Question for Az, Pierrot and other expatriates

[mikormack]

I've been in Japan just shy of two months now, and I have just under a year to go until I move back to the US. living in Tokyo is absolutely crazy and pretty cool, as I'm sure anyone with interest in Japan/East Asia or anyone who likes big cities could tell you. that being said, Japan has a definite lack of many things American (the obvious one that I'd been craving for some time were Goldfish crackers) and I wanted to ask Az, Pierrot or anyone else living in Japan: what do you miss the most and how do you cope?

I'll give another example which may make my point clear to anyone unfamiliar with living in Japan -- the Japanese, for reasons I have yet to discover, do not usually wear deoderant. that's not to say they are really smelly, on the contrary most Japanese people tend to not smell very bad despite this lack of what in America is considered somewhat of a social necessity. I have read that Asians in general tend to have less 'stink' glands under their arms, and therefore while they sweat some, they don't tend to smell bad, but I know not the veracity of such claims. the deoderant one can find usually consists of small spray cans (ala Axe, except not quite as awesome), and I have yet to see a stick of Old Spice anywhere, including at an international grocery store. I have yet to run out of deoderant, and if I do I suppose I can have friends from the States send me a care package, but that seems to be rather silly just to get something that I have always taken for granted.

so anyone living in Japan, have any suggestions?


PS - I did in fact find Goldfish at the international grocery store I went to, so that example may not have been the best. a better one may have been Lemonade, which is very hard to come by, and that one I have still not resolved. what is a homesick American to do?

[hapacheese]

Every time I go to Japan, I bring a huge package of Mac & Cheese for my ex-pat friends :)

As for deodorant, you're pretty SOL. You can find it on occasion, but never when you need it. I had the unfortunate experience of running out during a particularly long trip to Japan, and had to make do with 8x4 the rest of the time. Lemme tell ya, it does *nothing* for the stink factories under my arms. Now, whenever I go, even if it's for a week, I bring 2-3 sticks, *just in case*.

[Azrael]

Yeah, I get sticks of deodorant sent from home. I don't understand it, summer is hot and humid as hell but the Japanese don't stink that much despite their crap-ass anti-perspirants. It boggles the mind.

What else do I miss?

-- Mexican food
-- Instant food in general
-- Food that don't have a high fish content
-- Real baseball
-- Decent sized tits, and cleavage
-- TV that doesn't make me want to gouge my own eyes out
-- Real steak
-- Being able to find my sizes in clothing, ESPECIALLY shoes
-- Condoms that aren't too small
-- Cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch in particular
-- Being able to buy a dinner under $5

I get as much stuff sent from home as possible.

[hapacheese]

-- Condoms that aren't too small


I believe the entire nation of Japan has just been pwnt.

[Hito]

MAN! This thread is definately a HUGE heads-up!

[nice gaijin]

Yeah, I get sticks of deodorant sent from home. I don't understand it, summer is hot and humid as hell but the Japanese don't stink that much despite their crap-ass anti-perspirants. It boggles the mind.

What else do I miss?

-- Mexican food
-- Instant food in general
-- Food that don't have a high fish content
-- Real baseball
-- Decent sized tits, and cleavage
-- TV that doesn't make me want to gouge my own eyes out
-- Real steak
-- Being able to find my sizes in clothing, ESPECIALLY shoes
-- Condoms that aren't too small
-- Cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch in particular
-- Being able to buy a dinner under $5

I get as much stuff sent from home as possible.
That about sums it up, except I don't care for baseball. I would like to expand the "tits and cleavage" to include "curves in general." I would also like to add "driving" to that list.

the 'instant' ramen comes with 5 different sub-packages, and 20 steps that must be performed in order.

[hapacheese]

To the Japanese, "a nice butt" = "complete lack of any meat on the woman's backside."

/A self-proclaimed butt-man
//"You're a big, fine woman won't you back that ass up."
///Hates Juvenile

[psychicstooge]

-- Cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch in particular

Shit, I don't think I could live without cereal. It's just so all-purpose; you can eat it anytime. Or, as Jerry Seinfeld said, "I like the idea of just eating and drinking with one hand without looking."

And yes, the Cinnamon Toast Crunch is fucking essential.

[Kaji]

They have cereal, but it's hardly worth bothering with. The "chocolate" coating was so thin it barely colored the milk...

And here's one I can't believe nobody's mentioned yet (except Az in one of his early editorials): Dryers. Pissed me off so much because I'd hold off on doing the laundry thinking it would rain. Clear day. Decide to do the laundry that night and hang it out so it'll dry during the following day. Starts out fine to turn into a typhoon by the time I get back from class (at which point my jeans were usually soaked clear up to the thighs because I can't for the life of me figure out how to use an umbrella without getting wetter for doing so...).

[Hito]

They have cereal, but it's hardly worth bothering with. The "chocolate" coating was so thin it barely colored the milk...

And here's one I can't believe nobody's mentioned yet (except Az in one of his early editorials): Dryers. Pissed me off so much because I'd hold off on doing the laundry thinking it would rain. Clear day. Decide to do the laundry that night and hang it out so it'll dry during the following day. Starts out fine to turn into a typhoon by the time I get back from class (at which point my jeans were usually soaked clear up to the thighs because I can't for the life of me figure out how to use an umbrella without getting wetter for doing so...).

I remember reading that in Az's editorial and I immediately exclaimed, "WHAT THE HELL DO THEY DO IN THE WINTER?!", and quickly earned myself a few strange looks from all those in the room.
But seriously, what DO you do in the winter?!

[nice gaijin]

oh yeah, dryers :)

I spent the first two weeks with a pretty rare family: they had a real clothes dryer...

during the winter, they just hang their clothes inside. They'll still hang their clothes out on the veranda to dry, unless the weather won't permit it at all; then they just don't do laundry on days like that.

[mikormack]

the family I'm living with bought a new combo washer-dryer right before I moved in, but the dryer function sucks pretty bad and makes the clothes exceedingly wrinkled, so they don't even bother using it. currently I'm looking at my clothes from the past two days hanging up on any available space. it's funny, cause they're so cramped for space, and yet they take up so much room assembling a makeshift clothes line.

-- Real baseballseriously, you'll see them make errors that even my little league team didn't make... and yet the Japanese take the Pro League so seriously.

-- TV that doesn't make me want to gouge my own eyes outI think the Japanese are taught to never speak out and to always conform, and so they become fascinated with 'celebrities' who act bizarre and just talk the entire time. most Japanese TV I see is the same panel of stupid celebrities talking about some topic while the audience cues in with laughter every 30 seconds. it is really just terrible.

-- Condoms that aren't too smallwho are the Japanese making their condoms for anyway? it's not like any of the Japanese guys use them, given the ridiculously low birth control usage rate. so given that their market is bound to be at least 50% gaijin, why they can't make decently sized condoms is beyond me.

-- Cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch in particular well said. Japanese breakfast consists of either fish or some hotdog baked into a roll, and what cereal they do have is lacking in both taste and variety. I finally got some American-style bacon the other day, when I went to the international supermarket, but until now I've been surviving mostly on toast. (one area I'll give the Japanese credit for, they do have lots of bakeries and their bread is usually pretty good)

[Pierrot le Fou]

I give up.

Three tries, and the browser crashed each time. I hate you all.

I'll fix this later.

[erbiumfiber]

People!! Have you not heard of the Foreign Buyer's Club?

http://www.fbcusa.com/public2/

They sell American products (yes, deodorant too) at prices that are not TOO outrageous. For example, a box of that Cinnamon Toast Crunch goes for 996 yen when you buy a case. They have all the Mexican stuff too. My coworker orders all his Mountain Dew from them and I have ordered tomato sauce.

I got tired of hauling giant suitcases of American stuff halfway around the world...

I also bought my region free DVD player from them. They are really reliable and the customer service people are great!

(No, I do not get paid to promote them).

So check it out and suffer no more!!

[erbiumfiber]

Oh, and something like http://www.international-orders.com/ism/mall.do?id=comerxia&localeId=en&language=en&country= will ship from many on-line stores (e.g., drugstore.com) to you for a bit of an outrageous fee. I have ordered a bunch of stuff from drugstore.com as you can forget about getting any good medicine in Japan unless you actually go to the doctor.

For those of us with older parents (one of whom has suffered a stroke), it's really hard to ask them to buy things and ship them to Japan...

And finally, never forget Costco- there's one at the Tama-Sakai stop on the Keio line that ships in to Tokyo for next to nothing...

[hanacker]

the 'instant' ramen comes with 5 different sub-packages, and 20 steps that must be performed in order.

But it's so much better!

Actually, that weird piece of carpet in my instant ramen kind of freaked me out.

[TygressVirgo]

You guys do know that you can visit U.S. soil by a three hour flight. It has just about everything you guys are looking for. If you ever need a weekend vacation sort of thing. Just a suggestion that I hope helps.

[erbiumfiber]

Oh and yeah, I laid out 58,000 yen for a drier last January so my daughter could have a place to dry her school uniform shirts without needing to be ironed. I had a combined washer/dryer but as has been mentioned above, the dry function sucks and leaves clothes super wrinkled. We had a coin laundry right near my old building so we would wash the clothes and the stuff that could not be dried outside we dragged to the coin laundry...

The amazing thing that I did not realize is the JAPANESE DRIERS DO NOT NEED TO BE VENTED TO THE OUTSIDE!!! There is a little hose that connects to my washer (the drier is on a stand above the washer that you buy when you buy the drier) so maybe some moisture is being sent through the washer's drain system. Whatever. It works well and doesn't use up too much electricity. So you can put the drier right where your washer is. I usually dry my clothes somewhat outside and then pop them in the drier so that they don't need to be ironed and so that they dry all the way (and don't end up smelling like a used sponge like half the clothes on the subway...).

But if you look in Tokyo Notice Board Classifieds, you can get a used drier for about 10,000 to 20,000 yen. I have no way to transport stuff so I really needed to buy new and have the guys come and install it and the shelf...

By the way, there is also a place called "The American Pharmacy" in Ueno station and they have tons of American drugstore products (except real drugs, of course); can't tell you if they include deodorant.

I think the drug store above National Azabu has deodorant, not sure. That's right by the Hiroo subway stop on the Hibiya line (one away from Roppongi).

I would like a freakin' oven !!! My daughter's school was always having a bake sale that I was supposed to send stuff in for. Great except for the "no oven" part. I just sent money...Yes, you can use your microwave if you bought one with the oven function but it is just not the same...

[Kustom]

What I miss the most after 15 months away from France:

- MEAT, of any kind, at reasonable prices
- Bread... Of course
- NOT eating rice with every freaking meal
- Cheap and easy transportation
- supermarkets (complete with gross prices and a delivery service)
- Cheap movies ! Goddamnit, 1800 yens for a cinema ticket, 500 yens to rent a DVD (same for everything cultural : concerts, museums etc are way overpriced)
- Reasonably breathable air
- SPACE in the apt
- Thugs beating the shit out of you if you dress ganguro
- Reasonably few people puking in the metro on tuesday nights
- Real coffee under 600 yens
- NOT listening to J-pop in every conceivable public place
- Silent ATMs and ticket machines
- ...

I'll stop for now, but to be fair some of them are things I also missed in America

What I don't miss:
- Jerks harassing others in public
- French girls
- "The customer is always wrong, fuck him" attitude
- Chinese kaitenzushis
- TV (of course it's better than Japanese TV, but bad enought for me never wanting to get a TV set)
- ...

[Daishikaze]

Not in japan, but I'm living in another country, so I'll chime in:

My Friends and Family (who it doesn't seem likely that I will ever see again)

Certain dishes I used to get at chinese restaurants

Mexican food

Malls (I loved shopping for DVDs, Mangas, Books, and other collectables, and I can do that now via online stores, but I miss "The Hunt")

English Translations (I have to go out of my way to find english translations of films and books, Its a pain in the ass, but I hate german translations. )

People who don't smoke (its hard to find anyone in this country that doesn't smoke, I'm told we have the highest percentage of smokers under the age of 18 in all of Europe (though the swiss tend to exaggerate things like that, soI don't know). Luckily my wife doesn't smoke (unlike everyone else in her family, and I do mean everyone). )

Thats it for now, can't really think of anything that bugs me that much right now, even the things that I did list only mildly irritate me.

[Jess]

Amen on the dryers. I'd love bringing my clothes in from the veranda frozen in winter. Grr.

And why they are unable to concieve of installing central heating is beyond me. Winter usually consisted of me feeling sorry for the elementary school boys still in shorts on their way to school, hogging the heater in the teacher's room at every chance, and huddling either under the covers or in the shower with the hot water turned all the way up hot. And I lived in a warm part of Japan! I will say, surprisingly enough, you get used to it. The second winter was not nearly so horrible as the first, and I don't think the weather itself was appreciably different.

I had one of those microwaves with the oven capability. I did a real, honest to goodness Thanksgiving turkey dinner my second year there - turkey from the FBC. :) Turkey, real mashed potatoes, gravy, warm veggies, apple crisp, and cinnamon ice cream. I've heard they still tell stories of me as the greatest gaijin cook in Kagawa prefecture three years later (has it really been three years? Wow.)

One thing I absolutely love from Japan - their showers. Give me a Japanese shower room any day. I could live in one. Mmmmmm....

I also love futon. I dunno why - but rather than buy or use a bed when I got back, I prefer a futon matress on the floor. I've gone native! Nooooo!

Oh, as a random note on one of Az's comments in one of his editorials about bowing in America - three years later, I'm almost over it. I only bow occasionally, and it's usually the "head bob", not the bow anymore. I still do it more than a normal American does - especially when driving, for some reason - but don't get mocked quite so much now. ;)

[Beebs]

-- Decent sized tits, and cleavage

"They have the ass and chest of a 10-year old Swedish peasant boy" is the answer I gave my brother when asked what the women were like in general in Tokyo. As a male ass-worshipping coworker once said, "Some days I just wanna run around the train station with a bucket of BBQ sauce, a basting brush and then just go to town!"

What I miss from Canada:
- thickly-sliced Canadian maple bacon
- "The Keg" steakhouse restaurant's 16 oz. New York stirloin steak (medium-cooked) with garlic mash potatoes, steamed vegetables with a glass of Australia's red "Wolf Blass: Yellow Label" wine.
- Any of Sleaman's beers, Granville Island Maple Cream Ale or damn near any Canadian microbrewed beer
- Panagopolis' New York Deli Pizza (bacon, ham, beef, salami, sausage and pepporoni with two kinds of cheese)
- any OTHER chocolate bars besides Kit-Kat, Snickers and Aero
- its population density (~1/3 of Canada's total population crammed into Tokyo does not bode well with my girth)
- central heating, airconditioning and vaccuming

[Frankey-eh]

going the other way... what I miss about Japan, living in US

the size of furnitures. American furnitures are HUGE. I drown in a couch...

the size of food. a GALLON of milk? TEN POUNDS of potatoes? and cereal boxes that require two hands to hold...

the politeness. sometimes when someone bumps into me, I know the other person's at fault but I'll still apologize just to be polite, and I expect the other person to apologize back. except no one does.

the closeness. Being a student and living in America, this is probably the hardest thing to get used to, and I still miss it even today. There's no sense of classmates. Well... there's no class to start with, since the system is different, but I still wish I had a class I could belong in.

and about the food I miss (because a japanese food store is too far away)
kuri
unagi
kaki
kabocha (we almost ate the orange kind the first year)
lamune
mochi
yookan
purin
the big yogurts (yes, for some reason, only the yogurts aren't big)
curry
stew (the white kind)
dango
manjuu
the little sugar crystals you eat on march 3rd

events I miss:
sakura-sightseeing
summer fireworks (fourth of july doesn't even compare...)
feb 2nd
girl's day
entering/graduating ceremonies
graduation tripS!!
christmas
NEW YEARS!
sports day
bunkasai

I want to go back to Japan...x_x

[hapacheese]

rika - I did hanami for the first time in about 15 years or so this year. I happened to be in Tokyo the week that the sakura blossomed, so some coworkers and I decided to have a picnic in Tamagawa Kouen. It was absolutely beautiful.

http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos1166/2/82/73/73/80/3/380737382205_0_ALB.jpg

http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos1166/2/82/73/73/11/9/911737382205_0_ALB.jpg

http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos1166/2/82/73/63/70/9/970637382205_0_ALB.jpg

http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos1166/2/82/73/73/80/5/580737382205_0_ALB.jpg

[Frankey-eh]

rika - I did hanami for the first time in about 15 years or so this year. I happened to be in Tokyo the week that the sakura blossomed, so some coworkers and I decided to have a picnic in Tamagawa Kouen. It was absolutely beautiful.

*sigh* I miss sakura. I could have gone to the fireworks this summer, since I was in Japan before obon season, but the fireworks and my itinerary clashed.

I knew there will be fireworks on the second of Aug, but I couldn't go because my dad wanted to go to the Expo. On the day I went to kyoto, I found out there will be fireworks the next day. The next day I went to atami, I found out there WERE fireworks the day before AND the day after, but not on that day. The day after that, I saw Yokohama preparing for fireworks from Shinkansen...but that was the day I had to leave for US on a noon flight. >_<

I really regret not going to the niigata one on the second, because afterwards, I saw on TV how hirahara ayaka was singing Jupiter along with it and that happened to be on my list of favorite songs.

p.s. am I the only one who think jupiter sounds like my heart will go on by celin dion?

[Beebs]

Well, to continue this trend of what you will/already miss about Japan:

- The "Matsuya" restaurants (￥390 for a heaping plate of chicken curry rice and a bowl of miso soup).
- Japanese shrimp tempura
- being able to live a pretty normal life without ever buying a car
- having schoolchildren yell, "HELLO ENGLISH! SATURDAY! OH MY GOD! I AM FINE!" everytime I pass a group of them
- being in a country where the most consistent crime is umbrella and bicycle theft
- the general attitude to do anything and everything possible to help the customer
- of course, fireworks and cherry blossom-viewing

[hapacheese]

I haven't been to obon in years :`(

Though, since I'll be back there next week, it's prime hanabi season (the handheld kind). So some friends and I are getting together for an evening in the park for hanabi (which will likely devolve into a hanabi taisen).

[Frankey-eh]

I haven't been to obon in years :`(

Though, since I'll be back there next week, it's prime hanabi season (the handheld kind). So some friends and I are getting together for an evening in the park for hanabi (which will likely devolve into a hanabi taisen).

I remember doing that when I was five. We did it in this TINY patch without grass... among the whole sea of grass. I was so scared I'd set the whole park on fire...

and I agree about the independence FROM cars. vehicles doesn't agree with me... I think I rode in a car a total of six times last year. once for coming back from the airport in the summer, twice for going and coming back from the airport in February, once for my birthday, once for my brother's birthday, and once for going and to the airport in June.

[silentplummet]

going the other way... what I miss about Japan, living in US

snip

the politeness. sometimes when someone bumps into me, I know the other person's at fault but I'll still apologize just to be polite, and I expect the other person to apologize back. except no one does.

the closeness. Being a student and living in America, this is probably the hardest thing to get used to, and I still miss it even today. There's no sense of classmates. Well... there's no class to start with, since the system is different, but I still wish I had a class I could belong in.

snip

Of course someone would inevitably turn this thread about material items into a social commentary.

1. People are rude everywhere. I was reading the other day about this trucker who found no less than five Japanese persons' wallets, returned them waiving his right under Japanese law to a portion of the contents, and got only one "thank you". And the guy who thanked him wasn't Japanese, he was actually a Chinese foreign national.

When I was on a New York subway, a local woman, turning, smacked me very hard in the face with her shoulder bag. I was just sitting in my seat, and it wasn't even very crowded. She looked right at me and then turned away without saying a word. It happens everwhere.

2. Your difficulty in adjusting to American college social atmosphere is understandable. When you say there is no sense of classmates, do you mean there is no kohai and senpai? You are expecting to be press-ganged into a group because that is how you have grown up and you are comfortable there. But the distinctions of class and seniority which you have come to expect in Japan do not necessarily exist here. That is not how we Operate. If you want closeness, you have to go out and get it yourself. It exists for the open-minded to go and find, so go out and find it.

I am considerably less social than most people and even I have learned to adapt to this. I am just fearing for the time I'm in Japan that everyone will be a big in-group and I personally am the out-group.

I want to go back to Japan...x_x

So fucking go. No one should stay in America long enough for thoughts like these. Particularly don't stay in an American university where you have the freedom to do like anything.

[hapacheese]

Dude... silentplummet, she was just saying that she misses her home, but I'm sure she has her reasons for having to stay here. This was a thread about things you miss about Japan, so what do you expect?

And no, it's not a "social commentary." She's just stating her observations based on her experiences in Japan vs. those in America.

[Frankey-eh]

Of course someone would inevitably turn this thread about material items into a social commentary.

1. People are rude everywhere.

2. When you say there is no sense of classmates, do you mean there is no kohai and senpai?

So fucking go. No one should stay in America long enough for thoughts like these. Particularly don't stay in an American university where you have the freedom to do like anything.

first, I'm not in colleges yet, so I wasn't talking about colleges. for the classes, I'm talking about how people stand up to each other in the same class. I mean, to make the class fun. To get to know people. to have a RANGE of friends.. not just those with same interest as you. To be able to point to every one of your thirty classmates and honestly say "I know that person".

example: I once was in a class where everyone were great friends... boys and girls alike. For sports day, we had the best lineup for the class relay race. We were going to win for sure. Then, on that day, our last runner started out in first place, but during his run, he was so nervous he dropped the baton TWICE. That put us to last place. Later that day, everyone was disappointed, but no one blamed him. Everyone shared his disappointment. Two month later, we could even joke about it as a class.

second, of course people are rude everywhere. I know that. it's not like you automatically become polite just because you were born in japan. But the majority of the people are nice, and the rules of politeness classify as common sense. It should be an automatic response. And I found it lacking in not one, not two, but many, many people I've met over the years.

finally, I fully realize the environment is NOT japan (it's called US for a reason, right?). this country have its ups too.
do you know what I missed most about US while I was in Asia? I missed the California climate. I missed the clean air. I missed my big room. I missed the fruits.

All my life I've been see-sawing from China to Japan and back. And now, US is in the list too. I've experienced all three countries enough to know what I value and what I dislike about each country. And definately, I do not hate or love any one country more than the other two.

[silentplummet]

And no, it's not a "social commentary." She's just stating her observations based on her experiences in Japan vs. those in America.

Social commentary is the act of expressing one's opinion on the nature of society. Here, a Japanese girl commenting on American society.

Clearly she was not just saying she misses her home. One could express that very succinctly by writing 'I miss my home.' On the other hand she brings up at least two irrelevant and misguided "observations" about life in American society, and follows it up with "I want to go back to Japan."

Read my custom title. Zero tolerance. Zero tolerance for bullshit like this. I called her ass on it just like you would do anyone who whined about something like "I came to Japan but everyone is so rude and never apologizes" and then "I want to go back to America".

What is your point again?

first, I'm not in colleges yet, so I wasn't talking about colleges. for the classes, I'm talking about how people stand up to each other in the same class. I mean, to make the class fun. To get to know people. to have a RANGE of friends.. not just those with same interest as you. To be able to point to every one of your thirty classmates and honestly say "I know that person".

example: I once was in a class where everyone were great friends... boys and girls alike. For sports day, we had the best lineup for the class relay race. We were going to win for sure. Then, on that day, our last runner started out in first place, but during his run, he was so nervous he dropped the baton TWICE. That put us to last place. Later that day, everyone was disappointed, but no one blamed him. Everyone shared his disappointment. Two month later, we could even joke about it as a class.

Have you convinced yourself that this situation cannot exist in the United States? That is a patently indefensible point of view. I hope you do not continue to delude yourself because you are cheating yourself out of many great experiences.

second, of course people are rude everywhere. I know that. it's not like you automatically become polite just because you were born in japan. But the majority of the people are nice, and the rules of politeness classify as common sense. It should be an automatic response. And I found it lacking in not one, not two, but many, many people I've met over the years.

And I'm certain you'll find it lacking in many more. I personally don't find much value in automatic responses but if you do, good for you.

[hanacker]

Read my custom title. Zero tolerance. Zero tolerance for bullshit like this. I called her ass on it just like you would do anyone who whined about something like "I came to Japan but everyone is so rude and never apologizes" and then "I want to go back to America".


You also did a great job of refuting her "Americans are rude" point :p

[Jess]

I find the rudeness comment interesting. I found much the opposite to be true.

While Japanese are more concerned than Americans with politeness between aquaintances, I found Japanese ruder than Americans in stranger to stranger interactions (I realize I'm making gross generalizations here, just insert an "often" or "on average" in the appropriate places).

I was on a crowded train, and a high school student was slouched in the "silver seat", spread out. An old couple (70 or 75) and their 4 or 5 year old grandson boarded the train....the young man wouldn't move. I got up and gave them my seat - and they were obviously shocked that a stranger would do such for them, and thanked me profusely.

While we Americans tend to be less concerned with politeness overall, we sort of apply this same attitude over all our actions. If you're generally rude to your friends, you are to strangers. If you're considerate of your friends, you're often so to strangers. In Japan, it's as if they have to spend so much time and effort on rank, politeness and status in all interpersonal interactions that when they are among strangers - "faceless" strangers, let's say - they drop all concern.

Edit: I also really miss Japanese style mackerel. Saba...mm...saba. I can't cook Japanese style food worth a darn, but I gave mackerel a try - and failed miserably. I'm gonna get saba for sure when I go back!

[silentplummet]

Hahahah. Stick a fork in this thread, it's done!

[Frankey-eh]

I know what you mean by "rude to strangers". I find that aspect multiplied a hundred fold in China. But it's those peer pressure that's the root behind jpnese politeness. It doesn't matter HOW you achieve politeness... as long as the end result is politeness, it's all the same to me. Oftentimes I find myself gritting my teeth to be polite too.

silentplummet: I see you are very stuck on my last line. It's like hapacheese said, I just meant I miss Japan. More so than China or US because I have so little opportunity to go back there. If I can spend two month in Japan every summer, then I wouldn't miss it so much. The more you miss it, the more you start to see the good side of things, you know? And the more you have it, the more you start to see the bad side of things. It's human nature. But as of now, I only get to spend a week in Japan every year, and so I miss it the most. I cannot see why you feel like you need to defend US.

So few people above me listed things they missed about US, after living in Japan for a while. And when I go the opposite way, you jump on me like a wild cat. To me, this seems like Americans can throw insults, but not take them. If that was the case, some people should have told me... I would have painted US like a golden statue.

[silentplummet]

So few people above me listed things they missed about US, after living in Japan for a while. And when I go the opposite way, you jump on me like a wild cat. To me, this seems like Americans can throw insults, but not take them.

Here we go again!

I think you are maybe one of those closet racists. You just can't help yourself. Now Americans can throw insults but not take them? It gets better every time you post.

I don't have time or interest to elaborate on this any longer. Life intrudes.

[hapacheese]

Social commentary is the act of expressing one's opinion on the nature of society. Here, a Japanese girl commenting on American society.

Sure, the word taken at face value means as much, but I (perhaps mistakenly) read it as a loaded word meaning "a commentary on a society with a hidden agenda," as tends to be the case nowadays. If that was not your intent, I withdraw the comment :)

Clearly she was not just saying she misses her home. One could express that very succinctly by writing 'I miss my home.' On the other hand she brings up at least two irrelevant and misguided "observations" about life in American society, and follows it up with "I want to go back to Japan."

They were not irrelevant, as they were commentaries on what she missed from Japan, as colored by her experiences in the US. Her observations may or may not be misguided, as it very well could be her overall experience that people that she encounters in the US are rude. Perhaps it is simply a difference in culture.

Case in point: Yes, you see a lot of punks refusing to give up their seats on the train. I always get surprised looks when I do give up my seat. However, I have never had someone cut in line in front of me in Japan, I have never been treated poorly during any sort of business transaction, etc. It simply depends on what parts of the culture you are used to.

It is most likely a fallacy of positive instances, meaning that when you notice something, your belief in that "thing" is further reinforced every time you encounter it, regardless of whether or not it happens all the time (like people who believe in astrology, etc). She notices certain parts of the culture that are rude, sees a pattern repeat, and that part sticks out like a sore thumb.

Her claim to want to go home is not much different than her missing her home. Perhaps there are factors out of her control? Perhaps it's just a simple case of being homesick? "Zero tolerance" is no excuse to simply be rude, thereby reinforcing her belief that Americans are rude, as someone else pointed out.

Read my custom title. Zero tolerance. Zero tolerance for bullshit like this. I called her ass on it just like you would do anyone who whined about something like "I came to Japan but everyone is so rude and never apologizes" and then "I want to go back to America".

What is your point again?

I would make a rebuttal to the argument, but I wouldn't tell her to "fuck off," as you did in so many words. And I would encourage her to examine other parts of the culture.

[Frankey-eh]

Here we go again!

I think you are maybe one of those closet racists. You just can't help yourself. Now Americans can throw insults but not take them? It gets better every time you post.

I don't have time or interest to elaborate on this any longer. Life intrudes.

I hate arguing over my OPINIONS too. You've wasted my time, as well as yours. But let me get this straight: I only used the word "American" here because you're defending America's interests. I only called my OPINION "insults" because I see that's how you took them. Finally, if you think I'm wrong about people being rude and stuff, why don't you SHOW me how much better this country could be? In my state, in my city, in my life, people I've met and interacted with aren't as kind, both when I'm in-group and out-group. I just can't accept how you assume you know every corner of this country when I don't even know every corner of this county.

one thing I will take back: the first line of my post should have been "What I miss about THE LIFE IN japan I HAD"

[akitaka]

Come on, silent. Everyone's experiences are different, so you can't expect your views to coincide with hers, in the least. I think we're taking this a little too seriously.

On topic: I don't have experiences in missing anywhere in particular, but when I was really young I got depressed when coming back to Arizona; it's pretty ugly here, in comparison to Nagano (in the 90's). That alone made me almost cry.

The only thing I miss about America when in Japan, however, is...cash. It's kind of hard traveling thrifty in Japan; whereas you don't need much to get a ride to the Grand Canyon or any of the other states around my area. If wer're talking New York or San Francisco, though, I could be wrong.

[Marblehead]

Here we go again!

I think you are maybe one of those closet racists. You just can't help yourself. Now Americans can throw insults but not take them? It gets better every time you post.

I don't have time or interest to elaborate on this any longer. Life intrudes.

Then shut the fuck up, dude. You aren't even trying to make an argument; you're just trying to be an asshole.

Wow! Zero Tolerance! You're fucking cool! Can I be your friend? :p

[hanacker]

Wow! Zero Tolerance! You're fucking cool! Can I be your friend? :p

No, he has zero tolerance for Marbleheads.

[CNagy]

Of course someone would inevitably turn this thread about material items into a social commentary.

Not to beat this to death or anything, but there were plenty of opinions in the previous posts that dealt with what people missed, one guy even even linked his opinions for why things in japan were that way based on... society. I guess Zero Tolerance doesn't necessarily include impartiality.

[Saitou Hajime]

Rika was just stating what she misses, is all. I don't view that as a racist attack against Americans. I didn't know people had to become so specific and detailed to avoid being called a "closet racist" as to say that the person they met in the grocery store, or that one guy with a blue shirt on the street, and that one girl with the red hair, and then that other kid with long hair were rude. I think it's rather obvious she meant those she has interracted with.

[Marblehead]

No, he has zero tolerance for Marbleheads.


Yuk, yuk, yuk yuk! You're hilarious! :p

[4letterwords]

What I missed about America when I was in Japan:

Food... all of it... I don't care who you are, American food (not fast food) is great.

TV... enough said.

My cell phone... American cell phones are easy and they don't really have all of the hype... I have a camera video phone here in the states, and its every bit as good as my Japanese cell phone, so this isn't because Japanese phones are "better"... I just like my american one better (Just so you know... I got the Razr in black :D)

Clothing... I don't really like Japanese style too much (3 layers of jackets in mid-summer... phf... please.)

Music... I LOVE Japanese music, but wheras Japanese music has many genres, they don't really have a clear differentiation between their objectives... Rap, pop, reggae, punk... in Japan, they all seem to have the same ideas... American music shifts style and idea when switching genre...

Relaxing... Most Japanese people are ALWAYS in a hurry, even if they don't have to be... No worries, to each his own... Japanese people like to keep themselves busy, Americans like to stop and smell the roses... even if we sometimes touch thorns... :D... but like I said, theres nothing wrong with keeping busy :D

I missed American school. I loved Japanese school, but I felt like I was obligated to be part of something, even if I didn't want to... its hard to explain. I loved it so much in the beginning... but I really began to miss the freedom you have in American schools... We have similar style classes in Elementry school and part of middle school, but in High school we get to kindof "grow up" and be an adult... make our own choices... I missed that when I was in Japan... just the freedom.

I missed plainess... thats hard to comprehend if you've never been to Japan... everything is extravagant... even the littlest thing is either extremely ornate or 'cute'... so much stuff is overdone...

Taco bell... god... taco bell...

Non-smoking places... they don't exist in Japan... everyone smokes.

PDA... people looked at me weird if I hugged my boyfriend in public. *rolls eyes*

Honesty... to Japanese people, this means rudeness... Japanese people rarely ever say what they really mean, so it leads to many interesting situations *again, rolls eyes*

Simple Toilets

Showers... again, simple...

Screw it, just simplicity...

Getting hit on... Japanese men dont flirt... I missed that.
__________________________________________________ _____________________

On the flip side, heres what I miss about Japan-

The "its not my business" mentality... I could do anything I wanted and no one would even bat an eye.

Getting offered alcohol from my ex-boyfriends step dad *he's a DOCTOR*

Getting into any bar I wanted.

Japanese beer, whiskey... any liquor... is great.

Japanese candy OWNS though... I miss Koala no maachi...

Vending machines

Japanese cosmetics... Most white people have pink-ier skin... I have a yellowish tone to my skin, so I bought so much makeup, its not even funny.

Walking everywhere... Its great exercise.

Pens are really cheap in Japan.

Oddly enough, I miss curry rice, miso soup, and MISO KATSU... has anyone else ever had miso-katsu? Its a specialty in the Nagoya area and its so... damn... good... and no, I've never had okonomiyaki... I went to hiroshima, and didn't even try it. :D

Theres more but, meh, I'm lazy.

Peace

[Kustom]

the politeness. sometimes when someone bumps into me, I know the other person's at fault but I'll still apologize just to be polite, and I expect the other person to apologize back. except no one does.


Strange. This is how I feel about people in Tokyo... Maybe commuting to Shinjuku every day is giving me the wrong idea, but I can remember every instance in which people apologized for bumping into me in the last 15 months and still count them on one hand (and believe me, in Tokyo, people will bump into you dozens of times on a daily basis).

I didn't think it was rude, I was under the impression that people didn't want to apologize because acknowledging that something happened would be considered rude, or loosing face... Maybe it's just the Yamanote.

[erbiumfiber]

Yeah, you can't get out of Shinjuku station without being bumped into or gaijin smashing your way through. A fellow Yamanote line sufferer. And, yes, there's no apologizing in Shinjuku or on the Yamanote sen. But then, Tokyo is considered extremely rude by the standards of the rest of Japan...

[akitaka]

I didn't think it was rude, I was under the impression that people didn't want to apologize because acknowledging that something happened would be considered rude, or loosing face... Maybe it's just the Yamanote.

This is what my mother told me. I don't mind when it's in a train station, as everyone has some sort of agenda, but when out on the crosswalk I don't like being nudged off in the open road. Especially when it happens twice in a row. Annoying stuff. This was back when I was really little, too.

[Frankey-eh]

I used to communte from Kita-senchuu (did I spell that right?) to Shinjuku everyday on Yamanote. And I remember people sometimes would GET UP and OFFER me their seat in a CROWDED train. Of course, that might be because I was a kid, and the adults felt bad for me, having to suffer through rush hour like them... But this was before the Sarin incident... maybe people have changed since then.

P.S. This year when I rode it again (not during rush hour, thank god) I did notice the upgrades with the screen monitors. And I realized, wow, they've gone a long way. I'm so old...

[Marblehead]

If everybody apologized for bumping into each other on the Yamanote line, the whole economy of Tokyo would stop dead in it's tracks.

[Slappy san]

They sell American products (yes, deodorant too) at prices that are not TOO outrageous. For example, a box of that Cinnamon Toast Crunch goes for 996 yen when you buy a case. They have all the Mexican stuff too. My coworker orders all his Mountain Dew from them and I have ordered tomato sauce.


9.02 for CTC?!?!?! Damn

[nice gaijin]

9.02 for CTC?!?!?! Damn
heh did you join just to say that?

I saw a single can of budweiser in a vancouver liquor store for 9 bucks before tax. I can't spare any more shock for consumer prices.

[PiccoloNamek]

....

I want to go back to Japan...x_x

Well, I can't help you with those other things, but certain parts of the US are rife with Sakura trees. There's a park not too far from my house that has hundreds of them. There must be at least 20 of them in my small neighborhood alone.

http://gallery.photo.net/photo/3260733-md.jpg
From the park.

http://www.gamingforce.com/xchange/data/userwork/id972/photos-photos/photos-photos_1112134169_PrettySakura.jpg
From my neighborhood. This man has at least 10 in his yard.

[Mesia]

Wow... those are beautiful. That first picture is so ethereal looking, it doesn't even seem real.

[Frankey-eh]

Well, I can't help you with those other things, but certain parts of the US are rife with Sakura trees. There's a park not too far from my house that has hundreds of them. There must be at least 20 of them in my small neighborhood alone.


You are VERY lucky... very, very lucky... ^_^ Where is that?

[Sayaka]

Condoms that aren't too small
Az, are you trying to hint that you really do have a big black dick??!!!! :eek:


-- Instant food in general
-- Being able to buy a dinner under $5

You don't see bento boxes as instant food? It's not easy to buy dinner for 5 bucks even in America, especially not from where you came from--Northern California.

Oh, and if there are things that I miss about America, it would have to be the TV shows and how hair removal products can be found easily. Where I live, it's almost impossible to find them. Other than that, I can hardly think of anything else........

[Frankey-eh]

You don't see bento boxes as instant food? It's not easy to buy dinner for 5 bucks even in America, especially not from where you came from--Northern California.

Heh. That's true. Once, my friends and I ate a $10/person breakfast in South Bay.

But I think the reason Az can't find 5 buck dinner in Japan is because the servings are too small for him. When we were there, we never exceeded 2000yen/4person for every meal.

[PiccoloNamek]

You are VERY lucky... very, very lucky... ^_^ Where is that?

I'm from Georgia, and the top picture was taken in the Georgia international horse park. Hideo Ogino, the former President of Maxell Corporation of America, donated quite a few Yoshino variety sakura.

The second picture was taken just a few hundred feet from my house.

While I was at the festival the park holds during the blooming season, I bought my own tree!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v135/PiccoloNamek/7.jpg

Look! Its very first blossoms. ^_^

[silentplummet]

It is difficult to photograph flowers well.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Yeah, I get sticks of deodorant sent from home. I don't understand it, summer is hot and humid as hell but the Japanese don't stink that much despite their crap-ass anti-perspirants. It boggles the mind.

Join the unconcerned! Smell like a foreigner my friend! Join the revolution! Burn your man-bra!

Mexican food
El Pancho's
Shinsaibashi Tower 8F
066-241-0588

Instant food in general
The land of instant ramen offers instant ramen, instant curry, instant rice, and instant conbini bentos.

Food that don't have a high fish content
Yoshinoya offers no fish to the best of my knowledge. What you want is food with no fish, not 'not high fish content.'

Real baseball
C'mon, it's totally 1950's style man. Bunting a runner on second to third with no outs (WHY GOD WHY?!), discriminating against foreign players (4 to a team, and good luck at playing here for more than a decade as a non-Asian), and other such wonders of the stone ages of baseball.

Decent sized tits, and cleavage
I saw a Japanese woman here with the most massive breasts ever the other day outside Kyoto station. She wasn't fat either. She just had massive frickin' breasts. It was insane. They are around Az, you just have to follow the old Roman saying, "Carpe Boobies" [seize the breats].

TV that doesn't make me want to gouge my own eyes out
Bittorrent. I am currently on season 4 of the West Wing.

Real steak
Check Japanzine, they have this meat guy who sends you relatively cheap meat in bulk. Not that this solves the problem if you want to have someone else cook it for you. Refer to the comment above about seizing the breasts. Then you may have her bosomness cook said steak for you.

Being able to find my sizes in clothing, ESPECIALLY shoes
I have size 14-15US (32 cm shoes) and I have been able to find a pair here. 32cm, timberlands, and only 1050 yen because the store had had them there for over a year because nobody wears that size. That's only 5% of the original cost. Good deal, eh? 95% discount?

Condoms that aren't too small
Many pharmacies and conbini sell Durex in American sizes. There are also Condomania's sprinkled across Japan (almost positive there is one in Osaka). Alternatively, you can just buy in bulk over the internet.

Cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch in particular
My local supermarkets carry Kellogg's corn flakes, bran flakes, frosted flakes, choco flakes, choco crispies, and all-bran. They also carry 'Nature's Harvest' or somesuch apple-cinnamon flake cereal, as well as nuts and raisin cereal under the same brand. Not to mention all the no-names.

Being able to buy a dinner under $5
Cocoichi Curry, Yoshinoya/Sukiya (etc.), Sizuya, cheap Teishokuyas, and Ramen are all under $5 when you go out somewhere cheap.


I miss cheap beer, beer in bulk, and varieties of beer, and cranberry juice. Everything else is incidental.

[spaik]

No cranberry juice? wtf? I mean, its juice. How hard is it to get juice?

[Pierrot le Fou]

I can buy it, for $6 or so a litre, as opposed to the $6 per 2 gallons I paid in the states. That's like an 800% markup. And I don't love my cranberry juice that much when it isn't even 100%.

[mediocre]

Real baseball
discriminating against foreign players (4 to a team, and good luck at playing here for more than a decade as a non-Asian)




Most sports league around the world discriminate agaisnt foreigners, and I believe the MLS has a clause about that too.

[Pierrot le Fou]

All I know is that there's no problem about foreigners in the MLB. There are boatloads. More than Americans it seems at times.

Does MLS really have a limit to foreign players on a team? Could you show me where you read that? I'm really interested.

[mediocre]

You're right about the MLB, NBA, and NFL.


About the MLS,

http://www.soccertimes.com/wagman/2000/dec01.htm

For next season, MLS lowered the number of foreign players on each team from four senior internationals to three. Exempt from this limit will be a certain number of younger international players who will be classified as either "junior" internationals (age 22 and under) or "transitional" internationals (ages 23 and 24). These players do not count against the three-player limit, nor against the salary cap.

http://usatoday.com/sports/soccer/mls/2004-11-18-expansion-draft-preview_x.htm

Teams also must work within the league's foreign-player parameters and can only expose one senior international. Last season each team had three senior internationals on its roster.


As to the actual language of the rule, quick search hasn't been too fruitful



I think most european soccer leagues have a similar rule, and a prominent Mexican club is proudly "Mexican Only"

[Pierrot le Fou]

Wow. At least they allow young players to not count. In Japanese baseball, it's a rather strict 4 foreigner rule I believe. Really makes things boring because of the lack of quality in Japanese pitching overall, and the insane run tallies that so many games go to because of it when it could be improved by grabbing a few more minor league players and giving 'em a shot.

[spaik]

that much for cranberry juice? that's insane. i'm sure some bars must use 100% cranberry juice to use for drink mixing right? they might know a place where you can get a big like, gallon can of the stuff for a good price.

[Frankey-eh]

No cranberry juice? wtf? I mean, its juice. How hard is it to get juice?

I don't know about other Japanese, but cranberry juice disagrees with my taste buds.

[Pierrot le Fou]

No, actually, bars use tiny little bottles of the stuff that aren't generally 100%, and that aren't cheap per bottle. Of course, 99% of drinkeries in the country don't have cranberry juice, and bars tend to cost about $6/cocktail, with not that much liquor in them, so they can afford paying $1.50 for the cranberry juice.

[hapamama]

You don't see bento boxes as instant food? It's not easy to buy dinner for 5 bucks even in America, especially not from where you came from--Northern California.


Not really. I can walk into a Vietnamese noodle house and buy a decent sized bowl of Pho for about $5.

Or there's In-N-Out... :D

[hanacker]

Wow. At least they allow young players to not count. In Japanese baseball, it's a rather strict 4 foreigner rule I believe. Really makes things boring because of the lack of quality in Japanese pitching overall, and the insane run tallies that so many games go to because of it when it could be improved by grabbing a few more minor league players and giving 'em a shot.

I dunno, how much fun would a league full of second-rate foreigners be for a Japanese fan? With all the Japanese superstars going to America, that's more or less what you'd have (and that's what the MLS would have too without a cap). Sure the quality of baseball would improve, but the vast majority of people from any country in the world would rather root for local talent.

[Pierrot le Fou]

I rooted for Pedro Martinez because he was good, not because he was Dominican. And quite frankly, how about you give the teams a choice as to who to root for. If homegrown teams are what the fans want to see, then the teams that provide homegrown talent with few foreigners would make bigger revenues.

[Azrael]

I found size 32 shoes in Osaka yesterday. It was lucky/random, I'd gone in 10 different shoe stores last Thursday, with no luck, but then I just randomly walked into that one and they happened to have a pair. Two pairs actually...one was an Air Jordan, but really expensive, and ugly to boot (no pun intended).

When I bought the shoes, the female clerk kept smiling at me. More than usual. =P

[mikormack]

When I bought the shoes, the female clerk kept smiling at me. More than usual. =P
well you know what they say about guys with big shoes...




they wear pretty big socks, too.

(my apologies for the 5th grade humor)


also, Pierrot, as you seem to be a fountain of useful information...

where in God's name can I find some lemonade?! even National Azabu didn't have any normal (e.g. non-sparkling crap) lemonade for sale. I was fortunate once to find a bunch of imported snapple pink lemonade bottles for sale near my house in Chiba, but they have since stopped selling them. maybe I should just give in and become a mindless tea-drinking Japanese consumer, but my American taste buds would, I think, demand more...

[Pierrot le Fou]

Well, you could buy some lemon juice and make homemade lemonade, but I doubt that will suit you. I would check flying pig (it's online) or the foreign buyer's club (again, online) and they'll likely have it though you may not like the cost.

Personally I like tea, even the super-healthy tea that I have a bottle of next to me right now. So I don't generally get too concerned.

[Sayaka]

Not really. I can walk into a Vietnamese noodle house and buy a decent sized bowl of Pho for about $5.

Or there's In-N-Out... :D

But I still don't think that you could eat till full for 5 bucks in America or Japan............ :confused:

[Kustom]

I've never been the lemonade type myself, so I don't really know the taste and will probably get my ass pounded if I suggest this, but can't you go for Aquarius or Pocari sweat (who in the world invented that name!?)? That's what I do when I need sugar...

[Protected]

Well, you could buy some lemon juice and make homemade lemonade, but I doubt that will suit you.

And you can also make lemonade with lemons, or don't they sell those in there? They're very useful for cooking and natural lemon juice is very good for your health :P


*drools* lemonade...

[Pierrot le Fou]

Lemons are really expensive making it not so feasible. Unless you want to pay for 5 lemons at $1 a piece or so...

[PopCulturePooka]

Meat Pies.
Only Aussies will know of what I speak about and appreciate this. But finding a decent meat pie in Japan was i.m.p.o.s.s.i.b.l.e.

[akitaka]

That's probably the one thing that kills me over there; produce is costly. I like cooking for myself, and eating things from fresh ingredients. Maybe it's just pickiness. I recall seeing an ad selling that "superior" fruit/veggies that cost a wallet full for like....5 oz. of cherries. If there's anyway to get the stuff for less I'd be obliged; unless it's drenched in pesticides. Speaking of which I heard that China had been shipping a ton of that junk overseas. Not sure if it's true, though.

[Dana]

The things I miss most about America usually involve food. I like japanese food, but its the lack of variety that gets to me. I was used to having a range of foods daily in the states, but here its japanese food on a daily basis. It gets boring.

I also miss middle priced, quality resturants like Olive Garden. When I want to go out to eat here its either disgusting Yoshinoya (I am sorry, I think their food smells like urine) or some extremely pricey resturant.

I also miss reasonably priced ice cream, produce, and I really really really miss cold cuts and good hard-crusted bread.

I went home for summer break, and while I was home there were some things about Japan that I missed. I love that here (in Japan) they kind of don't take public safety all that seriously. I don't know why I like that, but I do. You can ride for 2 hours on a bus on a pull out seat in the aisle with no seat belt. Insane.

I also missed being able to tune out all ambient noise. I have to really concentrate to understand japanese, so while i am here any peripheral conversation just blends together like background noise. While home I had to listen to all these stupid conversations and it annoyed the crap out of me.

Another thing I love here is all the salty snacks. They are really good at that, like the puffed rice things and such.

To chime in on the rudeness debate: I think America and Japan are comparable on their politeness levels in stranger-stranger contact. In bigger cities like Tokyo and New York strangers don't acknowledge eachother and in smaller places strangers tend to be nice.

There are aspects that are better in one country than another (this all based on my own personal experience). For example, in Tokyo retailers and service people are going to be really nice to you as a customer, where as in NYC you kind of get the feeling that they don't give a shit if you buy anything from them.

But then, I also think that small town America is nicer to strangers than small town Japan. I think both countries are more generally friendly than most of Europe though! (I lived there for a year, man that took some getting used to)

[erbiumfiber]

They have meat pies at foreign buyer's club for 370 yen.

[Frankey-eh]

if you want to buy cheap produce, don't go to daiei or itooyokado... those are all wrapped up nicely, which makes it expensive. Go to a store with yellow roof, because from past experience, all the cheap stores had yellow roofs ^_^;

[Pierrot le Fou]

Dana, there are thousands of reasonably priced restaurants in Japan, they just aren't chains. If you can't speak Japanese or read it well, then it's going to be hard to figure out good places to eat. There are also bakeries all over the place, with hard crusted bread galore. There are about 5 or 6 in my city of 80,000, so I'm pretty sure you have one locally. In a town in Ehime of about 3,000 I went to, they even had a bakery there.

There is very little that I really really really miss about America that is material-related. Yeah, it'd be nice to have some good Cajun food now and again, but generally I can find anything I need, or a decent substitute. The prices may be a tad higher, but it goes with the territory. I think that lots of people just take for granted the fact that when they were living at home, they knew all the restaurants nearby having lived there for a good part of two decades (generally speaking), and expect the same familiarity with a country that they have just come to and don't speak the language in.

As you can see, most of the stuff on Az's list is plenty available in his area (like good Mexican food), but he didn't know about a lot of it, and he's been living here for 2 years and has excellent Japanese. It takes time to adjust to a new place, and it's hard even if you DO speak the language. I know thousands of restaurants and stores and miscellany by this point because I worked my arse off to find them, and had friends who were useful and knowledgeable.

So ask around, we may be able to help, but don't get discouraged just because you haven't found everything you miss from the US here yet. Most of it is available. Fear not.

[Dana]

Yeah my japanese is pretty good and I have found a few good resturants around my town (of 11000 people btw) but like i said, I get sick of Japanese food everyday and if I want something ethnic I have to go into Kofu (12 km away).

Well that used to be incredibly hard to do since there is no train station in my town and the only bus stops running before I get out of work, and I live on the side of a mountain making it very hard to ride my bike. But today I went out and bought a scooter, yay! So now I am once more independent. Maybe I will go to Kofu today and get a 500 yen frappacino at Starbucks, because I can!

ahem. Anyway, yeah, now that I have the scooter I have the feeling that I am going to be able to do a little more exploring.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Inaka indeed. You a JET?

[Dana]

almost but not quite. Am an interac employee, so basically i do the same thing as a JET but I get paid less (though I find it enough, and the whole month of august off was a big point in Interac's favor).

Damn its kinda scary to ride on the bigger roads, the japanese drivers are very impatient ^__~

[Jess]

One thing I missed when I came back to the states - my ability to talk with other english speaking friends in full speed English without having the rest of the local populace understand what we were saying. I got very lazy about watching what I was saying to myself, assuming no one else could understand enough to know what I was muttering. It got me in trouble a couple of times when I got back. :)

[atomiton]

You are VERY lucky... very, very lucky... ^_^ Where is that?
dunno about the US, but Vancouver has tonnes of Sakura... almost every street is lines with them... and sakura season lasts a month or two, not a week...

They're not as common in the wild as JApan, but many Japanese come to Vancouver for the Sakura season.

[Praetorian]

Sakura's are beautiful. I want to see one sometime. Just six more years.

[Pierrot le Fou]

Yeah, Japan is gorgeous during sakura season, if it only weren't for the trillions of hammered Japanese folk vomiting under them on hideous blue tarps.

The prices we pay.

[mediocre]

well you know what they say about guys with big shoes...




"Damn! You got big shoes"


And that concludes this week Fresh Prince of Bel-Air allusion.

[Azrael]

But I still don't think that you could eat till full for 5 bucks in America or Japan............ :confused:
I dunno if they still have it, but before I left Jack in the Box had a kickass dollar menu.

If it took you more than two Jumbo Jacks to get full, there's something wrong.

[Pierrot le Fou]

And there's a dollar menu in Japan as well, and if it takes more than 3 mac chickens, a 100 yen fries, and a mac shake to get you full, then there's something wrong.

Yuck. I would vomit after a meal like that.

[Azrael]

Me too. I haven't eaten at McD's in a while, and there's a streak I'd like to keep running if possible.

These days I just default to ramen, but that's about 700-900 yen.

[Pierrot le Fou]

What the Hell are you getting? Solid gold ramen? You can get it for 500 yen around these parts. Sweet Jesus man.

And you need to learn how to cook. Pasta can be Hellishly cheap (it's like 400 yen for a KILO of pasta, and 99 yen for enough sauce to douse a fair amount of pasta). Stuff like moyashi can be dandy, and with the cheap discounted produce and whatnot you can get cheap veggies and meat. Ramen is crap man! Stop destroying yourself with that crap! It's crap I say!

(but oh so delicious...)

[Azrael]

As you love to remind me, I live out in the sticks. I can find 600 yen ramen, but it tastes like plastic. At my favorite shop, the chashumen is 690 and I can get a decent teishoku for 950.

I do cook pasta a lot. And curry rice too. And now actually I have a ton of boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, and some Mac and Cheese from home. But sometimes I'm lazy, and it's nice to actually get out of the apartment.

And I actually lost a lot of weight while I was on my 4-times a week ramen diet.

[Pierrot le Fou]

But it's bad for the blood pressure (tons of salt) and it's bad for the diet (lack of vitamins and minerals). Weight is not the only concern of you young padawan, you must also avoid the ramen breath which makes the most flowery women wither with one whiff.

[Azrael]

Well, I'm down to once a week now, with plenty of exercise, so with any luck my health is doing OK.

I know I'm gonna miss ramen-san when I go back to the states, so I'm trying to enjoy it now as much as possible.

[hapamama]

But I still don't think that you could eat till full for 5 bucks in America or Japan............ :confused:

I can at In-N-Out. In-N-Out is a chain of hamburger restaurants on the West Coast of America, mostly California at this point. These aren't piddly little McDonalds burgers I'm talking about. You can get a double double (cheeseburger with double meat and cheese) and an order of fries for under $5. They're freshly made burgers and fresh cut fries.

Jack In The Box still has the kick ass dollar menu. Taco Bell has an ok one if you can stomach that.

In the Vietnamese Noodle Houses, you can get a medium sized bowl of noodles with meat and veggies for under $5. It's the same volume of noodles as two packages of ramen. It's one of my husband's favorite lunches while he's at work. A medium bowl is plenty to fill me up, and I'm no pixie.

[co_delphi]

I can at In-N-Out. In-N-Out is a chain of hamburger restaurants on the West Coast of America, mostly California at this point.

during the late 90's during the great E-coli jack in the box scare one of the suspected restraunts was about a mile away from our house. As a joke they became dubbed as in-n-out burgers..... due to this I cannot look at that in-n-out burger seriously.

Also any chance we are going to see some of these thin Az photo's?

[mikormack]

But I still don't think that you could eat till full for 5 bucks in America or Japan............ :confused:

I dunno, Mos Burger is like 600 yen for a hamburger set -- fries, onion rings, an oh-so-delicious burger and melon soda fill me up pretty well, but I guess I'm pretty skinny.

Mos Burger is about the only fast food I can eat here, and sadly I live next to Tokyo Disneyland so all the other restaurants are crazy expensive.

oh what I wouldn't give for some Burger King once in a while...

[Xephon]

The Burger King mascot scares me. :( But the chicken tenders is tasty. :p
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v605/thermopyle/Funny%20Pictures/thecreepyburgerking.jpg