Much ado about Japan

Erana

New member
Feb 28, 2008
8,010
0
0
I am going to be heading to Japan in... Four hours?
Anyhow, I was wondering if you have any suggestions on what I should do in Tokyo. Also feel free to throw in what you, yourself would do in Japan.
 

EnzoHonda

New member
Mar 5, 2008
722
0
0
I was in Japan last year for a while. In Tokyo: Buy tons of stuff from all the vending machines. When I was in Japan, I always had a (non-alcohol) beverage in one-hand and a cigarette in the other. At any time of day or night. The people I was with enjoyed some of the booze that they can provide. Seriously, it feels barbaric in North America when you walk down a residential street and there aren't five vending machines spewing out goodies. When I want cigarettes, I want them now, damnit!

There was some famous temple in the middle of Tokyo. I forget the name, but it's neat to be walking through a quiet forest in the middle of one of the world's biggest metropolitan areas and coming across HUGE gates and a HUGE temple.

The best way to find a good restaurant/bar/karaoke place in the Tokyo area? Find a tall building. Go to the elevator. Read the list of floors and find something that looks like what you want. Then you get to go up to the 11th floor, to a little restaurant that is PACKED. A very unique experience.

They like having fireworks festivals in Japan. If you're there long enough, one will come along. It's not a great fireworks display per se, but it is neat if you want to watch the sky blow-up for 20 minutes.

If you have to go anywhere outside of Tokyo, take the bullet-train. Maybe it's because I'm a techno/speed fiend, but it was a real experience to be on a bullet-train. You will want your home nation to start building bullet-trains as soon as you ride on one.

Take your camera EVERYWHERE! I cannot stress this enough. You will always want to take pictures.
 

Wazzelbe

New member
Apr 16, 2008
49
0
0
Augh. Damn. You're gone now. Ah well, Enzo's been there for longer than me, probably.
Here's a list of things you can should maybe try to do once (or more) IN ORDER while you're suffering from jet lag in someplace like Tokyo. Like Enzo says, "Take your camera EVERYWHERE!":

1: Be up at an odd hour of the morning (like, REALLY early. You're probably already doing this).

2: Take a bath/shower. Whatever they call sitting buck naked on a bucket and spraying yourself with a shower nozzle. THEN you get to go sit buck naked in a hot tub, probably with some old guy or whoever else is up so early. I dunno if this qualifies as "fun"... but it's refreshing and nice to drink in the zen feeling in the hot tub and you probably need a bath after something like 15 hours on a plane.
Oh, and don't take your camera in there.

3: Maybe go to a fish market or something. This is about the time all the fishing boats are coming in and restaurant people are buying all the fresh fish. It's fun, and you don't need to know much Japanese! Also, you have to ride a train or bus to get there, probably. Those are fun, too.

4: Right after this, chill on the second floor of a Starbucks or in a resteraunt or something. I don't know many Starbucks or McDonalds with a second floor outside of Tokyo and some parts of Europe, but these make you feel REGAL, as you gaze down on passing pedestrians. Also, it's handy for step 5, assuming it's still relatively early in the morning.

5: Look at everyone go to work and school. The scant minutes before the morning rush, the streets are almost completely empty and people sweep some roads like it's a theme park. Then there's an EXPLOSION of black-suited, commuter-type guys, as well as your typical uniform'd highschool goers, just for that "Huh, they actually dress like that." kick. Then it's gone until later in the day. Like a tide.

6: Pretty much up to you. Not to sound like an NPC from Oblivion, but the best way to know the place is to see it for yourself. It's like Cyrodiil all over again, sans the Argonians and stuff! Example: You might see MORE THAN ONE BUTTON on a stoplight near a crosswalk. It might have a small illustration like a speaker phone next to it. PRESS THIS BUTTON. The music this creates for visually-impaired people to follow across a street is STILL in my mind.

Hope you come back with fun stories and such. I also hope you're jet-lagged so you might do this.
 

Akatsuki_slave

New member
Apr 7, 2008
26
0
0
Places in Tokyo that rock:

Harajuku and Yoyogi Park are right next to each other and both awesome. Go on a Sunday to check out the cosplayers who hang out there.

Ueno park has a lot of stuff to do in and near it, like Ameyoko across the street. It's beautiful in the spring, but really crowded.

Shibuya is fun at night. I always ended up drunk when I went there but it's great.

Akihabara is fun for gamers.

Ikebukuro is awesome! There's an awesome little street w/ a ton of anime shops that has game and anime stuff. It was my favorite place when I lived in Japan.

Disney Sea is really worth it too, if you like Disney parks. It's totally unlike any other Disney park in the world.

Outside of Tokyo:

Kamakura is a really lovely day trip from Tokyo. It has the largest outside Buddha in Japan.

Nikko is another really nice day trip. Get there early and watch out for monkeys. They steal shit.

Kawaguchiko is a beautiful area around the base of Mt. Fuji called Fuji 5 lakes. Great for getting away from Tokyo. Mt. Fuji is beautiful and the forest around its base, Aokigahara Jukai, is amazing, but don't get lost in it b/c you could easily, umm, die.

If you're going to Kyoto too, try to check out Nara and Himeji Castle. Both are really worth it.

Have fun ^_^
 

Rigs83

Elite Member
Feb 10, 2009
1,932
0
41
What is wrong with Japanese [http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/jewish-human-rights-group-protests-anti-semitic-ad-in-nihon-keizai-shimbun], they are publishing books blaming Jewish people for the current economic collapse.
 

AmrasCalmacil

New member
Jul 19, 2008
2,421
0
0
Rigs83 said:
What is wrong with Japanese [http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/jewish-human-rights-group-protests-anti-semitic-ad-in-nihon-keizai-shimbun], they are publishing books blaming Jewish people for the current economic collapse.
Thanks for telling us. Not that anyone's going to care longer than the time it takes to report you.
 

Berethond

New member
Nov 8, 2008
6,474
0
0
Rigs83 said:
What is wrong with Japanese [http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/jewish-human-rights-group-protests-anti-semitic-ad-in-nihon-keizai-shimbun], they are publishing books blaming Jewish people for the current economic collapse.
You necroed a thread a year and a half old, only to post a hateful comment that's not even on topic?

Bad, unwise move.
 

Rigs83

Elite Member
Feb 10, 2009
1,932
0
41
berethond said:
Rigs83 said:
What is wrong with Japanese [http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/jewish-human-rights-group-protests-anti-semitic-ad-in-nihon-keizai-shimbun], they are publishing books blaming Jewish people for the current economic collapse.
You necroed a thread a year and a half old, only to post a hateful comment that's not even on topic?

Bad, unwise move.
Explain how this is hateful. They are publishing antisemitic books and when I use the much wonted search bar on the topic It gave me this. I take offense because they were part of the Axis and this stuff looks like a retread of a terrible time in history.
Seventy years ago antisemitism was rampant and right wing parties were being elected in Europe during a time of terrible economic crisis that people wrongfully blamed others for and went to war and did terrible things.
 

Fire Daemon

Quoth the Daemon
Dec 18, 2007
3,204
0
0
Rigs83: You could have made an interesting thread using that article and other pieces of evidence concerning racism in Japan as well as other countries. I don't blame you for using the search bar and then using the first thread you found, everyone says that's what you're supposed to do, but it would have been better to make your own topic. I doubt people are going to tell you to use the search bar because this topic exists.

Erana: How was Japan?

EDIT: My post didn't sound right when I read it back so I edited it a bit.
 

AmrasCalmacil

New member
Jul 19, 2008
2,421
0
0
Rigs83 said:
berethond said:
Rigs83 said:
What is wrong with Japanese [http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/jewish-human-rights-group-protests-anti-semitic-ad-in-nihon-keizai-shimbun], they are publishing books blaming Jewish people for the current economic collapse.
You necroed a thread a year and a half old, only to post a hateful comment that's not even on topic?

Bad, unwise move.
Explain how this is hateful. They are publishing antisemitic books and when I use the much wonted search bar on the topic It gave me this. I take offense because they were part of the Axis and this stuff looks like a retread of a terrible time in history.
Seventy years ago antisemitism was rampant and right wing parties were being elected in Europe during a time of terrible economic crisis that people wrongfully blamed others for and went to war and did terrible things.
Aha.

Incidently British Soldiers are poorly equipped and attacking an Eastern nation just like in the mid 19th century!

In that case I'd better go and opress some natives.
 

Rigs83

Elite Member
Feb 10, 2009
1,932
0
41
AmrasCalmacil said:
Rigs83 said:
berethond said:
Rigs83 said:
What is wrong with Japanese [http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/jewish-human-rights-group-protests-anti-semitic-ad-in-nihon-keizai-shimbun], they are publishing books blaming Jewish people for the current economic collapse.
You necroed a thread a year and a half old, only to post a hateful comment that's not even on topic?

Bad, unwise move.
Explain how this is hateful. They are publishing antisemitic books and when I use the much wonted search bar on the topic It gave me this. I take offense because they were part of the Axis and this stuff looks like a retread of a terrible time in history.
Seventy years ago antisemitism was rampant and right wing parties were being elected in Europe during a time of terrible economic crisis that people wrongfully blamed others for and went to war and did terrible things.
AmrasCalmacil said:
Aha.

Incidently British Soldiers are poorly equipped and attacking an Eastern nation just like in the mid 19th century!

In that case I'd better go and opress some natives.
So being quiet and towing the line is the proper thing?
If you see something you don't like say something. You don't like powerful nations picking on poor people in the Middle East, I don't like former Axis nations repeating history when they now have running robots [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93586-Robot-Runs-For-Real].
 

Mookie_Magnus

Clouded Leopard
Jan 24, 2009
4,011
0
0
Rigs83 said:
AmrasCalmacil said:
Rigs83 said:
berethond said:
Rigs83 said:
What is wrong with Japanese [http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/jewish-human-rights-group-protests-anti-semitic-ad-in-nihon-keizai-shimbun], they are publishing books blaming Jewish people for the current economic collapse.
You necroed a thread a year and a half old, only to post a hateful comment that's not even on topic?

Bad, unwise move.
Explain how this is hateful. They are publishing antisemitic books and when I use the much wonted search bar on the topic It gave me this. I take offense because they were part of the Axis and this stuff looks like a retread of a terrible time in history.
Seventy years ago antisemitism was rampant and right wing parties were being elected in Europe during a time of terrible economic crisis that people wrongfully blamed others for and went to war and did terrible things.
AmrasCalmacil said:
Aha.

Incidently British Soldiers are poorly equipped and attacking an Eastern nation just like in the mid 19th century!

In that case I'd better go and opress some natives.
So being quiet and towing the line is the proper thing?
If you see something you don't like say something. You don't like powerful nations picking on poor people in the Middle East, I don't like former Axis nations repeating history when they now have running robots [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93586-Robot-Runs-For-Real].
That's beside the point. Necroing a thread is at least ten times worse than creating a repeat thread. It's also against the guidelines... don't change the subject and start an argument when it was you who were in the wrong.

Also, it's Japan. Have you seen how they portray non-Japanese in their Anime? It's like things you would expect from an old 1940's cartoon.
 

Berethond

New member
Nov 8, 2008
6,474
0
0
Mookie_Magnus said:
Rigs83 said:
AmrasCalmacil said:
Rigs83 said:
berethond said:
Rigs83 said:
What is wrong with Japanese [http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/jewish-human-rights-group-protests-anti-semitic-ad-in-nihon-keizai-shimbun], they are publishing books blaming Jewish people for the current economic collapse.
You necroed a thread a year and a half old, only to post a hateful comment that's not even on topic?

Bad, unwise move.
Explain how this is hateful. They are publishing antisemitic books and when I use the much wonted search bar on the topic It gave me this. I take offense because they were part of the Axis and this stuff looks like a retread of a terrible time in history.
Seventy years ago antisemitism was rampant and right wing parties were being elected in Europe during a time of terrible economic crisis that people wrongfully blamed others for and went to war and did terrible things.
AmrasCalmacil said:
Aha.

Incidently British Soldiers are poorly equipped and attacking an Eastern nation just like in the mid 19th century!

In that case I'd better go and opress some natives.
So being quiet and towing the line is the proper thing?
If you see something you don't like say something. You don't like powerful nations picking on poor people in the Middle East, I don't like former Axis nations repeating history when they now have running robots [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93586-Robot-Runs-For-Real].
That's beside the point. Necroing a thread is at least ten times worse than creating a repeat thread. It's also against the guidelines... don't change the subject and start an argument when it was you who were in the wrong.

Also, it's Japan. Have you seen how they portray non-Japanese in their Anime? It's like things you would expect from an old 1940's cartoon.
No, No, necro is better, but only if it's on topic.
 

Altorin

Jack of No Trades
May 16, 2008
6,976
0
0
the thread would have been better if it had been called "Much Edo About Japan"
 

Scunner

New member
Jan 21, 2009
206
0
0
Rigs83 said:
So being quiet and towing the line is the proper thing?
If you see something you don't like say something. You don't like powerful nations picking on poor people in the Middle East, I don't like former Axis nations repeating history when they now have running robots [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93586-Robot-Runs-For-Real].
Japan was not anti-semetic during WW2, they just thought they were better than everyone else.

(By they, I mean the leaders pursuing the war in China and across the Pacific.)
 

Finnboghi

New member
Oct 23, 2008
338
0
0
Rigs83 said:
AmrasCalmacil said:
Rigs83 said:
berethond said:
Rigs83 said:
What is wrong with Japanese [http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/jewish-human-rights-group-protests-anti-semitic-ad-in-nihon-keizai-shimbun], they are publishing books blaming Jewish people for the current economic collapse.
You necroed a thread a year and a half old, only to post a hateful comment that's not even on topic?

Bad, unwise move.
Explain how this is hateful. They are publishing antisemitic books and when I use the much wonted search bar on the topic It gave me this. I take offense because they were part of the Axis and this stuff looks like a retread of a terrible time in history.
Seventy years ago antisemitism was rampant and right wing parties were being elected in Europe during a time of terrible economic crisis that people wrongfully blamed others for and went to war and did terrible things.
AmrasCalmacil said:
Aha.

Incidently British Soldiers are poorly equipped and attacking an Eastern nation just like in the mid 19th century!

In that case I'd better go and opress some natives.
So being quiet and towing the line is the proper thing?
If you see something you don't like say something. You don't like powerful nations picking on poor people in the Middle East, I don't like former Axis nations repeating history when they now have running robots [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93586-Robot-Runs-For-Real].
Yay hypocrisy!

So what you're saying here is that it's ok to disagree with people, as long as they did something bad nearly a century ago...

But if anyone disagrees with you, then they're in the wrong?

That would make sense, if Japan was ever actually anti-Semitic.

I hate to break it to you, but the Japanese are xenophobic, not anti-Semitic.

They joined the Axis in WWII because Germany by far had the superior military technology, and at the time Japan wanted to expand its' empire - and a World War was the best way to further these goals.
 

Rigs83

Elite Member
Feb 10, 2009
1,932
0
41
Finnboghi said:
Rigs83 said:
AmrasCalmacil said:
Rigs83 said:
berethond said:
Rigs83 said:
What is wrong with Japanese [http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/jewish-human-rights-group-protests-anti-semitic-ad-in-nihon-keizai-shimbun], they are publishing books blaming Jewish people for the current economic collapse.
You necroed a thread a year and a half old, only to post a hateful comment that's not even on topic?

Bad, unwise move.
Explain how this is hateful. They are publishing antisemitic books and when I use the much wonted search bar on the topic It gave me this. I take offense because they were part of the Axis and this stuff looks like a retread of a terrible time in history.
Seventy years ago antisemitism was rampant and right wing parties were being elected in Europe during a time of terrible economic crisis that people wrongfully blamed others for and went to war and did terrible things.
AmrasCalmacil said:
Aha.

Incidently British Soldiers are poorly equipped and attacking an Eastern nation just like in the mid 19th century!

In that case I'd better go and opress some natives.
So being quiet and towing the line is the proper thing?
If you see something you don't like say something. You don't like powerful nations picking on poor people in the Middle East, I don't like former Axis nations repeating history when they now have running robots [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93586-Robot-Runs-For-Real].
Yay hypocrisy!

So what you're saying here is that it's ok to disagree with people, as long as they did something bad nearly a century ago...

But if anyone disagrees with you, then they're in the wrong?

That would make sense, if Japan was ever actually anti-Semitic.

I hate to break it to you, but the Japanese are xenophobic, not anti-Semitic.

They joined the Axis in WWII because Germany by far had the superior military technology, and at the time Japan wanted to expand its' empire - and a World War was the best way to further these goals.
Obviously no one read the link so I'll cut and paste the article here from Japan Today.

Jewish human rights group protests 'anti-Semitic' ad in Nihon Keizai Shimbun

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Los Angeles-based human rights group, on Monday issued a protest to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun-sha over an advertisement appearing in the Aug 2 edition of its Tokyo edition that it alleges to be anti-Semitic.

In a press release also posted on its website, the Wiesenthal Center?s associate dean Abraham Cooper blasted the Nihon Keizai Shimbun for having ?broken a longstanding commitment to desist from running advertisements that promote anti-Jewish stereotypes, by running an advertisement for two books that promote the canard of Jewish control over the global economy.?

The advertisement for ?Why did the Jewish financial system collapse?? (author: Kotaro Nada), which appeared on page 6 of the Tokyo edition, was placed by publisher Apple Shuppan. The ad asks rhetorically, ?Is it true that the Rothschild family controls the global economy?? and purports to explain what was behind the failures of Lehman Brothers, AIG, Citibank and Bear Stearns.

The ad also touts a second work by Nada titled ?Jewish Money: Why are they able to continue to move the global economy??

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun boasts a claimed daily circulation of over 3 million copies. It is often compared to The Wall Street Journal and Financial Times.

The Wiesenthal Center had made previous efforts to dissuade the Nikkei from providing space for offensive ads.

?In 1993, our center protested to the Nikkei for running ads,? Rabbi Cooper pointed out. ?That led to a commitment never to return to such practices. That commitment was shredded by the running of this advertisement.?

Cooper was referring to a one-third page ad placed by publisher Daiichi Kikaku Shuppan that appeared in the Nikkei in July 1993. Festooned with a Star of David, pentagram and various satanic symbols, that ad claimed to reveal that the distorted image of Mt Fuji reflected on Lake Kawaguchi on the now-defunct 5,000 yen banknote was actually Mt Sinai?evidence that the Bank of Japan, Ministry of Finance and other institutions had been infiltrated by a ?Jewish conspiracy? aiming to ?destroy Japan.?

The vernacular Nikkei did not apologize for the 1993 advertisement, but issued a disclaimer asserting that it in no way ?agrees or supports the expressions used in the advertisement.? A spokesman at that time also reaffirmed the company had ?no bias whatsoever toward the Jewish community.?

Works touting Jewish conspiracies can be found for sale in most major book chains in Japan and via Amazon.com?s Japanese site. While the popularity of such works appears to have declined in recent years, the SWC and other Jewish organizations may fear a new resurgence.

?Japan should not return to its status as the number-one producer of anti-Semitic books which legitimized . . . the most insidious conspiratorial anti-Jewish stereotypes,? Cooper remarked. ?Considering the sorry current state of the world economy and the spiking of anti-Semitism across Europe, Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Nikkei company have an obligation to cancel any future ads of this nature, apologize to its Japanese-language readers for this outrageous misstep and educate its current leadership about anti-Semitism.?

I am not disagreeing with you I am just complaining about something I think is a scary trend.
And it is always ok to disagree with people no matter what as long as you give everyone the right to disagree with you. I am not Jewish but I don't like people blaming someone of another faith for their problems to quote Ian Kershaw "The path to Auschwitz was paved with indifference."


Right wing parties are gaining power in Europe, economies are tanking and racial and religious tension is higher than it has been since World War 2. Seventy years ago people and governments stayed quiet and followed a policy of isolationism that let fascist gain power before the start of World War 2, now I don't see another World War but I don't see why I should be quiet.