There is grand seiko and also Astron (GPS), However I think the GPS cannot be used in Malaysia. So really depends what you like. I quite like Astron and quite useful in Japan as train normally leave on the dot.

Anyway I am not sure what is being sold in Malaysia though.

Beats me.....the Apple shop in Ginza normally have more Chinese than Japanese! Maybe as RC says - more expensive in China and also maybe JP is normally one of the first countries to get new APPLE product

I do take a lot of early morning shinkansen (6am) for business and normally there are still reserve seats. However there are a lot of business people and there is a big possibility you will not get 2 or 3 seats in a row. Sometimes if you are in the first stop, ie Shinagawa, you can be first in line for non reserve seats.

Of course you can buy with CC. Have used Malaysia CC few years back without any issue.

Pocket wifi is compatible with any tools that have wifi.

This is the first time I heard foreigners are not able to purchase directly in the gate. Maybe this might happen in a traditional Onsen. As Disney is a global company they definitely be sue for discrimination. If you need cheap ticket you can go to some "second hand" shops. This shop they buy ticket from ppl who cannot make it to concert, train, etc. Then they resell it cheaper than the original price. Not much cheaper though.

I must take a walk there once I am off work one of these days. Dont get to see it when I am there for lunch

Legally all phone in Japan should have a "giteki" mark before they can be used. Read here for more information: http://eng.blogfromamerica.com/archives/60. Legally my iPhone I brought over from Malaysia is not legal even though it is the same as what it is sold in Japan. Simply because I do not have the giteki mark. For Xiaomi and other phone to penetrate the market here, they will need to pay a lot to get it certify. I know because I have help one phone maker to get it certified, but in the end they gave up.

However its difficult for people to catch you for using an "illegal" phone. As far as I know no one has been caught yet. Previously you can only get sim card from the big telco like NTT, Softbank and KDDI where you need to buy the phone as well. Recently there are more players coming into the market with sim free phone, hence that is the reason why you see more ppl using Xiaomi or other phones.

Anyway, I can go on an on about this but this is a travel blog.....

Which part of Japan are you talking about? Not all places have snow.