nippontiger

Attitudes to smoking are a lot more relaxed in Japan than in most other developed countries, and I have to say, I think that is a lot to do with the fact that the Japanese government owns a significant part of JT. Back in England, there are very graphic anti-smoking campaigns on the TV, smoking advertising is completely banned, and you cant smoke inside any public building. Tax on tobacco is so high, it costs over 1000 yen a pack, and shops hardly make anything on that. In Japan, there is none of that (afaik) - the anti-smoking campaigns here consist of hillarious "polite smoking" advertisem

I was teaching once and having a nice chat to one of my students - he asked me how old I was. When I told him, he laughed and said, "I thought you were about 45!". I wasnt impressed. I had to end our nice little chat with a curt "Riiggght....open your book to page 12 please..."!

I did about 10 last year, but I didnt go after February, cos hardly any more snow came. Ill be very happy with 15 this year!

First went skiing for a week in Austria in 2000, then went for a couple of days in the French Pyrenees a couple of months later. Didnt ski again until I moved to Japan in 2004. I manage to get about 10 days skiing each year. I'd say Im a pretty good intermediate level now, but whenever I start in the morning, I just cant quite get it - feels a bit awkward, but then I'll really get into it mid afternoon, and will be blasting through powder, no problems, and it feels so easy! Reckon I could do with a proper lesson, to show me exactly what Im doing wrong in the mornings! I tried snowboarding

Back in England, people always used to think I was younger than I was, but now Im in Japan, everyone guesses older!! Foreigners tend to look older to Japanese (not good for the likes of me!), so he might just get away with it!

Ive got a load of money to transfer to blighty. What to do? Transfer now? Wait longer? Im pretty sure the pound is under and the yen overvalued, but can it really go much lower??

Yeah, it went to a low a few weeks ago, dropping to 137.6 at one point, but went up a touch and was hovering about 146 for the past week (you'd prob get 150 at post office). Just gone down to 140 today. Im hoping it goes to 110!!!!

If people dont know why you are taking the pictures, and see you doing it often, they probably think its some kind of "Otaku" thing, like the trainspotters, or something!! You never know, it might start off a bit of a fad amongst real Japanese Otaku, and suddenly there'll be people all around the country taking pictures of phone boxes!!!

Bad news for people wanting to buy Yen - its gone up even more today - up almost 5% against the pound in just a few hours - the pound dropped a bit against other currency's but not by 5% - must be the yen going up - I wonder how much more this can continue???

Find him a nice young lady on the slopes on the first day - they can go out together (Careful! Age of consent is 20 here too!!), and you guys can go out and drink wonderful sake to your hearts content! Everybody's happy!

Cant see a problem with it. You could even try to use your outgoing shinkansen ticket you bought in the package and sit in the non-reserved section - you might still be able to use it in the non-reserved, even if its for a different day. If it doesnt work, just go and buy a ticket. I honestly dont understand why JR dont do the same deals for two, or three day trips - Hakuba is do-able in a day trip from Tokyo, but its a bit far really.

blue84, if you arrive at 1845, you cant make the bus from Nagano to Hakuba on the same day. I think the last bus from Nagano to Hakuba is either 9pm or 9.30 depending on the day. You should be able to make the overnight bus from Shinjuku (not recommended, unless you're really on a budget and dont mind feeling really knackered on your first day), or maybe take the shuttle taxi from the airport, but if I were you, Id put up in a hotel in Nagano, get a good nights sleep and get the first bus to Hakuba the following morning. You could also take a taxi from Nagano to Hakuba, but I dont know how m

Ive always found that withdrawing cash from the cash machines got me the best exchange rate - not far off the actual exchange rate and there is only a small charge for the service - couple of quid or something. Going to the banks/exchange office - the rate they give you is ripping you off a good 10% or more, plus they add a service charge. If you keep the receipt, they might knock off the service charge for changing back unspent currnecy, but I believe they still rip you off on the exchange rate - a good 10% the other way! If you have a friend you trust in Japan, you could do a bank transfer

You can get the lift passes at the ski area. You might be able to get some cheaper ones from your hotel. Assuming you're coming into Narita, you need to take the train (Keisei line) into Tokyo - I think it goes all the way to Ueno (about 1000 yen), which is where you need to go - takes just over 1 hour. Get on the Nagano shinkansen (bullet train) all the way to Nagano city (about 7000 yen one way - 1.5 hours). You then have to take the bus (1500 yen, 1 hour) to Hakuba village. Call your hotel and with a bit of luck, they might pick you up, if not, about 800 yen in a taxi to echoland. Dont forg

This being Japan, Im surprised the Ski schools dont expect their employees to pay double the normal price for their season ticket, in order to show loyalty to the company!

You take a belt sander to the bottom of your skis?! Ive not heard of that before! I do a hot wax, scrape and wipe with the green pan cleaner thing. I find when I do this, its like attatching rockets to the back of my skis! Acceleration due to gravity is the same regardless of your weight, and if you are heavier, there will be more friction so you will accelerate more slowly - a good wax will help reduce friction. However, once up to speed, you will have more inertia than a lighter person, which should help power you over any flat spots!

I was hoping to go to Kagura this Sunday, but by the looks of the weather radar, all the snow seems to be missing that area! Hakuba looks like its had a fair dump, but its just a bit to far for a 1 day trip for me! Hopefully things will look better by tomorrow morning! I think the forecast has more snow lined up tonight, but getting a bit warmer by the weekend - perhaps more snow for higher resorts on friday night, but maybe rain in the valleys.

Maybe you can bring your phone, see if it works when you get to the airport, and if not, just get one of the hire ones at the airport - I dont think they're so expensive. As Tubby said, you'll probably be able to use your card at post office machines - just dont forget, they close early! Other than that, I wouldnt rely on a card to pay for anything - Japanese use cash for pretty much everything. If you book an international holiday for a family of five at a travel agent, you are expected to turn up with a big, fat wadfull of cash to pay for it - your cards, Japanese or otherwise, most likely

Can you use foreign phones in Japan now? I never knew - a couple of years ago, my friends visited - their phones worked fine in every country they visited, including Vietnam, Thailand, Colombia, Syria, Russia and China, but were useless in Japan! Even my Japanese bank card wont work in most of the machines here - I spent an hour and half in Nagano last year dragging gear around looking for an ATM - I tried about 10 before I found one that worked - I think it was 7-11. Mine wont work after 9pm on Sat, Sun, or after 11 during the week. When I asked my bank if I could use it abroad, they just

Japan has the worst cash machines in pretty much any developed country (probably worse than many undeveloped countries too)- dont expect to use your cash card in most machines. Most likely place to accept will be post office machines. Also, the machines close after a certain time - if you are going out clubbing, make sure you have the cash you need during the day. Credit cards aren't used so much in Japan, and many places wont take foreign ones. Switch/cirrus/meastro doesnt exist (afaik). Your British mobile phone most likely wont work here - you can hire one at the airport. Tokyo clubs on

Thanks for the responses everyone! We've just got to find a place to stay now - the place we were planning to book is full! Anyway, Im sure we'll get somewhere sorted! The forecast for friday night is looking good too......

Im hoping to go to Hakuba this coming weekend, but one of our group is a few months pregnant and wont be able to ski. Any ideas for some daytime activities in the Hakuba area for a someone who cant do anything too physically strenuous? I was thinking there might be a tour to see the snow monkeys or something like that? BTW anyone get up to Kagura today? I went for Kandatsu as I was worried that with the storm, lifts might be affected by wind, but it turned out not to be too windy. Kandatsu was mental - heaviest snowfall Ive ever seen and anything from knee to chest deep/bottomless all ov

I got a brand new head matrix board (2008 model) from Off House for 6000 yen! It was still in the plastic! The same board was 50000 in Ochanomizu.

Kua Ainas burgers are big and usually pretty good, but theyve been a bit overdone on occasion. Freshness burgers classic burgers are nice, but for something a bit more unusual, how about R-Burger in Roppongi? R-burger Review

We got a little bit here in Tsukuba - only a centimetre, but it gave everything a nice wintery feel this morning. Was freezing here today - not many people out for the football this lunchtime - I was one of them and the only one in shorts! Looking good for my trip to Kagura this Sat.....