G2JAPAN

[Chicomagiko]

Oh man, I just remembered enjo kosai is legal and openly accepted in Japan. Time hit up the 2nd years.

[Charismatic]

Oh man, I just remembered enjo kosai is legal and openly accepted in Japan. Time hit up the 2nd years.

Legal, maybe.

Generally in Japan, enjo-kōsai is looked down upon as a large-scale social problem. A 1997 poll in the Japanese TV Asahi program Asa Made Nama Terebi showed that 70 percent of respondents opposed enjo-kōsai, while 30 percent approved of it.[5] Typically, it is perceived as an extension of Japan's growing focus on materialism, much of which is what critics claim is the cause of enjo-kōsai. Critics worry that girls involved in enjo-kōsai will grow up to be unfit wives and mothers. This perception arises from suspicions that when these girls are adults, they will quickly abandon their loyalties and commitments to their family for offers of money and material benefits.[5] However, certain feminist groups and critics find enjo-kōsai to be empowering and as an act to “undermine patriarchal models propriety used to evaluate and control women”. Control over their bodies and means to support themselves is a new kind of independence for these girls. Good women in Japan are supposed to be sensible, modest, nurturing and respectful, yet girls participating in enjo-kōsai clearly reject such virtues of female restraint and modesty in Japan. Feminists such as Chizuko Ueno point out that the accidental access of girls to this dating market was not a matter of ethics, but of probability.[5] Sooner or later, these girls and young women would, in a desire for financial independence, tap into this market for their own empowerment.

[Charismatic]

Better make sure those girls are 18+ too.

[Abandon]

domon cashew!

[Chicomagiko]

I should probably invest in that sarcasm symbol. I'm surprised Domon. For someone soo weeaboo you had to go wiki a very common Japanese practice. i am disappoint.

[Charismatic]

I'm actually not very weeaboo at all.


I just like cartoons Q_Q

[Chicomagiko]

again with the disappointments.

[Linliel]

TAKESHITA! Fuck yeah! Awesome album. What kind of camera did you use? a lot of those shots were pretty and I don't think my G1 is up to the task as a camera.

That was just a little Canon IXUS 500ish, nothing very special! I love that line of cameras, it can take some gorgeous photos, yet fits in my handbag!

[quannum]

If you're just talking about food, i'd say 50$ a day is good enough. your sushi is gonna be around 25$, but as much as 3700 yen at the fish market. beer or ramen about 7$. clothes/souvenirs can be as much or as little as in a big american city.

I'd get traveller's checks and convert them at NRT, they have a better exchange rate than USD bills. if you plan on using the trains, get a 7-day JR rail pass before you go, you can't buy them in japan.

[Chicomagiko]

Where would one acquire said passes? Your estimates are pretty much around what I had in mind so I think i'll have more than enough for my trip. Any idea if they take Visa? I am not familiar with these travelers checks you speak of.

[quannum]

I got mine at the travel agent in the koreatown near me. it looks like you might be able to get it online now, http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/eastpass/obtain.html but idk.

The one time i tried to use my visa card for point-of-sale in harajuku, it was accepted. i was able to use my wells fargo debit card at the ATMS in 7/11 there, they're all over the place. and the exchange rate was real good .. if you exclude the transaction fee. just be sure to tell your bank that you plan on using your card outside of the country before you go. my limit per day was 20,000 yen.

don't worry about the traveler's checks then, just bring cash. there's a currency exchange in NRT. I'd do both exchanges there (usd-> yen, then yen -> usd)

[Linliel]

The best place to get money out of ATMs is at the post offices. You just have to be prepared. I wouldn't use travellers cheques these days, there are much cheaper and more convenient ways of doing it (my bank offers a "travel money card" for example with a one off fee but no charge for transactions which has saved me a lot of money).

You can eat very cheaply in Japan, and you can eat very expensively. Basic ramen etc. is 3-400 yen, but you'll want to try some of the other delicacies I'm sure!

I wouldn't buy a JR pass unless you're really planning on doing a lot of heavy rail travel. My bf got one to go from Osaka to Tokyo and it turned out to be cheaper than buying tickets there, but it doesn't cover things like the metro. Get a PASMO for the Tokyo metro and you'll be set (and have a dinky souvenir) for your Tokyo trips (and possibly beyond, I don't quite recall).

[Linliel]

I'll add that I did go a few years ago so my info might be a bit out of date. But for all the high-techiness of Japan I found a lot of things were very backward (only accepting cash in a lot of food places for e.g., only Post Offices allowing non-Japanese bank cards, and then those were only open certain times during the week (not on weekends for e.g.), not many places taking credit cards).

[quannum]

I wouldn't use travellers cheques these days, there are much cheaper.

i specifically said to convert them to yen at NRT

I wouldn't buy a JR pass unless you're really planning on doing a lot of heavy rail travel.

i can co-sign this

[Chicomagiko]

I dont think we'll be doing any hvy rail usage so the pass is out. Main thing i'd wanna see is akihabara(oh god, im such a nerd). anything beyond that is really up to whatever feels like fun. Odaiba(sp?) looks too much like Long Beach to me so I think I'll stay away. shinjuku looks like fun. As for the exchange tips, thanks I'll totally do that.

[quannum]

since you said yokohama, check out the ramen museum.

oh and ichiran. best. ramen. ever.

also, shinjuku has a large gay population ... that lady passing out flyers isn't a lady.

the new york bar, the bar from the movie lost in translation is in shinjuku, the view up there is real nice. no cover if you come+go before 10pm. 2000 yen after that.

and the fish market is a must for sushi, get there early. like 6am early.

[Linliel]

Yeah one thing I regret not going to was the fish market, but I was staying out in the "country" and getting in early enough was insanity!

[Senoska]

Obligatory post in this thread.

[Chicomagiko]

Does Japan serve Fugu? Or is that just a hollywood fabrication?

[Senoska]

They do. It's pricey as hell and you're risking death by eating it.