Japan Adventure

[95naSTA]

Last week I flew solo from Cali to Japan. This is the fourth time over here and third time in the Tokyo/Yokosuka area.

The way my work does drastic time zone changes is it gives you a day off after you travel to and from. I decided to take advantage of this and go on a little adventure.. I found the largest Ski resort within a reasonable distance from Tokyo and booked a room in the Roppongi part of Tokyo to stay on the way back.

I originally flew into Narita/Tokyo and then took a bus about 2 hours south to Yokosuka, where I'll be working. So, that's where I started.

Monday morning (+14 hours from EST) I left for Kagura to go snowboarding..

Small road block.. Hit up an ATM, didn't work. lol. With only 13000 Yen ($160) this was going to be a problem. I called up the bank and they were closed. I realized I can take out cash from my work CC but I never set up a pin. I called them up via skype and couldn't work the automated pin reset because the number tones stop working after the call connects. Googled that, got it to work, got a pin, and left again. That card didn't work.. Now I was thinking it may be an issue with Japanese ATMs, I tried one on base and I was good to go.

I hop on the JR Sobu line up to Tokyo and then the Bullet train up to Yuzawa. There are a few ways to get there and different fares for different cars or reserved seats. One thing I learned last year is that if you have the word written down in English handy, it goes much futher than trying to pronounce/butcher the word. If I didn't have this I would have probably been screwed. Getting to Tokyo is easy, taking a Shinkasen (bullet) train past there is a new one for me. Figuring out where to go in Tokyo Station is pretty simple. Figuring out which Shinkasen is a little weird since it can branch off.. but deduction helps.

After an hour and a half up to Tokyo and an hour and a half on the bullet train I arrived at Echigo Yuzawa Station in the Chuetsu Region of the Niigata Perfecture. It's north-west of Tokyo and of the opposite coast.

There are a lot of resorts in the area and there are lifts literally right up the street. A local bus runs from the station to a few of the resorts but the signs for these are all in Japanese. Being so close and not really wanting to press my luck I just took a cab. I tried saying Kagura.. then showed the driver it written and I was golden. The driver said, pretty broken, 'So, you don't know any Japanese?!' lol. I guess knowing shapes, colors, numbers, and lots of random things isn't very helpful. I really wish I would have gotten further with the Rosetta Stone..

I get to the base of the mountain and I can't see anything but a rental place and a cableway. Getting a lift ticket and renting was relatively painless. I kinda loled when the shoe chart only went up to size 10 (I'm 12). I got everything I needed and headed up to the base of a few lifts via Mitsumata Ropeway from the rental. It's a pretty big cart that holds about 40 people.

I get off and Sweet! A map! ... and almost none of it is in English. I couldn't figure out where I was, how far up, etc. I didn't even know the name of the ropeway I came up at this point.. A little more homework would have helped.

Slowly but surely I got my bearings, going on different lifts, etc. I swear I had to be on this one closed car lift for at least 20 mins.

This place was freaking huge. I probably only hit up a third of the trails and I was spent. Only having snowboarded in the Poconos before I was pretty overwhelmed.

When I got back to the rental place I asked about the bus and they were able to understand and point me in the right direction. Interesting thing about the buses is.. You get on without paying and you have to look up at the front to see your fare. The stops are numbered but written in Japanese and you pay when you leave. Luckily, there was a European couple (first non Japanese people I saw at the resort) who got on at the same time so I was able to figure out my fare buy following them.

Bullet train back to Tokyo, wander around for a bit and try to figure out my way to the Roppongi on foot. I banked on using the vague memory I had of a map of Tokyo and the small street maps they have at every few corners. I didn't have much luck with that so I just took a taxi.

The hotel room was about the same size as the one I have in Yokosuka but a bit newer/nicer.

I wandered around Roppongi for a bit to get my bearings then hung out in the room for a little while to waste time. Things don't really start getting interesting till later there. I went back out to do a bit more wandering around and get some food. The hustlers where in full effect. There were groups of African dudes trying to get me to go to Brazilian/Russian strip shows on almost every corner of Gaien Higashi street. I've done enough homework to know that a lot of those girls probably aren't of age or here legally. And a lot of those places were on the upper levels of these buildings. From what I've read, it gets shadier as you go up.

Try as I might, I can't really get my party on by myself. I wandered around for a bit, got some I don't know what food, a couple drinks and headed up to bed. I used up about all of the ambition I had for 1 day and just had to call it quits. It's probably better off, especially since I was by myself with no one really knowing where I am.

The next morning I hit up the free breakfast and I decided to try and find my way back to the JR Sobu Yokosuka line on foot. I figured this way I can do some random sightseeing. I saw a bus stop for Shinbashi Station. That particular station is a couple stops away from Tokyo Station toward Yokosuka.. I've ended up here a couple times after wandering through the Ginza. With no map or GPS I followed the bus stops and then street signs and wound up right where I wanted. It was sweet to end up in a familiar place.

Then back to Yokosuka I went..

Here are the pictures I took so far:

I'll probably be adding more but mainly or Yokosuka since it's time to work.

https://picasaweb.google.com/cooneym63/Japa...feat=directlink

Hope you guys enjoy.

[[ChaosweaveR]]

I'm jelly.

Seriously...I have to go to Japan someday, I'm utterly facinated by their culture and way of life. And yes, the car culture that's there too.

Also:

Toyota Chaser: WANT

I love the duct taped front plate.

[1BADG6GT]

Cliff notes pleaze!!! J/k

This is awesome and you are one brave mofo to "wander" around by yourself! Nice pics BTW.

[Ringo64]

Sweet story and pics!

I found this when I had an hour wander around Xian, China that a good majority of people there spoke broken English. Is it the same in Japan or was everybody looking at you funny lol.

China was experience, I loved the areas outside of the city (city had too much smog but was interesting too). I have a great amount of respect for their way of life since I went there in High School then took a history course in College about it but I really have no desire to go back Europe is holding my interest and some islands off the coast of New Zealand.

Overall I agree with Pete that you are brave for going out on your own, one of my biggest fears of going to China/Japan is that our cultural differences are quite different that I would do something wrong and not be able to talk my way out of it

[markpetersonii]

Man, reading this REALLY makes me want to go back to Japan now.

I was stationed in Iwakuni for 2 years (about a 45 min train ride south of Hiroshima). I know exactly how you felt the first few times I ventured out by myself. It's a fun learning experience though and you get the hang of it walking around and listening to other people talk.

I actually took the Shinkansen up to the Narita to fly out back home when I left.

I loved the food, the people, and the way of life out there. No one really seemed to be in a hurry and most people are relatively happy.

If you don't mind I'm going to post a couple of the pics I took while I was in Japan. Mind you I have a TON more.

The first 3 are from my trip to climb Mt. Fuji.

[95naSTA]

^^ Sick.

When I was in Yoko in the fall of 09 I had planned on going to Mt Fuji but it rained sideways on my day off. lol. I hope to get there eventually.

I wonder if Iwakuni is similar to Sasebo.. Sasebo is quite a bit different from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo and Yoko.

My buddy is about to be stationed in Okinawa for a year and I may head over there at some point.

I've gotten pretty comfortable over here. The people here have so much honor and are extremely helpful. It's pretty refreshing.. I jump on every chance I can to get over here.

Here's some pics from Sasebo last year:

https://picasaweb.google.com/cooneym63/Sase...feat=directlink

And from Yoko and Tokyo Fall of '09:

https://picasaweb.google.com/cooneym63/Japa...feat=directlink

[95naSTA]

I put everything up on a blog.

Part 2 and 3 have some new pics and video.

http://95nasta.infiniteboost.com/

[markpetersonii]

^^ Sick.

When I was in Yoko in the fall of 09 I had planned on going to Mt Fuji but it rained sideways on my day off. lol. I hope to get there eventually.

I wonder if Iwakuni is similar to Sasebo.. Sasebo is quite a bit different from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo and Yoko.

My buddy is about to be stationed in Okinawa for a year and I may head over there at some point.

I've gotten pretty comfortable over here. The people here have so much honor and are extremely helpful. It's pretty refreshing.. I jump on every chance I can to get over here.

Thanks. Iwakuni is a semi rural/semi city setting. It's really quiet, yet has some fun things to do very near by. My buddy went to Sasebo and said it was a cool area. I saw some pics and it was pretty different than Iwakuni.

I was in Okinawa for a month in Jan of 2008. I didn't like it much at all, it was too dirty and crowded. Not my style at all, especially from being in Iwakuni for a little over a year prior.

lol about Mt. Fuji. We stayed at Camp Fuji, proir to going up to climb it. It was pouring when we went up to Camp Fuji but the next day when we went to climb it was just really cloudy, which made it fun when you climb throught the clouds. If you get a chance to climb it DO NOT PASS IT UP! It was such a sight!

[Ringo64]

Mt. Fuji would be awesome! Definitely something I would like to visit in Japan.