In Japan right now on a study abroad (Yes, Nishinomiya, Haruhi`s city, between Osaka and Kobe; I think I even walk past the school that the author models SOS-dan`s school after every day -- argh that damn hill) and liking it so far. Question though:
How best to enjoy Osaka and Kyoto (and Kobe too maybe)?
Points of consideration:
1) I`m relatively poor.
2) Tour guide-style guided traveling isn`t exactly the most interesting. Yes, temples, woo.
3) I`ve always romanticized the
Flaneur, but I`m not exactly good enough in Japanese to be walking around totally blind.
4) Ryoukan > Western Hotels, except for toilets
5) As said above, I`m sitting tight between Osaka and Kobe within walking distance of a JR station, but JR prices are quite expensive (any interesting discount options I should know?)
6) Will be here up to January. Fall and Winter, that is. What`s there to see that I shouldn`t ever miss?
7) The "Night Life" which Osaka at least is famous for isn`t for me. Alcohol = no thanks. Parties = not my jazz. Soaplands = fuck you...no, I don`t mean I actually will...ah screw it...I, I mean.... ...
8) What`s the best way to transport seven hundred tons of manga back home without exorbitant fees and customs annoyances?
9) Where to buy anime stuff for cheap in Kansai? Is Nipponbashi the right place?
10) Should I, or should I not, ever try to enter a maid/tsundere/butler(!?) cafe?
Spoiler for Points of Interest:
- Japanese roads feel extremely dangerous. By the gods, the roads can be so small that cars going opposite ways sometimes can`t pass each other, not to mention the usual pedestrian and bicycles mix; yet the drivers don`t even fucking slow down much or at all. How is it that the Japanese don`t have American rates of traffic roadkills?
- I was shocked that toilets and baths are separate. My obligatory culture shock, and a most...inconvenient one.
- Japanese summers are as blazing hot as anime says.
- Sailor fukus everywhere. I feel ridiculously guilty for being fascinated by them though.
- Manga here is *relatively* cheap. Then you factor in a lucky sales, and I`m like, shiiiit, I`m supporting the industry, biatches. Who`s a pirate now?
- Other things are relatively expensive, but an easygoing and somewhat intelligent visitor doesn`t have to break the bank not to stay hungry. Frugality and a bunch of nonsensical Confucian values can get one far. O-sushi is a luxury not a staple, cheap donburi is good enough, etc., etc.
- Americans need to learn Japanese customer service. Even the bureaucrats are nice. To nihongo-impaired gai(koku)jin no less.
- Trains are the most sensible current transportation choice for a crowded metropole. Viva Nippon. Yes, yes, it`s not profitable to bridge the American continent nine hundred times over with rails, but Los Angeles and Mother Gaia Herself could have benefited immensely if America was a little smarter about things. Ah wait, didn`t the Governator open some "Shinkansen" rail line somewhere? It was in the Japanese news.
- The lack of strict zoning laws seem to propogate a very eclectic kind of urban environment. Your mileage may vary, but I like my ten minutes walk to the city`s biggest department store. Albeit, no, Japanese streets don`t shine with monocolored budget-saving animated beauty. They can in fact look a bit shabby.
- Japanese cellphones are quite convenient, though they are not the multimedia smartphone devices along the lines of the Droids or the iPhone (which is in fact quite popular here). I notice however that much of the convenient services are based on the company network, thus rendering technological export difficult.
- I seem to fit in strangely well. My accent is excellent, apparently (who says anime isn`t educational now?) and I look "Asian" and don`t turn heads, to use the common parlance. Then I try to articulate complex thoughts, or answer complex questions, or read kanji-filled signs...
...yeah.
- Watched the BECK movie in Japanese. Aside from the usual adaptation-is-too-fast-and-loose consideration, or the Maho-is-hot laudatory, the biggest complaint I have is that Koyuki`s singing voice is never heard in the movie, not even in the epic singing-in-the-rain climax. What the f-?
- Arriety is out. Will watch it soon. I shall then proceed to gloat upon the rest of you who has no such luck even though I probably won`t understand half of it.