Bag Jump

[grungy-gonads 54]

Big question is. If it indeed has so much potential, why was it not developed when more money than sense was being thrown about.

 

Because the people with the billions of yen to spend.... decided to spend it somewhere else.

[rider69 18]

I like m wave I actually use it to play hockey. The Sunday skates are pretty busy there as well. Like all of Japan the money fell out long ago.

Japan really isnt a summer paradise at all when compared to what is on offer close by. There are golf courses all over Nagano maybe too many

really. Golf might be more expensive than skiing.

[ippy 66]

i think we might be a little at cross purposes here. Im not really talking about ski area versus ski area. Im kinda talking more about a massive industrial city of 400,000 people, and a range of mountains gigantic in scale compared to either myoko or the yuzawa area. I like the yuzawa area, its pretty, i dont want to start a shit war here, its all just pointless what ifs (im seeing nagano after years of seeming decline and not at the start of the aforementioned bubble), but im kinda talking about an area about 60kms within the bounds of nagano city (hence the fact i consider it a valid hub for all this). The area im talking about is massive compared to your counterpoints.

 

I appreciate those places could also do with some investment (the first time i arrived at suginohara i actually thought i was at the small gondola station and that there was another gondola station further up). But could either of those genuinely carry an international presence in the way nagano city itself could? Arguably id suggest no. Maybe if you were talking about Niigata itself? But right now we seem to be comparing kamakura with kyoto, or maybe even asakusa?

 

They need diversity. It cant just all be outdoor pursuits. It needs a culture and a thriving community. I think the hamamatsu thing is really telling. You can see with your own eyes the difference between a backwater run down town like nagano and a vibrant youthful metropolis like hamamatsu. I use the term town and metropolis deliberately. Even though hamamatsu is 1/4 the size of nagano, it feels full of life and bursting at the seems, nagano on the other hand feels old, tired, worn out, and in terminal decline.

 

Maybe thats the way it should go. And maybe domestic tourists have better more convenient options elsewhere. But the whole point of the initial comment was to lament that it happened at all and the lack of vision at the national level in seeing its potential as a place to riv... well, maybe thats a bit much... to supplement your kyoto, naras and tokyos. It supplies something very different to those places of course, and couldnt hope to compete for tourist dollars for your casual tourist that wants to just see japan (shortand for tokyo and kyoto). but the area has something of its own thats unique, and it shares with those places a sense of scale and dare i say, coherence in what it delivers. It feels like a place thats underdeveloped, under appreciated and that seems ultimately happy to just slip away in the night. And that makes me a little sad because it blows my mind how beautiful it is.

[Sciclone 2]

I wonder if work will sponsor me to go to Hamamatsu (I work for Suzuki...)

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Sounds to me you just loving the place you live, which is cool.

 

But does it have something amazingly unique?

 

You have not convinced me. And I'm the one holding the hundreds of billions of yen!!

[muikabochi 208]

i think we might be a little at cross purposes here. Im not really talking about ski area versus ski area. Im kinda talking more about a massive industrial city of 400,000 people, and a range of mountains gigantic in scale compared to either myoko or the yuzawa area. I like the yuzawa area, its pretty, i dont want to start a shit war here, its all just pointless what ifs (im seeing nagano after years of seeming decline and not at the start of the aforementioned bubble), but im kinda talking about an area about 60kms within the bounds of nagano city (hence the fact i consider it a valid hub for all this). The area im talking about is massive compared to your counterpoints.

 

tokabochi isn't precious about his area, neither am I!

No worries on that score.

 

 

I'm not sure I get what your point is, ippy.

 

I have been to your area, it's very pretty. I've been to many, many places in Japan that are very pretty.

As very lovely as it is, your area didn't strike me as being particularly unique or amazing.

Beautiful areas are everywhere you look in these here parts. I like that. Makes competition stiff for sightseeing and stuff though.

 

[ippy 66]

I think the place is striking. And striking in a way that nowhere else ive been to in japan matches it. But if i havent convinced anyone else then ill have to assume the hypothesis fails and im just being over zealous.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

I cant fully articulate the first day i arrived in my nice new city with 4 times the people than the city i lived in previous (hamamatsu), only to find there was almost zero atmosphere to it outside of the tsukebe district. The place is dilapidated. And its a massive crime. Theres so much you can do in this place. All it needs is a nice international friendly hub. Instead you have a city centre thats faceless, lacking any trace of modernity, and is filled to bursting point with snack bars and hairdressers.

 

This could describe practically 90% of towns and cities in Japan.......urban centres in Japan tend to suck balls. I've not really seen a truly beautiful city like what you can find in Europe. If its resort towns....then shit thats almost them all!! Niseko and to a lesser extent Hakuba being exceptions to this.

 

and HEY! Leave Kamakura alone!! A very nice place it is!!

[Alexander L 80]

I think the place is striking. And striking in a way that nowhere else ive been to in japan matches it. But if i havent convinced anyone else then ill have to assume the hypothesis fails and im just being over zealous.

 

 

Good lord, a nice fun thread. Like the video, I reckon my sticks would puncture that bag.

 

Why Nagano is not on the international visitor's list? Ask yourself this: if you wanted to visit Nagano from overseas, where would you fly to?

[ippy 66]

well we needed at least one of these threads thsi year. Alas im the idiot in it. Still, love nagano every season so blow it our your kiester

 

And if youre flying in, clearly youre going to land at matsumoto international airport and hub for the rest of the world, Nagoya has an airport, but its a hole. Id put nagoya up there with saitama.

[Alexander L 80]

And who would even think of matsumoto or even heard of it with Narita in the same sort of area. Nagano loses for being near Tokyo.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Rubbish.

If anything, it wins because of Tokyo.

[Alexander L 80]

Rubbish it's lost. Read the thread.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Yeah I read it, cheers.

[SKI 15]

I think generally Nagano and the whole region has far more appeal than Hokkaido.

 

[Alexander L 80]

And you have every right to your opinion. What is being asked here is why Nagano is not an international hub. And I have poposed a reason. I have not proposed anything with regard to its appeal which is of course a personal choice.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

Cool.

 

OK, so once again

 

Rubbish.

If anything, it wins because of Tokyo.

[Alexander L 80]

And you have every right to your opinion. What is being asked here is why Nagano is not an international hub. And I have poposed a reason. I have not proposed anything with regard to its appeal which is of course a personal choice.

 

OK, so once again

[gerard 6]

Midlife crisis has me wanting to work on my spins, maybe even try and get a backflip going. Maybe the bag is the answer.

[hellyer 216]

My midlife crisis had me seeking sports cars and hair transplants.

I prefer yours.

[muikabochi 208]

I cant fully articulate the first day i arrived in my nice new city with 4 times the people than the city i lived in previous (hamamatsu), only to find there was almost zero atmosphere to it outside of the tsukebe district. The place is dilapidated. And its a massive crime. Theres so much you can do in this place. All it needs is a nice international friendly hub. Instead you have a city centre thats faceless, lacking any trace of modernity, and is filled to bursting point with snack bars and hairdressers.

 

This could describe practically 90% of towns and cities in Japan.......urban centres in Japan tend to suck balls. I've not really seen a truly beautiful city like what you can find in Europe. If its resort towns....then shit thats almost them all!! Niseko and to a lesser extent Hakuba being exceptions to this.

 

Such a shame isn't it.

Spoiling all the natural beauty.

[69 5]

Back to Bag Jump, you pay for a day no per go?

[ippy 66]

you can pay per go. I think i got my numbers wrong. I think its 100 yen per hit, or 500 yen for a full day on it. Thats just at ryuoo though. It was free in tigerworld.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

I cant fully articulate the first day i arrived in my nice new city with 4 times the people than the city i lived in previous (hamamatsu), only to find there was almost zero atmosphere to it outside of the tsukebe district. The place is dilapidated. And its a massive crime. Theres so much you can do in this place. All it needs is a nice international friendly hub. Instead you have a city centre thats faceless, lacking any trace of modernity, and is filled to bursting point with snack bars and hairdressers.

 

This could describe practically 90% of towns and cities in Japan.......urban centres in Japan tend to suck balls. I've not really seen a truly beautiful city like what you can find in Europe. If its resort towns....then shit thats almost them all!! Niseko and to a lesser extent Hakuba being exceptions to this.

 

Such a shame isn't it.

Spoiling all the natural beauty.

 

Town planners (if such a job exists over here) and architects should be strung up.....at least made to go back to school and study some more

[Go Native 70]

Town plannig is almost non existent in Japan from what I could tell Tubby. And you're right most towns are ugly as sin. Kutchan is certainly a very good example of that but there's few towns in Hokkaido that I would consider truly beautiful. There was a real opportunity in Hirafu to guide the development to create some sort of coherant theme within the village but alas the lack of any planning controls meant that opportunity was completely lost. As you say nothing like many towns in Europe which are an absolute delight aesthetically. I think some of the issues stem back to the post war rebuilding period. The Japanese had access to cheap concrete and it became the building material of choice but overall it was a reasonably unfamiliar material to build with and there was a massive rush to rebuild. So aesthetics were thrown out the window in favour of utilitarian function. The result being whole towns transformed from beautiful older style wooden buildings (if they survived the war) to butt ugly concrete blocks. Architects got a little more flair during the bubble years but on the whole it bordered on crass rather than any classic or traditional styles. And since the crash with housing no longer having capital growth in most areas people just aren't prepared to put a lot of money into buildings. They keep them as simple and cheap as possible as it's not like they'll be able to sell the property later on for a nice profit. You build cheaply to limit your losses later on. Similarly older homes that actually do have some character are rarely revitalised and renovated unless there's some heritage overlay (which is really rare). Generally it's knock em down and put up something with nowhere near the character of the previous building. Of course there are some excellent architects in Japan but the average person generally can't possibly afford their services or the building costs.