areas when they get hungry!

And don’t forget to help yourself to a complimentary cup or two of green tea. You’ll find powdered green tea, cups, and hot water spigots right at the counter.