The Japan Trip Resource Thread!

[Richard.John]

You are not Japanese enough, kryss. You know, always carry an umbrella just in case. They do love their brollies.

[MonkeyWrench]

A brollie has now made it's way into our 'take to japan' pile that's building up in the spare room. Might take some log flume ponchos for good measure!

[MonkeyWrench]

Anyone been here?

http://www.ninjaakasaka.com/

Danny Wallace mentioned it in his book, sounds like a laugh.

[DeathAdder]

I've been. It's a pricey Izakaya, basically.

You can buy decent brollies for 100 yen.

[MonkeyWrench]

Any good? The restaurant, not the brollies

[DeathAdder]

A bloke in black will lead you along Tenchu-like alleys to your booth. It's fun although the effect is ruined slightly when the way back is much shorter. A ninja (waiter) does a short and simple magic show mostly of coin tricks at the table. Food and drink wise it's standard izakaya stuff, a bit dearer for being in Akasaka

[MonkeyWrench]

Sounds like a laugh. Found some photos:

http://u.tabelog.com/polarbear7777/r/rvwdtl/529230/

Especially like the plate of shirukens, the ninja cutting a melon with a sword and the burning gun powder fuse...what more could you ask for?!

[r3z]

There's quite a few themed izakayas around.. the best one I've been to is Arabian Rock (http://p.gnavi.co.jp/~sp/ce/arabian/arabian-e.htm) - the decor itself is tacky and the food/drink is decent but not particularly Arab-style, but they have a couple of dishes that they have are served up in a very entertaining way in front of you. I recommend 炎のサーベルブロシェット.. although how entertaining it is can depend on the guy who serves you - I've been twice and the first time we had a completely crazy guy who was singing and dancing while making it. I have a good video of it so might try and upload it..

Another ok one which I think is run by the same company is The Lockup (http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g528914/ ), with a jail-theme where you are placed in cells, served by inmates and they occasionally black out the lights and play very loud music while monsters go around trying to scare the customers. The food is very average but there are an interesting selection of drinks served in syringes/test tubes/measuring cups/etc. - be aware it is really loud so don't plan on being able to have a conversation.

[kryss]

You are not Japanese enough, kryss. You know, always carry an umbrella just in case. They do love their brollies.

You mean living near the station and saying a 5-minute walk is a long way ISN'T Japanese enough??

We have about 9 umbrellas hanging up outside our apartment but I just didn't take one with me when I left in the morning.

[saif]

FIVE minutes!!!! You must at least cycle, five mins is far too much. inakajin.

In all honesty, for travelling about I would not recommend carrying umbrellas (esp taking them from the UK in your suitcase) as they are so readily available and quite cheap (in the day time, 105 yen or 3-500 yen from convenience stores).

[kryss]

You misunderstand me. I'm 2 minutes from the station. So many (Japanese) people were shocked that I used to live a whole 15 minutes away from the same station. The TV crew from "inaka ni tomarou" came over once...not really.

[Richard.John]

Just steal one from outside a conbini. Everyone does, not me though so just advice. I am an angel.

[r3z]

Here's a couple of videos from Arabian Rock which I mentioned earlier.. the poor camerawork is down to my mate who recorded it (you can hear him laughing his head off!):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLheo4dpACo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqAOGeBDMDE

[saif]

kryss, I didn't misunderstand - I was joking! I guess having a decent public transport infrastructure makes you complacent!

[Darwock]

It's not that Japanese people always have umbrellas, they just seem to have a shared sixth sense when it comes to predicting the weather. I seem to always manage to do the precise opposite of the general population when it comes to umbrellas.

If I expect it to be pissing down I take my brolly out in the morning and find I'm the only spanner on the midosuji carrying an umbrella on a sunny day*. Likewise if I look out in the morning and see glorious sunshine, I will find myself to be the only person on the train who *doesn't* have one (and invariably get thoroughly soaked when the 'unexpected' showers start).

I've been caught without an umbrella in rain showers so heavy I was seriously concerned about drowning standing up - during the worst one I had to look at my feet in order to breathe air and not water - I got so wet that the money in my wallet got all stuck together.

*not including all the old ladies who carry their parasols - not sure how you tell the difference between a rain brolly and a sun brolly, unless it's the extra frilly bits.