Life in Japan - Pictures galore !! Arcades, Temples, Rainy days, etc

Nice . Where did you been?

 

I was always under the impression that skiing in Japan was very expensive. Any recommended places to check out? Really wanna go skiing next year.

 

You know, I can't really remember the place name (the last time was 12 years ago) but I can tell you it was close to the French and Swiss border. We skied on the Swiss alps. I do remember the first time I went at 15 I had a French instructor and he was a right prick. He kept calling me an imbecile because I couldn't ski well. Little did he know that we use the same word in English. Man, what a shit that guy was. I ended up changing for a Swiss woman. Much better and very nice to be with. Just a shame I was 15 at the time :shrug:

Yakumo

 

Not sure how to compare to someone living in Europe. For me, coming from Texas, ski trips are either extremely long, or costly. Generally a flight + lodging + lifts.

If you want excellent snow, Hokkaido is the way to go but I've found it to be not worth the money. If you go to Niseko (an Australian territory now) you will be paying premiums for non-Japanese speaking services not to mention a ridiculous amount of money for a 30 minute plane ride. In short, I don't recommend it.

Hakuba in Nagano is great value. You can get a Shinkansen ticket round trip for about 21,000 yen I think (don't quote me on that). You can generally stay in a lodge for 6,000 yen per night per person, and they will give you a discount lift ticket, usually somewhere around 4,000 to 5,000 yen per day depending on how much of the mountain you use.

Obviously the strong yen makes this seem pricier, but just think as if you were making a yen salary.

If you want really cheap, just go to Gala Yusawa. You can get a package deal which includes Shinkansen + rentals for about 20,000 yen total for a single day trip. Leave Tokyo at about 6AM, you're on the mountain by 8. Up to 8 hours boarding, and you can still make it back home for dinner. The mountain is a bit of a turd but for 1000 yen more you can go to the neighboring areas.

 

So far I went to Naeba, Maiko, Kanazawa and some other small places I forgot the name. Mostly good areas (gelände), but there's no comparison to most of the big places in Switzerland in terms of range size, length, courses etc. I was used to skiing and boarding in the past.

Concerning the needed cash, I don't feel it is much more expensive than in Switzerland compared, you just don't get exactly the same service.

@Yakumo: probably you went to Verbier or chamonix?

 

You will be hard pressed to find a mountain as tall some of the major European resorts on Honshu. Hokkaido would be a bit better, but still not perfect. The snow, however, can be extremely good, even only an hour or two outside of the city. That's generally where the value comes in, is that you don't have travel extreme distances. Also, less crowded compared to popular spots in Colorado and Nevada. Apparently it's a nightmare these days, according to some of my friends that go to both.

 

It defiantly wasn't Chamonix, I would have remembered that name so it must have been Verbier. It was quite a popular place that's for sure.

 

This car made me do a double-take. I thought I was back home
in the East San Francisco Bay Area.

Old beat-up Nissan Sentra (Left hand drive U.S. model no less), check
Lowered, check
Cheap chrome rims, check.
Raiders license plate frame, check
Cholo-looking driver, check

It felt like I was in Oakland again.

 

Nice...err... find.
Hard to appreciate if you don't live here, but finding a hoopty in Japan is quite difficult. This one isn't quite that bad per se, but it is indeed ugly.

 

I don't know. Where I live a lot of the Yankee arse holes drive shitty "classic" over sized American cars so low that they scrape the shit out of them driving on normal roads. The noise they make is awful too. Nothing like the sweet sound of the Boxer engine in my car or a sweet v12 of an Italian sport car. I really can't see the appeal in this type of car. Poor handling, crappy power delivery and so bloody loud in a bad way.

By the way, what is a "Cholo-looking driver"? Is this the sad sod wearing shades even in the rain, gelled back hair from the 90's, old man style shirts and a dumb "blonde" Japanese woman next to him? There's quite a lot of them in Kita Kyushu. Hey, actually, maybe I should take a quick video late at night down at the ESSO petrol station. It's massive and always filled with these guys showing off their cars. Quite often the police come to move them on due to the noise and basically them being a pain in the arse.

Yakumo

 

LOl, while mentioning that, the other day I went to an outlet when I suddenly heard a hard scratching noise while standing outside the shop waiting for the wifey.

So I quickly went to the back side of the building and saw that pimped Lexus droven by one of those typical awkward hipopsters. The cars bottom was like only 10cm above the ground. So what happened is, while entering the parking lot, there was a slight gap which he hitted with his bottom. I could see deep scratches in the asphalt, lol.

I really don't get it what those guys are thinking when pimpin' their cars??? But to each his own.

 

They think it's cool but it's NOT. Looks F*ing stupid, ruins the handling, comfort is right out the window and pretty impractical when Japan is full of hills.

A few weeks back I saw this guy in a pimped out BB rip his front bumper off as his left wheel went down a pothole. Oh, that was such a funny sight :lol: There he was, driving with shitty hip-hop crap music blazing out of his car, windows down, sun glasses on (It was a overcast day!) trying to make sure everyone could see him and then, CCCRRRACK! hahahaha, made my day at least.

Yakumo

 

HAHAHA!!

 

Valid points, but the amount of speedbumps and uneven roads in England makes driving a complete chore there. Never even mind the abuse you get just sat in general traffic, or chavs keying your pride and joy.

 

I lived in Honolulu for 2 years. They're talking about just making potholes the norm so it doesn't look so bad.

 

I can't judge too much. Half of my friends in Miyagi are the blond-haired yankee and bosozoku types. I only know them because we share the same hobby: cars. They're not so bad if you hang out with them. I totally understand how they look because there was a time when I thought they looked like morons. They are the most "down" Japanese I have met. It's no wonder they are looked-down upon by other Japanese. Not for how they look, but probably because don't adhere to all that bs "Japanese-ness".

When I met them, they didn't even know I was a foreigner. They actually thought I was an undercover cop doing surveillance on the illegal racing. When I first moved to Sendai the first thing I did was hop on 2ch and find out where the hashiriyas hang out in Miyagi. It didn't take long to get the info and so I went there alone, and if you go to those places alone you look suspicious. I didn't care because I was there for the cars and I wanted to gauge the skill level of the locals. I introduced myself when they approached me to ask me if I was a cop. I told them I am an American who had just moved to Sendai and was just checking out the scene. They all had the deer-in-the-headlights look. These guys have never met a foreigner before I guess and we were in the last place they would expect to see one. That whole time they kept asking me questions. Not out of suspicion, but out of curiosity. After that night they just treated me like one of them. I was reluctant the first few weeks, but they proved several times that they got my back.

Of course, there are a few who are complete asshats, but they are usually guys from other crews from other cities who come in to try to "take over", but rocks and other projectiles get thrown and they leave.

 

Do the potholes have potholes?

 

That is true. You can't have anything nice in the UK when it comes to cars. Some shit will always key it, steel it or just smash it for the sake of doing it :dammit:

I don't adhere to all the Japanese BS either. It just annoys me. Be polite, be good. No need to go over the top and kiss ass like a lot expect.

I've been to a few hashiriyas in the Yamaguchi mountains with a Japanese friend. And like you the locals wondered if I was the police Sort of funny in a way. I've even got to race with them on three occasions. The image is different down here though. The real hard core guys are not yankees or bosozoku types at all. They're mostly in their late 20's to mid 30's although there are a few older guys well in to their 40's. Nissan GT-R seems to be the car of choice for many although one guy threw a Forester around as if it was world rally car.

Down here the bosozoku / Yankee types really are arse hole. Not because of their looks or style but because of there actions.

Yakumo

 

It's fucking brutal... and in 2 years I got screamed at to "get off the fucking road" on my bicycle at least twice. Once I was dumb and did something that could've gotten me killed if I did it to the wrong person.

 

The real hardcore guys come in all shapes and sizes. From yakeee/bosozoku types, chinpira-looking guys, and even a couple of otakus driving itashas. The oldest guy, who everybody rightfully calls "sempai" is approaching 50. He has bone stock AE86, but he hangs with the fastest. Him and his son race together up there. There were only two GT-Rs where we race, me and another guy named Toshi. He's cocky as hell, but he's not a dick about it. The car of choice for the grip 'track' is the Silvia S13 and S14. The cars of choice on the drift 'track' are older Chasers and Laurels. I guess things in Miyagi are much different.