I know Flynn and Kozik have - who else? Favorite food/shops/experiences?

I'm fucking insane about these deep fried octopus nuggets that I had in Osaka. They're smothered in mayo & red sauce & are served super hot. Awesome!!!

I was there for a week in 2001 (a month after 911 actually - the US started bombing Afghanistan while I was there - skeery!) and got to see Tokyo, Shizuoka, Yokaichi, Nagoya and Osaka. Ate & drank like a champ, went to TONS of little mom & pop toy stores & got to see some kickass Japanese punk bands while I was there.

I can't wait to go back again someday.

Japan is a kick... I got back from an arts and crafts tour last year, and we got to see one of the factories where they make the platic food for restaurant displays, and it was cool. I wish I was more knowledgeable of certain things when I was there, but if I ever get back, I'd look to see if they were using Irisawa V-color.

My wife wants to go back and spend a week in Kyoto, and a week in Tokyo...

I want to try going later this year or early next year. My best friend lived there when he was a little kid in the 80's and he loved it!

I am dying to go to Japan. Not just for the toys, but the whole experience. If I ever do go the first stop will be the tomb of the 47 loyal retainers!

I spent a lot of time in Japan back in 1990-91. I was stationed on the USS MIDWAY which was homeported in Yokasuka. So when we weren't at sea or on cruise we were in Japan.
I loved Japan!
Of course that was way before my toy addiction.

For the past three years I've been to Japan once a year for the past three years, and I've gotten to see Koriyama, Kyoto, Niigata, and (of course) Tokyo.

I strongly recommend it to anyone I know who has any attraction to Japanese culture. You really have to experience the place, sometimes it's as close as you can get to walking on an alien planet.

The octopus balls sound like takoyaki, but I've never had them with a spicy sauce. Sounds awesome.

That's it! I'd forgotten the exact name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki

I am going to Japan , mostly Tokyo+ Osaka (south west) for 2 weeks at the end of September.
I am pumped.

I will be there for about a week mid August. Really looking forward to it.

I went there last summer, I arrived back the Friday of Comicon.

I only visited Tokyo, and thanks to Brian I knew where to go!

Every single day was like this:

Must do something cultural...but lets do some shopping first.

8 hours later: shiiiiit, spent all day shopping!

I'd set out with a backpack, and come back with aching neck and shoulders from all my bags I'd end up carrying. We ended up mailing boxes back via EMS, and I was still overweight on the luggage front. Even my handluggage weighed more than 27 pounds. It was insane, but amazing!!!!

My favorite places to visit were:

SecretBase - met the crew, and they were awesome!
Nakanoa Broadway - seriously blew my mind and wallet.
Mandarake with the windy stares into the bowells of the earth.

I went for the first time last june, it was awesome. I went to tokyo and a city where a freind lives called fujisawa. did some temples and stuff down there.

like muton, I just went to a new area everyday and went shopping. The first few days I was all alone, so that was kinda cool to be in another country unable to talk with just a map. I ate like crap those days, I had to wait for a friend to point me in the right direction for food. Also I didn't know about no tipping so I got lots of weird comments when I would leave a cab or restraunt.

Nakano broadway was the coolest for toys, but koenji was the best area of tokyo for life. if I moved to tokyo I would live there. so many cool shops and nice a quiet.

June did suck for weather. I want to go back in the fall to not have to deal with sweat. I was coming back to the hotel in the middle of the day to shower again.

I had lots of fun at night in tokyo because I had nothing to do and I don't drink so I just hung out on street corners of shibuya watching all the strange outfits and people. the crazy shopping alley of harajuku was a wild place. There are these stores that only have photos of famous people in every size. I only saw 3 black guys(all trying to get me into a club in an alley), no black women and no mexicans (except me in a mirror).

next trip I want to: go to osaka, go to disneyland, bring almost no clothes and a bigger suitcase. Last time I overpacked and then I mailed my clothes back, so I want to just bring 1 pair of pants and a pack of white shirts, socks and underware that I will throw away when dirty.

One thing you can do is pack all of your older t-shirts, underwear, and socks that you can part with, then throw them away to make room for your purchases when you do your final packing. It usually costs much less to replace these than ship your toys home.

I spent 4 months in Chiba many years ago as a foreign exchange student. Japan definitely has a uniquely fascinating allure. I'm sure that my mind would be boggled by how much the country has changed in umpteen years.

Foods I recommend trying:

Sara Udon
Unagi Don
Ikura
Champon
Okonomiyaki
(and for those with gustatory fortitude: Natto & Tororo)

A trip to Japan is also not complete without (at least) admiring the institutions known as Soapland and Love Hotels.

Yes, the food is something else. When you're there, you should try eating an animal that you usually can't get in your home country, like horse or whale. If needed, drown any possible emotional response in alcohol beforehand. Or, if animals aren't your thing, try an unusual vegetable, like aloe or those little stalks of seaweed berries (I forget the real name for those).

The best meal I ever had there was in Asakusa. A friend of mine was showing me around and took me to this tiny place, I mean tiny - there were only two tables there that could seat 4 people each. On top of this, the place was only open for six hours a day (3 for lunch, 3 for dinner), and they served only two dishes: unagi-don (eel over a bed of rice) and unaju (eel in a bowl with vegetables). The eel was prepared using a 100-year old recipe, and there was an ancient-looking cauldron of sauce on the grill to prove it.

The appetizers threw me a bit: chopped eel head and chopped eel liver. I tried them, but I really didn't like them so I gave them to my friend. The main course, though, was absolutely amazing. It practially melted in my mouth. I still dream about it sometimes, and I'm going to do everything I can to get back there when I'm back in Tokyo in December.

i got to go in 2001 when my ex-band was offered a 5 day tour. i wasn't into the whole asain toy thing back then but did buy some kubricks. i have also found a passion for buddhism since then and would love a chance to go back to buy toys and visit the countryside and some temples. the food was super rad even though i was veggie at the time. i think we need to do another reunion tour. this time i'm bringing an empty trunk.

This July I'll be making my 9th trip to Japan. Love the place. I tend to stick to a fairly standard circuit in Tokyo and sometimes Osaka. Each time I try to find new places to explore. Over the years, some of my favorite discoveries have been Kobe, Hakone (resort area near Tokyo) and most recently Amerika-Muri (section of in Shinsaibashi, in Osaka).

Japan is actually a very reasonable place to travel in, though transportation over long distances can be costly (unless you take cheap buses, which take a long time). Quite easy to find accomm. in the $50-$60 range in Tokyo and Osaka, and elsewhere, for that matter.

I'm hoping to explore more of Western and Northern Japan. I've become quite familiar with the Kansai region which isn't a bad thing at all since it's the home of so many wonderful places: Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe...

A few years ago I took a 3 month course in basic Japanese and learned the Kana systems. That helps a lot when getting around, reading menus, etc. Being able to ask simple questions is also a big help. Plus since a lot of the "kanji" are the same in Chinese and Japanese, that's a plus.

am/pm bro! Cheap and surprisingly tasty. I ate at least one meal a day there. Riceballs, seaweed salad, meatballs...

I ate a lot of vending machine food/drinks too. Mostly coffee & beer, but if I say a new mystery food - I'd have to taste it.

I loved how, because the beer @ clubs was so expensive - the Japanese kids would go drink on the street between bands because the beer from the vending machines was so much cheaper.

One of my "Before I die" goals.


Hopefully some day.

Natto = Easily the nastiest thing that's ever been in my mouth.

Soapland = This will be my second stop after I settle up with the 47 ronin.