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peanut
Sep 9, 2007


Update February 2024:

Saladman posted:

You aren't supposed* to be walking around alone without a Japanese chaperone, or at the very least a Japanese-speaking foreigner. You'll definitely get a lot of very strange looks on the street, and you definitely won't be able to get served in any restaurant. Fortunately, there are vending machines all over the place so you won't starve to death, but you'll have to survive on sugary liquids from vending machines, or whatever you can get from 7/11.

Make sure to carry your passport on you at all times in case a policeman stops you, and be ready to show your visa and hotel booking.

There's a reason that very, very few foreigners go to Japan every year, and next to none of them go without guided tours. It does mean it's almost entirely virgin territory for foreign tourists though, so the hassle makes up for it in the untouched splendor of sites you'll never see on travel blogs or YouTube.

*Further context: it's not explicitly forbidden, it just goes against social mores, like drinking water in public during Ramadan in most Muslim-majority countries, or picking your nose and wiping it on your pants while in a crowded bus.

Have fun and let us know how it goes though! We get almost no trip reports of Americans traveling alone in Japan.

Goons like Japan. Some goons live in Japan. Japan goons and goons coming to Japan and goons that have been to Japan and other goons with no Japan experience can discuss Japan things and talk about Japan in this thread. :japan:

The internet already has all the Japan information ever but you can post here anyway.

Vegetarian Food: you won't easily find more than this tbh
https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3758863&pagenumber=13&perpage=40#post457670099

GHIBLI TICKETS
https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3758863&perpage=40&pagenumber=180#post493789658
First, figure out the starting date and time of the sale for the tickets you want. Tickets for any given month go on sale at 10am JST on the 10th of the previous month. So, for all tickets in March, the sale date is February 10th at 10am in Japan, which may be, if you're in many other parts of the world, February 9th for you.
(See link for full guide.)

Caberham's P Good Tokyo Food Guide
https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3758863&userid=0&perpage=40&pagenumber=182#post493871614

punk rebel ecks posted:

Maybe. In reality I'm a 32 year old virgin who has since childhood dreamed of having an Asian girlfriend ever since playing as Chun Li in Street Fighter 2 for the Super Nintendo. Since then I have gradually become more and more obsessed with Eastern, and especially Japanese, culture. During highschool I insisted on my peers adding honorifics to my name. So I'd be called something similar to "Punk-chan". I'd also frequently call my teachers "sensei" in school. I've went to detention a few times because of this, where I'd usually draw Dragonball fanart of various characters as my girlfriend. Since leaving school I've worked odd jobs that while they don't pay much, they are enough for me to live on my own apartment. I spend my free time either watching anime while eating my favorite cup noodles, or just posting on these dead gay forums. I typically like shows similar to Recovery of an MMO Junkie, ReLife, and Aggretsuko as they remind me there are women in my dating range with similar insecurities waiting for me. That's where I am in life right now.

peanut fucked around with this message at 22:57 on Feb 5, 2024

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peanut
Sep 9, 2007


lol my kawaii face got garbled, mods fix the title if you care ヽ(o`皿′o)ノ

Stringent
Dec 22, 2004


image text goes here
Me and my boyfriend are are both vegans and allergic to rice and on a very tight budget, could you recommend some restaurants in Tottori?

Thanks!

peanut
Sep 9, 2007


Use a convenience store microwave to boil water to reconstitute dry seaweed, hth

Knuc U Kinte
Aug 17, 2004

Stringent posted:

Me and my boyfriend are are both vegans and allergic to rice and on a very tight budget, could you recommend some restaurants in Tottori?

Thanks!

Lmao. It begins.

Yorkshire Pudding
Nov 24, 2006



Spot reserved for 60 paragraph diatribe about how much I've learned about myself and the Yamato people after 4 months here, and how it has changed me forever.

Madd0g11
Jun 14, 2002
Bitter Vet
Lipstick Apathy
You see Japan is like Anime because...

peanut
Sep 9, 2007


Can someone please ask about travel cell phones then another person answer that question, but in a current and accurate way tia

Soricidus
Oct 21, 2010
freedom-hating statist shill
ガス

I LIKE COOKIE
Dec 12, 2010

I heard the sushi actually sucks???

Confirm/deny

Soricidus
Oct 21, 2010
freedom-hating statist shill
the sushi is good, except when it's bad

peanut
Sep 9, 2007


Maybe all sushi is bad if u don't like sushi, makes u think

Soricidus
Oct 21, 2010
freedom-hating statist shill
the sushi is still good. If you don't like it then you're simply wrong.

Phone
Jul 30, 2005

親子丼をほしい。

peanut posted:

Can someone please ask about travel cell phones then another person answer that question, but in a current and accurate way tia

Guys, I have an unlocked cell phone and another backup unlocked cell phone, and I know how to navigate through bmobile's site.

I don't have a question, I was just bragging.

Soricidus
Oct 21, 2010
freedom-hating statist shill
Is the best way to get cheap unlimited internet access on all your devices still to rent a portable wifi hotspot from one of the numerous companies that provide this service with English websites and convenient postal pickup from your arrival airport, such as global advanced communications? If possible please reply before my next trip to Japan which will probably be some time in 2017.

ALFbrot
Apr 17, 2002
Is there any place good to eat in Tokyo???? ??? ?

netcat
Apr 29, 2008

ALFbrot posted:

Is there any place good to eat in Tokyo???? ??? ?

I have never been there but I think we can all agree that no, there is not.

Soricidus
Oct 21, 2010
freedom-hating statist shill

ALFbrot posted:

Is there any place good to eat in Tokyo???? ??? ?

yes, there's a place that does amazing tonkatsu, it's the one with the name outside in kanji, just down the road from the curry place

Phone
Jul 30, 2005

親子丼をほしい。
There's this place you might have heard of, it's called タコ ベール, it's really G O O D.

Knuc U Kinte
Aug 17, 2004

Asking for good tonkatsu is like asking if there's any good McDonalds around.

Phone
Jul 30, 2005

親子丼をほしい。
I ate McDonalds in Osaka, it was really salty (and had an egg).

Coco Ichiban: literally #1, accept no impostors, etc.

ALFbrot
Apr 17, 2002

Phone posted:

I ate McDonalds in Osaka, it was really salty (and had an egg).

Coco Ichiban: literally #1, accept no impostors, etc.

A friend of mine tried to recommend that I go to "Coco curry" over voice chat, and raved about how good it would be.
I went into a Go!Go!Curry, because I thought I had misheard it, and it was just ok. Imagine my surprise when, weeks later, I stumbled upon a CoCo Ichiban and ate that poo poo, holy drat it was so good

ReindeerF
Apr 20, 2002

Rubber Dinghy Rapids Bro

peanut posted:

lol my kawaii face got garbled, mods fix the title if you care ヽ(o`皿′o)ノ
Mods, please leave this appropriate Galapagos thread title intact.

Asteroid Alert
Oct 24, 2012

BINGO!
My dad (60) and my little brother (16) are coming in march to visit me. Since I live in the Inaka of Hiroshima, I want to ask you goons what would be a good itinerary for 8 days. They'll be flying into Nagoya and I'll be there to meet them.

Knuc U Kinte
Aug 17, 2004

Last time I was in Nagoya I got chased out by an old man yelling at me because he thought I was American. Ymmv though.

peanut
Sep 9, 2007


2 days Hiroshima (one day in your town), 3 days Kyoto + Nara, 1 day Osaka, 1 day Nagoya
Check JR passes for West Japan/Kansai only

Everyone please photobomb this thread with nice pictures

ALFbrot
Apr 17, 2002

Knuc U Kinte posted:

Last time I was in Nagoya I got chased out by an old man yelling at me because he thought I was American. Ymmv though.

Chased out of what? Nagoya? I'm really enjoying the mental image of a grumpy old japanese man following you, angrily yelling, making all the same train changes as you, until you're in Gifu or something

Bikini Quilt
Jul 28, 2013
I was asking about teaching English in Japan a bit in the previous thread, and I've got one more quick question for anyone that's been down that road:

How far in advance should I be actively job-hunting? Ideally I'd like to give myself a couple months to scrape together as much money as possible so that I don't have to stress out about living paycheck to paycheck from the moment I land, but I'm not real clear on how long the actual process of securing a job is going to take. Should I start looking at postings / sending out resumes now, or are schools looking for people that can do an interview and book a flight as soon as possible?

Phone
Jul 30, 2005

親子丼をほしい。
How do you plan on entering the country? Tourist visa and leveraging that into a work visa?

The old OP boiled that down to "noooooooooooooooo".

Knuc U Kinte
Aug 17, 2004

ALFbrot posted:

Chased out of what? Nagoya? I'm really enjoying the mental image of a grumpy old japanese man following you, angrily yelling, making all the same train changes as you, until you're in Gifu or something

I was already walking back to my car and he just followed us.

Knuc U Kinte
Aug 17, 2004

Full Fathoms Five posted:

I was asking about teaching English in Japan a bit in the previous thread, and I've got one more quick question for anyone that's been down that road:

How far in advance should I be actively job-hunting? Ideally I'd like to give myself a couple months to scrape together as much money as possible so that I don't have to stress out about living paycheck to paycheck from the moment I land, but I'm not real clear on how long the actual process of securing a job is going to take. Should I start looking at postings / sending out resumes now, or are schools looking for people that can do an interview and book a flight as soon as possible?

I started looking for work a week after I arrived, but the market was actually good then. Have fun making matsuya money scraping together 15 hours of work a week.

TriggerHappy
Mar 14, 2007

Full Fathoms Five posted:

I was asking about teaching English in Japan a bit in the previous thread, and I've got one more quick question for anyone that's been down that road:

How far in advance should I be actively job-hunting? Ideally I'd like to give myself a couple months to scrape together as much money as possible so that I don't have to stress out about living paycheck to paycheck from the moment I land, but I'm not real clear on how long the actual process of securing a job is going to take. Should I start looking at postings / sending out resumes now, or are schools looking for people that can do an interview and book a flight as soon as possible?

My sister teaches English in Nagoya. While she still lived in the states she went through an agency that placed her into a job, found an apartment, handled the initial work visa stuff, etc. It was all done before she entered Japan.

Bikini Quilt
Jul 28, 2013

Phone posted:

How do you plan on entering the country? Tourist visa and leveraging that into a work visa?

The old OP boiled that down to "noooooooooooooooo".

Ah yeah I should have clarified that I am trying to find a job online before I get there, I've heard just showing up and looking for a job on the ground is a really bad idea.

I'm just not sure if I should be trying to get hired now while I'm saving up some extra cash, or if I should wait until I've got everything 100% sorted out, just to be safe. I'm guessing most prospective employers are looking for someone that can fly out as soon as possible, rather than someone who wants to fly out in a month or two, but I dunno how long the actual process of Looking for a job -> Flying to Japan generally takes.


edit:

TriggerHappy posted:

My sister teaches English in Nagoya. While she still lived in the states she went through an agency that placed her into a job, found an apartment, handled the initial work visa stuff, etc. It was all done before she entered Japan.

This is pretty much exactly what I'm hoping to do. It sounds like a pretty streamlined process. From what I've read so far it sounds like January - March is prime hiring time for ALT positions, so I'm just kinda trying to find balance that with giving myself enough time to build myself a better financial safety net in case something doesn't go according to plan.

Bikini Quilt fucked around with this message at 22:20 on Jan 6, 2016

peanut
Sep 9, 2007


They used to say 3 months from interview to flight. April, August and January are common start times (beginning of semester) but eikaiwa jobs will hire year-round.

Idk just apply for a lot

Madd0g11
Jun 14, 2002
Bitter Vet
Lipstick Apathy

U liek animu

Bikini Quilt
Jul 28, 2013

peanut posted:

They used to say 3 months from interview to flight. April, August and January are common start times (beginning of semester) but eikaiwa jobs will hire year-round.

Idk just apply for a lot

Thanks for the info! Sounds like I should definitely start the process now then, and use the time in between to pad my savings out a bit more.

I still need to do a bit more research but right now I"m leaning more toward an ALT position rather than an eikaiwa job. Of course if I can find one that pays well and is in a good location, I'm probably not going to be too picky. I've seen a lot of recommendations to start with an ALT job just because it's a bit less hectic and you don't have to worry about having quite as many responsibilities dropped on you from day 1, but I dunno how accurate that is, and I'm sure a whole lot of it comes down to where you end up and who you are working for / with. There's a lot of conflicting opinions out there.

Madd0g11 posted:

U liek animu

My anime exposure is pretty much limited to whatever used to show up on adult swim + Akira. Tbh I'm much more of a cinema / lit nerd, and I like the Japanese food I've tried even if most of it was almost assuredly not authentic.

Bikini Quilt fucked around with this message at 00:19 on Jan 7, 2016

Yorkshire Pudding
Nov 24, 2006



JET is the best paying option for people without something like a Master's in TEFL/TESOL, but you need at least a Bachelor's for JET. Regardless, you've actually just missed the application deadline by about a month, and it's on a yearly rotation, which sucks.

INTERAC is the other option I know a few people do, and it has more seasonal hiring schedules so you may be able to apply for this Summer or something.

I also know a few people who just rolled into the country and found Eikawa jobs. The caveat with that being both of them were 1.) Kiwis, so they had a 'Working Vacation' 1-year Visa, which you can't do if you're from the US 2.) Both had SOs in JET who were set up with apartments/jobs/connections so they had somewhere to live when they got here. I wouldn't recommend trying that 'Roll up and see what you can find for work' thing. I've heard people who've had success with that in SE Asia, but Japan is way different.

I've never worked for an Eikawa, but ALT jobs seem to be a lot more stead with regular hours, less responsibility, and better pay. But they're also harder to get. Again, I would recommend JET or INTERAC, even if it means having to wait another year.

Aredna
Mar 17, 2007
Nap Ghost
What are your qualifications to find any job? What degree and experience do you have? Without enough of either or a both it's going to be impossible anyways. Even as an intra-company transfer with my company paying everything I had to prove I had a degree to get my visa.

Knuc U Kinte
Aug 17, 2004

With jet you'll be waiting more that a year even if you get lucky and they give you an April spot with next years intake. More like 18 months.

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Gabriel Grub
Dec 18, 2004
English teacher chat might better be corralled into this thread.

As far as I know the OP is still relevant.

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