Questions for those who've been to Japan

[Russzilla]

I know there's a few members that have been over to Japan a number of times. It's always been my dream to visit The Land of the Rising Sun. What's it like? The food? Places to go? The people? The seasons? Etc.

[canofhumdingers]

Japan is tons of fun. Tokyo is just crazy in both size and variety. Shinjuku and Akihabara are two must visit districts. Shinjuku is neat at night b/c it's the entertainment district with all the arcades and pachinko parlors. Akihabara is the "electric town" where you can buy every electronic know to man. But more importantly, if you're a collector, Akihabara is the best place to track down Godzilla goodies. The incredible store "Monsters Labo" is there and I found numerous fun nerderies with plenty of fun toys and collectibles just walking around the area. I don't remember exactly where it was, but another great place for nerd shopping was the Nakano Broadway mall. Google it and you'll find it.

Venturing outside of Tokyo, Kyoto was really neat. Building codes have kept it looking very much like it has since the 60's. It felt like walking around in a Showa Godzilla movie. There's a really neat temple on the mountain that overlooks the city (it's featured in a shot of Godzilla walking by in GvsMG '93 - it's the big wooden deck structure). Also, the older parts of Kyoto are one of the few places you might actually see a real geisha.

For about as foreign an experience as you can get, look into visiting Mount Koya-san. It's got numerous Buddhist temples and what is probably the most famous cemetery in Japan (the Tokugawas - first and second Shoguns - are enshrined there). The really cool part though is the only guest lodgings on the mountain are in the temples with the monks. They serve you breakfast and dinner (you're on your own for lunch) and despite being vegetarian meals, it was some of the best food I've ever had anywhere! The cemetery is also extraordinary as it is made up of winding paths through an ancient cypress forest with ancient stone shrines and statues everywhere. For something extra spooky, walk through it at night - stone lanterns light the way. Also, we were there in October and the maple trees were incredibly vibrant reds and oranges. Koya-san was easily one of the prettiest places I've ever been.

[Russzilla]

How are the people there? Are there many English speaking Japanese citizens? Are they as fond of our pop culture stuff the way we are of theirs?

[canofhumdingers]

The people were generally very nice, though I think we sometimes mistake cultural differences in etiquette and politeness as being nice. (In Japanese culture etiquette is FAR more important and FAR more structured and defined than in America. Someone may appear to be very nice to you when in fact they are just obeying the social norm - as in society may obligate them to help you or be nice to you even though they don't really want to). But even so, I'd still say the people were very nice over all. And like anywhere you go, there are people of all types.

In Tokyo, while I wouldn't say "most" people spoke English, we never had a problem finding someone nearby who could speak enough English to help us communicate. Outside of Tokyo, it was much harder to find anyone who even spoke very broken English. Somewhere like Mt. Koya-san it was near impossible; the lady who checked us into the temple (a sort of travel agent working for the monks from what I could tell) was the only person we encountered who spoke any English at all during the two days we stayed and even she spoke so little that it was a bit of a struggle just to check in. She had a list of rules to explain - etiquette for staying in the temple - and it was kind of hilarious because she had to do more pantomiming than talking. Luckily the website we used to book our stay already had all that information in English and we had read it before arriving.

But with regards to language, I'd highly recommend learning some basic Japanese. I had gotten a book to learn the alphabets (hiragana and katakana can be learned pretty quickly) and also had begun doing the Rosetta Stone. By the time I arrived I knew some very basic phrases, had a very small vocabulary much like a toddler still learning to talk, and could sound out words written in hiragana and katakana, again like a child learning to read. Even this very basic level was extremely helpful at times. Finding specific stores, reading street signs, being able to ask for specific things while shopping - it was very useful. Again, in Tokyo, many signs and things were dual language or at least had the romanji (Japanese spelled out phonetically in English) in smaller print under the main sign, but not always. Outside Tokyo pretty much everything was Japanese only.

I don't know how much they enjoy our pop culture but I got the impression that, much like in America, there are subsets of people who are fans of specific things. The shopkeeper for Monsters Labo told us he's a huge Bruce Springsteen fan and has been to America to see his concerts. But more than meeting fans of some specific pop culture icon, I remember how many people were genuinely excited at the fact we were American. It's the only place I've been in my life (and I travel for a living) where it actually felt like a genuinely rare thing to be American. Even in Tokyo, where you see the most foreigners, Americans aren't common. In the two weeks in the country, we actually never met anyone else from the U.S. The closet we got was meeting a group of Canadians. At the Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo we were talking to a shopkeeper and he said we were the first Americans he'd had in his store in months.

Which brings up another point. If you aren't Asian, you will stick out like a sore thumb. Even in Tokyo you will be in crowds (and I mean, the biggest most crowded crowds you've ever seen) where you will look out across a sea of black hair and be able to play "spot the foreigner". It's pretty hilarious. My wife and I are both white as white can be, tall and with blonde or light brown hair. It didn't matter how crowded or how far separated we got. If we had line of sight we literally NEVER lost each other. My wife took some really funny pictures of me in crowds where, at 6'3 I'm literally head and shoulders above this sea of hundreds of Japanese people around me. It was actually quite fun as I often felt like some sort of giant walking around.

Like I said earlier, it's the only place I've personally been where I truly felt like a complete and utter foreigner with absolutely zero hope of ever blending in. It's also the only place I've been where I felt like I was from some exotic far off land.

[Russzilla]

Well, I guess a 6' 4 black man as myself would really stand out in those crowds then. I really need to go over there one day. Maybe when I retire, the wife and I will do just that. (and maybe by then, i'll feel safer about getting on an airplane again) I remember back in '82, my aunt and uncle went over there for a week. I begged my Mom and Dad to let me go with them as I wanted to see anything that had to do with Godzilla over there. I was 12 years old at the time, and they were gonna let me go with them. Pay for my ticket and everything. But Dad kept saying no because they were going over there during the school year. They brought back some cool things though. One of them was some sort of electronic boxing game I had never seen before. Sadly though, nothing Godzilla related. Are things pretty expensive over there? Magazines? Meals? Electronics? Etc.

[canofhumdingers]

Well, any major city will be pricey compared to other areas, and you can always find expensive places. By in general, no I didn't find it any more expensive than comparable (if there is such a thing - Tokyo is pretty unique) American cities. When I went the exchange rate was pretty close to 100 yen per dollar but just a touch in the US's favor which made the conversions easy to do in your head. And even in Tokyo most stuff was about what you'd expect. We got decent hotel rooms for around $100 to $130 a night, same as what you'd pay in the states. And it was interesting b/c the quality was actually better (much like everything in Japan) but you got less space (also like everything in Japan). Food was no big deal. There are tons of little ramen shops and such where you can eat super super cheap if you want. More average table service restaurants are also priced similarly as in the US.

For comparison I just went to the U.K. last month and it was CRAZY expensive. Even something like going to McDonalds, the value meal would be about the same like say 6.00. But that's 6 British pounds. And the exchange rate was about $1.70 per GBP so that "value" meal really cost over $10! Of the foreign countries I've visited Japan was actually one of the more reasonable price-wise.

[Russzilla]

Just out of curiosity, how much are Blu Ray discs, DVD's, etc., over there? Between $20-$40 like over here? Going to see a movie, etc.

[canofhumdingers]

I dunno about movie tickets, but DVDs and blurays are WAY more expensive and I have no idea why. Blurays are typically $60-$70 (of course the exchange rate plays a part in the exact price). It's been a long time since I've looked but DVDs I think used to go for $40-$50 back in the day.

[Russzilla]

Have you seen Mount Fuji up close? Or is it even very visible from Tokyo? What is TV programming like? Do they have satellite companies like DirecTV or Dish Network here? Different forms of entertainment?

[canofhumdingers]

Mt. Fuji isn't really visible from Tokyo. At least, not the parts I visited. I did get a really good view of it on the bullet train from Kyoto to Tokyo. It's really spectacular. HUGE.

Don't really know anything about their tv service as I was only there on vacation for two weeks back in 2008 or 2009 (man, it's getting bad I can't even remember the year that I went...)

I watched some in the hotels at night sometimes but that's about it. It was just as zany and colorful and loud as anything you've seen on the internet. The crazy stereotypes about Japanese tv, from the little bit I did watch, are not stereotypes at all. That's really how Japanese tv is.

[Russzilla]

Is it true that men come first over women in Japan like Tiger Tanaka says in "You Only Live Twice?"

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

[angilas]

[Russzilla]

People committing suicide at Mount Mihara? Seriously? What's the deal with that?

[Shin_Edda_Robo!!!!!]

[Russzilla]

[canofhumdingers]

From what I've heard suicide is a major problem in Japan. It's like I was talking about earlier with the societal obligations to conform to etiquette. While it means the service is always exceptional anywhere you go, it also means everyone is constantly under extreme pressure to be perfect in everything they do. Add to that a cultural history that has a highly revered ritual for suicide that was often forced upon people for making shameful mistakes or embarrassments and it starts to make sense why Japan would have a very high suicide rate.

[thebaron]

[armandv]

I just got back yesterday. It was cold and snow, but still fun.

I have several articles about the trip:

[Russzilla]

Ahhh, I get so jealous of you guys. Maybe one day. Who knows. Would love to hear from someone who is over there when LP's Godzilla is released.