2011-03-06, 13:27 | Link #942 | |
Seishu's Ace
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kobe, Japan
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Quote:
2-4 hours can be plenty for a good Akiba trip. Animate and Toranoana (adjacent to each other on Chuo-dori, a block from the JR station) are my anchors when I go to Akiba. They have a large variety of stuff spread over 7 floors each. It could also be fun to head down some of the side streets and poke your nose into the little specialty stores that hide out there. Cospa would be a good choice if you're into cosplay, and they have the best selection of themed t-shirts.
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2011-03-06, 14:04 | Link #943 |
Senior Member
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Going to borrow this topic to ask something that has been bothering me .. Me and my friend are going to visit Japan next year. Neither of us can speak or read japanese .. will this be a problem ? Mainly talking about traveling around and when buying stuff from shops ( also we want to visit Comiket ).
We are looking to take some basic classes though for Japanese but we might not even get to one so there might not be enough time to learn even just katakanas and hiraganas .. let alone kanji.
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2011-03-06, 15:54 | Link #944 | |
Seishu's Ace
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kobe, Japan
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Quote:
I would recommend checking out a site like Japanesepod101 - they have what they call "Survival Phrases" lessons that will serve very well for a tourist in Japan.
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2011-03-06, 16:50 | Link #945 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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Quote:
About 20 phrases and such will get you through most shop transactions or pleasantries. Don't worry too much about the writing/reading... though obviously, the more you know the less you'll have to ask. OTOH... asking is interacting.
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2011-03-07, 22:33 | Link #946 |
dn ʎɐʍ sıɥʇ
Graphic Designer
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Northern Ireland
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I love reading though this thread now and again as there is always little interesting snippits of useful info to take in.
I looked into setting up a short trip over in the past but a few things put me off mainly of all things my height (I'm almost 6 foot 6) which I would imagine might make me stand out quite a bit and the attention I get even over here is uncomfortable as it is. =E
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2011-03-31, 10:22 | Link #947 |
Seishu's Ace
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kobe, Japan
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I'm in a very normal-seeming and relaxed Shinagawa right now, Midnight Tokyo time. Lots of folks out having a good time, plenty of food and bottled water on the shelves, no one glowing in the dark. If anyone wants to follow along I'll be blogging periodically with words and pics during the trip. It's certainly an interesting time to be in Japan...
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2011-03-31, 13:17 | Link #948 | |
Obey the Darkly Cute ...
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: On the whole, I'd rather be in Kyoto ...
Age: 66
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Quote:
OTOH.... if your sightseeing interests were in the destruction zone - yeah, probably should rethink that (e.g. the "thousand buddha" temple, etc). Oh, read your blog (all of the entries)... love it
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2011-03-31, 17:15 | Link #949 | |
Seishu's Ace
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kobe, Japan
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Quote:
From what I hear, some of the neon paradises - like Shibuya - have toned it down at night. But Shinagawa looked totally normal to me. Everything that should have been was open, lit up and crowded.
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2011-04-05, 10:40 | Link #950 |
Seishu's Ace
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kobe, Japan
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I went to Osaka was to go to "Den Den Town" - their version of Akihabara (pics on the blog). I wanted an otaku fix, I wanted to see how it stacked up, and was just generally curious. It was surprisingly almost as big as Akiba in terms of character goods - all the major players are there, though ironically I never did find Mandarake, the one store I'd intended to visit. On the whole, there are even fewer decent places to eat than Akiba, not as many maid cafes (though Mandarake has a "Mom Cafe", apparently) and Den Den seems a trifle more otomen-focused than Akiba.
Bought a doujin at Melonbooks, which impressed me - is there one in Akiba? Not saying which ones - that's no on else's beeswax. Though I did - joy of joys - get carded buying it! Saw tons of Oreimo stuff, which I expected. Two words: Kuroneko hoodie! It was more evenly split overall between Kirino and Kuroneko than I thought it might be, though. If this show doesn't get a second season no one will be more surprised than me. Lots of Ikas Musume doujins too, which surprised me a bit - though not as much as the seemingly popular pairing, which I won't say here because I don't think most of you will like it. Mitsudomoe body pillows at Cospa, but no t-shirts, dammit. Finally, I made my first really successful joke in Japanese today. At the Daily Yamazaki store outside Fushimi Inari I bought a chicken cutlet. I pointed to it and said, "Tori?" and the pointed across the street and said "Not torii." The salesgirl laughed hysterically...
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2011-04-07, 10:41 | Link #951 |
Seishu's Ace
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kobe, Japan
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I was at the end of a pleasant but relatively slow-paced day in Tokyo - my first of the trip - when the evening suddenly got more interesting. But everyone seems to be fine, even up North - or at least that's what they're saying on the news. Certainly no damage in Tokyo from that level of shaking.
As for the rest of it, I'm staying at the heart of the action this time - in Akihabara. All of the major players seems to be staying open to their normal times, the restaurants at UDX were packed and there weren't any obvious signs of power conservation other than the escalator being off at the JR station. In short, it's Akiba - streets were lively and bright, albeit with a lot fewer foreign faces than I'm used to seeing. I just made a quick survey of a couple of shops after my train got in, but if anything Oreimo is even more prominent here. Absolutely gargantuan range of Oreimo doujins at Toranoana. It's definitely the hot property of the moment. It may be a result of the new law, or it may be my faulty memory - but Toranoana had an "all ages" doujin floor, separate from their "adult" floor. Was it always like that? A quick word about Dormy Inns... I love these guys. The perks are quite relevant to my interests - free rooftop onsen, rest areas with manga and free massage chairs, free laundry facilities and free ramen at 2130. This is the second time I've stayed at one and I tell you, chilling in a massage chair reading "Touch" in Japanese, drinking cold milk after a long soak in an onsen is not a bad way to kill a half-hour. Now - we've got that out of our system, Planet - let's make the next four days uneventful!
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2011-04-08, 11:12 | Link #952 |
Seishu's Ace
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kobe, Japan
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You know, I feel bad for poor Saori - I must have seen 200 Oreimo doujins this week so far, and not one features her as a major character. I'm surprised at how many feature Manami, though. She's a dark horse.
I'm pleased to say that, despite Gov. Ishihara's proclamation that hanami parties should be cancelled and no one should ever smile or enjoy themselves, Inokahshira Park in Kichijoji was full or folks enjoying the stunning sakura. Tokyo is amazing - it just keeps going. You would have never known anything happened last night - no matter what happens they just seem to press on. Ghibli Museum was rather amazing. I don't buy the notion of some in the community that you should apologize for liking Miyazaki - I think he's an auteur and a genius. How much he actually helped design the museum I don't know, but it's amazingly cool and quite magical. Even the bathrooms are fantastic.
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2011-04-08, 11:18 | Link #953 | |
Banned
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Abstract Side of Reality
Age: 35
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All they can do is press on! I'm fucking appalled all the way here in Illinois for what Ishihara is telling the people of Tokyo to do, or rather not do. Fucking asshole. |
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2011-04-08, 11:44 | Link #954 |
Rawrrr!
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: CH aka Chocaholic Heaven
Age: 40
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I am finally leaving for my long postponed trip to Japan, together with my sis. We'll be there about two weeks, visiting several places around the country.
First, we'll spend a couple days in Tokyo at my cousin's place, then leave to attend the Takayama Matsuri, continue visiting Kanazawa, spend a few days in Kyoto and visit Nara. For the second half, we'll go west, visiting Osaka and Himeji along the way, onto Hiroshima and Miyajima, and then we'll go back to Tokyo to spend a couple more days.
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2011-04-08, 17:18 | Link #955 | |
Seishu's Ace
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kobe, Japan
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Quote:
Polls show Ishihara will likely win easily tomorrow. Wow.
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2011-04-10, 08:14 | Link #956 |
Seishu's Ace
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kobe, Japan
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Ishihara did win, but I'm still having a phenomenal trip. Pity it ends tomorrow.
I wanted to post a bunch of pics and vids on the blog, but Blogger is driving me nuts and blocking me at every turn. Maybe it's the hotel connection. I'll post a zillion when i get back.
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2011-04-13, 11:01 | Link #958 | |
廉頗
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Massachusetts
Age: 34
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2011-04-13, 11:19 | Link #959 |
Adventure ∀logger
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This forum has a really good subforum on going to Japan http://softypapa.46.forumer.com/viewforum.php?f=25 It's also a really awesome forum to join. I've used it to answer a lot of questions I've had.
Anyway I have a question that I feel like asking here anyway, has tourist traffic gone down enough to hurt the tourist attractions since the quake/tsunami? I know a few people who really want to go but are now too afraid.
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2011-04-13, 16:12 | Link #960 | |
Seishu's Ace
Author
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Kobe, Japan
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Quote:
Japan desperately needs people to come to the country and spend money, especially in areas that are tourist-driven - they're particularly hard-hit by the lack of tourism. If you're not comfortable going to Tokyo (I think Tokyo is fine at the moment) then go to the South, or Hokkaido. They're all hurting even though they're not impacted by the disasters. Thanks very much. Everyone needs to make their own decisions, of course - most of my friends and family thought I was crazy to go. But I truly believe that comes from misinformation as much as anything.
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