Japan is neat.

[tony speller]

serious guys.

post on how neat you think Japan is.

Maybe pictures...

since this forum is kind of dull right now.

i'll look for some and post away soon.

[PghUSA]

Well I'll be glad to "paint you a picture" heard that the long time Japanese PM is a HUGE Elvis Pressley(sp) fan. Interesting

[egrguy]

i certainly agree, japan is a very neat place, no argument here.

[Allison Slater]

Japan isn't neat. It's awesome. The only place where you can ride a speeding EL train straight out of a huge metropolis into mountains with wooden shrines and temples which have been built and rebuilt in the same practices and techniques as they were thousands of years ago.

I used to love watching NHK News Japan on NWI on Direct TV, but they stopped carrying that channel and replaced it with China News that I'd have to pay extra for

Their love for the latest and greatest in technology, whilst still keeping alive ancient traditions and practices is matched nowhere else in the world, although followed by India.

One day I would like to go to Japan, either in Tokyo or some small town around Tokyo or Kyoto. (I'd say Osaka, but I've been learning the Tokyo dialect, not Osaka)

[dpbaker]

Japan is truly unique, a clash of cultures; the old and the new, where East meets West! Far from perfect, and I believe Japan is largely forgetting its heritage and history which is a shame, but I love Japan nonetheless. The large cities are great, absolutely love Tokyo, but people need to get away from these areas and see the more rural attractions and get around. There is really a lot to see.

[Lance Winslow]

Japan's Newest Bullet Train.

The Japanese not only have perfected the automobile and captured a huge chunk of the market in the US, they really know how to move people in Japan too;

Perhaps you have not heard the Japanese now have a bullet train that exceeds 250 mph. The only problem is that takes a long time to slow down, so it doesn't reach Top Speed on every trip or stay at those Top Speed for very long. But its speed is what you need then this bullet train is best of breed.

The previous fastest bullet trains ran at 125 miles an hour in Japan between our Osaka and Tokyo. But the French with their TGV bullet train has run at a top speed of 218 mph. But this new Japanese bullet train runs consistently at 223 mph on a daily basis with a top speed of 250 mph.

Of course in Japan, you will have to slow down quick if there is an earthquake and the Japanese have already thought about that too. The bullet train has spoilers, which come out like giant Japanese fans to break the air and slow the train down as much as 10 mph per second and back down to 55 mph, when the brakes kick in hard.

The nosecone of the bullet train is over 52 feet long in order to shape the airflows so they will streamline along the body at those high rates of speed. Engineers say that the bullet train is even more stable at high speed due

[davidals]

Japan is truly unique, a clash of cultures; the old and the new, where East meets West! Far from perfect, and I believe Japan is largely forgetting its heritage and history which is a shame, but I love Japan nonetheless. The large cities are great, absolutely love Tokyo, but people need to get away from these areas and see the more rural attractions and get around. There is really a lot to see.

Not just Japan-specific - I live in Chapel Hill NC, and have two good friends who respectively grew up in Masuda Japan and Bangalore India - all 3 of us are major film geeks (most of my friends). I grew up in the US and gradually got really burnt out on Hollywood film, and for the last 10 years or so have turned into one of those obnoxious foreign film people - IMO Japan, India, France, Italy, Russia all have these vast film histories and tons of great stuff to discover, a lot of which is making it out onto DVD. And those guys just laugh - they could care less about Kurosawa or Satyajit Ray or "classic" Japanese and Indian film and literature - both of them (and they're just as meticulous in their viewing of American film) comment that they grew up on a steady diet of Hollywood, and were tired of the "formulas" and "cliches" in their own national cinema. The "forgetting of heritage" is a global condition, to varying degrees in just about any country that isn't a "failed" state...

[GAOnMyMind]

I used to love watching NHK News Japan on NWI on Direct TV, but they stopped carrying that channel and replaced it with China News that I'd have to pay extra for

So NHK has to be picked up by a large dish now? Or via direct vendors? Know of a local business that specializes in getting NHK (because I don't believe local Direct TV carried it at all), but not sure if they just tapped into national Direct TV outlets.

Does anyone know if it's possible to get the real NHK, not the repackaged variety served in the US and Europe?

[NcSc74]

I loved Tokyo. One of the best cities in the world. Of couse I will say NYC is number 1 but Tokyo is a very close second.

[zman9810]

I've been fascinated by Tokyo and Japan in general ever since I saw the movie "Lost in Translation". How accurately did that movie portray life there? I'd love to visit but it probably wouldn't be the same without Scarlett Johnasson to guide me around.

[traal]

The characters in "Lost in Translation" were rich foreign celebrities, so the movie doesn't accurately reflect how more ordinary people might experience Japan.

I can't think of a movie that really does. Not that it would be boring. Tokyo is an exciting place, especially if you know someone who could show you around.

[the99]

Those buildings are sick, love that style!

[tennis32801]

Need advice please. I am potentially moving to Atsugi for work. It will be a 3 year term for the Navy. The Navy will be paying for my housing, utilities, and monthly allowance on top of my normal salary (as an engineer). I am currently working for the Navy in DC for about a year now. While Im not too fond of DC (not the most friendly city IMO), I have come to like a bit more. And DC is overpriced! My question is, should I make this move? I will be farther away from family (in Florida), plus being in a foreign country. Driving on the opposite site scares me! But I LOVE Japanese food.

Additionally, I have been researching where I would want to live. Tokyo isn't too far, but prob way too expensive. Yokohama looks promising too. Any Americans on here have experience living in Japan that they can share? thanks