anyone else think the "just avoid shady places" advice is completely useless

every guide says "avoid shady places" like that helps anyone. the whole problem is you can't tell which places are shady until you're already inside and the bill comes 😭 what actually helped me was asking in places like this before going anywhere. the vague safety advice online is honestly worse than nothing. what's the most useless japan nightlife advice you've seen frfr