/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>7516008
No one went to Japan on /jp/. Someone lied to you.

Why the fuck would we know any of that?

Go ask a forum for people who have gone to Japan.

>>7516017
But there's always threads about people going to comiket and buying stuff... Or that one guy who is helping us import stuff...

>>>/trv/

>>7516023

As far as I know, the Japanese are very skeptical of tourists, and won't just let you into the country without knowing what hotel you guys are staying at.

> living on the streets or sleeping on trains/at lan cafes

I don't understand how people can travel into other countries with that mentality.

>>7516030
>I already asked /trv/ and they told me what they could but I need some more tips.

Where do I find those beaches in animes where there are lots of school girls hitting watermelons and playing beach volley ball?

>>7516008
>How do we get temporary phones? Do they do SIM cards?
you don't, as a short-term tourist you can't (yes one month is short term)
>What's the general cost of food and living? How much money should I bring?
varies wildly depending on what you want to eat. IF you don't want to spend prepare to eat rice all day every day. Veggies and meat cost a fucking lot.
>What stores in Akihabara should I look out for? Do they shun foreigners that try to buy doujin?
As long as you pay, you don't even need to talk to the cashiers
>Soap Lands and Maid Cafes... How do they work?
choose on catalogue, pay and they'll fuck you over with ugly whores because you're a foreigner who can't even argue in their language

I'm still laughing from the level of preparations you explained though, you're going to be so fucked it's funny.
Delete thread now that you have answers please.

>>7516055
Why is Reimu naked?

>>7516065

WHY ISN'T SHE NAKED?!

Reimu is a slut.

>>7516058
Any recommendations of places to stay or visit? No fukushima please.

How willingly do they help foreigners out?

Will they just "wakaranai" everything? Or try to speak some broken english?

>>7516082
What's the matter, not feeling koujou moe?

>How do we get temporary phones? Do they do SIM cards?
When you land at Narita, after you go through customs and immigration, you'll be in a mall-like area. The Bank of Chiba will be to your right. Go there and change your money. (It's MUCH cheaper to do it there than back home.) Soft Bank will be down the hall on the left and around the corner. Rent phones from there. Soft Bank gives you unlimited free texting to other Soft Bank users, so you can all text back and forth without racking up any extra fees.

>What's the general cost of food and living? How much money should I bring?
Hotels aren't overly expensive. My preferred hotel runs about 7000 yen per night, but you can spend less if you want to do the youth hostel thing. You can also spend a lot more if you are so inclined. Really awesome food can be gotten for next to nothing if you avoid the places that are obviously designed for tourists. Convenience stores like Family Mart are excellent sources of cheap meals. Also, don't forget train fair around cities. Get a Suica card at the first opportunity, you'll thank yourself later. It's a train fair card that is also accepted at many convenience stores, as well as some vending machines and regular stores. Consider the cost of living to be $1000 per week.

>>7516130 cont

>What stores in Akihabara should I look out for? Do they shun foreigners that try to buy doujin?
Short answer: all of them. K-Books, Melon Books, and Tora no Ana are the mainstays for doujin buying, but there are also Cospa, legions of figure stores, and more miscellaneous stores than you can imagine. Also check out Super Potato, the supreme Mecca of retro gaming. Nobody shuns foreigners as long as you behave yourselves. But also, almost nobody speaks English, so be prepared to conduct business in Japanese. Unless you need to ask a clerk about something, this is largely just the cashier telling you how much you owe, and the number is printed on the register anyway, so you can just read it.

>Soap Lands and Maid Cafes... How do they work?
Never did a soap land, but supposedly most of them are not gaijin friendly. If you're looking for any kind of sex club, avoid Roppongi. That's where the dumb rice-chasing foreigners go to get ripped off by average-looking women for mediocre sex. Stick to places like Shinjuku. Maid cafes are pretty much like going to Hooters. The food is generally pretty bad, but that's not why you're there. They're also horribly overpriced. And after you've been around Akiba for a while, you will probably be tired of maids, since there's one on every street corner handing out flyers.

>>7516107
Okuu is too unyu for me.

>>7516130
Thanks thanks, how much is it to rent a Soft Bank phone for a month? Can we use our own phones?

>>7516033
Not true. However, you will be required to present your passport at any hotel you check into, and they're required to keep a photocopy of it for record keeping. You may be asked where you're staying, but this is normal customs/immigration procedure. I get asked this when I'm driving to Canada, for example.

It is, however, required by law that you keep your passport with you at all times in Japan. Police are allowed to ask you to present it without any grounds or provocation. They won't do that, however, because they don't speak English and don't want the hassle. The one exception to this is when you're going through the train station at Narita. An officer there will approach all foreigners and make note of them. So have your passport ready. Of course, having your passport on hand is just common sense when traveling abroad, regardless of the country.

>>7516137
Also gaijins trying to nampa will just end badly right?

Also, all the things you say about them disliking gaijins, is it worse for whites over korean/chinese? how bad it is for other east asians? Our group is kind of multicultural.

Is approaching those police booths when needing help a bad idea?

Thanks again!

>>7516152
If you have a GSM-unlocked phone, you can rent a SIM card for it. But most American phones are GSM-locked, so that's probably not an option. If you have a smart phone, you'll still be able to use the Wi-fi and GPS features, but the voice and 3G/4G will be non-functional. Remember to leave your phone in airline mode or it will devour its battery in 2 or 3 hours trying to lock onto a signal that doesn't exist.

Renting a basic phone is 250 yen per day, but you can spend more if you want more features. Check out: http://www.softbank-rental.jp/en/price/

Hey dude. I'm living in Japan now so I can probably answer a lot of questions...

>How do we get temporary phones? Do they do SIM cards?
I would recommend renting an iphone or at least some kind of smart phone. It will run you about $100 / week but it's a HUGE lifesaver when you are trying to find your way around.

>We're pretty cheap, so we even thought about living on the streets or sleeping on trains/at lan cafes.
I just read an article this morning saying private rooms are getting banned at manga cafes because people would bring prostitutes into them. Homeless people sleep in the parks a lot. I don't think you will be allowed to sleep in the train stations.

Personally I would recommend looking into a hostel if you're that poor. You'll at least be able to take a bath. Yeesh. But a regular hotel room split 4 ways shouldn't be that much anyway... But good luck finding a cheap one on short notice.

>Bus Passing
??? Bus...?? Why not take the train? It's too late but you should have looked into getting the JR pass that lets you ride as much as you want, including shinkansen.

>hiding power levels
What is your deal if you're going with "friends" yet you have to do this....

>cost of food and living
You can eat pretty cheap in Japan if you like Japanese soup especially. You don't have to tip so meals like that run 400~500 yen on average.

>Do they shun foreigners that try to buy doujin?
They will think it's funny / cool if anything.

>How willingly do they help foreigners out?
I only asked for help once, in Ikebukuro station, my first time using the trains, and the lady spoke English and was nice. Outside of Tokyo good luck finding someone there who speaks English though.

Random people can be very nice, I was at a store looking at a sign trying to figure out what floor I wanted, and an elderly lady came up and asked if I needed help. Turns out I needed to go to a different branch of the store and she insisted on drawing me a map. Really nice.

>>7516175
>Also, all the things you say about them disliking gaijins, is it worse for whites over korean/chinese? how bad it is for other east asians? Our group is kind of multicultural.

They can't tell if you are korean / chinese by looking at you. So yeah they will be fine. I went with a Chinese friend one time and everyone thought he was Japanese. Same for my Korean friend.

>>7516175
The racism towards whites is largely a myth (except maybe among the older generation who is still sore about the war, the way some American WWII vets are). They're just as bad at differentiating Chinese and Koreans from Japanese as everyone else is, so if you have either of those ethnicities in your group, those people may be expected to speak the language.

The important part is to behave yourself. Don't reinforce bad stereotypes. Anime shirts are okay in Akiba, but conceal your powerlevel anywhere else.

Also, if you need to speak to someone, it's common courtesy to approach them in Japanese. Ask someone if they speak English before talking to them in English. This is true in any foreign country. Learn to ask people if they speak English in the local language, and only speak English to them if they say yes. And remember to speak slowly, clearly, and avoid slang and contractions. Even in Quebec, you'll find that people can have trouble understanding you if you speak in casual colloquial English instead of robotic textbook English.

>>7516185
You fucking life saver you.

Thanks for the site, I'm from Australia, so our phones will work fine.

I think that's all I'm desperate to know, unless you know anything about climbing Mt Fuji or any festivals/events anime/non-anime related.

I'm going to dig through more easymodo threads for now and hopefully I won't need to bother /jp/ anymore.

>You don't have to tip
Oh yeah, this is huge. You don't tip for anything in Japan. If you try to tip a waitress, she'll give the money back. If you leave money on the table and leave, she'll come outside and tell you that you forgot your money. Also, tax is already included in the price of everything. So the price you see on the label or menu is what you will actually be paying.

Oh, and other thing about Soft Bank. Since they cater extensively to foreign travelers, there's almost always someone there who speaks at least passable English.

>>7516220
For festivals, the big one will be Tanabata, which is held on July 7 in some areas. In other areas it's in the middle of August. According to Wikipedia, the biggest one in Kanto is in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa on July 7. The only festivals I've ever done were on New Year's, so that's about all I can say on the subject. But if you ever get the chance, New Year's in Japan is extremely awesome.

>>7516194
Do hotels always need to be booked heaps in advance? I'm just afraid that when I call, it's going to be really awkward.

Since it'll be summer, (it's winterish in Australia), how hot does it get? Do the Japanese like to go to beaches what not? I kind of just want to watch stereotypes from animes in real life. Do any of those happen? eg. schoolgirls in swimsuits?

Anyway to live out fantasies?

>>7516281
Not always. I just remember when I tried booking for my first trip at the last minute, all the cheap ones were full. You don't have to call, just make reservations online.

It gets really hot. Right now it's floating around 30 celsius. It tends to be very humid.

Of course Japanese people go to beaches. If you mean you are looking to spot a sukumizu on the beach, don't think that's too common. Most girls wear bikinis.

>Anyway to live out fantasies?
Uh, you're going to have to be more specific than that. I can't give you any advice on sleazy stuff if that's what you mean though.

Oh yeah, also it's the rainy season now, so expect lots of showers.

援交 is a very very bad idea... Damn...

If you know where to go, you can stay at some really cheap places.
For example, there are the capsule hotels which I believe cost around 3000 yen per night.
There's also this place which I stayed during my first night of travel in Tokyo last summer and it is kind of like an internet cafe, but you get an assigned booth that's about 1.5m x 1m and you also have access to a library of manga books, free drinks, shower room, and few other things which I cannot remember right now. You pay an hourly fee, but if you go after 9pm (iirc), you can stay for 8 hours (?) at a much discounted fee. I cannot remember the name of it right now, but I have the membership card at home which should have the name of this place on it. (Membership is free or maybe a one time fee of like 100 yen for the card, and is mandatory). Oh, and this is like ~10 minute walk from Ikebukurou JR station.

As for the language barrier, I knew next to no Japanese when I went to Tokyo, but since I am fluent in written and spoken corean, and knowing some kanji, thanks to it having the same meaning in the two languages, I didn't have too much trouble during my stay in Japan. I do suggest that you carry around one of those small books packed with useful short phrases, however.

When you go to Akiba, this is a nice place for shopping which hasn't been mentioned yet.
http://www.kamifusen.jp/

For moving around, do get a Suica card, as others have suggested, as it is incredibly useful.

ehh... I will post more tips as I remember them.

>>7516298
Which beaches do you recommend then? Kind of like the ones in Ika Musume...

We've already booked flights to Okinawa, but those beaches look deserted.

>>7516234
oh yes, this.

Why can't gaijin countries include taxes in the displayed price of things? It just makes one's life so much easier, especially when carrying cash around. Not having to tip is also nice.

>>7516343

It's a good thing I live in a state with no sales tax.

>>7516320
You can stay in a hostel for about the same price per person, and have more room. If you're with 4 people you might be able to get a room all to yourself too.

You are talking about manga cafes, まんが喫茶. They are very popular in Japan for those who miss the last train, or those who are temporarily homeless. Police are trying to force them to stop having private rooms now though. Anyway, they have them in all major cities, not just Ikebukuro.

>>7516320
Ooo, that net cafe sounds amazing.

>>7516332
Okinawa is famous for it's beaches, Ika Musume would likely be set in Okinawa. I'm not sure where you get the idea that they are deserted.

>>7516346
.....Delaware...?

>>7516363

Oregon.

>>7516343
They do in Australia.

>>7516363
Oh the beaches I see on the net are always like... those hideaway beaches, where it's all pure white sand and no body else etc.

>>7516343
They do in Australia.

>>7516363
Oh the beaches I see on the net are always like... those hideaway beaches, where it's all pure white sand and no body else etc.

>>7516281

3DPD can never compare to 2D. Japan doesn't really compare, but it's great to visit.

So in the tokyo area, places of interest would include.
Akiba - Otaku stuff.
Shinjuku - Red lighty stuff?
... I don't know anywhere else.

Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe... has...?
I know I'm going there for a Smash Brothers Melee Tournament though...

Hiroshima has burnt in shadows?
Nagoya has something too...
Okinawa has beaches...
Somewhere else has some nice temples.

Is there anywhere else nice?

Also is it often that you see chikans on trains? I want to see it happen, sort of surreal.

so you're leaving in a week and haven't even done enough research as to have your itinerary completely figured out and now you're asking for advice on 4chan?
wow enjoy your shitty vacation.

also train stations shut down at 1~2am, and good luck 'sleeping in the street'.

>>7516458
But that's the fun of travelling, going into the unknown, and exploring. I'm asking /jp/ for some more personal experiences is all.

This isn't the first time that I've gone travelling to random countries with no plans and it always turns out more fun that those guided tours.

What's important is to take it easy.

Don't get raped.

>>7516497
It works for some countries, not so much for others. Just keep in mind that you're planning to cover an incredible amount of ground even though it seems like little, I hope you are taking at least 3-4 weeks at least or you'll end up not seeing much at all than the touristy shit.

Setting aside all that radiation crap, isn't Fukushima supposed to be a rather nice place?

>>7516538
it's subjective, but i'd say yes

>>7516497
>the fun of travelling, going into the unknown, and exploring
>I'm asking /jp/ for some more personal experiences

I went to the grocery store today. It was hot as hell and people were looking at me funny. Never again (until I'm out of food, that is).

Alright, I'm going to head off it sleep, lots of packing and getting sorted to do. Wish I wasn't so busy with exams.

Thank you guys so much for helping and contributing. It sets my mind at ease.

I'll definitely be reporting from Japan with anything of interest. And if I don't get the chance, I'll miss you /jp/, please do get into any dramas while I'm away.

Wish me luck.

http://www.jnto.go.jp/eng/animemap/

Hehehe, look what I found.

Now bookmarking this thread for reference. Going to be there for a week, see the touristy shit, raid Akihabara for doujin, and go home.

Kyoto and Karakura have some nice temples and shrines.

Went to Japan with just Japanese 1 under my belt, got along okay. Of course, I am also....
Korean. And the best student in my class... and went with other Japanese students.[/endspoiler] ( I mean those that took Japanese, rather than ethnically Japanese.

Also, on the airplane, I was mistaken for Japanese... the airplane attendant told me they were sorry, but they didn't have a Japanese copy of the visiting card thing; they asked if I needed help translating the English.

They're nice.

Also, go to Harajuku if you're really into cosplay and lolita fashions, etc. (The stereotypical stuff.) Crap's really expensive, but I could spend the entire day just people-watching.

You really want a Passmo card, btw. I think it's the same as Suica now, though.

Lastly, can't remember exactly where, but there was some great onsen places... You should go! :) Unless you're naked-phobic of other men, of course. Or terribly shy.

>>7518736
Well it's summer time, won't it be weird to go to onsens?

>>7518736
reported for various reasons

>>7518757
Such as spoiler overuse?

Though I assume you think I'm underage. You do realize it's entirely possible that I decided to switch languages, and thus I can actually be in Japanese 1?

>>7518753
I don't think so? I went relatively recently. (It's summer...?Ish, anyways.)

>>7518792
He probably just means the use of emoticons.

How much did you end up spending and over how long a period?

>>7518824
I don't see a single emoticon in his entire post?