[steven]

I think it's ironic that people do tend to eat "conbini" food and cup of ramen and stuff like that to save money. You can easily go out for a few hundred yen extra and have a decent meal (plus a thousand yen or so for drinks if you go that route). I went on a group trip my first time to Japan and remembered going to the conbini for like 3/5 of our nights in the city. It's a waste of an opportunity to actually get out there and see Japan. If you travel all the way there, why not have the cajones to find your way into a restaraunt and eat some real food?

Another thing that I've noticed when people visit Japan is that they for some reason insist on having food from their own country. I guess it may just be me being ingorant, but I don't really have any sympathy for people who can't bring themselves to try some new food. It's not like Japan is some third world country... your intestines aren't going to explode if you try some of the food.

Ironically though, even after all those kinds of experiences, people will still leave Japan being completely satisfied with their trip! If only they got to really enjoy Japan. To each his (or her) own I 'spose.