05-07-2017, 11:00 AM | #1 |
ROASTY ROASTY
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: THE WORLD OF HOT POT
Posts: 2,791
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UPN AMA: Masked Madman's Shenanigans in Japan!
Hey guys, if you've had a chat with me before, you'll know that I'm crashing in Japan for a year of exchange studies. Naturally, you'd also know that I'm mildly a nut for Japanese culture as well so that basically makes me like this internally:
I'm at the one month mark of my year stay and also just had my birthday 'ere in Japan so that's all cool and dandy. I've been asked to answer any questions you might have for this crazy masked man, so if there's something that you'd like to know, shoot those questions over and I'll see if I can answer them for you. See ya! I'm dead from today's hike. |
05-07-2017, 11:24 AM | #2 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
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1. What's the #1 thing Japan does better than home?
2. What's the #1 thing you miss about home that Japan can't match? 3. What's the craziest thing you've witnessed since arriving in Japan? 4. What has been the biggest surprise for you so far? 5. In your experience, how friendly have the locals been to you? (And how do they compare with locals at home?) 6. What do you do in your spare time? 7. What can you tell us about the prefecture you're staying in? 8. What one word, phrase, or expression have you encountered is used by everyone everywhere but it didn't come up in your studies much or even at all before arriving in Japan?
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05-07-2017, 11:25 AM | #3 |
Soul Badge
Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: in heaven
Posts: 1,116
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oooh
I LOVE Japan I have a million questions -What do you eat on a daily basis? -Have you been to an Onsen?(If i'm remembering the name for hotsprings right) -How do they treat foriegners? -Did being there help you learn Japanese? Seriously I have so many more questons.
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FIZZY BUBBLES INFO IS NOW ON UPN HERE Thanks to my best friend Missingno Master for the banner óÓŇň furry, witch, and pansexual. Little (little age of 2-4) Hater of loss meme Little (space): someone who goes to a younger sense of mind to deal with stress and anxiety. crazy in love with my boyfriend AcendedDailga |
05-07-2017, 12:00 PM | #4 |
Shake it!
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 522
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Oh, this is so fun! I'm actually studying Japanese and right now my goal is to move there and teach English for a year after I get my degree. I might stay longer than a year if I like it enough. I have also played around with the idea of going to University there as well. So here are some questions!
- Now that you've experienced it, do you think you'd want to live there long term? - Have you had any awkward moments because of cultural differences? - Was there anything that was a major culture shock to you? - Has it been hard to make friends? - Do you have to be fluent in the language in order to survive going to school there? - Is there anything that you find difficult about living in Japan? |
05-07-2017, 04:01 PM | #5 |
Ducks gonna duck
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 2,824
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Why didn't you call this thread "Japanigans"?
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05-07-2017, 06:44 PM | #6 |
Chiko Chiko Chi
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: To the world, to the world, to the world, to the world where you live
Posts: 1,834
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Bit of an odd question, however, are there any radio stations in Japan that play non-Japanese music?
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05-08-2017, 02:34 AM | #7 | ||||
ROASTY ROASTY
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: THE WORLD OF HOT POT
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Quote:
2. Home cooking. My cooking is nowhere as good as my mum's cooking. Also sriracha *which is damn good chilli sauce for those who don't know*. THEY DON'T SELL IT HERE IT MAKES ME SAD. 3. Seemingly frail old men hiking up Nishizawa Gorge really damn fast. That or my group was just silly levels of slow. I guess a lifetime of hiking gets you stronk even in the elderly stages of life. 4. The roads are so damn small, I really wouldn't be able to drive here without running off the road and into fields / fences / buildings etc. 5. Any small shops that I frequent usually have the shopkeeper(s) remembering me. Hence the freebies. I wish Australia did that for me lol. No, I'm kidding. On the surface, they happily greet you and give you directions if you're lost, but if your Japanese isn't too excellent, you'll have a hard time if you're not in the big metropolitan cities like Kyoto and Tokyo. You can tell that the locals really do try to help you if you ask them but usually there's this incredible air of shyness about them. Australia's pretty multicultural as is so you usually don't have to go to far out of your way to find someone who does understand you. Basically, they've treated me pretty well. Haven't been hit by the homesick truck yet, and it's a very different atmosphere compared to Sydney. 6. Shrine and temple hopping. There's this thing where you can just collect all the prints from each temple and each one is unique. About 300-500 yen per print though. 7. I'm staying in Kofu, which is in the Yamanashi prefecture (?). Biggest point of interest is this was where Takeda Shingen was based. There's like five shrines which have strong connections to his history, including where the Takeda clan used to live, homes of his ruling relatives, etc. Two dishes that I've taken a liking to are houtou, which is sort of like hot pot but with really thick noodles, and torimotsuni, which is uh... chicken gizzards stewed in miso. It's still pretty unsettling how they casually have a chicken with a hole in it as one of their mascots. Also grapes are very popular whenever in season here. 8. I honestly got no clue. Probably Okinawan Japanese but that was from an izakaya. Quote:
1. Instant yakisoba and convenience store food. It's literally death but you just can't stop eating. (Also ice cream that I like to call Zebra Bars - they're actually called Bari Bari Ice or something - because the chocolate is swirled into the vanilla ice cream like a zebra's stripes. 2. I've been to a bathhouse with an outdoor bath, but not an actual hot spring, no. Plans have been made to go once in every season. 3. See Talon's Question 5. 4. Definitely. Hopefully I'm at least competently fluent by the time I get back home. Quote:
There's a fellow from Morocco in one of my international classes and he and I (or me and him?) have massive disagreements. Which leads to our Japanese group mates being incredibly nervous since aforementioned shyness. Other than that, the Japanese folk sadly don't get my puns more than half the time so a sad mask I am indeed. See Talon's question 4. To be honest, it's probably not culture shock and more just shock. Japan is reasonably Westernised at this point in time. It helps to have someone introduce you to their small circle of friends first, then it starts to snowball really fast. There's a club where international students help Japanese students speak foreign languages and that's been a massive help in making friends. You don't have to be fluent. Most universities have beginners classes that accommodate for those who aren't at a level to read and write kanji well. I'm one of those people. Trying to not spend money on ALL THE MERCHANDISE. *glances nervously at Love Live / Pokemon / Fate etc* Quote:
Keep those questions coming, folks! |
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05-08-2017, 02:53 AM | #8 |
Chiko Chiko Chi
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: To the world, to the world, to the world, to the world where you live
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What's the traffic like compared to places such as Sydney and Melbourne? I assume it's much less hectic when it comes to volume, however, what rules are the same and what rules are different from what you've seen?
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05-08-2017, 06:25 AM | #9 |
Dragon's Tears
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Searching for light
Posts: 6,469
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So how did you spend your Birthday in Japan?
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05-08-2017, 06:26 AM | #10 | |
ROASTY ROASTY
Join Date: Feb 2014
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Quote:
Also the cars are generally A LOT SMALLER. They have a micro category for cars which in all honesty could probably fit in my room if I removed my bed. Provided I could get it in there in the first place. Notably slower in comparison, the highest speeds I've seen here are 70km/h. Also locals really love to give way. Rrrrrrreeeeeaaaally love giving way. Try doing that in Australia and you're honked to hell and back lol. Traffic crossings are one of those ones where you can cross if your line of traffic has the green light. So it's quite possible to not need to press the crossing button at all before using a street crossing. |
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05-08-2017, 06:30 AM | #11 |
ROASTY ROASTY
Join Date: Feb 2014
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I spent the night before my birthday at an izakaya all-you-can-drink. Didn't actually get drunk at least. I really like cassis orange cocktails. Also a good beer. And nihonshu. (Help)
I spent my actual birthday hiking the Nishizawa Gorge, which was quite gorgeous. Hell of a hike but not brutal. Very nice sights. Will upload gallery when I can. It was basically a steep thin trail with massive drops on the way up but after that it was a wide old railroad track on the way down, with a small shrine for the mountain god along the way. |
05-08-2017, 05:55 PM | #12 |
Done With Your Shit
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Ngl this AMA thing is an awesome idea and more people should do it lol
1. Favorite Food you've had there? 2. Coolest thing you've seen that you'd never see anywhere else? 3. How the hell did you go hiking after getting sloshed on your birthday?
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05-08-2017, 09:23 PM | #13 | |
ROASTY ROASTY
Join Date: Feb 2014
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Quote:
2. Giant Gundam. 'Nuff said. 3.Very carefully. And by that I mean slipping on rocks numerous times and almost falling down cliffs a few times. |
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05-09-2017, 05:33 AM | #14 |
Naga's Voice
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: somewhere gay idk
Posts: 3,280
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WARNING: self serving and pointed question inbound!
if i were to, for whatever reason, go to school in Japan for, say, a year, being trans female, would it be advisable for me to present that way, or would I be asking for trouble? I understand this is proooobably super hard to answer, but hey, first...and only...thing that came to mind.
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05-09-2017, 07:23 AM | #15 | |
ROASTY ROASTY
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Quote:
Again, I am probably the worst person to ask for this since I don't understand the predicament you have on a personal basis, nor am I experienced enough to actually give you a competent answer. |
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05-09-2017, 06:31 PM | #16 |
The Path of Now & Forever
Join Date: Mar 2007
Posts: 5,304
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What do you think was the biggest difference between real world Japan and the Japan depicted in the media (i.e. anime or manga)?
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06-20-2017, 12:40 AM | #17 |
時の彼方へ
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Lafayette, Indiana
Posts: 20,578
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Thank you for your answers! A couple more questions since last time:
9. Have you opened a bank account in Japan? If so, with whom? Describe the process. 10. Do you have a hanko (personal stamp)? If so, describe it for us.
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06-21-2017, 04:51 AM | #18 | ||
ROASTY ROASTY
Join Date: Feb 2014
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Quote:
Before I could do the banking stuff, I would naturally need a hanko. My one is a small one which just reads フー since my name is way too long to put on a hanko without the cost becoming stupidly high. I also have a stamp case from Daiso which I keep it in because convenient. Quote:
I would probably have to say that anime and manga generally aim to emphasise the modern urban landscape, such as the myriad stores lining Shinjuku, the ordered chaos of Shibuya's pedestrian crossings etc., or focus on the natural scenery Japan is absolutely loaded with. It wouldn't be wrong to say thay anime and manga reflecting Japan would be more of a caricature of its culture and lifestyle. Once you get out of the big city, you come to realise the suburbia around Japan is much like places such as Sydney's outskirts. It's certainly not the sticks but it's not an urban jungle either. |
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06-21-2017, 06:34 AM | #19 |
Chiko Chiko Chi
Join Date: Sep 2013
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How did travel lag affect you, if at all? I'm figuring it might be kinda odd to travel 12+ hours to a country which is 1 hour behind Syd-Melbourne
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06-21-2017, 09:54 AM | #20 |
ROASTY ROASTY
Join Date: Feb 2014
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The most lag I had to deal with was not being able to sleep on the plane because BIG GUY SMOL SPACE. Also I was dead as heck but didn't have time to be dead as heck because I had a test and numerous sheets of paperwork to do on my day of arrival.
My nocturnal sleeping habits also help with readjusting to Japan time so I didn't just die outright from lack of sleep. |
06-21-2017, 10:27 PM | #21 |
seems theres a case aclaw
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Virginia, USA
Posts: 1,276
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i've got the most important question out of everyone here for you kamen
see any cute girls |
06-21-2017, 10:37 PM | #22 |
Dragon's Tears
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Searching for light
Posts: 6,469
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^ Crys asking the real questions. ;O *shot*
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06-22-2017, 04:20 AM | #24 |
Chiko Chiko Chi
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Well then, Kamen, go use the Aussie charms. ;o
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07-02-2017, 01:00 PM | #25 |
seems theres a case aclaw
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Virginia, USA
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Saw this on imgur and not too sure where to post this, be it on the discord or here. Was figuring here because kamen is in Japan atm, and might know something about it.
Anyone know the whole big story behind it? I'm curious about the whole thing. Also clearly kamen should go do it and become a warrior |
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