Visiting Japan

[Vexx]

silverwolf probably got the "bakagaijin" travel package which is available in almost any country including Italy

As Ewok, Syaoran, and the Lonely Planet travel guides point out -- you can experience a lot in Japan for far less than wandering aimlessly in New York. You just have to do as the locals do...

I prefer the family-run inns and ryoko ... more expensive than the hostels... but lots more human than the "I can get this room in any city on the planet" HoJo-Hiltonesque crapola.

[Gaiarth]

Well, in all fairness, I have to say that my visits to Japan have been very expensive...but that's because of all the shopping I do. Akihabara is doubly deadly, as I enjoy anime and I love gadgets

As far as accommodation and eating go, it's the same as pretty much anywhere, you can do it expensive or you can do it cheap. I've always set myself a daily budget of 10,000 yen for living expenses (accommodation, food, local transport, shrine visits, drinks from vending machines etc) and always had a very comfortable stay without using generic business hotels. And I dare say you could do it a fair bit cheaper than that if you didn't mind roughing it a bit.

[Vexx]

Aye... a "$100" a day (~12000yen) per person pretty much describes my target budget for my wife and I almost anywhere we travel. We usually undershoot by a large margin even in Japan.

[Ikaruga22]

hey im taking a vacation in japan for the first time. i was wondering if u guys had suggestions on what to do there. i am going to be staying in ikebukuro. thanks !

[Vexx]

Check out the "Visiting Japan" thread ....
otherwise I'd say buy a copy of the Lonely Planet's Guide to Japan... that's about the best one I've ever come across that includes both the traditional sights and the alternative wierdness that is also Japan.

[Krutiac]

Hi, all !

I was just wondering if you would know anything about food courses in japan ?

Since I'm a full educated chef who's interested in Asian food culture.

The reason why I ask is because I haven't founded any information by myself yet.

I'm also wondering if there's a age limit since I'm 21 now and I would want to work a bit more before I go to i.e Japan or China.

Currently I'm living in Sweden.

// Krutiac . Life is a lesson - Live and learn .

[Dorienn]

A trip to Japan has been a long desirous wait since long for me. I'm currently saving up, although, the income's pretty weak at the present time, it's increasing nonetheless. But I was wondering if there were any places someone could recommend for a 'gajin' like me to go, especially places which have strong traditional holding (I'd like to attend an 'Omatsuri' at some point too in life!).

[Azrael_Azure]

What I'm kind of interested in knowing is why does everyone who likes anime (well almost everyone) want to go to Japan, especially wanting to live/work there?
I've been to a lot of places and all I can say from my travelling experience is that the grass isn't greener on the otherside. Most things are extremely similar worldwide, ok I understand there's culture and other factors, but when you get down to the real bare bones of human life. Everyone is the same, some just speak a different language.

[Veritas]

I would imagine because it's easier to get anime in Japan.

And that's all.

[WanderingKnight]

What I'm kind of interested in knowing is why does everyone who likes anime (well almost everyone) want to go to Japan, especially wanting to live/work there?

Me, I'm in love with the language. In LOVE. I can understand about 5 languages, but out of them all, Japanese has hooked me like no other. I don't know why, I just love it. My dream of going to Japan relates to my intention of becoming a Japanese/English/Spanish (my mother language) literary translator. In fact, I begin my studies on English translation this year, so I guess I'm a little closer to the goal.

Anime was only a medium through which I could have contact with a language that I was kind of "destined" to love.

[poptart]

well for me i wanted to go to japan WAY before i even knew what anime/manga was. as an art major i loved the old school ink drawings and ceramics; that was how i was first introduced to japan.

then little tidbits about the culture and mannerisms intrigued me even more. i found it fasinating how their culture is infused into so many aspects of their life and is reflected in the art.

then i found manga and anime.... and i fell in love. beautiful art and great stories. *sigh*

i'd only want to go there for a week long visit. just to see it with my own eyes.


but on the grand scale, japan is like... 5th on list of places i have to see before i croak. england, france, italy, spain, japan.

[Azrael_Azure]

Originally Posted by Veritas

I would imagine because it's easier to get anime in Japan.

And that's all.

You can buy anime anywhere in the world, and quite frankly it's not the best for of animation at all. It's not exactly highly skilled, most of the time there's simple crappy sketches just thrown together, shit plots and stupid stereotypes.
I don't love most anime at all.

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

Me, I'm in love with the language. In LOVE. I can understand about 5 languages, but out of them all, Japanese has hooked me like no other. I don't know why, I just love it. My dream of going to Japan relates to my intention of becoming a Japanese/English/Spanish (my mother language) literary translator. In fact, I begin my studies on English translation this year, so I guess I'm a little closer to the goal.

Anime was only a medium through which I could have contact with a language that I was kind of "destined" to love.

I could understand going there to work if you had been offered a good job in that field, I wish you luck, it sounds like a promising career.
I still think that when someone just moves to a completely strange and new place that they might not like it as much as they previously thought.
Perhaps I'm just way too cynical for this thread.

Originally Posted by poptart

well for me i wanted to go to japan WAY before i even knew what anime/manga was. as an art major i loved the old school ink drawings and ceramics; that was how i was first introduced to japan.

then little tidbits about the culture and mannerisms intrigued me even more. i found it fasinating how their culture is infused into so many aspects of their life and is reflected in the art.

then i found manga and anime.... and i fell in love. beautiful art and great stories. *sigh*

i'd only want to go there for a week long visit. just to see it with my own eyes.


but on the grand scale, japan is like... 5th on list of places i have to see before i croak. england, france, italy, spain, japan.

I can see Japanese art any time I like in a museum, or I can turn on the T.V. and look at shows filmed in Japan etc.
I live in London, and I've been to Italy, France, and Spain. I can say one thing, they're very similar, and pretty rude. XD
Just before people get the wrong idea about my post, I'm not trying to argue with anyone or tell them their dreams are stupid, I was just really interested in why they wanted to move.
I'm doing something similar, just not moving to Japan, so I could be just as crazy.

[poptart]

Originally Posted by Azrael_Azure

I can see Japanese art any time I like in a museum, or I can turn on the T.V. and look at shows filmed in Japan etc.
I live in London, and I've been to Italy, France, and Spain. I can say one thing, they're very similar, and pretty rude. XD
Just before people get the wrong idea about my post, I'm not trying to argue with anyone or tell them their dreams are stupid, I was just really interested in why they wanted to move.
I'm doing something similar, just not moving to Japan, so I could be just as crazy.

mmm... i guess the reason why i want to see japan and all the other places has little to do with the people actually.

i could indeed go to the museum to see japanese art... but i can go to the art institute to see a japanese temple. i cant see the art houses and natural scenery. i cant take photos of mt. fuji from chicago. i cant see the culture and people in action from where i'm at. its all about visiting to see what its really like.

one could go and hate everything about it, finding that the dream was better than the reality. or one can go and love it.

by no means would i move there to live cause... well i like where i live now.

but there is nothing wrong with wanting to see the world, for whatever reason.

[Vexx]

... because traveling to distant lands, eating unusual food, seeing unusual sights, and dealing with alien cultures is ... dare I say, FUN?

Japan is probably one of the more interesting places for many because it is alien yet familiar at the same time. In my case, its my wife's heritage -- so we like to spend time there just as we like to spend time in my "heinz 57" origins (Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Denmark, Germany, flip a coin).

Things are the "same" everywhere... and yet very different. I find that people who don't travel end up with serious misconceptions about the world and the cultural mores outside of their little splotch of dirt.

[Mueti]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

Me, I'm in love with the language. In LOVE. I can understand about 5 languages, but out of them all, Japanese has hooked me like no other. I don't know why, I just love it. My dream of going to Japan relates to my intention of becoming a Japanese/English/Spanish (my mother language) literary translator. In fact, I begin my studies on English translation this year, so I guess I'm a little closer to the goal.

Anime was only a medium through which I could have contact with a language that I was kind of "destined" to love.

It's exactly the same for me. I also understand 5 languages (German being my mother-tongue); as soon as I stumbled across Japanese it interested me more than any other language for no obvious reason. I started learning and am now in love with it to the point of obsession.
I don't know what kind of jobs I could aim for that would go with this attachment to the language yet though.

[WhiteWings]

19 and you know 5 languages. Nice. You really have an edge in the world even with just that single fact.

[Areguzanda]

I friend of mine just arrived in Japan yesterday and he sent me this message:

"Man oooh man!! I love Japan!! the very first thing that met my eye's when I got into the airport here was a huge group of school girls wearing uniforms with short skirts!! I LOVE JAPAN!! "


I had just one thing to say to him at this point:
"I hate you"

[Vexx]

May we hate him with you?

Last fall my son's japanese language high school class hosted a high school girl's class from Japan. They were all in uniform (yes, short skirts though from what I know this is more an urban thing than a country thing), all cute, only one remotely plump. My son said they couldn't get over how fat *so many* Americans were ...

Ah well... I got to help parent chaperone them around and that was a whole level of entertainment just to hear the chorused "Ne!!!!?" when they'd agree on something. And, of course they got to laugh at my attempts at the language which made them feel better about trying english out on me.

Ooops, off track -- it was a lot of fun though. Japanese is my first non-western language. I guess its fascinating that the linguistics map to western languages as well as they do and I'll take the counters and irregulars over that damned noun-sex and 4/6/+ cases any day

[WanderingKnight]

I had just one thing to say to him at this point:
"I hate you"

Yeah, me too.

[Veritas]

Originally Posted by Azrael_Azure

You can buy anime anywhere in the world, and quite frankly it's not the best for of animation at all. It's not exactly highly skilled, most of the time there's simple crappy sketches just thrown together, shit plots and stupid stereotypes.
I don't love most anime at all.

Neither do I. Yes, you can buy anime almost anywhere. However, the difference between walking into a store with 1000 yen and wading through foreign websites, charging it to a credit card, which you may or may not even have, and then running the risk of having it lost or damaged while you wait 2 weeks for it to show up at your door is what I'm talking about when I say "easier."