I was dismissive of the group travel thing, but dang was it nice to just show up for meals etc. On the other hand, back in solo mode I just: - navigated a pharmacy convo using my shitty Duolingo Japanese,and got cold medicine and masks - figured out a shinkansen ticket purchase and loaded it onto my travel card (did you know Japan has two systems for this for westbound and eastbound trains? I didn't!), - and booked a nice hotel a short hop from a pottery festival