| Just in Tokyo by Justin Hall Page #14 This is a browsable copy of the original pdf hosted on Rikai.com If you enjoy this work, please consider donating to the author  This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. | |
|
Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 | |
|
| |
nese banks (this may seem illegal or illogical to you; good luck
arguing your point). Some stores will take your plastic, but they will
charge you a credit card surcharge. At the cash register, ask about
"kaado" and hand them what you have. Also having more than one
variety of credit card can help.
some restaurants, hotel rooms and homes. When should you
remove your shoes? Often when stepping up on to another level or
type of flooring. Or when you see straw mat floors, but mostly when
you see other slippers and shoes lined up near a doorway.
on; try to avoid gnarly socks.
are easy, something local from your home region is better. Bring a
bunch of small presents and sort it out when you get here.
together. Especially if you care to try any of the unusual
accomodation options, you might find a disturbing amount of ambi-
ent noise.
The Japanese royal family is purportedly the oldest surviving
royal lineage - 125 generations. The Emperor was considered
divine by the Shinto religion up until the end of World War
II when the Americans forced him to announce on the radio
that he was not, in fact, a god. Some Japanese folks are still
pissed off about that - the "uyoku" are right-wingers who
drive vans around Tokyo blaring nationalist sentiments and
songs. They occasionally visit people who express ideas
different from their own and rough them up, often until they
are paid off - political extortion linked to the Yakuza gangsters
who are supposedly quite close with the right-wingers.
Certainly during the Emperor's annual birthday speech in
December, it is the suited mafiosi and raving flag-wavers who
make the biggest show of the event. Meanwhile, the Emperor
himself never breaks his perfectly rational and pleasant
facade as the largely backgrounded leader of modern Japan.
Recently, he just seems happy to finally have a grandchild,
even if it is a girl.