The Japan Trip Resource Thread!

[r3z]

There is a computer superstore near one of the stations (name escapes me - google it) that was reasonable. Not amazing though.

Sham Shui Po?

[Taeko]

Nathan Rd was well expensive last I checked. There is a computer superstore near one of the stations (name escapes me - google it) that was reasonable. Not amazing though.

That would be the Golden Shopping Centre/Arcade, just outside Sham Shui Po Underground Station (Impossible to miss). Good place to go if you're looking for new releases. The prices are competitive (around ?23 for new JP PSP releases - wasn't really looking at next gen stuff but PS3 games were around ?26 - for Minna No golf anyway. 60GB PS3's were around ?300 but that was when I went back in July - no doubt the prices have probably dropped further with the introduction of the new PS3 pack). You won't find any retro games there though. Basement is just PC hardware, Software manuals and peripherals.

[vanpeebles]

Any peeps here been to Osaka? I wouldnt mind visiting Japan for a holiday at some point but it would have to be Osaka to make a pilgrimage to the Daihatsu factory. They do a tour and all kinds

[prinnysquad]

I thought you're **** scared of aeroplanes? U gonna ride on a King Otter?

[vanpeebles]

NO and keep your snout out. I said I dont like flying and would avoid it if the reason to fly was not good enough.

[prinnysquad]

Ive got witnesses that say that you're talking TOSH.

I wouldn't mind going to Kyoto

[Plough Boy]

NO and keep your snout out. I said I dont like flying and would avoid it if the reason to fly was not good enough.

Hallage is with prinny on this one - you said you'd NEVER fly after you your pebbled your pants on a turbulent ****athon.

[vanpeebles]

I know and I wouldnt but a trip to Osaka would be special enough to fly.

[Plough Boy]

I know and I wouldnt but a trip to Osaka would be special enough to fly.

Bbllleeeeeerrrggghhh!!!!!

[prinnysquad]

Bbllleeeeeerrrggghhh!!!!!

[Hirst]

Hey going to Osaka is the only way I'll ever get hold of a Charmant tail light and other assorted tat, sounds good to me! The new Daihatsu museum is there, looks good, the old Daihatsu museum was just a load of old Charade shells and a knackered Hijet van.

Could take the Pebblesport side-exit exhaust and see if any tuning garages want to place an order!

[DCharlie]

any peeps here been to Osaka?

just got back from a two day holiday to see a friend in Osaka and it was fantastic.

I`ve been there several times, but this time it was just insane fun. My friend is big into Japanese food so be basically just spent the time drinking and eating our way around the city. The people in Osaka are insanely friendly too - we met a few groups of locals simply by asking what their best recommendations were for us to do - this led to us being taken to a number of very cool restaurants , bars, and (at the end of the night) a strange dancehall reggae night club.

Awesome stuff - it`s a totally different feel to Tokyo and i really enjoyed myself.

[JU!]

Sounds good. I've never been to ? Osaka but met some nice peeps from there. How was the vibe different from Tokyo?

[DCharlie]

it`s a bit more friendly. We were asking people "so - where is good to go around here?" they`d respond with "you like nihonshu?" "Yeah" "We`re going to a nihonshu bar, come with us"

We spent 14 hours going from bar to restaurant to bar to restaurant meeting lots of people along the way. This is probably a sweeping generalisation based on being there for a day or so (this is about the 7th time i`ve been though...) but there does seem to be way less foreigners than in Tokyo and perhaps that helps wandering Gaikokujin.

[Junko]

Not sure if this is of any interest to anyone ???

October 26, 2007. Nova's X-Day. Many doubted that it would ever arrive. Others here on the LJ forums several months ago uncannily predicted mid-October. Ken Worsley at Japan Economic News predicted "around November 1." (He's got a new piece about Nova up in Metropolis this evening that you can link to from his site that's worth checking out.)

After Sahashi was effectively removed in an early morning coup d'etat, the remaining members of the board of directors filed for bankruptcy protection in an Osaka court. Nova's debt as of the end of July has been placed at 43 billion yen, but the last three months have been especially brutal, so who knows what the true figure is?

The immediate bad news for current or recently resigned instructors is that pay will not be forthcoming soon, as Nova is now under court protection and will not be making payments of any kind for the time being. If you are owed money, there are discussions underway in the forums for current and recently resigned teachers.

So what happens next? Nova has one month to look for a "sponsor," and according to the Yomiuri Shimbun, Nova is looking at the retailer Aeon (as opposed to the eikaiwa chain), Marui, Yahoo, and Rakuten. In the LJ forums, PanicInducingGaijin wrote:

Getting back on topic, looking at the four companies Nova is interested in tying up with suggests that if it does manage to survive -- which I still think is unlikely -- it won't be anything like what it is now. Apparently Aeon (again, the retail chain and not the English school) is or was at one point interested in having more Nova Kids schools in its shopping centers so that mothers can drop their kids off and have more time to shop and spend. Babysitting all day in a shopping mall -- sound like fun?

Marui was apparently interested in Nova's loan operations, but Sahashi turned down an offer from them in May. Will they go crawling back to a failing company?

Rakuten and Yahoo! might conceivably be interested in Web-based language lessons. Rakuten, however, is still hurting from the TBS thing earlier this year, so I doubt they would be up for anything as risky as a tie-up with Nova. As for Yahoo!, who knows, but I think it's fairly safe to say that none of these four companies is going to take over Nova and run it as a chain of language schools.

Tonight we're left with more questions than answers. If Nova can't find a sponsor, it's in deep trouble, but who's going to want to get involved? Meanwhile, according to Ken Worsley, Sahashi holds only about 20% of Nova's shares. Were the share warrants exercised, or did he sell or lend more of his holdings? And for that matter, where in the world is he, and why is he hiding? Stay tuned!

https://www.letsjapan.org

This story is ALL over the news; the one of the biggest bankruptcies in Japanese history. Current students are left without pay for 1.8 months (roughly about 3500 bucks) and, due to careless spending habits, are left homeless (no back up money to pay rent) and possibly stranded in Japan due to inability to buy their plane ticket home.