Top Ten Interesting Things Ian Learnt About Japan
i jsut got back from japan.. and it is a rather interesting place.. heres somethings about it.
10. Silence is Bliss
whilst on a train in japan you must have your phone on "mana" (manners) mode.. which is like silent. it totally dishonors your family if your phone rings on the train.
this poster explains to turn ur phone off.
9. Anime means pr0n
basically every anime store is 6 storeys high.. first two are manga.. next is merchandise.. then the top 3 are pr0n pr0n pr0n... of all kinds.. hentai comics.. hentai dvds.. live action cosplay pr0n dvds.. vcds.. school girl costumes.. panties for sale.. *shudders*
8. Amusement Centre means Pachinko
we search far and wide for a Dance Dance Revolution machine.. and only managed to find one in Shibuya (in a bulding filled with strip mahjong arcade machines), but whilst loking we found that looking for places normally associated with Street Fighter-like games such as Capcom, Namco or Sega "Amusement Centres" didnt really mean arcade machines.. it always meant isles and isles of middle aged jap men drinking and smoking in front of pachinko machines.
7. You Can Get Almost Anything From a Vending Machine
sadly the used panty vendign machines are a thing of the past.. but pretty much everything else is in a vending machine somewhere. some restaurants even have
a ticket vending machine instead of a cashier. Although the legal drinking age is 20, u can buy beer from a vending machine on almsot every corner (sometimes 2 or 3 machines per corner). giant 1L beer cans come at a very reasonable 300Yen which is about $4. Cigarette vending machines are also heaps common.. as are instant ramen machines and those lil capsule toy things.
6. sars is hype
meh, on tv in australia u saw footage of jap ppl supposeldy "freaking out" by wearing these SARS masks... but ppl totally wear them all the time. see in japan it is common practice to wear a mask when u have a cough of a cold so u do not pass it on to anyone else. in fact ive heard that if u dont wear one you will dishonour your family in some way.. like for the net 4 generations.
5. pretty much everything dishonours your family
in japan there isnt much in the way of crime. its not like sydney where u have to grasp hold of your like you're trying t squeeze juice out of it. you can just leave your wallet and camera lying about feeling pretty confident that no one will take it for fear of dishonoring their family. this could also happen if ur phone rings on the train, or u forget ur sars mask whilst sick, if you put on make up on the train and to wear your shoe on the little raised bit in front of any hotel or anyone's house.
4. train system kicks ass
Cityrail sucks.. every1 knows thats.. but the rail sydney in japan totally rocks. we never waited more than 5 mins for a train ever! including the shinkansen. theyre fast and efficient albeit rather pricey. if you buy a ticket to the wrong station, the guy doesnt go "go fsk urself bitch" like they do in sydney. they have a Fare Adjustment Machine, where u insert your ticket, and then pay the difference. also if you are on a train and the inspector comes around, he doesnt slap u with a fine, he goes "where u going? .. oh thatll be 600 yen" and u buy the ticket and go on your merry way. we decided to pass on the chance to check out peak hour where ppl are crushed whilst trying to get on trains.. but ive heard its brutal. but other than that its better than Sydney trains in every possible way.
3. internet cafes kick ass
internet cafes are pretty swish over in japan. all the ones we went to were rather impressive. we could get private rooms, or at least a booth. they had manga libraries, DVDs, TVs, playstations, gamecubes and unlimited free drink refills =) twas so nice in fact, that we decided to stay a nite at one =p
2. niseko rox0rs my sox0rs
if i could rate snow other snow resorts as a percentage of goodness compared to Niseko, id give perisher a 0%. cos Niseko is inifinately better. the snow is a billion times better, the ppl are 10 times nicer (even though they dun speak english), the queue lines are so much shorter my brain cant comprehend it. they had electronic lift passes, so u could leave ur pass in ur pocket and jsut swipe it as u go past. also means no pass stealage like in perisher (although in japan thatd dishonor ur family anyway).
1. jap school girls cannot feel temperature in their legs.
so im walking around tokyo wearing every piece of clothing i bought.. and its about 3 degrees around town, and everywhere i look theres japanese schoolgirls wearing skirts shorter than a bad punk rock song. and its not like they wear stockings its jsut skirt, leg, sock in the freezing cold.. and they dont seem to mind.
