Author Topic: The Japan Thread  (Read 166872 times)

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chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #780 on: May 04, 2019, 07:25:13 AM »
Can you reserve tickets at a Loppi machine in Tokyo for a restaurant in Osaka? How does that whole system work?

I want to eat at a character cafe at least one of my days there, but it seems their system relies on Lawson loppi machines.

Zero idea. You'd have to be more specific before I can even check.
I spoke with somebody I know, and it seems that I have to make a reservation through a system and that I have to log into one of their machines and fill out the rest. After finishing that up, I'd just get a ticket printed out.

Sounds like a PITA. Why not go to one of the million other great restaurants in Osaka?

Himu

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #781 on: June 13, 2019, 04:33:48 AM »
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IYKYK

chronovore

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VomKriege

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #783 on: July 08, 2019, 11:52:23 AM »
Another Yakuza 6 actor in hot water, this time with his agency for having been a guest to a Yakuza funded social event a few years ago...

https://www.vg247.com/2019/06/27/yakuza-6-actor-alleged-organised-crime-link-suspension/

I mentioned that in the movies thread after the director of a Japanese crime movie explained it, but organised crime laws (though I guess here it's not a legal issue per se) are apparently pretty insanely punishing, "yakuzas", their families and to some extent anyone associated* in some manner or fashion can be more or less ostracized from society. You have to wonder how selectively it is applied.

* For instance the movie industry can only consult with former gangsters with a clearcut and impeccable "retirement" sheet for any documentation they might need with writing. Anything less could potentially have the film struck down from distribution.
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bork

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #785 on: August 08, 2019, 12:13:27 PM »
I'm always shocked that okonomiyaki isn't a thing in the US. It's so unique and fun to make, yet outside of Oahu (basically catering to the Japanese tourists who need a taste of home while visiting America Light) it's relatively unknown or bastardized to hell at the few places that do it. Teppanyaki restaurants have always been popular, so why not offer okonomiyaki as an option?
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bork

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #786 on: August 08, 2019, 01:12:28 PM »
There's one "pop-up"okonomiyaki restaurant here and it's on the menu at multiple Japanese restaurants in my area- don't recall this being around even a few years ago...maybe it's starting to be a thing?
 :thinking
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chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #787 on: August 08, 2019, 10:22:48 PM »
I'm always shocked that okonomiyaki isn't a thing in the US. It's so unique and fun to make, yet outside of Oahu (basically catering to the Japanese tourists who need a taste of home while visiting America Light) it's relatively unknown or bastardized to hell at the few places that do it. Teppanyaki restaurants have always been popular, so why not offer okonomiyaki as an option?

I heard you guys in Seattle have a food-truck that serves it as a roll-up, like a burrito.

Bebpo

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #788 on: August 10, 2019, 05:20:17 PM »
Ok, so I'm booking my Japan 2019 trip and I need some suggestions on some place I've never been. I try to always go to at least one new spot each trip so I'm not just repeating the same stuff over again (outside seeing great peoples like Chronovore).

I'm going with my friend couple and they're doing 3 days in Kyoto (1 Arashiyama, 1 Kyoto city temples, 1/2 day Nara, 1/2 day Osaka) and then like 7 days in Tokyo. I'm not necessarily gonna spend 100% of the time with them (I think we would drive each other crazy lol), so I can duck out and do stuff or I can arrive in Japan a few days earlier or stay later and do something.

Also we're going mid-November so the weather will have some effect. Kyoto and south should e nice, north of Tokyo probably be getting cold (aka this is not my Hokkaido trip or nostalgic return to west Aomori)

Places I've been already:
-Tokyo
-Osaka
-Kyoto
-Nagoya
-Nara
-Kobe
-Hakodate
-Aomori (pretty much whole prefecture including Hirosaki)
-Matsumoto
-Nagano & surrounding hot springs
-Hakone
-Enoshima (this was amazing and glad I went last trip, would like to find more fantastic hidden spots like this)
-Kamakura
-Nikko
-Yokohama
-Hiroshima
-Miyajima
-Sendai
-wherever Himeji castle is
-wherever the Ninja village is (Iga?)

Places I haven't been and want to go to:
-Sapporo (but during Feb snow festival)
-Hokkaido in the summer for the flowers and road tripping
-Shirakawa (preferably during the snow when the houses are covered in snow and it looks cool)
-Takayama (I might've been here, but I don't remember)
-Kyushu somewhere because I've never been
-Maybe Shikoku but honestly there's nothing there that's ever seemed that interesting to me?
-Okinawa at some point but need to fly there
-Mt. Koya and stay overnight at a temple, but since there's no AC or heat, mid-Nov might be kinda cold on top a mountain

Maybe this would be a good time of the year to detour down to Fukuoka from Kyoto for a couple days? Not sure what's really in Fukuoka outside their food stall night market. Normally I stop by my favorite onsen ryokan by the snow monkeys in Yudanaka (outside Nagano), but it's a bit out of the way and I don't think a great time of year so I'm gonna try to spend a couple nights at an onsen ryokan around Kyoto (still figuring out which right now) to have some nice kaiseki meals and hot springs baths.

I thought during my tokyo days it'd be fun to do a night at the godzilla hotel in Shinjuku for something different, but they only have 2 months up at a time for the godzilla rooms, so I need to wait until 10/1 to see if I can book one.

bork

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #789 on: August 10, 2019, 09:35:59 PM »
Recommending my old stomping grounds of Kanazawa!
:yukasalute

The bullet train goes out there now.
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Bebpo

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #790 on: August 10, 2019, 09:53:47 PM »
What's in Kanazawa?

I've been googling around all day and a couple ideas I found are:

-Kurokawa Onsen town (seems kinda far, 3.5 hours to Fukuoka then 2.5 hour bus)
-Fukuoaka for a couple days, stop by the Yanagawa canals and Dazaifu temple in the autumn foliage
-Kawaguchi-ko Fuji Autumn leaves festival (Haven't been to Kawaguchi Lake, only Ashiko in Hakone (and couldn't see Fuji because clouds)

Also looks like during the time I'm in Tokyo there's an Asakusa Festival on the 20th and the golden trees Meiji Jingu Gaien Ginko festival. I won't really know my Tokyo schedule until Ghibli Museum tickets go on sale 10/10 since we wanna go and you never know what day will be available so better to get those first and plan around.

bork

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #791 on: August 10, 2019, 10:42:21 PM »
What's in Kanazawa?

https://www.insidekyoto.com/things-to-do-in-kanazawa
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g298115-Activities-Kanazawa_Ishikawa_Prefecture_Hokuriku_Chubu.html

Kenrokuen is the big one, followed by the "Ninja Temple" (not really) and the old town stuff- it's worth noting that KZ was not bombed during the war so a lot of the older buildings are still intact, although KZ castle had a fire at some point- can't remember if the outside also got rebuilt but the inside definitely was.  Nice museums too.  Apart from that, it's trendy little city.  Located on the Noto peninsula, so the seafood is amazing.  My wife is kind of a snob about it and brags that the seafood there is unmatched in comparison to Tokyo and the like, heh.

Most of the stuff you'd probably want to see can all be walked to from within the same area, so it's good place to hit up for a day or two as a side trip.  There's some pretty awesome beaches and mountains, too, but you're gonna need a car for that.

Always enjoy going back there for a visit.  :)
« Last Edit: August 10, 2019, 10:52:02 PM by bork »
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Bebpo

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #792 on: August 12, 2019, 12:48:59 AM »
I was pretty focused on going to Fukuoka for a couple days, but the more I think about it I don't think it's worth the detour on this trip to just go by myself and hang in a metropolitan normal city and see some parks and old castle stuff and eat some tonkotsu ramen. Can do a lot of that closer to Kyoto/Tokyo.

I think I'm gonna keep it easy and just look for new places I haven't been at and around Kyoto and Tokyo. Like I haven't been up to Mt. Takao outside Tokyo and yeah haven't been to Kawaguchiko. Not sure what I haven't been to at or around Kyoto, I feel like I've seen most/all of the temples at this point. Maybe a day trip with a good jacket to Mt. Koya to walk around.

Kanazawa looks cool though! The old city area looks kinda familiar to me but I think a lot of those type of places look the same across Japan. I did a lot of Tokyo day trips about a decade or more ago and my memory isn't good enough to remember all the day trip places I went.

Bebpo

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #793 on: August 12, 2019, 06:36:36 AM »
Yeah, I think I'll hit that and Kanazawa on a future trip. I saw that Kanazawa is along the way to Shirakawa & Toyama so when I do those I'll stay for at least a night or two in Kanazawa.

Ended up booking all my stuff and just going Kyoto/Tokyo same days as my friends (though I'm getting there a day early so I can relax for a day before running around like crazy sight-seeing). In the end all the ryokans I looked at basically wouldn't let you book for 1 person in November high-season and the more I thought about doing ryokan stay solo, the less it sounded appealing since I've always gone with other people when doing ryokan stays. And didn't feel like long hours train/extra flights just to hit a spot solo for a couple days. It's weird but as I get older I like traveling alone less, which is partly why I haven't really traveled much in about a year.

Gonna try to hit a bunch of new places in those cities though and make reservations ahead of time to eat some good foods. Plus all the research I did on Kyushu will pay off in a future trip cause I definitely want to do a Kyushu trip and a Hokkaido trip sooner than later.

Have a lot of days in Tokyo on this trip so will try to meet up with whoever is still there.

chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #794 on: August 13, 2019, 12:22:09 AM »
As mentioned in PMs and for the benefit of other Boritos who are considering visiting, I'll be back in Osaka/Kyoto from November onward.

Beezy

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #795 on: August 13, 2019, 08:20:47 PM »
Chrono is a great Osaka guide/drinking buddy.

chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #796 on: August 13, 2019, 09:09:37 PM »
Chrono is a great Osaka guide/drinking buddy.
Thanks!
I can actually stumble around Tokyo pretty well now, at this point. The 16 months I've been in Tokyo have been educational on specific activities (beer).

Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #797 on: August 15, 2019, 06:05:16 PM »
We had a blast with him in Osaka, but Chrono knows Tokyo, too. After an awesome evening out, he got my heart-condition jet lagged ass safely on a train back to my wife and daughter in Nippori.
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chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #798 on: August 15, 2019, 10:59:16 PM »
We had a blast with him in Osaka, but Chrono knows Tokyo, too. After an awesome evening out, he got my heart-condition jet lagged ass safely on a train back to my wife and daughter in Nippori.

Anything for Mr Gundam, boo.

bork

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chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #800 on: August 26, 2019, 02:16:06 AM »
SO, it's summer, and in Japan, it's like living in someone else's jockstrap. It's hot and wet and sticky and unpleasant. One new-to-Japan employee here said, "When I smoked outside the other day, I was surprised that the air I was breathing felt the same temperature as when I was inhaling cigarette smoke." It's hot as hell.

My gratitude is near endless that my current job has no shyness about turning up the A/C until regular thought processes can be re-engaged. Also happy that my weird little rental room has a functioning A/C unit, so I can get a decent night's sleep.

It is entirely unclear to me how I've managed to stay here through 20 of these goddamned summers.

Sho Nuff

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #801 on: August 27, 2019, 08:15:44 PM »
What up J-Bore, I'mma comin Kyoto-way in mid-September. Keep the heat turned up for me over there

G The Resurrected

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #802 on: October 07, 2019, 07:42:46 AM »
I’m coming this week and look who I’m bringing with me

https://twitter.com/sdietzf1/status/1181128720624562176?s=21

 :-\

It’s heading straight for Suzuka circuit. I am not prepared for this. 

chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #803 on: October 08, 2019, 01:08:55 AM »
What up J-Bore, I'mma comin Kyoto-way in mid-September. Keep the heat turned up for me over there

Sorry, J-Bro, I turned down the thermostat for my own interests.

Bebpo

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #804 on: October 11, 2019, 01:54:54 AM »
So the friend couple I'm going to Japan with next month, after specifically asking each of them a few times months ago if it was cool if I went with them at the same time and we hung together for a lot of it since I didn't want to be a third wheel and they both were like yeah, that'd be awesome, now a month before is like actuallllly we want a romantic date trip so maybe we'll get dinner a couple times at the end -_-

And this is after I booked my flight around their trip and hotels around the cities they wanted to go and made an itinerary for the whole thing.

-_-

Yeah, another life lesson learned on going with couples. So now I've got a 11 days or so in Japan, ~4 cool bore friends like Chronovore that I wanna hang with and 1 day game shopping in Aki is always good fun times for me. But otherwise I need to figure out what to do on this trip. I'm flying into Osaka and out of Tokyo, and I was gonna do 4 days in Kyoto/Nara but outside taking a river boat at Arashiyama and doing some photography with the autumn leaves, there isn't anything I really want to do in Kyoto since I've been to like every temple, the philosopher's path and the kyoto manga museum.

Maybe should just do like 2 days max in Kyoto and spend the rest in Tokyo. Even in Tokyo during the day when all my J-bore friends are working, after I've done my Aki shopping, and Tower Records shibuya visit, dunno what I want to do solo. Been to most of the sights and museums.

Anyhow, gonna look at viator.com tours and see if there's any interesting tours to join up and do in Kyoto/Osaka/Tokyo.

I've never been to Kawaguchi-Ko and I'll be there during the autumn leaf festival, so maybe I'll wander that solo and maybe I'll make it to Naba no Sato light festival outside Nagoya that I tried to go to in 2016 and got on the wrong bus and missed it lol

Will definitely make a ton of food reservations and eat a lot of awesome Japanese food. Definitely looking forward to Jpn land friends and fine dining.

Oh and I booked the godzilla room in Shinjuku for a night. That should be something neat.


Maybe go hang at some bars and drink whiskey highballs.

Bebpo

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #805 on: October 13, 2019, 11:46:42 PM »
Ok, so I've got my trip pretty down. I'm skipping Kyoto since I'll be there before the red leaves anyhow because this year they're running about 2 weeks late thanks to global warming. Flying into Osaka and then going to Nagoya to do Nagashima Spa Land + Naba no Sato illumination field and then up to Tokyo for a week and then doing an onsen ryokan overnight trip to Lake Kawaguchi.

During my week in Tokyo, just planning on doing nothing but enjoyable nerdy weaboo stuff, videogames, anime, manga, etc... outside doing the Mt. Takao hike one day, so I need you guys & gals to let me know if you can think of any cool weaboo stuff to do in Tokyo besides:

Ghilbli Museum
Gundam in Odaiba, VR land in Odaiba
One Piece Tokyo Tower
Akihabara everything
FF14 Eorza Cafe
Pokemon Cafe
Mori Digital Art Museum
Tower Records Shibuya

Bebpo

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #806 on: October 14, 2019, 12:27:20 AM »
Also, I want to say Japan is solo-ist as fuck and I've never really noticed until now.

Like if I want to stay at an onsen ryokan, they basically won't rent out to a single person during any time of good season because they'd rather rent a room to 2 people and make more money since it's per person charge because of the kaiseki dinners. So for my one night ryokan I'm just booking it for 2 people and paying double the price.

Now I'm looking at a whiskey tasting tour in Tokyo and it's $213 for 2 people or $213 for 1 person -__-
That one doesn't even make sense unless they figure it'll be hard to book a spot if the tour has even number of slots and 1 person makes it odd so they need another solo traveler to fill it. Chrono, you drink Whiskey? I'm pretty sure I owe you from previous trips so I'll cover you to be my +1 if you do :heart

I didn't run into this at all when solo traveling in Europe last year. And I guess when I lived in Japan I didn't do stuff where I noticed it and every time I've been back has been with someone so there's always been 2 of us.

I also am not looking forward to trying to make fancy restaurant reservations for "1", I have a feeling gonna get fucked there too.

Bebpo

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #807 on: October 14, 2019, 01:46:35 AM »
Alright, think I found enough stuff to have options while I'm there. Found a few museums I haven't been too, there's a couple festivals and I think I'm gonna try to go to the Design Festa at Big Sight where basically anyone can exhibit and you never know what you'll see.

Started looking on the google map around the Kawaguchi Lake and seems like a lot of nice little places to stop. Since I could only get 1 night, I'm gonna try to get to my ryokan at like noon, drop my luggage and spend the day walking around the lake and will do the same in the other direction the next morning before I head back. Definitely looking forward to that & the day walking around Mt. Takao.

tiesto

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #808 on: October 14, 2019, 10:21:59 AM »
Bebs, have you been to Luida's Bar yet? Also Beep! Akihabara is a really awesome experience if you like retro Japanese PCs.
^_^

Bebpo

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #809 on: October 14, 2019, 02:29:24 PM »
Bebs, have you been to Luida's Bar yet? Also Beep! Akihabara is a really awesome experience if you like retro Japanese PCs.

Nope, thanks. It's so hard finding all the themed cafes/bars currently open (because a lot are limited).

I must've searched through a half-dozen articles with lists of themed bars/cafes and Luida's didn't pop on a single one of them. Wonder if there's others I'm missing. I'm aware of the Square Enix, FF14, Gundam ones.

chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #810 on: October 15, 2019, 01:56:44 AM »
Also, I want to(snip)
Chrono, you drink Whiskey? I'm pretty sure I owe you from previous trips so I'll cover you to be my +1 if you do :heart
(snip)

spoiler (click to show/hide)
[close]

Quaker

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #811 on: October 20, 2019, 01:24:27 PM »
Anyone have any recommendations for "easy mode" pub crawling for someone without Japanese language skills? I'm here in Tokyo with my brothers until Saturday morning and they want to do the pub crawl/drinking alley thing(like Golden Gai) but I don't know any Japanese and it's not really my thing to begin with so I was hoping for something like that but more chill without being somewhere that's SUPER busy or crowded.

Similarly, anyone have recommendations for one of those "all you can drink/eat for "X" hours for $20/30" restaurants(or I think there were also some that offered 270Y drinks with food?)?

Thanks!

chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #812 on: October 20, 2019, 09:30:12 PM »
Anyone have any recommendations for "easy mode" pub crawling for someone without Japanese language skills? I'm here in Tokyo with my brothers until Saturday morning and they want to do the pub crawl/drinking alley thing(like Golden Gai) but I don't know any Japanese and it's not really my thing to begin with so I was hoping for something like that but more chill without being somewhere that's SUPER busy or crowded.

Similarly, anyone have recommendations for one of those "all you can drink/eat for "X" hours for $20/30" restaurants(or I think there were also some that offered 270Y drinks with food?)?

Thanks!

Golden Gai is the most foreigner, non-English receiving place in all of Tokyo. It's a glorious mess. Many of the places have signs out front declaring if English speakers are welcome, or show their prices in English.

The all-you-can-eat places are around as well. It's called ta-be-ho-dai, and they're usually good at showing the price on their front of store. So if you see something in that price range, ask them if it's tabehoudai and go from there.

G The Resurrected

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #813 on: October 28, 2019, 01:03:33 PM »
Bebpo:



I'm back home going through post Japan travel depression and sickness. I feel like I found my place while in Japan, and coming home really bummed me out. I eagerly await another trip in the future, maybe one with not as much packed into it. We did so much during our trip that we barely got around to everything we wanted to do, but that's ok it gives us another reason to come back.

Not to bore anyone but I put together a little album of our trip. You can check it out here:
https://imgur.com/a/LDYQ2c9

Our trip was wild, first day we had to travel from San Jose to Seattle and had a layover there till we got on our flight to Narita. From Narita we had to go through immigration which was a first for us, we ended up missing our train to Tokyo because the name on my ticket wasn't correct, Thanks JAL. After that we had to book it to Tokyo to get on the last Shinkansen to Nagoya. It was such a blur that day.

Time in Nagoya/Suzuka was interesting as the Friday before Hagibis was to hit land everyone was uncertain about what was going to happen. Formula 1 ended up cancelling Saturdays events and we were forced to stay in our hotel as nothing was open. The combini's ran out of food and booze very soon after the rain started coming down. Once Sunday came around we had beautiful weather that sadly burned our pale asses alive. We ended up taking a train to Osaka later that day and you can see how fried I am with the Pepsi. I wish we could have spent more time in Nagoya, I didn't get around to having some Yamachan! (we get it once a year at a local Japanese supermarket)

So after all the fun had past with Formula One and Hagibis we headed to Osaka/Kyoto. We immediately went to Nintendo Live 2019 in Kyoto and it was awesome! The missus got to get her Animal Crossing fix and I got to be on the main stage for Ringfit. We got some merchandise while we were there and the missus even won some exclusive Animal Crossing goods and took a few pictures with some of the Animals. We then went to Kyoto city and that was just a mistake, the tourists and foreigners make enjoying anything there impossible. My advice is to not go to Kyoto honestly.

After we were done with Nintendo Live we just kinda wandered around Osaka for a few days. Seeing all that there is there to offer. We went to Den Den town, Dontonburi, a LaLa Port for the see through bottom Ferris wheel/Gundam Station/Shopping! We also went to USJ and had a freaking blast! I'd go out on a limb and say that theme park is one of the best I've ever had the pleasure of going to. Their churro game is strong as hell at USJ. Chucky x Hello Kitty was amazing to experience and Beetle Juice Rock'n'Roll Concert was amazing and just how I remembered it from years ago. We got to experience all of the Halloween Horror night experiences and my favorite was the Terminator experience cross Sadako, it was by far the most entertaining and unique experience. We even got to see a bit of the Mario land construction while there, you could see it coming together in the background. I think outside of Kyoto I'm all about Kansai life and the people there are just special. I could do without the Chinese tourists who honestly ruin a lot of the more popular locations.

But the funnest thing we did in Osaka was on the last day there we went to the Cup of Noodle museum. The missus didn't really plan to go there, but we had the time and our train to Tokyo wasn't till later in the day so we went. And boy am I glad we did, the normally reserved chicken ramen cooking class had a 2 person vacancy due to a cancellation, lucky us. If you get an opportunity to do this I suggest it, best $10 I've ever spent. They took us step by step through the history and process of making the classic ramen. We got to design our own packaging and the intensity of the flavor before going through the cooking process. We also made our own Cup of Noodle, because why not!

We later traveled back to Tokyo for a weeks time and got our feet on the ground. We had a very tight schedule so it only left us with a few days to explore. So we hit our list and went to Akiba, Ikebukuro, Harajuku, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Ginza, Odaiba, and a few other places in between. A few thoughts on some of the area's to pass and some that I think deserve more time in.

Akiba: I was super excited for this place, but after going to Den Den town the only thing that was impressive was the Soft On Demand building and Yodabashi camera. I spent a few hours wandering around before becoming bored of the higher prices and overall touristy vibe I got from this area. We had fun golfing on the top floor of Yodabashi and seeing the Square Enix cafe which was all booked up. We did get our Ramen on here at this super spicy place that claims to have one of the hottest ramens in the world. I got my ramen Oni style and survived like a champ, the head chef gave us both a reaper and a highball as a "gift."  :lol  I think the one thing I was most excited about was being able to visit Soft on Demand and seeing the mirror truck irl. I got to meet several "stars" and got to view a live tapping which was unique. I was given a gift bag with a bunch of Soft products and a very special item from that tapping with a new star. Highly suggest not just going there, but planning a visit ahead of time if you are a perv like me.

Shinjuku: We were here for two things the Government building and Egg Slut. One of these disappointed the other was even better than the one we have in the states. Shinjuku is home to a lot of western American high end chains which we didn't see much outside of this area. We traveled through Times and checked out the park before heading to the Government building which was closed to the holiday, which we didn't know about. So a slight disappointment which lead us to Sky Tree village.

Sky Tree Village: forget what people say about this being a waste of money, we had an absolute blast here. I am a pussy when it comes to heights and this tower will challenge anyones height freights by a magnitude unheard of anywhere else in the world. It also didn't help that a 3.x earthquake happened while we were 350m in the air.... We got tickets for the 450m gallery even though we were warned it was poor visibility, I thought good maybe then I won't be so scared. Welp after that earthquake happened it cleared up and the elevator to that floor has see through doors! But once I got used to it, I was having a blast and the missus dropped so much cash cause each floor had exclusive Hello Kitty merch (they got us good.) We did the touristy thing of taking pictures and sending letters which is all fun and good, but we were really taken away with the view. We spent hours up there enjoying a few drinks and having a bite to eat, which was later deposited on the 450m floor which is some kind of record I think in terrestrial terms. All in all highly recommended and if you get a chance to try the Tomato juice just do it, the stuff is amazing. Oh and this is where I got to geek out at all of the Ultraman stuff!

Ikebukuro: Figure city! We spent hours looking through shops here and found some of the best deals in all of Japan or so we thought. A word of warning this place is scammy as fuck. A lot of shops claim to be tax free here, but they just want your information. They required us to fill out forms with more information than I felt comfortable with giving. Seeing as this was our first time doing anything like that during our trip I thought it was normal, but it wasn't. So be warned if they ask for anything more than the information given on your Passport don't do it. We had fun looking at game shops and figures and bought some, but I regretted it when we were on our way out of the country.

Harajuku: This place was by far the most touristy place that we went to in Tokyo per capita of people there. But it was great as we got to go to some of our favorite niche fashion shops and buy lots of clothing. ACDC rag was awesome and we got there just as a new line got debuted so we bought the whole line, cause why not?! If you stray a little around the main drag you can find some of the coolest hype beast shops in all the world. There was drops from dozens of companies while we were there and it made for some awesome sight seeing. We also visited a shrine while we were there and fed some koi in a park just off the main strip. Lots of fun for a morning but once it got packed we got the fuck out. We also witnessed how Japanese television films live on location in a busy location. Building up and tearing down sets in front of shops as traffic moves by, was something to see.

Shibuya: We were here for one thing and one thing only. To see Perfumes Reframe concert at the opening of the Line Shibuya. This whole event was amazing, first of all we had to get tickets which were by a lottery and to top that off we had to get the same day or we'd have had to go separately. Well I worked some magic and got us in as one of just 8 foreigners allowed per showing and we got amazing seats together, others weren't lucky to be seated together. The concert/performance was just amazing, everything about this experience was peak greatness. After we were done with the concert, we got back to the station and realized where we were and just laughed that we didn't recognize Shibuya crossing while we were there. In a fit of hunger we found an Ippudo around a corner and enjoyed one of the best bowls of ramen I've ever had in my life. It also helped that they had a gyoza that was steamed and put in a bowl like soup. We weaved and wandered and got to witness the massive amounts of people traversing this area and then we made a mistake. We went into Shibuya 109 and my wallet burned not even 10 feet into the damn place. The missus was crazy about some Samantha T purses and then I saw it in the back of the display area, my undoing in life. They had Sailor moon bags and wallets... Exclusive to that particular location and all but sold out of most I let the missus go a little crazy and get a few purses and a new wallet. I'm not gonna say no to something so unique and limited like that. It even came in their own special wrapping with Tuxedo mask, Luna, and a few other SM elements. But that wouldn't be the end of it, as we added more bags to my arms we ended up with a whole new wardrobe and more clothing than I think we traveled with in the first place. I quickly found the escape at the bottom of the building into the subway system and got the fuck out before more damage could be done.

Ginza: I liked this area, I was keen for a higher end experience and I wasn't let down. Even the hello kitty store in Ginza is posh and expensive as fuck. But for me it was about some of the best food spots I've ever had the pleasure of going to. Since our hotel was just a few blocks away we spent each night roaming around the shops and finding all sorts of unique food and shopping opportunities. It was clean and upscale, that was till it was garbage day and the Ginza rats took to the streets. Funny thing about Ginza is once you leave the main streets you see a glimpse of normal life. Which is exactly what I got when I had to do our laundry at a local laundromat. Best hour of doing laundry in my life I think. As I spent the time talking to locals and making new friends who would later help us out in a time of need. People here are just normal and while the shops might be fancy the people are just as kind and giving as most others I met while in Japan.

Odaiba: This place was fun. Not only is it home to the museum of poop, not shitting you at all it's at diver city and it a fun instagram place. They also are home to lots of unique little spots like the Gundam protector, Toyota museum where I got in a self driving Toyota taxi, and Joyopolis! We got to see a 4D movie in English no less while we were there since Joyopolis sold out of tickets at 8am the day we were there. Lots of shopping and one of the only stores to carry the coveted Hello Kitty Reebok's which were bought up the moment the missus saw them. We had a blast hanging out here and seeing things. I loved the Gundam cafe and got some merch, like a color changing mug all in all a good end to our open days while in Japan.

So that almost wrapped up our trip if it weren't for Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Sea. Which we thought would be a nice bookend to our vacation... Nope! First the ticket issue, they sell out days in advance. So you have to make sure you know which days you are going and if you aren't sure because of an injury you've gotta travel to Ikspiari to get tickets before they sell out which they almost did for our two days. They had just 170 more tickets for Sea and under 100 for Land when I got our tickets. Our new friends from Ginza warned us about how early the "fans" come out to the park, we were not prepared for the crazy "fans" that go to Disneyland and in a moment of desperation we got on the horn and got some early 15 passes from our pass holder friends, which I thought would give us head start to the madness at this park. Disneyland is stroller city, if you have a leg injury do not come here as there is limited seating and it is only for expectant mothers and stroller parking! I learned this the hard way as I sat down and was yelled at by a cast member to stand up even with my splint clearly visible. This whole day was a utter disaster and a horrible experience. We got to go on most of the rides we wanted to and saw the unique experiences, but it wasn't enjoyable. Thankfully we had teamed up with our Ginza friends later in the day and they got to talking to customer service and we got a partial refund which was awesome!

Disney Sea, just go! This is the best Disney park I've ever been to hands down! It wasn't stroller city like Land was and there was a lot of space for people to move around. Even though the next typhoon was approaching and dumping rain on us we enjoyed the crap out of this park. That refund money almost immediately disappeared in the park thanks in part to Duffy and his friends. Gelatoni is the cutest damn character ever! This whole park is must better laid out and has some of the most unique food options I had seen yet. A Demi glazed potato churro, yes please! A taro filled sweet potato biscuit that is shaped like a churro, hell yeah! We could spend more and more time in this park, but we had to get ready for the trip home and by the end of seeing everything there we both were just amazed at the uniqueness and quality here at this park. Oh and those strollers from Land, we found them in Ariels grotto which is hidden inside the mountain so as to contain the kids, amazing! Big Band Beat isn't to be missed and the King Triton concert is just awesome. Still we enjoyed USJ more for some reason...

Packing up we realized we bought more than we could fit in our suit cases that we brought, and we brought duffles to put our clothing in and get them out of our suit cases. So I had to make a mad dash to a luggage store which just so happened to be a mega donque in Shibuya during rush hour. With little time left I was able to pack us up and we were so close to being over our weight on our bags by .3 and .9 it was amazing we got out of Japan. That was till I went through customs, remember that shady shit in Ikebukuro? Well the Japanese tax guy didn't like what he saw and after a bit of back and forth on a translation device he just asked me to pay for the owed tax and I'd be free to leave. I thought that would be the end of my troubles, but getting back to the states we had to retrieve our bags and go through immigration where a picture of me was taken and I got detained for over 2 hours. I got stopped after the missus was passed through, but I didn't know I wasn't passed through as well. I had all the luggage with me and so I got stopped. Having to go through each bag took a long time and after a 10 hour flight you are just done. I was eventually let go into the security check with TSA where their millimeter wave machine kept saying I had something in my thighs and groin. So I had to yet again be taken aside and took off my shorts to be searched, I got my yearly exam out of the way.  So by now I'm 3 hours in Seattle the missus has no idea what has happened to me and I get to our connected gate and our plane has been grounded due to mechanical issues. So we got stuck in Seattle for a night and stayed without our luggage and amenities till the weather cleared the next morning.

We got home, but we both really missed Japan after the end our our journey. We met so many people that were kind and so different than the folks we have back at home. So we started planning our next trip almost immediately and we'll be looking at opportunities in the near future that might allow us to stay there longer. We won't be back before the olympics, but I'm looking at winter/xmas next year/year after for 2 months. The missus will by that time have completed her 2nd official Japanese language examination, and might have some working opportunities while we are there if she gets sponsored.

TLDR: Japan is our new home and we love it!


Bebpo

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #814 on: November 10, 2019, 07:40:55 PM »
Been in ER on morphine less than 48 hours before flight out to Japan, us Boreans not having good luck with pre-Japan trip injuries.
Got the worst case of salmonella/e.coli food poisoning had in my life by miles on Friday night. I haven't thrown up in like 5-10 years, and was puking my brains out 3 days before the flight. Will have to figure out tomorrow whether I"m gonna have to cancel like half the trip and eat a ton of costs because I never buy the trip insurance -_-

Fingers crossed end up able in a condition to survive the flight over, but even in best case, gonna have to avoid alcohol and a lot of foods for the first 3-4 days of the trip until my digestive system is recovered.
Sucks.

chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #815 on: December 08, 2019, 07:28:48 AM »
Been in ER on morphine less than 48 hours before flight out to Japan, us Boreans not having good luck with pre-Japan trip injuries.
Got the worst case of salmonella/e.coli food poisoning had in my life by miles on Friday night. I haven't thrown up in like 5-10 years, and was puking my brains out 3 days before the flight. Will have to figure out tomorrow whether I"m gonna have to cancel like half the trip and eat a ton of costs because I never buy the trip insurance -_-

Fingers crossed end up able in a condition to survive the flight over, but even in best case, gonna have to avoid alcohol and a lot of foods for the first 3-4 days of the trip until my digestive system is recovered.
Sucks.

You should post some of your pics here, to prove you weren't totally waylaid by tiny organisms.

VomKriege

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #816 on: December 09, 2019, 09:43:13 AM »
Oh lord, I forgot how it was so aggravating to try to contact Japanese companies...  :lol
I had to settle on sending inquiries to the general "contact us" form most of the time (which itself is a bit of work to find), making that job probing even more of a shot in the dark thing than it already is.
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chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #817 on: December 09, 2019, 07:41:55 PM »
Oh lord, I forgot how it was so aggravating to try to contact Japanese companies...  :lol
I had to settle on sending inquiries to the general "contact us" form most of the time (which itself is a bit of work to find), making that job probing even more of a shot in the dark thing than it already is.
And if you're approaching them in non-Japanese language, it adds a order-of-magnitude to their response time.

VomKriege

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #818 on: December 10, 2019, 07:59:17 AM »
Oh lord, I forgot how it was so aggravating to try to contact Japanese companies...  :lol
I had to settle on sending inquiries to the general "contact us" form most of the time (which itself is a bit of work to find), making that job probing even more of a shot in the dark thing than it already is.
And if you're approaching them in non-Japanese language, it adds a order-of-magnitude to their response time.

I'd have better odds at the lottery for sure but, well, why not try ?
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bork

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #819 on: February 03, 2020, 04:12:13 PM »
https://japantoday.com/category/features/food/McDonald%E2%80%99s-in-Akihabara-gets-brutal-but-kind-sendoff-from-rival-Burger-King-branch?

Quote
On Friday, the McDonald’s Showa-dori branch in Tokyo’s Akihabara neighborhood permanently closed down, and it broke the news to passersby by putting up a sign that read:

“Thank you for your 22 years of patronage.

The Akihabara Showadori branch McDonald’s will be permanently closing at 6 p.m. on January 31. Thank you for the past 22 years. We deeply appreciate the customers who supported this branch, and hope you will continue to dine at other McDonald’s locations.”


Quote
Burger King’s message reads:

Thank you for 22 happy years.

Our neighbor two buildings over, McDonald’s, will be closing today.

Esteemed rival, and fellow friend who loved Akihabara,

because you were close by, we also could do our best.

Without you here, McDonald’s, thinking of the future fills us with sadness.

Selfish though it is for us to say this, everyone, please go to McDonald’s today.

Challenging ourselves to be as good as McDonald’s has been our goal, so with a smile, we say thank you.



Quote
That’s really sweet of Burger King, isn’t it? Sure, the phrasing might be a little stiff, but the sentiment is pure, right?

Not so fast. As pointed out in a reply to a tweet by @sato322, if you take another look at Burger King’s poster, there’s what seems to be a hidden message.

Let’s examine look at the start of each line:

● Our: 私たち

● Esteemed: たかいに良き

● because you were close by: ちかくにいたから

● Without: のいない

● Selfish: 勝手な

● Challenging ourselves:チャレンジャーの私たち

Take the first character of each of those, and you get:



Quote
Watashitachi no kachi, which means:

“Victory is ours.”

:rofl
ど助平

EchoRin

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #820 on: February 07, 2020, 06:29:38 PM »
Please let me know if this is the wrong place for me to be asking this. I'm not sure if this is meant to be a thread for discussing traveling and things to do in Japan or if it's more about just Japan in general. I'll move it accordingly if it's the latter.

Looks like me and a few of my friends are going to travel to Tokyo in the early fall this year. I've been to Osaka, Kyoto, Hiroshima before, but this will be my first time in Tokyo (theirs as well). I'm trying to create a list of things that I think would interest us. We will likely be in the city for 10 days. The list:

1. Meiji Shrine
2. Ryogoku Kokugikan
3. Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden
4. Yurakucho Station (for the bars and restaurants)
5. Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building
6. Tsukiji Market (essentially to see all the sea creatures and for breakfast sushi. I am not gonna force them for the early show that's open to like 120 people or whatever)
7. Shibuya
8. Akihabara
9. Roppongi
10. Harajuku
11. Imperial Palace
12. Ueno Onshi Park
13. Tokyo Skytree
14. Nezu and Yanaka
15. Mount Takao
16. Robot Restaurant
17.Tower Records (we love music and would like to get some Japanese records)
18.Kagaya Bar
19. Maid cafe  (gotta weeb out)
20. Cat Cafe
21. Ramen BAR Snack, Izakaya (used to be known as Oppai Ramen)
22. Kawaii Monster Bar
23. Baseball (I would like to see the Swallows play at their home stadium as it's one of the oldest in the world and Babe Ruth even played their. History)

This is of course a general list. I'm sure as we get closer to the date I will start to look for some specific restaurants and bars that would entice us. Certainly a few that are more "for the locals" and such. I don't know about the Studio Ghibli muzeum. I'll see how the others feel about it. Don't worry about public transport and tickets help. More than anything I was curious to know if any of you would add something to that list that you see as a "must do/see". I know lots of you in this thread have experience with Tokyo and I'm open to suggestions.
Thanks a bunch.

bork

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #821 on: February 07, 2020, 10:23:07 PM »
We were going to go for a visit within a few months, but everyone is scared of the Corona virus now.  :-\
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chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #822 on: February 07, 2020, 10:41:59 PM »
Echorin, it's a thread for pretty much anything except anime, which has its own thread.

Glad to hear you'll be out in Tokyo, sad I'm not still there to greet you. If you end up in Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe, let me know.

Your list looks great, but even in 10 days that seems like too much stuff to squeeze in.

I enjoy KNOW sake bar in Shinjuku, and instead of Akiba I'd do Nakano Broadway. It's got that Bubble Era / nerdery vibe that's mostly gone from Akihabara these days.

chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #823 on: February 10, 2020, 04:30:17 AM »

chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #824 on: February 14, 2020, 07:29:44 PM »
back to learning japanese

how do u tell when は is pronounced wa instead of ha? when its a particle okay but how do u know know? just from experience i guess?

It's only ever pronounced as "wa" when it's used as a particle. Other times, consistently, it's "ha."

tiesto

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #825 on: February 14, 2020, 07:35:22 PM »
Echorin, some of the game bars are really cool - Luida's Bar in Roppongi, Monster Hunter Bar and the 8 Bit Bar in Shinjuku, Artnia (Square Enix Cafe) in Shinjuku...
^_^

chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #826 on: February 15, 2020, 12:38:37 AM »
Artnia is expensive, be careful how much you bring with you if you're a squeenix fan.

chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #827 on: February 20, 2020, 12:00:19 AM »
Yeah, honorifics are important. In Japanese, just as with English, unrequited and implied intimacy can either be uncomfortable or instigating.

EchoRin

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #828 on: February 24, 2020, 01:25:14 AM »

chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #829 on: February 26, 2020, 09:45:51 PM »
If you can power through kanji reading, you'll be a king among weebs.

chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #830 on: February 28, 2020, 12:12:42 AM »

bork

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #831 on: March 04, 2020, 12:40:04 PM »
also whats a kanji dictionary? i have a dictionary for my NDS called kanji sonomama something something and they say it doesnt have a kanji dictionary

Kanji Sonomama Rakubiki Jiten DS?  That is a kanji dictionary.
:confused
ど助平

bork

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #832 on: March 04, 2020, 01:37:26 PM »
i know, but i read on reddit some people were like oh its good for J-E and E-J J-J or whatever but it has no kanji dictionary i was like wut :doge

I mean, the software literally has the word "dictionary" in the title and can be used in that way to look up kanji, so...?

:confused :confused

Maybe they mean not looking up stroke order instead of drawing them?  Or is that available?  That I can't quite remember.
ど助平

Bebpo

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #833 on: April 02, 2020, 12:47:23 PM »
That's a lot! You're doing great Dufus!

VomKriege

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #834 on: April 03, 2020, 11:14:40 AM »
Absolutely not essential but if someone can elucidate the exact meaning of the following text... Automatic translation is "end of production" but I don't know if it means "Discontinued" or "Out of stock".



Edit : In case it's not clear it's on a product page.
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chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #835 on: April 04, 2020, 06:22:22 AM »
Absolutely not essential but if someone can elucidate the exact meaning of the following text... Automatic translation is "end of production" but I don't know if it means "Discontinued" or "Out of stock".

(Image removed from quote.)

Edit : In case it's not clear it's on a product page.

discontinued

VomKriege

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #836 on: April 04, 2020, 07:13:48 AM »
:noooo

Thanks !
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EchoRin

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #837 on: May 15, 2020, 06:32:13 PM »
As one might have guessed, any plan of visiting Japan this fall have now been moved. I think me and the boys will now target spring 2021.


I enjoy KNOW sake bar in Shinjuku, and instead of Akiba I'd do Nakano Broadway. It's got that Bubble Era / nerdery vibe that's mostly gone from Akihabara these days.

Chronovore, I was trying to locate KNOW and was unable to find it on Google maps. Would you happen to know the actual address? Or perhaps some kind of marker right by it?

Thanks

chronovore

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #838 on: May 15, 2020, 08:34:46 PM »
As one might have guessed, any plan of visiting Japan this fall have now been moved. I think me and the boys will now target spring 2021.


I enjoy KNOW sake bar in Shinjuku, and instead of Akiba I'd do Nakano Broadway. It's got that Bubble Era / nerdery vibe that's mostly gone from Akihabara these days.

Chronovore, I was trying to locate KNOW and was unable to find it on Google maps. Would you happen to know the actual address? Or perhaps some kind of marker right by it?

Thanks

It's "Know by Moto" if you want to search further than this:
https://tabelog.com/tokyo/A1304/A130401/13215285/
Address: 〒160-0022 Tokyo, Shinjuku City, Shinjuku, 3 Chome−26−14 新宿ミニム地下 一階
This work for you? It's underground. I think max seating of 20.

EchoRin

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Re: The Japan Thread
« Reply #839 on: May 15, 2020, 08:38:47 PM »
Nice. Yes it works. Just needed the full name for it to trigger on Google Maps.