Tokyo Gaijins — Local services in Tokyo

I broke my leg the first day of snowboarding back in 2019 and rather than offer decent advice, the dude we were travelling with looked dumbfounded when I asked what should be done in my case. He said the nearest hospital would be an hours drive by taxi (didn't think to call an ambulance) and they were likely closed on weekends. Great.. Given that I couldn't snowboard the following day we asked if it's be okay to stay in our room for the afternoon, he said he would ask but I had to send my boyfriend three times before we got an answer (which was to move to a new room). We asked what we should do about food, and were offered weak suggestions before tour guide left with group. The suggestions were closed for that season and my poor companion had to walk over a mile in the snow before finding a pizza joint in a hotel nearby since the inn was sort of in the middle of a food dessert.

I need to stress we felt apologetic the whole time, like we'd been an inconvenience when really I wonder why it's asked that we have insurance before signing up if literally nothing will be done or suggested..

For the return trip I asked the travel guide if I could sit near the front since I'd have a hard time walking off the bus. He said sure. I was so relieved, finally help! The last time I was on the bus, I'd taken the aisle seat because my leg had to be extended but the tour guide acted put off back then- I thought maybe now after seeing me literally hobble in pain he understood!...When I moved to sit in the aisle again he told me he had to have access to the driver-- we were in th second row so I thought he'd just sit in the first? First row is catacorner to the driver, and even closer to talk.

He offered I sit behind him im row 4, further from my companions who could help me walk off the bus... there was more to it but it was a mobility nightmare and I nearly cried because the bus was now full and I wanted to ask if anyone would mind changing seats with us but it was so loud and I've barely slept since my leg is the size of a grapefruit at the knee and we have no idea what I did to it yet. I really would have appreciated the tour guide offering to help at this point instead of continuing to awkwardly avoid eye-contact with us.

I ended up staying in a position that applied pressure to my broken tibial plateau. By the time we got off at Shinjuku I was fed up but also felt bad for inconveniencing the dude?? But he barely helped?? As he strolled by while I was on the phone with emergency services he just asked "You guys good?"

Just. What was the point of that insurance box?

Tldr: I broke my leg and received minimal guidance on how to navigate the incident while on a trip with TG in 2019. Tour guide was really weird about me having a jumpseat in the 2nd row to allow me to not apply pressure to broken leg, insisted he needed a jumpseat instead of just taking a front row seat next to driver.

Up until I broke my leg, trip was fine. If you do not go to the mountain though (like if you become immobilized) don't expect to be able to eat. Do not do trips alone, I 100% would have starved after breaking my leg if I hadn't had friends...

Tried their skiing package in Feb 2025 in Nagano and it wasn't a good experience. While the commute, stay and food were all satisfactory, the focus of my trip was to learn some basic skiing and I was highly disappointed. To start with, the trainers seemed anxious about managing 50 people (snowboarding and skiing). The smallest inconvenience had them sweating. I had to upsize my rental ski boots after trying them on, they failed to guide me that I'd also need my ski board adjusted. Had go up and down the hill with all that gear when it all could've been resolved the night before or on the spot (just a latch on the board that slides)! Drained all my energy, missed my training for an hour. Also, the trainers were not skilled enough at imparting knowledge, I learned more from a fellow skier than I did from the trainer. Not at all helpful. While the stay and sightseeing part of the trip was enjoyable, the highlight itself i.e. learning to ski, left me wanting.

I would recommend trying a ski/snowboarding...

After several trips I realised that depending on your ethnicity you were put in different standards of hotels even though everyone paid the same price. Actually for the price of a room shared with a bunch of people, you can have your own room and free equipment rental and lessons. They are just...