Japan Photo Guide

The first thing you notice about Okinawa is the beautiful ocean. The second will probably be all of the half dog, half lion statues that are everywhere! These things are called “shisa” or in Japanese, シーサー, that come in all shapes and sizes. Seriously, they are everywhere you go and you cannot avoid them! Apparently they make for good souvenirs because anywhere in Okinawa that sells anything, also has some shisa for sale! I was wondering the whole trip exactly what the deal with them was.

Sleeping in Japan can quite often be an expensive thing and unlike the USA where hotels charge per room, in Japan it is often a price per person. I am going to run through a couple different options that are decent, cheaper alternatives to regular hotels in Japan. See other places to stay.

Love Hotels are quite interesting and unique to Japan. Basically, love hotels are for couples to spend a few hours alone together as walls in Japanese homes are (sometimes literally) paper thin. Love hotels tend to have larger rooms than regular hotels, with nicer (and larger) bathrooms, plasma tvs, karaoke, video games, and access to dvds (adult and regular movies). Rooms can have various types of themes and some have various “amenities” such as massage chairs, slot machines, saunas or even a small indoor pool. Some hotels have different themes per room and other hotels have a theme for the entire hotel. There are two options, rest (2-3 hours) or starting from around 10pm you can stay (9-12 hours). Prices and times vary depending on the place, time of day, and if it is a weekend/holiday. A typical love hotel will cost about 3000-5000 yen for a rest and 7000-over 10000 yen for a stay. Often you choose your room by pressing a button next to a picture and then pay a person behind a opaque counter (privacy is important here). Apparently they will not let more than two people in a room nor do most let same sex couples in (sometimes).

See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Sleeping in Japan can quite often be an expensive thing and unlike the USA where hotels charge per room, in Japan it is often a price per person. I am going to run through a couple different options that are decent, cheaper alternatives to regular hotels in Japan.  See the other places to stay.

Business hotels are western style hotels that are mainly for business men but anyone can stay there. The rooms are usually very simple and tend to be a little smaller than regular hotel rooms. Personally, when I travel, if I will stay at a western style hotel, I like to stay at Toyoko Inn. You can make reservations on their website and there is no cancellation fee if you cancel more than 2-3 days in advance (each branch is different so check it out). They have hotels in almost every prefecture in Japan and the prices are fairly reasonable at around 4500-6000 yen for a single room (and a double is usually not too much more) where as a regular hotel could run anywhere from 9000-12000 yen for a single room. Most Toyoko Inns have free internet access in the lobby and tend to be fairly new or recently renovated.

No I do not work for Toyoko Inn nor am I affiliated with them in any way!  While business hotels are never going to be as comfortable as 4 or 5 star hotels, business hotels are a nice compromise between comfort and price.  Here are a couple of links, in no order, where you can search and make reservations for business hotels in Japan (English):

• Rakuten
• Japan Hotel.net
• Japan Hotels Online

Hoteles en Roquetas de Mar Reserva de hoteles en Roquetas de Mar, Costa de Almeria, Spain. Increible!!! Precios super rebajados desde 18 euros/dia por persona.

Sleeping in Japan can quite often be an expensive thing and unlike the USA where hotels charge per room, in Japan it is often a price per person. I am going to run through a couple different options that are decent, cheaper alternatives to regular hotels in Japan.  See the other places to stay.

Internet cafes are one of my favorite things about Japan. The photos for this post are from Fujiyama Internet Cafe in Kyoto, but many internet cafes share the same good qualities. Most internet cafes are open 24 hours so sleeping here is no problem. Some even have beds/futons/sofas you can sleep on. At an internet cafe, besides surfing the net, you have access to the following free things: drinks (usually everything from coffee and tea to sodas and even slushies), magazines, books, comics, tv, dvds, video games (usually PS2s but I can see in the near future some PS3s showing up), and some places you can even use some really fancy massage chairs, or even take a shower. There is food available but you usually have to pay for it, but some places to have some free food. Also some places have a partnership with a restaurant (usually a fast food place in the same building) that will bring you food. As you can see, Japanese internet cafes are a little different from what you might be used to if you come from the states. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

For general information about geisha and maiko continue reading below. If you want to know the best place to see geisha or maiko check out my other post.

Geisha, which literally means “doer of art,” today is a Japanese female entertainer whose profession includes music, dancing, communication and entertainment. There is a common misconception that geisha are prostitutes, this is not true. Maiko refers to a geisha in training. Geisha perhaps the most iconic symbol of Japan and if you are lucky enough to see one, they make for wonderful photographs; however, they are not so common anymore and Kyoto is pretty much the only place you can still see geisha or maiko in Japan; however, occasionally you can see some in Tokyo in places like Asakusa, Shimbashi and Kagurazaka. Here is a somewhat informative site about Geisha in Asakusa.

Geisha originated as skilled professional entertainers; originally most were male. Geisha used their skills in traditional Japanese arts, music, dance, and storytelling. As the artistic skills of high-ranking courtesans declined, the skills of the geisha, who were both male and female, became more in demand. Male geisha (sometimes known as hōkan) gradually began to decline, and by 1800 female geisha (originally known as onna geisha, literally “woman geisha”) outnumbered them by three to one, and the term “geisha” came to be understood as referring to skilled female entertainers, as it does today.

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There are some things that everyone knows Japan is famous for. For example, cars, sushi, robots and of course video games. Once a year Tokyo hold the Tokyo Game Show, a convetion for companies to show off their latest games and things related to the video game industry. This was the 10th year of the TGS and it drew a record crowd of over 190,000 people.

Above is the crowd outside Sony’s Play Station 3 booth and Capcom’s booth where it was like a Tokyo subway during rush hour. It was so crowded you couldn’t really decide which way you were walking you just had to go with the flow of the crowd as if you were a leaf in the water.

This year the big things were Sony and Nintendo’s next generation consoles, the Play Station 3 (ps3) and the Wii. I admit that I have enjoyed my fair share of video games in the past and still do from time to time, but I will don’t see myself going back to the Tokyo Game Show again. The PS3 looks amazing and Wii looks like it would be great to play with a group of friends and especially if it could somehow be used as drinking game. Above these girls are paying the Wii, making their characters run on a track by shaking their arms.  Booth babes and maid cafe after the jump. See more photos and read the rest of this entry »

Pachinko is a gambling game that is played all over Japan from Tokyo to the many rural areas. In Japan it is illegal to gamble. That being said, gambling is legally one of Japan’s biggest industries because of a loophole. Basically what happens is you put in money and get a certain amount of small metal balls. You then shoot these balls into a machine with small pegs in it and hope they land in certain holes (think pinball meets “Plunko” from The Price is Right). Anyway, if the balls land in certain holes you get more balls and then a reel spins (like in slot machines) if you get lucky you get something called “fever,” which means the wholes that you want to get the balls in widen and you are pretty much guaranteed to win some money. Anyway, when you want to collect your winnings you get your balls counted and take them to the counter. At the counter you then get some colored ticket and your winnings, which is usually some type of food or drink. Then you take your ticket to another place, not in same pachinko parlor but often right around the corner or next to the place and then you can get your real prize, the money. So because you are not getting money from the pachinko parlors, this is legal even though gambling is illegal in Japan.

Pachinko Parlors (and slot machines) are extremely popular in Japan and I have had people tell me that there job is just a part time job and playing pachinko is their REAL job. If you can get away with taking photos in a pachinko parlor then you might be able to get some interesting photos, but often they frown upon that kind of thing. Also the Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) runs a lot of these places so it is best to stop if somebody asks you to.