Hey all, Im originally from NZ and been living in Japan for a couple of yrs now playing full time online for the last year or so in Kobe, prolly a long shot but if there`s any full time or part time online grinders living in Japan that would be keen to meet up for strat discussions/hand review sesh`s, drinks or watevs., obv there`s not really a booming online poker community here so it would be awesome to find some one else to talk poker to, etc.

Also anyone planning travels to Japan Im happy to help out with random advice, etc

cheers everyone!

hey yea thinking of going to japan to visit for a bit, what is internet there like to grind etc i play mtt sngs also why you think there is no booming online poker community, is poker gambling legal there etc japanese love to game etc ??

How is the legislation there? Is Onlinepoker allowed? How about the taxation?

internet here is the nuts im pretty sure its impossible to have any probs with connection etc, theres no poker players here though bcz there are no casinos so people dont really have a chance to learn the game i guess, theres a few regular games around in like foreign bars and stuff but not really worthwile to make money, plus its illegal to gamble except for the horses, pachinko and boat racing so its pretty quiet but playing online poker is all good. Even sports betting is illegal but thats prob good for me lol

To be honest i dont really know about the legislation i just play and hope its all good lol but I would assume its not even enough of an issue for there to be any action that the government would've taken against it.
As far as taxes I've never paid any, but you do need to process all withdrawls through a third party like moneybookers because Japan issued credit cards cant process deposits to any kind of gambling website.

Also just wondering I know Tokyo is expensive but is it cheaper outside of Tokyo you live in Kobe what's the cost of living like there or is Japan just expensive everywhere also can you speak Japanese well ???? What poker on line do you play mainly
Cheers

Would love to spend time in Japan if I could convince friends to go there with me. What's your rent and such like in the osaka area?

Yeah +1 on expenses cost. Also can you still get around without speaking the language where your at? If not, what about the big cities?

Have my fingers crossed that I'll be able to return to Japan for work sometime this fall. Really miss it, and online poker would just be a nice bonus. Would be awesome to ,set up with some fellow 2p2 members.

In general, you can get around fine without having to use Japanese..****ch easier in cities like Osaka than the rural areas.

Pachinko is so goddamn lame...I'm a bit surprised there really aren't many other forms of gambling that are popular, but I suppose that's Japan for you.

Tokyo is definately the most expensive city to live in JP. As for cost of living thats a pretty tough question but I guess if you want to eat decent and go out a few nights a week maybe like $300us (ex. rent) a week but thats a super rough number obv and it could be a bit more or less depending.

Also I speak next to no Japanese and you dont really need to know any which is true for most Japan but especially in Kobe which is one of the reasons I like it so much.

At the moment I'm trying to focus 95% of my time on 50-100nl 6max without getting to distracted trying to bink mtts

do it man

As a reference my rent is prob around $900 a month and its a 2 broom apartment right by the beach and like 15 mins from the city. I know people paying like $1800 p month and i know people paying like $550 a month so it pretty much just depends what you want as with anywhere i guess.

Like Poseidon said you dont need Japanese at all esp in bigger cities english is all good for getting round.

do it man and definately hit me up if you do and yes yes pachinko is the nut worst way to spew money and have no idea what happened lol.
What did you do in Japan before and where did you live at?

I'll never understand how you can live in a country for some time and don't learn the language.

when you say you don't need to know Japanese, do most locals speak English in Kobe then how do you chat to people, girls etc Is it hard to make Japanese friends if you don't know the language.