Sunday, October 3, 2010

Pilgrimage to Holy Nippon

I've never been to Tokyo, Japan, but I've always wanted to go. I think I might actually start saving up, putting away like 100 dollars a month or something so that by next year I'll have enough to visit for awhile.

I was thinking of visiting around December, so that I could go to winter Comiket (and plane tickets are waaaaay cheaper then, too). And obviously, I'd go on a Holy Pilgrimage to Akihabara.

Really, I just haven't traveled as much as I'd like; I've been to Central America and around the U.S., but that's the extent of my worldliness. I'm young enough to travel around, so why not start with glorious Nippon?

Have any of you ever been to Japan?

19 comments:

  1. Nope. They'd probably hate me there more than they hate me here.

    Although it'd be interesting.

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  2. >>They'd probably hate me there more than they hate me here.

    Japan hates everyone, though, you shouldn't take it personally.

    And I think that as long as I don't run around acting like a weeaboo narutard and dress/act respectably, no one will bother me.

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  3. I have a hard time dressing/acting respectably in my own land. It'd be hell doing it in Nippon.

    Then again, I could always adopt a "I don't give a shit" mentality for the entire duration of the trip.

    Going to Japan might be a goal in my life, but it's definitely not something I'll be doing any time soon. No money in the foreseeable future.

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  4. I want to visit definitely, but won't unless I have a fluent Japanese speaker with me. And is that giant loli(irony) sitting on a train.

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  5. >>And is that giant loli(irony) sitting on a train.

    Yep, it's a train in Akihabara with a giant loli situated atop

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  6. i want to visit japan sometime, but i'm much more interested in europe

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  7. Nope. I want to go there though.

    If you are part of any visible minority, prepare to be racisted against.

    Also, I don't think $1200 will even get you a plane ticket there, much less pay for food and accommodation.

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  8. I'm hoping to be over there by June/July of next year. I should be there for the August Comiket, but I also really want to attend the CAVE Matsuri.

    As for the racism thing, it wouldn't bother me so much. People cop it everywhere and manage to survive. A guy I know lived there for close to a year and said it really isn't a problem unless you act like a fool anyways. He had lots of stories about the general kindness of strangers too.

    Like asking a shopkeep what time the last bus was coming so they could get a train, she worried they missed it, closed down her shop and drove them to a train station etc.

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  9. I want to go there. Shit would be so cash.
    I have never been to another country. I rarely even leave this town, because I'm so poor.

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  10. @Wizard of LOL

    Yeah, I know 1200 isn't enough by itself, but I was going to use that for spending money; I have enough money saved to just get there, but not enough to do anything.

    @Evan

    >>i want to visit japan sometime, but i'm much more interested in europe

    I'd like to visit both!


    @J.

    >>Like asking a shopkeep what time the last bus was coming so they could get a train, she worried they missed it, closed down her shop and drove them to a train station etc.

    That is inspiring! See, not all Japanese are frothing xenophobes. Just, uh, most of them.

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  11. I've never been. It feels out of reach for me, but I'm saving to go there a bit more...permanently.

    $1800 in the bank right now. Hoping to be around 15k-20k when I'm out of university (with a degree!)

    Even if I go to Japan and get the most mundane job ever, I seriously don't care. I'm not planning to be social there either so the racism thing doesn't bother me. I don't know why..I just like it.

    Maybe I romanticize it too much =/

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  12. Okay, what I worked out is that about $800 is enough to get you from almost anywhere in the world to Tokyo, and then after that you're probably going to need to factor in $100 per day you're planning to stay.

    I'm not sure how to respond to the worries of being a social outcast. In the worst case scenario would it be worse than what you face at home now?

    I suggest not to wait until you speak the language fluently. Just go a do it, stumble and get around by grunting and broken phrases. It beats sitting around talking about it for five years... I speak from experience.

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  13. @Kami No Pocky

    That is a fantastically useful post! And yeah, I agree on the language bit. I figure that Tokyo is an international destination, anyway, so speaking English should get me around well enough. And for shopping, all I'd really need is, well, yen.

    >>It beats sitting around talking about it for five years.

    That's exactly how I feel; I don't want to say "Oh, I'll go next year" forever

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  14. I want to go someday! Preferably, for comiket. I'm some what worried about the language barrier though and the fact that If I buy too much stuff I won't be able to fit it in my suitcase. (`・ω・´) Or maybe the Animelo summer concert would be nice. I'm a big seiyuu fan.

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  15. Ah, you guys are reminding me of past adventures...

    But make no mistake, almost nobody in Tokyo proper speaks English, unless they're in tourism, executives of an international company, work at Narita, or have some other reason like relatives.

    Not speaking the same language doesn't mean it sucks though. It's still an aventure and there is nothing like watching an Eva movie on the big screen or trying to stay warm, eating onigiri and drinking a bottle of milk tea for breakfast five hours before the Comiket line starts to move forward.

    Depending on what you consume a plane ticket might not be much more expensive than shipping fees and usually nets you around 20-30kg / (40-60 lb?) suitcase space.

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  16. I've never been there. But I'm slowly saving up money for it. Got about 700 euro stashed right now. This will probably buy me a ticket when I buy it early. Maybe, if possible I'll go in the summer, but also I don't mind winter either.

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  17. I'd love to, but I'd be so anxious on a plane let a lone a whole new country! I don't think I'm courageous enough to do it. Plus, I'd need A LOT of money because I'd be buying so much crap.

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  18. As much as I like the media and merchandise they churn out, I won't dare go there out of the inherent racism Japanese hold against foreigners, especially towards their fellow Asian people.

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