tokyo wanderings

[japan-junkie]

DSC_0071 by juor2 Via Flickr: 築地

[mapsontheweb]

Tokyo Metro Map on a Passnet Fare Card, 2005

[thisisnotjapan]

Do you have any tips for being a respectful (white) tourist in Japan? Like, souvenir ettiquette and whether or not to visit festivals?

I think a lot of etiquette is overrated insofar as people have this idea of Japan as a country of extreme politeness where visitors need to walk on eggshells. This isn’t the case. Japan is a country accustomed to heavy tourism, and all you really need is a decent guidebook with a section on local etiquette.

Issues of cultural appropriation are mostly separate from etiquette and apply more when you’re back in your own country.

Just read the etiquette section of a decent guidebook. This will explain stuff like taking off shoes. Buy souvenirs on general sale, but when you get back home, don’t treat them as weeaboo status symbols. Visit festivals and shrines that are open to the general public, follow guidebook rules and rules posted in English on signs anywhere. Ask before taking pictures. If you’re worried about being disrespectful or going where you shouldn’t go, ask someone politely. Try not to take up excessive amounts of space or draw excessive attention to yourself. Ideally, tourists would do this in every country they visited.

[yosihon]

角島大橋 by Yuichi Yoshimoto Via Flickr: Tsunoshima bridge

[webbinghaus]

Saying someone looks good in Japanese - appendix

Today I learned from my Japanese friend that when complimenting a girl’s スタイル in Japanese, you are not complimenting their ‘style’ but rather their body. I’m lead to believe that this does not have the same sexual implication as it does in English (ie. saying a girl has ‘a good body’ is rather innocent in Japanese if said using the word スタイル).

I find this pretty perplexing because in English, ‘style’ would be used to refer to a girl’s clothes, hair, make-up etc, whereas in Japanese it has nothing to do with any of the that and instead refers only to the body itself, and its shape.

Things like this constantly remind me that using English words in Japanese katakana is not a surefire way of getting your point across or being understood. On the contrary, since many words’ meanings are actually different in Japanese despite being borrowed from English, you may have to treat such words as not being English at all, but just more Japanese vocabulary for you to learn.

[neo-japanesque]

満開の桜がここに！？「スターバックス上野恩賜公園店」でお花見＆桜香るフラペチーノ♪ | 東京都 | [たびねす] by Travel.jp

starbucks coffee japan

ueno onshi park store

ueno park, taito ward, tokyo metropolis,  japan

[fardraut]

psa

if you need to abbreviate “japan” or “japanese” in any way shape or form, please for the love of god use jpn instead of jap. the word jap is a racial slur. i still see “yeah i have the jap version of (thing)” around and i’ll correct it and give the benefit of the doubt, but it still scares the bajeezus outta me!!!

[manabitai]

[myadventureswithliam]

Gundam, Odaiba, Japan

[epiffany]

Survey for SOC397 - Asian American Inequalities

[tokyowanderings]

(sorry if you see reposts of this from my other blog.)

i’m doing a survey on asian/asian americans for a class project and would really appreciate your responses! all answers are anonymous. you just have to be an asian/asian american who has spent most of their life in the US.

thanks!

[tokyowanderings]

一年後

today marks exactly one year since i embarked on my study abroad journey to japan!

although i definitely have some regrets - not traveling to as many places, not making as many friends (both japanese & non-japanese), not bringing 2 suitcases - i still really enjoyed my time there and i’ve definitely been feeling nostalgic lately - occasionally i even have dreams about being back in japan.

some of the most important things i learned:

your experience is what you make of it. you are the one in charge of shaping your experience.

keep an open mind - some people go into it with very high or very specific expectations and then blame the country for not being what they were hoping.

don’t settle into a routine. this can be scary for people who need to have a routine in their lives, but i think it’s really important to force yourself to deviate from it even if only in small steps, like trying a new restaurant or exploring a new area of the neighborhood.

go to as many places as you can, whether it’s 30 minutes away or 3 hours away; some of my best memories were the short trips i took outside of tokyo.

i’m always active on tumblr even if i don’t post often on this blog, so i’m always open to chatting & answering questions!

[japanloverme]

Cherry Blossom Forecast 2015 as of Feb 26. Get real-time updates from www.jnto.go.jp/sakura/eng/index.php

[sleepyberry]

telephone booth aquarium in Nara 

[pechanko]

Hi everyone !!!

Right now in Japan it’s 3/11, that’s the day the huge earthquake hit and thousands of people died and lost their homes so please just take a min and go to http://yahoo.co.jp and search “3.11” in the search bar and you will donate 10 yen 💴for reconstruction assistance !!

[fuckyeahjapanandkorea]

YOKOHAMA MINATOMIRAI by linton!!

[amanotomoki]

休日の無人電車

[keshiki-blog]

大阪駅/Osaka Station (by tirol28)