The Japan Thread

[Polident Hive]

100% earnest here, I love how not a week into November everything is full blown Christmas themed.

[chronovore]

I enjoy how it's frequently "X'MAS" as a decorative romaji shorthand, rather than going full christian spelling. It's like the branding hews closer to its current capitalist model.

Also, THANK FUCK, it's finally cold enough to wear something other than seersucker shirts and shorts. HOODIES again.

[Polident Hive]

Various circumstances have kept me here longer than intended, so I can’t visit home for another month, and I didn’t bring any winter clothes with me. The other day I was freezing as I went out and bought some basic uniqlo sweater because I didn’t want to catch a cold. It’s nice that I’m not sweating (until I go indoors anywhere) but it really went from melting to freezing with maybe a week of normal temperatures.

[chronovore]

UniQlo is supposed to be western sized, but all their pants are for people who don’t have an ass. If it fits my ass, the waist is gonna be loose as hell.

TreFac used shops are a good spot to find cheap clothes, btw.

[Polident Hive]

I’m right on the cusp of sizing. Sometimes back and shoulders are tight, but thankfully wearing baggy clothing is in fashion, so it balances out. I’ve talked to others who have to shop online or at big and tall stores like Sakazen. And with shoes, 28-wide just barely works for me, where anybody needing American 10.5 or larger is limited to big b and those stores.

edit: well I tried to buy shoes and I was wrong. Selection at ABC don’t fit.

[team filler]

New admin 

[Polident Hive]

https://twitter.com/sweetroad5/status/1859776781684965848

 

[chronovore]

Nope.

[bork]

 

[Polident Hive]

I feel like I should try an actual language course. Self learning… I’m not terrible at understanding. Trying to communicate back is another story. I can get by, but anything resembling a conversation is embarrassing.

With reading, I haven’t bothered touching kanji yet. That feels insurmountable.

[bork]

I feel like I should try an actual language course. Self learning… I’m not terrible at understanding. Trying to communicate back is another story. I can get by, but anything resembling a conversation is embarrassing.

With reading, I haven’t bothered touching kanji yet. That feels insurmountable.

I did awful with Kanji in college.  Awful!      Failed a course on it and had to make it up with another class later on.  Never did pick up much during my time over there and since then.  A buddy of mine used to have his nose deep in a dictionary just memorizing everything and he absolutely aced that course!

[Polident Hive]

Does anybody else experience an inability to eat American sized portions after some time here?

Maybe it’s an aging thing, but it feels a little pathetic. I’m letting down my country.

[Bebpo]

Does anybody else experience an inability to eat American sized portions after some time here?

Maybe it’s an aging thing, but it feels a little pathetic. I’m letting down my country.

Yeah, definitely. American portions are way too big for one normal sized person.

[chronovore]

Does anybody else experience an inability to eat American sized portions after some time here?

Maybe it’s an aging thing, but it feels a little pathetic. I’m letting down my country.

100% — I'm visiting family in the USA, and they've commented that I don't eat nearly as much as I used to do.

My sister made a massive rack of BBQ ribs, and I barely made a dent. I had 2 pieces of pizza for lunch today, probably could have had 1. Used to eat 3 pieces.

[Polident Hive]

If I needed to fly to JFK, somehow, it’s dramatically cheaper to fly to Seoul and then to JFK. It’s even cheaper to fly to Seoul, book a JAL ticket that has a layover back in Haneda, and then fly to JFK.

I barely understand the economics of this.

[chronovore]

For maybe 5 trips, I used EVA Air out of KIX to arrive at SFO, but it required a Taiwan hub visit. Travel the WRONG WAY to Taiwan, wait a few hours, then fly to SFO from Taiwan.

…it was 900USD cheaper than a direct flight from KIX/SFO, so you better believe I did that. Ate some nice Taiwanese noodles in the airport, read a book.

[Polident Hive]

Some friends asked for hotel recommendations in Tokyo and I’m going through ones I’ve previously stayed at. Everything is two to four times pricier. It’s crazy. I’ve heard complaints about people paying with yen getting priced out. I didn’t think it’s this bad.

[chronovore]

Yes, locals are getting priced out of places to stay because tourism is booming so hard. It'd be nice if it was like Hawai'i where locals gave each other a "discount" but hotels gotta make hay while the sun shines.

[chronovore]

Gotta add: tourism is damaging Japanese culture's famous manners. All the loud, self-centered, ignorant tourists coming through, dragging their check-in baggage through narrow shop aisles, expecting that they can get vegan options at the ramen or sushi joint, it's all worn out the kindness of locals. Japanese people generally do not differentiate between foreigners who are visiting and residents… though speaking reasonable Japanese seems to frequently take the tension out of a conversation.

[Polident Hive]

My language ability is shite. Japanese, too. But even showing the minimum amount of effort to abide by customs, or basic manners, goes a long way. A lot of the tourists, I assume, don’t act this way in their own countries. “Vacation mode” or whatever isn’t an invitation to act sociopathic.

[chronovore]

Tourists doing chin-ups on the crosspieces of torii at temples, jumping out of line to splash feet-first in the fountain at Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto, have been on the news. More commonely, gathering in groups to block entire platform or sidewalk as they disembark from train or bus,  shouting at each other across stores, the list goes on. 

[Polident Hive]

Back to whining about weather. It’s not even April and days have been mid 20s. The jar of coconut oil in my kitchen is melting. Feel like I just stored my lighter shirts.

[Coax]

I heard on a travel podcast that if a restaurant doesn't want a foreigner they'll use a 'X' hands gesture (while politely smiling). This person is quite girthy and said this occurred multiple times when going around with his equally fat friends, but when going with his attractive wife he said they'd go out of their way to make space available.

Reading about this 'X' gesture it seems it can also signify they're full/booked but some say it's also just if they can't be bothered with you. Stories from this thread do make it sound like some places have had enough with tourists.

[Polident Hive]

Never personally experienced it but there are a number of places that are quite small and run by one or two people. I think they might just find it troublesome.

I’m not a big guy but my back and shoulders are relatively broad and… there’s an old corny gym joke about having to walk through doors sideways after back day. There are times I actually had to do that and it’s a little embarrassing. For bigger fellas, a scene from In Bruges comes to mind.

There’s also the issue of very poor accessibility for the differently abled. Plenty of places I’ve been are stairs only. And quite often train stations make the elevator a hassle to get to. Walk an extra two blocks to the station exit with an elevator. At least twice a week I find myself helping some lady with her luggage going up or down stairs so they don’t hurt themselves.

[bork]

There’s also the issue of very poor accessibility for the differently abled. Plenty of places I’ve been are stairs only. And quite often train stations make the elevator a hassle to get to. Walk an extra two blocks to the station exit with an elevator. At least twice a week I find myself helping some lady with her luggage going up or down stairs so they don’t hurt themselves.

Before there was a bullet train going to Ishikawa prefecture, there was a station you had to change trains at when going to/coming from Tokyo.  It was notorious for having this huge staircase you had to climb to get to the next train.  It was always a nightmare hauling luggage up there, plus you had to hurry because you only had a few minutes to get to the other train.  So glad that's no longer a problem.  I can't see us having made that other train had we had to take that route when we were last there with multiple suitcases and a three year-old!

[Polident Hive]

There’s also the issue of very poor accessibility for the differently abled. Plenty of places I’ve been are stairs only. And quite often train stations make the elevator a hassle to get to. Walk an extra two blocks to the station exit with an elevator. At least twice a week I find myself helping some lady with her luggage going up or down stairs so they don’t hurt themselves.

Before there was a bullet train going to Ishikawa prefecture, there was a station you had to change trains at when going to/coming from Tokyo.  It was notorious for having this huge staircase you had to climb to get to the next train.  It was always a nightmare hauling luggage up there, plus you had to hurry because you only had a few minutes to get to the other train.  So glad that's no longer a problem.  I can't see us having made that other train had we had to take that route when we were last there with multiple suitcases and a three year-old!

Kanda has different lines on parallel tracks. Transferring from Yamanote to Chuo is running up one set of stairs and down another within a minute. It’s great because if one is seconds delayed, you can see the other across the tracks. Yet some people still sprint to try making it.

[chronovore]

I heard on a travel podcast that if a restaurant doesn't want a foreigner they'll use a 'X' hands gesture (while politely smiling). This person is quite girthy and said this occurred multiple times when going around with his equally fat friends, but when going with his attractive wife he said they'd go out of their way to make space available.

Reading about this 'X' gesture it seems it can also signify they're full/booked but some say it's also just if they can't be bothered with you. Stories from this thread do make it sound like some places have had enough with tourists.

They don't even have to be full-up, they can be full enough that they don't want the extra hassle of navigating outside of Japanese language, accommodating a lack of understanding about social norms and service, or even negotiating changes to menu based on dietary restrictions. That last one, especially, Japan generally makes the assumption that the customer will be able readily communcate their allergies and degree of severity PRIOR to making reservations or seating.

[Polident Hive]

Earlier had to do the tour guide thing for visiting friends. Shite tour guide because they wanted to see Kamakura and I’ve never been. But good lord the fatigue and frustration is felt. A stop on the enoden line had swarms of people. The traffic guides were cursing and almost hitting people. The tourists were running onto the train tracks to take a photo of the train arriving behind them.

[chronovore]

Yeah, there is a WHOLE lot of shitty behavior from the "guests."

I know Japan is relieved to get some money that are supporting the microeconomies of many cities, but they're also contending with a horde of people who don't understand ANY of the tacit expectations and myriad of social contracts in place here.

[Polident Hive]

It is thankfully localized. But boy am I jealous of anybody here when it was locked down. Any popular sites or touristy spots are a no go. Day to day, sometimes week to week, it’s not a huge factor.

In Kamakura I was given some recommendations for cafes and such. Places that don’t have thousands of google reviews. Only Japanese customers (myself and guest excluded), only Japanese menus, very nice staff. Then you go by one with those reviews. Long lines, mostly non-Japanese, staff is exhausted and understandably irritated.

It’s not a new thing. Always been the case in any heavily touristy areas in Europe. During COVID I had friends in Italy realize, hey, Venice is nice without the people. But the scale is unreal. There was a headline about more tourists in the first four months than Japan used to see in the entire year.

[chronovore]

Yuuuuup.

I used to go to Namba frequently for fun. It was like Akiba but "undiscovered" in the same way that no-one really targeted Osaka, and instead favored Tokyo.

Those days are over. Umeda/Osaka are absolutely crawling with tourists, and Namba has a massive foreign presence now. There are plenty of mainland asian tourists, but the caucasian crowd is readily visible, and frequently have their privilege pealing off them like curls of smoke.

Prices are up. Hard to get in anywhere to eat or drink. Locals' manners are spiralling down to match the "guests' manners" It's significantly less fun than it used to be.

[Polident Hive]

Getting into which tourist is worse is a whole discussion. But I will say, the Euro or general western tourists… please confiscate their body spray and cheap cologne at the border. The foul cloud from gassing themselves forms a 15ft barrier around them. I’ve seen people plug their noses or hang back on an escalator.

Side note: if I ever stay here long term, I’m gonna find a way to import my mattress from America. Goes back to the broad shoulders and bigger butt thing. Even on my soft mattress, I don’t sink enough for support. I tried the various import brands and they naturally still cater to a Japanese market of wanting firm mattresses. One of the few things I’m homesick for.

[chronovore]

I hear you. Some stuff here just doesn't accommodate us.

I can only buy pants outside Japan. I've bought UNIQLO jeans that fit my thighs, and even with my august belly, the beltline swims. Anything that fits my waist doesn't fit my ass or thighs.

[team filler]

Chrono is dummy thicc