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THE LUMMOX posted:Does anyone have the opening hours of the Toyokuni Shrine in Kyoto? bump. I heard Japanese goons were helpful and handsome with a high degree of physical prowess.
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Sep 15, 2013 13:20
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The b-mobile sim works just fine here in Kyoto in my (Verizon) iPhone 5. The phone doesn't actually show visible strength of the signal (for whatever that matters anyway), which I expected, but it's more than fast enough for what I need it for.
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Sep 15, 2013 13:45
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THE LUMMOX posted:bump. I heard Japanese goons were helpful and handsome with a high degree of physical prowess. The treasure house is open 9-5 with the last entrance at 4:30. Otherwise, shrines don't usually really close.
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Sep 15, 2013 16:30
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Mingo posted:The treasure house is open 9-5 with the last entrance at 4:30. Otherwise, shrines don't usually really close. Thanks! So does this mean I can walk around the "grounds" later in the evening?
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Sep 15, 2013 16:49
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marmot25 posted:The b-mobile sim works just fine here in Kyoto in my (Verizon) iPhone 5. The phone doesn't actually show visible strength of the signal (for whatever that matters anyway), which I expected, but it's more than fast enough for what I need it for. Did you just get it at the airport? Do you remember if there were like 1 week or 5 day options? I imagine there have to be options for business travelers.
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Sep 15, 2013 17:14
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DontAskKant posted:Did you just get it at the airport? Do you remember if there were like 1 week or 5 day options? I imagine there have to be options for business travelers. I had it shipped to my hotel since I wasn't sure if I'd make it to the post office at KIX before they closed on a Sunday. I was also a little worried about setting something to "arrive" on a Sunday--whether Yamato would deliver then or not--but then in the end I realized that I should have a little more faith in Japanese delivery services and sure enough it was waiting for me there. I just got the 1GB one, so not per-week/day. As a backup I have Verizon's terrible-but-better-than-before 100MB for $25 package (with extra data billed in those chunks)--which was giving me fine 3G in the Osaka area on the train here (make sure to forward voice and text to google voice before you leave though--the calling/sms rates are still absurd on this plan.) If I really didn't care about price, I'd just do that instead of bmobile, but I figured I should save my boss some money.
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Sep 15, 2013 22:12
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Japan goons. My phone is in the interminable and calcifying process of going kaput. The iPhone 5s is slated to be released in a number of places on the 20th, and while my country of residence isn't among them, Japan is. Apparently the frequencies are compatible and I can just have the unlocked A1453 model phone enabled in Korea when I get back. I'm passing through Okinawa until the 21st and want to buy one then. Is there any sort of chicanery or foibles that go into this that are particular to Japan? I don't know if I need registration, or preorders, or if they are only sold under contract, or what. Edit: So, it turns out no carriers sell unlocked iPhones, with there being an increasingly receding chance that Docomo will for the upcoming 5s. Welp. tirinal fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Sep 16, 2013 |
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Sep 16, 2013 02:15
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For what it's worth, Softbank absolutely refuses to unlock iPhones, so whatever you do don't get one from them unless you like having an expensive iPod. No clue on the other carriers.
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Sep 16, 2013 02:18
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Well I was going to hop on the Shinkansen to go to Osaka for the afternoon but nooope: typhoon halted a shitton of trains around here.
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Sep 16, 2013 06:29
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Can't you just go to an apple store or order online and deliver it to some Japanese address?
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Sep 16, 2013 08:00
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Eifert Posting posted:I'd also really like to hit up a premier Yakitori place. One of the ones that butchers the birds on premises and offers chicken sashimi and the like. Torishiki is absolutely the best place for this, but good luck getting a reservation less than three months in advance. Decent alternatives include: Akira http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1317/A131701/13019676/;(deserves a better rating than it's got currently, unless it's gone downhill substantially since I last went a couple of years ago?) Toriyoshi (the guys who opened Torishiki worked here first) http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1317/A131701/13003200/ Toriteru in Shinagawa has excellent reviews, no idea how hard it is to get a reservation http://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1314/A131403/13014051/ I'd say Akira was your best bet because the location is also pretty good and they've really got the theatrics down. That said, it's more of a chicken place than a yakitori place, so there's a different vibe. Dmoz fucked around with this message at 17:11 on Sep 16, 2013 |
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Sep 16, 2013 17:04
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Ned posted:I did my best to show him a good time! (Actually, I did very bad that time. Was too tired!) I think that was Cameron and HIS KOREAN GIRLFRIEND. Sim Card talk again. Looking at a few sites and I'm seeing 5000 per week thrown around a lot. that or 7500. I see the B Mobile one that is 1gb at 3,980yen + 210 delivery fee. The site didn't say how fast the delivery is. Also, is this really the easiest way? Can't they just have a lady stand at a desk and sell them. The returning of the sim card is annoying too. Looking at the costs, with the first option it's actually cheaper to use my roaming plan. With the second option it might be a little bit cheaper to use the B Mobile one, but the hassle of dealing with payment, hoping they deliver it on time, that the airport postal person knows enough English to understand what I want, and then returning the drat thing outweighs the maybe 500 yen I would save. I need to ask my local provider what their coverage is like in Japan, because right now for the short term traveler from Korea in Japan the sim card thing sounds like an awful idea. Why does Singapore have it so easy and cheap and Japan is this ... difficulty. Does anyone have any stories of getting one at the airport? Or are there any other options? (I was getting upset, but then I remembered that I don't think it's that much easier or cheaper in Korea) DontAskKant fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Sep 16, 2013 |
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Sep 16, 2013 19:22
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Because Japan. It's a weird country with many weird rules. Just rent a phone at the airport. Also rename this thread to phonechat.
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Sep 17, 2013 00:12
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DontAskKant posted:(I was getting upset, but then I remembered that I don't think it's that much easier or cheaper in Korea) Last time I was in Seoul I paid like 86000 won for 10 days of pocket wifi access with unlimited data (At the time of exchange was around 6,000 yen). I just booked it online, picked it up at Incheon an returned it on the way out.
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Sep 17, 2013 00:57
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Madd0g11 posted:Last time I was in Seoul I paid like 86000 won for 10 days of pocket wifi access with unlimited data (At the time of exchange was around 6,000 yen). I just booked it online, picked it up at Incheon an returned it on the way out. Thanks for the heads up on this one, headed to Seoul next month and that'll be a big help while we're there.
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Sep 17, 2013 02:53
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Worth pointing out that Korea has way more wifi than Japan. McD's, coffee shops, buses, the subway, etc all have free ones and there are a ton of non-free ones that often have no password. I'd probably still get the data for reliability but you aren't utterly hosed like I was visiting Tokyo on wifi only.
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Sep 17, 2013 03:08
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86,000 is more than twice what i pay for my unlimited monthly plan. There have to be cheaper options. Part of my complaint was the price, but not getting screwed like that.
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Sep 17, 2013 04:37
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DontAskKant posted:86,000 is more than twice what i pay for my unlimited monthly plan. There have to be cheaper options. SoftBank data roaming is like 3000 yen a day I did one trip to Seoul and did softbank roaming and had like a 30000 yen roaming bill. I count Internet as a necessity like soju and a comfy love hotel. How else would I kakao all day with my soju souljas. Plus tourist are going to pay more. Anyway we should be taking phone poo poo in the phone thread. And maybe update the op with touristy info. Madd0g11 fucked around with this message at 05:57 on Sep 17, 2013 |
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Sep 17, 2013 05:37
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Dmoz posted:Torishiki is absolutely the best place for this, but good luck getting a reservation less than three months in advance. Decent alternatives include: If we get to Torishiki early and camp out will they let us in? Or is it a Mandatory reservation kinda place? Do bribes work? We don't really care about theatrics, it's all about the food. I think I've been in Korea too long, to me the idea of reservations seems nuts. Holy poo poo Tokyo is SOOOOOOOO much more quiet than Seoul. Eifert Posting fucked around with this message at 16:00 on Sep 17, 2013 |
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Sep 17, 2013 15:52
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I'm a 25 year old recent Finance graduate with dual citizenship looking for a job in Tokyo. I was born in Japan but have been living in the US for the last 20 years or so. I speak Japanese with no accent but my vocab is only elementary school level and I cannot read or write kanji, my English is at native level. What are my options? I looked into the JET Program but I do not feel comfortable giving up my Japanese citizenship to do it. A lot of job postings I've seen online require the person to have native Japanese (reading and write) and English so that isn't possible for me at the moment. I've also looked into the Career Fair in LA in October and Boston in November, does anyone have any experience with that?
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Sep 17, 2013 22:44
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I just found out that the place I'm staying at used to be owned by a minister and the family living here thought it was alright after 100,000$ of renovations. I... May be getting a slightly skewed introduction to Japan guys.
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Sep 18, 2013 02:23
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Busy Bee posted:I'm a 25 year old recent Finance graduate with dual citizenship looking for a job in Tokyo. I was born in Japan but have been living in the US for the last 20 years or so. I speak Japanese with no accent but my vocab is only elementary school level and I cannot read or write kanji, my English is at native level. Move to somewhere cheap and temporary in Tokyo to look for a job? Since you have no visa/work permission restrictions you have a lot more flexibility in what kind of side jobs you can do in the meantime to make ends meet. That said in terms of working conditions a lot of side jobs are probably worse than English teacher. Feel free to visit BCF but if your vocab is elementary-level and kanji nil, it's probably a waste of time. The fair is intended for English/Japanese bilinguals, hard to consider you bilingual if you can't read or write.
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Sep 18, 2013 06:03
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Busy Bee posted:I'm a 25 year old recent Finance graduate with dual citizenship looking for a job in Tokyo. I was born in Japan but have been living in the US for the last 20 years or so. I speak Japanese with no accent but my vocab is only elementary school level and I cannot read or write kanji, my English is at native level. Don' do English teaching if you can at all avoid it, and definitely don't give up your Japanese citizenship if you want to work in Japan (also try to make sure you don't make it obvious you're maintaining both). You're not really a bilingual with your limited vocab. What you should have been doing was studying Japanese as you went along so that you could at least say that you had business level, then you would have been in a pretty good position to find something. As is you're not going to have much luck I'd say. I say if you're not too hard pressed for money, go to BCF and see if you can get lucky with a job. It's not very likely because of your low level of Japanese but it's not impossible, and it could be a good opportunity to see what options are available and get used to career fairs, which could be one of your best paths to find a job in the future. Though anecdotally apparently there are a lot of companies moving away from the BCF because it's expensive and there are fewer students coming so they're apparently seeing diminishing returns, but other career fairs which are largely like BCF can be a good avenue to get jobs. I actually got a job through the MyNavi career forum in Tokyo. zmcnulty probably has the best idea. Because you've got a passport you're able to just come to Japan and try and figure something out. If you have the money available, my recommendation would be to try and take Japanese classes for a year or so and get your reading and writing level up to somewhere decent. Because you have the base of the spoken language you should be able to learn really fast if you take the time. You can also work part time here because of your passport; you could do English teaching on the side if you really need the money, but I'd recommend living cheap and scrimping and borrowing if needed, then working someplace where you'll use Japanese, even just in a restaurant or something. Edit: It should be said that it's not impossible to get a job without Japanese, especially if you have a background in what you want to do and have a decent academic record, give good interviews, etc. But you will definitely be judged rather harshly for looking Japanese (or half-Japanese?) and not speaking Japanese. Edit 2: Come to think of it my school, Sophia University, has language courses, usually in the morning, which are geared specifically towards people like you who are Japanese but don't read or write. Classes start at the end of this month so it's probably too late this round, but it might be possible in the future, if you're interested, to take them. I know of people who weren't full-time students taking the non-native Japanese classes. LimburgLimbo fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Sep 18, 2013 |
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Sep 18, 2013 07:24
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Eifert Posting posted:If we get to Torishiki early and camp out will they let us in? Or is it a Mandatory reservation kinda place? Do bribes work? We don't really care about theatrics, it's all about the food. I think I've been in Korea too long, to me the idea of reservations seems nuts. No. It's got so bad that they reserve standby slots. That said, if you turn up at like 10, 10.30 you might get lucky? Absolutely no promises though. If it doesn't work out, just go to Midori next door and drown your sorrows with crap food but 150Y draft beer.
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Sep 18, 2013 08:31
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Does anyone have a good medium advancedish Japanese course? Preferably audio? I absorb it all more easily when I can just walk around with headphones on, and the Pimsleur course worked well for me, but I can't find any courses that go beyond expressing basic everyday/business concepts.
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Sep 18, 2013 09:49
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Just a heads up, I lived in the Republic of Georgia for a half a year or so and Georgian food is really hard to find outside the former Soviet Bloc. I heard that Russia Cafe over in Kichijoji had a couple of Georgian staples so I went over with my girlfriend. Place is legit. Their kachapuri (Think gourmet cheese hotpocket) was a little less salty than you'd find in Georgia but otherwise was dead on. Also they had kharcho (spicy lamb, tomato and rice stew) which was honestly better than most I had in Georgia. They even had Borjomi. So if for some reason you want to try it out it's at least authentic, if extremely limited in selection I'm staying in Nishi Ojima, by the way. Eifert Posting fucked around with this message at 10:21 on Sep 18, 2013 |
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Sep 18, 2013 09:59
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Shibawanko posted:Does anyone have a good medium advancedish Japanese course? Preferably audio? I absorb it all more easily when I can just walk around with headphones on, and the Pimsleur course worked well for me, but I can't find any courses that go beyond expressing basic everyday/business concepts. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3438030
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Sep 18, 2013 11:22
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Ah there we go.
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Sep 18, 2013 19:19
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Reservation for Harutaka tomorrow. 
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Sep 19, 2013 11:14
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The Japanese to English dictionary works again in iOS 7. Praised be to Jobs!
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Sep 19, 2013 16:51
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LimburgLimbo posted:Text Thank you, that was very helpful. After you mentioned Sophia University, it caught my eye that they have a Masters program for International Business & Global Studies that is taught in English. I have been seriously looking into that and was wondering if anyone here had any other suggestions for universities in Japan that have business related degrees that are taught in English. Also, what is the reputation of Sophia University and it's student body? Is it considered a good reputable school?
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Sep 20, 2013 18:17
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Degrees in business from Japanese schools are worthless for work. Degrees in business in Japan are primarily academic.
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Sep 21, 2013 06:27
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Best quote of the Japan trip so far "It's like Korea if it were run by adults, with all the good and bad of that"
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Sep 21, 2013 09:28
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"You mean I can't get blind drunk at the PCbang then stagger around town puking on everything and screaming profanity before gorging on spicy fried chicken at 6 in the morning?" *Rates 1 star on trip adviser*
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Sep 21, 2013 11:47
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Eifert Posting posted:"You mean I can't get blind drunk at the PCbang then stagger around town puking on everything and screaming profanity before gorging on spicy fried chicken at 6 in the morning?" STOP FOLLOWING ME MAN
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Sep 21, 2013 11:50
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Who were are the goons planning trips for October? Shikoku festival season is coming up! Ehime and Kagawa have a lot going on in mid-October. 10/15-16 Saijo Matsuri (shown: Kamogawa kawa-iri on the last day) peanut fucked around with this message at 22:47 on Sep 22, 2013 |
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Sep 22, 2013 22:45
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It's also likely that Niihama's little island, Ooshima, will have their danjiri, mikoshi and fishing boat matsuri 10/12-13. 10/16-18 Niihama Taiko Matsuri (shown: Yamane Ground)
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Sep 22, 2013 22:46
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I was headed to Japan (arrive on Oct 2 to the 24th) but I was going to visit Kansai (staying in Kyoto, but also visiting Osaka, Nara and Koya), Kyushu (split between Nagasaki and Kagoshima) and then Tokyo (with a side trip to Yokohama). Looking for some good places to eat good ramen. I kind of want to know if the places that I've eaten ramen at in the states are poo poo (which I highly suspect), or if I just don't like ramen. Also some decent and cheap conveyor-belt sushi places. Are there any (reasonably priced) local foods I should try? Also, I kind of want to try an onsen with a poo poo-ton of sulfur, magnesium and a whole bunch of other strange minerals in the water in Kagoshima, but I am terrified of loving it up. Either accidentally going into the wrong gender bath, or waltzing buck naked into a mixed bath or something else completely stupid. Advice?
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Sep 26, 2013 20:05
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ookuwagata posted:I was headed to Japan (arrive on Oct 2 to the 24th) but I was going to visit Kansai (staying in Kyoto, but also visiting Osaka, Nara and Koya), Kyushu (split between Nagasaki and Kagoshima) and then Tokyo (with a side trip to Yokohama). Being naked in a mixed bath isn't a problem, unless it's some kind of weird dressup bath. I love Nakamoto ramen, it's a chain with very spicy ramen, but I dunno if it's in Kansai too. The one in Shibuya has great shrimp ramen on the custom menu (to the right of the door). Otherwise head for Yokohama for Ie-kei ramen, or basically any ramen place that looks good and doesn't have a stupid tourist menu or generally looks touristy. Avoid the main streets of Shibuya and places like that. Basements tend to be better. Chiyoda sushi has cheap conveyor sushi and is a recognizable chain. Onsen for the first time is kinda weird I admit but you get used to it pretty quickly. Take off your clothes, put them in the basket, put the basket on a shelf. Go in the place, grab a little plastic stool (with the little hole in the top) and sit on it at a faucet, clean yourself with the water (use a plastic basin to toss water over yourself if there's no showerhead), rinse off all the soap and haul your naked rear end on into the water next to another naked man. Enjoy. Shibawanko fucked around with this message at 20:27 on Sep 26, 2013 |
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Sep 26, 2013 20:19
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Beyond specifics of which baths to go to etc, as long as you wash your body before you go in the baths you're pretty much golden. No one is really going to care about anything else.
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Sep 26, 2013 20:34
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