Heard really cool things about Japan. Coming to check it out and will be staying in Tokyo today-17th OCT.

If you are in Tokyo let me know - let's do something fun

Traveling like a pro

1st impressions from Japan.

Girls are super super hot. I have been around almost all asian countries. Japanese girls cannot be compared.

Very stylish, some of them looks like european - super model quality.

Biggest problem 95% of them know 5 words in english or less....

i'll be there..

is it expensive in Tokyo?

tokyo is worlds most expensive city and Sydney is #2

Expensive beyong sickening.

Any ****ty ( simple chicken leg + rice) 10$+

Short 10 min metro ride 4$+

Clubs to enter 50$+

All day metro pass 15$

Coffee 7$

I'm originally from the US, but stayed in Tokyo for a couple months this year and Sydney for one month.

Yes the cost of living in Tokyo is expensive, but not that much more than in major cities in the US. Rent is cheaper and the subway system is excellent, so you don't have to own a car.

Sydney, on the other hand, is overpriced.

shiiit, why did you choose to stay in tokyo?

Eating out definitely gets expensive after a while.

You can buy awesome bento box meals from the grocery stores for about 400 yen or less. Sukiya Beef Bowl and Original Bento are inexpensive chains that have awesome food.

For coffee, you can buy a can of Boss from any vending machine for 100 yen. Both McDonald's and Denny's sell coffee starting at about 100 yen. McDonald's and Denny's are both awesome in Japan, by the way. McDonald's has a whole floor of people relaxing and studying, with outlets for your computers. Denny's, believe it or not, has really good food.

only staying there for a day or two at the most.. gonna get one of those JR rail passes and soak in the sights, not just Tokyo.. make my way to mount Fuji then down south..
just picked up the ultimate creeper zoom lens for my DSLR today at the mall

can't wait for creeper pics

Not to sound racist but I am not into east asian girls but when I was in Japan I was really surprised at the amount of attractive girls walking down the street. Very very stylish ( tokyo atleast ) probably nr1 in the world. Don't know about super model quality but they are good looking but beware of heavy makeup girls. They look very different without the makeup, japanese girls are the best in the world on altering their looks.

Edit: No, none of them look european. Seriously they don't, trust me on this one. ( not saying its a negative thing )

Don't know which age group you are interacting with but most of the girls below 30 can speak more english than you think. They are just shy.

Try to use difficult words and simple sentence structures. They will understand you better, trust me!

bump anyone in tokyo?

bump +1

I'm moving to Osaka in april/may (not confirmed yet but with 80% chance) n planning to stay at least 6 months.

As far as I remember there was a Japan thread that died out a few months ago but there were very few 2p2ers living there back then. Did anything change?

Good to hear! Not living in Osaka, but am about 1 hour 45 minutes away via Shinkansen, and some friends will be moving there at the end of March so I'll be traveling there quite frequently on weekends. Feel free to PM me anytime...I'm sure we could organize a meet up pretty easily.

Any nice places or recommendations to go in Tokyo?

For anyone reading this thread and thinking about moving to Tokyo, I want to urge you to reconsider.

I've traveled all over and have generally liked every place I have been, but I was there for about 5 weeks, I had a terrible time.

It's like living in a sardine can... you have very little space while getting around, eating, even sleeping (apartments are very small). I have heard China is worse... but whatever.

Girls are hot but absolutey prude... Japanese culture has a sickening hatred of sexuality (~half of young people identify as 'herbivores'). Clubs have 'girls only' sections, no one dates etc. You will be dealing with a semi-attractive, skittish, mentally traumatized dating population just to be clear.

It is expensive beyond belief. Sushi dinner at random holes in the wall in Shibuya Roppongi wherever often cost 50-100 dollars. Eat ramen and drink 7-11 beer.

If you enjoy the following things : dating with casual sex, relaxing, not living in an urban cage, nature, open spaces, quiet... don't move to Tokyo, you will absolutely regret it.

There are few personality types I can see liking Tokyo long term... I am definitely not one of them.

The one thing amazing about Tokyo is simply how much these people have accomplished. I'd recommend it for a brief vacation as it truly is like stepping into the future. The city is unbelievable to see, Food is spectacular, there is so much to do etc. I thoroughly enjoyed my first week, then after the reality of where I was living sunk in. I'd never live there again.

Recommendation to the above poster ^ Star Bar in Ginza is a very cool throwback to the 30's. Bar/restaurant owners excel at creating their own little worlds inside of their establishments, it's very cool and an art form in and of itself.

I had a blast in Tokyo but I agree that it can be stressful staying there for a long period. It's not possible to take a walk in Tokyo. Bicycles and people everywhere and you have stop every 20 meters because of traffic crossovers. Commuting sucks big time, I was there on vacation and I got a taste of the horrible overcrowded Tokyo metro.

I've been reading the japan threads and the sentiment is "nice country but extremely strict immigration". That's not really true. Sure, if you compare Japan to a third world country that lets in westerns then Japan is strict.

If you study or work(a job that requires a degree) you can stay there long term. If you're a western citizen with OK finances and no criminal history you can easily obtain a student visa. If you're a native english speaker with a bachelor degree you can get a english teaching job.

Japan rarely grants asylum to refugees but nobody here in twoplustwo is going that route to stay there long term. In this aspect yes, Japan is strict compared to other rich nations but getting a visa through work or studies Japan is not so different from other countries.

Does anybody know if there is a rich country that allows people to come without a job or plans to study or money(Investor/Business visa)? Japan is reasonable in all 3 areas. Even the investor visa only requires 5 million yen starting capital.

I'm solely talking about the laws and not the attitude of the society. It's true that the japanese society treats foreigners as outsiders.

Ok I'm hijacking that thread.

Planning a trip of average 30 days in Japan. I want to visit tokyo but also outside the city.

Any suggestions?

Get a 21-day rail pass. A month in Japan is enough to visit literally everywhere from Hokkaido to Kyushu.

Few questions for guys living in Japan if you would be so kind..

1. Which city is the best bang for buck so to speak?
2. Is there a good option besides Tokyo for a poker player looking to stay 3-6 months (as in, a lot of entertainment choices around, doesn't have to be nightlife)?
3. Best way to find a short-term appartment?

I did the exact same trip two years ago.
I'd recommend you to walk onto random streets, I've seen such charming places doing that way.
Tokyo is a very expensive city if you're careless with your credit card. But I've been seeking for cheap & good places and I can assure you it exists I've ran out of money after two weeks, had to loan some yens from a friend and sleep using CouchSurfing. Honestly that was a very good part of the trip.
That's when I ended up visit outside the city. You can take a train (probably from Shinjuku station) and stop at a little city called Oiso if you want to swim a bit in the ocean. I havent seen a single stranger there, you might like it. There also was a cheap onsen (maybe 500y to get in) and you can stay as long as you want, I believe you can stay overnight but I'm not sure about this one. I remember wondering if this could be a cheap option to sleep at night. But well an American pilot accepted me on CouchSurfing, and thanks to him, I've visited a really nice place. I think he lived near Akishima Station and we took a train until the terminus (probably Musashi-Itsukaichi according to google map). We took a hiking track for few hours and ended up swimming in a natural waterfall, lost in the forest, it was wonderful.
Hope I gave you some ideas.
Sorry for my english, I'm not a native speaker.

Btw I'll move in Tokyo next October for a year.