Japan!

[kate_nepveu]

So, as you may have seen in Chad's blog, we are going to Japan for Worldcon and making a major trip out of it. Our tentative plan is to arrive in Osaka on Sunday August 19, spend about a week in Kyoto, then head to Yokohama (30 min. outside of Tokyo) to the con hotel and do stuff in Tokyo and environs (Kamakura) until the con, which is Thursday August 30 through Monday September 3. We'll probably stick at the hotel until Tuesday, to both relax and get in some last-minute fannish socializing, and then do . . . something . . . that would get us back to Osaka to fly out that Saturday.

(The plan is structured this way because other commitments make this block of time the best one, and we want a good chunk of time in Kyoto.)

So! Tell me about traveling to Japan. We are planning to hit the major museums, gardens, temples, and shrines in Kyoto, maybe Nara, Tokyo, and Kamakura; what else should we see, particularly in the post-con period? Note that low-stress things would be particularly valued at this point in the trip.

Other things I'd like to know, off the top of my head:

• Is an East Coast travel agent from a big chain going to be able to help us with booking airfare, hotels, rail passes, baseball tickets, etc.? Are there agencies that are better at travel to Japan than others?
• Is there any likelihood at all that business fares will drop below five digits? Chad could really use the extra leg room, but when he looked quick at fares, they were in the $10K range—which was way more than when we looked at this several months ago. Maybe we were just looking at the wrong dates?
• If I'm not willing to sleep on the floor, does that rule out hotels like Crossroads of rachelmanija's icon?
• What can I eat if I don't like soy sauce and raw fish? (Yes, I know. This is one of the reasons it took Worldcon for Chad to be able to drag me to Japan.) Do you have restaurants you particularly recommend?
• Souvenirs. Besides stuff I just like, are there particularly good things to bring back as gifts for people? Are there things to avoid?
• What learning-Japanese audiobooks do you recommend?
• What's the wireless internet situation like? I'm contemplating getting a Palm with wireless to carry around and possibly replace the laptop for the trip.
• Besides kabuki, what live performances should we try? Would, say, the equivalent of a minor-league baseball game be worth trying, considering that we're really not that into baseball but enjoy live games?
• Who else is going to Worlcon? What are your plans? Are you sticking around before, after, where are you going when?
• What should I be asking that I don't know enough to?

(I am, by the way, keeping an eye on telephase's post for ideas too.)

Comments

[kate_nepveu]

Thanks, I'll look at those posts. And yeah, that's one of the things I expect to dislike about being in Japan.

[turnberryknkn.livejournal.com]

One interesting thing (among many) about living in Japan (1991-1994) was the subtle racism directed against me... unless I spoke English.

To wit: Japanese society, especially outside the urban, cosmopolitan city cores, still had back then a level of racism torwards non-Japanese Asians similar to the subtle type of racism directed against African Americans in many parts of Red America. Japan, in fact, didn't even allow Japan-born individuals of other Asian ancestry *be* naturalized Japanese citizens without documentation of actual Japanese ancestry. When I went into stores, or tried to get tickets at ticket stations, many native Japanese would immediately identify my Chinese genetic ancestry by my face (and they're *really* good at telling the difference between Japanese, Koreans, Chinese, etc.) and treat me, well, like I was beneath them. They'd still serve me, but they'd definately show me less than a warm welcome... unless I spoke English.

Again, twelve years ago, the average Japanese had a very *different* attitude torwards what they percieved to be Westerners -- Americans, especially. They'd go out of their way to be polite to Americans. And most interesting of all, the fact I spoke English with an obvious American fluency was more important to them, in their attitudes, than the fact I had a Chinese face. What was apparently more important was that I was Chinese-American, not Chinese-American. In fact, often their attitudes would change 180 degrees right at the moment of realization. I could effectively perform a version of the famous racism thought experiment, where one changes one's skin color and sees what different reactions they would get, simply by using English or Japanese.

There was an even greater racial bias against "half-breeds" -- against native women who married white men, almost a level of contempt -- again overriden, from what I've heard, if they knew you weren't, in fact, native.

Now, that was ten-plus years ago -- before the current Administration made America's name Mud in many quarters, for starters. But it is something I experienced, and might be worth thinking about. I would be prepared for those kinds of reactions, if they are still prelevant in the areas you're going to.

[kate_nepveu]

Ugh. I was afraid of that, but thanks for the personal experience.