Ramen Beast

This is a public service announcement for people who want even more ramen in their lives.

You’ve had Ichiran, Ippudo, Afuri, and whatever ramen spots you come across, and you want more. You’re an admitted ramen head. 

If you’re ready to go deeper on ramen, Ramen Beast is for you. Ramen Beast is the nickname of a guy who is obsessed with ramen. You can check out his Instagram to see him documenting his ramen adventures, and you can also download his app. (I’m in no way affiliated with Ramen Beast)

Taxis

I’ve written about taking taxis before, but I think it’s worth repeating and highlighting certain aspects of Japanese taxis that differ from those elsewhere.

Let me start off by saying, it’s ok to take a taxi. For years, decades even, everyone always said, “Don’t take a taxi in Tokyo. They are crazy expensive”. Well, that’s no longer true. I’ve taken taxis from Kichijoji, Shimokitazawa, and other places in Tokyo, all the way to Haneda airport, and it cost around $100, which is basically what I pay every time I take a taxi or a ride-share from my home in Los Angeles to LAX airport. So, to be able to relax in an air-conditioned taxi, not have to take my luggage via stairs and trains, and also not have to plan to ship my luggage to the airport a day or two in advance via Ta-Q-bin, is easily worth $100. Even more so, if I’m traveling with another person.

I recommend using taxis strategically. Take them when you’re going to a place that may be hard to find. Take them if you have a bunch of luggage or shopping bags that need moving around. Take them when you’re exhausted and navigating the trains is going to be too much. Take them in the summer when it’s hotter than the sun outside.

A few things to know about Japanese taxis: 

When the sign in the front window is lit up red, that means the taxi is available for hire. Green or blue means it’s already in use. No light means it’s not available.

Don’t open or close the door unless you want to irritate the driver. Japanese taxis have a mechanism that allows the driver to open the doors right from where they are sitting. So after you flag a taxi down and it pulls over, just wait for the door to magically open. It will. And when you get in, don’t close it. It will shut on its own. And when you arrive at your destination, wait for the driver to open the door for you. They will do so as soon as you are done paying for the ride. When you get out, don’t shut the door. Sometimes these are hard things to remember, as they are things we do without thinking in most countries of the world. I’m not aware of any other country that does this the Japanese way. So, please, fight your instincts to open or shut the doors. I’ve literally told people not to do this, and then 3 seconds later, they do it.

You don’t need to tip the taxi driver. Most of the time, it’s easier to pay with a credit card anyway, and a lot of the cabs have a screen that you operate yourself to pay for the fare electronically.

It’s great if you have the address written down to show the driver, but if it’s something easy like a certain park or famous location, they will, of course, know where it is.

Don’t expect them to know where every hotel in Tokyo is. Having a card that you’ve grabbed from the front desk of the hotel that has the address on it to show the driver is a great practice.

Enka

Enka is a traditional style of Japanese music. Like Japanese soul music. The vocals tend towards the dramatic and emotional.

If you like karaoke and know that you will be going to karaoke with Japanese people, learning an enka song or two will earn you extra points. Enka is not well known outside of Japan, so it’s unusual for foreigners to be familiar with it, much less be able to sing any enka songs. Try this and you’ll see for yourself.

For some examples of enka, I’ve got a few links here.

I recently learned about a website, Every Noise at Once, that has playlists of many, many genres of music. You could really lose yourself down this rabbit hole.

Here are two enka playlists: enka, modern enka.

And here’s one on YouTube:

Increase your attractiveness. Support Japan or Die. All the sexy people are doing it.

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The 2nd most clicked link from the previous issue was for my version of Kevin Kelly’s travel tips. (upgrade for access)

The one inexpensive item everyone should buy before visiting Japan.

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