Frequently Asked Questions about Visiting Japan

choi

Brian Ashcraft, Frequently Asked Questions about Visiting Japan. Kotaku, July 10, 2015
http://kotaku.com/frequently-ask ... ng-japan-1716461645
("Even in homes, the bath is usually a separate room from the toilet")

My comment:
(a) "Bumping in a love hotel? That’s another matter entirely."  "Heh."
(i) The first quotation is author’s way of saying “having sex.”
(ii) heh (exclamation): "1: an exclamation of surprise or inquiry; 2: an indication of sly amusement, used esp in electronic communication"
http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/heh
* Ryokan (inn)  旅館
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryokan_(inn)
(b) "June is the rainy season, so bring an umbrella."  "Okay. [It is] Noted."

East Asian rainy season
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_rainy_season
(c) "Be aware that in the past, some bars have not allowed foreigners to enter, perhaps because of said language barrier, among other reasons."

In 1984 on my way to Chicago I spent a night (or two) in Tokyo. I went to Shinjuku(?) 新宿(区) and a young man stood in front of something that looked like a small night club beckoning me to get in. I asked in English what it was about inside. As soon as he realized that I was a foreigner, he looked upset and whirled his umbrella to splash a bit of water on me (the rain just stopped). A week later, I met a young Japanese man on a budget tour of US (after having graduated from a college and before assuming a teaching posting in Japan, saying he might have another chance to come to US). I asked him why I was turned down back in Tokyo; (apparently sincerely) he said he did not know; I pressed whether the clug mght have been sex-related, and again he replied he did not know. Then he related that in California (Los Angeles or San Francisco), a Mexican man blocked his way to a bank; the Japanese man could not figure out why, nor could I.
(d) "Japanese people tend to give visitors a wide berth."

berth
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/berth
(e) "Also, when eating, don’t stick your chopsticks in a bowl of rice, because it’s reminiscent of a funeral rite, and don’t pass food from chopsticks to chopsticks. Again, this is a funeral rite."

Chopsticks. japan-guide.com, undated
www.japan-guide.com/e/e2039.html
("• Do not stick chopsticks into your food, especially not into rice. This is only done at funerals with rice that is put onto the altar.  • Do not pass food directly from your set of chopsticks to another's. Again, this is a funeral tradition that involves the bones of a cremated body")
(f) "whether you are gay or straight, you might want to dial back the PDA [public display of affection]."

(g) To buy (or play?) video games: "For Tokyo, go to Akihabara, Nakano Broadway or Ikebukuro 池袋 [a neighborhood, not a 区]. For Osaka, go to Nipponbashi (aka Den Den Town [which is Japanese pronunciation: "家電以外に、電材や各種部品・工具等を扱う店舗もあり"  Japanese Wikipedia]). * * * You should also visit large electronics stores like Yodobashi Camera and Bic Camera."
(i) Nipponbashi  日本橋
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nipponbashi
(ii) For "Nakano Broadway," see Nakano, Tokyo  中野区
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nakano,_Tokyo
(section 3 Places[:] Nakano Broadway: otaku building (several floors of arcades, manga, anime, idol, music, toy, subculture specialty shops))

* Jim Breen's online Japanese dictionary translates "otaku" into "geek, nerd, enthusiast."
(iii) Yodobashi Camera  (株式会社) ヨドバシカメラ
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yodobashi_Camera
(Yodobashi 淀橋 happens to be the name of [a bridge,] a former town and ward making up present day Shinjuku ward, where the company was founded)

(h) maid cafe
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maid_caf%C3%A9