The Japan Trip Resource Thread!

[noobish hat]

Doesn't that describe almost all japanese 'talents'

[kryss]

was unable to move out of their way fast enough remind me - all these things made me wish I could just get on the plane and head back to Tokyo.

That's funny, it happens to me everyday on the train to work...

The guy in the white suit? I know the one...Kano Eikou (狩野英考)

http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1219673_1124.html?ref=rank

http://kenkabancho.com/ (check the bottom left corner)

I need some Kenka Bancho in my life...

[teddymeow]

^That's the chap!!!

Despite not being able to understand a whole lot of what he was saying I still managed a few during his act.

Hopefully I can track down a bit more of his stuff!

[Richard.John]

He's the guy with the '.........boku, ikemen' routine isn't he. Funny once, but grates after a while, a bit like Hard Gay.

[JU!]

That's funny, it happens to me everyday on the train to work...

The guy in the white suit? I know the one...Kano Eikou (狩野英考)

http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/1219673_1124.html?ref=rank

http://kenkabancho.com/ (check the bottom left corner)

I need some Kenka Bancho in my life...

Did not find the funny at all myself not seen him before, each to their own though. Hard gay is a good laugh.

[teddymeow]

Forgot to mention: JAL were fantastic! I would definitely fly with them again. The only below par thing about the experience, according to my two friends who were with me, was that the food was a bit meh but I don't tend to eat during the flight so it didn't concern me that much.

My wife is ridiculously scared of flying and they did everything in their power to make sure she had a comfortable flight. We nearly didn't get on the plane as she was crying and almost all out panic-attacking before we'd even checked-in.

We explained everything to the (very hot) lady on the check-in desk and she said the the best place to sit in terms of a smooth flight was in the middle of the plane so she upgraded us from economy to premium economy for free!! She was right too as we only felt a small amount of turbulence and that was only when we were over water.

A very pleasurable flight experience and I will be looking at their website first when we start to think about booking for next year. So sometime next week

[kryss]

Flying from Hawaii to Japan = mega turbulence.
My wife hates flying too and she was cutting off the blood supply to my left arm for most of the flight.

[kryss]

Was just reading this and wondered if anyone has been here:

Game Store Warehouse

Words do not do this store justice. This massive game store is located in the southeast of Tokyo off the Togane or Keiyo train lines. It a massive wall-to-wall gaming wonderland that boasts retro hardware and software and current gen as well. While this isn't exactly the best place to get bargain basement deals, the store's massive and might be worth a Saturday afternoon of browsing.

I thought it looked pretty cool so I did some research. From the picture here I got the name 東金鑑定団 (Tougane Kantei Dan, though really it's Chiba Kantei Dan Tougane Ten, 千葉鑑定団東金店) and googled that. Eventually I got here. And here is a map showing how to get there.
Basically, take the Sobu line from Tokyo station to Chiba, change to the Sotobo line and get off at Oami, then take the Togane line to Gumyo. Head north to route 126 toward Naruto (yes, it's a real place). ¥1280 one-way. The real problem is that there are only 3 trains a most per hour on the Togane line.
Check Hyperdia for other routes and prices.

I have to go to Chiba Minato to pick up a police certificate sometime so I'm only about 30-40 minutes away. Still, I'm wondering if it's worth going.

[teddymeow]

There's a chance that I could be back in Tokyo towards the end of the year. Could somebody please tell me what the weather is like in mid-late October?

Thanks.

[Richard.John]

The weather is normally very nice. The oppressive summer heat and humidity will have faded away leaving pleasant, autumnal days. The temp should be in the 20s centigrade from my experience.

[Supergoal]

Yeah Autumn is wonderful here. My favourite season. Spring would be great too, but only for hay fever to make my life a living nightmare.. Fooking Ceder trees.

[Richard.John]

A question for you all.

I know that it has often been stated that it's possible to use a VISA debit card to withdraw money from Citibank and Post Office ATMs.

Well, how about VISA credit cards, in the sense of a cash advance against the card? Is it the same, as I need to access some of my cash in a hurry, so was wondering if its possible? And has anybody here done so in the past?

Of course, I know my CC company offers such but whether Japanese banks will honour the all important letters V... I... S... A written on the machine is another story.

EDIT: It seems that 7-11 branches may offer this service now, as well as VISA debit card cashing.
　

[asnozz]

146yen per £ lets hope this upward trend continues (else I am doomed since I'll be in Japan for 6 weeks) *touches wood*

[randombs]

That's made my day! I'm toying with the idea of popping back there this Summer but I'm still in two minds about it. June time has the cheapest fares (£400-odd) but I'm wondering whether to wait and see if the Y-£ increases or not, or whether waiting is even worth it (£600 fare but with a higher Y-£ rate would depend on how much I'll end up spending during my stay)

Lol while typing this post the XE site just refreshed and it's now 145.9 whereas it was 146.something a few seconds ago

:edit: It's now up to 146.040

[asnozz]

glad I could help

I have a bit of a problem.... I cant stop looking at the currency markets at the moment, its really addictive.

I am going around the world in 4 weeks for 8 months, so it will have a massive effect on me. Luckily Im not in Japan for a long stretch until August/September. I have a load of old rail cards with a few thousand Yen on which I can use for the 5 days I am there next month.