another Saitama inquiry

[BlackSheep]

i'm attending Daito Bunka University in september, and was coaxed into it by the persuasive murmurs of "it's so close to tokyo, you can just take the train there." so i go for it and now find out it's over 25 miles outside of tokyo. ouch.

i'm allergic to the country, and want to know how hard i should plan on sobbing when they drop me off at my apartment. anyone familiar with Sakado, Higashimatsuyama (both in the center of Saitama prefecture), or Daito? every time i ask japanese friends i get placebos or jokes about pigs and rice fields. someone be honest with me!!

also, rumor has it, it takes 50 minutes and $10 to get from Sakado to Ikebukuro. anyone know for sure?

[cstaylor]

And Saitama is a crime-infested backwater. If there's a murder outside of Tokyo, 9 times out of 10 it happens in Saitama-ken. :!:

[GuyJean]

anyone familiar with Sakado, Higashimatsuyama
I used to live in Shinrinkoen, one stop from Higashi-Matsuyama. It's.... OK. :| Shinrinkoen has a large bycicle park, where you can pay to ride on 5 kilometers of paved bike-paths through forest-like, hilly terrain.. whoopee! I enjoyed it.... once.

It's not that bad if you like flat, countryside nothingness. The Far East Network (FEN) radio station was my friend.
it takes 50 minutes and $10 to get from Sakado to Ikebukuro. anyone know for sure?
I think I remember it taking me around 70 minutes to get to Ikebukuro.. But it was only 750 yen! :D

If I was going out in Tokyo, I'd always plan on returning the next morning. Forget the 'last train' BS..

Kawagoe is decent.. um.. that's about it.

Yokohama is MUCH better, but I don't think you have a choice. Make the best of it; Study Japanese, read, or feel-up a high school girl on your long ride into Tokyo. :wink:

GJ

[BlackSheep]

And Saitama is a crime-infested backwater. If there's a murder outside of Tokyo, 9 times out of 10 it happens in Saitama-ken.

i kinda got the gist of that from reading the other Saitama threads. that's the great thing about japan, too. they don't seem to have normal homicides, but instead the twisted, gruesome, "smash you in the face with a brick and cut your body into pieces" type of murder. i'll try to not be distracted by my keitai and watch out for guys with shovels!

I think I remember it taking me around 70 minutes to get to Ikebukuro.. But it was only 750 yen!

Yokohama is MUCH better, but I don't think you have a choice. Make the best of it; Study Japanese, read, or feel-up a high school girl on your long ride into Tokyo.

the cheaper the better, because i'm hoping to spend enough time there to keep me from stagnating on the sunny hillsides of japan. how easy is it to find young japanese with cars? :wink:

i only wish i had a choice, after noticing that the other side of the tokyo suburbs seems to be much better populated. i think i'll pass on the high school girl thing, though, unless i want to make some extra $$ making rezu porn. :wink:

thanks for the info, though, it's quite helpful.

[Taro Toporific]

i'm allergic to the country, and want to know how hard i should plan on sobbing when they drop me off at my apartment. anyone familiar with Sakado, Higashimatsuyama... or jokes about pigs and rice fields. someone be honest with me!!

also, rumor has it, it takes 50 minutes and $10 to get from Sakado to Ikebukuro. anyone know for sure?

To get the real world like Shibuya it is 730 yen ($6.10 USD) and at LEAST 1 hour 11 minutes (http://www.zone81.com/arch_sections/trains/japan_travel_calculator) to Ikebukuro and transfer to the express train to Sakado. With walking, bus, waiting time added in gettting to Tokyo is more than 1 hour 30 minutes (I would plan 1:50 minutes min.).


Here are typical scenic shots of Sakado and your school. Do you like concrete and agro-wasteland? . . .
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:vZrkDgdi2W0C:www.shiro.ne.jp/tobubus/syako/sakado.jpghttp://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:_pD5eXqoZOoC:www.meikai.ac.jp/english/facilities/image/sakado_photo.jpghttp://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:LRT9j3TksBYC:isweb37.infoseek.co.jp/art/ochiel/shasinkan/taiwan/inaka-1.jpg[http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:X-hTfzMfUdkC:www.saitama-u.ac.jp/english/graduate/images/12-1.jpg

http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:il0GMsBJGHkC:mimiguro.cside21.com/run/sakado.gif
http://www.h2.dion.ne.jp/~dajf/tokyo/tobu92a.jpg

[Taro Toporific]

how easy is it to find young japanese with cars? :wink:

You'll need to find college students that are over 20 years old to drive. Students that live at home (especially farms) do drive but plan on hitting on older ladies/guys. :lol:

Girls learn to drive as a college graduation present (along with a new car). In Tokyo, fewer than 15% college students drive and almost nobody drives to school (zero-size parking lots).

But hey, you're ONLY going to studying Japanese anyway, right?

[GomiGirl]

Hey where has Crispy gone? Swallowed up by the Saitama Bozozoku??? :cry:

[cstaylor]

He did his three month tour of duty and went home (at least that's what I thought he said).

[BlackSheep]

Here are typical scenic shots of Sakado and your school. Do you like concrete and agro-wasteland? . . .
http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:vZrkDgdi2W0C:www.shiro.ne.jp/tobubus/syako/sakado.jpghttp://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:_pD5eXqoZOoC:www.meikai.ac.jp/english/facilities/image/sakado_photo.jpghttp://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:LRT9j3TksBYC:isweb37.infoseek.co.jp/art/ochiel/shasinkan/taiwan/inaka-1.jpg[http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:X-hTfzMfUdkC:www.saitama-u.ac.jp/english/graduate/images/12-1.jpg

http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:il0GMsBJGHkC:mimiguro.cside21.com/run/sakado.gif


your images are of dubious origin, but if i'm lucky i'll have plenty of opportunities to see naked men such as that one while fine dining in sakado. sort of like the guy over at sushicam (http://www.sushicam.com/2003%20Journal%20entries/April%202003/030407/030407.php). awesome!

[Taro Toporific]

your images are of dubious origin,

Yep, call it artistic licentiousness.
It's much more than pictured (although photo two is Saitama Univ.).

but if i'm lucky i'll have plenty of opportunities to see naked men such as that one while fine dining in sakado. sort of like the guy over at sushicam (http://www.sushicam.com/2003%20Journal%20entries/April%202003/030407/030407.php). awesome! :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: I know that guy!