Rezz

I wouldn't say Japan had any more compulsive buyers than any other country... what about when (ok, ok, I can't think of a better example right now) Windows '95 was released? You had people even in Alice Springs lining up outside PC shops at midnight the night before the release waiting for the store to open... thats compulsive too right? It's just presented by the media in western countries as a wierd kinda compulsive behaviour of Japanese people... did you know that in Japan they're shown news reports of Americans lining up outside movie theaters 5 days before waiting to buy movie tickets for the latest Brad Pitt extravaganza? So here the reverse applies... Japanese think westerners are compulsive fad driven buyers... especially at Christmas time.... Japanese are just trying to keep up with the west it seems.

I'm not going to pretend I'm an expert at Japanese history but... during the Edo period in Japan, missionaries from different countries (particularly Portugal) where based in Nagasaki in Kyushu and where chiefly trading goods, but also trying to spread the word of God. The emporer at the time saw that his people were being converted at an alarming rate - the ladies were getting married to foreign guys etc - so he sent a whole army there to basically arrest and/or kill all the foreigners and basically close Japan to the outside world for about 200 years. The effect this had was akin to the Rennaiasance in Europe, it was when Japan really developed it's own individual culture. So having said that, people even today still have this 'curiosity mixed with ignorance' of other cultures amongst some older people... and even some younger kids. These people are a minority though, so more often than not Japanese are either genuinely shy or they are afraid foreigners are going to babble some strange language to them. It doesn't help on the foreigners part that Japanese language is so hard All the Japanese people (other than my in-laws) that I've spoke to about this all are aware of the apparent 'uncoolness' of the Japanese penchant to be ignorant or even a little hostile to other cultures and really view it as the #1 reason why Japan isn't progressive as Western countries.

It's a curtesy thing... taxi drivers started doing it years ago in order not to blind oncoming cars and pedestrians. Eventually (as alot of stuff happens here) everybody starts doing it. The trouble is, people forget to turn the lights back on after they start driving again, so it's not really a good idea. I don't do it myself. Another thing people may have noticed is that Japanese use their hazard lights to park... or change lanes... or illegally double park... almost like they can do whatever they want *IF* they put the hazard lights on.

I think it's to aid in parking... so the driver has a better idea of where the front of the car is, has the little light at the top for *cue 80's robotic voice over* n-n-n-n-n-ight p-p-p-p-p-parking...

Your right, to 'qualify' for a working visa you need a degree... Working Holiday Visas are given in 6 month blocks, each block is extendable a mximum of 2 times, for a total of 18 months. You *must* reapply every 6 months! We just had one of our Canadian teachers taken into custody at Kansai Airport because he overstayed his original 6 month working holiday visa by 6 months.... he flat out forgot to reapply!!! If you want to stay in Japan after your Working Holiday visa has been used up (after 18 months) without a degree, your best bet would be to take Karate lessons and apply for a 'Cultural Visa' (in that order). The Cultural Visa is given in two 1 year blocks, for a maximum of 2 years. I believe it IS illegal to work on a Cultural Visa... so you have to show Japanese Immigration evidence that a) you're actively taking lessons of cultural importance, B) show decents funds held in a bank account and/or show a letter signed by your parents/guardians that they will support you for the duration of your Cultural Visa. ;) then all will be fine.

Btw Shan... Tanabe is pronounced 'Tah-nah-beh' remember? Someone on here sent me a PM aaaaages ago *insisting* it's 'Tah-nay-b'... because his best mate was half Japanese or something LOL.

'Wakimashita' means 'it boiled' in polite form... don't you mean 'Wakarimashita'?Anyways, on the News in Japan, they're using general polite forms with all verbs (ie: verbs in the past tense end in --- mashita) and in Japanese the basic sentence structure is 'Subject - object - verb'... so it's likely that they don't just say 'Wakarimashita' at the end of every sentence (although in an interview it could) it's more like they're using a multitude of different verbs in the past tense... hense you hear '---mashita' all the time while watching the news.

I got a question for you guys that are thinking about coming to Japan: Do you think Japan has become more 'accessable' for tourists (Aussies in particular) in the last 5 years or so? I ask because every 2nd guy I meet is either Canadian or Australian...

Hahaha me review porn? I'd just be like "she's a stunned mullet... crap... NEXT!" x 568. sock: Actually, theres English translations on alot of things... I wouldn't say they're everywhere, but someone who has absolutely no knowledge of Japanese could easily get around Japan... you just need to be on the ball... some of the translations require a pretty open mind as to the meaning. geno8r: the cartoon porn actually is a cultural thing. An old Japanese artist (can't remember his name, maybe IG can research ) used to paint these images with octopusses getting it on with a lady. Very famous stuff, everybody knows about it, the girls even kinda fake roll they're eyes when you mention it (yeah, like they wouldn't wanna be raped by and octopus... yeah right ) but the cartoon porn is just an extention of that. I think what Sciby said is right too, the censorship laws here are very outdated, eg: other forms of sex goes uncencored, but the MOMENT PUBIC HAIR IS SHOWN... damn get that video editing going to blur out the muff... or doodle whichever is in shot.

Tanks for pointing that out buddy, I would've just dumped a whole 2 teaspoons of salt in my coffee otherwise. Cheers bigears!

^^^ Haha IG I haven't come across a canned coffee I like... Coffee Boss (silver can) is drinkable... just. It's not canned coffee... but who likes 'Mt Rainier'? That stuff is the best!!!

Coke is the same *taste* though.... I thought that was the question?

That might be pretty close to the truth due to the... aah... larger *cough* dimensions they aaaah... have to *cough*... 'accomodate'...

You want photos Scott? No probs man I'll take some today.

Oooooh... the whiny voice? Uuuummm, well in my experience it's real. Some girls act like they're getting their pubes pulled out one-by-one (getting close to cencorship now!) and others act like stunned mullets. But the whine is usual I think... so says a 'foreigner' (me)... I think they also act differently with foreigners too, with eeerm... larger... aaaah... y'know... 'thingy'... :) Coke is the same taste.

But honestly I think they keep *re-using* the paper bags because they really are recycling... they're good bags right? Why throw away a perfectly good paper bag? Btw, IG your Rockabilly knowledge is scary.

The 'gangsters' are bousozoku, and well... the hairstyles go back to at least the '60s. They're wierd and I won't try and pretend to understand them. Think 'Japanese style punks' and you're getting close. As for the brand name paper bags, 'recycle!' Thats my wifes excuse...

You quoted me sock? I'm the foremost proponent of the V35 nomenclature...

I did... but I bashed it a couple of times... total waste of 15,000 yen. Welll it's not that bad, I can still repaint it and put it back on, but I don't like having to worry about it all the time.

Don't they (RAC) tell you that when they hand it to you?

Right, first of all you need an apartment ... no joke, because you need to be able to get parking either at the building, or within a 2km radius of it. Of course you can lie about where you live but... Parking costs anywhere from 8,000 yen (cheapest I've seen) to 30,000+ a month. Secondly you need to have the outer dimensions of the car (so you should already have made your choice of car) so that you can submit the dimensions to the local police station. The police are the ones that issue you with the rego sticker. Rego fees depend on the dimensions... I think we discussed this already. To do the second part also depends on whether the car still has 'shaken' (road worthyness - max 2 year peiod for cars over 3 years old). If it does, well then thats sweet. If not it's possible that the seller could organise shaken for you (non-US military personell get lumped in with real Japanese people forcing them to pay around 100,000 yen for shaken). So once you have a parking space organised, the dimensions of the space and car given to the police and rego sticker in hand and with shaken sorted... you can drive. It doesn't matter if you have an international drivers licence or Japanese licence.

Thats the one... 10 points to you sir!

Troubled soul eh? It's going into SuperAB 171 (Ikeda's place) to getb a new LSD soon, plus a new Cusco clutch and some bearings replaced... Ikeri couldn't explain to me in detail. After that, boost up, HKS F-Con SZ (maybe) and if money allows a turbine of some description. Nothing body wise except for a new '93 bumper and 'Flugel Plate'... <-- 10 points if you know what one of those are.

In my experience it all depends on how long you've been here. In my circle of friends, workmates (Japanese) and aquaintences, they *expect* me to speak Japanese, or at least understand everything thats going on, because they know how long I've been here. But as far as people that I don't know... geez I think there will never be a time when foreigners are expected to speak Japanese and are treated as we would treat them when they 'try' to speak English. I've been here for 4.5 years and I'm only just now getting into semi-fluent general conversations. The moment anyone starts talking about mobile phone company rules and regulations, politics or complicated senarios... I can't keep up.

In Kansai, it's an alert that the train is coming... or just prior to an announcement.