Van Life in Japan(kumazen.com) |
Van Life in Japan(kumazen.com) |
The only thing that really would bother me is, not sure how to put this, but the lack of privacy with regard to sleeping arrangements.
I guess some people are more comfortable being intimate with their partner in close proximity to their children but that's not for me.
Anyway everything else looks like an amazing adventure so I wish them good luck.
From what I remember, parents would just pick a time to be alone, and grandma would sit on the porch and shoo any curious children away from the house.
Likewise with nudity. Westerner's are hung up on covering themselves up in front of family members at a certain age. Many Asian cultures don't have that baggage. Bathing with family or going to a bathhouse is normal, and why wouldn't it be?
Our distant ancestors had to put up with a lot of negatives that we do not necessarily need to. Just because they did it, doesn't mean they wanted to, it may mean they had mediocre alternatives (or no alternatives at all).
And other Asian cultures are even more prudish about covering up around family than westerners.
I've done something similar.. some years ago there was a casino I would go to where you would pay 10$ entry fee and have access to a buffet, for the whole day. They had great food too. So I told an uber driver this "hack" and less than 6 months later they started checking whether you were playing or not, you needed a special ticket to access the buffet. Now I have no idea if me not shutting up about it has caused it to be closed off but there's certainly a chance.
- Live in Japan, or be able to get a Japanese visa
- Have a Japanese driver's license
- Have a remote working job with flexible enough hours
- Be willing to live a van life with all its inconveniences
Plus it's not like there's any particular single paradise to be ruined. Japan is a big place. Even if 1000 people did read this and suddenly started van-lifeing around Japan I doubt it would make a difference.
> Be willing to live a van life with all its inconveniences
This would be a show stopper for me. But apparently enough people are into it that #vanlife is a thing.
But the general idea still stands. I remember hearing Anthony Bourdain would not adeverise great little restaurants he found for fear of running them.
Where I come from there are ever increasing number of people living in vans and its a real problem. They usually just cause problems, dont pay hotel or property taxes and ruin the area for everyone else. Some towns have banned them which is worse for the few locals that used to do it on a short trip.
https://web.archive.org/web/20230207112109/https://kumazen.c...
He mentions renovation companies as well as builders who will undertake renovations. He has many more videos detailing the process. However, being a youtuber does open up possibilities that aren't common.
They are a little pricey (JPY 8,000+ per night, meals included), fairly strict in terms of lights out, wake up time, etc, and can get pretty cozy when you're sharing a room with upwards of 20 other people. But also some of the best, most memorable experiences of my life for being able to climb up to 3,000m elevation and just relax and take in the stunning views while offering the convenience of warm meals, toilets, bedding, and a often times a vending machine full of beer.
[1] https://thejapanalps.com/en/cottage-hotel/cottage-camping/
But also tourists make an absolute mess of the place a lot of the time. Other countries don't have the "tidy kiwi" mentality that we get growing up. I live in the UK now and the percentage of people that will just throw rubbish on the ground is extraordinarily high; I'll hold onto my rubbish until I find a bin, I have never once in my life thrown something on the ground.
It was far from perfect, but it was super rewarding! Your experience will vary wildly based on what's available in your van, but you can make just about anything work.
You lost me when adult diapers became a luxury.
Maybe I'm a spoiled westerner, but (save for that one time that my kid barged in because I forgot to lock the door,) I've never had sex in front of my kids.
Monkeys? Wtf? I had no idea. Given its geographic location I should have guessed that was the case but for some reason I am still a little bit shocked.
https://en.jigokudani-yaenkoen.co.jp/
I've also run into wild monkeys hiking around Kamikochi in Nagano, and cycling around Lake Tagokura Fukushima. They're small, but not particularly shy, and like any wild animal bigger than a cat I find them somewhat scary.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_macaque
Pretty much all the big island nations in Asia have monkeys.
Our house just a few kilometers from the center of Taipei has monkeys in the backyard.
One thing that I didn't expect (although it makes perfect sense) is that OCR of Japanese writing is very bad compared to what we've got used to. Aiming a phone with Google Translate at some sign will often produce total garbage. You can attempt to transcribe the kanji with your finger and that usually gives better results, but is tedious and difficult (since the order of strokes matters and you have no clue about it). We've quickly learned a few crucial kanjis, e.g. 出口 for `exit`.
A tip for the restaurants that only offer japanese menu with no pictures: open the listing in Maps, browse through the photos and show the waiter a photo of the meal you would like.
> We usually don’t bathe every day and listen to our body’s needs.
but this is the kind of link you want to be the only one reading :(
For one, barrier to entry to Japan is high enough that people stampeding to this opportunity is unlikely. If it really takes off, I’d expect places to adapt and turn the free parkings to paying places, and monetize the whole thing as they do for any new trend.
Then more working age people coming to Japan would be a great outcome. The demographic situation is pretty dire and tourism also fell a cliff.
Where I come from there are ever increasing numbers of people living in houses and its a real problem. They usually just cause problems, dont pay parking fees or fuel duties and ruin the area for everyone else. Some towns have mandated them which is worse for the few travellers that used to do it on a short trip
But yeah if folks are not well behaved, especially with regards to properly disposing of trash and human waste, it would not be well received.
Edit: For fun I just googled "キャンプブーム" (camp boom) and found this article calling it annoying, and complaining specifically about people with bad manners not keeping campsites clean, being noisy at night, and starting fires where they are prohibited [1]. Note this is more from the perspective of veteran campers complaining about newbs, and more directed at Japanese people rather than foreign visitors. But yeah maybe you are on to something.
Why would they pay hotel or property taxes when they do not reside there, and have none of the rights of residents (e.g. school system access)?
Also, isn't blaming "an increasing number of people living in vans" a perfect example of shooting the messenger and ignoring the message?
Mostly poor manners / not cleaning up after themselves. A few years back there was a family from the UK visting New Zealand that was so poorly behaved that their exploits were being tracked around the country in the news and they were eventually deported [1]. This article also cites a woman from France defecating in the street when her camper broke down. And examples of foreign tourists not respecting local traffic laws.
Not saying that this is representative of all van-lifers, but when you are traveling around in a van with no plumbing or trash disposal services, it does require a bit more responsibility on the part of the travelers to follow the rules and clean up after themselves vs. staying at a hotel and using public transportation. And not everyone is up to the task it seems.
[1] https://www.nzherald.co.nz/travel/new-zealands-worst-tourist...
Phew all those roaches man xD
The tolls are quite high, too. Between Kyoto and Tokyo, which is a 6 hour drive, the tolls are about $100.
In Asia, vanlife and glamming is becoming an aesthetic almost. It’s especially popular among affluent people and influencers. People in Japan buy expensive gear such as SnowPeak, including clothing to match, just to sit in a park. With all lifestyle things in Japan, people have to dress a certain way.
(Aside: If you're traveling to a country where casual roadside police bribes are a fact of life, (NOT Japan, more like Turkmenistan) multiple IDPs can be really handy, since the mechanism of the bribe is often 'I will hold your important document for you until you are ready to give the money' and they may not realize the IDP isn't actually your license, so you can just drive away.)
Also, language barrier isn't really an issue day to day. Most people in the huge urban centers (such as where you'd pick up the RV) speak English well. Once you get off the beaten track, English is a lot less common but translation apps work well (i enabled the Japanese keyboard on my iPhone and often we'd just pass the phone back and forth, typing messages) locals off the beaten path tend to be interested in foreign travelers, happy to take time to help, learn more about you, etc. Small regions in Japan tend to have strong local identity and there is generally an interest in sharing that with travelers.
I only did it for 2 weeks but Japan would have let me stay for 90 days without a visa.
This is not the general experience in Japan, and advising people to expect English speakers is misleading :) That said, you will certainly still get by, and if you're nervous about it there are definitely other (more expensive) rental options with strong English language support - one of them is linked from the blog.
I had this experience everywhere, not just off the beaten path. Language barrier was never a problem for me in Japan because people would bend over backwards to help me.
> While sleeping in normal parking I think it is important to keep discrete so people will not bother you and you will not annoy anyone.
In much of the world, going outside to pee in the bushes in a populated area carries a nonzero risk of attention from law enforcement and a progression to sleeping outside minus the now impounded van.
This helps you to live with a healthy skin microbiome that is effective at maintaining itself. I can easily skip a shower for a day and be fine, because the buggies living on my skin help manage the population of bacteria and yeasts that ultimately contribute to smells, pleasant or otherwise.
However the transition from Western-style harmful hygiene practices (harsh soaps, extreme obsession) back to a more normal baseline can take a while, and requires being a little gross as your body re-learns to manage itself without such drastic outside measures as strong surfactants.
tl;dr your skin and scalp easily develop an unhealthy dependence on external soaps, resulting in a chronic inability to manage skin microbe populations, which means you're covered in uncontrolled colonies of stinky microbes until your next shower. Let your body handle it and it will manage those populations itself.
EDIT: instead of downvoting rather prove me wrong, do you think Americans don't have extreme water consumption? US water consumption per capita is in top 10 in whole world and it's 4 times higher than Germany for instance. Everything else in comment are just observations, but I guess too many Americans here don't like the facts and observations.
People are down voting you because you're muddling domestic use with agricultural and industrial numbers and you're being a judgemental asshole. And you can't be both innumerate and an asshole at the same time here.
You can bet I shower daily. Sometimes I shower several times a day (although fortunately I live by the sea so I try to jump in there instead when possible). I also sometimes go though several shirts in a day and have to take care to manage my electrolytes and hydration.
Showering this often is not a luxury, it's a necessity. To avoid becoming a stinking sweat monster who would send children screaming, I mean.
Locals don't have this problem. I've been living here for years and I don't think my body is going to adapt.
America is a big place, and a lot of it is hot and populated with many people of a similar ancestry to mine. Maybe it's where their "obsession" comes from?
And some simply don't care if they disgust others. World is big, no need to bash Americans or any other nation.
What do you suggest to people who exercise everyday?
-- https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2017/nov/16/japan-reusabl...
Of course, houses can be renovated - as the article explains. But going along with a country's traditional building methods is often cheaper than bucking the trends.
I want to be clear that I’m not suggesting freedom camping in a non self-contained vehicle, nor littering or other anti-environmental or illegal behaviour.
But anyone with a self-contained vehicle is well within their rights to freedom camp on council or public conservation land except where camping is explicitly prohibited. Alternatively, if you have a non self-contained vehicle, you’re never far from a legit campsite anyway.
I agree about the UK though, it’s next level. I was up in the lakes one time, can’t remember exactly where, but on the path from the carpark to the lake (maybe 500m) I noticed an insane amount of rubbish (some of it very old), so I grabbed every plastic bag I had and started collecting it. I received extremely dirty looks, people started handing me their rubbish (???), and an old man asked me what crime I had committed to be forced to do community service.
I struggle to understand the mentality of people who visit national parks for their beauty then ruin them by littering.
One thing a traveler could do for some peace of mind is notify an embassy of the trip ahead of time, such that in a police hassling scenario someone on scene can call and get official confirmation in Japanese of who you are and what you're doing, act as an interpreter, etc.
Just spending hours trying to convince local cops that you’re not a drug dealer, having them look at papers they don’t understand, and getting more lecturing on how you wasted their time. And that every few days as you move to new places.
Of course shit can happen, but it will be the exception more than the rule.
Not true, excessive washing even just with water dries your skin plus not everyone has exactly pH neutral showering water. So yes, you can wash every day and then apply lotion/cream or you can just not wash and avoid all of that.
Some people would probably use more water in one 10 minute hot shower / day. Never understood people taking long showers.
Bonding with your child and thinking about their needs becomes more important.
It is not, but it is still missing, when you don't manage to make room and time for it. Because when it is missing for too long, you can loose each other.
(And I have 2 small children btw. and been on the road with them. So I know a bit about "getting creative".)
Source: thevanlifecoach.com
> Locals don't have this problem.
Oh they do, but for instance they use prickly heat powder in some of those tropical countries. And that's also reason why everything is airconditioned and you freeze in buses, cinemas, etc. so they are comfortable and don't sweat that much.
US water consumption per capita is 4X higher (3794 litres) than Germany (855), 9X highter than Czechia (422).
Even warm Spain and Greece have half of US water consumption, Thailand little bit over half, Malaysia less than 1/3 of US consumption, so there is no reasonable excuse why Americans waste that much water.
US uses 175.9 m3 per capita
Germany uses 236.5 m3 per capita
Czechia uses 57.5 per capita
So individuals in America (i.e. showering) do not use abnormally high amounts of water. The country in total uses more water because we have more farming and more industry than Germany or Czechia.
https://www.worldometers.info/water/us-water/
I would also like to point out how massive America is, it has almost all the climates, and it has almost all the infrastructure variants in regards to where the water comes from and how impactful that usage is.
Of course I would prefer the RV toilet to a diaper though.
Temperature also changes things - if it's above zero outside it's not so bad for a quick jaunt, but if it is -40º it's a whole different ballgame.
You can see this history quite clearly now in the old castles Royal families live in and the obscene amount of rooms they have. Who can look after an 18 room castle? Someone with money and power, that's who.
So what part of changing the basic build blocks of family connections that have existed even before we were walking on 2 legs for a 'status symbol' makes it the better option?
Its funny we like to pretend we are smarter or 'know better now'. It couldn't be any further from the truth. We don't sleep properly, we can't eat properly, we don't exercise enough and we suffer through chronic loneliness. We are the worst examples of how human beings should live.
So why is this the 'better' option? What is the benefit from separating a child from their parents at night? More likely it just how our parents did it and everyone else does it so we inherently think its the best way.
What we think to be normal or right is in fact the complete opposite that based on our known history.
If it is a infection, then something is very wrong.
Otherwise you can and should clean them with care, especially when you cannot shower.
Most folks don't realize, but sweat itself has substantial odor.
And don't go at me with average temperatures nonsense, Spain and Greece are warmer than most of the US and have half of US water consumption, Thailand little bit over half, Malaysia less than 1/3 of US consumption.
Obviously the point of the van is that you can move around a lot!
Aside: vagrancy is illegal in Japan, so if you’re sticking to the law you probably need to rent somewhere (or use your parents) and have a registered address.
Why would you expect this to be a bad life for a 1.5yo? They get a lot of time with their parents, and a lot of time outside?
I'd feel differently with, say, a 4yo where that this sort of life would mean not having friends, but a 1.5yo is too young for that to be an issue.
Is that why you don't see any homeless in Japan? They just arrest them for vagrancy and house them in jail?
Anyone living near Tokyo who has money, clothes, shoes, gas cans, batteries, shelter material, work opportunities etc they wish to pass on - please reply here or email i.am.grozzle at gmail, please. Or ask staff at Lavanderia cafe in Shinjuku ni-chome.
Each time I've been to Japan I've noticed plenty of homeless people. They are really tidy about it, but you'll find encampments in Osaka and Tokyo if you just check out some of the parks.
It's basically discrimination by design.
In winter: you need a bath to get as warm as possible before going to bed. Until recently (~1980s-90s) houses were expected to be ephemeral, whether they were knocked over by an earthquake or the new owner, so people skipped "luxuries" like insulation.
Have you tried an electric blanket?
"To learn the reason behind why this gene affects body odor, the origin of body odor itself will also have to be examined. To learn why, it must be noted that sweat itself is odorless. Body odor comes from the apocrine glands in areas such as the armpits and genital regions, and is caused by bacteria feeding on proteins produced by the apocrine sweat glands. However, with the gene mutation in ABCC11 gene, these proteins are not made, causing sweat to remain odorless."
I am sure you are so sure because you are attempting to shoehorn reality into some vague political philosophy.
> So why is this the 'better' option? What is the benefit from separating a child from their parents at night?
Privacy for one. Some people claim letting your baby cry in the other room is healthier for their development, 'etc. If you insist on being post-modern about everything lets take it all the way, what even is 'better'? Why is 'better' even 'better'?
I'll keep my individualism thank you. You do your better and I'll do mine.
Families sleeping together is the the absolute opposite of post modern.
Letting a baby cry out for its parents while it’s alone is a ‘good thing’ makes no intuitive sense. Feeding babies with bottles became normal for some reason until we understood that it was more for the benefit of the companies selling formula and decided ‘gasp’ breastfeeding might be preferred.
You keep your individualism? It’s the only thing you know, you have no idea what life is like otherwise. You just assume the culture you live in is the best version of how to do things.
> Just use a water bottle like the rest of us!
That's not just using a water bottle. And certainly is specialized enough of a tool that you likely can't find it as ubiquitously as a water bottle.
I said that just peeing in a bottle really only works for half the population. That's all. Your choice to somehow read into those words so deeply as to make up a completely new sentence that was never written is yours alone.
I imagine if you place the bottle at the urethra opening it's possible it might work.
https://www.wikihow.com/Pee-in-a-Bottle-(Women)
https://www.rei.com/blog/hike/girl-talk-peeing-in-the-backco...
https://www.wikihow.com/Pee-in-a-Bottle
https://www.tripsavvy.com/can-women-pee-in-a-bottle-backpack...
https://www.ozmo.io/how-can-a-girl-pee-in-a-water-bottle/
(and many, many more)
It certainly doesn't seem anywhere near as easy as just [using] a water bottle.
Once was with other foreigners at a hostel. But the other time it was at some tiny pub in Hiroshima. They had like 3 tables and there were only the owners (a couple) and 2-3 regulars. All of them wanted to drink and hang out with us and they were very loud and enthusiastic even though we didn't understand each other almost at all. We loved it, I will never forget it.
Hmm, or perhaps some other subculture which addresses both language overlap and (sub)cultural openness? Like local alumni, or some software-related community (eg ruby, or XR, or ...), or ... ? HN people? In context of TFA, perhaps something surfing? One dream the net was weaving a world where you could have a friend in every city.
Build up of aromatics in your adipose tissue that are released over time via your sebaceous glands, bacterial decomposition products of those compounds, and off-gassing of bacterial decomposition byproducts from your orifices contribute to bad body odor.
Maybe it’s just my neuroses or mental illness, but I can’t imagine smelling so badly and not showering even if I didn’t socialize with others, and can’t imagine I’d have many people to continue to socialize with (in USA so this is probably different in the OP’s country) if I smelled so bad when I went out.
As one who's hung out with bohemian vagabonds who didn't make a routine habit of bathing, my nose has told me otherwise.
Nice people but... humans smell funny in general.
A fact of life that seems pointless to try to avoid.
One person's BO is another person's aphrodisiac. Biochemistry is fun, lean into it!
And not to sound racist, but black people have (often) very different stench from the rest, that one is not Chinese (racist) myth.
But to be honest every race/nation I met stink, your nose is just blind to the people you meet most often. It's same with my apartment when I return back after longer vacation I can notice its specific (new) smell still even after years living there (especially if I won't leave windows a bit open for air exchange), but if I'm away just for a day or two I don't smell anything.
Adult diapers' main purpose isn't peeing while on a van trip; I would imagine elderly people around the world need them day to day. A funnel specifically made for women to pee is an incredibly niche product with little to no day-to-day use.
Nobody said that a diaper is superior to a funnel. The grandparent comment makes it seem like it's easy for half the population to pee in a bottle and I called them out on it. I didn't even mention the ubiquity of adult diapers, I compared finding a specialized funnel to a water bottle on purpose.
Funnels of various sizes readily available in every hardware and auto parts store. Also these specific funnels are readily available in outdoors and sporting stores. It is easy to find funnels. No need to defend "half the population" by "calling them out on it."
> Just use a water bottle like the rest of us!
That's still not just a water bottle. Period. However easy it is, it's not just a water bottle, and it's not as easy as finding a water bottle.
That was literally my entire point, as I have now said multiple times, but go off sis.
Also, I've ridden plenty of crowded buses and subways in China and haven't noticed as much body odor as Westerners. So our anecdotes cancel out there.
"Just use a" implies that it's easy as picking it up and using it.
The fact that a funnel has to be bought and brought into the equation means it's not as easy as just [using] a water bottle.
Please, next time your wife needs to go to the bathroom, give her a water bottle and tell her to just use it. It's ok, someone said it's just that easy.
I love how you're pedantically rationalizing "calling them out" on this one word "just" and ignoring the subject is people living in their vehicles (for 3 months in the case of the comment you "called out" and indefinitely in the case of the original blog post).
First of all, just can be used to mean several things aside from simply [1]. When used in an imperative cause as it is the comment that triggered you, it is more correct to interpret it as being used for emphasis. Consider this exchange: "I pee in diapers.", "Just don't do that."
So you were really just (Just meaning ‘only’ [1]) triggered by your poor understanding of the use of this word.
But there's more. Even if the comment used just meaning simply, you are still wrong.
Everyone is talking about habitual practices including and especially the comment you "called out."
Instead of habitually using adult diapers, habitually just (meaning simply) using a bottle is easy. Acquiring a suitably sized funnel from an auto, hardware or outdoor store for people who live in their cars who clearly have transportation, have a lot of time on their hands and frequent these stores anyway is an insignificant consideration.
There is no bottle related sex inequity to fight here.
And why do you, as a former LGBTQI+ director, keep referring to funnel-using-persons as women or wives? Tisk tisk. Thankfully what you say is representative of your own viewpoints and beliefs and not those of your employer! Maybe someone should call you out!
[1] https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/grammar/british-grammar/...
You seem to have an awful lot of anger and resentment over a random person on the internet calling out that funnels make it a lot more than “just using a water bottle”.
And for your own curiosity, I used wife because he literally called her that. I know reading is hard; you’ve already shown it earlier by hyperfixating on something that wasn’t being discussed.