Reporter Li Hongdian/Taipei Report
Japan announced that from October 11th, it will open entry to free travel and resume visa-free measures. I believe that many people want to “return” to Japan to travel as soon as possible. Lin Shibi, a leading infectious disease doctor at the front desk and a well-known blogger, today (3) days He wrote regarding the changes in Japan before and following the epidemic on Facebook “Japan Self-Guided Travel Poisoner”. He said that this question has been frequently asked recently. I spent 40 days in Japan during the summer vacation. What do you think has changed in Japan following three years? What changes have you made to your travel preparations? Let’s sort this out!
1. Alcohol is available everywhere. Mask coverage is super high. Silent food, silent ride, silent bath, silent clothing slogans are everywhere.
The Japanese are basically still in the prevention of the epidemic and have already integrated into their lives. However, following seven waves of the epidemic, people have taken it lightly and won’t make a fuss regarding it. Going to Japan in the post-epidemic era, of course, we have to be prepared.
2. Self-checkout, more self-service ticket purchases, and less human-to-human contact.
This can be said to be in response to the progress of the epidemic, and there is almost no need to take out cash to settle the bill this time. There are self-checkout options in supermarkets and convenience stores. I have shared with you before that JR pass and subway tickets can be solved directly at the ticket machine. There is even an interesting unmanned store at JR Takanawa gateway station!
3. Prices go up or down. But because of the depreciation of the yen, the body feels cheaper.
Inflation is happening all over the world, and Japan is no exception. Daiwa Sushi and other restaurants have raised their prices to around 5,000yen, while some restaurants have not risen in price, but things have shrunk. However, because the Japanese yen has fallen to around 0.22 once morest the Taiwan dollar, I have experienced the period of 0.3 to 0.39, and I feel that it has become cheaper.
4. Internet tools have been reshuffled, and e-SIM cards have become mainstream.
In the past two years, some companies have collapsed, and some are still struggling. It is worth mentioning that there are more convenient Internet options: e-SIM card, no physical card, no need to replace the original SIM card, you can still answer calls or text messages, very convenient! However, e-SIM currently mainly supports i-phones of recent models, and other mobile phones have limited support.
5. No more free plastic bags.
So just like in China, you may have to prepare a shopping bag with you. However, the specially packaged bags for duty-free items are still plastic. I wonder if this will change in the future?
6. The big country drugstores have almost disappeared. Sugi Pharmacy has a large exhibition store.
I only saw two big countries on this trip. In response to the epidemic, major countries have closed most of their brick-and-mortar stores and switched to online operations. Instead, Sugi Pharmacy is everywhere. Maybe there will be changes as the tourists return?
7. Fewer tourists. Chinese tourists can’t go there for a while.
Without tourists, of course there will be fewer crowds. Queue time at popular restaurants can be reduced a lot. Please take advantage of this golden time. Japan, where there are not so many tourists, is really comfortable to visit.
8. The clerk can’t handle the tax refund and can’t speak English?
This was discussed the day before yesterday. I have applied for tax refund four or five times in Tokyo in August, and almost all of them encountered some difficulties, because many clerks forgot or did not apply for tax refund at all. I believe that with the return of tourists, how to get tax refunds, the service industry needs to have shop assistants who can speak English or Chinese, etc. should gradually recover. In addition, the tax refund is no longer required to be attached to the passport, and the information will be directly electronically transmitted to the customs.
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