The Energon Pub

Stormrider wrote:Okay, back to questions. What do you want to know about Japan?

1. Wacky festivals?
2. Overcoming initial fears of being naked in a bath full of strangers?
3. Why are the dentist butchering their teeth?
4. What's the difference between the logical way and the Japanese way?

Something else?

Down_Shift wrote:Anyways, Stormrider, I wouldn't mind knowing the answers to the four questions you proposed. My ex use to eat Thousand Year Old candy. She works beside the asian markets in Toronto so she eats there alot. Good stuff if I recall.

Well, since we have certain images on the brain right now, how about talking about onsens? Has anyone ever had the urge to take a bath with 50 strangers?

The concept seems pretty foreign to us. But in Japan, it's like going on a Sunday outing.


So how did the whole concept get started?
Long, long time ago every village had its own onsen. Having a bath in your own house was unheard of. Instead, the locals would bath together every day. But the onsens were more than just a bath house, it was also the place to exchange information, gossip, and news.

Onsens are pools of water, which are heated from the earth. The onsens nowadays are very sophisicated and have waterfalls, stone pools, water jets, and even tubs made out of cedar. A typical onsen will have 5-20 pools of different temperatures and water types. Some places, like Spaland have over 50 different pools. Onsens are especially nice during the winters when your freezing in an apartment with no insulation.... Most onsens are split by gender, however, I have heard of some coed onsens.

One thing to remember about Japan- there is a procedure for everything! There are several steps to perform before getting into an onsen. If you don't follow the procedures carefully, you may get kicked out the spa. Trying to remember the steps during your first time, can be a little tricky especially when you standing around naked and the only thing you want to do is get into the baths.

The steps-
1. Enter the spa and take off your shoes and put them in a shoe locker.

2. See the receptionist. They will take your shoe locker key and exchange it for another key, which you will use to store your clothes.

3. Make sure to bring two towels with you- A large towel to dry yourself off. And a hand towel (often referred to as a modesty towel), to cover your... ...when your standing outside the pools. *Remember - the towels are not permitted in the pools, but you can put them to the side of the pool or on your head (like the Japanese do).

4. Go to the locker rooms and get undressed. Guys- you will often see old ladies walking around the men's locker rooms. No, their not lost. They're the cleaning ladies. Why are they cleaning while all the men are disrobed? It's Japan... They don't seem to notice the men, and the men don't notice them. However, I have seen a few cases of Japanese men and cleaning ladies standing toe to toe having a lengthy conversation together. To them it doesn't seem peculiar that one party member has no clothes on while talking to a member of the opposite sex.

5. Okay, next the cleaning process. In Japan, you wash yourself before you get into a bathtub. If you forget this step, they'll will throw you out and then drain and then refill the entire pool. Each onsen has a sit-down washing area. Simple rule - be thorough and use the three soaps they provide.

6. Now your ready to jump into the onsens. It seems like a lot of work but its well worth it. The Japanese sometimes make an entire day out an onsen, which will include lunch and dinner, along with 2 bathing sessions, and a massage session. When you come out of an onsen you'll feel as good as new.

Azura wrote:

Sun Runner wrote:

Unchrasimatic wrote:

Azura wrote:

Unchrasimatic wrote:Glad everythings ok Stormrider.

Azura wrote:Have you been to a Penis Festival?

A what?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hounen_Matsuri

What I really like are the souvenirs. More ding dong shaped nick nacks than you can poke a stick at!

Then you should go to Crete, a lot of shops in the tourist areas had phalic statues and the like when I went there, I just wish my grandmother hadn't been there too.

You guys do realize that the reason for these things is to support heritage, Phallic symbols were semi sexual in antiquity they were mainly a symbol of fertility and prosperity heck in rome it was common to have a household god who was named Priapus, and he was pictured actually weighing his extremely large genitalia against food or gold to show the owners prosperity, more than sex thats what these penis statues and festivals are for mainly.

Err yes... well duh. It's just funny coz they're dongers

Exactly. LIke the new avatar Azura, Osaka is probably my favourite anime character ever.

Stormrider wrote:

Down_Shift wrote:Anyways, Stormrider, I wouldn't mind knowing the answers to the four questions you proposed. My ex use to eat Thousand Year Old candy. She works beside the asian markets in Toronto so she eats there alot. Good stuff if I recall.

Well, since we have certain images on the brain right now, how about talking about onsens? Has anyone ever had the urge to take a bath with 50 strangers?

The concept seems pretty foreign to us. But in Japan, it's like going on a Sunday outing.


So how did the whole concept get started?
Long, long time ago every village had its own onsen. Having a bath in your own house was unheard of. Instead, the locals would bath together every day. But the onsens were more than just a bath house, it was also the place to exchange information, gossip, and news.

Onsens are pools of water, which are heated from the earth. The onsens nowadays are very sophisicated and have waterfalls, stone pools, water jets, and even tubs made out of cedar. A typical onsen will have 5-20 pools of different temperatures and water types. Some places, like Spaland have over 50 different pools. Onsens are especially nice during the winters when your freezing in an apartment with no insulation.... Most onsens are split by gender, however, I have heard of some coed onsens.

One thing to remember about Japan- there is a procedure for everything! There are several steps to perform before getting into an onsen. If you don't follow the procedures carefully, you may get kicked out the spa. Trying to remember the steps during your first time, can be a little tricky especially when you standing around naked and the only thing you want to do is get into the baths.

The steps-
1. Enter the spa and take off your shoes and put them in a shoe locker.

2. See the receptionist. They will take your shoe locker key and exchange it for another key, which you will use to store your clothes.

3. Make sure to bring two towels with you- A large towel to dry yourself off. And a hand towel (often referred to as a modesty towel), to cover your... ...when your standing outside the pools. *Remember - the towels are not permitted in the pools, but you can put them to the side of the pool or on your head (like the Japanese do).

4. Go to the locker rooms and get undressed. Guys- you will often see old ladies walking around the men's locker rooms. No, their not lost. They're the cleaning ladies. Why are they cleaning while all the men are disrobed? It's Japan... They don't seem to notice the men, and the men don't notice them. However, I have seen a few cases of Japanese men and cleaning ladies standing toe to toe having a lengthy conversation together. To them it doesn't seem peculiar that one party member has no clothes on while talking to a member of the opposite sex.

5. Okay, next the cleaning process. In Japan, you wash yourself before you get into a bathtub. If you forget this step, they'll will throw you out and then drain and then refill the entire pool. Each onsen has a sit-down washing area. Simple rule - be thorough and use the three soaps they provide.

6. Now your ready to jump into the onsens. It seems like a lot of work but its well worth it. The Japanese sometimes make an entire day out an onsen, which will include lunch and dinner, along with 2 bathing sessions, and a massage session. When you come out of an onsen you'll feel as good as new.

That sounds very refreshing. Being Canadian I've grown up walking around naked in changing rooms while getting ready for hockey. I suppose that would be the exact opposite of a bath house. We all walk around naked and sweaty drinking beer out of a cooler. Nothing clean about that

Never the less, that seems really interesting. My curiosity is peeking to the point where I am seriously considering a small vacation out east

Yeah, the Japanese are very particular when it comes to cleanliness. They won't let people with large tatoos into the onsens. In Japan, people who have large tatoos are usually associated witht the Yakuza (Japanese mafia).

And back in the 80's many foreigners were not permitted into the onsens because the Japanese feared that foreigners had AIDS and would spread it to Japanese people trough the onsens. They have changed this policy but they still fear that most foreigners carry diseases.

And just how clean and safe the Japanese streets are?

(All those scenes of Japanese neighborhoods in manga and anime really made me feel at home in Japan!)

Screambug wrote:And just how clean and safe the Japanese streets are?

(All those scenes of Japanese neighborhoods in manga and anime really made me feel at home in Japan!)

I think the mangas might over do it. There are certainly some ugly parts of Japan; however, for a country that does not have public waste bins (trash containers),it is very clean.

Usually the cleanliness of a neighborhood will be kept up by the locals. So usually 10 retirees walk around the neighborhood ever day and pick up trash and stay on the look out for litter bugs. Sometimes they will knock on people's doors to collect a small fee to pay for supplies.

They are very strict when it comes to throwing out trash. A households trash must be divided. Nagoya residents have to divide their trash into 7 categories, but other cities might vary.

Well I'm going to stick with my food/drink questions.

How affordable is the food in restaurants and fast food outlets, and what sort of range can you find, is it all Japanese style food, or do they have Western restaurants there (they have good old Mc'D's, but what sort of stuff is sold there, is it all adapted for the Japanese market, or can you get a good old Big Mac?).

And how far does the Dollar go there, just to give us an idea, how much is, I donno, a cup of Coffee? (do they drink much coffee there, or is it mainly green tea or Miso?)

I have to say after reading my post I do sound ignorant, but thats what this thread is for

Stormrider wrote:

Screambug wrote:And just how clean and safe the Japanese streets are?

(All those scenes of Japanese neighborhoods in manga and anime really made me feel at home in Japan!)

I think the mangas might over do it. There are certainly some ugly parts of Japan; however, for a country that does not have public waste bins (trash containers),it is very clean.

Usually the cleanliness of a neighborhood will be kept up by the locals. So usually 10 retirees walk around the neighborhood ever day and pick up trash and stay on the look out for litter bugs. Sometimes they will knock on people's doors to collect a small fee to pay for supplies.

They are very strict when it comes to throwing out trash. A households trash must be divided. Nagoya residents have to divide their trash into 7 categories, but other cities might vary.

7 categories? That seems a bit much, what are the categories?
I only have to separate my trash into three categories (unless you count furniture as the fourth).
I moved to Fukuoka seven months ago and I was really surprised at the general cleanliness.
A lot of jyutaku (apartment complexes) in my area have cleaning policies that require one member from each household to participate in the bi-monthly area cleaning. They clean any litter off the surrounding road, sweep the sidewalks and rake up leaves. It's nice to see people take pride in their neighborhood, and even nicer to see a herd of angry grannies stop littering school boys and make them pick up their cream bun packages after school.

Joking Saint wrote:

Stormrider wrote:

Screambug wrote:And just how clean and safe the Japanese streets are?

(All those scenes of Japanese neighborhoods in manga and anime really made me feel at home in Japan!)

I think the mangas might over do it. There are certainly some ugly parts of Japan; however, for a country that does not have public waste bins (trash containers),it is very clean.

Usually the cleanliness of a neighborhood will be kept up by the locals. So usually 10 retirees walk around the neighborhood ever day and pick up trash and stay on the look out for litter bugs. Sometimes they will knock on people's doors to collect a small fee to pay for supplies.

They are very strict when it comes to throwing out trash. A households trash must be divided. Nagoya residents have to divide their trash into 7 categories, but other cities might vary.

7 categories? That seems a bit much, what are the categories?
I only have to separate my trash into three categories (unless you count furniture as the fourth).
I moved to Fukuoka seven months ago and I was really surprised at the general cleanliness.
A lot of jyutaku (apartment complexes) in my area have cleaning policies that require one member from each household to participate in the bi-monthly area cleaning. They clean any litter off the surrounding road, sweep the sidewalks and rake up leaves. It's nice to see people take pride in their neighborhood, and even nicer to see a herd of angry grannies stop littering school boys and make them pick up their cream bun packages after school.

Hehehe... shu cream no doubt...

Nice to meet another Japanese resident. I think Prof. Smooth lives in Fukuoka too.


For Nagoya the trash categories include:
1.Burnable trash
2.Nonburnable trash
3.Pet bottles (ie - Plastic Coke bottles)
4.Aluminum cans
5.Paper
6.Glass
7.Spray cans

8. If you coint items over 30 cm (14") (Must pay extra)

Stormrider wrote:
Hehehe... shu cream no doubt...

Nice to meet another Japanese resident. I think Prof. Smooth lives in Fukuoka too.


For Nagoya the trash categories include:
1.Burnable trash
2.Nonburnable trash
3.Pet bottles (ie - Plastic Coke bottles)
4.Aluminum cans
5.Paper
6.Glass
7.Spray cans

8. If you coint items over 30 cm (14") (Must pay extra)

Nice to meet you too. Smooth used to live here, but he moved to Kurosaki recently.

Nagoya must have a very advanced recycling system in that case. Do you have to buy special bags for each type of trash too? Fukuoka considers glass, aluminum cans, and other metal products to all be unburnable. Paper is lumped with burnable stuff, and I've never thrown out a spray can so I'm not sure about those.

So I just read that Japan is placing Patriot missiles around the coast to as a first defense against Korean attacks.
Is there an ever present threat amongst the Japanese. And is this something you worry about?

DISCHARGE wrote:So I just read that Japan is placing Patriot missiles around the coast to as a first defense against Korean attacks.
Is there an ever present threat amongst the Japanese. And is this something you worry about?

Yes your correct. We don't hear about it too much in the U.S., but Japan is commonly threatened by N. Korea. As you probably know- Japan cannot have an army or offensive weapons. Therefore the U.S. is stationed in Japan to defend the country.

N. Korea hates Japan with passion. A lot of the anger comes form WWII and also out of jealous. Over the past 25 years, N. Korea has sailed spy boats onto Japanese beaches and has kidnapped numerous people. They bring them back to N. Korea, brainwash them, and then force them to teach Japanese to their spies. Koreans and Japanese people look very similiar. So if a N. Korean can speak Japanese perfectly, then they can infilitrate Japan and spy on the culture.

N. Korea has shot a couple missles over Japan in the past 5 years. And they constantly threaten Japan to give them money, food, medicine, and aid. The two countries are only 600 miles apart. So, I think Japan and the U.S. want to beef up Japan's defense system.

Wow...I had no idea...

Earlier, you mentioned that tanned skin isn't considered beautiful in Japan. Would it be an extreme to say that it is considered ugly? I'm asking because I want to know how I would be treated if I were to visit Japan (which I hope to do someday inshaAllah). I'm half African-American and half Pakistani (I look more Pakistani than black). Also, is there a strong Muslim society in Japan?

ALSO: How did the world end up calling it Japan when it's actually Nihon...or Nipon...I've learned most of my Japanese by ear

Ad how are the Japanese about long hair (on a guy)?

Bah, forgot to check this awesome thread.

Stormrider wrote:Neko and Spoon, where did you both learn your Japanese?

For me it was Anime, Anime and more anime. I also have a book "Japanese for busy people" but with my complete lack of disipline I haven't gotten very far with those lessons.

Also I was kinda wondering, do you draw more attention then say a usual japanese guy simply because you are a 'Ganjin'?

I had known about the kidnappings and brainwashings but I never knew they threatened Japan for food, medicine and other aid. Does the Japanese govt comply with this?
My brother wants to know what is the legal age of consent as he finds Japanese women irresistible.

Spoon wrote:Also I was kinda wondering, do you draw more attention then say a usual japanese guy simply because you are a 'Ganjin'?

When I was at Disneyland last year there was a group of japanese tourists and I heard one girl say something about all the foreigners. I thought it was funny since technically they were the foreigners.

Stormrider wrote:Yes your correct. We don't hear about it too much in the U.S., but Japan is commonly threatened by N. Korea. As you probably know- Japan cannot have an army or offensive weapons. Therefore the U.S. is stationed in Japan to defend the country.
m.

But isn't the JSDF technically an army, though not in name? Or am I missing something?

LinkofHyrule wrote:Earlier, you mentioned that tanned skin isn't considered beautiful in Japan. Would it be an extreme to say that it is considered ugly? I'm asking because I want to know how I would be treated if I were to visit Japan (which I hope to do someday inshaAllah). I'm half African-American and half Pakistani (I look more Pakistani than black). Also, is there a strong Muslim society in Japan?

ALSO: How did the world end up calling it Japan when it's actually Nihon...or Nipon...I've learned most of my Japanese by ear

I've wondered the same thing about Japan's name. There is a miso soup bowl that is called a "japan". This bowl is only used in Japan. I don't know if the two words are connected.

One of the biggest complaints among expatriates is that they constantly get stared at by the Japanese on buses, trains, stations, grocery stores...pretty much everywhere. Because the staring is so frequent and intense at times, some of my friends have compared their lives to zoo animals or circus attractions.

Personally, I don't notice it as much now as when I first arrived. I have light skin; however, I have few friends who have dark skin. Some of them are African-Americans, and Sri Lankens, and Bangledeshis (sp?). All of them have complained that the Japanese glare at them with intensity. My Bangledeshi-American friend ended up leaving Japan because she couldn't take the staring day after day because it made her feel like a freak.

According to my Japanese friends - some of the staring comes from curiosity and social differences. The country was literally cut-off from the rest of the world until 1930's. The first foreign residents didn't appear until mid 1970's. And the Japanese themselves were not allowed to leave the country freely until the mid 1970's (except under business and educational reasons). This adds to the fact that the Japanese really do not know much about the rest of the world. It is only recently that things are changing- for instance more Japanese students are studying abroad, cable TV and the internet are opening up more communication channels, and work permits are becoming more readily available to foreigners.

The other reason for the staring, which is not discussed openly, is that some of the older Japanese are very racist and conservative in their nature. They do not want foreigners in their country. They want to reinstitute their emperor as leader and as god. So some of them would like you to leave their country but they will never confront you on the issue. Instead, they'll just stare.

So to answer your question- all foreigners get stared at, but people with darker skin or people with mixed nationalities feel it more often.

DesalationReborn wrote:Ad how are the Japanese about long hair (on a guy)?

Strangely, long hair doesn't phase them in the least.

Uncrazzimatic wrote:

Stormrider wrote:Yes your correct. We don't hear about it too much in the U.S., but Japan is commonly threatened by N. Korea. As you probably know- Japan cannot have an army or offensive weapons. Therefore the U.S. is stationed in Japan to defend the country.
m.

But isn't the JSDF technically an army, though not in name? Or am I missing something?

After WWII, the Japanese constitution was rewritten so that Japan could never have an army or weapons that could be used in offensive situations. But you are correct, they do have reservists, but their ability to fight is very limited.

Interestingly, Japan has been criticized by other countries because it does not do enough to help police the world. So last year, Japan wanted to send some of their reservists to Iraq. However, their laws hindered the troop's involvement. I think in the end their troops were allowed to go under humanitarian efforts only.

DISCHARGE wrote:I had known about the kidnappings and brainwashings but I never knew they threatened Japan for food, medicine and other aid. Does the Japanese govt comply with this?
My brother wants to know what is the legal age of consent as he finds Japanese women irresistible.

Sometimes the Japanese government has complied to N. Korea's demands. Japan is constantly trying to get their citizens back but N. Korea plays a lot of games.

In a recent situation, N. Korea claimed that one of the captured Japanese citizens had died in N. Korea. Japan demanded proof. N. Korea said "Sorry, we cremated the body". Japan retorted "well, ship the ashes to us then." N. Korea shipped the ashes and Japan ran a DNA test. They found that it was not a match. So, Japan is back to the drawing board of asking where is this particular citizen?

I'm not sure what the legal age of consent is. Tell your brother to stick with the older girls.

Neko wrote:

Spoon wrote:Bah, forgot to check this awesome thread.

Stormrider wrote:
Neko and Spoon, where did you both learn your Japanese?

For me it was Anime, Anime and more anime. I also have a book "Japanese for busy people" but with my complete lack of disipline I haven't gotten very far with those lessons.

Also I was kinda wondering, do you draw more attention then say a usual japanese guy simply because you are a 'Ganjin'?

Also I was kinda wondering, do you draw more attention then say a usual japanese guy simply because you are a 'Ganjin'?

When I was at Disneyland last year there was a group of japanese tourists and I heard one girl say something about all the foreigners. I thought it was funny since technically they were the foreigners.

Neko, what you wrote is so funny, and so typical Japanese.

I've been taking Japanese classes, which has been a great.

One nice thing about being a foreigner in Japan is that you get treated like a Hollywood star by the youth. They scrutinize your actions closely. And they often think whatever you do is amazing.

Japanese cars are tiny compared to Western style cars.

Here's a picture of a new car from Nissan. It's a three-seater, battery opertated, "bubble car".

Oddly, the driver sits in the middle.