Unpopular oppinion: Japan & Tokyo is overrated

And it's not overtourism from other countries. Foreigners are about 20% of the tourists and not the source of overcrowding.

My (unpopular) opinion is that if you are not into the weeb/anime/hentai/loli culture Japan will bore you pretty fast and it will be way to expensive for what you get.

Food: Food is ok but lacks diversity, vegetables and options for westerners. There is only so much Ramen and weird seafood dishes I can eat. Also your shit will smell awefull after eating Japanese food for a longer period of time. Fortunaly it's mostly dirt cheap.

Nightlife: Sucks big time. No comparism to Bangkok, Pattaya, Manilla, Berlin, Prague or Budapest. Clubs are often small and boring, everything is very expensive, bars are underwhelming, most cocktails are shit, hidden fees everywhere (tax, service charge, table charge) so the 'no tip culture' is bullshit, it's already priced in. The majority of nightlife locations are girls bars/host clubs which are literally shitty bars where you pay a lot to speak to cute looking girls via google translate. No extras available. No st or lt after 2 drinks. Just poorly educated girls speaking to you for money. That's the grand idea of Japanese nightlife. Oh and karaoke with a lot of people who really should try singing. Not for me. Also nightlife spots are full of trash, rats and Nigerian touts trying to scam you. Clean and safe Japan my ass. Also no public transport at night.

Sightseeing: There are some great spots no doubt. But there are only so much temples, onsens and museums you can see. They will start looking the same very quickly. Also the neonsign light streets and skylines. Amazing at first, very repetitive after a few days.

No trashcans

Public transport is meh. It's ok in big cities but not great. Hard to navigate, confusing signs and not even clearly marked station entries. Often absolutly overcrowdes (by locals NOT foreigners). Stops at 0:30 in big cities and like 6pm in the countryside. In general public transport in the countryside is the worst I've seen . Also no app to book tickets, no tickets for the full ride only stop by stop. No unified payment system. If you think IC cards are excepted everywhere you never left the big cities. I've been to villages where different buses ON THE SAME ROUTE had different payment systems. Neither of the options was Passmo. Oc no app with day or monthly passes. Shinkansen is nice but too expensive. Also different companies operating them with NO unified booking possibility. WTF. Make one app for all public transport in the country it ain't rocket science. Also it often felt like a graveyard. People glued to their phones. No conversations and if you wanna make a phonecall you should leave your seat to the doors? Skip.

Also a lack of bike/car/e-scooter sharing making it even shittier to get around. Lack of proper bike lanes. Expensive Uber, no grab or bolt. Hitchiking very safe but also not many people picking you up.

People: Super introverted, shy, often no English at all (sleeping throught 5 consecutive years of mandatory English classes? How?). Quite some xenophobic/racist ones. Most famously the Apa hotel owner denying the Holocaust which would be prison time in most first world countries. No reflection/sense of responsibility towards WW2. Many people take ages to answer simple questions. The only way of getting to know people is by drinking. They don't know any other method of socializing. Honestly most are brainwashed wage slaves with zero life outside work, zero oppinions and are literally like little ants trying to please the queen/their bosses. There are most defenitly some exceptions in Osaka and Okinawa thought.

Safety? Great if you are a dude. For young women? There is a reason why it was made mandatory to have a sound for taking a photo with your smartphone.

Racism: I've seen more 'Japanese only' signs than I can count.

Countryside: Awesome but pretty unaccesable without a car. And no they will not accept most international drivers licences even thought they are member of the UN. You need a costly 'translation' of your national license aka a cashgrab. Also they drive on the wrong side of the road.

Lack of public benches/sitting areas making walking around and exploring the cities unnecceserly unconfortable.

Tinder sucks. Use Bumble or one of these Japanese apps, but they again lack translation.

Hotels are overpriced, rooms tend to be very small, very few have a gym even when you pay a premium pricetag. Very few have a proper bar and if they have it will close at like 9pm. Breakfast is a joke (only asian food or closing at 9/9:30). Often checkout in the early morning because they try to charge you extra. Luggage service sounds nice but costs extra. Sometimes pool/gym cost extra. Stuff is ok some lack English and defenitly any other language. At a place especially made for tourists. Charging you 150€/night for a shoebox with no ammenities. Ryokens are the biggest scam. They charge you for sleeping on the floor with no bed or furniture like a homeless person. Never pay upfront, always demand to see the room first because they will try giving you the most utter dogshit room while charging you an arm and a leg. Airbnbs seems mostly fine but will take away affordable housing for the locals. Don't do that.

All in all after two weeks everything will look and feel the same. Not worth the hassle. Don't trust social media. Japan has an insanly good marketing with all their weeb stuff and all those influencers making short form videos but it will fail so much on delivering.

I will not come back. I will not miss Japan. Japan will not miss me.