For the vast majority of human history, everyone smelled really bad because not only didn't they use hygiene products, they never washed at all. It never affected anyone's social life since everyone smelled equally awful. Not only that, but everyWHERE smelled awful since there was no public sanitation and everyone just crapped in the streets (toilets are a pointless invention of the corporations) right next to the mountains of horse manure. This probably made everyone pretty desensitized to smell. It also lead to rampant disease, infections and plagues.

Before current hygiene practices developed, people (who could afford it) throughout recorded history used massive amounts of perfume and incense.. These were people who could afford nice places separate from the filthy masses and thus not quite as desensitized.

People in the modern world are no doubt much more sensitive to smells than those wallowing in filth during the dark ages.

Hygiene is something that corporations latched onto to replace home-brewed products, not something invented by corporations.

Now I'm not saying you smell since obviously I don't know you. You might even be blessed with a body chemistry (and follow a diet) that keeps you cleaner than the average joe. However it's also possible that people just don't say anything to your face. There have been times where I know I smelled and no one has ever said anything. I've also met a fair number of people with consistently outrageous body odor (or breath) and greasy looking hair and never said anything to them.

Disclaimer: I am not a germ freak and specifically avoid anti-bacterial crap that actually makes people sicker by creating super bugs, but I also think the back-to-nature fad of caveman diets and being dirty is also BS. On an interesting side note I'm reading Steve Jobs' biography right now and the first half of it is people complaining how badly he smells in his youth because he thought that his diet and practices meant he didn't need to wash up (he was a hippy). He never thought he stank because be became accustomed to his own smell.

Last edited by Jarvik7 (2011 November 11, 4:10 am)

If you shower and change/wash your clothes frequently enough you really should have no problems I assure you unless you have health problems that make you smell bad, have crapped yourself, are an alcoholic or smoker, don't clean your teeth.

I'm not anti-corporation. I think most anti-corporate types are absolutely clueless about how the world actually works. I'm just saying that just because there is a market for something, doesn't mean you need the product. Not everything that has become semi-ubiqitous is necessarily good. People buy all sorts of crap after all. I'm all for companies having the freedom to sell anything they want. I'm just saying you can go deodorant free without consequence (like many japanese people) and the only reason most people use it is because it has become ubiquitous.

Regarding contact lens... You can probably drop your prescription a diopter or 2 to prevent further eyesight deterioration (assuming you're myopic). Your eyes start adjusting soon enough. I've halved mine over the last few years.

Yes I wash my hands with soap after using the bathroom. That's a hygiene issue.

I also use detergent to wash my dishes/clothes. Though honestly I doubt those are really necessary unless I've let the dishes or laundry pile up.

Sorry no pics :p

Last edited by nadiatims (2011 November 11, 3:02 am)

I go away for a few hours and come back and find people arguing the merits of hygiene.

On the topic of deodorant. Deodorant is one of those things that you can just write off because you don't need it. Even with diet changes, genetics still plays a major factor for some people. Its also very cultural based the limits to which people will tolerate some stuff (BO). Americans not so much, Japanese I suspect are about on the same level of Americans, but other western countries might be more tolerant. I know some of the guys from New Zealand that I met on study abroad never used any and by US standards they most certainly should have. These guys also showered often so writing it off as "Not showering" just doesn't work here. So I think if you come from a place where you use deodorant a lot, it is only reasonable to inform them they may want to bring their own stuff since many are probably use to antiperspirants. You might be able to get away with no deodorant during the winter time though. Last point on BO. BO is one of those things where most people won't ever comment on it, so while you may have never gotten a complaint; it doesn't mean that people didn't notice and find it mildly offensive.

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I support the points on using a mask on the flight. The air pumped into planes tends to become dry over time and is usually very rough by time you land. So doing what ever you can to keep your sinuses moist will probably make your life easier. If you have to walk around a lot after you land in Japan (ie: get to a hotel etc.) DO follow the suggestion of getting some bottles of water. They won't roll out enough drinks for you during the flight to stay hydrated. Every time I've come to Japan I always am pretty dehydrated by time I get off the plane and in very bad shape by time I get to where I need to go. So ya, try to keep hydrated.

I don't know about right now, but they don't always man the IR cam booths at immigration. (As you are walking to the immigration section to get your visa checked, there will be some booths you have to pass that will have cameras set up. They are infrared and can tell if you are running a high fever or not.) So even if you have a cold or something you probably don't have to worry.

Yep, I find that beer calms me down on the flight better than ativan.

Near work is only one cause. Genetics plays a far larger role. Everyone in my family has bad eyesight (despite not doing much near work) and I first got glasses when all I ever did was outdoor sports.

Granted my genetic bad sight is likely made worse by long hours in front of a computer.

I'm a bit surprised you would recommend alcohol, since doesn't alcohol make you dehydrated? Regardless I don't drink so I'll take the advice of buying water just in case, and trying to get as much water while flying. According to seatguru my seats are in relatively average locations and I can't choose an aisle-seat at this point.

Moving on I think the ear plugs are a good idea, as well as the shoes. I'm typically grossed out by people taking off their shoes even just on the train to Chicago. I'll still do it though because this situation is quite different.

On the topic of deodorant, I take a shower every morning and apply deodorant every morning as a result. I see nothing wrong with it honestly, and for $3 per stick (a stick which lasts months at a time) it's really not a price concern either. Not sure why you wouldn't use it? Despite this apparent discussion. My friend in Japan actually has a tendency to wear cologne whenever he goes out, which I feel is quite unnecessary.

Of course it depends on how much you drink.  I had 1 beer on my flight over here, so I wasn't exactly keeling over in the aisles.

The big, huge, massive difference between this time and the last time I did the Japan-US flight (in 2005) is that I now have an iPod.  I didn't even watch any movies; I just played some PSP, listened to my iPod, and slept a bit.

For deodorant, just use baking soda. It lasts all day even if you workout a lot. I've tried every type of deodorant and baking soda beats everything. After the shower, dip two fingertips in the soda and apply, that's it.

I've never seen eye masks or earplugs handed out.. At least not in economy.
Don't expect it..

The free headphones (which cost money on cheaper flights) should not be used. They are poorly fitting plastic that will give you ear pain. They do not isolate noise so you will have to crank the volume to get over the sound of the engines. This is bad for your ears and tends to give me a headache.

Last edited by Jarvik7 (2011 November 11, 11:32 pm)

The number 1 trip for traveling is this:  If you are checking any luggage you are doing it wrong, period.

There is almost no reason, with rare exception of actually carrying some sort of large item (guitar, surf board, some sort of business product for a presentation, etc) that you should have anything besides carry on luggage. 

You are traveling to a developed country.  Everything that exists for you to survive in that country is already there as noted by the 126 million people who already live in said country comfortably.  You could literally hop on a plane to Japan tomorrow with nothing more than a passport and your wallet and you would be 100% fine.  In fact you could do the same for almost much any country, developed or not.  People over pack out of fear of the unknown when in reality if the "unknown" occurs the 20 extra dress shirts they packed in their checked luggage isn't the thing that is going to save them. 

Advantages:

1.  Freedom.  You've got everything in one bag that is with you at all times.

2.  Security.  No lost luggage because you aren't handing it over to anyone else.

3.  The less crap your bring the less crap you have to worry about forgetting. 

4.   Speed.  You are in and out of the airport, cab, train, bus, etc while everyone else is held up by their luggage.

This is backed up by the thousands of business travelers that know what they are doing who fly around the world multiple times a year with one carry on plus the experienced world travelers who live out of a single carry on bag for months on end.  In fact I moved to Japan 1 year ago with a carry on only and had no other luggage shipped over.  I even managed to pack my newly purchased desk top (broken down and without the case of course), laptop and my huge full sized headphones with me in my carry on bag.  This is addition to the other travel I've done, including previous trips to Japan, Taiwan, and around the U.S. with carry on only. 

Tips:

1.  You can wash clothes on a vacation, contrary to popular belief haha.  You either buy some detergent when you get to Japan or bring a small bag of powder detergent with you in your bag.  Every evening when you get in the shower you simply wash any clothes you got dirty for that day and then hang them out to dry.  By the next morning most things will be dried out and ready to go again, and that's if you want to wear the exact same stuff two days in a row haha. 

2.  Learn how to pack correctly.  http://www.onebag.com/pack.html

Not everyone wants to backpack around or spend time doing laundry and looking for essentials while looking like a scruffy homeless person when they could be doing something fun. Not to mention that you waste money and damage the environment by rebuying stuff you already have at home and then throwing away the unused portion on return.

The first thing I do when I visit a foreign country is check my bags at the hotel and go off to have fun, not search for toiletries that I couldn't take carryon before the drugstores close while lugging around all my crap and getting sore shoulders.

Similarly, I usually stay out late and them come back to the hotel, crash, leave early the next morning. I don't want to wash stuff in the sink while I'm exhausted and potentially drunk and then have it strung up all over the room smelling musty, potentially having either to wear damp clothes in the morning, or have a bag full of damp clothes that will make everything smelly.

If you are carrying around a big backpack with all your crap you're doing it wrong too. Leave it at the hotel. At that point there is no difference between two big suitcases or a backpackers backpack. People loathe backpackers with their giant bags banging into everything and everyone.

There is also the issue of bringing back shopping you did in the foreign country. Sure you can bring folded bags, but those are hardly going to protect anything when you inevitably have to check it in.

I really fail to see much benefit other than "you don't have to wait a few minutes at the luggage carousel". If I was going to a third world country then I might be with you since theft is common and a hotel is not a secure location to keep your stuff, but Japan is safe.

Now if you are planning on backpacking & hitchhiking & hosteling & using seishun18 ticket to go to five new cities every day, then having checked suitcases is obviously silly.

Last edited by Jarvik7 (2011 November 12, 5:25 am)