going to japan... anyone have advice/hookups?

The Phat Conductor · Post by **The Phat Conductor** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:22 pm

i'll be in japan october 2-17 or so and would love nothing more than to play a show or two.

if any of you ave any conenctions you could sort me out with, or any fun recommendations for stuff to check out or ways to save money it would be amazing.

much love

d

cosmosuave · Post by **cosmosuave** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:48 pm

Don't eat the rice....

kabuki · Post by **kabuki** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:53 pm

Where in Japan are you going? If you have time, definitely sheck out the shrines. Try to make it near Fuji. It is losing its snow-cap. Any and every district has something amazing to offer.

With more info, I can make better recommendations.

Peace.

The Phat Conductor · Post by **The Phat Conductor** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:19 pm

i'll be in tokyo most of the time. not sure where we're staying exactly at this point, and we might even go to beijing, but yea, tokyo is home base for now.

snakes and ladders · Post by **snakes and ladders** » Mon Jul 30, 2007 11:09 pm

I just got back - my first time there.

The No.1 suggestion I can make is plan BEFORE you go - which is what your doing now I suppose.

Check out the indoor skiing center. Didn't get there myself but supposed to be amazing.
Check out the indoor wave pool - you know those ones where you surf a stationary wave. Didn't get there myself but supposed to be amazing.

Go to an ensen (sic)- which is a Japanses Bath house. The water is so fucking hot you could cook pasta in it but it is an experience.

As noted before check out the shrines - they're very peaceful and extremely beautiful.

Dont bother with the bulliet train - its really over the top expensive and its just a fast train - who gives a shit.

Check out Electronics Town in Tokyo.

The food can take getting used to especially if you like fruit and vegetables. There aren't any - unless you want to pay $15 for a single banana.

PM me if you want anymore info - the place is incredible but you really have to know where your going before hand as even the Japanese dont know whats around the corner from where they live, , moshi moshi

The Phat Conductor · Post by **The Phat Conductor** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:07 am

yea, i'm more or less vegan so i'm kind of scared about the food.

it's mostly gigs i'm hunting for right now tho

Dominik · Post by **Dominik** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:20 am

post it on the japan ableton site?
edit.. i thought there is one but i can not find it...

icedsushi · Post by **icedsushi** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:29 am

You should be fine, they don't eat much dairy at least. Avoiding fish will be the hard part, if you can make an exception for small amounts of fish, your trip will be a lot easier. For example, noodles are good vegan food, but I think the dipping sauce for soba is fish based. And a main ingredient to used to flavor a lot of dishes is katsuo (dried fish flake).

I am a pescetarian (vegetarian who eats fish). So I felt like I was in a food paradise.

I was went to Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto last month. There are a few vegetarian/vegan restaurants there but they are sparse so you really have to seek them out. Kyoto has the most of them I would say. Lots of tofu restaurants and yuba (tofu skin) is kind of a specialty for Kyoto.

If you try to tell the server you don't eat meat, usually they will go out of their way to prepare something special version of a dish for you.

If it's possible to order a vegetarian (?) okonomiyaki with yakisoba in it, get it! It's the best in Osaka.

Try to stay in a ryokan a least one night. They are usually for 2 people so hopefully you have a friend to stay with. It's a lot harder to find a room in a ryokan for 1 person but some places do have them.

I thought that Tsukiji fish market in Tokyo was cool. Gotta get up early to see the action.

and don't forget

Love hotels!!!

simpleton · Post by **simpleton** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 4:51 am

Wear a surgical mask.

Pitch Black · Post by **Pitch Black** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 5:06 am

Go and see the mad styles the schoolkids bust out at Harajuku in Tokyo on Sundays (little-bo-peep Goths in pink lace aprons and Doc Martens etc)

Akihabera (Electric Town) is an amazing maze of neon-lit electrical consumer goods and elcetrical/hi-tech components.

Send Muthafunka a PM, he's a top geeza who'll definitely be able to give you some advice!

subbasshead · Post by **subbasshead** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 5:07 am

i'm going to be in tokyo sept/october & been doing a bit of research.....
some places i'll be checking out:

music
http://www.super-deluxe.com/
http://www.japanimprov.com/schedule/cgi ... =September
http://www.towerrecords.co.jp/
http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/10/16 ... ord+Stores
http://www.bento.com/rekodoya.html

art
http://www.ntticc.or.jp
http://www.mori.art.museum/eng/index.html
http://www.dnp.co.jp/gallery/ggg/index_e.html
http://tokyoartbeat.com/

tech
http://matrixsynth.blogspot.com/2006/10 ... tokyo.html
http://www.communitywalk.com/location/t ... ing/622835

architecture
http://www.smt.city.sendai.jp/en/smt/
http://www.bigempire.com/sake/underground_tokyo.html
http://www.g-cans.jp/intro/07photo/index.html

temples
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2166.html

tsukiji fish market
http://www.tsukiji-market.or.jp/youkoso/welcom_e.htm

online guides etc....
http://www.hellodamage.com/tdr/travelguide.htm
http://www.realtokyo.co.jp/english/

recomend this for your ipod: uses notes-> language
http://www.talkingpanda.com/

itook4lefts · Post by **itook4lefts** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 10:39 am

depends how long you're going to be there (ie, whether you have time to head out of the city). one of the best things you can do is spend a day walking shibuya/harajuku/shinjuku and soaking it up. best on sunday. put your walking shoes on, get a map and walk from shibuya to harajuku, check out yoyogi park for the girls dressed up and shit. in shinjuku you can get a free view of tokyo from the observation deck of the metropolitan government building in nishi-shinjuku. it doesn't look like you're meant to go in, but you can.

if you're looking for music gear, maybe check out echigoya in shibuya. they sell a lot of used/vintage stuff. it's on the 9th floor of the building diagonally opposite tower records. actually, that's good tip right there - most of the best stuff in tokyo is off street level - when you're walking about, look up. all the good bars/restaurants/etc are on the 3rd,4th,5th floors.

+1 for checking out tsukiji fish market, though i don't think they open the tuna auction to the public anymore (tourists can't keep their hands to themselves). there's still shitloads to see. i appreciate you don't eat fish, but it's still an experience i imagine. you need to get there early, so pull an all nighter at a bar in the golden gai in shinjuku. you might get a funny look in some off the places, most are fucking sweet. it's all part of the rich tapestry. actually, if you only do one thing in tokyo, make it hitting the sauce in the golden gai.

fuck going out in roppongi. unless you want to get boozed up with the US navy boys, and meet the kind of girls who are out to fuck US navy boys.

if you get chance to head out of the city, kamakura is cool - it's in all the guide books. it's about an hour or so from tokyo. get off the train at kita kamakura so you can check out the temple outside the station - engakuji. one of the best. from there you can do the walk over the hill to zeniarai benten, which is excellent. and check out the big buddha. [/url]

Pitch Black · Post by **Pitch Black** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 12:17 pm

Oh yes, you'll find out why those fans are a Japanese icon. Tokyo is HUMID!!! in summer.

SPAWNmaster · Post by **SPAWNmaster** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:17 pm

check out Shibuya at night, the party there is great. Make sure to go to Womb and get to know some of the residents, they're very friendly. Also if you end up going to Kyoto or somewhere outside of Tokyo be sure to hit up some temples and do the tourist thing its worth it, id say. Other than that you're gonna have a blast! (bring a shitload of money because you'll be broke in no time, and have cash handy off the airplane as it's hard to find ATM's imho).

icedsushi · Post by **icedsushi** » Tue Jul 31, 2007 2:28 pm

itook4lefts wrote: fuck going out in roppongi. unless you want to get boozed up with the US navy boys, and meet the kind of girls who are out to fuck US navy boys.

Yes for sure! Skip that one! There are puh---lenty of other better things to see. 30 mins was enough for me to figure out what that was all about and move on. Cheesy girls grabbing you by the arm saying, "want a massage"? When you say no, they will follow you. And big bruiser chumps trying to drag you off the street into their bar. You know something's not right when they're doing that. I'm sure it could be easy to get in trouble there. That sleeze/cheeze action is confined to the one main street which is mostly a money pit tourist trap area.