You’re bringing back painful memories of ear-splitting noise. Everywhere. 
It’s a ton of fun reading your thoughts about the trip; I’m glad you had fun!
I totally get that. I feel bad sometimes when family/friends ask for all the phots I took, and I only took, like, four, but you’re just always on the move and looking at stuff and talking with people, and it’s either that or I ignore everything to take photos. >.<
Did you buy any books/souvenirs when you were over there?
I started bringing ANC headphones every time I knew we could end up in a crowded mall or shop. Brown noise works wonders.
Yes me too, it totally takes me out. So if I wanted to just soak in the atmosphere I usually let my husband take photos. I kept most of the tickets and stuff, so I’m hoping to make an album or something.
I ended up buying these books plus a few artbooks and doujins.
1-2: Some random BL manga (僕らのミクロな終末 | L24??), I had a really hard time choosing ones that look interesting. Even knowing a bit of Japanese it was so difficult navigating bookshelves!
3: おやすみなさい、また明日 | L28 From 凪ゆう (UtsuKare author), thought I can’t go wrong here and I wanted to read it anyway.
4: https://learnnatively.com/book/4e0a3a0038/, bought it at the Ghibli park. The shop attendant was super nice, she asked me if I understood Japanese, I said I’m learning, then she told me she’s visiting my country in winter for Christmas market.
5+6: Didn’t buy them but my Hakone hotel had a small manga library so I speedran them in 2 days — what’s a more perfect day than sleeping in, leisurely wandering the mountain, taking a nice onsen bath, and then ゴロゴロ time reading manga on the futon bed.
I would have bought the next volumes but I had already bought the remaining volumes of Demon Slayer digitally 
7: Just had to buy Yotsuba-to 16 since there’s no digital version. Already finished reading it and it has a lot of Yanda, I love his dumb ass so much.
8: 夏の体温 | L25
Novel I bought at the airport to spend some of my last 2000 yen, I really like it so far! The first story is about a boy in a children’s hospital, reminds me a little of また同じ夢を見ていた
Also please have a look at my filled stamp book 
(not sure if this will embed)
Oh, I like that graphic you’ve got form them; it looks quite nice.
I really need to read more of her works. The cover’s really pretty!
Aaaah, now that’s top-tier relaxation right there. Very jealous.
I’ve done that before (ダ・ヴィンチの翼 | L30?? in my case); I still need to read mine…
Oh, what are all the stamps from?
All kinds of places, mostly train stations and sightseeing spots.
I followed mostly this map to find stamps in the vicinity: スタンプマップ - 旅のスタンプ帳
It’s a great site, tells you pretty detailed where to find the stamp. It’s easy to use if you use a bit of Site Translate.
Oh I will definitely go stamp hunting the next time I go to Japan! What a fun souvenir!
Thanks for sharing about your trip!
I love your stamp book! You got so many! I did a stamp book last time I went, but I don’t think I got nearly that many. Actually, I’ve really got to go through all my various brochures, tickets etc from my last trip and organize them somehow… Thanks for reminding me 
If I ever visit Japan, your description makes me not want to visit Tokyo, or at least only do so with good headphones 
I mean I’d still wanna do Akiha & Shibuya, so I guess it’s unavoidable… but in general it sounds way too 面倒くさい
What did you think about Kyoto?
This & cheap book prices are the two things I’m jealous of! I’ve done various things to put much of my life in Japanese - like putting my phone & other devices in Japanese, and sometimes using JP media, but it’s not the same
I’ve heard that for most ppl, the work hours aren’t really worse than what we’re used to in the US. Tho for me, all the extra-work type activities would kill me… I’m a very “I do my 40 hrs and I’m done” sorta person about these things
I’ve never seen the show, but that’s fascinating lol
For me, Kyoto is worse. Tokyo is loud and full of people, but most of them live there. Kyoto is full of tourists. I kinda feel bad going to Kyoto since I’ve been 3 times now and I don’t want to contribute to the over tourism there, but I also have a friend who lives there so it makes it hard to not go when I’m in that part of Japan. There are some can’t miss cultural sites there, but you can also find some less known ones if you know anything about Japan (which you do).
I’ve been to Tokyo more than I’ve been to Kyoto, and am honestly a little bored of it if I’m with people who want to all of the normal tourism sites there.
Don’t go into a Donki. (Or do what I do and go on the middle of the day, and never to the one in Kabukicho, even though that’s where I usually stay 
).
It’s really not, and I really hope you get a chance to go someday. Even just on the plane ride over with half of the announcements in Japanese, you’re like ohhh, this is different.. each time I’m there, I feel like my brain both absorbs so much Japanese and gets a kick like “ohhh yeah you’re right, this is important to know”. Between that, and how reinvigorated I get to study more, each trip probably gives me an extra 3 months worth of learning over the 1-2 weeks I’m there.
Don’t go on the weekend, it is exhausting for people who are overstimulated easily, my friends though all managed fine and enjoyed it even being crowded. I’m the type of person,—taking the example of jogging—who prefers to jog indoors in the dark with ANC without music. The threshold is probably different for every person.
Okay well if the comparison is US then I guess … I’m coming from a European POV, with 20 days vacation that I’m allowed to take etc. My company has both US and JPN branch, my colleague i met told me it’s pretty ok there but there’s still a big cultural difference in terms of that it’s difficult to really get close to his colleagues. Meanwhile in our EU branch we’re pretty much all similar age and hang out not because of work but because we get along personally. Another thing he mentioned is that the urge for conformity is incredibly strong and limiting efforts for critical thinking. He said other cultures would complain, though from a German POV I think that we do complain a bit too much… I guess the takeaway is everywhere has its good and bad points and no place is perfect.
I don’t mind as much but only as long as it’s voluntary…
I did like the vibe there but as shitsurei said, it’s very touristy and crowded. The public transport is a bit annoying because there’s only crowded buses, I recommend taking taxi from time to time. Honestly I skipped a lot of the must-do places and instead visited smaller shrines.
I wish I had more time in Osaka, i was really curious about the difference in vibe but unfortunately we didn’t get to experience a lot of it.
I guess you can go once just so you know what people are talking about.
But social media deceived me saying that donki was affordable, in fact it’s most times more expensive than normal stores or drugstores. The only convenience is that it’s often open 24h7 or at least until 3 am. We still didn’t find a swim shorts there lmao. Also touristy places have higher prices there.
So much this and it also feels like that part of you brain is tickled in a good way. I also gained so much confidence in speaking, like realistically I didn’t improve that much but I feel like I have better strategies to express myself in simple terms etc
As a New Yorker - I immediately get this
Tbh I don’t really know much of this kind of thing tho, and have barely traveled. But like I’d ask my teachers or folks around here for recs if it ever came to that. Osaka is probably highest on my places of interest rn.
I feel like I have to at least once, just to have the experience, if I’m there
I’m still not 100% sure I want to (it’s complicated)… but it’s certainly something I could make happen eventually, if I want. Thx 
Announcement Japanese is definitely not something I’ve had a lot of exposure to. I’m good with GPS
That’s really awesome
Yeah, I’m so jealous of y’all
I’m the sorta person who doesn’t really want to get close to my colleagues anyway
Yeah, this is a part of Japan in general that I think sounds very challenging.
The one time I would happily take taxis I hate buses, even when they’re not crowded
That seems like the way to do things in general, imo.
Despite living in NY, in my neighborhood most places are closed by 10. I definitely miss that
Noted. I have some tolerance for this sorta thing…
Walk in to buy the suitcase you’ll need to bring all your books home, then turn around and leave. (I actually do like my donki suitcase though.)
I usually pack a suitcase sandwich (pack clothes in a medium suitcase and pack that into a large suitcase) 
I did get a suitcase the last time I was there, but that was premeditated and I got it from Tokyu Hands bc I wanted a smaller carry on. I really like that one but it didn’t help a lot on the getting books home front. 
I asked a Japanese friend about this, and apparently from around Obon (mid-August) there are lots of jellyfish in the ocean, that’s why nobody goes swimming in that period.
For the swimwear, of course there is that day™ when every shop needs to switch to autumn clothing, and you are supposed to buy your swimwear in summer apparently. 
I mean, who am I to complain, it used to be the same in Germany for the longest time…
November Recap plus JLPT update!
| 2024 | 2025 cumul. | Nov | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Days Read | 222 | 211 | 15 |
| (M)angas/(N)ovels finished | 69M/4N | 43M/10N | 1M/1N |
| Pages read Manga | 12675 | 8150 | 192 |
| Pages read Novels | 1491 | 2613 | 107 |
| (E)pisodes/(M)ovies watched | 295E/5M | 207E/5M | 31E |
| Hours watched | 103.2 | 83.8 | 9.3 |
| Vocabulary | 5,349 | 2,960 | 481 |
| Kanji | 429 | 318 | 2 |
| Grammar | 102 | 132 | 0 |
It seems this year I’ve been pretty on par with my reading input compared to last year. The number of days with reading will be relatively equal, last year I read more manga but less novel pages. Spent slightly less time watching TV but I guess that’s expected, didn’t really have a series that caught me this year and mostly just watched things from my TBW list.
SRS-wise I added less words to my schedules, that seems to be expected as I’m encountering less unknown words (and honestly it’s exhausting to review too much…)
For next year, I should definitely add “less procrastinating with short videos” to my 2026 goals. I already have a timer on my phone in place, but still it’s soo easy to slip and spend an hour watching meaningless videos.
I was able to check a few more goals off my 2025 list
My JLPT N2 verdict:
All in all I felt more comfortable this year than last year’s N3, could be the weather (much nicer and less cold than last time), could be that I was better mentally prepared what awaited me, I also brought little sugar boosters to snack on in the breaks. Also I loved that there weren’t two breaks as for N3, but just one break with Vocab/Grammar/Reading being all in one session.
I wish the results could come out earlier, I’m pretty sure I passed reading and vocab, but I don’t know if grammar/listening will break my neck 
Oh yeah and some readings I finished in the last weeks:
Das Kapital by Karl Marx explained by Gudetama. Key phrases from the book are explained in easier to follow language. The structure is (cute illustration) a summarizing one-sentence in easy language → a slightly longer paragraph in easy language explaining the concept → the verbatim (or abbreviated) section from the original in tiny text. Good to learn some vocab related to economy/philosophy though I guess that also makes it a bit difficult (at least for me who doesn’t dabble much in these fields, even in my native language).
Finally finished the series! That was a grand finale. I liked the battle, even though it was a bit repetitive in its presentation (find opponent, struggle against opponent, tragic backstory, finish off opponent). The ultimate twist with Tanjirou turning into a demon was nice but a bit superficial, I had really hoped more for Nezuko’s role in the battle. Still, the ending felt good for me.
The fast-forward to present day was a bit too much though, I didn’t really need that. Though it was nice to see my boy Sabito again.
That was a cute collection of stories, I especially liked the first story which is about a little boy in a childrens’ hospital. It wasn’t particularly exciting or unexpecting, but it was cute and heartfelt story. Due to the POV the first story is an easy read for novel beginners, the other stories were slightly more difficult.
That’s really impressive. Cool that you could check so many goals of 2025 until now. Are there some missing that you want to tackle in the last couple of weeks?
Glad to hear you didn’t struggle with the timing as much. That probably helped staying focused while being on the test.
Finger’s crossed! 
I gotta say here that I readjusted my goals some time in the year to adjust them more to my actual projection. One of the things I want to finish this year is reaching 3000 (novel) pages read, I already fulfilled my manga page goal, but it will be challenging since it’s not a lot of time left. I thought maybe over the holidays, but I only take 4 days off and spend most of that time traveling / going to relatives, so let’s see how it goes…
It sounds like your N2 experience pretty much mirrored mine.
I felt this too. I stopped studying kanji because I always got 8 or 9 out of 10 in the practice sections, and I just completely didn’t know at least one of them. I was shaken
I started the test with the long reading, looped back to the beginning (bc kanji and vocab are supposed to me my easy points to pick up…) and then do grammar and short readings last. I had time to finish the whole first section but I was so mentally worn out I almost don’t even remember what the short readings were. Listening I had the same experience where I could get it down to 2 easily and just couldn’t pick between them. I think me passing is going to come down to luck and the curve, so I just hope () that other people struggled more than I did. Fingers crossed for the both of us!
