THE YOUNG DUDES
GUIDE TO JAPAN
(LAST UPDATE: 11th February 2005 - Added Kansai dating information)
LIVING GUIDE
REGION-RELATED
CITIES
INFOBOXES
VISAS
Types of visa
ü
Temporary
Visitor status
ü
Culture
visas
ü
Precollege
Student visas
ü
Student
Visas
ü
Work
Visas
ü
etc
Visa
excemption 50 country list.
Penalties for overstaying.Extensions.Visa runs.
ü
What
is cheap and expensive in Japan for most
westerners.
ü
Average
cost of living.
ü
Japan
for vegetarians or health freaks.(joining a gym, health insurance and the rest)
ü
Junk
food and beer. Section on surviving
like a bastard in Japan.
ü
Availability
of necessities such as condoms and tampons. Toiletries and the like.
ü
What
to bring. (powder deodorant)
ü
What
not to bring. (books/bulky clothing)
ü
Simple
Japanese phrases. How much is...?
Where is...? Excuse me. Please.Thankyou.Hello.Goodbye.My name is....1-10. I
don’t understand Japanese. Do you speak English? Can I get your phone
number? Tens.Hundreds.Thousands.
The kanji for numbers. Why
Katakana should be learned if nothing else(for its English loanword connection).
5.Martial arts and learning Japanese skills.
ü
What’s
available.
ü
Costs
ü
New
trend. ‘Pride’ style fighting
6.Explanation for how crazy the address system is.
7.Furnishing a new apartment.
ü
Recycle
shops
ü
Futons
ü
Heating
and air-con
8.Mobile phones.
ü
Contracts
vs pay-as-you-go
ü
Must
have features
ü
Explanation
of the mobile phone email/text msg.system(no sms in Japan)
9.Internet access
ü
Cafes
ü
Apartment
hook-up
ü
Costs
and availability
10.Options for transportation
ü
Buying
a – Motorcycle new/used.
Scooter “”
Car “”
Bicycles “”
ü
Cost
of petrol
ü
Cost
of subway/bus/taxi (single rides,monthly passes)
ü
Parking.
Availability, cost for cars.
ü
Driving
in Japan. Tolls. Expressways. Mini road-sign guide.
THE JAPANESE PEOPLE
Unambitious
ramble about the Japanese people and their treatment of foreign guests in the
country. General English ability. Politeness. Pet hates. Any shit I can think of.
Essays to include; Host family life. Instances of kind treatment by the
Japanese. The word
‘gaijin’ and its implications.
Debito and ultrasensitiveness in Japan. Japanese society in the 21st.
Oscars amazing essay about J-girls and why they are such a catch here and now.
This is
going to be nothing more than a potrayal of the familiar that most people will
already know. However, the rest of the book will be host to a bunch of
‘Did you know...?’ mini-sections that will contain a lot of the
really funny and unusual shit that we’ve talked about on YD throughout
the years and just a lot of cool essays.
THE CITIES
Starting
with the most visited, the major cities will all be reviewed and detailed.
Tokyo,
Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, Oita, Okinawa, Hiroshima, Sapporo,
Hakodate, Sendai, Kyoto, Aomori.
Any other
worth a shot cities near to the big ones will be given a bit of treatment in a
Off-The-Beaten-Track section at the end of every relevant chapter.
Again, the
emphasis on the guides will not be so much as “This onsen has great views
of Mt.Fuji” but more like, “A lot of easy chicks go to
this-and-that club”.
EXAMPLE CITY (SAPPORO)
Chapter
Outline
1.Sapporo Introduction (inc. Any quirky info about the city of
its history)
2.Why choose Sapporo?
ü
Pop.stats
ü
Pop.foreigners
3.City map with markers for all the major
clubs/restaurants/sighseeing locations.
4.Places to go. Really worthwhile places for a young dude to
see. Not old museums and shit. Take Sapporo. The Beer festival. Asahi Yama on a bright night. Odori Koen in the summer. The Yuki matsuri. Ramen Alley. The Budweiser girl bar.
5.Available transport.
Subway maps, bus routes.
6.Accommodation. Youth Hostels. Gaijin houses. Moving there.
ü
Local
rent average
ü
Brochures
for cheap gaijin friendly places to stay (some quick stories from guys
who’ve stayed there)
7.Job availability.
8.Good places to eat. Food.
Pictures.
9.Bars and Clubs
In the
following format.
ü
Bar/Club
name
ü
Description.
ü
Door
charge. Special nights. Extras
(free drinks)
ü
Drink
prices
ü
Hours
ü
Pics
ü
Atmosphere.
Vibe. Quality of chicks. Type of
crowd. Popularity.
ü
%
chance of getting laid for Mr.Joe Average
ü
Negative
points.
Essays
The essays
are in a manner of speaking what will make the Young Dudes Guide to Japan mostly
unique amongst other regular travel guides available on the bookshelves.
The
selected essays that are going to be included in the Young Dudes Guide to Japan
are important to the book in the way that they each capture a moment of the
writers own personal experience in the country, vicariously encapsulating the
reader and giving them a stronger impression on Japan that they would not be
able to acquire normally through the medium of emotionless
ü
Driving
in Japan. (Hokkaido!!)
ü
Birthday
Plane tickets.
ü
Local
Food speciality (the Pepsi Challenge: Tonkotsu Ramen vs Miso Ramen, that kind
of shit)
ü
Vending
machines (with pics)
ü
Game
centers
ü
Being
stalked by Japanese chicks (maybe)
ü
Going
out with Japanese chicks (maybe)
ü
Quality
Japanese food
ü
Japanese
work ethic (Oscars essay)
ü
A
little bit about Japanese history (again Oscs...p.t.1.2.3.4)
ü
Surviving
in Japan (err..Oscars)
ü
Expat
stories
ü
The
Return of Ayumi (willows)
ü
Last
one standing (being back in Japan.Zzonkmiles)
ü
Teaching
English.
ü
Jobs
other than teaching English. (Godzilla..Nayuta?)
ü
Japan
for chicks
ü
Healthy
Japan (otherwise entitled as Why do I spend so much time wiping my ass in this
country?)
ü
Satans
guide to shitters
ü
Japanese
tv and movies
ü
Washing
machines, kerosene heaters
And
more. Depending on relevance.