Internerd Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 I'm planning on visiting Tokyo in the near future, a couple of weeks of karaoke and drinking sake with the mafia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serum Posted September 4, 2006 Author Share Posted September 4, 2006 hey power bill. yeah chiba seems cool. i'm sure if i lived in your area i'd probably do the same. live like an hour outside the city and just make the troop when i needed to. my friend offered to share his apartment with me and his rent was $1900 for a 1 bedroom LDK in meguro. yokohama seems cool as well in terms of distance but also a bit ghetto by japanese standards. alot of shady fellows in that area the kansai area is anti everything. even japanese people from other prefectures have a hard time adjusting to this area. each city is very cliquish. they call japanese people foreignors when they move from say kyushu to osaka. kyoto has a large western population but they don't really like us here. kyoto being an ancient capital looks down on anyone moving here in order to blend in. for you to be considered a kyotojin you have to be atleast 3-4 generations deep. personally i have a hard time making and keeping friends with the kansai writers. their uptight exclusive behaivor and how they look down on every young writer bugs me. they dog any piece that is better than theirs, and refuse to let anyone else paint at what they consider their spot. but what is interesting is that the writer friends that i do have happen to be from kanagawa, ehime, etc. but live in kansai. so yeah kansai people are just difficult. theres alot of history and rivalry coming from kansai vs kanto. all in all though kansai has that edge that keeps me on my toes which i like. people talk shit and i talk shit back. tokyo writers to me are cool as hell. they are down to earth and want to paint with whoever whenever. there were a few times when i got the cold shoulder but they opened up after awhile. i guess thats just the japanese way. they are very timid and dont want to show it so they act cold, but deep down they are really nice cats. shaolinmasta i've been here for 6 years. 5 years in nara, kyoto, osaka, and one year up north near sendai. yeah for sure. if you guys are interested in flicks ill try and post some. i have a ton of photos from asia and like 2 of japan. i guess if you live in a place you dont want to look like a tourist taking flicks of crap you see everyday. power bill if you have a digi post some chiba flicks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaolinmasta Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 shit 6 years damn... do you miss home at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Schnitzel Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 Post some flicks dude it'd be mad to see I spent two weeks in Japan lasty years and would love to go back and if you stay right and eat cheap bento's etc you can survive cheaply. For example i spent less money in two weeks in japan than in two weeks in turkey. Get the railpass it was what saved me in a big way.I went up and down on that shit and used it to get around between Kyoto osaka etc on the standard trains but post some flicks and i'll try to post some but mine are gonna be strict touristy shots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serum Posted September 4, 2006 Author Share Posted September 4, 2006 test my homie on the right and a homeless dude named demon dragon. here he shows off his light saber skills. watch out for the hot graffix a tsukemono (pickled vegetables) shop hand painted train shot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serum Posted September 4, 2006 Author Share Posted September 4, 2006 these flicks are from around my crib. a close up of bamboo roots. kinda gross. it looks like it could just get up and walk away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serum Posted September 4, 2006 Author Share Posted September 4, 2006 work day cool sign Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CORPORAL-PUNISHMENT Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 BUMP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAR Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 the more I read this the less I want to go to japan. Its nothing like I imagined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serum Posted September 4, 2006 Author Share Posted September 4, 2006 field trip to the osaka aquarium here the teachers get to be tormented for the hour long bus ride. fun fun fun this is chihiro. she is an amazing little 8 year old that speaks fluent english and shes never been to an english speaking country. which leads me to believe that her parents lock her in the basement with mr rogers himself and tons of english books and tapes. when i showed her this picture she responded, "ohh noo! that's a picture of my hot, hot face" 40 degrees celcius and 90% humidity level yes its hot. another group at my school posing for a class flick. its very hot as you can tell was this the thing that killed the crock hunter? this guy was cool. the mambo aka sun fish. this is a delicacy here. very ugly with shark like skin. i wouldn't eat anything with a face like that. jelly fish out of the window flick trip home my boss giving someone the death look i pass out until we get back to school, while the kids bug me the whole time Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatbastard Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 osaka and all of japan is Very. Is this the Very you are talking about? This guy literally had Bali (indonessia) on lock. I dont think i could ever walk anywhere without seeing him up and the penalties in indo are A LOT harsher than japan ive heard about tourists getting jail time for drunken bar fights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eye for an eye Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 is there public housing in japan? looks like you have a cool job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obvious Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 herro rara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serum Posted September 4, 2006 Author Share Posted September 4, 2006 yeah thats him. he has ups in shanghai, south korea, bali, jakarta, thailand, phillipines, chicago, sf, san diego, ny... he's definitely the graffiti tourist. for every one throw i did he already finished 3 throws and a few tags. Very is a really chill cat if you're ever in osaka look him up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
earmuffs Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 i dont think i could deal with that many asians at once.. its bad enough going to the mall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obvious Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 i used to see very around Yokohama and Tokyo a lot. but i also saw him out here in l.a. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obvious Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 i got a question serum... did you also get the feeling that a lot of japanese are like robots over there? like when you get on the train and shit? especially the workforce... all with the same haircuts and dressed the same walking like zombies and having the same mannerisms and expressions. and the ones that try to be "different" still come off as sheep. those hip hop japanese kids all had their hats cocked to the side at the exact same angles and shit. those cosplay folks in harajuku also seem like robots. not much true individuality and self-expression really exists in that place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
serum Posted September 4, 2006 Author Share Posted September 4, 2006 shit 6 years damn... do you miss home at all? i miss the food, falafel in particular, good bread, the english language, my friends, record stores, huge bookstores, the USA government processes are actually really fucking quick compared to the outside world, 24 hour shopping, subtitles, some american tv, hundreds of new films from every genre, cool people, people that are smart, people that can mentor, alot of different races coming under one roof to hang out, cheap gasoline, yes your latest high prices are still cheaper than here, beer, i really miss having all my choices of beer, capitalism that makes everyone lower their price just to get your business, american video games, but i hate the police, i'm a cop magnet. especially when i'm being on my best behaviour. speaking strictly on the midwest, i can't stand most american people. everyone is really fat, low self esteem, shit talkers, can't be polite, friends that aren't really your friends, always staring people down, we all hate eachother, no community, worst customer service in the world, mtv, mainstream radio, high nosed hipsters that know everything about everything and will even argue with you about things they dont know about but heard from a friend of friend that read it on the internet so its gotta be true, american women that are too busy being tough smart and equal that dont know how to be women anymore, low wage dead end jobs that make me feel like i'm less than dirt, my neighbors aiming desert eagles at me because my friends are honking the horn... the more I read this the less I want to go to japan. Its nothing like I imagined. its not my intention to turn people off to japan but i do want to counter balance all the blind japan loving things i always read about. if i would do my own version of lost in translation i'd be more to the point about how things are but tend to be unnoticed. black rain kind of hints at it, showing how difficult it is for US leo to work with Japanese leo. they actually do meet but very little information is exchanged between the them. xenophobia can be a bitch. the fact that i can live here forever and still treated like shit defeats any aspiration i have here. stereotyping and not thinking outside of the box and adding rule upon rule upon rule upon paperwork and some really anal retentive people causes any decent human being (japanese people included) to breakdown a bit. i get really really cranky around visa renewal times, and dont get me started on what i had to go through to get a fucking drivers license. is there public housing in japan? looks like you have a cool job. no none that i know of. there are many cheap places out there though. if you can take living very very modestly in a tiny one room apartment you could get something for $200 a month. id say average 1ldk is around $500-700 it is very difficult to get housing in japan. alot of companies have been opening up and are slowly making it easier but still the process is irritating. most real estate places wont deal with gaijin, then they usually charge key money which is basically bribe money which can be from around one months rent to $5000 and up. all of which is nonrefundable, plus security deposit, strict background check, official job papers stating your salary and how long youve been there, and a guarantor. this is usually a japanese parent which in my case i do not have so you need to either get your boss or your girlfriends father to sign. if your boss signs he will hold primary ownership of the place, fuck with him he'll get you kicked out the next day, if the girfriends father signs prepare for being bossed around by him. just imagine emperor, shogun, samurai, merchants....etc. everyone wants you to be at the bottom. the homeless population in osaka is overwhelming, buddhism is a bitch and basically doesnt help them out since its their own fault (karma) there are very little soup kitchens or shelters, alot of people truthfully just drop out of society this way, japanese men are useless after they get fired, the system chews them up for minimum salary no overtime, spits them out before retirement age, and they are considered no longer employable. so some people that dont have family or just love sake too much go the tramp life and just live by the riverside, with little blue tarped houses made out of a wood frame and have full screen tvd, dvd, playstation, radio decked out with a fridge all hooked up to a car battery which they charge often. some days i want to join them. thanks. i worked my ass off doing jobs i didnt want to do in order to get into something i atleast enjoy a little more. art teaching to elementary kids is more like craft supplies man than actual teacher, but ive been teaching them useful techniques that most of their teachers avoid. my goal is to get a wall on the school and teach aerosol art 101.. i got a question serum... did you also get the feeling that a lot of japanese are like robots over there? like when you get on the train and shit? especially the workforce... all with the same haircuts and dressed the same walking like zombies and having the same mannerisms and expressions. and the ones that try to be "different" still come off as sheep. those hip hop japanese kids all had their hats cocked to the side at the exact same angles and shit. those cosplay folks in harajuku also seem like robots. not much true individuality and self-expression really exists in that place. it's the school system. neoconfucianism, chinese taosim, the strict rigid shintoism, buddhism, ultra rightist nationalism, socialism disguised as democracy and modern japanese culture/ social structure all rolled into one. its like a propaganda machine that churns out mini robots, elementary school is very similar to the states, the kids act just like the kids back home but the group mentality is heavily enforced, teachers avoid giving out any punishment, so the kids boss themselves, thinking different is looked down upon, basically the unhammered nail gets hammered. common sense is non existant here. its not taught and considered foolish, sense means you actually know something, well you dont know shit until i tell it to you and even then you dont know shit, so dont ask questions because if i havent told it to you then you either arent ready for this information and dont need to know it yet or thats some shit you dont need to know because you are still too low on the hierarchy. information control here is pretty strong. the more you dont know the more power i have. so imagine ego maniacs have no goals to acheive then fit that to most japanese men, you basically get useless worker drone ants with overinflated egos. in juniour high is where they really get nailed. the sports students get overworked to the point of death by exaustion, smart kids are fed useless facts that they one time regurgetate for a test and then start the process over again, never keeping any information nor learning any real cognitive skills, and the social stucture get really fucking strict, alot of bullying, all of it accepted by the students and teachers, people need to learn their place early, students are called stupid if they answer a question wrong, if they dont know the answer, if they ask a question, or if they are confused about something becuase the all knowing teacher has just explained it to you and did it in laymens terms for you to understand it so you must be pretty stupid not to catch on yet. so everyone just pretends to know whats up when they really dont and people never ask questions for fearing theyll look stupid in front of their peers. but i'd have to say. the worst thing to be in japan is actually japanese. i wouldnt wish being japanese on anyone. it is a very cruel social society. the structure is very strict and thoughs that dont follow the rules, think differently, speak up, disagree, are the outcasts. its hard to get hired if you dont dont dumb down yourself or have the right credentials here, which starts from what designer kindergarten you went to, all the way up to university, then hopefully you dont have any lower caste blood in you because youll be lucky to make it past highschool. sad but true there is no individuality in japan. everyone is a sheep. the black sheep are actually very very white underneath all the fashion and shit they put on. yep, same haircut, same pant leg pulled up, bought from the same store they shop at. a very powerful quote written by Edward Seidensticker about a 1930's Japanese author Kafu Nagai "the Japanese have a way of seeming most Japanese when they think they are being most Western" so basically to truly understand what a japanese culture is you need to look at how they copy. that is the true japanese strong point. they are the best copycats in the world, they can take anything and then make it better, atleast in their eyes its better. they fit things to suit them, pizza, tv, punkrock, whatever, its just surface. check out though ganguro, yamamba gals with the orange brown skin, theyre different but the same. in fukuoka i saw a girl one time get dropped off by her mom and then she changed there on the street into her real self where she had all white clothes, then added white makeup and then topped it off with fake blood. she looked like a fucking traffic victim. people were wondering if they should call 119 (emergency number) for her. she met up with another victim that i guess was a gun shot victim and they walked around window shopping. but slowly i get japanese traits that i never had before. example my friends and i cant get along because i dont agree with them 100%, things that they say are cool i laugh and say naw that shit is wack, they lose face and im an asshole, i learned to keep my mouth shut pretty quick here. i also let the guy that is the psuedo leader, (usually the oldest/richest) make all the decisions in order to not ruffle feathers. i now agree with things i dont truly agree with just because i dont want to ruin the mood and rock the boat. i learned opinions are not important. they just single you out and make you look un-modest. we americans like to over exagerrate our opinions, im very guilty of this. i come off like an asshole, over opinionated, there is only one way and its my way, this isnt true really. i just like to tell interesting stories and i focus only on things that i want to. people that know me know im chill and i rarely argue. most people however just dont like me but ive learned to accept it. when i return to america on visits i notice how we are so uncomfortable in social situautions that we all just argue in order to convice ourselves of the truth. the truth we may find but at the expense of making a friend. 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FUCKMUNI Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 nice description serum, however i like that japan is like a robot society. it makes me, the foreigner, a straight fucking pimp out there hahaha i love japan, mostly tokyo though. i cant really stand the boonies out there, the racism is a little too much....at least in the city people dont really give a fuck and most young japanese people like americans. i love ridin the trains around and lookin at graffiti....eating bomb asss food teriyaki burgers and tonkatsu...i love walking around at 3am and shit still being wild.....bright lights...girls...drinking on the street with no worries....duckin into cabs to avoid getting caught....catching cutty tags and people not doing shit but smiling at you haha...intenet cafes with leather chairs and free drinks....hopping a train to anywhere in the city...the list goes on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FUCKMUNI Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 if you like tonkatsu and your in tokyo....a visit to TONKI in meguro is a must.....right next to the train station Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FUCKMUNI Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 woops Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FUCKMUNI Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 the yamanote line...im runnin this bitch right outside my apartment in furukawabashi harajuku 5am....no goth bitches walking around haa shibuya station.... random shit mt fuji at 4am sunrise shibuya nightlife Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FUCKMUNI Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 sorry my camera fucking sucks the internet cafe with a view... some graffiti Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FUCKMUNI Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 the office building where i worked fireworks from roppongi towers...sickest view of the tokyo BUS KILLAHS....haha i didnt bomb no buses though...wish i did your average japanese auto dealer beer gardens jap style.....got mad kegs up close and personal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FUCKMUNI Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 damn my camera sucks.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avancier2 Posted September 4, 2006 Share Posted September 4, 2006 Post pics of some cool cars again please. I want to see some street machines and some cool VIP style cars. Also some hooked up toaster vans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Power Bill Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 ^^ The cars here are ill for sure. They pack a lot into a small space. The GPS systems are amazingly advanced and the cuipholders warm or heat your drink automatically. How fuckin cool is that? About the robot thing- personally I am surrounded by enough super chill original cats that I can`t help be a bit offended by the generalizations. Sure, most Japanese people are like that but there are plenty of good souls here too. Even my salaryman students are pretty fuckin cool. Serum is right though the school system does breed this kind of conformity. A lot of Japanese people recognize that though. The pressure these poor kids on them have is rediculous. No wonder there are 32000 suicides a year here. Did you know that the Yakuza is five times bigger than the Italian mob? Over 100 000 members! Anyways, if you don`t like asians or rice, clearly this is not the place for you. Stay at home! I fuckin` love it here. Wierd going home and feeling like a foreigner in your own country, eh? Bitches looked so fat and people seemed so rude, esp. customer service as you said, S. Nice pix MUNIFUKR and SERUM If I ever figure out how to post on this site I will hook it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obvious Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 do you agree matsuya > yoshinoya ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Power Bill Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 Definitely. All about the bibindon when I am drunk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obvious Posted September 5, 2006 Share Posted September 5, 2006 shibuya march 2004 shibuya february 2001 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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