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suztan posted:The reason I ask about the Shinkansen Experience is because I'm the type of person who gets really excited about fast trains. Wikipedia says that the Chuo Shinkansen is supposed to have public test rides but Google gave me nothing, so I was considering a brief Shinkansen trip to fill that desire. But if it doesn't get up to speed going to Odawara, I'd rather save my money. However you should go to Odawara if you've got the time and budget, the castle there is awesome. Also the Chuo Shinkansen is a long way from doing anything with the public. First shakedown tests were a couple of months ago (Does it fit on the track? Yes! Can it move a bit? Yes!), and the first speed runs will be going on this September.
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Aug 1, 2013 23:06
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Stumbling Block posted:Well the biggest Book-off store in Japan is located there. It's ok. It didn't seem that big to me at all, must be because the store is made up of multiple levels, 7 I think, and extremely narrow walk space to pack more shelves in. I just went there the other day, hoping I could find Slam Dunk 7-10 (complete edition). As you'd expect, they have a large selection of "otaku" manga, but the Book Off near Ueno Hirokoji and the other out by Inaba or wherever actually have a better selection of the complete editions of various manga. I think the one by Ueno Hirokoji just has a better selection in general as opposed to a ton of duplicates of the same stuff.
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Aug 1, 2013 23:56
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What is it with the people reading directly in front of the shelves. Thanks for clogging the lane, Taro.
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Aug 2, 2013 02:58
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Would getting a King whetstone (Japanese company I think) be cheaper in Japan or should I just get one from the US?
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Aug 2, 2013 07:05
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DontAskKant posted:Would getting a King whetstone (Japanese company I think) be cheaper in Japan or should I just get one from the US? My gut instinct says "everything except for Paperwhites and food is cheaper in the US."
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Aug 2, 2013 07:50
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tarepanda posted:My gut instinct says "everything except for Paperwhites and food is cheaper in the US." The way I read that says food is cheaper in Japan. Is it possible for someone to do a search for me? I'm looking for a King 1000/6000 combination waterstone. If it's under $39 I'll wait till I get to Nagoya.
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Aug 2, 2013 07:57
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DontAskKant posted:The way I read that says food is cheaper in Japan. Is it possible for someone to do a search for me? I'm looking for a King 1000/6000 combination waterstone. If it's under $39 I'll wait till I get to Nagoya. Food is cheaper, usually you pay $15 here for some terrible quality Japanese food. There are a bunch of different versions of 1000/6000 stones on amazon, but its around $39. Really almost anything can be had online these days except maybe clothes, I save room in my bags for food honestly.
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Aug 2, 2013 13:36
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Uncle Jam posted:Food is cheaper, usually you pay $15 here for some terrible quality Japanese food. Ah, prepared Japanese food. I'd be buying online shipping in America and hoping my friend has room to bring it back to me in Korea. It's $90 in Korea.
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Aug 2, 2013 17:46
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Has anyone rented a mobile WiFi from this company before? http://www.globaladvancedcomm.com/pocketwifi.html Looks like a great deal with great speeds. 7900 YEN for 10 days for the 75 Mbps model. Any opinions?
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Aug 2, 2013 21:03
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Busy Bee posted:Has anyone rented a mobile WiFi from this company before? Picking it up and returning it is just about the easiest thing in the world with airport pickup, as long as you don't accidentally check your bag with the return envelope like I did  I ended up paying 350 yen (gently caress da USPS/UPS/FedEx) for a new envelope/shipping at the airport post office and I didn't get any angry e-mails after so that ended up okay as well I guess
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Aug 2, 2013 22:44
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Hey Japan goons, I need your help! A group of us are heading to Japan for two weeks. We're going to Summer Sonic and then travelling around a bit. I was hoping someone could check out our itinerary and maybe offer some advice. Tokyo 8/9-9/12: Studio Ghibli, Mt. Fuji, Robot Bar, Parasite Museum, and the Giant Gundamn. Hiroshima 8/12-8/17: Atomic sites and maybe a trip to Miyashima. Kyoto: 8/20~: still open and unplanned. We've all been to Japan before so our itinerary is kind of odd. We're actually looking quirkier attractions in these cities because we've seen most of the main tourist sites. If there are any strange bars (fetish, Nazi cosplay, etc.) that would be acceptable for non-Japanese speaking foreigners to visit, we'd really like to know. Also, any kind of strange museums or off the beaten track stuff you can think of would be really helpful. Sorry if this is a strange question, but finding things like this with no Japanese ability is really difficult. I'm not sure if there are any boxing fans here, but our group has a few of them and we really want to see the fight on August 12th at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo. We've already e-mailed a company that supposedly deals with foreigners, but they never replied. If we need to book tickets early, how would we go about doing it? Here's a link to the fight: http://boxrec.com/date_search.php?yyyy=2013&mm=08&dd=12
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Aug 8, 2013 05:10
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Andro posted:Tokyo 8/9-9/12: Studio Ghibli, Mt. Fuji, Robot Bar, Parasite Museum, and the Giant Gundamn. What's the Robot bar and Parasite museum?
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Aug 8, 2013 05:24
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Mister Roboto posted:What's the Robot bar Perhaps he's talking about this place: http://www.shinjuku-robot.com/pc/
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Aug 8, 2013 05:37
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Mister Roboto posted:What's the Robot bar and Parasite museum? Found both of those on Atlas Obscura: http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/kabukicho-robot-restaurant http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/meguro-parasitological-museum
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Aug 8, 2013 05:48
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Andro posted:If there are any strange bars (fetish, Nazi cosplay, etc.) that would be acceptable for non-Japanese speaking foreigners to visit, we'd really like to know. Also, any kind of strange museums or off the beaten track stuff you can think of would be really helpful. Sorry if this is a strange question, but finding things like this with no Japanese ability is really difficult. There is a penis museum in Gunma. It's way off the beaten track. Part of the admissions fee is an old woman fondling your junk and pronouncing judgment.
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Aug 8, 2013 09:25
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tarepanda posted:Part of the admissions fee is an old woman fondling your junk and pronouncing judgment. I completely believe this, so please tell me if you're joking.
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Aug 8, 2013 09:31
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tarepanda posted:There is a penis museum in Gunma. It's way off the beaten track. Thanks so much, we'll definitely be going. I think I'm going to accidentally forget to tell my friends about the copping a feel part.
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Aug 8, 2013 09:41
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Bloodnose posted:I completely believe this, so please tell me if you're joking. http://www.gunmajet.net/travel/gunmas-penis-museum-jessie-zanutig/ quote:One-by-one she made her way around the group copping a feel of the guys in the vicinity, explaining to each one their reproductive ailment. “Big body, small penis!” she said to one poor, now emotionally damaged, young Japanese man. She made her way to our party and despite all hesitation and attempts to guard ourselves, she grabbed us three in our private areas and explained that we are, “too dry”, “too loose”, and “with bad technique”.
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Aug 8, 2013 09:43
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Andro posted:Hiroshima 8/12-8/17: Atomic sites and maybe a trip to Miyashima. If you have the rail pass I'd suggest you spend two days in Hiroshima and then come hang out in Fukuoka for a few days. You'll enjoy yourself much more and I'll show you around. I've never been to Hiroshima but almost everyone I have talked to that has been there is quite meh about it. Hiroshima is full of old, bitter people. If you can come on a Thursday and leave on Sunday I can promise you a great time.
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Aug 8, 2013 12:48
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Ned posted:If you have the rail pass I'd suggest you spend two days in Hiroshima and then come hang out in Fukuoka for a few days. You'll enjoy yourself much more and I'll show you around. I've never been to Hiroshima but almost everyone I have talked to that has been there is quite meh about it. Hiroshima is full of old, bitter people. If you can come on a Thursday and leave on Sunday I can promise you a great time. 5 days in Hiroshima does seem like way too much out of 2 weeks. One full day in Hiroshima and one full day of Miyajima is plenty. I agree - continue on to Kyushu with your JR Pass, especially since they've opened new shinkansen tracks in Kyushu now.
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Aug 8, 2013 13:22
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Ned posted:If you have the rail pass I'd suggest you spend two days in Hiroshima and then come hang out in Fukuoka for a few days. You'll enjoy yourself much more and I'll show you around. I've never been to Hiroshima but almost everyone I have talked to that has been there is quite meh about it. Hiroshima is full of old, bitter people. If you can come on a Thursday and leave on Sunday I can promise you a great time. WTF Ned, I thought you moved to Tokyo? I don't share Ned's feelings on Hiroshima, but 5 days is rather excessive. Miyajima is really nice, but you only really need part of a day to see it and go up the mountain, and a day to see the sites in Hiroshima proper.
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Aug 8, 2013 13:53
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teddust posted:WTF Ned, I thought you moved to Tokyo? Yes, but something not good happened so I came back to Fukuoka for a bit. If I stay in Japan I'll most likely end up back in Tokyo but I'm looking at my options right now. Like I said, I've never been to Hiroshima but my roommate went with a bunch of friends last weekend and they were so happy to be back in Fukuoka after their trip. I was walking home and I ran into two of the guys that went and one is full Japanese and the other is half Japanese and they didn't have many nice things to say. I've heard very nice things about Miyajima but that is an afternoon trip. Hiroshima proper will probably only depress you - especially at this time of the year.
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Aug 8, 2013 14:06
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Ned posted:Yes, but something not good happened so I came back to Fukuoka for a bit. If I stay in Japan I'll most likely end up back in Tokyo but I'm looking at my options right now. I'm very interested in what you have to suggest about Fukuoka! What things can be done there? I'll be there for a while visiting some other friends there. Do you have any suggestions for hostels and places to stay for a night?
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Aug 8, 2013 16:15
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Ned posted:If you have the rail pass I'd suggest you spend two days in Hiroshima and then come hang out in Fukuoka for a few days. You'll enjoy yourself much more and I'll show you around. I've never been to Hiroshima but almost everyone I have talked to that has been there is quite meh about it. Hiroshima is full of old, bitter people. If you can come on a Thursday and leave on Sunday I can promise you a great time. Thanks for the advice about Hiroshima, I guess we'll cut that short and go elsewhere. I ran Fukuoka by the group, but were all living in Korea and have been there already. Also, we're not getting the rail pass with Shinkaisen.
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Aug 8, 2013 17:22
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Andro posted:Thanks for the advice about Hiroshima, I guess we'll cut that short and go elsewhere. I'm pretty sure the JR Pass is all-or-nothing, meaning it comes with all shinkansen except Nozomi and Mizuho. If you're not getting a pass at all, Tokyo to Hiroshima to Kyoto and back is pretty loving expensive unless you're doing overnight trains or buses or something. Possibly even more than the JR Pass itself if you're doing ala cart shinkansen for those routes.
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Aug 8, 2013 19:37
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The only problem I find with shinkansens is the lack of luggage storage place. You'd be fine if you just have a overnight or duffle bag as you can cram those around your seat area but for large luggage it'd be horrible. Now do that for 3 hours. I've still yet to use the luggage delivery service I tend to see around the place. Can't be cheap though I think.
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Aug 8, 2013 23:21
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But the trains are never full, lots of free space! Don't the seats also swivel allowing you to stash extra space? Or is that only the keisei sky liner?
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Aug 9, 2013 00:20
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caberham posted:But the trains are never full, lots of free space! Don't the seats also swivel allowing you to stash extra space? Or is that only the keisei sky liner? Depends on the line/day/time. I ride the shinkansen from Takasaki to Tokyo some Sunday nights and it's always crammed to capacity, usually with all the reserved seats taken, the free seats taken, and people standing in the hall.
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Aug 9, 2013 01:22
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gently caress two days, I lived in Hiroshima for a year and my advice for the tourist is don't spend more than a whole day there. Seriously, do the peace park in the morning and Miyajima for lunch/afternoon, then have okonomiyaki maybe stop by DeoDeo (since there basically aren't any in Tokyo) and drink a bit at night and you're done. Hiroshima castle is boring. To be really honest unless you're  atomic bomb I suggest skipping the peace park/bomb museum altgoether, but those two continue to be a highlight of most (Americans') trips.You'll definitely be bored off your rear end with 5 days, especially if you've been here before. zmcnulty fucked around with this message at 01:32 on Aug 9, 2013 |
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Aug 9, 2013 01:24
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Andro posted:Trip plans If you want to hit the Ghibli Museum and haven't yet, make sure to get tickets in advance (if you can—I've heard you need considerable lead time but I'm not positive that's true) since they only do reserve tickets ahead of time.
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Aug 9, 2013 01:30
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Gonna throw out my Usagi-shima rec for Hiroshima. I still haven't been yet, but keen to go.
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Aug 9, 2013 01:42
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Stumbling Block posted:The only problem I find with shinkansens is the lack of luggage storage place. You'd be fine if you just have a overnight or duffle bag as you can cram those around your seat area but for large luggage it'd be horrible. Now do that for 3 hours. You can usually shove a suitcase behind a seat at the back of the car. I did it a couple of weeks ago and everything went fine. Mister Roboto posted:I'm very interested in what you have to suggest about Fukuoka! What things can be done there? I'll be there for a while visiting some other friends there. Do you have any suggestions for hostels and places to stay for a night? Basically food, booze, people. I like to go to Yatais and I know a bunch of cheap restaurants with good food. If you go out partying on Saturday night you'll meet a lot of friendly people. As far as actually touristy things Fukuoka doesn't have that many. There are some interesting buildings in town and dazaifu is fine for a day trip but if you like seeing things Fukuoka is a bit disappointing. However, if you like ramen Fukuoka is great.
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Aug 9, 2013 02:39
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I am doing a train trip to Fukuoka and was planning on stopping in Hiroshima and staying there one night. Are people saying Hiroshima can done in a day?
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Aug 9, 2013 02:55
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I say yes. See 5 posts ago... Also if anyone needs drink tickets for Stella (a club in Fukuoka) I still have two in my wallet, gratis.
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Aug 9, 2013 02:57
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zmcnulty posted:I say yes. See 5 posts ago... If you're offering, may I please use both of those? I'll be in the area in about 3 weeks.
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Aug 9, 2013 03:13
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Certainly but I'm in Tokyo
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Aug 9, 2013 03:24
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zmcnulty posted:Certainly but I'm in Tokyo May I have your email?
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Aug 9, 2013 03:38
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Sure, my username@gmail
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Aug 9, 2013 04:44
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Am I going nuts, but I remember reading a post from someone saying they got a shinkansen umbrella from a JR shop somewhere, but for the life of me can't find it with search. Just trying to get the in-laws to get our son some shinkansen toys of some kind, and they don't know where to get them (yep, I have already said yodobashi anywhere, but probably best luck in shinjuku or akihab). Or was that in the LAN thread. I may be going nuts 
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Aug 9, 2013 05:43
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Wibbleman posted:Am I going nuts, but I remember reading a post from someone saying they got a shinkansen umbrella from a JR shop somewhere, but for the life of me can't find it with search. Just trying to get the in-laws to get our son some shinkansen toys of some kind, and they don't know where to get them (yep, I have already said yodobashi anywhere, but probably best luck in shinjuku or akihab). I think they sell Shinkansen products at the department stores along with Pokemon and etc. Lots of elementary school kids use them. I don't think I've ever seen an umbrella, though. They also sell little model Shinkansen toys actually ON the Shinkansen, on that little cart that they push through the aisle
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Aug 9, 2013 09:56
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