Poll: Ever been to Japan?
- Thread starter MortarTeam
- Start date
Recommended Videos
You see, therein lies the problem.Toriver said:
I'm a nice guy, I go out of my way to be polite and not get in people's way, to do the right thing even though its an inconvenience to me, whatever. I do my best to, as the base commander says, "be a good ambassador to the US!".
But I'm met with the distain of my ancestors, people who have long since left the island, or the recent jackasses who have since been removed from the country and the military. Its not my fault people have waged war against them, wasn't my choice to be sent there, and there was nothing I could do to prevent the marines causing problems in Okinawa, people driving drunk here in Misawa getting into wrecks, I couldn't have stopped any of that if I wanted. But here I am, branded the same as those people. Which is fine, whatever, I understand the reasons behind it (even though we did send loads of relief after the earthquake, I myself personally volunteered over 50 hours of my time doing hard labor cleaning up nearby towns). What I really don't like about them is they are one of the few first world countries that don't have laws against discrimination. they are perfectly legal in putting up signs that say that gaijin aren't welcome. If I'm sitting in my car, keys out of the ignition and a Japanese National hits me with their car, it's my fault and my insurance will reflect that ("if I hadn't been there, it wouldn't have happened.").
Frankly, I'm kinda tired of it to be honest. Their culture seems nice, and for the most part it is. Nobody will be openly hostile towards you in public, and they won't tell you off in public either (at least not in a language you will understand). But underneath it all is the racism, the hostility, and in some cases, the anger. So, defend it, condemn it, it doesn't matter to me. I've witnessed genuinely innocent people being goaded into fighting JN's so they would get arrested, I've seen the bills and the court settlements of people who didn't even have the car started get blamed for car crashes. It's not fair, but the Japanese government doesn't give a shit, your American, all they want is your money, everything else about you can go.
Your right, and wrong. The usual tourist traps (Tokyo, Shibuya, Sendai(before the quake), Sapporo, etc.) sure. But due to the military bases, there pretty much isn't a place that doesn't have some well beaten path. Mt. Fuji for example has loads of people, pretty much everyone I know here has climbed it (military guided tour services, gotta love em)jadias said:
I live (t)here for now, city called Yokosuka. Yep, I'm one of the military personnel over here. And yes, they do hammer in the whole "Ambassador" thing pretty hard. Trouble is, we're not popular with the locals.
BUT that's a military thing and not the purpose of this post. It's a good place to visit, and a good place to live if you can. I do miss the states, though. Still, there's a lot to see and do. Hiking Fuji ranks as one of my favorite memories. And that little amusement park jes' off the mountain... phew, that tiny little place has two of the best roller coasters in the world.
It's cool.
BUT that's a military thing and not the purpose of this post. It's a good place to visit, and a good place to live if you can. I do miss the states, though. Still, there's a lot to see and do. Hiking Fuji ranks as one of my favorite memories. And that little amusement park jes' off the mountain... phew, that tiny little place has two of the best roller coasters in the world.
It's cool.
No, I haven't, though I would like to go, purely for the experience. I'm learning Japanese now as a matter of fact, starting by teaching myself the Kana through an iPod app (I have the first 30 hiragana memorised after neglecting my studies for a couple of months - not bad, methinks ;D). So I'd love to go at some point, though whether or not I could afford to is another matter entirely...
I've been to Japan for a few weeks to visit some family. I only spent a few days in Tokyo and the rest in the countryside. It was during the summer and there was a heat wave. With the higher humidity there it felt extremely hot. The electronics district was crazy, there were soo many people, a lot of whom were dressed up in cosplay. The countryside was completely different, there weren't too many people and it felt much more traditional and peaceful.
I've been there, and I've had pretty much the same experience as what other people have been saying; annoying language barriers and rampant xenophobia.
Sure, there were some scenic places and some neat technology (The bullet train was pretty cool, you don't even feel like you're moving, but the world flies by at 200mph.)
But at the same time, a lot of the culture has been lost due to that rapid westernization. Its damn near impossible to find a shrine or something, because they practically hide the damn things and all the signs leading to them are only in Japanese.
Generally speaking, everyone there is far too reserved. Its super crowded in the cities, so the lunchtime and dinnertime rushes make it near impossible to find a good place to eat.
I was even kicked out of both a restaurant and a 1 yen arcade for being a foreigner.
It was fun, but I doubt I'd go back, there are far more beautiful, interesting, and welcoming places in the world I'd rather visit first.
Now,Thailand, on the other hand, is a WONDERFUL place to go! The only reason I ever spent a week in Japan was on an "extended layover" on my way to Thailand, because that's where my adopted sister is from.
Its just as crowded, and far poorer, in Bangkok, but everybody greets you with a smile there. They are the nicest people I've ever met in my life.
Sure, there were some scenic places and some neat technology (The bullet train was pretty cool, you don't even feel like you're moving, but the world flies by at 200mph.)
But at the same time, a lot of the culture has been lost due to that rapid westernization. Its damn near impossible to find a shrine or something, because they practically hide the damn things and all the signs leading to them are only in Japanese.
Generally speaking, everyone there is far too reserved. Its super crowded in the cities, so the lunchtime and dinnertime rushes make it near impossible to find a good place to eat.
I was even kicked out of both a restaurant and a 1 yen arcade for being a foreigner.
It was fun, but I doubt I'd go back, there are far more beautiful, interesting, and welcoming places in the world I'd rather visit first.
Now,Thailand, on the other hand, is a WONDERFUL place to go! The only reason I ever spent a week in Japan was on an "extended layover" on my way to Thailand, because that's where my adopted sister is from.
Its just as crowded, and far poorer, in Bangkok, but everybody greets you with a smile there. They are the nicest people I've ever met in my life.
I can see AMAZING country side in bundles of countries. Japan does not interest me at all. The people, the culture, the country, none of it is of any interest to me at all. I am allowed to think this, you do realise?jadias said:
And you can spin the population thing anyway you want, but even outside of the major cities Japan still has an incredibly high population density and to actually find an area of Japan that is interesting to see and isn't swarming with people at some stage wouldn't be worth the hassle of going there. And actually finding these places without knowing any Japanese would be hell.
No, and it's pretty low on my list of places to visit, too. I don't really like Nintendo, never played any JRPG's and never owned any Play Station product except the PSP. I hate sushi (all sea-food, really) and I hate crowded places.
Oh there are plenty of places without a beaten track, trust me! You just have to go and find them, and even that's not that hard.MakerOfRoads said:
As for Fuji, do your guided services really climb it in winter (i.e. January)? It's a pretty intense climb requiring crampons, axe(s) and possibly rope depending on conditions (and the skills to use them!), not to mention very cold bivvying (a friend attempted it last year and had to bail after spending a night in a snow cave at about -35 Celcius). A far cry from the obnoxious summer queues!
Wow, touchy. I was just trying to say that to lump all of Japan in as being 'overcrowded' is a far cry from reality, and if you ever decided to give it a second look you wouldn't be disappointed. I'm not one for cities at all - I'd much rather be hiking or climbing - and I managed to spend 3 months traveling around without feeling like it was dragging at all.SillyBear said:
And it's really not hard to get around or to find places to go. I went with no plan whatsoever and no Japanese language ability and I never had any problems at all. The people are so helpful it's never an issue. Take a Lonely Planet book and some internet research as a VERY rough guide, be prepared to go off the beaten trail and have adventures of your own and you will always find places to go and things to do that are as far from the crowds as you can get.
Look, it's a cultural thing. I can't think of a more unappealing culture than Japan. Also, the country side you are so keen on selling to me doesn't appeal to me either. I'm Ghanaian, Japan isn't for me.jadias said:
I don't really want to spend thousands of pounds going to Japan just so I can walk around vaguely seeing things I don't want to see and getting confused in a culture I don't want to interact with.
Just because you love Japan doesn't mean everyone else has to!
