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Old November 27th, 2007, 02:24 AM posted to rec.travel.asia,soc.culture.japan
gtr
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Default Japan travelogue (long, very detailed)

On 2007-11-26 14:19:59 -0800, Alfred Molon said:

In Shinjuku you saw gambling and possibly prostitutes? I don't think
you saw either. There are pachinko parlors, but they aren't really
"gambling" though you can win "prizes" of cigarettes and claptrap
and/or sell them elsewhere. I've never seen street prostitutes. It's
quite illegal and they have kind of a law fetish in Japan. They women
certainly dress provocatively in Shinjuku though. I'm thankful, and
that's free.


I saw packinko places, and assumed there was gambling as well. You mean
there is no gambling in Japan? Is it illegal?


Yes they have it, and yes, it's illegal. It's certainly not operating
above-board in Shinjuku. Gambling was the dominant money-making gambit
for Yakuza up until the end of WW2 when they moved into corporate
enterprise and government (!). That's true by the way: read Tokyo
Underworld for a fun read.

As for the girls, some of them looked like prostitutes.


You got that right. I could be wrong, but I've never seen street
prostitiution in Japan. Admittedly I wasn't a single man walking in
Kabuki-Cho late at night. That's a very odd little enclave north of the
east side of Shinjuku, purported to be the old red-light district.
Though when I did walk there with my wife, I saw nothing that looked
like a prostitute proper. I think they have a long honorable history of
"slap-and-giggle" (note their books on geisha "fun") that preceeds
bona-fide prostitution. These in what that call "snacks", short for
snack-bar. I've had some fun in these a few time, and could have paid
for a hand-job, so I've been told, for a staggering sum.

Anyway, my understanding is that prosititution takes place in business
quarters, not hawking in the street. Street crime is quite the rarity.
Crime? Yeah, they have it, but it's not usually out there for visual
display.

What's with the KFC dining?!? You've been in Tokyo two days and you've
eaten *twice* at KFC? If you want chicken, throw a rock and you'll
likely his a grilled-chicken (yakitori) place.


There is nothing wrong with KFCs IMHO. Anyway, it took me a few days to
familiarise with the local restaurants, so initially I relied on known
places.


If you think there's nothing wrong with KFC, I've no complaints. I
would simply encourage you, and others, that while in Japan, you should
not maximize all oopportunities to eat Japanese food, or for that
matter--any food you can get at home. I found a miraculous Turkish
joint in Shinjuku one night. It's still there too.

Jeez, it's a country for dining.


Maybe, but I didn't know the place. Perhaps next time I'll dive more
into the local cuisine.


Good for you! Not everybody is the most adventurous diner. I, on the
other hand, have never turned down anything offered in good faith. And
in the end some of these adventures have been the high points of my
Japanese activities. Check "What's What in Japanese Restaurants" by
Robb Satterwhite for a complete operating manual for dining mining.
Your knowledge of kanji should be of immeasurable help.

What would a walk give you a bus didn't?


It's different. By walking you get a much better impression of the city.


It was a rhetorical question in the respect that this specific walk
reminded you that Hiroshima was just the same as all the others:
buildings, streets, shops.

Regarding the lack of interesting architecture in Osaka, do you mean
the modern Western-style skyscraper wasn't in enough abundance to
dismiss as "just another city" (HIroshima) or "a cement jungle"
(Tokyo)?


It does have some interesting places, but can't compete with a place
like Tokyo.


Try to find bunraku puppet theatre in Tokyo, or "Spa-World" or the
world's biggest roller coaster. Honestly, inter-city comparisons are
such a futile process. I wonder who wins a "comparison" between
Miyajima to Tokyo. Tokyo kicks Miyajima's ass when it comes to consumer
electronics, for instance. ;-)

I'm irked that you didn't see the Japan that I see from the first
minute I step out of the hotel in almost every single town I've been
in. Ah well. It takes so many eyes to see so few things. I too am
undoubtedly blind to what others find the only interesting things about
such locales: "You what? You went to Osaka and didn't see a baseball
game!!"


Every person has a different way of exploring places and seeing things.
Those I wrote are just the impressions of a first time visitor. But it's
likely I'll be again in Japan in the future. I did like the place and
there is so much left to see.


I'm glad you liked it. I didn't get the impression that it was one
you'd like to revisit. I'm a hopeless Japan booster/loyalist. I thought
you were, overall, somewhat disappointed. For future reference, should
you go again (and should you have an interest) there are a lot of books
about the diversity of arts, culture and history that would give you a
frame of reference. After one or two books, or seeing a few movies, you
might be all jazzed to go to a mountain hot-spring and re-live a moment
or two of "Snow Country" or see Ichijoji temple where Musashi had his
famous duel. So much of the time these things are about context anyway.

Thanks for taking the time to make this available to all. Are you going
to put pictures up? I promise I won't savage them. Much.


Yes, but that will take some time. I shot 3200 photos in Japan, but
before that I'll process other photos I took last year in Malaysia,
which have been waiting longer in the queue ;-)


I can sympathize. Our first two trips to Japan my wife put together two
incredible mutli-media/scrapbook binders. The next four trips are
stored in overflowing shopping bags, in the closet. I'm wondering If
we'll ever find the time and the desire to organize the documents
again. Regarding those pictures: the internet has made access to photo
memories so rapid now. In decades past I would never drag out the
family albums to remind myself of an old vacation. But now, I'm never
more than a few quick key-strokes from a random stroll down many Memory
Lane's of the past.
--
Thank you and have a nice day.