The Japan Thread

[bork]

My (Japanese) wife didn't know what the hell a 'Hibachi restaurant' was, when I took her to one of those places for the first time, in the States!    Never did see one in Japan, come to think of it; she said that the Teppanyaki places over there are different.  In fact...

The originator of the teppanyaki-style steakhouse is the Japanese restaurant chain Misono, which introduced the concept of cooking Western-influenced food on a teppan in Japan in 1945.[2] They soon found the cuisine was less popular with the Japanese than it was with foreigners, who enjoyed both watching the skilled maneuvers of the chefs preparing the food as well as the cuisine itself, which is somewhat more familiar than more traditional Japanese dishes. As the restaurants became popular as tourist spots with non-Japanese, the chain increased the performance aspect of the chef's preparation, such as stacking onion slices to produce a flaming onion volcano.

Benihana started in the U.S., too.

[Mr. Gundam]

Why the hell hasn't okonomiyaki caught on in the US?!??

:-(

[chronovore]

:itisamystery.gif

Every foreigner I've met in Japan loves the stuff. When we made it in the USA for family, their reaction was "WHY HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING THIS FROM US?" And it's CHEAP. So I don't know what the hang-up has been. Everyone loves it.

I hear there are okonomiyaki trucks in LA now, so I guess my chance at an easy million bucks is soon to be passed.

[Mr. Gundam]

It kills me. Teppenyaki-esque steak houses are very popular here, so you'd think people would love okonomiyaki. It's a meal and a show all in one! There is one place in Seattle that did honest to goodness real okonomiyaki, but they went out of business a few years ago. Another place has it on the menu, but it's the most ridiculous imitation of what it should actually be.

[chronovore]

One San Jose place had "tonpei yaki" -- which is mainly egg, wrapped around some thin-cut pork, with the okonomiyaki sauce on it. Maybe yakisoba sauce -- the sauces are nearly identical. The dish is not.

It's even more odd, now that you mention the teppanyaki places around. That's more or less the key item, and they could really do it up as a show, with the sauces. Trouble is, those places need something active in front of the audience for an hour or so, and okonomiyaki only takes ten minutes or so. I think they want to make more money, and be seating people for longer. Seems like they could do better turnover with it though.

[Mr. Gundam]

I don't care. I just okonomiyaki that I don't have to make at home.

It's all over Hawaii, but that's more because of the Japanese tourists who don't want to exit their bubble of safety while in a foreign land.

[chronovore]

Yeah, no doubt. Hawaii even has MOS Burger and a few other Japanese chains, for that very reason.

[Mr. Gundam]

MOS left Hawaii years ago.

They still got a few Book Offs, though.

[chronovore]

MOS left Hawaii years ago.

They still got a few Book Offs, though.

WAT? WAT YOU SAY?

It's as though I haven't been there in years...

Well, not like I wasted time at MOS in Waikiki anyway; there's Cheeseburger in Paradise there, with pints of Kona Brewing Co. to be had!

Actually, I've seen Book Off in Torrance and San Jose, CA. It was surprisingly just like the Japanese version of the store, except for the currency unit on the price tag. Sho Nuff was with me; we were seriously weirded out, felt like we were both back in Japan.

[Mr. Gundam]

There used to be a Book Off in Vancouver, BC but it closed last year due to skyrocketing rent. I always loved rummaging around in there on our yearly trips up North. I think a lot of their stock was shipped over from Japan.

[chronovore]

There used to be a Book Off in Vancouver, BC but it closed last year due to skyrocketing rent. I always loved rummaging around in there on our yearly trips up North. I think a lot of their stock was shipped over from Japan.

Yes, the Torrance one was like that. A whole bunch of Japanese language art books and manga, games as well. It was brilliant. I didn't manage to get into the San Jose store. I imagine it must have been similarly stocked.

[brob]

So I was looking at the wiki entry for super metroid and it starts off like this: "Super Metroid (スーパーメトロイド Sūpā Metoroido)"

I see this sort of stuff on a lot of wiki entries for japanese games with english titles. What is the point of the "Sūpā Metoroido" part?

[chronovore]

It's been posted here before, but deserves its own spot in this thread:
http://www.geekinheels.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/average_asian_woman_aging.jpg


My wife LOL'd at it this morning, and confirmed it's true. If so, I've got to get some serious action in before menopause hits.

[chronovore]

So, I'd like to see the USA version of this ad, which is shorter. The guy gets a face full of mace after 5 seconds, and a knee to the crotch at the 6 second mark.

[a slime appears]

If you're not sure how serious the offer was, do you know them that well as a friend?

OTOH, if you take the offer seriously, and end up overstaying your welcome, you probably haven't lost a particularly good friend.

You may want to see about hostels and any shared households; those are commonly found through a google search, but I've not stayed in one. Oh, one more possibility are "foreigner dormitory" businesses. I don't know if they're around any more, but they're a monthly rent, no downpayment option. The one I stayed in was pretty youth-focused; it's meant to be a living situation though, so no bedding or furniture is supplied.

The offer sounded serious, I think. LONG STORY SHORT: he's a really good friend from high school and is living in his family's house in Tokyo by himself. The house is empty because his dad is working temporarily in Nagoya for business, his mom is spending time with her parents in the meantime, and his siblings all moved away. Letting me stay with him isn't the problem, it's making sure his family is OK with it.

Thank you very much for your recommendations  and I'll look into them but since I'm there for such a short while I'll need something furnished. The schools do offer student dormitory housing but I wasn't sure how decent they were. If my friend's plan or the "monthy resistay" options don't pan out I may just end up staying in some shitty student room, lol.

The good news is that I've secured contract game design work while I'm there so at the very least I'll be working in the afternoon after my morning Japanese classes. They can't legally pay me (lol Visa restrictions) but they've figured out how to skirt around the issue by paying my "travel expenses". It's probably not much but if it funds this short endeavor of mine then it's all good.

[chronovore]

Are you going over on a student visa? The Japanese student visa used to allow for up to 20 hours of work a week, IIRC. It may have changed from 20 years ago...?

[a slime appears]

Are you going over on a student visa? The Japanese student visa used to allow for up to 20 hours of work a week, IIRC. It may have changed from 20 years ago...?

You know what, I apologize. I should have said I'm planning on not going with a visa. Doing the whole "up to 90 days" visitation thing which a lot of schools have curriculum built around that. Any longer then I'd have to apply for a student visa like you said.

[Mr. Gundam]

My rose-tinted glasses are long gone, but you know what else I miss about Japan?

Goddamn tonkatsu sandwiches. The two Japanese grocery stores in Seattle look at me like I'm high whenever I ask about them.

White bread, cabbage, spicy mustard/mayo and tonkatsu.

[chronovore]

Yeah, the Japanese bakery in San Jose, near Yaohan (Now Marukai, I think) had katsu-sando, and it was pretty great. They're better here though, for sure, and cheaper.

Japan misses you and Mrs. Gundam! I saw a giant robot moping around downtown.

[a slime appears]

Does this bring back memories Chronovore?

[chronovore]

Kinda. I was here in '93 and '94, then went back to the USA. So a lot of those clothes and hairstyles do look familiar, but were already trending away from that when I was here.

[bork]

I think we might be heading over next year, for a visit, with my parents in tow this time.  Is there anything worth seeing in Tokyo/Osaka/Wherever that's popped up in the last couple of years?

[radioheadrule83]

I've just put a deposit down on a tour next March... doing Tokyo, Takayama, Nagasaki, Yufuin, Miyajima, Hiroshima, Hakone and back to Tokyo. We're looking to book flights a few days either side of the tour so we can spend more time in Tokyo. Can't wait!

[chronovore]

I think we might be heading over next year, for a visit, with my parents in tow this time.  Is there anything worth seeing in Tokyo/Osaka/Wherever that's popped up in the last couple of years?

Me!

Honestly, though, I am not aware of what's new. The ji-biiru movement in Osaka is pretty exciting right now, but you have access to a wider and cheaper range of craft beer in the USA. There is greater access to foreign items through import shops, it's easier to find good coffee, and Amazon is growing by leaps and bounds. This is what's exciting to me, and you can see that it's nearly entirely about access to homesick-prevention items.

Nipponbashi in Osaka is a little more like Akihabara than it was, with more cafés and specialty shops, less electronic shops, more foreigners.

[Mr. Gundam]

I think I would go crazy if I were stuck on a tour group anywhere, let alone Japan. Unless you're afraid of being in a foreign country that speaks a different language, you can get a better experience on your own for a lot less money.

[radioheadrule83]

I think I would go crazy if I were stuck on a tour group anywhere, let alone Japan. Unless you're afraid of being in a foreign country that speaks a different language, you can get a better experience on your own for a lot less money.

I am afraid I guess! Part of me did think we'd save loads of money if we didn't do a tour, but on the other hand - I don't really know anyone over there and I don't know the place (wouldn't be confident with any of my bookings), I'm not likely to pick up any of the language all that well between now and then, and having people show me so much of the island was appealing to me. Internal travel and accommodation is all wrapped up in it. It's a couple/few days in each place, and seems to allow plenty of freedom to explore. I was surprised at how 'not bad' the flights are, considering how far it is, so if I like it, maybe I'll go back under my own steam. A friend of mine is doing a round the world trip at the moment, and I'm thinking that might be on my radar one day. As I say, we're booking the flights so we have more time in Tokyo.

[a slime appears]

I think I would go crazy if I were stuck on a tour group anywhere, let alone Japan. Unless you're afraid of being in a foreign country that speaks a different language, you can get a better experience on your own for a lot less money.

I am afraid I guess! Part of me did think we'd save loads of money if we didn't do a tour, but on the other hand - I don't really know anyone over there and I don't know the place (wouldn't be confident with any of my bookings), I'm not likely to pick up any of the language all that well between now and then, and having people show me so much of the island was appealing to me. Internal travel and accommodation is all wrapped up in it. It's a couple/few days in each place, and seems to allow plenty of freedom to explore. I was surprised at how 'not bad' the flights are, considering how far it is, so if I like it, maybe I'll go back under my own steam. A friend of mine is doing a round the world trip at the moment, and I'm thinking that might be on my radar one day. As I say, we're booking the flights so we have more time in Tokyo.

Don't sweat it. If you purchased the tour package for a good price and have a great guide then you probably made the wisest investment in your trip. By going with a GOOD tour guide you're basically cutting down your bullshit meandering time down by a dramatic amount and will be seeing a hell of a lot more then you normally would if this is your first trip to Japan. Good tour guides can also provide you with great insight and fantastic knowledge about all the places you're visiting and they're always on-hand to give you solid recommendations on what to do with your free time. That kind of always on-hand repository of knowledge and language assistance is invaluable. No matter how well versed anyone is in a travel book or how much research they've done, unless you've been there you will not know what to do. I definitely would never do a tour more than once though so take copious mental notes for the next time you visit!

I get the perspective of indulging yourself in the adventure of navigating a foreign country that speaks a different language and learning things on your own, since that's exactly my M.O. when I visit. However the truth is there's not much adventuring to be had since it's a first world country like the US, there's minimal danger of being mugged or attacked since they're more afraid of you than you are of them, you've got a convenience mart on every corner, and there's English practically everywhere. Getting around the country is incredibly easy thanks to their forward thinking public transportation system and the country worships the US so there's always someone on-hand to assist your silly Gaijin ass if you really need it.

I used to live in Orlando and knew people who worked the Japanese tour agencies there so I have a bit of insight on the benefits of a proper guide. They mainly catered for Japanese visiting Central FL but once in a while they had fantastic deals for groups who wanted to visit Japan during their travel off-seasons. I've never done a tour myself since I have friends (which includes the amazing Bore dudes here) in every major city I visit so I learned from their recommendations and advice.

[bork]

I think we might be heading over next year, for a visit, with my parents in tow this time.  Is there anything worth seeing in Tokyo/Osaka/Wherever that's popped up in the last couple of years?

Me!

 

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Honestly, though, I am not aware of what's new. The ji-biiru movement in Osaka is pretty exciting right now, but you have access to a wider and cheaper range of craft beer in the USA. There is greater access to foreign items through import shops, it's easier to find good coffee, and Amazon is growing by leaps and bounds. This is what's exciting to me, and you can see that it's nearly entirely about access to homesick-prevention items.

Nipponbashi in Osaka is a little more like Akihabara than it was, with more cafés and specialty shops, less electronic shops, more foreigners.

Well, I'm not much of a drinker and I don't think the 'rents would care.  Was wondering if any big new attractions or restaurants have popped up.

Dunno how this is all gonna go down just yet because my wife would clearly want to go visit her family in the Noto and that could possibly mean I get stuck having to drag my parents around Tokyo or something.  But then how will I go to all the embarrassingly-nerdy shops??   I'm hoping this turns into more of a "we'll all go together but split off and do whatever" type trip.  My parents are good like that.  Actually hoping my brother and sister in law tag along too.  Then we'll go to Osaka and get Chronovore to take us on a beer tour! 

[Mr. Gundam]

I think I would go crazy if I were stuck on a tour group anywhere, let alone Japan. Unless you're afraid of being in a foreign country that speaks a different language, you can get a better experience on your own for a lot less money.

I am afraid I guess! Part of me did think we'd save loads of money if we didn't do a tour, but on the other hand - I don't really know anyone over there and I don't know the place (wouldn't be confident with any of my bookings), I'm not likely to pick up any of the language all that well between now and then, and having people show me so much of the island was appealing to me. Internal travel and accommodation is all wrapped up in it. It's a couple/few days in each place, and seems to allow plenty of freedom to explore. I was surprised at how 'not bad' the flights are, considering how far it is, so if I like it, maybe I'll go back under my own steam. A friend of mine is doing a round the world trip at the moment, and I'm thinking that might be on my radar one day. As I say, we're booking the flights so we have more time in Tokyo.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be judgmental with my comment on tours. I've always felt like tours are extremely limiting and restrictive in what you get to see and experience. Sure, you might have a guide who offers great insight and gets you into certain things, but you only get to see what they want you to see. I'd rather have the freedom to explore on my own.

[a slime appears]

I've got a random ass question: Is there any good Mexican food in Japan?

The worse fucking tacos I've ever had in my entire goddamn life was in some supposedly "amazing" Mexican place in Tokyo. I ate there with CVXFreak and while I immensely enjoyed the company (he's a fucking badass, seriously) the food was atrocious. Japanese white rice and azuki beans in my Mexican food? GTFO

[bork]

La Jolla in Tokyo had some pretty decent food, although I was put off by one of the cooks staring at me nonstop throughout the meal. 

I used to just go to world food stores and get the ingredients to make my own tacos instead.

[a slime appears]

La Jolla in Tokyo had some pretty decent food, although I was put off by one of the cooks staring at me nonstop throughout the meal.

I know that feel, bro.

Was it Junkadelic, slime?

Maaaaaaaaan, maybe? It's been a while but I do remember it being next to train tracks and a few minutes from where Ricciardi hosts Otaru.

OK, the taco wasn't that bad. I mean it was good in it's own special way. Also it maaaaaay have been my fault since I just ordered whatever and could have grabbed "EL ESPECIAL JAPONÉS" for all I know, lol.

[chronovore]

I've only been there twice, and the food was not impressive, but the place has a nice vibe.

In Osaka, I once had a taco platter which came with room temperature ground beef, and whipped cream instead of sour cream.  :'(

Right now the "best" Mexican food in south Osaka is El Pancho, which is pretty dirt standard stuff at three times the price of Los Angeles or San Jose. Their Yuzu Margaritas are pretty good though.

Oscar, come to Osaka, and I will make you tacos. I will also likely have some craft beer on hand.

[bork]

In Osaka, I once had a taco platter which came with room temperature ground beef, and whipped cream instead of sour cream.  :'(

 

Would have sent that back. 

[chronovore]

It was in my first 6 months here; I was constantly baffled by what Japan thought was normal.

[a slime appears]

Guarantor?

Trying to rent a place for 3 months and I'm getting asked if I have one. I think it's if I can't pay rent or break shit they can go after my "Guarantor" and wring the money out of them, right?

[chronovore]

Do they also want "key money"?

[Rufus]

Do they also want "key money"?

That is one of those unequivocally shit conventions, holy crap. Thank you for letting me pay you rent, what a privilege.

[chronovore]

Yeah, it's perfectly horrible, no doubt. It's not a security deposit, and it's not rent. It's just... robbery.

[bork]

They would want key money for a three month stay?  Holy shit.   

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I've also had tacos with whipped cream instead of sour cream in Japan. Probably one of the few times in 5 years over there I was literally "WTF, Japan!"

[chronovore]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2152760/japan-police-arrest-man-who-made-3dprinted-guns.html

Japan is putting its strict firearms-control laws up against the latest in digital manufacturing with the arrest of a man who allegedly made 3D-printed guns.

Yoshitomo Imura, 27, was collared Thursday on a charge of illegal weapons possession in Japan’s first such case involving 3D-printed firearms, according to media reports.

A raid last month on his home in Kawasaki outside Tokyo turned up five printed guns, two of which can fire real bullets. However, no bullets were recovered.

Imura, an employee of Shonan Institute of Technology in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture, had apparently posted footage of the guns as well as production blueprints online, and mentioned production on Twitter.

Japanese news media posted clips from a grainy YouTube video that apparently shows Imura firing one of the guns in a wooded area.

The guns could apparently fire through more than 10 plywood boards stacked together.

Kyodo News quoted investigators as saying that Imura didn’t think the guns were illegal, and that he is believed to have downloaded the blueprints from overseas websites.

A spokesman for the Kanagawa Prefectural Police was not immediately available for comment on the case.

Japan has very strict controls on firearms compared to other countries. Only 15 people were murdered with handguns in 2012, according to data from the National Police Agency.

Imura’s arrest comes a year after Cody Wilson demonstrated what’s regarded as the world’s first working 3D-printed gun in the U.S.

Wilson later said that design files for the gun were downloaded more than 100,000 times before the U.S. State Department told him to take them down.

It’s unclear where Imura obtained the design files he used, but his guns, including one that looks like a revolver, appear to be different from Wilson’s weapon, dubbed The Liberator.

Foreigners to blame again!

Seriously though, this was all over the morning news today. They made a real show of arresting the guy, having press on hand for the arrest. Well, someone did. It's possible that the gun maker called the press, but unlikely, considering how many press members were on hand. It's as though the law is trying to make a very public, very discouraging example of the guy.

Though I'm wondering if he knew it was coming, as there were no bullets found at his home. It's going to be an interesting case -- or at least it would be in the USA. Japanese law is pretty famously vague and adaptable to whatever they want it to be, in service of larger society rather than the individual.

[chronovore]

It really is amazing, isn't it?

I mean, I imagine convenience stores are robbed from time to time, and it'll make the news, but if it's a foreigner or even a suspected foreigner, THE STORY HAS LEGS. We'll hear about it for days on end! We'll get additional stories on the dubious area of town where they lived, home to OTHER FOREIGNERS.

The xenophobia here sometimes makes me sick.

[chronovore]

Yeah, it's even more weird for me when my wife notices it. She's lived in the USA for a decade total, so it sometimes registers with her. She will say, "Hey, that's not cool," and I answer, "WELCOME TO JAPAN."

[bork]

"But Foreigners invented guns, so I apologize to Miyamoto-Sama for this transgression before every sacred viewing of Moe Moe High School."

\

[chronovore]

@ the otaku reaction by Emi Takei -- poor girl. Guy probably told her she's his waifu.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

Many more here:
http://kotaku.com/japans-totally-looks-like-meme-is-totally-amusing-1576743476

[chronovore]

Diet Pepsi commercials are pretty cool right now:

[Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich]

Japan-Bore: Been taking judo the past year and a half for no other reason than it's cheap and keeps me relatively fit. Going to Japan for a few days on business at the end of the month. Are there any cool judo museums, dojos, or monuments to see around the Tokyo area? Might help me appreciate the sport better.

[chronovore]

If your judo club has any connections with a parent branch in Japan, you should ask them, too!

Even if there's not a direct connection, there's frequently a way to set up some time through a FOAF or what have you.

[Arbys Roast Beef Sandwich]

Yeah the parent dojo is in Osaka, and as I remember that's an 8 hour bus ride I never want to take again.

I could take the train going down, but isn't that stupid expensive?

[chronovore]

Yeah the parent dojo is in Osaka, and as I remember that's an 8 hour bus ride I never want to take again.

I could take the train going down, but isn't that stupid expensive?

If the Osaka dojo has a branch in the USA, there's a fair bet that there is more than one associated dojo in Japan as well. Probably one in or near about Tokyo.

Bullet train from Tokyo to Osaka is about ¥13,000 one way, last time I looked.

[a slime appears]

While this didn't happen to me (I don't speak Japanese), it definitely happened to my white friend when we were ordering at a restaurant with his Japanese co-workers. He was helping me out by ordering for me and spoke to the server in perfect Japanese. When he was done speaking she just stood there staring at him, blinked a few times, then turned to his Japanese co-workers and asked them what he wanted to eat lolol.

[Rufus]

Aren't you half-native (Canadian)? Dunno what you look like, but maybe you're accepted as "half".

[Rufus]

I remember Ryan Payton making the exact same point on a podcast. He taught English in Small Town, Japan and was pretty depressed about it at first, but the tiny school he worked at had so much down time it allowed him to spend a lot of his stay covering video games, which eventually led to him meeting Kojima.

[chronovore]

I think a number of peeps covering Japanese games started out as expat English teachers.

[a slime appears]

Back then having a dude being able to buy Famitsu day of release and send over the translated copy via e-mail was worth it's weight in gold. Not being facetious, that was a big deal in the late 90's early 00's for a majority of the big sites.

[chronovore]

Yeah. It's less of a big deal now that there are Japanese sites which are posting the news as well; now all you need is someone bilingual, not on-site. And Japan is no longer a big deal in video games. 

[Mr. Gundam]

Yeah. It's less of a big deal now that there are Japanese sites which are posting the news as well; now all you need is someone bilingual, not on-site. And Japan is no longer a big deal in video games. 

I still eagerly await the weekly Famitsu leaks, but I know I'm in the minority. 

[chronovore]

So, the big news this week is that CHAGEandASKA's singer, "Aska," is up on charges of drug use. The pair were huge 20~30 years ago, but have been dormant recently. Universal is pulling all of their albums from circulation, as a public apology and acknowledgment of his wrongdoing.

Bonus irony is awarded for the other big news this week being Sir Paul McCartney's three-stadium concert tour being canceled due to the 71-year-old having a stomach bug. In 1980, Sir Paul was stopped at customs for having drugs in his baggage, was held for 10 days in jail, and his concert tour was canceled. However, right now the whole island is weeping openly about the cancellation of his tour, and buying his album, despite being associated with drugs.

[Phoenix Dark]

ten days in jail? Damn, I would have assumed someone of his stature could get off charges like that.