And the fun just keeps on coming!

[canman]

Once you get through the beauracracy of Narita, then you get hit with the high costs of Tokyo. I posted before a request to see if anybody knew of any reasonably priced hotels in Tokyo for a family of four. The cheapest I could find, in the Western variety(not a minshiku) was 30 000. Now I'm not the most experienced traveller, but I would guess that in almost any other city in the world, you could find accomadations cheaper than that. Also I think most visitors would be put off by the high prices charged by restaurants in Tokyo. Unless you don't mind eating McDonalds three times a day.
I won't bad mouth gyudon as I know bikkle has a special affinity for it.

[Andocrates]

But tourism is usually an aftereffect, that is to say most countries can't change their whole economy to make it tourist friendly. There isn't any effort made to make America Tourist friendly, it just happens. Sure some places are designed for tourists, but prices there are usually much higher then the rest of the country.

But, if the en keeps devaluating Japan will become a cheap place to visit.

On edit, waiting in line for 2 hours to get your passport stamped is freakin retarded! I would explode! 11 hours by plane then stand in line for 2 more?

[Ataru]

On edit, waiting in line for 2 hours to get your passport stamped is freakin retarded! I would explode! 11 hours by plane then stand in line for 2 more?

I've been through Narita six times so far, and the amount of time I've had to wait to get my passport checked has varied a lot. I've waited as long as about an hour, and as little as twenty minutes. It's really the luck of the draw.. two hours seems insane to me, but I could easily imagine it happening.

[American Oyaji]

I've never had to wait longer than 10 minutes.

But I was traveling with my wife and we went thru the Japanese line.

[Taro Toporific]

I've never had to wait longer than 10 minutes.
But I was traveling with my wife and we went thru the Japanese line.

YES!

REMINDER to all you FG:
If you have an GAIJIN Card, always use the Japanese line (in now reads "Residents") at the airport.
Please, don't be shy about standing in the Japanese line even if it says something in Japanese about "Japanese passports" only. For the purposes of these lines, if you have a GAIJIN Card--that is, you already have a Japanese visa, you do NOT have to stand in the long "Aliens" line (it now reads "Non-residents" beacause the officers got tired of 50+ years of jokes about UFO aliens).

Yes, all you FG are now THE RESIDENTSThis image is "Copyleft"; "fair use" is approved.

[Steve Bildermann]

Well yes you can, but then what happens is, as you join the line. you get all those helpful 'eigo pera pera' jichans and bachans who ever so kindly and slight condecendingly tell 'the dumb GAIJIN' in a slow voice.

'errrr Herro - I'm sorry, but here only JA-PA-NESE peoples YES!'

then pointing to the L-O-N-G line of backpackers, tourists and S.E. Asian entertainers.

'You go there for passport ok'

So there I for go for passport. Now THAT'S a fucked Gaijin!

Taro are you sure you're a FG? You sound far too 'on the ball to be posting here. Quit with the helpful suggestions, get with the fucked program man.

I think you need a few more Bo-nenkai karaoke sessions with the local salari-man crowd, they'll fuck you up in no time.

[Jack]

A lot of what's in that article seems to be exagerated. Poorly written story in my opinion.

Almost every train station that I have been to around Tokyo and Osaka have English language signs.

I have been to Narita 6 times in 2002 and I have never waited 2 hours for passport check. The longest it has taken is 1 hour and sometimes as little as 20 minutes.

People at Narita are generally friendly and smile, at least they smile a lot more than at other airports that I go to. I have never considered Narita to be such a bad airport. It is very clean and has most of the services that I need. The bus transportation when gates are not available is fairly efficient.

The fact that few tourists go to Japan is that Japan is a very high-end destination. It is not suitable for the budget traveller. Whether that will change remains to be seen but making the airport freindlier is not what will draw the tourists. One thing my friends tell me of their lack of interest in Japan is the perceived cost and the lack of major tourist attractions.

[gaijinzilla]

returning to Japan from my honeymoon in what seems an eternity ago (life sentences are like that aren't they?), while the lovely (and very Japanese) Mrs. Gaijinzilla zipped through the "Japanese" line I got stuck in the line for "others". Finally reaching the end of the line, the little man in the unifrom, upon inspecting my passport told me I should have gone through with my wife..it would have been quicker. He then told me to ALWAYS go through the passport check by using the Japanese line. Which I have always done since then. No problems....yet.
Now going through the metal detector in a Japanese airport (domestic or international flights ) ...that's another story. I think they purposely set it off! case in point: last february we flew to Osaka (on our way to Kyoto). At our point of departure, before going through the detector...I take everything out of my pockets even took off my belt lest the buckle (as small as it is) set off the metal detector. I go through.BEEP. I go through again. Several more BEEPS. I get pulled over and get the hand held detector treatment. Finally they (and me) realize my shoes are setting the detectors off (trekking shoes with a bit of metal in them). In the meantime my wife went through without any problems. She was wearing the same style of shoe that I was!
I guess I just have that look, you know.....F**KED Gaijin and/or terrorist

My second theory is that they are NOT metal detectors at all. They ARE actually FG detectors

[American Oyaji]

I got a question.

When I go BACK to stay. Upon entering the country, I would have to go through the gaijin line this time until I get my visa, right? Or would I be able to get my visa reinstated at Narita and go through the resident line?

[Steve Bildermann]

No. There is no such thing as reinstating a visa. If your previous visa has expired that's it. Your back to square one.

If you have the time go along to the Japanese Consul in LA or whereever and make application there.

[Taro Toporific]

Now going through the metal detector in a Japanese airport (domestic or international flights ) ...that's another story...I go through. BEEP. I go through again. Several more BEEPS. ...they are NOT metal detectors at all. They ARE actually FG detectors

Yes... but when you trip off the BEEP, you get full body hand-check by some VERY cute inspector girls. I always wear my bull-dogging trophy buckle when going through Nartia.

[Taro Toporific]

No surprise tourism suffers... Japan is the fourth largest spender for tourist promotion in the world, it ranks only 34th in the number of overseas tourist arrivals. That's right. According to the World Tourism Organization, Japan ranks below Tunisia in annual tourism and has almost the same number of overseas visitors as the Czech Republic, Ukraine and Morocco.

Here's a droll FG's take on this tourism problem published in this month's issue of Japan Inc magazine.

Spinning Japan
--One resident's solution to the tourism campaign--
Japan Inc / August 2004 / by Mark McCracken
One of the Japanese government's latest endeavors is to increase the number of tourists in Japan to 10 million per year by the year 2010 (see JI cover story, September 2003). But the problem with the advertising campaign designed to bring in those tourists is that it reinforces the same stale images of Japan that tourists already associate with the country.
The government would do better by taking the difficult step of directly addressing the negative perceptions potential tourists also have. Better yet, turn the negatives into positives, in a sense "spin" those ideas.
In an effort to help, here's a sample advertisement:
"Welcome to Japan, foreign visitors! Japan offers special treatment for its foreign guests. Take, for example, our 'No Foreigner' signs. These signs help you, our honored foreign guests, distinguish between those restaurants and businesses that deny you service based on your nationality from those in which your presence will merely be tolerated.
While many people can distinguish between two types of Japanese noodles, soba and udon, only a true connoisseur can distinguish between them after they've already been consumed. Enjoy walking the lively streets of our restaurant districts and participate in an impromptu game of 'What Food Was That?' . . . more . . .