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[borghe]

so I leave for japan a week from today. in fact exactly 7 days from this very minute I will be just boarding the plane and getting ready to take off for my 12 hour flight.

I already have plenty of eats and sights looked up, have my Ghibli Museum reservations on my way. have a good plan on what I am taking (clothes, laptop, camera). have my blog and gallery site all ready to go. I should be ready for it.

any last suggestions on places I have to see (already have the palace, metropoiltan government buildings, cherry blossoms, etc recommended) or things I have to do or restaurants I have to eat at?

7 days and counting. a week from now I will be talking to you all on Tokyo time.

 

[galeninjapan]

Learn how to use the japanese shitter. They are a pain in the ass.

 

[demi]

Say your prayers.











In Japanese!

 

[mrklaw]

do you have internet cafes scoped out?

Other that that, just enjoy yourself. You out there for long?

 

[Blackace]

Learn how to use the japanese shitter. They are a pain in the ass.

hahaha I was just talking to a friend of mine about this... But really there are not a whole lot of them left...

 

[evil ways]

Pack some heat. You never know when the Yakuza will try to put the hurt on you.

 

[Zaptruder]

Learn how to use the japanese shitter. They are a pain in the ass.

More accurately; they're a pain for the hips...

 

[borghe]

Learn how to use the japanese shitter. They are a pain in the ass.

umm.. explain. please.

do you have internet cafes scoped out?

Other that that, just enjoy yourself. You out there for long?

no cafe's scoped out. I have an idea on pricing though. are they usually cramped or busy? I see kinko's has a setup in shinjuku almost right nexzt to our hotel. will have a pc and palm with wifi there. we're there for a week (from next wednesday afternoon to the following wednesday evening).

hahaha I was just talking to a friend of mine about this... But really there are not a whole lot of them left...

seriously, what's up with these?

 

[galeninjapan]

hahaha I was just talking to a friend of mine about this... But really there are not a whole lot of them left...

I lived in a pretty rural area in Japan, so I guess where I was they were more common. One day I was riding my bike on my way back from school and all the sudden it hit me. I had to take an enormous crap. I rode to a convenience store that was on my way home so I could use the restroom. Bad decision. CONVENIENCE STORES IN JAPAN DONT HAVE PUBLIC TOILETS! "Fine" I thought, I got back on my bike, "I only have 2 miles till i get back to my house" I was pretty sure I could make it. I was about a quarter mile away when I got caught at a train intersection. Fucking train took forever to pass, and I swear I felt a little come out. When I finally, arrived back at my house I ran to the bathroom and just let it all spill out. Unfortunately all the shit didn't make it in the toilet. It was a goddamn japanese toilet. If it had been a western style shitter it would have made it all inside, but no my ass couldn't make it the extra 2 feet.

Very embarrassing, and I am almost sure it was the cause of my Host mom requesting a host family change.

 

[lachesis]

Eat good fat thick steak from Peter Lugers. My only suggestion. You WILL miss the portions of us food.

lachesis

 

[Trizten Dareeque]

Buy some import games.

 

[Blackace]

CONVENIENCE STORES IN JAPAN DONT HAVE PUBLIC TOILETS!

you must have lived in the part of Japan that still thinks they won WWII... because almost every convenience store has a public toilet out my way... :lol

 

[Blackace]

Bring some rubbas.

If you are even decent looking and have the smallest amount of social skillz you will be covered in ladiez.

WARNING!!! SHARP LEARNING CURVE AHEAD

 

[Trizten Dareeque]

Import games ae awesome.

 

[darscot]

Bring condoms not only will you need them but the Japanese ones seemed to be sized differently. Trust me the conversation to try and find the right size is a nightmare.

 

[borghe]

not interested in the ladies.. well, of course interested, but am married, happy, and would like to maintain both.

so seriously, what's up with the toilets?

 

[Blackace]

Besides being hard to get used to, they are better for getting the shit out of your body

 

[aoi tsuki]

Bring some rubbas.

If you are even decent looking and have the smallest amount of social skillz you will be covered in ladiez.

Roy?

 

[darscot]

Spent a year in Japan and only ever had to use one of those retarded things once.

 

[borghe]

Besides being hard to get used to, they are better for getting the shit out of your body

ummm.. wtf?

well, anchors aweigh I guess. :lol

 

[Jonnyram]

Spent a year in Japan and only ever had to use one of those retarded things once.

I still haven't used one, in five years!
Conversely washlets are a godsend. Once you've experienced them, you won't want to go back to your western washlet-less lavatory

 

[Blackace]

I still haven't used one.
Conversely washlets are a godsend. Once you've experienced them, you won't want to go back to your western washlet-less lavatory

Also in houses, toilets and baths not being together = smart!

 

[ManDudeChild]

I still haven't used one, in five years!
Conversely washlets are a godsend. Once you've experienced them, you won't want to go back to your western washlet-less lavatory

What's washlet?

 

[Jonnyram]

What's washlet?

The cure for klingons.

 

[borghe]

What's washlet?

I'm assuming a bidet...

 

[darscot]

I hear yah man! That's the one of the weirdest things about Japan. There toilets range from top notch with all the bling to the absolute worst.

 

[Blackace]

The cure for klingons.

 

[Jonnyram]

bidet = nissan march
washlet = nissan skyliner

 

[Great King Bowser]

Besides being hard to get used to, they are better for getting the shit out of your body

WTF, they have those toilets in Japan as well?

I had to use those in a number of places in Vietnam, would never have expected to encounter them in Japan of all places though. :lol

Never had a problem with them though.

 

[darscot]

Try hovering over that abomination after consuming large amount of alcohol and unusual food. It's a horror show, I just took my gear right off and hung it over the door.

 

[Shouta]

Those toilets are a monstrosity. Thank god I never had to use one in Japan thanks to some foresight and a really Japanese diet (which totally changes your system).

 

[Boomer]

how the fuck do you use that toilet? do you have to squat over it? jesus christ

 

[DCharlie]

remember - there's a few of us who are out here who can hook up for Aki runs/beer intakes.

 

[kumanoki]

You'll learn to adjust to the toilets, man.

Bring cold/sinus medicine, pepto bismol or something like that, and headache medicine.

Pack your bag full of comfort foods, like mac n' cheese, microwave popcorn.

Buy a English/Japanese dictionary. Learn stock phrases until you meet actual Japanese people who will teach you the correct way to say them.


As for the cherry blossoms, you missed them this year. They only bloom for about a week. If you're lucky, you'll be in an area where you can move up and down the mainland, so you can catch the blooms as they open in the north and fall in the south. Tokyo was last week, Gunma this week, Aomori next week.

Japan isn't really suited for tourists. There are very few 'go see' places, but if you are interested in culture, I highly recommend taking a walk around Harajuku, the Meiji Jingu, the Asakusa Kannon, go up to Nikko, and visit Kyoto and Nara.

 

[tetsuoxb]

Yeah. If you get out towards Osaka, I will probably have time to catch some beers or show you around denden town.

Unless it is at the end of the month...Ill be in tokyo for about 5 days from the 29th of this month, so if you are still around there maybe we can get a chance to have some drinks.

 

[kumanoki]

Blackace- Golden Week. Game?

 

[Bebpo]

Spent a year in Japan and only ever had to use one of those retarded things once.

The school that I work at full time doesn't have a single western toilet. It's that or nothing.

And personally I think the most annoying thing about Japan isn't even the lack of toilets but the idea that there should be NO PUBLIC TRASH CANS. Having to carry trash with you because there's no where to throw it away and you're too nice to just litter on the ground is ----- annoying.

Dear Japan,
you pay people for standing in front of a pot hole and wave their arms all days. I'm sure you can afford to have the people assigned to useless public jobs become the A-team of trash collecting, so please start making public trash cans.

Signed,
Annoyed man with trash.

 

[Ecrofirt]

so you squat over those things? I'm still now exactly sure what you do.

 

[kumanoki]

The school that I work at full time doesn't have a single western toilet. It's that or nothing.

And personally I think the most annoying thing about Japan isn't even the lack of toilets but the idea that there should be NO PUBLIC TRASH CANS. Having to carry trash with you because there's no where to throw it away and you're too nice to just litter on the ground is ------- annoying.

Dear Japan,
you pay people for standing in front of a pot hole and wave their arms all days. I'm sure you can afford to have the people assigned to useless public jobs become the A-team of trash collecting, so please start making public trash cans.

Signed,
Annoyed man with trash.

Dear Annoyed man with trash-sama,
B-but that would....make sense!

 

[golem]

eat all the non-japanese food you can. seriously.

 

[Kuroyume]

Be sure to try natto. I hear it's the most delicious food.

 

[kumanoki]

Be sure to try natto. I hear it's the most delicious food.

When you go to a sushi or sashimi restaurant, ask for shirako.

 

[itschris]

If you want to learn more about Japanese toilets, there's an extremely comprehensive article about them on Wikipedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_toilets

 

[Ferny84]

[/QUOTE]

IN SOVIET RUSSIA, TOILET PEES ON YOU!

 

[Mr Nash]

Bring condoms not only will you need them but the Japanese ones seemed to be sized differently. Trust me the conversation to try and find the right size is a nightmare.

Can't you just tell the store clerk "Boku no sugoi amerika no chinpo wa dekai condom ga irimasu yo!"

 

[aoi tsuki]

so you squat over those things? I'm still now exactly sure what you do.

Japanese porn showed me everything i need to know about using one.

 

[cvxfreak]

Get to the airport super early and ask for an exit row seat.

 

[Hitman]

IN SOVIET RUSSIA, TOILET PEES ON YOU![/QUOTE]

:lol

 

[DCharlie]

all this condom in japan talk... it's a bit.. you know... rubbish isn't it?

i'm hardly packing the kind of tackle you could hang washing off, but neither am i in danger of being savaged by the morning birds if i awaken in the middle of a park, on my back, naked as god intended.

I've had zero condom issues here. Nothing. None. Zero. Zip.

 

[tetsuoxb]

I can only speak for personal experience, but Japanese condoms have not faired well for me.

In one night, I broke 3 straight okamoto condoms. Cost me a month of worrying and 60 dollars for the girlfriend at the time to get the morning after pill. They were standard size okamotos found in any love hotel.

However, the okamoto "big boy" brand that have a bit wider girth also seem to be made out of stronger latex than the "jelly" condoms you normally find. I never had any problems with those.

If you are coming for a long time, it is probably best to buy a family pack of your favorite brand from your home country. A box of 10 big boys cost me like 1200-1400 yen. Thank god the girlfriend is on the pill... much more cost effective.