JAPAN HAS CHANGED | 5 MAJOR Updates To Know Before Traveling To Japan!

Intro there have been a lot of huge updates about Japan that you need to know about the essential Tokyo sua card finally making a comeback Japan facing the possibility of a mega quake and the Yen returning to its former value are just a few of the major updates you need to know about so without further delay let's get straight into this video so you can plan your trip to Japan with these essential updates if you are Hidden Japan Journeys overwhelmed with planning the endless amount of things to do for your upcoming trip to Japan well I have this solution that is just for you and that solution is my business hidden Japan Journeys after years of living in Japan I have gained a wealth of knowledge about how to easily get around and help plan your Japan trip as efficiently as possible if you're interested contact me at my business email which is right here or check out my website which is located in the description below so to start off (1) Suica Is Back! this video Let's cover some great news first as I mentioned earlier the sua card is finally making a comeback for those of you that are just starting to plan your trip to Japan let me explain the icua card is one of Tokyo's essential Transportation cards that allow you to easily ride trains buses and other forms of public transportation you can also use them to pay for convenience store items and at many other stores that also support IC card payment in case you don't want to use your credit cards and pay those annoying foreign transaction fees but around this time last year the sua card faced a dire chip shortage forcing the JRE East company to discontinue the sale of these cards and while the S card has been out of the picture Taurus have had to get pretty creative to find alternatives to this essential Transportation card but finally after an entire year since the card suspension it seems J East has finally gotten their act together and will be opening up the sale of sua cards once again as of right now it looks like they will resume the sale of sua cards on September 1st which is only a couple days from now but if you have an iPhone you can still revert to the more straightforward option of adding the EA to your phone instead and while Android users don't have that same luxury as the iPhone users have right now they will soon as Japan intends to release a specialized app so both forms of smartphones can utilize the electronic card and of course as more updates regarding this situation continues to develop I'll be sure to let you know all right now that we have covered some of the good news it's time to go over some concerning but equally as important (2) Mega-Quake Coming? updates only a few weeks ago the southern region of Japan experienced a rather strong earthquake but while the damage caused from this recent earthquake was limited the real concern is not from the earthquake that has already occurred but rather that this could be a signal to an even deadlier earthquake that would likely occur sooner rather than later this renewed concern is due to this recent earthquake as many scientists worry that this relatively smaller earthquake could potentially trigger a mega Quake if not at least be a foreshadowing event that the mega Quake will come now for anyone that is not too familiar with Japan's dangerous Mega Quake scenario let me fill you in on some very important details so you can better plan your trip to Japan now small disclaimer while I did do extensive research to help streamline this information to you in one simple video I by no means a seismologist or a expert on this matter so after watching this video if you still want some more information on it be sure to do some of your own homework so you're better prepared for your trip anyways let's break down why this is such a big deal Japan is one of many (3) Imminent Mega-Quake Explained countries that fall on the infamous Ring of Fire a massive line of tectonic plates that form sort of a circle around the Pacific Ocean from the Americas all the way around to Japan the Philippines and the majority of the Southeast Asian Islands the ring of fire has been historically known as an area of frequent tectonic plate movements causing devastating natural disasters such as earthquakes volcano eruptions and tsunamis and zooming in on Japan specific area of the Ring of Fire you will see there are some notable tectonic plate regions such as the sagami trough the Japan trench and the non Kai trough now the area of concern that has been on the front page of all the news outlets recently is none other than the non Kai trough this particular trough which extends from shizuoka all the way down to the southern kushu islands has a very high almost guaranteed chance to produce a mega Quake within the relatively near future with the recent earthquake only adding to that that fear now if you're wondering why this is such a certainty if you look back since they started recording history in Japan you will see that a devastating earthquake has struck somewhere along this trough every 90 to 150 years without fail and each time one of these earthquakes occur it creates a disastrous force that enacts a catastrophic toll on the local infrastructure and human lives and as I'm sure you can start to see where this is all going the last makeup earthquake along the non-kit trough was about the mid 1940s meaning the next Mega Quake is almost guaranteed to come within the next decade if not sooner now without (4) Should You Come To Japan? turning this whole update video into just talking about the chance of a mega Quake happening I'm just going to go ahead and jump to the question I'm sure you're all wondering which is is Japan still safe to travel to and while the short answer I will give is overall a yes there is a very important caveat that I need to attach to that yes just because this earthquake could happen within the next decade doesn't mean it should scare visitors from coming until this event passes because honestly it's impossible to know when it will happen it could happen tomorrow a year a decade or even six decades from now as remember we're still at the bottom end of this 90 to 150e range and if you start to think about it it really isn't that different from all the daily activities you do as well if you reflect about everything you do on a daily basis whether it be driving doing a sporting event event or anything that involves us getting outside the house we put ourselves at considerable risk every day it's just that because we experience those things daily we already understand those risks and are willing to accept them for example if you drive a car to and from work every day the chance of getting into a very serious accident while very very small is still possible but knowing that risk billions of people still use a car every day the same could be said about earthquakes as well even though it might be inevitable that this earthquake will occur the chance that you will be in that danger zone at that exact moment in time is very very small now to really emphasize my next point I am not trying to minimize the dangers of a mega Quake at all it is a serious threat and could cause some life-changing consequences if you happen to be there at that point in time but what I'm trying to put into perspective is that everything we do in life will have risks associated with them and risks one must accept to just enjoy life in general now with with that in mind it is certainly important to prepare your trip accordingly like knowing the evacuation zones for every spot you visit and having a designated pack with necessary emergency items in the event of a mega Quake or just an earthquake in general all right so now that we have covered the elephant in the room update let's move on to some lighter news so you can prepare for your trip to Japan in other ways in a (5) Mt Fuji Overcrowding Situation surprising update it seems that the restrictions that have been put in place at Mount Fuji have actually been bearing some very positive results in case you're just starting to research your trip to Japan let me fill you in a little bit Japan's government recently placed tourism related restrictions on Mount Fuji in an attempt to limit overcrowding on the mountain this is due to a nightmare scenario that played out last climbing season with many public facilities and resting stops facing over capacity stressors and seeing excessive litter on Mount Fuji's Trails now with these policies in place it appears that the daily visitor cap for Mount Fuji has proven to help control the amount of people that make the ascent up the mountain helping to alleviate major stressors on the public facilities that were experienced last year more importantly however is that these recent restrictions have greatly reduced the amount of bullet climbers which have historically been known to be a big part of the Mount Fuji overcrowding problem bullet climbers are people who arrive at the trail with the intention to climb the mountain overnight and catch the sunrise in the morning this style of climbing has resulted in many dangerous situations or having bullet climbers sleeping on the trail near public fac facilities or right outside overnight Huts which should be no surprise would cause a lot of the over capacity issues however with a another new rule that was implemented stating that climbers cannot begin their climbs in the late afternoon the bullet climbers have been for the most part prevented making the mountain climbing experience better overall so if you've been on the fence about whether to climb Mount Fuji or not and over capacity issues have been a deciding factor you would be happy to know that this doesn't seem to be that much of a problem anymore anymore so to book your reservation slot for Mount Fuji head to this website which I'll link in the description below follow the steps to book your ticket slots and that's it or if you want to pay your entry fee for when you arrive that's fine too but just be warned that if capacity is hit for the day you won't be able to climb the mountain which could ruin your plans on the topic of Mother Nature let's talk about another situation that has been plaguing Japan for the past 2 years and that would be the unprecedented heat that has been slamming Japan now Japan (6) Unbearable Heat? has always been known to have unbearably hot summers with the humidity and high heat making anywhere you go in Japan a stifling experience but with the recent climate shifts that Japan and the rest of the world has been going through Japan's Summers have been even worse than usual making it very difficult to go out and explore the country for extended periods of time during the day not only that but forecasts predict the country will experience above average temperatures for even longer poten lasting even until November so with that in mind make sure you pack accordingly if you'll be coming during this window and monitor the weather closely for your specific time period of when you will visit Japan unfortunately when it comes to Japan hotter temperatures don't just mean an increased risk of heat stroke or a more uncomfortable experience as this hot weather can also lead to stronger and more frequent typhoons which by the way we have already seen two hit Japan this year so this is another thing to keep in mind if these hotter than normal temperatures continue to persist into the next year as well and finally while (7) Yen Gaining Strength? the Yen still is a great price for tourists it definitely seems that the currency is starting to gain some of that ground back back during June and July the Yen was at an all-time low against the US dollar with the Yen trading at about 160 Yen to the US dollar however over the past few weeks the Yen has slowly been gaining ground against the dollar due to recent moves by both the US Federal Reserve and the bank of Japan the bank of Japan surprised everyone when they decided to raise interest rates despite the Japanese economy showing signs of slowing or even recession and on top of that the US Federal Reserve predicts cutting interest rates in the next month what this essentially means is that these two forces both worked in the favor of the Yen amplifying the currency's rebound against the dollar but while the yen is certainly gaining some momentum against the dollar it's hard to say how long it will take for the yen to get back to the to 110 Yen to Dollar ratio that we saw before covid however with the US Federal Reserve forecasting the rate Cuts in the near future it is likely that decision will move the two currencies back to a more traditional equilibrium but if there are any other major currency moves you'll be sure to hear them from me email me to Outro ask about my Japan planning services like this video if you found it useful subscribe for more Japan content and check out my affiliate links in the description below for when you plan your next trip to Japan all right that's going to do it and until next time I'll see you then