/jp/ - Otaku Culture

I'll just keep going for a little while with more pictures I took on Friday, some more interesting than others.

Bridge over the river Oita.

At a park in Fukuoka

A train at one of the stations in Fukuoka, arguably one of the best things about Japan, their pub trans system.

The Lovers Floor in Fukuoka Tower. By a lock, write a message/your names on it, be happy, or something like that.

>>12458951
Nice, I love Ohori Park - it's really relaxing.

And the Oita River itself, after heavy rains.

>>12458975
I completely forgot what it was called! Oita is fucking nice, I stayed with a monk at a temple for a week last year, right on the coast. Beautiful place.

>>12458975
Looking the other way.

>>12458979
Wow, that's awesome!! Glad you enjoyed Oita, haha. What kinds of things did you do at the temple?

>>12458991
yardwork, meditation, watched him perform some Obon ceremonies, drank

>>12458991
Heading to the train station.

>>12458997
Sounds really cool. Do you do that kind of stuff a lot?

>>12459004
By the rice fields.

>>12459040
The rice is almost ready for harvest.

>>12459092
Walking home...

>>>/trv/
>>>/int/

>>12459118
More rice fields - very plentiful around here.

>>12459140
I often pass by old folks working in the rice fields and greenhouses on the way home. Many frogs and crabs also wander along this road.

>>12459004
I'm usually too busy. Between the Navy and my girlfriend in Osaka, I don't have a lot of time to do a lot of super long travel.

Fukuoka streets

>>12458975
>>12458991
Where the Oita River gets even smaller.

>>12459193
Ah, I see.

>>12459129
There's nothing better happening on /jp/ right now. Besides, these are photos of Japan, its on topic.

>>12459275
/jp/ - Japan/General

>>12459230
One more pic from Friday - another shot of Mount Yufu with a slightly nicer foreground. Hopefully I can get out today to get some more photos.

Some tanuki statues outside of Inazumi Caves in Bungo-ono, Oita.

>>12459425

>>12459440

>>12459129
Wow you are smart !

>>12459463
There was a Kanon (?) statue outside the caves, as well.

>>12459542

>>12459623

>>12459692
Here are some more pictures from Ohori Park in Fukuoka (>>12458951).
It's a very popular spot to exercise, go on walks, play with children (I saw many kids catching cicadas when I went in August), walk pets, etc.

>>12459463
Sexy

>>12459761
Isn't he, though?

>>12459743

>>12459775

>>12459802

>>12459854

>>12459892

>>12459892
If only real life could regain this grain. The wet paint look hurts.

>>12459943
?

>>12459940

>>12459959
Lots of seagulls, ducks, pelicans, and herons hang out at the lake.

>>12459991

>>12460011
At Usa Shrine in Usa, Oita.

>>12460043

>>12460058

Lake Inawashiro in Fukushima

>>12460058
you didn't enter the ritual toolshed now did you?

>>12460122
N-no...

>>12460119
Really great picture.

>>12460136

>>12460169
At Akiyoshi Caves.

Sumidagawa fireworks this year

>>12460383
Enoshima at the coast of Yokohama

>>12460384

>>12460386

>>12460387
Love bell on enoshima

>>12460389
Enoshima caverns

''Dai'' kanji on the mountain by Kinkaku-ji in Kyoto

>>12460397
Kinkaku-ji

>>12460399
Kiyomizu dera

>>12460403

>>12460405

>>12460408
Gion Matsuri

>>12460408

>>12460410
Back to Tokyo

Akihabara

>>12460411
Asakusa market

>>12460413
Pagoda on the Asakusa shine grounds

>>12460413
Fucking Love Live shit.

>>12460413
The bottomside of the massive lantern at the entrance of Asakusa

>>12460418
Love live was fucking everywhere man
Many stores were exclusively playing Love Live songs

Rhino beetle in Meiji park

>>12460422
Meiji shrine ground

Weren't allowed to take pictures of the main shrine unfortunately

>>12460428
Barrels of Sake offered to emperor and empress Meiji

>>12460428
>following the rules

>>12460429
Sunshine City aqruarium

>>12460432
There were guards as you can see, the guy in the middle of the picture being one of them.

Roppongi District, come here to get drugged and robbed by nigerians

>>12460432
>perpetuating the filthy gaijin stereotype

Trying to reach the metro after the sumidagawa fireworks near Asakusa and tokyo skytree

>>12460447

Tokyo skytree

>>12460453
We took a terrible day to go to the sky tree.

>>12460455

Cool photos, dude.

>>12460455
Like that all the time mate

>>12460458
/jp/'s favourite building at night

>>12460461
Thanks

Cicada in Kyoto

Will be my last picture, I've got stuff to do. Have a nice day /jp/.

>>12460484
Get some schoolgirl pics. next time, broseph.

>>12460495
I could´ve, but didn´t

Dind´t want to look like some filthy foreigner stalking girls

on that note have one more picture

Room service bento

>>12460510
Thanks for all the pics, man. They're great!

>>12460375
Akiyoshi Plains in Yamaguchi..

>>12460531

>>12460549

>>12460588

>>12460603

>>12458924
>III
Fuck off.

Scenery and street threads go back years, they're not generals. They come and go, try not to force them, we already get enough people re-posting earlier photos.

>>12460943
Calm down

>>12460943
>Fuck off.
you

>>12461156
>>12461434

/jp/ has more generals than /vg/. it would be nice of you to keep these at a minimum, or at least try not to make it look like a general by actually discussing your photos with people rather than image dumping with some caption. this isn't tumblr.

>>12461518
There's enough pictures i dumped to discuss about

Besides this thread was about posting pictures from Japan, I see no issues

Have a photo from (part of) the shrine complex atop Mt Inari, Kyoto. Going by the full name Fushimi Inari Taisha.

Super pretty place, but a bit of a hike and confusingly laid out. Go visit.

Great pictures, guys. It looks nice and peaceful
How do you guys like living in Japan?

I was thinking of trying to get a work visa and work there for a couple years and see how I liked it. Is there any other way to get permanent residence in Japan besides marrying someone from there?

>>12461709
This looks absolutely amazing, and very peaceful. Were there many people there?

>>12461841
I love it here. I mean sure, Japan has its downsides like any other country, but it's beautiful and peaceful (especially out in the countryside), the people and friendly, polite, and often helpful...

I believe that you can become a permanent resident after living in Japan for a certain number of years, but I'm not 100% sure. I'll have to check once I get home this afternoon.

>>12460943
A rose by any other name, m8...

Anyway, the only reason there have been so many lately is because several people have expressed interest in posting their own (mostly recently taken) photos. None in the past 3 threads has been a repeat.

At the inner shrine on Aoshima in Miyazaki.

>>12462125
Yeah, I would like to go live in the countryside.

I hear it's hard for foreigners (from English speaking countries that is) to get other jobs outside of teaching English. How true is that?
I aiming for to become fluent in Japanese and get JLPT 1, so I was thinking translation work sounds like a good plan.

>>12461709
Whoa there anon, for a moment there I thought you stole my pic.
You have the better one though.

>>12462747
It's fairy hard if you don't have many marketable skills that you can perform as well in Japanese as you can in your native language. As for translating, I've heard the most important things are putting yourself out there and connections. I haven't really started searching in earnest for translation work yet, so I can't really say too much, though.

Neato, I posted some pics in /p/ but no replies so here's one of em taken at Itami fireworks festival on 23 Aug

Minatomirai Station

I didn't find anymore Pikachus after this one though. Kinda bummed about it because I was hoping to see a flock of them.

>>12462125
Well, yes and no. Like a lot of Japanese tourist attractions, there are easy to access parts and better shit you have to hike to.

Usually the crowds thin out when it starts getting harder.

The middle rest stop at Inari was packed, but the top was pretty quiet.

I ended up in Kyoto on the day that typhoon in mid-August hit. This should be one of the theatres in Gion.

I had just a little foldout umbrella. RIP.
Then I gave up and put a poncho on, which never dried properly. RIP.
My timberlands took 2+ days to dry. I was squelching them dry as I hiked up Mt Inari in those previous photos.

>>12463811
Yeah, Typhoon #11 was one of the bigger ones Japan has seen in recent years.

>>12463811

Looks haunted

>>12463814
I had no idea, I was just wandering around thinking "Wow. It's reeeeally fucking raining isn't it?"

It took me hours to get to Kyoto, I tried to move from Nara to Kyoto, took 2 train lines because one shut down due to poor weather. Or was that Osaka to Nara? Either or, the weather was shit.

Photographic proof from the backwater trainstation I was trapped in for a hour or two.

>>12463822
>backwater trainstation
That's a major train station you've got there. I use this train station every day to commute to and from work.

>>12463829
Well, it's a terminal for two different lines, but it was in the middle of nowhere, no where near the Tokaido, or anything. It was like, as far away from Nara, Osaka or Kyoto as you could get, but still service those three areas.

(Nara was fairly cute.)

Here's a shot of Sokenji Niomon in Azuchi, walking back down from the temple.

At the Nazenji complex, in Kyoto, there's a rather pretty aquaduct. Now I clambered up there, and followed it to it's head waters at the pumping station, from which you can get some great views.

It seems the more you ignored the main paths and just wandered around, the bettertime you had. Pretty much, if there wasn't an obvious keep out sign, and it looked interesting, I'd wander down any nice looking path.

>>12463852
comfy as fuck, man

Fukuoka Tower.

>>12463863
Did you just come on vacation? How long did you stay?

>>12463954
Yeah, just a holiday. 35 days all up, through the Kansai/kanto area.

Asakusa.

>>12463969
Cool. Were you alone or did you come with friends?

>>12463954
Views from the top.

>>12464023
I just went by myself and figured shit out as I went. First time I ever went on a major holiday by myself too. I slept in some weird places.

Another shot of Nazenji.

>>12464023

>>12464034
Neat. Was there any place you visited that you liked in particular?

>>12458973
I saw the same kinda thing when i went to the Umeda sky building in Osaka.
Coincidentally, there was a newlywed couple taking photos there or something on the day i went.
Didn't get photos of them though, as they were on their way out

>>12464048
Kyoto was gorgeous, probably the nicest place to walk around and explore. Plus the people are all pretty nice.

I'd choose to live in Osaka though, like in Shin Sekai.

Number one place I visited was mt inari though, it was such a perfect day. Really though, my trip was like 95% excellent through out.

(Back to Asakusa)

>>12458973
I saw something like that in Shin Sekai, in one of the little back alleys. It was pleasantly tacky, like most things in Shin Sekai; the locks were inside heart shaped areas, with pink LED lighting strips around them.

>>12464067
I see. You don't mention Tokyo as a place you are particularly fond of... Was it too busy? I've never been myself, so I'm kind of curious how it is to experience.

>>12464048

>>12460463
>>12460455
Should've gone in winter like me man

This was the view from the Tokyo Metro Gov Building

>>12464091
Well, I was walking around thinking "This place is almost as good as Osaka/Kyoto." but a lot of the time... Tokyo just seemed lame.

Akihabara isn't nearly as good as Den Den for Otaku shit, hell, it isn't even as good as Nakano Broadway.
Big Sight is a giant pain in the ass.
The CBD is a shit hole, as is Tokyo Station.

I had to work a lot harder to find nice stuff in Tokyo, compared to like, anywhere else, where I could just stumble over awesome shit.

That's not to say I didn't have a good time in some parts of Tokyo though, the Asakusa area's gorgeous, and a lot of the outer areas of Tokyo are great too. Like, Ura-Harajuku, Shinjuku, Shibuya, I spent a lot of time around there. Plus walking and exploring the really out of the way stuff was good too.

Though, one of the best days of my trip was my last day in Tokyo, where I ended up in a gorgeous park near Kichioji station. It was just lightly drizzling, so everything was covered with like a layer of dew, and it wasn't crowded at all, because of the rain. People took out their umbrellas but I just enjoyed getting rained on, and there were old people walking around who 100% got how much I was enjoying the weather, when like, middleaged people had no idea what I was doing. I walked around the perimeter of the lake, waving at the couple of people who had taken out the swan paddle boats, then I found a swing and just had fun having a bit of a swing, until I almost seriously hurt myself and just sat there laughing on an adrenaline high for a solid 5 minutes. I left that park feeling better than I have felt in years.

A tree from said park and lake.

>>12464091
I never really found Japan to be over crowded or too busy, but then again, I'm used to cities so who knows?

Maybe I always managed to miss the worst of it?

>>12460455
I walked all the way to the Sky Tree from Asakusa, saw how much it cost to get to the top of the damn thing and then promptly left.

>>12464111
That's why you go here >>12464092 instead, Free entry and the views are just as good.

Notice SkyTree to the left

>>12464091

>>12464107
Nice story, man. Thanks for sharing.

>>12464108
I've always lived in a somewhat smaller town, so even Fukuoka is too big for me...

>>12464111

How much was it?

Anyone else been to Kamakura in Tokyo?
A nice old lady suggested it on my flight into Japan, was not dissapointed.
Shame i lost most of my photos of it though

>>12464123
I wanted to go to the old, unpopular one, but I couldn't remember what it was called or where it was exactly.

I made up for it by going to the tower in Shin Sekai, Osaka. Such a cute little tourist trap, it screamed Osakaness.

>>12464126
Never had a chance to get there, where abouts is it again? Need to make plans for my next trip.

>>12464111
>>12460455

Here is a 24/7 live-stream of Tokyo Sky Tree from Katsushika

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nekote101

>>12464138
Uh... nearly 2750en?

>>12464141
I went to Kamakura, Kanagawa?

>>12464146
Fukuoka's the largest city on Kyushu, which is the southernmost of the four main islands of Japan. It's a nice day trip if I need to buy something special, but way too big for me to want to stay in.

>>12464126

>>12464155
Ah cool, I was thinking of heading south for my next trip. I had an exchange student stay with my family when I was younger, and we're still good friends. Pretty much that means, if I ever find myself in Hiroshima, I can chill with his parents.

>>12464141
Also, the hiking trails there are really nice and peaceful

>>12464153
Yep. Just did a day trip, but managed to see heaps on foot

>>12464175
I wasjust passing through on my way to Enoshima/Atami, really pretty place though, you're right. Wish I had had more time there.

>>12464111
the view is definitely worth the trip

>>12464188
huh, maybe next time. It was a bright, clear Summer afternoon when I was there though, so the view would've probably been a bit too hazy regardless.

I'll go at night next time.

The biggest Torii in Japan located in Kumano, Wakayama prefecture.

An ancient pilgrimage route in Kumano.

>>12464312
Compensating much?

>>12464138
Pic related

>>12464328
It's real.

>>12464396
I don't doubt it, it's just amusingly Japanese.

have a photo of a graveyard.
Japanese graveyards are so pleasant and nice, like they're high on my list of places I'd like to be buried. They're not even spooky. I wandered around in one at like midnight when I got a little lost with some other expats once in the eastern foothills of Kyoto.

Osaka has the best Shotengais.

>>12464312

What are the dimensions? Why did they build it so big? Can Godzilla fit under it?

Great photos, thanks.

>>12464159
You should definitely check out Kyushu. It's very laid-back, the food is delicious, the scenery is beautiful, and the people are friendly. I've heard good things about Shikoku as well, but I've never been myself.

Hiroshima is a nice city, but I don't really know what all there is to do that's not related to the atomic bomb... Though I wholeheartedly recommend taking the ferry over to Miyajima.

Pic is from a beach in Kagoshima that we stumbled across on the way to Sakurajima.

>>12464413
I can never bring myself to take pictures of the cemeteries. I just feel like it'd be disrespectfrul or something...

>>12464583
Of course he can, who do you think built it?

>>12465503
is kyushu cheap compared to other spots in Japan? Is it hard to get an english gig there?

I wouldn't mind being in a place like that for work.

>>12464063
Yeah, the sky building also has one.

>>12464091
Tokyo is stereotypical Japan. Everyone knows about Tokyo. It's super fucking busy, full of other foreigners, the general attitude is a bit ruder than other places.

Personally, I can't stand most other foreigners, so I'm planning on living in Osaka. It's a large city, but the foreigners are mostly tourists or cool as fuck expats, and there's not a lot of them. Unless you go to Amemura, which is filled with fucking ignorant ass African people.

>>12466715
It's definitely cheaper compared to the bigger cities around. I doubt it's too hard to get a job here - I know a lot of people try to stick to the populated areas on Honshu, I guess because of ease of mobility.

>>12466723
Yeah, that's what I was figuring... I'd still like to visit some day, but I don't think I could last too long there. Osaka, though, I've nothing bad to say about Osaka! I've visited twice and loved it both times.

I would really like to visit Japan next spring, but I don't want to travel alone. Where can I meet a friendly /jp/er?!

>>12467051

I'm up for it. Though I have never been and am afraid that because of my East Asian appearance they will mistake me as a native.

>>12467056
Don't worry, they will be too distracted by the very tall white man next to you.

>>12464111
3000 yen was well worth the most breathtaking view I had ever seen in my life. You missed out.

>>12467074
I feel you need to get out more and see more views.

>>12466723
Surprisingly, Kyoto always seemed to have the coolest Expats; there's a bridge on the Kamogawa, Sanjobashi, underneath it a whole heap of random Japanese weirdos and cool expats hang out amongst the normal Japanese chilling on the river bank. You can make really cool friends there on a summer night.

>>12465503
Hmm, I always paid respect to the local shrine if I did take photos, and I was never trying to take exploitative photos either. If I was taking photos it was because I found the place beautiful and serene, and if I was buried there I'd be glad someone was so taken aback by my resting place. I didn't find it poor taste to take the odd well thought out photo.

What was poor taste were all the fuckers taking ridiculous photos and selfies in temples and shrines. A lot of people seemed to either forget or ignore the fact that they were visiting a functioning religious location, and even if you're not Buddhist or Shinto, it's poor taste to act like a wanker tourist in such places.

Have a photo of Aokigahara, the suicide forest. My iPhone really struggled to focus correctly there. My Fujifilm x100 wasn't much happier.

There's supposed to be a super moon tonight, but the clouds started rolling in right at dusk. I don't know if I'll be able to see it...

Here are a couple photos from the Obon festival a few years ago. I posted one or two of them a few threads back, but I have more.

>>12467457
I'm curious as to what other towns' Obon festivals are like... If anyone has any insight...

>>12467490
One more before I go to bed.

The Obon festival typically occurs around the middle of August and lasts a few days. Celebrations can continue for the entire week surrounding the holiday, with different events each night.

I managed to catch these cows during the prep time for the festival.

>>12467120
>My iPhone really struggled to focus correctly there. My Fujifilm x100 wasn't much happier.
Blood-drinking demon forest confirmed. Don't be around there at night.

>>12467578

Are you allowed to visit at night? If so camping would seem fun.

>>12467578
Man. Aokigahara was super fucking eerie. It was at that strange threshold of intensely beautiful and morbidly... "Other".

I'm sure everyone's heard what it's like in there. But when you're in there, and it's dead quiet, you feel incredibly out of place, that you're an outsider. Yet, the longer you stay in there, the deeper you walk in to it, the less you feel as if you can leave, so much so that the very concept of the outside world, modernity, is almost... Scary.

You can end up having some super dark thoughts in that forest. I mean, it's incredibly beautiful in there, but then you catch yourself thinking "I can see why people kill themselves here... Would it be so bad to End it here?"

Then I managed to stumble out of Aokigahara 20 metres away from the tourist bus pick up, at like 1700, 15 minutes before the last bus of the day arrived, just as it was getting dark.

And for a solid week after I left that forest, any dog I met barked at me and cats fled my presence. Which is weird when you're a cat person and dogs just don't react like that in Japan.

>>12467685
Theres not really enough space to camp, it's densely wooded, and the floor is volcanic remains from an eruption like a millennium plus ago.

I did wander off the path once and found some strange... Cairn thing. Obviously human made, but with no information about it. You could probably camp in there.

If you get over how fucking spooky it is. It even has a piece of wood nailed across the entrance. I considered exploring it. Shined a light into it and promptly Nope'd.

I should have a picture or two on my actual camera, I'll post them later.

>>12467705
>>12467716

So essentially there is no wildlife / animals in there?

>>12467685
To answer your question though, you're not not allowed to as far as I know; most Japanese people would look at you like you're a would be suicide/morbid death-obsessed weirdo though.

I've never heard of anyone camping in that forest. I mean, if you manage to find a good clearing in that forest, it's just as likely to have an unclaimed corpse in it as a comfortable sleeping spot.

>>12467724
Well. The first 100 or so metres, there are plenty of birds and bugs. Then after that there's like nothing. So the outside is really welcoming. The inside not so much.

Swear to god though, I got super paranoid about this one huge crow, it was definitely stalking me, like some not so benign Yatagarasu, probably hoping I was some fresh suicide to snack on.

Every now and then I'd just look over my shoulder and that great, big bird'd explode out of the tree tops and wing out of sight. Which is an event when it's so fucking quiet in there.

Wow you seem to know a lot about the forest, how long did you stay there again?

I'm getting 2nd hand spookiness here almost like you're posting from the forest and its almost midnight there.

But going back to the camping it's pretty safe to do so it seems right. I mean its not like there are bears or wolves to be aware of any other forests in the world.

>>12459140
holy fuck that's one of the comfiest pictures i've ever seen

>>12467074
>>12467120
or you could just go grab breakfast at the top of shibuya excel hotel
its only about $25 and i was the only one on the place that day

>>12467744
Ah, I probably spent a solid 3 plus hours in there by myself, which is really probably enough for any one. I was planning on taking the long walking route, but I took a wrong turn and ended up taking the 2nd longest instead. Which was a bit of serendipity or I would've spent the night in that forest without a light or a decent jacket. If you power walked it you could do it a lot faster than I did, but I wandered off the path whenever I thought something looked pretty and was worth a closer look. That was mostly in the earlier, more inhabited, well travelled areas. The deeper parts were a lot more foreboding, so I kept to the path a lot more. It's not so much that I was worried about getting lost, it was more like "stay on the path. That is where you belong. This is not for you."

Yeah. If you're okay with bugs of varying description then the wildlife shouldn't bother you. Though, when I was looking for the walking trail to get in to aokigahara, I tried to climb a different mountain for a little while. Took 3 steps in to that forest and almost stepped on a snake.

what type of camera are you using to take those photos?

>>12467760
For mine, the DSC series between like 1500 and 2999, I was just using a FujiFilm x100, sometimes I switched to my iPhone when the low light photos were simply too noisy.

I saw a 2nd hand X-Pro1 for ¥550,000 and really considered getting it, from Sanwa Used camera in Osaka. Got to play with a X-T1 in Yodobashi camera too.

I'm sticking with Fuji until I can afford a Leica; and even then I'm not a photographer per se.

>>12467765
Heh, 1 too many 0s there.

when i went

>>12467830

where is dat?

>>12467867
It was unexpectedly at Harujuku, we went through that long street thing, turned left and found it by accident.

Wish there wasn't those people in this photo

>>12467949
Oh, yoyogi park?

>>12467958
I believe it was at that old castle in near Tokyo station. In the east gardens iirc.

>>12467958
I actually didn't get to visit Yoyogi, which I regret. Will be making another trip though soon enough.

>>12467994
Can one walk from Harajuku to those gardens? Because I'm pretty sure there's two separate gardens bein discussed here. I think anon went to the ones north of Harajuku station, which'd be yoyogi.

The gardens north of Tokyo Station would be the imperial gardens if I'm not mistaken, I had to walk around the damn thing to get to the modern art museum.

>>12467997
Yeah, I only ever passed by at inopportune times, like at 4am on a Shinjuku to Shibuya hike the night I fucked up my accommodations. Got some cool photos out of it though.

I'm planning another trip too, but not for at least 2 years. I want to have much better Japanese language ability. It's too different experiences, being able to chat to the locals, compared to barely able to communicate with them.

>>12468019

How exactly are you planning to better your Japanse in the meantime

>>12468033
Just going to a language school, my entire income is technically disposable so I'm free to do that kind of thing. I'm in a situation where wasting my money on "self improvement" things like languages makes me feel less guilty. I'm picking up French too. Which will help me pick up French girls next time I'm in Japan.

What's with all the fucking French people in Japan?

>>12468019
Hi I posted both those photos, you're right they're 2 separate gardens. Although the first photo isn't really a garden it was just a pond thing for relaxing.

I also agree with the whole language thing. It's a large barrier, however language schools are expensive here. Hoping to learn a second language in the near future.

This is a picture I took somewhere in Osaka. I dunno.

This is another picture from that place in Osaka.

>>12468246
Here it's like $300 a term, which isn't too bad I guess.

Not to mention I have plenty of Japanese friends and Japanese lit to try and understand.

Other than specific areas that match your interests, is there anything about big Japanese cities that makes them any more interesting than big American or European cities?

>>12468341
So basically you're asking "apart from all the interesting, uniquely Japanese things a Japan centric board would care about, what are the interesting, unique things about these places?"

A non-facetious answer would easily be the people and the culture itself. Japanese people and the way they go about their day, their entire mindset, has a massive impact on how you experience Japan.

>>12468347
>So basically you're asking "apart from all the interesting, uniquely Japanese things a Japan centric board would care about, what are the interesting, unique things about these places?"
No, don't be retarded, you just make things worse for everyone. I'm asking what about the cities apart from those specific areas that cater to your webaloo interests separates them from other countries' cities.

Oh, I found picture of the cute locket wall that was in Shin Sekai.

>>12468371
The non-facetious part of my post covers that.

Japanese people are kinda weird, they're super considerate but totally racist, they adore cute shit and their culture, at times, seems to revolve around gaudy, stupid, whacky in jokes that you're all too foreign to get. It's ridiculously homogenous over there. If you go to New York for the melting pot, then Japan is the opposite.

Plus, most Japanese cities have more history than you can shake a stick at, and it pervades all the way down today. If you have an eye for it, then you can find amazing details of the past in even modern day Japan.

They're cities where there can be intense hustle, then you turn a corner and step in to a tranquil, 1500 year old shrine, and the Japanese just walk past business as usual.

Japan is really different from the west. Even their western borrowings are warped through their own cultural lens to stuff nearly impossible to recognise.

In short: no shit, Japanese cities are really different to the west for a myriad of reasons.

>>12467705
So there is a bus that goes out there? After hearing all the talk online, I figured it'd be completely deserted and basically shunned.

>>12468042
>my entire income is technically disposable

How did you get in that position?

>>12468389
>Even their western borrowings are warped through their own cultural lens to stuff nearly impossible to recognise.
Such as?

>>12469615
Crippling injury.

>>12469746
Well, "western" food just for one.

>>12469784
>Crippling injury.

So welfare? I meant why don't need to spend money on the necessities of life since you mentioned that everything was disposable income.

One thing I like about Japan for no reason in particular is the traffic mirrors which allow you to see around tight corners.

>>12470166

You should instinctively be looking anyway.

Also who cleans the mirrors.

>>12469746
>mfw their hamburgers
Come on Japan, you don't know how we do

>>12470166
I wonder how high you'd hafta install these in Amurrica to keep em from getting stolen/vandalized

>>12470185
They're only in place on blind corners or areas where you can't see clearly.

I'd guess maintenance crews clean them; if not them, then the local folk surely do it.

>>12470166
Awww yissss

>>12470194
I thought America was a developed country.

>>12469952
Because I'm a NEET who lives with his parents. You're talking to an anon here, anon.

>>12470272

Well yes everyone in this thread seemed be normies

>>12468864
Well, there's two tour buses out Mt Fuji way, and two routes. The green visits 3 odd lakes, Saiko town, the lava tunnels and the bat caves. That route goes around the perimeter of the forest, with both caves being very close to the forest. It's not hard to reach or out of the way at all.

>>12467548
Finally got back from work! Here's more Obon pics. These are all from the pinnacle of the festivities.

>>12470374
>>12470369
Huh, I had no idea! Thanks for the info, anon.

>>12470166
Not particularly unique to Japan.
They are in Australia.

>>12470412

I live in Sydney, Australia but I've never noticed these before.

Admittingly I don't get out often but is this a mainly rural thing.

>>12470417
They're all over the shot in Melbourne.

>>12470417

We have them where we live. They're very useful. I don't think anyone would steal them because of how convex they are but also because it seems like a weird thing to take.

>>12470638
Did you take all of these yourself, or are you getting them from somewhere?

>>12470640
One of my favorite parts of festivals is the food. There's always a big variety of delicious goodies to try.

>>12470591
I wonder how those beer gardens are like.

>>12470443
People steal shit here in America for no reason.
When I was around 10 years old, I had a friend who wanted to steal these stones in someone's garden. No idea why, but he wanted them.

Why is it that all Japanese streets look the same? Every single picture I see of a Japanese street looks like a place I've been, like I would know where to walk from there, even though I lived in Osaka and many of these pictures are from Tokyo or elsewhere.

>>12471435
Poor city planning? Lack of geographical diversity (for the most part)?

It is strange that in some places in Kumamoto, you can find the straightest, bleakest roads around with completely flat rice fields as far as the eye can see, while in Miyazaki, you can drive on roads that have been carved out of mountains, twisting and turning for nearly an hour straight...

>>12470166

They have those in America all over the place

>>12464092
Cool pic!

>>12472066
I lived in America for 23 years before coming to Japan, and I never saw those mirrors there. Where in the world do you live?

>>12472962
Not that guy, but they're not unheard of in the affluent parts of the pacific northwest.

>>12470707
Typical festival fare includes octopus, squid, takoyaki, yakisoba, French fries, crepes, candied apples, shaved ice, kebabs, and more.

>>12473088
After the parade of the cows, many people got some snacks and headed to the rice fields...

>>12473211
For fireworks!

>>12460422
i want to catch it ugh

Don't have a lot to contribute that other anons haven't, but will post what I can.

An intersection near the house I stayed in, Yokohama.

Fuji from Yokohama.

Anyone have pictures of Hokkaido? I'm aspiring to visit one day.

The rest of these pictures are great, though! Really enjoying them.

Coastal town of Ito, West of Tokyo.

>>12473346

>>12473428
Thanks for the pics! When did you go?

Another of Ito, from down by the seawall. Hired out a bike from the hostel and went cycling around town. Ended up being a fantastic way to experience the sights.

>>12473435
No problems. I was lucky enough to be over from late December to late January last year, and will be doing the same this year. Experiencing New Years in Tokyo as well as Comiket was great.

Our Tatami room at K's House in Ito. For a cheap hostel this place was absolutely fantastic.

And the reason for visiting Ito, some beginner's paragliding.

Myoko Kogen in the snow.

Taking on the toylets in the Sega Game World, Akiba. No matter how much beer we drank and proceeded to piss, her skirt would not lift.

Fishing restaurant in Shinjuku.

Our hard earnt fish.

>>12473469
Did you actually catch that one yourselves?

>>12473476
Our snowboarder friends did. After a poorly translated conversation on our behalf, they quickly served it up.

>>12473469
You cooked it, right?

>>12470443
Americans steal road signs and jack-o-lanterns
The culprits are teenage boys and young men of basically all racial phenotypes. It has to do with how poorly we care for our youth; a lot of Americans are just incredibly socially maladjusted.

The twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac at the Kushida Shrine in Fukuoka.

>>12473564
Japanese people steal bikes (if not properly locked) and umbrellas fairly often. I'm not saying it compares to theft inthe U.S. in any way, but it's there - just very specific.

Here's a rabbit statue at Udo shrine in Miyazaki.

>>12474989
>TFW my umbrella got stolen while visiting family mart
>tfw had to steal someone's myself.
>>12458924
I've been to Japan twice, last time this whole June backpacking around. I have over 700 photos.

Shirakawa-go. Really beautiful village to visit. Probably my favourite place. Those that played/watched higurashi would know it as Hinamizawa.

>>12475631
Kyoto station at night

>>12475681
The inside of the Hiroshima Dome

>>12475687
Oarai beach (panzers's city)

>>12475703
These are great

>>12475726

>>12475735

>>12475741
gotta love Japanese trains
>be in Tokyo
>decide that I want to do some shopping
>get on the train
>arrive in Osaka
>do shopping
>come back same day to Tokyo
1000KM in few hours.

>>12475758

>>12475763
All locations are in filenames btw.

>>12475768

>>12475774

>>12475781
Taking the rope way in Nagasaki

>>12475790
That's enough for today.

>>12475758

How much was the rides respectively?

>>12460437
>Roppongi District, come here to get drugged and robbed by nigerians

Wha- is that true?

>>12475758
>Americans will never know this feel

>>12476277
>He doesn't have a private jet!

>>12476172

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roppongi,_Minato,_Tokyo#Controversies

This is only the beginning.

Soon all of Japan will be like this when they are forced to open up to mass immigration from 3rd world countries.

Enjoy Japan while you still can.

>>12476300
>This is only the beginning.

It gives me a really uneasy feeling.

On the roof of Hakata Station in Fukuoka.

About three quarters of the way up fujisan

The shrine was under construction...

View from about 2200m, after climbing down from the summit. Very spooky on this side.

>>12476843

Under construction they still make shrine nowadays?

>>12476904
They seemed to be fortifying the structure with shaped rocks. The temperature changes pretty dramatically, so I guess the old fashioned way is the only thing that really works.

It is pretty hard to get materials and vehicles up the mountain though. There is a single road that vehicles can use.

>>12476839
Did you climb on your own or with friends? I've heard about a hotel/camping site partway up the mountain for those who want to watch the sunrise from the peak. Did you use that?

>>12475845
JR Pass. 3 weeks of unlimited travel with almost all JR services for £339

>>12477080
I am a foreign invader, so I climbed up with about sixty other people as part of a group trip after a training exercise at Camp Fuji. We had the option to either go to Tokyo, or climb Fujisan, and I chose Fujisan, because there's no way I could be convinced to walk around Tokyo with a bunch of loud Americans.

>>12477166
Haha, I respect and agree with your decision. The view in >>12476839 is absolutely breathtaking.

To answer your question though, yes, there are facilities that you can stay at if you are totally exhausted, or just feel like lounging around. We went up the easiest path (the blue path), which starts at approximately 2400m, and went down the green path, which starts from somewhere around 1500m. The difference between the blue and green paths is astounding.

The green path is about an 8km hike up volcanic sand, followed by an extremely difficult climb up the volcanic paths to the summit. It takes about eleven hours, so a place to stay would be very nice.

The blue path skips the 8km through volcanic sand and is about a four of five hour climb up to the summit.

>>12477170
That was my favorite picture, and one of the only good ones. The rain stopped for about five minutes, just as we hit the 3200m mark

This is one of the pictures I took of the training area. I had a good amount of time to wander around, but I was exhausted most of the time, so I only went out twice. The training area is mostly artificially planted trees, at 1m intervals. The trees are no older than sixty years or so, so I imagine after WW2, the whole area was leveled for US training units. I would be interesting in readinf the history of the lands.

Apparently they are still owned by families that have held them for generations.

>>12475794

>>12477172
Cool stuff. I had no idea that one path was so much longer than the other.

>>12477182
I would so break my neck trying to traverse that. Did you have any mountain climbing experience prior to scaling Mt. Fuji?

>>12477193

>>12477197

>>12477198
I forgot to mention, that Shrine was featured in the Mountain of Faith touhou.
-----
pic related for people that have watched Elfen Lied.

>>12477200

>>12477203

>>12477204

>>12477205

>>12477194
Nope! Not at all. I've climbed Sugar Loaf Mountain in Maryland, but that's just an exaggerated hill. This was my first climb.

I wasn't dressed well at all either. Most of the people were dressed like these guys >>12477182, but I was just wearing a pair of dickies work pants and a light thermal pullover. I would recommend wearing as much warm clothing and waterproof clothing as possible.

>>12477207

>>12477211

>>12477208
That's pretty impressive. I attempted climbing a small mountain and managed to twist my ankle halfway up... But I'd love to climb Fuji someday.

>>12477221

>>12477204
I alway wonder why they never bother even asking a random native English speaker on the street, etc. to check these things before pasting them on official signs and whatnot all over the place.

>>12478738
probably because they don't speak English and therefore can't ask them. But I don't believe they don't know any English-speaking jap.

>>12461709
When I went to Fushimi Inari with a friend of mine we got completely lost and ended up on the backside of the mountain in the middle of nowhere, and it was starting to get dark too.

Thought I was going to end up as food for the mountain monkeys

>>12478935
Were you rescued?

>>12479322
nah we finally made it back to civilization, somewhere like 2 or 3 train stations away from fushimi inari though.