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things you cannot get used to
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OneJoelFifty



Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 463

PostPosted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 1:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Something I can't get used to are the right-wing/Yakuza vans with the loudspeakers, preaching support for the emperor and saying bad things about foreigners.
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TWG



Joined: 25 Oct 2007
Posts: 39

PostPosted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 3:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

OneJoelFifty wrote:
Something I can't get used to are the right-wing/Yakuza vans with the loudspeakers, preaching support for the emperor and saying bad things about foreigners.


I took a few photos of them. Chinless wankers, like all of their ilk.
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OneJoelFifty



Joined: 06 Oct 2009
Posts: 463

PostPosted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 7:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

TWG wrote:
OneJoelFifty wrote:
Something I can't get used to are the right-wing/Yakuza vans with the loudspeakers, preaching support for the emperor and saying bad things about foreigners.


I took a few photos of them. Chinless wankers, like all of their ilk.


I did the same, outside Shinjuku station the other day.
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steki47



Joined: 20 Apr 2008
Posts: 1029
Location: BFE Inaka

PostPosted: Wed Oct 10, 2012 8:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

OneJoelFifty wrote:
Something I can't get used to are the right-wing/Yakuza vans with the loudspeakers, preaching support for the emperor and saying bad things about foreigners.


Many Japanese seem embarrassed by them as well. Or simply ignore them.

Given the overall xenophobia and discrimination we have discussed, I see the nationalists here as gilding the lily.
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jmatt



Joined: 29 Apr 2012
Posts: 122

PostPosted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 5:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

timothypfox wrote:
steki47 wrote:
timothypfox wrote:
Let me hijack these posts and get us away from fighting and back on topic. Very Happy

Now things I can get used to living Japan?

I can't get used to the size of homes. People tell me I have a large apartment, but all the rooms including the hallway and the height of doors are about half the dimensions I was used to in Canada (though disturbingly - fairly comparable to the current size of most apartments - all of which are unaffordable - in NYC).


After living in NYC, I was surprised by how (relatively) cheap rent is. The rooms are a bit smaller, but I had some small apartments in SF and NYC.

When I lived in the Mie. my apt was huge!


If you live in a desirable location in NYC, for example Astoria in Queens near the subway, a compact 1 bedroom apartment has the going rent of about 1,400 to 1,600 a month without roommates or anything like that. Not affordable. That's more than a similar sized apartment in Osaka.

I have no idea about San Francisco.


I'd say that it's far more difficult to find an affordable apartment for one person in a remotely desirable area in NYC or SF than in Tokyo---as long as you don't take square footage into account. My wife and I used to live in a place halfway between Koenji and Asagaya in Suginami, Tokyo----about a 5 minute or so walk to either station, in one of the most desirable areas of the city. It wasn't huge, but it had two rooms---one about 8 mat and another roughly 14 mat---though that room had a (for Tokyo) high cathedral ceiling with a skylight. Unfortunately a unit bath. We paid 100,000Y for it, and I have friends still living in that area who pay between 70-80,000Y for their own small two-room places. And before that, I paid 70,000Y for a one room shoebox in a new bldg in Kichijoji---but it was across from Inokashira Park and seconds from countless places to eat and drink. Try finding a non-shared space for one person in an equivalent area of NYC for even half that price. And even if you do, it'll be a rancid shithole. And for not much more space.
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teacheratlarge



Joined: 17 Nov 2011
Posts: 192
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 6:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's true, apartments in Manhattan especially can be very pricy. My brother used to have a place near Central Park back in the late 90s and he was paying 1500 US dollars a month for a one bedroom with a largish living room. No idea what that same flat goes for now, but I'm sure it would not be very cheap as prices and rents in Manhattan have increased over time substantially.
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cairanya



Joined: 02 Jun 2012
Posts: 62

PostPosted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 3:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

teacheratlarge wrote:
It's true, apartments in Manhattan especially can be very pricy. My brother used to have a place near Central Park back in the late 90s and he was paying 1500 US dollars a month for a one bedroom with a largish living room. No idea what that same flat goes for now, but I'm sure it would not be very cheap as prices and rents in Manhattan have increased over time substantially.


My one bedroom on Columbus Circle is $2000.

I do not understand Manhattan real estate at all.
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Almond_Lover



Joined: 11 Oct 2012
Posts: 35

PostPosted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 3:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

cairanya wrote:
teacheratlarge wrote:
It's true, apartments in Manhattan especially can be very pricy. My brother used to have a place near Central Park back in the late 90s and he was paying 1500 US dollars a month for a one bedroom with a largish living room. No idea what that same flat goes for now, but I'm sure it would not be very cheap as prices and rents in Manhattan have increased over time substantially.


My one bedroom on Columbus Circle is $2000.

I do not understand Manhattan real estate at all.


Greed?
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rxk22



Joined: 19 May 2010
Posts: 1629

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 12:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Almond_Lover wrote:
cairanya wrote:
teacheratlarge wrote:
It's true, apartments in Manhattan especially can be very pricy. My brother used to have a place near Central Park back in the late 90s and he was paying 1500 US dollars a month for a one bedroom with a largish living room. No idea what that same flat goes for now, but I'm sure it would not be very cheap as prices and rents in Manhattan have increased over time substantially.


My one bedroom on Columbus Circle is $2000.

I do not understand Manhattan real estate at all.


Greed?


NYC and London are places that are investments. Or people from various countries view them as such. When the GFC started in 2008, a lot of people took money out of the market and put it into NYC and London real estate. Which is why the property costs are so high there.
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TWG



Joined: 25 Oct 2007
Posts: 39

PostPosted: Tue Oct 16, 2012 1:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

steki47 wrote:
OneJoelFifty wrote:
Something I can't get used to are the right-wing/Yakuza vans with the loudspeakers, preaching support for the emperor and saying bad things about foreigners.


Many Japanese seem embarrassed by them as well. Or simply ignore them.


The elderly Japanese gentleman I was chatting with when one of the caravans blasted by pointed out to me that he remembered the last time these types of jackasses were in charge of Japan and that it sucked for everyone who wasn't them.

"No thanks" were his exact words at the end.
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Vince



Joined: 05 May 2003
Posts: 559
Location: U.S.

PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 12:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I couldn't get used to the stress around gift-giving. I avoided it as much as possible. Particularly chilling was when my wife would rattle off all kinds of considerations that should go into the gift - half of which wouldn't have occurred to me - but herself be at a loss until the last shiyo ga nai moment.
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ZennoSaji



Joined: 02 Feb 2010
Posts: 87
Location: Mito, Ibaraki

PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 3:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Vince wrote:
I couldn't get used to the stress around gift-giving. I avoided it as much as possible. Particularly chilling was when my wife would rattle off all kinds of considerations that should go into the gift - half of which wouldn't have occurred to me - but herself be at a loss until the last shiyo ga nai moment.

Ugh I've had that mentioned in two of my Japanese classes thus far and I'm dreading it so much. I barely give gifts as it is; forget giving some worthless trinket that's valued at half of what I've been given just because it's what's done.
I'll never appreciate Thank You card culture more than I will while in Japan.
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ssjup81



Joined: 15 Jun 2009
Posts: 664
Location: Adachi-ku, Tokyo, Japan

PostPosted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 3:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Vince wrote:
I couldn't get used to the stress around gift-giving. I avoided it as much as possible. Particularly chilling was when my wife would rattle off all kinds of considerations that should go into the gift - half of which wouldn't have occurred to me - but herself be at a loss until the last shiyo ga nai moment.
Mind giving an example of what your wife was referring to?

Other than omiyage and for the Japanese wedding I went to, I've never given presents at all.
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ZennoSaji



Joined: 02 Feb 2010
Posts: 87
Location: Mito, Ibaraki

PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 6:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ssjup81 wrote:
Vince wrote:
I couldn't get used to the stress around gift-giving. I avoided it as much as possible. Particularly chilling was when my wife would rattle off all kinds of considerations that should go into the gift - half of which wouldn't have occurred to me - but herself be at a loss until the last shiyo ga nai moment.
Mind giving an example of what your wife was referring to?

I imagine something relating to how you're supposed to give a return/Thank you gift valued at half the value of the gift you were given. Lots of keeping track of who gave what and how important they are to the family, how disrespectful it would be to give this sort of gift, etc.
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teacheratlarge



Joined: 17 Nov 2011
Posts: 192
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 7:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ssjup81 wrote:
Vince wrote:
I couldn't get used to the stress around gift-giving. I avoided it as much as possible. Particularly chilling was when my wife would rattle off all kinds of considerations that should go into the gift - half of which wouldn't have occurred to me - but herself be at a loss until the last shiyo ga nai moment.
Mind giving an example of what your wife was referring to?

Other than omiyage and for the Japanese wedding I went to, I've never given presents at all.


Seasonal gifts, gifts for favors rendered, gifts for gifts given to you by coworkers/neighbors/friends, gifts for funerals, graduations, birthdays, etc...

Luckily, my wife takes care of most of the gift exchanging, but it is a headache as gift giving is often not very optional (or not perceived as being optional) in many cases. And yet, those same 'welcome gifts' often go unused in the back of a closet.
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