Project Moon Language: Prologue

“Let's never come here again, because it will never be as much fun.”

While my interest in Japanese culture has existed for nearly as long as I've been cognizant of Japan's existence, I never really considered going there until Lost In Translation was released. I am easily swayed by love letters to cities, treatments that shine warm light on the best and worst parts.

Lost In Translation always struck me as the film most reflective of both how I do travel (bewildered, often eating at the hotel, trying and failing to blend in) and how I would want to travel (see introductory quote). But I am rarely afforded the opportunity to fulfill this wanderlust when out of town; my travels almost always comes with primary motivations like weddings, or conferences, or family gatherings.

The film forces me into a parodox: while it is one of my favorite movies, it is one I cannot bring myself to watch. This is largely out of jealousy - I have been dreaming of going to Japan and wandering the same streets, and never finding a chance to act on it...until now.

At the end of the year, I will be making the trip I've been waiting six years for: a visit to Tokyo, and an attempt to cram in as much sightseeing, shopping, eating, and exploring as possible over the week of a major holiday.

First, though, there is the small matter of a language barrier. For despite as many times as I've rushed to consume imported media, I know an effective naught of Japanese. Abortive attempts at learning character sets have been made nearly every year, but now I have definite purpose. If I fail to learn Japanese this time, I will find myself in a strange land and being able to communicate only through hand-waving, pantomime, and apologies.

Thus begins a series of posts that I'm dubbing Project Moon Language: my attempts to fight through Rosetta Stone Japanese Levels 1, 2, and 3¹, as well as possible explorations into other methods and cultural oddities². As a 29 year old well past the age where learning a new language is natural, this should (if nothing else) be entertainingly frustrating.

The installation is done; the learning begins tomorrow.

¹ I'd like to point out that unlike most geeks who use Rosetta Stone, we in fact purchased a legitimate copy through Amazon. This either shows my commitment to taking this seriously, indicates that I am a complete fool, or both.
² Expect a post about mahjong that can only be described as "overkill".

Xythar

In before Pker plugging Odaiba... oh.

I'm not an expert on Tokyo but I think he's covered most of it already, really. Let me know if you ever visit the Kansai area and I'll have lots of recommendations to make :)

Adam "rampage" Meltz

I’m so jealous that you’re going to Tokyo. It’s such a fun city and you’re going to have a blast.

I mentioned this on Katie’s Facebook page but a bit of advice is to take advantage of the Suica+N’EX deal you can get at Narita. For JPY3500, tt gives you a one way ticket on the N’EX train (that’s worth JPY3000 right there) that takes you right into the center of Tokyo in around 90 minutes. The Suica card you get through the deal has JPY1500 on it that you can use on all metro trains, many vending machines, and even POS at some places. It’s a great deal that they only offer to foreigners. The card you get is a great souvenir as well since it only comes with that deal.

You’ll do a bulk of your traveling on the Yamanote (green) line most likely. It runs a clockwise/counterclockwise ring around central Tokyo and goes to nearly every big destination. I recommend learning it as you’ll probably be taking it quite a bit. :) Don’t take taxis if you can help it, they are crazy expensive. The drop fare is JPY700, and the per Km fee is crazy. Take a train and walk to places instead.

I wouldn’t worry too much about the language barrier. All signs are in English, all train instructions are in English, and English is compulsory for Japanese students. Chances are even with the most rudimentary grasp of Japanese, you can communicate with people as they have a rudimentary grasp of English.

It was much more of a struggle for me to communicate when I was in China as almost nobody understood or spoke English despite me being in Shanghai which was one of the most cosmopolitan cities there.

As a Pro Tip, I put a bunch of maps on my iPhone as PDFs using the Air Sharing app. If I got lost, I’d bring up the map, pull someone aside and ask, “dokou wa ” and I was always directed the right place. Everybody there that I interacted with was super friendly and polite.

One last thing, most places don’t take US credit cards, and most banks don’t take US ATM cards. You can get cash from Citibank, 7-11, or AM-PM (I think). You’ll probably need to carry a lot of cash with you at all times. Tokyo is a very expensive city.

JPY to USD is pretty easy, it’s roughly JPY100 to $1. It’s good enough for BSing your way through shopping. It can be disarming since the currency has so many more zeros, it makes things seem cheaper (to me at least) when it really isn’t. :)

I know you’re going to have an amazing time. I hope to go back soon myself. Maybe next year. :)

- Adam

Ryan Bayne

I congratulate you on trying to learn the language prior to your trip. I was in Japan in May for business and managed to find myself arriving in the evening in Shinjuku and not having to get to the airport until mid-afternoon the next day. I managed to visit both the shopping area around Yodobashi Camera including the Sega arcade, as well as the Pokémon Centre the following morning, but I still felt lost not being able to communicate with people.

Tokyo was actually better than when I was outside of Nagoya. I went to a supermarket to buy some Pokémon Pan, and when I was paying at the register, the cashier went on and asked me something fairly long and all I could do was stare and be mute. We also had challenges checking into the hotel there until we dropped the vendor’s name, and I had to ask for one of our host’s help in asking for an iron from the front desk. Tokyo was much better, but I still wish you luck and hope that your success will serve as inspiration for me.

mhaithaca

Also, watch “Shogun.”

PkerUNO

The first time I visited Tokyo on my own time, I was on my own and had no idea what to do. One evening I made a plan, and it turned out to be a fantastic adventure - I really recommend you try it too. :)

The day had been by and large fairly uninteresting, I believe I spent the afternoon around Ebisu, admiring the French-style fake stately home there. I hadn’t visited Tokyo Tower yet, so I decided to head there just before sunset. I managed to get to the top while there was enough light to take a full set of daytime panoramic shots, before waiting for the light to dim and watching the sunset over Tokyo. I took some more night-time pictures while having a glass in the (overpriced) bar there.

Now dark, I headed out towards the nearby metro station and went to Shinbashi (you could also walk there if you prefer), where my railfan instincts took me to see the steam locomotive on display in front of the station. Just outside the JR portion of the station, I noticed the entrance to the “Yurikamome Line”, which seems to be elevated, so I figured it would at least have cool views.

The Yurikamome is in fact an automated line, and is entirely elevated. Sitting in the front seat, the line starts off in-between the massive glass skyscrapers of Shiodome, hundreds of lights shimmering in the dark. After Shiodome, it turns left and heads towards Tokyo Bay, following the coastline. A few warehouses and flood control gates later, and Rainbow Bridge looms into view - and just when you think, “wow, I’d really like to see what’s on that island on the other side”, the train boards a spiralling ramp puts you on the bridge, in-between the traffic.

The island on the other side is in fact Odaiba, a man-made island which used to be a cannon fortress. I decided to get off at the second stop, simply called “Daiba”. Although it wasn’t there when I went, there is now a giant, life-size Gundam statue there, although I’m not sure how much longer it’ll be there. After admiring the mini-Statue of Liberty, the Fuji TV building (as featured on Adam & Joe) and the lovely view of Rainbow Bridge and Tokyo Bay, I headed north, past the Aqua City shopping centre, and into the nautically-themed Decks shopping centre. This building houses the Sega theme park, Joypolis, but I didn’t really feel like going in on my own, so instead I went up to the 3rd floor, where there is a reconstruction of an old-timey Japanese street, complete with nostalgic shops and a kind of “old Japan theme park” atmosphere.

Heading North out of Decks, I was back at the Yurikamome line, this time “Odaiba Kaihinkoen” station. But I wasn’t satisfied just yet. Taking the overpass under the station, and walking towards the giant, illuminated ferris wheel, you pass over the Wangan Expressway.

The ferris wheel is actually part of an entertainment complex called Palette Town, comprising of an arcade (with IIDX) next to the wheel itself, Zepp Tokyo, the Toyota Megaweb showroom, and Venus Fort. It’s Venus Fort that I was most interested in, because once past the rather bland exterior, you find yourself in a shopping centre. Themed like Venice at night. Complete with fountains, piazzas and cloudy sky. Open until 11pm, I made sure to stay and explore as much of it as I could. When closing time came, I simply went right out of Venus Fort and into Ariake station, where the Yurikamome did one final tour of Odaiba before heading back into Tokyo.

If you’d like to fit dinner into this trip too, my favourite place was the Royal Host in Aqua City. Make sure to get a window seat overlooking the bay!

Dan Dickinson

Riichi, mostly.

hchao

Wait, mahjong? Which rule set?

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