Hey everyone!  It's now Day 15 and ....

I'm still alive.  Unfortunately hotels in Tokyo don't believe in providing internet for their guests at no cost, and it's damn expensive.  I finally bit the bullet and paid for a while so I could post this and check on my email to make sure no one was trying to reach me.

So yes, I'm back in Tokyo and am in the middle of Day 15 of my trip.  I've seen most of the major sites in Tokyo now, and I'm basically shopping at this point.  Trying to budget out the rest of my cash so I don't go broke or have too much left over.  Not that going broke is a big problem since I still have my credit cards, but they're not as useful over here as in the US.  Japan is very cash-based.  It seems more and more businesses are accepting credit cards, but that's still a minority of stores in most of Japan.

Even in Tokyo, I'm finding that something like half of the stores only take cash.  That ratio is higher among restaurants.  However, places like department stores, and most of the Akihabara retail shops, almost all seem to accept credit cards.  I suppose the places more likely to take cards are the places tourists are more likely to go.  Be warned though.  There is usually a minimum purchase amount to use your credit card, even at a 7-11 where you will always find an ATM you can withdraw cash from with your card.  I've seen that 'minimum' be as high as 10,000 yen, or roughly $80 if you get a good exchange rate in the current market.

My plan for future posts is to try and post one last one before the flight, but that's not a guaranteed thing.  Once I get back to the US, I'll post that I arrived safely, then you can expect posts over the next week or so to bring you up to date on what I saw, along with the more interesting photos.  That's going to be alot of work, but it'll be fun for me and hopefully for you all, too.

Well, that's all for now.  This may be the last chance I get to post before my flight back.  I've loved my time in Japan, but I have to admit it will be nice to get back home where things are familiar again.

Later!