I actually preferred Hana/J-Hoppers when possible. But like you said, they can be booked out.

I’m not aware of any need for contracts using Starbucks. Anyway, it’s true that it’s more convenient, but at the same time it didn’t bother me that much during my half a year stay. I just prepared in advance and actually asked for help from people if I needed information. Even made some new friends that way. Japanese…

Well, I’m 29, but I met all kind of ages. It’s true that the bigger part is <= 30, but I met people up to 65 years old and it wasn’t a rare thing. When you start travelling (backpacking), you realize that age doesn’t matter that much. At least that’s what I got out of almost year and a half of backpacking in Asia…

It’s possible to survive without that. 7/11, family marts, most of JR stations provide wi-fi (depending on the area of course), but you need to register in advance for some. If you’re in a pickle and really need wi-fi, go to Starbucks. Helped me more than once. Most of the time you just connect and use with a simple…

The only time you will travel alone is from your country to Japan. After that if you stay at hostels/guesthouses, you will definitely meet people and do stuff together. It’s really easy and fun.

P.S. You can also try pub crawls, just google it up.

Regarding staying at hostels, I would definitely recommend it. Especially if you’re looking to meet new foreign/Japanese friends. Actually, I think it’s the best way to meet new friends while travelling abroad. Not to mention that most of the hostels/guesthouses are very helpful in providing information about what to…