Curious Customs: Tips for Visiting Japan, Part 2

Advantages: A great adventure
Disadvantages: Leave that handkerchief at home!

...my mouth have turned out to be delicious. Of course, if you're not an adventurous eater it's no great problem as like most other countries Japan is awash with McDonalds, KFC, Starbucks and so forth. **How it's served** Presentation is very important in Japanese dining and the food is often arranged delicately and artistically on the plate. Of course, this doesn't apply if you're eating in somewhere like a noodle bar or fast food establishment. Traditionally the Japanese eat a healthy and well-balanced diet and it's usual to have several small portions of food prepared in different ways; something boiled, something fried, something pickled, something raw etc., all as part of the same meal. There are no courses as such - the dishes can come in any order or even all together and they very rarely have anything sweet to finish. **Safe...

Mitsudan 22.08.2007 · Read review
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Review of Customs (Japan)

Konnichiwa! Tips for Visiting Japan Part 3

Advantages: Successful communication feels like an achievement
Disadvantages: It pays to invest some time and effort

... <10> Communication Welcome to the third and final part of my top ten tips for visitors to Japan. Having looked last time at the potential pitfalls for gaijin (foreigners) in blowing their noses and taking a bath amongst other hazards, this time I'm dealing with the biggest minefield of the lot - the all-important business of communication. So here is tip number 10. The Devil's Language? The brick wall up against which most foreign visitors come in Japan when trying to communicate is of course the Japanese language itself. It's said that in the sixteenth century the missionary St Francis Xavier, on discovering the difficulty westerners had in deciphering a single word spoken or written by the Japanese people, concluded that Japanese had been devised by the devil to prevent Christian missionaries from doing their good...

Mitsudan 25.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of General: Japan

Japan delivered to your door

Advantages: All things Japanese for the discerning British shopper
Disadvantages: In store labelling/signage isn't the best

...*Japan is now apparently in the centre of London!* Japan Centre is a series of businesses based in London Piccadilly, with the stated aim of having Japan 'delivered to your door'. It's an absolutely wonderful idea for a diverse range of people: from someone looking to take their first tentative steps towards trying sushi, or for crazed Japanophiles who can't cope without a weekly supply of edamame, sake and good quality sushi rice. All under one roof you can find a retail store, a popular website for ordering Japanese goods, a restaurant, sushi classes, Japanese recipes (in English), a user forum and a bilingual recruitment agency. Much as I love Japanese cuisine I can't speak more than ten words of Japanese, so this review will focus on the retail and online stores and some of the added extras offered on their site (www...

edinburgher 14.09.2009 · Read review
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Review of Japan Centre

The Importance of reading this...

Advantages: Great story, good characters, a fun read
Disadvantages: Storyline is a tad silly but who cares?!

...realises if she wants her inheritance, she has to marry Anthony for real - but she only has 5 weeks to do so. Can she make Anthony fall in love in just a few weeks? And is it really what she wants? According to the author's foreword, she has somewhat based this story upon the play "The Importance of Being Earnest" by Oscar Wilde after reading it but I can't really comment on that much because I haven't read that story myself. To me, it just sounded like a fun if unrealistic and somewhat silly storyline, but I don't read books for them to be like real life because for me, reading is escapism and I do enjoy a silly read sometimes. I do get nervous reading new authors, especially if I've parted with my hard earned cash for them, but after reading just a few pages of this, I knew I would love it, and I actually found it hard to put down...

mummy2harry 21.04.2009 · Read review
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Review of The Importance of Being Married - Gemma Townley

Kyoto, the OLD capital of Japan.

Advantages: Cheap area, gorgeous attractions and temples, good for short visits!
Disadvantages: Limited activity so best for -5 day visits.

...I visited Japan at the end of this July, and have only just returned. I must say it was the holiday of a lifetime. Flights cost £900 each via British Airways. We visited Kyoto for 3 days. We got there via Shinkansen from Tokyo, and stayed at the New Miyako hotel, just over the road from Kyoto station. Kyoto was absolutely gorgeous and very easy to navigate around. You can get just about anywhere you want to from Kyoto Station. There are buses, subway trains etc. 220 yen is all you need for a bus ride to anywhere along the Kyoto bus lines. That works out at around £1. You just hop on the bus and pay when you get off. We visited Toei movie land which was a bit of a dissapointment. www.eigamura30.com. Looking at brochures we expected amazing movie scenes etc but it left a lot to be desired. A lot of it was shut off, and most...

Jellypigs 18.08.2008 · Read review
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Review of Kyoto (Japan)

Recommended places to visit in Japan

Advantages: Great places to visit, many things to do, new technologies
Disadvantages: some things are pricey especially the latest technologies, jet lag

...I visited Japan last summer with a friend and we spent about a month there. We visited the following cities: Tokyo, Osaka, Hiroshima and Kyoto. ~Tokyo~ Tokyo is a lot like London. It's made up of a number of very distinct villages - each with their own character and often populated with a variety of characters - some of whom may only come out at night - and are not necessarily vampires! Most of the main areas in Tokyo are stops on the Yamanote Line - Tokyo's equivalent of the Circle Line (only more efficient!). Getting a day ticket to go round this line doesn't turn you into a train spotter. It is an ideal way to get your bearings and it provides a reasonable overview of the City. The streets of Tokyo are laid out in a grid pattern similar to those of New York and other larger cities. At first sight, each street not only looked...

rambo 01.05.2005 · Read review
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Review of General: Japan

Easy travel in Japan!

Advantages: easy to use, use as many time as you want during valid day
Disadvantages: limited location to exchange voucher

...Traveling in Japan is quite costly. So having a Japan Rail (JR) Pass is an excellent way for the foreigners to see Japan. However, you want to evaluate your situation before purchasing the JR pass as if you do not use it, there will be about 20% service fee for unused ticket refund or not getting full value for the money. Confusing? It could be... but it is fairly simple. JR pass: (quick overview) 1* pre-purchased Exchange Order (voucher) outside Japan for the foreign travelers on temporary visitor status (include nationals living in foreign country) 2* JR Pass allows you to travel free on any "Japan Railways" trains (but NOT private rail lines) including well famous Bullet Train (Shinkansen - Hikari and Kodama, NOT Nozomi). Also some JR bus systems. 3* 2 types of pass: GREEN and ORDINARY. Green is more costly than Ordinary...

mckey 21.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of Japan Rail Pass

Hot Import

Advantages: Great visuals,forgiving handling.
Disadvantages: Poor AI,No online mode.

...HI all. juiced 2 hot import is just another run of the mill racer which you collect cars,tune them up and race against other tuned cars to earn money. nevertheless the tracks are good.The handling is ok too,and the graphics are great lush 3D. You'll find most of the game modes you;ve come to expect from games like this.The career mode is split up into 10 categerys,each of which contain a number of different tracks,with events such as eliminator,perfect lap,and drift challenges.Winning the events is you;re main goal,but you also need to do specific challenges to unlock new cars and move on.These goals include winning bets tailgating certain opponents,and scoreing points drifting.as you go through career mode ypu will unlock cars,parts uprades paint jobs.Some good cars on offer such as mistubishi,and lotus,and nitros oxide. Handling...

phil124lufc 18.01.2008 (23.01.2008) · Read review
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Review of Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights (Nintendo DS)

IBC Japan

Advantages: Excellent service, loads for pictures and honest infomation on cars.
Disadvantages: Some cars can be expensive.

...pictures as you want, an honest inspection with an homest report. Plus the service is amazing with 24/7 chat/phone/skype/e-mail. if you cant get in contact to voice a concern you must be a techonlogy virgin! If you want a car form Japan then IBC is perfect for buying your own personal car and also the auction offers dealers the best prices if you know enough about the cars you want to sell. I would highly reccomend IBC. check it out www.ibcjapan.co.jp...

importmad 03.04.2007 · Read review
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Review of IBC Japan Car Exporter

Importance? To Whom?

Advantages: Ideal for group reading,
Disadvantages: background knowledge is almost essential

...A Woman Of No Importance was written in a time when women had little or no place in the world, politically. Lord Illingworth, a womanising politician demonstrates this through his tendancies to leave women 'fallen'. The tale of Rachel Arbuthnot, a single mother in the 1890s, trying to teach her son, Gerald, of the evils of the world has her life torn apart when Lord Illingworth throws the ultimate spanner into the ultimate works. Thus leaving the middle class family closer than he had ever intended. On first reading, this book seems to be soley an outstanding play, but on more intense reading, the many levels and the many themes Wilde involves leave the reader astounded. With refrences to the political state of Middle Class England at the time Wilde wrote this play as well as many other aspects of England and the position of women...

chris213west 14.07.2006 · Read review
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Review of A Woman of No Importance - Oscar Wilde