Curious Customs: Tips for Visiting Japan, Part 2

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

...Welcome to the second part of my top ten tips for visitors to Japan. As this follows on from Part 1 (surprisingly enough), I'll be kicking off with number 6. By the way, in case you haven't read Part 1 I'll just mention that gaijin is Japanese for foreigner. <6> ◄Eating in Japan► Japan is home to one of the one of the world's great cuisines and the Japanese are passionate about food; indeed it is a bigger topic of conversation in Japan than the weather is in Britain. Japanese food is a huge subject and as I'm only offering a few tips for travellers here I can only scratch the surface. I should perhaps mention that my Japanese friends have persuaded me to try just about every weird and wonderful culinary concoction imaginable and I've never suffered any ill effects. Often the things I could barely bring myself to put in...

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

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

The Movies

Advantages: different game
Disadvantages: gets rather repetitive

...The Movies by Lionhead Studios, looks promising from the outside, from the nice design and the eye-catching screenshots on the back, as well as the description, which makes this game sound fantastic. Unfortunately, this isnt the full story, and making your "Own Movie" does seem to be a " box office flop" When you launch 'The Movies' for the first time, you have the choice to go from early on to 2000, onwards. The timescale is rather slow, which gives a sense of boredum, as it leads to you being easily bored. As the game focusses time ( year) on the quality, and actions available in your movies, the limited features in say the 1930's are poor, and really make the game dull. So, maybe I am being too harsh, on The Movies? I am not! MOVIE MAKING: So, I will agree here, the sound of making your own movies sounds exciting...

RyanC92 07.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Movies (PC)

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

Garfield: The Movie

Advantages: Great for pet owners and lovers of the original comic strip
Disadvantages: Kids will love it more

...Garfiled - The large orange cat! Garfield began life as a comic strip by Jim Davis which poked fun at pet owners and their relationships with their cats. On 19th June (Garfield's birthday) 2008 the comic strip will have been running for 30 years. Garfield lives with his downtrodden owner, Jon Arbuckle and the dreaded dog Odie. In 2004 Twentieth Century Fox brought out Garfield: The Movie. The film includes real actors and a computer generated version of Garfield the cat so this is not a cartoon. Garfield is voiced by the brilliant comedic actor Bill Murray who's dry sense of humour and deep voice brings a very real feel to the character of Garfield that we have all grown up with and love. The basic story of the movie is this: Garfield is enjoying his very comfy lifestyle of eating lasagne, lounging around the house, making...

Spottydog11 15.04.2008 · Read review
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Review of Garfield - The Movie (DVD)

The Simpsons movie

Advantages: great family fun and hilarious scenes
Disadvantages: none

...Director: David Silverman Producers: James L. Brook, Matt Groening, Mike Scully, Al Jean and Richard Sakai. Writers: Matt Groening, James L Brooks, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Al Jean, George Meyer, David Mirkin, Mike Scully, Matt Selman, John Swartwwelder and Jon Vitti. Voices: Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Harry Shearer, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Albert Brooks and Tress Macneille. This long awaited movie was finally released in 2007, being the first attempt at a feature length cartoon of the Simpson family. **BRIEF PLOT** When grandpa, Abraham J. Simpson, (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) predicts the end of Springfield only the blue haired Marge, (voiced by Julie Kavner) takes him seriously. In the meantime teachers pet Lisa, (voiced by Yeardley Smith) has a crush on an Irish boy named Colin and they are busy...

blissman70 31.05.2008 · Read review
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Review of The Simpsons Movie (DVD)

Bee Movie

Advantages: Very cute, pretty world, funny jokes, appeals to all ages
Disadvantages: Non sensical

...As a fan of animated animal movies such as Happy Feet and Finding Nemo, I was pleased to see adverts for Bee Movie - it just looked so cute, of course I had to give it a try! In case you couldn't guess from the title, Bee Movie is based around, well, bees. More specifically, it is about a young bee called Barry who just can't decide what he wants to do with his life. It is traditional for all of the bees to only work in one job for their entire life, and he just can't choose which area is right for him. He decides to give pollen collecting a go, however whilst out collecting pollen he gets trapped in the rain and ends up inside a human house where everybody tries to kill him - with the exception of a woman called Vanessa who saves his life. And, somewhat oddly, he ends up falling in love with her. He begins to visit her frequently...

hi_nicola 27.12.2007 · Read review
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Review of Bee Movie (DVD)