#pacset tours

We’re having a huge sale today, so please go check that out! Seriously guys, this is the biggest one we’ve ever done. Go get it! :D Alrighty, on to this week’s main story...

MUCH ADO ABOUT DOGEN

I’d like to talk about balls. No, not the sports ones. The kind that are metaphorical, the kind that you have when you stand up for what’s right in the face of intense opposition. I mean, think about it: there’s stuff that takes courage, and there’s stuff that takes balls. Asking someone out to prom? Courage. Telling a Firefly fan to let it go, since Fox canceled their show fifteen years ago? That’s courage with a little bit of balls. Standing up to the bully ten times your size? That’s balls. 

Bringing your baby to work with you when you’re a politician in one of the most male-dominated societies in the world? That’s more balls than you’ll find at a basketball tournament. [Washington Post]

Image courtesy Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images

Just look at this picture. Words fail me. Here, check out the video:

This is Kumamoto City Representative and certified bad ass mama Ogata Yuka and her son Dogen, who has a very nice hairstyle going for someone who’s only seven months old. She made the “mistake” of bringing her son to work with her, which resulted in many male members of the chamber crowding around her and demanding she leave - with some of them even demanding she apologize for doing so (even though Dogen was being a good boy and not making any noise).

According to her official bio, Ogata is a graduate of the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies and holds a graduate degree from George Mason University in Virginia. She’s also worked as a program officer with the UN’s Development Program in Yemen, which I imagine is not the UN’s easiest mission. After moving back to her hometown, Ogata became interested in local politics and ran on a campaign emphasizing support for working mothers, traffic/pedestrian safety, public health and welfare, and promoting tourism to Kumamoto. [Editor’s note: we’re working on a tour pitch or two, Ogata-shigi!- Team PacSet]

Fun fact: Ogata was elected when her first child was just 1 year old, and the day she brought Dogen to work was her first day back from maternity leave. Now personally, I would have appreciated a “Welcome Back” cake, a balloon bouquet... maybe some of Kumamoto’s famous Ikinari Dango* with a nice message written on it? Like this?

But hey, I guess a bunch of old dudes being rude is kind of like a welcome. I mean, isn’t that how the bullies welcome the nerds back to class in all of those teen movies? Sorry, I digress.

Although child care is provided in municipal assemblies in Kyoto and Akita (as the WaPo points out), Kumamoto’s model male citizens decided to get their pantsu in a bunch over this, eventually forcing Ogata to leave Dogen in the care of a friend before returning to the chamber. 

In a statement, Ogata said that she wanted to bring attention to the tough conditions facing working women in Japan. She’s not wrong; numerous  [Bloomberg/Benchmark] articles [Japan Times] have been written about Japan’s shortage in adequate day care facilities and how hard it is for women in the workforce. In fact, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has cited making the working world more friendly to women a priority, since Japan’s birthrate is declining and the benefits of being a mother are not all that attractive if you want to have a career/support a family in Japan. However, apparently Abe forgot to mention this to fellow LDP member and “guy at the pachinko parlor” Haraguchi Ryoji, who said that Ogata could be “subject to punishment for disturbing the chamber over a personal reason.” [Mainichi Shimbun] Which I guess I understand... I mean, I bet no one in the LDP has ever been in a scandal for personal reasons, right? (Fun game: Google “LDP Scandals” and see how many you can find in 10 minutes!)

The truth is that there is still a cultural stigma against working mothers in many social circles in Japan. Not too long ago, having a baby meant a women would leave work altogether and focus their entire lives on child rearing. Even today, mothers that go against the grain are often harassed by other mothers and people who aren’t parents at all but have so many opinions. Which is probably one of the reasons why Japan’s fleet of online trolls have since invaded Ogata’s Facebook page and are tweeting nasty replies to English language stories about her. Nice of them, isn’t it? 

Regardless, we hope that Ogata-shigi keeps fighting for working women, that we are able to create the best Kumamoto tour EVER, and that Dogen can keep that clean, awesome looking hair forever. <3 Speaking of clean...

I’LL HAVE A WASH AND DRY WITH THAT YAKITORI

If you have traveled with us, you know how tough it can be to find coin laundromats in Japan sometimes. Fortunately, the effort to make them more common just got a massive (and I mean massive) push from a somewhat surprising source: convenience store (conbini) chain Family Mart. (LINE NEWS)

That’s right - one of Japan’s biggest conbini chains, the place where you get a meat bun when you’re hungry, a manga volume when you’re bored, and a Pocari Sweat when you’re drunk, is installing coin laundry! According to an official statement, the company is planning on rolling out the service quickly, with laundry popping up in at least 500 locations by the end of 2019. [Family Mart]

I’ll level with you guys: I’m trying to think of a negative angle to this story, and you know... there just isn’t one. The thought of being able to wash my clothes during FanFest while eating a lemon ice, buying breakfast onigiri for the next morning, and browsing the latest Shonen Sunday? What did I do to deserve this kind of joy?!?!?!?!

The best part? Because the competition between conbini chains in Japan is such a bloodbath, it probably won’t be too long before Lawson or Seven Eleven decides to try out Coin Laundry as well. Japan in the summer is all kinds of humid - keeping it clean is a concept I can definitely get behind.

TAKA IS NOT [ONE] OK [ROCK] WITH SMAP... KINDA

One guy isn’t keeping it clean this week in the world of gossip; ONE OK ROCK front man Taka sent shockwaves across the Japanese interwebs this weekend when he dissed recently disbanded J-Pop royalty SMAP during an appearance on Super Beaver singer Shibuya Ryuuta’s radio show late Thursday night. Although both of their bands specialize in rock and not the kind of J-Pop sound SMAP embodies, the two were discussing which song from the band they like most. Taka’s selection? SMAP’s 1993 single “Ten Dollars”:

This is a somewhat deep cut from the SMAP catalogue; it’s from when the group still had six members, and it wasn’t nearly as popular as SMAP’s turn-of-the-millenia hits Lionheart and Sekai ni Hitotsu Dake no Everyone in Japan has heard this song twenty million times oh god please make it stop**. 

After the song played, Taka voiced a sentiment that many indie rockers, rappers, and artists in Japan have long thought but always been scared to say. SMAP is... eh. From the man’s own mouth: [Model Press]

“Actually, I hate them, really. I hate SMAP. They’re like Japan’s national group,” said Taka. He’s not exactly wrong; SMAP’s TV show was one of the view where western stars appeared regularly, and even Eric Clapton wrote a song for them. Yes, ERIC CLAPTON. Taka, probably realizing that the internet could twist such a comment out of control quickly, added: “No matter which group you’re in, whether you’re an idol, a superstar... we’re all just human... Being in a group like that shouldn’t be your WHOLE life - that’s tiring. So when I heard SMAP was disbanding, I was thinking, ‘Wow, they really worked hard to come this far...’” I can’t help but agree with Taka myself; to have a group be your entire life until you’re alone again - that’s truly a Mighty Long Fall.

Taka’s comments were also a reflection of the public’s sadness when SMAP disbanded - so much so that many thought the group should keep going. Indeed, artists in Japan that are popular are expected to devote their lives to their work to a degree that many in the west would consider horrifying (just ask any former idol star... ugh). For what it’s worth, many on Twitter and message boards in Japan agreed with Taka on this point. 

Now if some of those nice, sympathetic folks would go help support Ogata Yuka... that would be awesome. 

NOTE: I’m off on Japan Holiday next week, so this column will be on hiatus. We’ll be back in a few weeks with more goodies. Until then, be lovely to each other!

*About the Dango: The popular YouTube series Cooking With Dog (RIP, Francis ;_;) actually did a segment on how to make Ikinari Dango; check it out! We miss you, Francis the Dog... <3

THREE TOURS AT ONCE?!?! And other questions you might have...

Hey guys!

We just launched six new tours, and we’re quite proud of them. Three of them happen to be running at the same time, which was noticed on Facebook within seconds of them hitting the internet. Why are we doing this? How is this possible?

The answer: We have more guides now, and we’ll all be running tours, including ones by ourselves, from here on out.

All about Animated Spring 2018, including those new hotel options, stuff we added, and much more...

YOU CHANGED THINGS! I liked Animated Spring the way it was!

Here at PacSet, we are big, big believers in the saying “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” and to be honest, surveys indicate that our alums still love Animated Spring the way it is. To that end, the tour has all the same stops you’ve always loved.

What did change, however, was the popularity of the Tokyo-only version of the tour, as well as requests related to the hotels we do use. Animated Spring 2018 reflects our attempt to make a few adjustments to make all of our guests feel more comfortable during their time in Japan. We’ve added two new accommodation options and removed the paid “extras” that have been part of the tour since the very beginning. We’re pretty sure you’ll like the results!

Are you guys really having a livestream to discuss this stuff?

YUP. PacSet Periscope: The Q&A will be happening on both the PacSet Tours Periscope AND Facebook Live this Thursday, March 9 starting at 4PM PST (7PM Eastern). Follow “PacSet Tours” on any platform to watch! Tell your friends/cats/dogs/loved ones/cool people. <3

WHY DID YOU GET RID OF THE BASIC TOUR WITH THE HOTEL?

We did... and we didn’t. Allow me to explain:

Hi everyone! It’s Monday, the sun is out (in Southern California at least), we’re three days away from the next tour on our schedule – it’s a good week here at PacSet. Oh, and we launched a new website. Welcome to PacSet 3.0, guys! We’re also starting a new blog this week, and every Monday, I’ll be here to talk about the news in Japan. The column is called…

Why are you guys running a SECOND tour to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Kobe in the summertime?

For one very simple reason: demand! Our late summer season has been a bit of a mixed bag for us, and we have often received requests from people that want a more urban, “intro to Japan”-esque tour in the summertime. Many of these people can’t travel in other seasons because of jobs, school, and other schedule conflicts, which is why we’ve added this tour to the schedule here. As for what makes it different from our other summer offering...

What sets this tour apart from FanFest?

FanFest is our all-out, “experience all of Japan” kind of trip. There’s an onsen component on it, a lot of festivals, and a lot of stops that cater to festival lovers and anime fans. This tour is aimed at a more general audience and is better suited for people less interested in going off the beaten path, or using a hot spring. 

Pace-wise, neither tour is that strenuous because of the summer weather, but this tour spends less time out at night than FanFest to allow for more exploration time.

Finally, the Kyoto content of this tour is much, much different. FanFest is more about exploring and festival-going; Summer in the City is more laid-back and focuses on spots like Arashiyama and Nanzenji, where things are a little less intense than the shopping lanes around Kiyomizu Temple.

Come visit us at Anime Expo in Los Angeles! We’ll be doing a whole lot more than talking tours; here’s what’s going on!

Special Stamp Rally

We’ll be running a special promotion with our friends in Artist’s Alley during the con! Get three stamps from the artists, follow PacSet on Twitter/Instagram, and you’ll be entered to win free stuff and tour discounts! Many thanks to our participating artists for being part of the fun:

Finni (Table L7)

Shattered-Earth (Table M45)

Zetallis (Table I26)

Yummy Suika (Table B19)

Mmmaoh (Table J34)

Snowgem (Table F22)

Photo Booth

Get your picture taken with Kippu and Tokyo Tower! Share the pics on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook and you just might win something... ^_~

Tour Discounts and Consultations 

As always, anyone who signs up at the show gets $50 off any tour signup! You’ll also get a T-Shirt OR adorable Kippu plush for free! As in nothing! As in WOW!

Merch!

Shop our merch section for t-shirts and plushies!

Effective IMMEDIATELY:

1) We cannot guarantee admission to the Ghibli Museum for any customer NOT confirmed (either with payment or with a payment plan) for a tour four months in advance due to extraordinary demand and new ID requirements.

2) In the event of rain or inclement weather, all visits to Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto will be suspended for the safety of our guests. Kodaiji Temple will replace Kiyomizu in these cases.

3) Any guests who cancel their spot on a tour twice in the span of ten years for non-emergency reasons will NOT be able to get a refund of their deposit if they apply a third time – no exceptions. This change does NOT affect guests whose tours are canceled due to insufficient numbers or emergency reasons.

Why were these changes made? Read on:

We got this in the inbox today:

I'm planning on going on one of your spring tours in 2021 and was wondering on average how much your tours change in price from year to year. I understand that they might change due to what is actually planned for the tour ( personally I'm looking on going on an animated spring tour), but I'm saving up to go and would like an average price so I can plan my savings strategy. 

We get this question A LOT - on an almost weekly basis - and yes, a lot of people ask about dates five or more years in advance. This is something unique to the market we serve: people who want to go to Japan and plan ahead for it. In fact, even though many folks have told us they are interested in last-minute discounted tours, the trends for PacSet have shown that the overwhelming majority of you like to book early (we’re prior planners too, so no worries - it’s not a bad thing!). This is why we regularly announce tours up to 1 1/2 years in advance.

Which is also the biggest risk for a company like ours to take.

The following are all the economic changes that, in the span of mere weeks, can cause the price of a trip to Japan to jump thousands: