JAPAN Itself

Yeah, so I recently (within the month) learned that because my mom is a college pro., that the both of us are going to go Japan for a month in June/July. So, I guess the point of this thread is to discuss the actual entertainment of Japan itself. Personally, I think Mt. Fuji would be quite the place to be...

1. Go to Akihabara.
2. Enter every bulding, buy everything, maid cafés.
3. ???
4. PROFIT!

to go to japan?

1. visit man made beach
2. climb mt. fuji
3. sing karaoke
4. have actual yakisoba & takoyaki
5. get drunk at a festival

Yay Mt. Fuji! How fun would that be. All I know I would do for now is

1. See this one place in Japan were some trees are named after my relatives
2. Akihabara
3. Hiroshima and Nagasaki
4. Osaka
5. Mt. Fuji

Careful, I hear Very xenophobic against Americans. In some of the older places they have Japanise Only buildings and such.

It's not as obvious as it once was, but there are still pretty active campaigns against foreigners.

Shibuya would be a pretty cool place to visit, I hear it can be incredibly crowded, but I've always thought it was one of the more interesting attractions. That and Sunshine City, which is a theme park built on the area where Toujou has executed. And I've always thought something about that was incredibly awesome.

Yokohama, specifically the Kannai region, would be pretty cool to visit as well since they've got a lot of historical significance to the Japanese.

Wikitravel is an amazing resource; Google Japan and Wikitravel. It'll give you info on almost anything you need to know, and once you know more specifically where you'll be staying most of the time, you can look up that specific city for even more details.

Wulf said:

Careful, I hear Very xenophobic against Americans. In some of the older places they have Japanise Only buildings and such.

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I have yet to see any place like that. Plus, most xenophobic attitudes are aimed at other Asians, true story.

If you're going to Tokyo, prepared to get used to the Yamanote line.
Also, prepare to get used to the Yamanote lines being delayed due to "accidents" (ie. suicides.)

If you're going to Akihabara, I made a Google Map of the area for another forum, marked with hobby/TCG stores.

If you're a sucker for the Edo period, the Edo-Tokyo Museum is pretty awesome.
However my favourite spot (that happens to be very near my dorm), is the Edo-Tokyo Open Air Architectural Museum located inside Koganei Park.
It's a museum where you can enter houses built a 100 years ago, and eat in them too.

... Wow. A lot of stuff. The Edo period is pretty interesting, but I like the Meiji Restoration better.As far as I know, my schedule involves being in Tokyo for 2 weeks, being in Hiroshima for a day, Nagasaki for a day, Kyoto for a day, then flying out of Osaka.

As for the hole xenophobe stuff, I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. My mom is going over there to teach at Tokyo Friends School, so yeah, I don't think the Quakers of Japan will hate me.

GFA said:

... Wow. A lot of stuff. The Edo period is pretty interesting, but I like the Meiji Restoration better.As far as I know, my schedule involves being in Tokyo for 2 weeks, being in Hiroshima for a day, Nagasaki for a day, Kyoto for a day, then flying out of Osaka.

As for the hole xenophobe stuff, I'm pretty sure I'll be fine. My mom is going over there to teach at Tokyo Friends School, so yeah, I don't think the Quakers of Japan will hate me.

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Why do I get the feeling that the only reason you even know of the Meiji Restoration is from watching Rurouni Kenshin?

And yes, the Japanese in general DO NOT like foreigners. You have to realize that it was only relatively recently that foreigners were even allowed to enter the country. As such, they have a very clannish mentality. Luckily, Tokyo is free from this bias, being both the most culturally-modern area as well as the center of international relations. However if you try to go to other, smaller cities, I'm sure you'll notice the attention you draw.

Don't worry, though! Your internationalism will manifest itself in the form of latent superpowers that are super-effective on the Japanese! The two you're most likely to get...

Gaijin Perimeter: A powerful aura exuded by a foreigner in Japan. When you get onto a train, you'll notice that no matter how tightly packed it is, people will find some way to give you a wide berth. People will avoid you on the sidewalk, no matter how busy it is. Pretty useful if you're claustrophobic.

Gaijin Optic Blast: Making direct eye contact with a Japanese will temporarily stun or disorient them. Use for making a quick getaway.