Visiting Japan

[RandomGuy]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

I hope it doesn't fucking rain this weekend 'cause every single weather forecast I see is not too promising

Yeah, looks like it's gonna rain. I gotta ride my bike in that, too, and my rain slicker is packed somewhere in a box as I attempt to move in with my fiancée. Hmm..

[LynnieS]

Originally Posted by RandomGuy

Yeah, looks like it's gonna rain. I gotta ride my bike in that, too, and my rain slicker is packed somewhere in a box as I attempt to move in with my fiancée. Hmm..

Friday looks bad in Tokyo, but this weekend should be okay. That is good since I have a hanami to go to on Sat.

[WanderingKnight]

First day in Tokyo, god damn this feels so weird.

Pictures here (its in Spanish because its for my family but you can take a look anyways, also Wordpress murdered the image quality): http://lucasinjapan.wordpress.com/20...3/tokyo-day-1/

Sakura blossom season is awesome, btw.

The only thing I want to mention in particular: god DAMN everything is so small here. EVERYTHING. Its beautiful in its own way, but it feels so strange.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

First day in Tokyo, god damn this feels so weird.

Pictures here (its in Spanish because its for my family but you can take a look anyways, also Wordpress murdered the image quality): http://lucasinjapan.wordpress.com/20...3/tokyo-day-1/

Sakura blossom season is awesome, btw.

The only thing I want to mention in particular: god DAMN everything is so small here. EVERYTHING. Its beautiful in its own way, but it feels so strange.

Japan has a knack for turning anything small into something highly efficient yet beautiful. The ryokan I stayed in had a tiny lavatory the size of a gym locker, with a flush toilet that doubled as a wash basin — very ingenious, I thought.

It's flowering in Ueno Park again, I see. The Imperial Palace does have some of the best blooms around in Tokyo. Glad to see that you're enjoying yourself.

[WanderingKnight]

I've turned to uploading everything to Facebook because it's the only place that'd let me upload everything in one go... so no more blog posts vOv

It's flowering in Ueno Park again, I see.

Yep, and at night it's one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen:

Spoiler:

There really are not enough words (or fuzzy pictures) to describe it. And takoyaki is my new "most delicious food ever".

Spoiler:

Today I went to Shibuya in the morning, got a bit lost when heading towards the Yoyogi park (a really kind couple helped me out, though it's amazing how much people will still try to talk to you in a badly mangled English even after you've pointed out you can understand Japanese), but finally got to it and joined the people doing Hanami there. Then I went to Harajuku and got lost in a sea of people. I ended up in a Korean food shop because I didn't want to spend 30 minutes waiting in a queue and that was the only place I found that hadn't one.

After having lunch my intention was to head to Shinjuku but I took the wrong direction in Meijidori and ended up back in Shibuya, so I took the Yamanote to Ikebukuro (which was where I wanted to go, my intention was to take a peek of Shibuya before riding the Yamanote there). Thankfully, Ikebukuro wasn't as full of people as Harajuku, so I enjoyed a quiet walk there, even though I got lost and passed the same street corner 6 times in like 20 minutes. Grabbed a bite at a Horumon shop and then took the Yamanote back to Ueno. Before heading back to my hostel in Asakusa, I walked through the park and shot the amazing sights I posted earlier.

This has been a long and productive day

PS: excuse the crappy quality of the photos, my camera is kinda old and not very good

[Mystique]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

I've turned to uploading everything to Facebook because it's the only place that'd let me upload everything in one go... so no more blog posts vOv



Yep, and at night it's one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen:


Today I went to Shibuya in the morning, got a bit lost when heading towards the Yoyogi park (a really kind couple helped me out, though it's amazing how much people will still try to talk to you in a badly mangled English even after you've pointed out you can understand Japanese), but finally got to it and joined the people doing Hanami there. Then I went to Harajuku and got lost in a sea of people. I ended up in a Korean food shop because I didn't want to spend 30 minutes waiting in a queue and that was the only place I found that hadn't one.

After having lunch my intention was to head to Shinjuku but I took the wrong direction in Meijidori and ended up back in Shibuya, so I took the Yamanote to Ikebukuro (which was where I wanted to go, my intention was to take a peek of Shibuya before riding the Yamanote there). Thankfully, Ikebukuro wasn't as full of people as Harajuku, so I enjoyed a quiet walk there, even though I got lost and passed the same street corner 6 times in like 20 minutes. Grabbed a bite at a Horumon shop and then took the Yamanote back to Ueno. Before heading back to my hostel in Asakusa, I walked through the park and shot the amazing sights I posted earlier.

This has been a long and productive day

PS: excuse the crappy quality of the photos, my camera is kinda old and not very good

Chill on the abuse of pixel usage (lower the resolution unless you're planning to print in A1), focus sharper and you'll be ok picture wise
Glad you're enjoying the captial, the other parts of Japan should be just as fun

[WanderingKnight]

Today I wasted 1500 yen getting up on the Mori tower and finding out the freaking clouds wouldn't let me see anything. The elevator that does 50 floors in 30 seconds was kinda cool though.

Other than that I had no interest in the tower, but I wanted to see the damn city from it. The museum inside was completely uninteresting due to the differences between my concept of art and that of the "artists" exposing their work there.

[Riot Machine]

I used to live in Muko Kyoto
Its not as great as everyone think, people are really rude there. but its still a great experience

[Arbitres]

The experience is the best part? I want to live in Japan. Period. Screw visiting, I'm planting roots there. Now then, back on topic.

@WanderingKnight: 30 seconds? Was it powered by electromagnetics? I didn't think they would actually apply that technology to a simple elevator. Hat goes off to the Japanese yet again, Kudos.

Now now... The artists probably did good. I would look at all of them and judge firsthand. Outside of that, 1500 yen isn't all that bad... You got excellent experience for doing it.

You now know what Mori Tower and the artwork is like, at least.

[WanderingKnight]

@WanderingKnight: 30 seconds? Was it powered by electromagnetics? I didn't think they would actually apply that technology to a simple elevator. Hat goes off to the Japanese yet again, Kudos.

Yup, I filmed it on the way down and it was 30 seconds, almost exactly.

Now now... The artists probably did good. I would look at all of them and judge firsthand. Outside of that, 1500 yen isn't all that bad... You got excellent experience for doing it.

I can eat a whole day with less than that and with 200 more yen I can sleep for a day... it's really expensive. But today I spent like 4000 yen on manga so vOv.

I was so angry at not being able to see the city from the tower earlier today that I went and bought a ticket at the Tokyo Tower just out of spite. The city was at least visible from there, heh. It was at night so the view was kinda nice, too.

I later walked around Shiba Koen and Daimon-doori, pretty nice sights there, especially the Buddhist temple close to the tower (it's amazingly calm at night when no one is there).

[Shiemi]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

Today I wasted 1500 yen getting up on the Mori tower and finding out the freaking clouds wouldn't let me see anything. The elevator that does 50 floors in 30 seconds was kinda cool though.

Other than that I had no interest in the tower, but I wanted to see the damn city from it. The museum inside was completely uninteresting due to the differences between my concept of art and that of the "artists" exposing their work there.

Are you also planning to go to Landmark Tower in Yokohama? (If you haven't done so, that is.) I always liked it more than the others, but that's just me. I just liked Sakuragicho and it was close to where I used to live.

[nikorai]

Hello, everyone!
Long time no see. I haven’t been around for about 2 months I guess. But I’m stopping by because I really couldn’t pass by “visiting japan” thread.

Mystique-san, glad to see you here. How are things?

WanderingKnight
Awesome pictures you've got on your Spanish page, despite «mucha gente».

If everyone speaks Japanese　言ってみます。
羨ましいです～。桜は本当に綺麗です。今、日本に行く気分になりました。
実は、前から旅行について考えていました。そのために貯金し始めました。でも、それは時間がかかりそうです 。旅行は高いですから行けるかどうか知りません。でも、東京を見る価値があると思います。

[Autumn Demon]

Originally Posted by WanderingKnight

Today I wasted 1500 yen getting up on the Mori tower and finding out the freaking clouds wouldn't let me see anything.

Viewing the city from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building in Shinjuku is free. Good view, but don't go at night (they don't turn the lights off). Tokyo Tower has the best view of the Tokyo, but it's on the east side so you'll get a different view from TMBG.

[Yu Ominae]

I forgot to mention that I went to Japan during the Olympic Break. Nice to be back since the 1990s. Helped too with my sem-limited Japanese.

Details soon. Too tired and I need to get some shuteye in a while.

[WanderingKnight]

Ok, someone who has more knowledge of the Japanese society than me, and especially of Japanese women (hey there Mystique), please help me understand what just happened to me.

So, I'm in Kyoto (which is a beautiful, beautiful city, by the way, especially with the sakura) and I meet a cute Japanese girl (who I thought was about 20, 21) from Tokyo in my hostel. Everything is cool during the introduction, the usual "nihongo jouzu ne" like they do with every foreigner who can utter a few intelligible words (1), and the usual chatter about how my country is so far away, and how my trip took 30 hours, and how I can speak Spanish, English and Japanese, etc.

So, since I hadn't had dinner yet (it was about 7pm), and not knowing how to deal with asking a Japanese girl out, I casually mention I haven't had dinner yet, and ask her if she has. She tells me she has, but after some more chatter she asks me if it was okay to come with me while I had my dinner.

So, thinking I had scored already, I of course tell her it's all right, and then I go take a bath. At 7:30, we're about to go out, and she tells me she's only got time till 9, since her bus to Tokyo departs at 10. Cursing my luck, I nonetheless tell her it's all right, since I was enjoying her company and the fact that I had a chance to practice my Japanese anyways, and then we decide to go eat close to Kyoto station.

I had a lot of fun while on the way to the station and during dinner. Good-natured fun, stemming from the fact that I love the language and I try to make the most out of every chance I have of speaking it. Furthermore, this girl was lovely and there were lots of opportunities for laughs and hearty chatter. We took some pictures together and everything. She even told me I was handsome at some point.

However, after dinner, I draw out my wallet to pay my part, and she tells me she'll pay for it (!!!). Her reason was that I had accompanied her to the station and helped her with her luggage. No matter how much I try to convince her that it's all right, she wouldn't let me pay. After a bit more chatter, I casually ask her her age, and after opening her eyes in surprise when I tell her I'm 21 (I suppose I look older to Japanese people because of my beard) she tells me she's 27. There I almost yelled in surprise. I know Japanese women look much younger than they are, but this girl seriously didn't look older than 21 to me.

After that, I waited with her for her bus and when it arrived (around 10 pm), we parted with a hug, which also sort of surprised me (I'm from Latin America so we kiss each other on the cheeks at every opportunity we get, but I'm aware things are not that way in the rest of the world, especially in Japan).

So, while I had a lot of fun, I'm confused about a few things. I mean, why would she have a complete foreigner of the opposite sex just "accompany" her to the station? I know this sounds awful and reflects badly on her character, but was I just her "plaything"? I mean, a young foreigner from an exotic country who can maintain an interesting conversation in Japanese... I'm sure that's exotic enough to be appealable for many Japanese, knowing their society and their view of the world.

Also, why the hell did she pay for my dinner? How weird is THAT coming from a Japanese woman? I would've expected something entirely different--actually, during the trip I was sort of worried about the possibility of being sort of "forced" to pay for her dinner.

Either way, I've got her in Facebook and I know she lives in Tokyo, and since I have one last night there (on a Saturday, of all days) I might contact her beforehand to see if she wants to go out or something. I mean, I'm completely fine with being her "plaything" or whatever as long as I get to score--I know this sort of thinking is horrible, but you've gotta understand a 21 year old guy whose brain is, pardon the subtlety, still half-filled with semen.

And I know I might be reading way too much into this, so don't bash me too hard.

(1) I don't consider my Japanese perfect by any means, but I rate myself, without modesty, well above the average foreigner's knowledge of Japanese. In particular, I believe my pronunciation to be close to perfect, though speaking with Japanese people has made me realize it's not just about pronunciation but also the general intonation, or "acting", so to speak, Japanese people use. But yeah, personally I think my Japanese is pretty good, since it allows me to understand almost everything that's said to me--the only limit being my vocabulary. Talking, of course, is harder, but not that bad either. Either way, this is just a short break for you to imagine my level of conversation with this girl.

[Guardian Enzo]

I certainly wouldn't claim superior knowledge based on my one (soon to be two) trips to Japan. But my guess is that what you view as chivalry (not letting the woman pay) was trumped by what I've seen as the very profound Japanese desire to be good hosts. You were the guest in her country, therefore she was going to pay for dinner. If it had been more obviously a "date", I suspect that she might have let you pay.

[Arbitres]

Do a bow and ask to do seppuku in her name, that's probably the best way to get shot down.

Enzo is right, the Japanese are dignified to be good hosts and chauffeurs. The prospect of Chivalry may have offended her, it may not have -- I suggest giving a very broad smile and saying "At the moment, I am your host. Let me treat you appropriately."

Not only does that open up some paths for you in that near future, but you will be able to discern her personality by what she thought you meant/what she chooses as 'treat appropriately'.

...Japan is home of many beauties, obviously. So maybe you could bring her somewhere/talk to her about them

1. Ask her where she has been, make a special trip and the such to impress her? I wouldn't know. I'm a hick by stereotype, but try to treat her like a woman like a man would treat a woman in her country. Don't alienate her with your culture, get her cozzy with hers.

2. This won't help the situation, but what the hell: Flirt, shove the envelope with innuendos, and possibly get what your after in the process. Women enjoy 'compliments', don't use lame pick up lines, either. Be gentle, be courteous.... Be japanese, if you catch my meaning.

...Here is to hoping you bring her back with you? Finding love in a foreign country... Damn, talk about tragic.

[Yu Ominae]

WK

- You're so lucky man. I haven't met one yet (Probably since the family was there. ). The best advice I can offer maybe is you can thank her for doing so.

PS:

I got some pics from my Japan trip. However, I had to use the Iphone's camera. I got the poster of the Hakone/Rei one from my Hakone trip too.

Not sure if I should discuss some embarrassing things I did though.

[nikorai]

WanderingKnight
Huh? Going to Japan in search for women's company?
That looks like a new perspective. So far I've only thought about my long list of must-see places.

I rate myself without modesty

You make me feel a bit awkward, you know.
(あなた、自慢してるじゃないか。
僕はなんか、馬鹿みたいな気がするよね。)

[WanderingKnight]

Huh? Going to Japan in search for women's company?
That looks like a new perspective. So far I've only thought about my long list of must-see places.

Eh, I'm not actively looking for women's company. I mean, it's okay even if I don't get to score in the whole trip, but how cool an anecdote would be if I do?

I certainly wouldn't claim superior knowledge based on my one (soon to be two) trips to Japan. But my guess is that what you view as chivalry (not letting the woman pay) was trumped by what I've seen as the very profound Japanese desire to be good hosts. You were the guest in her country, therefore she was going to pay for dinner. If it had been more obviously a "date", I suspect that she might have let you pay.

I suppose you're right. It kinda feels like a letdown but it's cool anyways.

1. Ask her where she has been, make a special trip and the such to impress her? I wouldn't know. I'm a hick by stereotype, but try to treat her like a woman like a man would treat a woman in her country. Don't alienate her with your culture, get her cozzy with hers.

See, if there's something I don't like about Japan is the traditional way women are treated and seen. I know it's changing and that Tokyo in particular is very different from the rest of the country, but I know the general feeling is there. I'm someone who deeply respects women by default, and gets ticked off by any obvious display of misogyny. That's why her paying for my meal was sort of a pleasant surprise--as common as chivalry is (especially in my country), I dislike it a lot since it enforces an old view of man-woman relationships at a time it's not needed anymore. I would've preferred to pay for my part, which is way fairer, but was nonetheless surprised by such an attitude in a place like Japan.

2. This won't help the situation, but what the hell: Flirt, shove the envelope with innuendos, and possibly get what your after in the process. Women enjoy 'compliments', don't use lame pick up lines, either. Be gentle, be courteous.... Be japanese, if you catch my meaning.

I'm not a donjuan by any means but I'm used to the usual process. I haven't done it this time but only because I'm not used to speaking in Japanese enough

You make me feel a bit awkward, you know.

In what way? I'm being honest in that, when I speak Japanese, I try to sound as native-like as possible. I have a good ear for accents and can imitate them pretty well (I can seamlessly switch between American and British English, for example) and I can even try to talk Kansai-ben style if I put enough effort. It was just a way to help you understand what level of conversation we were having (pretty good, if I may say so myself).

(あなた、自慢してるじゃないか。
僕はなんか、馬鹿みたいな気がするよね。)

False modesty is as bad as being too boastful, you know. I never said my Japanese was perfect. My accent is particularly good, but I have a good accent in every foreign language I speak (most of the English-speaking tourists I found on hostels thought I was American). I still have a lot to learn, and that's why I like speaking with Japanese people--because it allows me to learn a lot. And, of course, reading, and especially writing the language is another matter entirely and I still suck at it.

(I never say all of this in front of Japanese people, though, because I understand the conversation dynamics here, and I let them compliment me as much as they want, as much as I dislike compliments for things that come naturally to me. You are an exception in that you're posting in a forum where Japanese people are a minority).