[journal]I received an email from NOVA and found out I will be living at a city 22 Km from Tokyo. At first I was a little disappointed that I wasn't
IN Tokyo, but then I thought of the benefits, namely, cheaper and quieter.
I also found out I will live with two NOVA veteran's (of 3 years standing) who came from Australia. My detective skills have convinced me that they are close friends because they are both from Australia, both have the same first name, Andrew, and both arrived on the exact same day.
I researched that it will take me about 25 minutes to get from my fair city (population 125,000) to metropolis Tokyo and after talking to Brian, I felt really good. When he visited Japan, in order to lower costs, he stayed at a place a little bit outside of Tokyo, and it took him 40 minutes to get there. The only problem I see so far is that the transit system doesn't run all night and if I were to have a late night out (all-you-can-drink Karoke anyone?), I won't have a way to get home.
Anyways, I did some misc. research on Japan and found a few things of interest:
Japan is very homogeneous, with around 98% of the population ethnically Japanese.Karen told me I have an remarkably eerie twin in Toronto. Fat chance of that in Japan -- although I may see a
Japanese me.
The largest minority are Koreans, around 1 million strong and many brought to Japan by force during World War II, who until very recently were not allowed to adopt Japanese citizenship — even in the third generation — unless they also gave up their Korean name.
Wow, I thought the Koreans hated the Japanese, but apparently the feeling is mutual, or do they just treat everyone like this? which would be fair, I guess -- but mean.
One customs issue that trips up some unwary travellers is that some over-the-counter medications, notably pseudoephedrine (Actifed, Sudafed, Vicks inhalers) and codeine (some cough medications) are prohibited in Japan. Some prescription medicines are also banned, even if you have a prescription.If you refer back to one of my posts, my family prepared a drug package for me that consisted almost entirely of every stated item above. I would have just added to their stash.
By far the best option for visitors who plan to do a lot of travelling is the Japan Rail Pass [2] (http://www.japanrailpass.net), which allows unlimited travel on almost all JR trains, including the Shinkansen, for a fixed period of 7, 14 or 21 days. Whereas a single round trip from Tokyo to Kyoto costs almost ¥30,000, the 7-day Rail Pass is ¥28,300. The 14-day/21-day pass is ¥45,100/55,100. This can only be purchased outside of Japan from specific vendors — at the time of purchase, you will need to have your passport with you, and know the date upon which you will want the Rail Pass to start. Upon purchase, you are given a Exchange Order, which can be exchanged at most larger JR stations in Japan, including all of the stations nearest to airports, for the Rail Pass itself.
This should information is for all the people who promised to visit me. You got even more incentive now. =]
