Japan: Donki is both the best and worst store I've ever seen

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > Japan: Donki is both the best and worst store I've ever seen

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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!

# ¿ Jan 5, 2016 11:38

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 17:16

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Eriog and kaplama's post histories.

# ¿ Jan 8, 2016 07:19

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

davey4283 posted:

Alright guys, my wife and I are also taking a trip to Tokyo and will be there for 7 days.

I've been researching buying katanas and it sounds like its going to be pretty impossible. We live in Abu Dhabi so the plan was to drop at least a grand on a legit (sharp) sword and send it to my mothers in Georgia.

Do any of you guys have experiences relating to the purchase of a legit katana?

Georgia the state or Georgia the country?

If it's the state you'll be better off looking for one on eBay, lots of swords were brought over after the war, and there's some pretty decent new swords being made in the US.
Eg, http://www.mvforge.com

If you're dead set on buying one in Japan, this is where people from my iaido dojo bought swords:
http://www.toukenhataya.jp/goods/sword/sword.html

You can see the prices. Also you're going to need someone who speaks Japanese well. Most of his swords are older I believe and would therefore probably be classified as national treasures and illegal to export. You also need a license to even carry one, and a locking bag to carry it in. It's possible you could get him to ship it straight from the store, but I really have no idea about that.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2016 08:06

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

peanut posted:

You can get touristy katana at the Sensoji souvenir market, or get some fancy cooking knives made by real sword smiths that will actually be useful (and easier to carry home.)

For cooking knives I've got a chef's knife from here:
http://www.mtckitchen.com/c-3-tsukiji-masamoto.aspx
They've got a shop in Tsukiji and the prices there are less than half what they are on that site.

If you're down with a non-sharp sword (iaito), this guy carries some very nice ones:
https://www.seidoshop.com/collections/minosaka-iaito

# ¿ Feb 8, 2016 08:11

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

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!

# ¿ Feb 20, 2016 12:53

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

paberu posted:

Have you looked at Rusutsu? Plenty of really long runs (3 mountains!) and the powder there is amazing. Also the smaller run stays open till 8:30pm.

Seconding Rusutsu.

# ¿ Feb 26, 2016 09:26

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

lovely pic, but you can see the cherry buds growing :dance:

These are the ones along the river in Ichigaya, so they get a lot of sun and are around the first to bloom.

# ¿ Feb 26, 2016 09:30

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

So I just walked past this the other day, apparently it's just opened in the past year or so:
https://www.facebook.com/samuraimuseum.jp/

Y'all tourists should check it out if you're in Shinjuku.

# ¿ Feb 28, 2016 00:57

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Go here. Bonus is that it's only like a hundred meters from the robot restaurant so you can double up.

Stringent posted:

So I just walked past this the other day, apparently it's just opened in the past year or so:
https://www.facebook.com/samuraimuseum.jp/

Y'all tourists should check it out if you're in Shinjuku.

# ¿ Feb 29, 2016 10:44

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

ErIog posted:

I dunno, seems like lots of Japanese people go to Ramen after a night out drinking. So it's pretty social.

caught pre-edit

# ¿ Mar 4, 2016 13:14

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Don't be a picky eater is pretty good advice for traveling in general.

# ¿ Mar 5, 2016 11:49

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

caberham posted:

Try the beer there. It's surprisingly good and the bottle is beautiful.

And show up to whatever booking even 5 min before start. One thing I like about Japan is how on time everyone is. I was surprised that some restaurants refuse walk ins even when people are late and the tables are empty

You weren't impressed, you were really pissed off.

# ¿ Mar 6, 2016 12:23

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Azubah posted:

Heading to Japan on Saturday, I'll be in a town near Tokyo for 3 weeks.

Other than the usual nerd places, what else should I consider hitting? I hear the Robot Restaurant is pretty awesome.

This place is about 100m from the robot restaurant: https://www.facebook.com/samuraimuseum.jp/

# ¿ Mar 8, 2016 01:38

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Americans are nicer and kinder than people in Japan.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2016 13:21

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Deltasquid posted:

I'm glad that a lot of Japanese cities seem as bike friendly as Europe.

I'm not sure where you got that from, but I hope you're not easily disappointed.

# ¿ Mar 21, 2016 02:07

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

I have yet to see a cop riding on the road instead of the sidewalk in Tokyo, so yeah.

# ¿ Mar 22, 2016 05:11

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Phone posted:

Akihabara is hot garbage.

Nipponbashi/Den-Den Town is where it's at.

(fight me)

The gently caress is Nipponbashi?

# ¿ Mar 31, 2016 17:20

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

zmcnulty posted:

This place is the tits, stay there every year and always recommend it to friends.
http://www.bankyu.co.jp/en/

Thanks for this.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2016 04:02

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Lumberjosh posted:

Life as an 'ideas' guy tends to include the soft-skills-smackdown. But honestly, companies in every country on earth need people that do the bullshit high-level business and marketing work, and shockingly it's not a skill-set that many people have (that is to say most neckbeards lack rudimentary creative, social and management abilities). At least that's what I tell myself to sleep at night.

Anyways, my question is whether or not anyone out there has seen these types of positions being held by non-fluent foreigners? Given the responses I'm assuming the answer is no, or at least that it's very uncommon. Also, just to clarify, I'm not asking about finding a highly paid position sitting around making power points about synergy, pivoting, and product-market fit. I'm generally interested in soft-skills product/marketing/biz-dev positions (the types of things that every company on earth needs people to do).

Most of those positions are for people who are transferred internally, aka the expat package. Out of curiosity, how do you intend to do marketing and business development in a country where you can't speak the same language as your potential customers?

# ¿ Apr 5, 2016 04:52

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Lumberjosh posted:

I'd be limited to working with international firms. From what I've seen most of the positions that are listed without fluency requirements are for companies in Japan that are looking to grow their audience internationally.

Sounds like a bit of a needle in a haystack, but good luck.

# ¿ Apr 5, 2016 06:10

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

net work error posted:

I saw a bunch of tourists grabbing branches at Shinjuku Gyoen and it definitely sucked.

Holy hell there are so many tourists in gyoen. I live nearby so I go there a lot, and the number of tourists this year seems to have doubled from last year, and it was only like 3-4 years ago that there were practically none.

# ¿ Apr 10, 2016 09:25

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Pasela I'd think.

# ¿ Apr 11, 2016 03:25

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

netcat posted:

I rented a bike in Kyoto and this city suddenly became a whole lot nicer. Here's a monkey

Yeah Kyoto is pretty much perfect for bikes.

# ¿ May 15, 2016 12:17

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Shadowhand00 posted:

I used Tabelog and the romanization worked in terms of finding most restaurants.

Googling "tabelog romanization" tends to work really well for me (minus the quotes of course).
Also give this a go: http://tabelog.com/kyoto/A2601/A260101/R3313/map/?SrtT=trend&svd=20160519&svt=1900&svps=2

The rating scale is at the bottom. Tabelog ratings are extremely subjective at the best of times. Furthermore Japanese people tend to have a different set of criteria from foreigners in general and tourists in particular, but anything 3.0+ is gonna be a safe bet.

# ¿ May 19, 2016 07:58

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

A Big... Dog posted:

What's a good little day trip from Tokyo that I can do on a Suica? I'm thinking a nice town. Or something.

Koedo: http://www.koedo.or.jp/foreign/english/

Also, Kamakura? Yokohama chinatown?

Stringent fucked around with this message at 05:16 on May 23, 2016

# ¿ May 23, 2016 05:13

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

making GBS threads where you wash is so barbaric.

# ¿ Jun 2, 2016 23:43

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Vidaeus posted:

I am an Australian and after visiting Japan twice, I am strongly considering incorporating a Japanese style shower/bath room and bidet toilet seats if I ever build a house again.

EDIT: Don't build a house, it's a giant pain in the arse and takes ages. Also sucks heaps of your time.

Just in time water heaters and washlets almost make up for anime.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2016 12:58

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

ntan1 posted:

Hi,

My name is Ntan One and i would like to recommend the Tokyo Tower
You may see Mount Fuji from the top of beautiful tower.
You can enjoy very good view of Tokyo.

I would also like to suggest that you visit the city of Kyoto.
Kyoto has many traditional wonders and the history of Japan.
May I recommend that you go to the Kiyomizudera?

Thank you for listening!

I too am thinking that if one can has these experiences than one can have the great happiness to come to Japan.

# ¿ Jun 19, 2016 10:06

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

You'd probably enjoy this: http://en.rocketnews24.com/2014/10/09/a-man-made-cave-of-wonders-the-worlds-biggest-underground-storm-drain-in-kasukabe-japan/

# ¿ Aug 10, 2016 06:01

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

What's wrong with a surfboard on the Shinkansen? I take skis all the time and it's no problem.

# ¿ Aug 13, 2016 06:02

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Almervida posted:

OK all jokes aside - am I allowed to bring my surfboard to an onsen?

I think most onsen are going to be too small to surf in?

# ¿ Aug 15, 2016 09:41

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

zmcnulty posted:

Sorry to burst your bubble but Japan fell behind the curve in regards to consumer electronics like 15 years ago. Sony is basically just Playstation and NEX, Sharp is owned by Foxconn, and Panasonic is essentially a crappier Samsung. These days Akihabara stores all have the same stuff as your local Fry's.

You can get kiddy porn doujinshi at Fry's now?!??

# ¿ Aug 29, 2016 04:04

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Grand Fromage posted:

I don't know any major corporations that have boycotted Ohio for being so bigoted they're embarrassed to be associated with it.

You also picked the worst example because a whole branch of my family left NC to move to Ohio so that conversation has, indeed, happened among people I know personally.

Where in NC? Except for the Triangle, Asheville and Wilmington NC is pretty terrible.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2016 06:00

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Real talk, spend the whole trip in Tokyo and go out with goons chasing loose women. They will show you the ropes then you're on your own.

If you want restaurant recommendations ask in here, don't listen to caberham he lives off of suitcases of instant ramen while abroad.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2016 12:38

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Phone posted:

Don't make me fly through China

Don't book those. Go through ANAs site, I think they'll have something competitive.

You might have to fly from Charlotte though.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2016 12:39

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Your Dunkle Sans posted:

Uh... Is this sarcasm or a back-handed compliment? It's the internet, so it's hard to make out tone.

Yes, all of them.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2016 13:27

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

I'm gonna be visiting the family in the US next month and I need to pick up omiyage. What with living here, I kinda forget what people might want from here. Do any of y'all have suggestions?

# ¿ Aug 31, 2016 08:12

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

I guess I should have mentioned, we've been doing kitkats and candy for years and years now.

# ¿ Aug 31, 2016 09:19

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Making some progress at least, gonna bring some tako wasabi this year.

# ¿ Aug 31, 2016 09:40

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 17:16

Stringent: Dec 22, 2004; image text goes here

Oh that reminds me. One year I took my dad back a set of nail clippers like this. Japan makes some really excellent nail clippers.

# ¿ Aug 31, 2016 12:48

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > Japan: Donki is both the best and worst store I've ever seen

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