Anyone still here?

It�fs been about 5 years since I last accessed japan-guide
Wondering how everyone�fs doing after last year�fs coronavirus situation

If you are asking generally if forum members from several years ago are still around on the forum, (it would be sad if no one answered!), I am here – Japanese national living in Tokyo, answering �glanguage�h and �gliving�h related questions once in a while, doing OK. Still the �gsituation�h is ongoing/getting worse, but managing. I hope you are doing well too.

Thanks for your answer! Glad to hear it�fs still manageable.
News online seem bad for the main cities like Tokyo, and I believe many people around the world miss going to Japan yearly for the food and festivals, hope the upcoming vaccine works 🤞🏻

Tell me about it, yes, things are bad here. Myself living in Tokyo, I miss traveling outside of Tokyo prefecture, I miss dining out in Tokyo itself!!

Whoa, just looked at your profile, you�fve already been to almost every part of Japan!
That�fs amazing... wonder when I�fll be able to do the same

Yes a lot of us are still here. I pop in every few days in case someone has asked a new question. It's really tough here in the UK with a third lockdown underway and without going into the politics too much, a bunch of complete jokers in charge. I am hopeful that when the dust finally settles I will be able to come back to Japan again but I'm not even thinking about when that will be yet.

Hi,

To tell you the truth, the worst of the many bad things that happened to me in 2020 here in Yokohama had nothing to do with the new coronavirus, but the year got better toward the end. As for the virus, the pandemic has got me to enjoy more walking and to set out to do a type of work I'd never achieved before.

How are you doing in Singapore, torach?

I made my first post in 2008 spring.
I guess that my average visit count of this page is about once per day even at those years when i was not able to visit Japan. Quite often i read the posts about topics which might not apply to me in a near future but are otherwise full of good information and knowledge.

At summer 2020 i was optimistic enough that i have a chance to visit Japan in 2021. I guess that chance is now quite slim :-) even if Japan would suddenly open its borders; i would not be afraid of the virus, but that after arrival the government would announce "oops, we are closed again, stay in the hotel until the day of departure". So far my biggest fears (although fear is little bit strong here) have been suiciders who disturb the train movement, earthquakes and random loonies armed with knife causing havoc.

So i hope, that maybe 2022 i have a chance to visit Japan again.

BR,
Lauri

Nice to hear from more people around the world!

Singapore�fs doing a pretty decent job managing the outbreak, so it�fs pretty safe here (apart from all the various safe distancing rules to keep us safe)

I�fm an indoor�h so nothing much has changed for me other than having to wear masks and going to the office on alternate days 😂
Also got the time to complete some of the older ps1 games too

Fingers crossed everyday for either herd immunity to come soon or everyone to receive a good vaccine (most local restaurants either closed or converted to doing more delivery sales, wouldn�ft want my fav restaurants to disappear)

Thanks for feedback, torach. I totally agree with everything you say. We've been getting more local info about "take out" or "food-to-go" availabilities, which gave me the chance to find magnificent tiny shops. I try to support them by cheating cooking a few days a week ;)

People quite close to me caught the virus as early as March, and I experience the inconvenience of being "not a stranger but not close contact either". So the pandemic is no stranger to me. But I sort out info to keep my spirits high.

Stay safe.

Hi everyone, greeting from Indonesia, hope all of you stay healthy!

I rarely post (not much that I can help answering obviously LOL), but keep scrolling the forum regularly. Been to Japan twice, the latest being on 2019, missed it so much and definitely will go back there once the pandemic is over (sadly could be a long long time away), got to bring my family together to enjoy the beautiful spring in Japan.

Hi!

I guess you could say I post here often and have had a forum account since '09 but was reading about destinations several years before that. I try to check the forum once a day just in case there is something going on.

I'm in the USA, where things could be better. I'm very lucky that my specific state and specific city is not as bad for Covid as a lot of other places are. I'm trying to get my mother to grab a vaccine slot and waiting patiently until it is my turn. I'm towards the back since I don't have preexisting conditions, I'm not over 50, and I'm not an essential worker. I'm still hoping that by July or August I can get vaccinated. Politically, I'm hoping things will improve when we get a new president.

I actually made it to Japan in 2020 right before everything started closing in February. It was a fabulous trip and if I knew then what I know now, I would have just let my daughter miss another week of school so we could have had more Japan time. She didn't do anything in school once everything closed in March.

There are still many expats in Japan. The sad thing is that you do not see many people who look like tourists. There will be more people leaving Japan and perhaps much less people are newly coming to Japan and it would perhaps mean that the number of expat residents will decrease drastically in a few years time. Even if Japan open its door again, the increase will be very gradual.

Hello, how are you.

Am Terry, based in Kampala, Uganda. That is in Africa.

Have u been in Africa before,.? i love making friends and nice meeting you.

Terry.

Yes, I�fve been around off and on for about 8 years. Changed my name because someone used the one I used to sign out with. I am in NZ and we haven�ft really had coronavirus for months.. the odd one turns up at the border from hot spots and they are immediately into managed isolation quarantine, and most other people have to do a 14 day stint in one of the hotels, being tested three times. However, the border has opened with Australia, with no quarantining, so hoping everything stays that way. Talk that we will get Pacific Islands next.
We are so missing our annual visit to Japan, last time we went to Rugby World Cup.. so suffering withdrawal symptoms, and hoping we can get over before the end of year. Had our vaccinations, so really ready.
Hope everyone else worldwide is keeping well.