Landed In Narita Yesterday and...

[Zaff]

So far so good nice hotel, most of the people are friendly not overpowering just nice. Had a few weird looks but im sure thats more due to the fact im 6 foot 6.

My only tip so far is about my airline Air France. Total shambles they managed to leave my luggage and my travelling partners in Paris CDG, how on earth they managed it I dont know. We got it eventually but after spending nearly 2 days in the same clothing!! The service on board the aircraft though was very good.

Ginza today was PACKED all good fun though. Perhaps another tip I could offer is that if you cant read any of the used characters in Japanese and have never really used a rail system like the London Underground before then I reccomend you give it a try. I say this due to the fact that my friend who came with me hasnt and didnt have a clue what to do when it came to the train system ( so I stood back laughed a little) then helped him.

Ill probably add some more to this as the weeks go by but for now the bar is almost open and I fancy a beer or 7 ;)

[leonmarino]

Thanks for your post, I'm glad you landed safely. Spending days in the same clothes doesn't seem very attractive to me.. I hope it'll never happen to me!! :D

have fun!!

[Zaff]

haha yea just dont fly with Air France and you will be fine.

Also another thing to clear up, people and websites said our phones would not work out here... Wrong they work fine all though they are a tad on the expensive side for calls and texting.

[Ewok85]

Depends on what type of phone you have, some will, some won't ;)

Sounds like you are having fun!

[Zaff]

Ewok your right haha most British phones work fine as most companies have an agreement with Vodaphone Japan and share their coverage. US phones well dont expect much.

Rappongi for my 20th was ok.... but its just full of Pimps, Prozzies and idiots. Prostitutes wont leave you alone... I heard somebody say in another thread that they had not seen a black gaijin about..... Go to Rappongi I saw LOADS. Half of them sound as sound can be got into a drunken chatter with one guy about a car that shot on by us in the steet was great. The other half are unfortunatly watching your every move around their women (prostitutes) while they constantly hassle you for "sexi boys you want sexi??" ugh what a headach.

The clubs nothing to write home about either, Gas Panic was ok i suppose drunken talk with 5 nationalities at once :) English (me) Scottish, Japanese, American and Kiwi.


Tonight went to a bar we found last week, its a locals bar and we found out friend who is very good with English. So at 1am he says do we want to go to a club.... Sure why not we thinks, so we get a taxi to this club it costs us 1000￥ then I see a BIG sign on the door that I recognise from my research. In horrific English basically "Japanese Only even if you have a Japanese Passport and Driving Licence dont come in or there will be trouble". We get taken inside, now every guy and girl in the place turns round gasps and stares... Im thinking oh good this is run by some gangster who would like nothing more than to do me and my friend over. Well we got out in 1 piece no harm done and well it was an experience.

Oh and another quicky I have found several machines all round Tokyo that not only accept our Visa Cards but accept my bank card too ;)

[storeyinallinanyways]

Zaff, not sure if you're still in the country but a word of caution - when you're going home make sure you go to the airport *early*! They scan your baggage at Narita before you check in (not sure if this is just an Air France procedure) and when my Mum visited we queued for almost an hour to check in, leaving very little time before her flight.

[Zaff]

Came back last Saturday, we did well all the way through Narita despite the queues and multiple security checks. Air France again left 30 minutes for our connecting flight and we missed it, so I wrote a letter of complaint to them, not that they will ever read it.

It seems Air France have a tendency to do that with luggage and flight times as we spoke to several people who had the exact same on their flights out then and in the past.

[Chris K]

The clubs nothing to write home about either,
musta been going to the wrong clubs.
WOMB (shibuya) is very, very highly reccomended

[Ewok85]

musta been going to the wrong clubs.
WOMB (shibuya) is very, very highly reccomended

You been there? Its interesting, but nothing spectacular. (Though there is one out in Chiba, which I forget the name, which has a pool. THAT is kinda different)

[Housetek]

your club experience really depends on who you go with and stuff also.

cuz no matter what my group of my friends always have fun, since most of the time we have like 8 to 10 people hanging out and dancing.
we mostly hang out in roppongi and shibs

[Chris K]

You been there? Its interesting, but nothing spectacular. (Though there is one out in Chiba, which I forget the name, which has a pool. THAT is kinda different)
Apart from the lighting, I agree physically it's nothing special, but the crowd and the vibe was great. The music was good to, ut I think there was a special DJ on that night, so I guess thats a variable.

[TuskCracker]

Some good information here. Very practical. 6 foot 6, in japan that must way above average

[Chris K]

Some good information here. Very practical. 6 foot 6, in japan that must way above average
Im sure your used to it by now.
Im fairly average hieght at 5,9" and to be honest, based on preconceptions, was looking forward to feeling a bit taller. But thats all rubbish, I was just as average height over in Japan.

[Zaff]

Yea saw a Japanese kid in Shinjuku and god damn he was about 6'8", I was like oh my goose he's big. He noticed me and smiled though.

[Anohito]

[snip]Rappongi for my 20th was ok.... but its just full of Pimps, Prozzies and idiots. Prostitutes wont leave you alone...[snip]

My goodness, it seems that Roppongi has changed a bit for the worse (like Yokosuka). I never went into any of the Roppongi clubs, but I did spend a fair amount of time in Roppongi, and I was never directly approached by a prostitute or pimp (I was solicited several times by prostitutes in Honolulu--I ignored them).

I can sympathize with your plight regarding the luggage. My experience was slightly different. I did have my luggage, but one time while I was in the Navy, I had to spend three days in the terminal at Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines because the aircraft on which we were supposed to fly back to the USA has some sort of of mechanical problem which made it unusable.

[Zaff]

Rappongi is so different in the day though, I was just amazed how bad it was at night. Well I say bad im used to it but the Christian American guy who we met out there was naieve and had led a sheltered life to be honest, his jaw just dropped.

[Ewok85]

My goodness, it seems that Roppongi has changed a bit for the worse (like Yokosuka). I never went into any of the Roppongi clubs, but I did spend a fair amount of time in Roppongi, and I was never directly approached by a prostitute or pimp (I was solicited several times by prostitutes in Honolulu--I ignored them).

It is quite literally people lining the sidewalk trying to get you to check out their establishment, or meet some people they know... walking around Kabukicho feels almost quiet by comparison.

[Anohito]

It is quite literally people lining the sidewalk trying to get you to check out their establishment, or meet some people they know... walking around Kabukicho feels almost quiet by comparison.

It sounds like Roppongi has replaced (at least to some extent) Kabukicho as Tokyo's sex center.

Zaff: I can imagine what you mean about the difference in the daytime. Even in 1983-84 there was a considerable difference, no doubt because the clubs, etc., were not yet open during the day.

[Housetek]

Well during the day less Prostitutes. They dont ever come up to me because im Asian. They always target white guys and pretty much only white guys.

most of the club owners and promoters are from like africa and try to get you into their bar its pretty fricking annoying.

they always harass me and my esp my gf. i hate when they try to touch her and when i tell them to F' off they get surprised and defensive.

Those guys are f'ing perves and low lifes. I know for a fact from many of my friends that there also Drug dealers.

But Roppongi is Gaijin Central pretty much. Its were you see the most international groups of people mixed. You can even find english pubs and English sports bar on the main strip.

There are some clubs i do like in Roppongi and some cool places to go. Such as Roppongi Hills and Tokyo Midtown. so the place isnt all soo bad.

Also very nice restraunts and cool places to shop.

but if your tryin to go clubing prepared to get harassed by prostitutes for a "massagi" or harassed by black guys to come into their bar b/c its "FREE SHOT and FREE ENTRANCE!" or 500YEN SHOT and DRINKS!

which pretty much EVERY place owned in Roppongi is Free entrance and the "free shot" is never Free.

The only Clubs in Roppongi that arnt Free are the japanese owned Clubs which dont need people to harass you to make you come to the club.

oh and if you have a girl friend, prepare to have her Wrists grabbed, shoulders touched and followed for literally a block.

best way to avoid these annoyances is say you don't have money or your going some where else.

at first glance at this thread i tried to find reasons to defend roppongi since i hang out there so much but, im gettin to like the place less and less b.c of all that i mentioned up top.
Also due to the fact that there are so many Gaijin, there tends to be many more drunken fights and arguments.

Also this is a BIG hang out spots for Off duty military guys.
and every where they go is pretty much a fight waiting to happen.

you get those guys drunk in a group and they think there Gods gift to japanese women and are not shy bout harassing women and sexually assaulting them. and since there with their lil military buddiest they think they can get away with it.

I've been in japan many times now and EVERY time i see a shaved military or army cut, i know a fight or some sort of trouble is gona start.

not to say ALL military and army guys are like that. but the immature brats that go to Roppongi are usualy like that.

in fact i was jus there tonight, and best way to walk thru the street is jus go fast and not make any eye contact and act like the promoters dont exist.
once you get past all of that, its eaiser to have fun, but i hate having to be constantly harassed at one point or another.

[Anohito]

[snip]Also this is a BIG hang out spots for Off duty military guys.
and every where they go is pretty much a fight waiting to happen.

you get those guys drunk in a group and they think there Gods gift to japanese women and are not shy bout harassing women and sexually assaulting them. and since there with their lil military buddiest they think they can get away with it.[snip]

When I was in Japan, even in 1983-84, there were not many US military personnel in Roppongi. Most of them would not go any farther than the bar district outside their base or station. The presence of partying US military personnel is not the only reason for the deterioration of Roppongi, but it certainly cannot help.

And it is not just Japanese women. When I was in the US Navy, far too many guys seemed to think they were god's gift to women in general, and I doubt that the situation has improved since I got out of the Navy.

Even in 1983-84, a group of drunk US military guys wandering around the Honcho usually meant trouble eventually.