What's Japan like?

Japan is a very cool place. I've been there twice for 15 days. I went to several cities. Each city has an unique style. Everything is very clean an the people is very honest. Since I was on vacation I was able to avoid the rush hour, most of the time. But the train stations can get very crowded.

The food: There are a lot of different types of food. Not only sushi. Ramen, Udon and more. There are also "japanized" versions of food from all over the world. (Pizza, Tacos) The best of all is Mos Burger. Different but delicious burgers. ^_^

The people: Since I can speak, read and write some japanese. I had no problems. People always was nice with me. Even before they knew I speak japanese. And even more when they knew I speak japanese. That helped me to break the ice.

The cars: You can see all the Japanese cars on the streets. Several of them are tuned. I saw Supras, Skylines, Lancers, RX8s, and more. And you can find a lot of cars from Europe (Mercedes, Porsche, Ferrari, VW, Lamborghini).
An some GM trucks from the US. ^_^ Is a car paradise.

Arcades: The arcades have lots and lots of machines. Some popular games have 8 machines where you can play against other players. I was able to play Gran Turismo 4 againt other player in a 3-screen controlled-motion cockpit in Tokyo (Meg@Web). That was great! I wanted that cockpit!

I would like to live in Japan.
 
I forgot to comfirm this in my earlier post, but Crash is right about Japanese students' exams. It could seem life or death in some extreme cases. Kids take tutoring classes or "juku" after school(as I did). When you are brought up in Japan, it doesn't seem like much, but if you were looking in from the outside, it's pretty hardcore.

On arcades; it's just so much different from where I live now, Oregon. When I first arrived in the late 80's, there were handful(literally, just one hand) of decent arcades in the entire city of Portland. They were still pretty backward and tiny compared to some I've seen in Tokyo or Yokohama, but somewhat decent for Oregon. Today, I don't know of any good arcade here anymore. Only ones that are still around are Chucky E Cheese type joints, or those nickel arcades. Machines are pretty ancient, early 90's style, if not worse. Considering that there were arcades every few blocks in the busy part of my Japanese hometown, they are as good as non-existant in Portland. Kids around here are getting robbed!
 
Well I have to go to university now, so just a few short comments...
I've been in Japan 4 times since 1999. On central and south Honshu most of the time. I guess I just throw out some statements :

- Japan is the safest place to go on vacation I can think of. 2 am, dark side street, alone and female with a prada/gucci bag and a Sony didicam around your neck ? No problem...no, really not... There are no statistics since people don't steal... you might want to pay some attention in quarters with many foreign people though...

- Japan is very expensive, but worth every yen. An average week is about 1000-1500 US$... cheaper if you know people over there or go to youth hostels.

- Japan is really different compared to the western world, and it's lovely. High tech and ancient history in the same town, the same street or even the same house. Really fascinating.

-Tokyo is the favorite place to go imo, it is the center of Japan. Cultural center would probably be Kyoto, but I'd still recommend Tokyo or even Osaka, since Kyoto doesn't offer that much apart from historical places...

- Go and rent a car, drive the japanese touges and meet the underground racing scene at daikoku futo. Duke indicated that Initial D fans might be wrong with their idea of Japan, but i drove the insane winding roads of the Japanese mountains, saw the tire marks in many corners, saw the drifters and highway racers...

- Import game fans will go crazy in Akihabara... you'll find everything from 1980 to today, tons of special editions and old consoles, merchandise mania aswell... make sure to have a "how much i can spend" plan before you enter those shops

- If you plan to go to Japan, take 1 or 3 friends, calculate 1500 dollar for the first week per person and 1200 for every following week. No need to speak Japanese...or English... :D , just make sure to have enough money with you.
If you can, rent a car, absolutly the best way to experience Japan ( the driver has to be over 21 years old and depending on your origin a international driving licence might not be enough, check your embassy first ). Maybe I post some pics of my last trip later this day, or tomorrow... any questions ? feel free to ask.
I especially know Tokyo, have been there for many weeks in the past years, but I also have been to many rural areas ( Izu, Noto peninsula, japanese alps ( nagano prefecture), Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima, Fuji-Hakone, Nara and Nikko, Yokohama, Shikoku etc
 
Thanks for the input everyone. I though that 3-Wheel Drive was kidding about the watermelons, but then I did a google search for it. Wierd.
 
The vending machines sell panties...

I've never been there but everything I've before heard sounds very interesting. I've wantned to go there for a few years now. Perhaps in a few more I will be in a position to do so.
 
I just noticed this thread and thought I would add some stuff, having lived here for a few years.

Japan is crazy. Crazy in all kinds of different ways. Let's see...

Overcrowded. There are 126,000,000 people in Japan and they all take the smae train I do. No, just kidding. In my area there are only 12,000,000 people. Japan is very mountainous so the people congregate in the port cities and such. The countryside is relatively untouched and beautiful. The cities; enormous and bizarre.

Japan suffers from an identity crisis. Does Japan abandon her hundreds of years of history to move into a more modern (western) mindset? Now 20% of the population is over 60 and most of them say no, but the young kids are passing up carrying on tradition and embracing all things western.

Japanese are at the same time the most polite people, and the most rude. Their extraordinary politeness derives from their past where if you didn't bow low enough and follow protocol you lost your head. With the overcrowding nowadays, you can't breathe without bumping into someone and everyone is more or less ignored and people are isolating themselves (Read up on NEETS). You get ignored or glared at more than you get approached. I have my own gaijin-forcefield that, even when the train cars are filled past 100% enables me to have an empty seat next to me. Perhaps I am scary looking.

Japan is perverted. This is a really big problem. There are now 'Women-only' trains cars runnning at regular hours so that women don't have to ride in close proximity to men. This is needed too, ask almost any japanese female over the age of 15 about their experiences with the perverts. You will hear stories of being touched, photographed with cellphones, having their underwear go missing from their laundry line, having some white, sticky substance land on them on the train, someone riding by on a bike and cutting off their hair. It gets really crazy. Respected people are in on it too. Police men, lawyers, doctors... I read almost every other day of some of them being busted for buying sex from a 14 year old or so.

Japanese are crazy. Again I use that word. As the population declines (The average woman will give birth to 1.25 children in her life, not even replacing the 2 parents it takes to make 1 person) most people are only children and are bearing the brunt of their parents expectations. Just recently a teenager set fire to his house and killed his sister and mother because he was under too much pressure from his father to follow in his footsteps and become a doctor. Also, a 32 year old man strangled his 60 year old grandfather because daddy wouldn't give him 100 yen for bus fare. Stories like these are plentiful.

The Otaku (or nerds) are taking over. More and more younger men (and women) are not seeking to fit into the mainstream society and are embracing the Otaku lifestyle. They are sometimes called Akibas because they spend all their time in the electronic district of Akihabara and spend their money at maid cafes (where women dressed as maids serve you your coffee while calling you master). The money the Otaku are putting into the economy makes them a major force and there even have been train lines opened to accomodate them (i.e. the new Tsukuba express going from Akihabara to Tsukuba, another nerd place).

Japanese food is excellent and some of the healthiest food on the planet. This accounts somewhat for the long life expectancy here. Although, it is very expensive to eat out. You can eat out cheaply but the food quality drops dramatically. More and more young Japanese are eating american franchised food. Mcdonald's is very popular, and according to some studies, has contributed to the rise of the average citizen's weight. Starbucks, and KFC are everywhere as well.

Japanese pop music (with a few exceptions) really sucks. So it is just like North American pop ;)
Japanese TV is a disaster. Everyone thinks it's all like Takeshi's castle but that show is 20 years old, and the stuff on these days pales in comparison.

Perhaps I will add more when I think of it.

I don't mind it here, I can take it or leave it. I stay because I study traditional Japanese martial arts and I figure I should learn from the source, so to speak. Also, my wife is an only child (go figure) and I don't want to take her far from her parents, whereas my parents have had three children and don't really need me around...


Oh, the weather... In the summer it is unbearably hot (40 degrees celsius with high humidity) You sweat just thinking. In the spring is the rainy season so it can pour at any time. In the fall is Typhoon season so you watch the news to see if Typhoon #18 is going to hit Kanto or not, and plan accordingly. February/March and October/November are great!
 
Interesting read, speedy... 👍

I've technically been in Japan twice - as a result of flying from London-Sydney (and back) via Narita... on the way back, I spent the night in a hotel near the airport courtesy of the carriers, ANA... I didn't have the money, the time or the inclination to go into Tokyo, which I really regret now - so I just spent the evening in my hotel room, and had a little wander around the area where the hotel was.... so my flying visit (literally) didn't allow me to see much of Japan, other than the crazy television shows, which were not made any better by the fact that I couldn't even afford to make use of the well-stocked mini-bar in my room...

As I left the next morning, I was dismayed to find out that, since the room was complementary, I actually could have drunk the mini-bar dry and not had to pay for any of it. :ouch: Although it's probably just as well I didn't know that, otherwise I would probably have missed my flight back!!

Some time soon I'm hoping to make another visit to Australia, and would like to time it right so that I could catch a Super GT (JGTC) race - although my friend who has visited Japan a few times reliably informs me, it can be quite difficult to get around if you can't read/speak any Japanese... so might have to look into that!
 
Yes, watch out for the Kancho! Apparently, at some point in japanese history, someone decided it would be really funny to put his finger into his friends butt. Now, little kids run around trying to catch you in the behind when you are not looking, or making swipes at your nuts. I kid you not.

Interesting japan fact: There is 1 vending machine for every 22.7 people in japan. they mostly carry hot and cold drinks, but you can find sandwiches, ice cream, used panties (as an aside, a big craze among the perverts here in japan is a used panty scavenger hunt which you take part in by reading clues posted on certain internet boards and then driving around trying to find someone's dirty undies), and flowers. Yes, even when you are riding the Tozai line home late one tuesday, completely three sheets to the wind from drinking it up with your work buddies, and then remember that it is your anniversary, you can grab some flowers from the vending machine and save face.

another interesting japanese tidbit: Researchers have discovered that when the train cars are running at 187% capacity, people feel stressed.

more interesting japanese info: Japan has surpassed 35,000 suicides for the 5th straight year. The government is trying to figure out what to do. People are meeting online and performing suicide in groups. Most suicides seem to take place on rainy monday mornings. Yes, I hate work too, but...

The woman here are, for the most part, gorgeous. The good diet and amount of standing/walking they do contributes to their good figures. Except, there is a large portion of knock-kneed women due to 1)sitting in seiza (on your knees) for huge amounts of time 2)the tradition of wearing tight kimono 3)they just think it looks cute.

Also, there is some up and coming problems concerning sexually transmitted diseases. Many women do not have the courage to ask their partner to wear protection, and many men (and women) are ignorant to the dangers involved. Be careful!

And an example of a typical news day in japan click here
 
So Japan's a sexually repressed, stressed, and unhappy lot that dreams its troubles away in a fantasyland and/or alcohol.

Sounds just like like America, except for the work ethic and writing style.
 
speedy_samurai
Japan is perverted.
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I want a comment on this real quick. This was brought up in another Japanese thread long time ago as well, and while everything you said is true about the "chikan" on the trains to weird fetishes, I think they tend to get over exaggerated.

Touching on the trains do happen, but it's not like this happens to women everytime they ride on the train. It is big enough to be a serious problem, yes. But I don't want people to get the impression that it's not safe to ride in Japanese trains.

Overall, I think people in the U.S. are obsessed with sex just as much as the Japanese, if not more. At times, it can be overwhelming with how much Americans(and I won't single myself out here, I'm guilty of it as well) loves to talk about sex, ALL THE TIME. While sex/adult industry is huge in Japan, it's huge in the States as well. Same goes for the sex-related crimes. It's not like those types of crimes are bigger problem in Japan than in the U.S. IMO. If anything, I bet even those crimes are bigger in the U.S. than in Japan.
 
a6m5
I want a comment on this real quick. This was brought up in another Japanese thread long time ago as well, and while everything you said is true about the "chikan" on the trains to weird fetishes, I think they tend to get over exaggerated.

Touching on the trains do happen, but it's not like this happens to women everytime they ride on the train. It is big enough to be a serious problem, yes. But I don't want people to get the impression that it's not safe to ride in Japanese trains.

Overall, I think people in the U.S. are obsessed with sex just as much as the Japanese, if not more. At times, it can be overwhelming with how much Americans(and I won't single myself out here, I'm guilty of it as well) loves to talk about sex, ALL THE TIME. While sex/adult industry is huge in Japan, it's huge in the States as well. Same goes for the sex-related crimes. It's not like those types of crimes are bigger problem in Japan than in the U.S. IMO. If anything, I bet even those crimes are bigger in the U.S. than in Japan.
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Agreed. From what I know the focus on sexual related trouble and crimes in Japan ( from a foreign point of view ) is the fact that other crimes ( stealing, breaking into houses etc ) are so extremly rare. Not to forget the fact that in Japan things like touching women in a train never really was seen as a problem in Japan...as well as semi child pornography. In the early 90's you could buy magazines and videos which would result in 3 police cars withins 5 minutes in other countries. I noticed however that the government takes the problem more serious now... The teen pornography was reduced massivly and the worst pieces have gone away complety ( look closly though and you'll still find questionable content in Akihabara ) and they have these women only trains.
I talked with a Japanese women about the touching problem and it really seems to be a seroius one. She had almost fear to take the last subway home ( she worked in a bar in Roppongi )... Well I think the problem is the traditional roles in Japan, all those things break up now, but japanese girls tend to be quit ... they are raised like this(as all Japanese btw, you won't often hear people shout in arguments etc)... So they get touched but they don't shout for help or slap the pervert into the face.. they just let them do what they do or try to escape the situation. This passive reaction encourages the men even more... But it gets better... courts throw out harder punishments for sexual harrisment these days... well on the other hand the traditional attitude also has advantages... speeding is also sth you can do in Japan without having to fear hard consequnces... I hope that they don't change that :D
 
I saw a JET journal a long time ago, I think it's where all that koncho stuff came about.

Someone should dig it up (probably end up being me) and post the link...it's a pretty good analysis of the huge culture shock between an American black (yes, his race is pertinent to the discussion) male and, well, the rest of Japan.

P.S.: If this has been posted already, feel free to delete post; I only read to second page...
 
Nissan_Racer
Japan is very asain. Much more asain than America, lots of asains in Japan.
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I suppose that's the kind of post you get from someone who has a VW avatar and the word "Nissan" in the username.
 
speedy_samurai
Yes, watch out for the Kancho! Apparently, at some point in japanese history, someone decided it would be really funny to put his finger into his friends butt. Now, little kids run around trying to catch you in the behind when you are not looking, or making swipes at your nuts. I kid you not.
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Teaching In Japan
http://omega.med.yale.edu/~pcy5/japanese/teacher.html

That told me everything I needed to know about Japan ;)
 
I really enjoyed the JET teacher episodes, and while that also is Japan, it is still just one little aspect of it and a very subjective view by somebody who also wanted to tell sth special and funny....
 
Pupik
I suppose that's the kind of post you get from someone who has a VW avatar and the word "Nissan" in the username.
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Yeah and your point is? Am I wrong about Japan being asain? Whats wrong with liking both Nissan's and VW's
 
Nissan_Racer
Japan is very asain. Much more asain than America, lots of asains in Japan.
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Yes Japan is very Asian, it's in Asia. State the bloody obvious why don't you :lol:.
 
MdnIte
Don't forget cultural differences ;)
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I should have brought that up. I won't get into it (:D), but living in the States and very Americanized, I still feel uncomfortable with some of the sexual preference that is widely accepted in the West. Cultural influence do have a lot to do with this. Very good point. 👍

Max_DC
I talked with a Japanese women about the touching problem and it really seems to be a seroius one. She had almost fear to take the last subway home ( she worked in a bar in Roppongi )... Well I think the problem is the traditional roles in Japan, all those things break up now, but japanese girls tend to be quit ... they are raised like this(as all Japanese btw, you won't often hear people shout in arguments etc)... So they get touched but they don't shout for help or slap the pervert into the face.. they just let them do what they do or try to escape the situation.
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This is so true. I almost brought up that I've never known anyone who's been a victim of touching in trains........... But in Japanese culture, it's not something widely discussed. Within good friends or families, definitely, but not in public.
 
I think it's only a problem in big cities in Japan. Of course there's plenty of big cities cities in Japan. But my girlfriend, when hear in the UK, felt more anxious riding on public transport here than in Japan (she lived in a fairly small town called Asa not too far from Shime-no-seki on the southern tip of Honshu). In many respects I could'nt blame her for feeling that way as being obviously foreign meant that people looked at her. She was also verry attractive.. Damn I was a lucky boy then!

One thing to remember about Japan and the Japanese are the concepts of "Honne and Tatemae" explanation. And "Omote and Ura" explanation. However as the younger generation become more influenced by the West such concepts are being weakend, but they still exist.
Japan is a nation of extremes and opposites. The Japanese can be the most polite, vulgar, kind, selfish, prudish, erotic, violent and intelligent people in the world (of course extremes can be found in many nations but extremes seem to be the norm in Japan). Personally I think the reason for this wonderful spectrum in society is because Christianity has never taken root in Japan.

Though I was only there for 3 weeks I've had a love affair with Japan for many years, before and since.
 
Nissan_Racer
Japan is very asain. Much more asain than America, lots of asains in Japan.
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This man has a firm grasp on the immediately obvious, I see. Too bad the same can't be said for spelling.
:dunce:
 
Nissan_Racer
Japan is very asain. Much more asain than America, lots of asains in Japan.
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And here I was thinking it was very European, and filled primarily with Scotsmen.

What next? Are you going to tell me that Iceland isn't Latino?
 

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