tokyojordan

[tokyojordan]

Tokyo Game Show 2013

This weekend I have the privilege of going to Tokyo Game Show at the Makuhari Messe Convention Center in Tokyo. It took over an hour to get there, and I needed to switch trains 3 or 4 times. It was really quite confusing, I got lost many times. Eventually I wound up at a stop that had bus service directly to the building the convention was being held out. Pretty lucky, huh?

TGS is a convention where game creators show off their up and coming games. Most of the games shown are Japanese games that would never get much attention in America or at E3. Being a big fan of Japanese video games, I was very much in heaven, because unlike in America, everyone here was excited to see the same games as me. 

This particular convention is historical because is its the last TGS before the launch of the new next generation consoles. I felt very lucky to be in Japan for such a momentous occasion. 

I walked around the show floors looking at all the various games, from small mobile titles to AAA next gen games. Pretty girls dressed up in anime-like costumes hand out free things, and there was also live music and various panels going on that featured commentary from game developers.

I spent most of my time in the Square Enix booth, checking out the latest gameplay and video trailers for Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD, Lighting Returns: Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn.

I also spent quite a lot of time near the PS4/PS VITA and PS3 stage. Unfortunately the line to play the PS4 was massive, by the time I arrived people said you would be in line all day.

What's more interesting is that Microsoft's booth was rather small and tucked away in the corner, and there was virtually no line to play the X-Box 1. I was happy about that ^_^

After I got my fill of checking out some of my most anticipated games, I went to the Square Enix merch table, where the line was massively long. I didn't want to miss out on taking some exclusive merch so I decided to wait in it. I was in line for about 2 hours before I got to pick out the things i wanted to buy. Square Enix had the biggest merch table with the longest line, Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts are still Japan's most biggest and popular franchises. 

Here's everything I purchased, I mainly got everything that was Final Fantasy XV related, because that is my most anticipated upcoming game.

Final Fantasy XV Wall Scroll:

Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD reMIX Wall Scroll:

Final Fantasy XV Folder Square Enix TGS Guide and Final Fantasy Brigade sticker set:

Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Postcard Set (sorry its blurry):

Final Fantasy XV Noctis Cologne and Kingdom Hearts Sora mug:

All in all it was an extremely memorably experience, and I'm very glad I got to experience TGS at such a historic time. As I'm paying for my Square Enix merch, I noticed that the girl giving me my stuff was American yet spoke perfect Japanese. I asked her how she got this job and she said "I like Final Fantasy and I'm fluent in Japanese. If you can speak Japanese you can do anything you want here, so study hard!".

With that said, time to hit the books.

[tokyojordan]

Cell Phones in Japan

It's going to be absurdly expensive to use your current phone in Japan. Some of the kids here added 2-week international plans just so they could get situated while they orient to life here. I should have looked into that but I didn't want my mother to have a higher bill (because it's already high).

In Japan, there are many cell phone companies including AU, Docomo and Softbank. Japan cellphones are called 携帯 (keitai) which literally means "something that is carried in the hand". Only permanent residents can get phones with plans or SIM cards that do voice calling. So if you want to use an iphone in Japan, don't count on going to any of these stores to make that happen. I'm currently in the process of figuring something out for that (if it works I'll make an informative post on that later).

Your best and cheapest option is going to Softbank and getting a pre-paid phone. Softbanks are everywhere, we have 2 by the Hiyoshi dorm and there is one by Tamachi station near TUJ. The phone costs about  円５０，０００ and comes with 円３０００ to use for minutes/texting. Its about 39 yen per minute. When you sign up for the pre-paid plan, they'll ask if you want to add an unlimited messaging plan for 300yen. With this you can message any softbank phone for free, as well as email anyone for free. I'm not sure if texting to other phones works or how much it costs, I haven't tried that yet.

The phone itself is unbelievably basic, but it works and it looks cool. The only interesting feature it has is that it comes with a helpful japanese-english dictionary, but you would need to understand hiragana/katakana for it to be useful.

The process took about 45 minutes, but we went to a non-english speaking one, so the process was quite complicated trying to understand each other. You'll need to bring your passport and residency card. You get to pick the last 4 numbers of your phone number. And the charger is extra. Thankfully the soft bank girl working was extremely nice and patient with us. My japanese isn't great but I figured out most of what she was saying. Make the journey to Shibuya if you don't know any japanese. 

One important detail about getting more minutes on your phone. You'll hear people tell you that you can buy a recharge card at any conbini, well in my experience, from what I can tell the Softbank cards sold at these stores are only for use as a calling card on a landline. I had to go to an actual softbank store and have them print something out for me to get more minutes (you only have a 3000 or 5000yen option on this).

Here are some pictures:

The unbelievably nice Softbank employee getting me and my friend our phones. Although she was certainly confused, and a lot of pictures and hand gestures were needed, she was extremely nice:

You get a free towel with any purchase. Softbank's mascot is this cute dog. I encourage you too look up some commercials on youtube. They're cute and funny. 

The phone itself. It's basic. But it's definitely the best way to call home/have your family call you. And since texting other softbank phones is free, it's easy to keep in touch with all the other students here if they get phones too.

On the way back home, we saw Aki, our dorm manager, on the street. We excitedly told him we got successfully phones and the lady didn't speak any english at all. In his typical awesomeness, he said "congratulations, this is a big step for you. You're becoming apart of Japan".

[tokyojordan]

First week in Japan = success

Day 1

This whole day is a giant blur due to exhaustion and nervousness. 14 hour uncomfortable plane ride coupled with confusion and tiredness made the whole day surreal. Getting from the airport to the JR express and then to my dormitory was surprisingly easy. I remember getting on the JR express, coming out underground and looking at all the buildings with signs in Kanji thinking "I'm actually here". 

Day 2

Got up early for the first part of orientation. A TUJ person met us at the dorm and showed us how to get to TUJ. This guy is a TUJ student but has been living in japan for 12 years. A lot of americans that live here seem to really like it. As for the train, we were all confused. The biggest culture shock thus far has been how unbelievably quiet these trains are even when their packed. You could hear a pin drop in a train full of hundreds of people. This is the complete opposite of train etiquette in American, so we always forget and we get loud. I always feel guilty. Orientation was boring but helpful. They got us dominos pizza (which was probably absurdly expensive considering each pizza is about $25ish dollars). It's not really like dominos in the states but it was okay. 

The staff at TUJ are some of the most welcoming, well-prepared people you could ask for. They really care about us and want to make sure we have the best time possible here. Outside of the study abroad staff, I wish this warmness existed back in Philadelphia.

That night we explored the surrounding areas of the dorm/hiyoshi station. There is a little mall/grocery store within the station. And numerous food places/conbinis/coffee shops beyond it. Here is a small list of all the places I've been to around the dorm, this will be helpful for anyone reading this interested in going to TUJ. 

Hiyoshi mall thing-100yen store is awesome. electronics shop is great but not neccessarily cheap. Uniqlo is like a better H+M. Just about anything you could want to buy is in this mall. I felt so releived to live next to this.

7/11-Totally different than in the states. Typical conbini

Lawsons-Best conbini here. Good hot food, and better selection. 

Family Mart. Most common conbini here. I like it better than 7/11 because it has the most variety of non-food items like things for your home/soaps and stuff.

McDonalds-Yeah I'm american and like fast food. I always feel like I'm fulfilling a cultural stereotype when eating there. Whatever. The iced coffee is only a dollar here too, but its CRAZY good and not at all like in america. 

Mister donut-Most incredible donuts I've ever had.

Later that night some dude was playing saxophone by the station. It was good. I saw this dude watching him play, look at his super legit keychain:

Day 3

Another TUJ person met us at the dorm to take us somewhere to get registered as a citizen and get health insurance. I talked to the person that was signing me up in Japanese so all the information he gave me was in japanese where as everyone else got english versions. I can't read it but the TUJ person (japanese native but absolutely flawless english) told me it wasn't important and was just stuff TUJ already told us. This is what the office looked like, and you can also see Aki, our dorm manager who is the coolest person on the planet.

At TUJ I took a japanese placement test and did really bad. I just made a a lot of grammar mistakes and totally forgot almost all the Kanji. The teacher told me that I can take the class I want but I need to really study hard because I shouldn't be making these mistakes at this level. I should have studied more over the summer. It's easy to forget. Oh well. We then went back to TUJ for more orientation, but it was slightly more interesting this time. 

Later that night me and the guys I've made friends with went out to Shibuya, an extremely famous city and is actually the setting in the video game "The World Ends With You" which is what I spent my time playing on the plane here. I loved it here and it is been my favorite part of being here so far. All the japanese young people here are really nice and love to talk to Americans. 

Stepping out the train for the first time I saw this billboard:

And I felt so happy to be here. 

Day 4

Went to TUJ by myself for the first time. What was once so confusing is now so simple. Had to do some administrative stuff. The add/drop class process is much more complicated here than at main. After that we had more orientation. It was in a park and involved really dumb cooperative games. It was too hot outside for that and it was really lame so I left to go explore by myself. Went to Shinjuku and Shibuya to check out the famous electronic shops, BIC Camera and Yodobashi camera. I wanted to try to get a sim-card for my phone. Unfortunately the ones for foreigners that you don't have to return are only sold online. I bought one from a website that is being delivered to TUJ this week. If everything works with it, I'll write more about it as I'm sure that will be helpful to those reading this wanting to use their smart-phone as cheaply as possible while here.

Later that night we explored the infamous city of Roppongi and Gaijin bars. There's a lot to say so more to come on that soon.

[tokyojordan]

Why Japan?

In short, I like popular culture. I have a deep infatuation with American pop culture and entertainment. Probably the only pride I have in my American "heritage" is that I come from the land where the best entertainment is being created. That may sound odd, or a trivial passion, but technically speaking, entertainment (whether you find it of value or not) is America's largest export, and probably our biggest presence in this world.

From a foreigner perspective, I find Japan to be this way too. They're culture is media-focused and passionate about entertainment, art and music. These are all things I enjoy so I have always been naturally attracted to the land of the rising sun.

And I also really like Final Fantasy video games. 

When I was about to graduate community college and was in the process of selecting a major, I caught the movie "Lost in Translation" on Showtime. It's story takes place in Japan, and the city of Tokyo is very much a character as it is a setting. It was one of the best movies I had ever seen, and after seeing that I decided that I would become a Film major and to explore the possibility of studying abroad in Japan.

Fast forward a year later and here I am.