>>2287023It's strange, but some places are much nicer because there are far less tourists. Kyoto is home to many old shrines and temples that are popular and crowded but when I visited last spring, it felt calmer and the views of the buildings and gardens were unobstructed.
The Japanese still socialize at restaurants, bars, and clubs, although they are less "party animal" about it than Americans if that makes sense. As for the borders, I think it's just dependent on the level of cases within Japan and the level internationally too. It seems like the government is taking a cautious approach. The populace has done well at suppressing cases and there's free hand sanitizer everywhere (stores, restaurants, attractions) and most places have a temperature scan before you can enter. Almost everyone has a mask on out of courtesy even though it isn't mandated by law. The problem is usually around port cities and military cities. Ports with transiting personnel manning shipping boats and military areas with the US military doing personnel rotations (sending people from US stations to Japan temporarily for 6 months, and the people get swapped out with new ones every 6 months) always causes cases to go up.
It's been quite tedious but I am hopeful maybe in another year or two stuff may subside.
I nabbed a Montbell rain jacket while travelling because it started raining really bad and it's been awesome so far. I will incorporate it into my kit along with those other things you mentioned. Thank you!
Pic is Lake Toya, Hokkaido.
