People in Japan help me out

[burgerkingdiamond]

Get OUT!! Who knew that skaters and shmups went together so well?! I do too, but I'm in Tokyo. Sell skateboards here as well:

http://www.sk8tokyo.com/

As far as I know user "iluvmonsters" skates and plays shmups as well.. Would be epic if we somehow could all get together.. That would be a helluva day...

- Sorry - back on topic now.

No problem. This thread won't have much purpose after I leave tomorrow morning. It sucks I can't get to Tokyo this trip. That's where the fun is... I may go to Sasebo again in May. If I do I'm going to try to set my return flight for a few days after the end of the job so I can stay in Tokyo.

Rancor are you from US originally?

As for skating. I've been doing it my whole life. Nowadays though it's just a weekly thing, if that... It's been awhile since I learned anything new. I'm just happy to go out for a day and land all my tricks that I can still do. I got a sick ripper tattoo on my shoulder this year. Don't have any pics though

http://www.lat34.com/wp-content/uploads ... ripper.gif

A Couple pics from friends' mini ramps

[rancor]

Rancor are you from US originally?

First off - Nice pics!! but yes, I am from US. Dallas, Tx. originally. Came to Japan 6 years ago via Kiev, Ukraine. I'm trying to skate at least every week as well, but real life often interrupts. I've been skating damn near my whole life as well. I perfectly remember the first time I stood on a Nash deck and rolled down my driveway.. haha.. life changing event.

[burgerkingdiamond]

Rancor are you from US originally?

First off - Nice pics!! but yes, I am from US. Dallas, Tx. originally. Came to Japan 6 years ago via Kiev, Ukraine. I'm trying to skate at least every week as well, but real life often interrupts. I've been skating damn near my whole life as well. I perfectly remember the first time I stood on a Nash deck and rolled down my driveway.. haha.. life changing event.

So after 6 years your Japanese is pretty good I assume? How did you learn?

[rancor]

So after 6 years your Japanese is pretty good I assume? How did you learn?

I suppose the same way that a child learns - through immersion. Sure as hell wasn't through book-learnin'! I suppose I can speak and read about as well as a Japanese 6 year old. Maybe the same in English..

[burgerkingdiamond]

So after 6 years your Japanese is pretty good I assume? How did you learn?

I suppose the same way that a child learns - through immersion. Sure as hell wasn't through book-learnin'! I suppose I can speak and read about as well as a Japanese 6 year old. Maybe the same in English..

Oh thats it? Is it hard to get around and live with such a low literacy level?

[rancor]

You'd be surprised what anyone can accomplish when it's "sink or swim"... Of course I had help, but the majority came from just everyday life. Dating girls that don't speak much English helps as well. And no, it's quite easy to get around and communicate. I can't think of anything lately thats given me any trouble. TV shows are sometimes confusing, but I don't watch much Japanese TV.

[Koa Zo]

Hey BKD, yup my buddy Randy is in Sasebo too. Small world.
Hope you guys get to party.
Drag him out to some arcades!

[burgerkingdiamond]

Hey BKD, yup my buddy Randy is in Sasebo too. Small world.
Hope you guys get to party.
Drag him out to some arcades!

Weird!

Too　bad. sasebo is sucking for arcades. last night i asked the first japanes dudes i saw at the arcade (mall) if there was a game center. Only one spoke english. they were nice though. he showed me where it was. I think I could have hung out with them some more but it was late and I didn:t want to bother them. I hope I see them again though, because I haven;t found any more english speakers.

as for the game center. there are about 25 fighting games and only ONE STG. its Strikers 1945... I:m not really into Psykio, butj I guessj thats all ill be playing. And theres 2 spots with about a billion pachinko machines.....

BKD out

[greg]

I hope I see them again though, because I haven;t found any more english speakers.

Well, it ain't Singapore, that's for sure. Still, check out an iizakaya (snack bar) and you may get offered free beer by locals. I don't even care for beer, but I drank beer the most in my life when I lived in Japan due to this phenomenon. Hopefully one can have the same experience in Sasebo. Also, the chick in Ultraman is pretty. Yeah, it has nothing to do with the topic at hand, but I just brought that up because I'm watching it now. Rubber lizards smashing the crap out of plastic models is an artform.

[GaijinPunch]

but yes, I am from US. Dallas, Tx.

What part of Dallas? I'm from Garland, originally.

Oh thats it? Is it hard to get around and live with such a low literacy level?

Depends on your frustration threshold. If you're serious about learning the language you have to study. Immersion alone will only take you so far. It's not Spanish. You don't automatically know how to speak Japanese one day.

[rancor]

What part of Dallas? I'm from Garland, originally.

I'm from Grapevine.. yeah, yeah, not "real" Dallas, but it's still 972. Close to the Gaylord / Mills. Lived there for 20+ years and can't say I know anything about Garland..

[burgerkingdiamond]

Here are maps to three different arcades in Sasebo:

http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?q=33.1907 ... &z=16&om=1 (closest station is Ainora)

http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?q=33.1460 ... &z=16&om=1 (closest station is Daito)

http://www.wideleisure.co.jp/info/searc ... o_map.html (seems to be between Daito and Hiu)

With any luck, these should be a good starting point.

DUDE! YOU FUCKING SAVED ME!

The second one that you listed is alright. Its only 2 train stops away in Daito, which is only about a 10 minute trip. The arcade is only a few minutes walk from the stop. Its mostly fighting games and music, but there are three STGs. TriggerHeart, DDP DFK 1.5, and Mushi Futari (my favorite!), so Im stoked.

And its cheaper than the one in Sasebo that only has Strikers. I dont know which is regular, but the one in Daito is 100 Yen for 2 plays, whereas in Sasebo it:s 100 yen for 1 play.

I may checkout the first one too, but I don:t know, since \futari is my favorite anyway, theres not much reason to go anywhere else. Unfotunately nobody else was playing the STGs. I was hoping to see somebody owning a game Jap style.

[GaijinPunch]

Lived there for 20+ years and can't say I know anything about Garland..

It's a suburb that has basically gone to shit since the 90's. It starts pretty close to LBJ & NW Hwy.

[burgerkingdiamond]

I asked a friend who lives in the area. This is what he had to say:

"There is a Taito Station in Tenjin, and yes, they have plenty of shmups. There is also Round One, which is next to Taito Station. There is an arcade on the top floor of Yodobashi Camera in Hakata and that place has shmups as well. There is also another Taito Station in Yoshizuka, but the selection of games there isn't as good. Those are the ones I usually frequent."

Thanks for the info. I didn't get a chance to check any of those out. I just got back home on Friday.

I stayed that last night in Japan in Fukuoka. The hotel I stayed in was part of this big ass mall with a Taito Station on the top floor. I was so excited when I saw it. Unfortunately there was not a single shmup. NOTHING.

There was some cool stuff though. A Typing Of The Dead cab, a candy cab with a SNES inside and some weird huge SNES controllers things on the panel. Mostly a bunch of shooting (light gun) games, and fighting games. And of course FUCKING pachinko machines. What the hell is up with Japanese and chain smoking and Pachinko? In Sasebo there were like 4 different places with wall to wall pachinko.

Overall the only shmups out of 3 arcades that I went to were: Strikers 1945, Mushi Futari, DFK, and TriggerHeart. I was really happy to play Futari...

Anyway, the trip overall was awesome. Even though I was working overtime and 6 days a week I didn't want to come home. I was drinking a lot though... I couldn't find a lot else to do after work than go to dinner and then head to a bar (better than sitting in a hotel room with japanese TV). I really wished that I knew at least a little bit of Japanese. There is another trip out there to Sasebo in may for 3 weeks which I will probably be on, so I may try to study some. Of course I won't be reading/writing, but I think maybe I could get some basic conversation down. I'm not gonna kid myself, but it's worth a shot.

[GaijinPunch]

but I think maybe I could get some basic conversation down. I'm not gonna kid myself, but it's worth a shot.

Don't forget to learn how to suck teeth.

[burgerkingdiamond]

but I think maybe I could get some basic conversation down. I'm not gonna kid myself, but it's worth a shot.

Don't forget to learn how to suck teeth.

don't get it. If it's a joke about me trying to learn Japanese, thanks. I'm fairly smart, but I'm realistic. I don't expect to be anything close to literate in so little time. I just would like to be able to remember and understand some basic phrases which would allow me to get around without pointing and miming like an idiot. For a place with so many english signs and stuff, hardly anyone understands it.

[greg]

For a place with so many english signs and stuff, hardly anyone understands it.

Yes, it sure isn't Singapore. Japan is full of contradictions like that. Porn is everywhere, yet it's censored. It's a country with incredible technology, but most people can't figure out how to be good at using it. There is plenty of awesome architecture, yet centralized heating and cooling is nonexistent in people's homes.

I think the sucking teeth that GP mentioned was about you mentioning conversational Japanese. Ask a Japanese man a question that may require thought to answer and his first reaction is to suck air through his front teeth. Watch some interview videos and you'll see this quite a lot.

[burgerkingdiamond]

For a place with so many english signs and stuff, hardly anyone understands it.

Yes, it sure isn't Singapore. Japan is full of contradictions like that. Porn is everywhere, yet it's censored. It's a country with incredible technology, but most people can't figure out how to be good at using it. There is plenty of awesome architecture, yet centralized heating and cooling is nonexistent in people's homes.

I think the sucking teeth that GP mentioned was about you mentioning conversational Japanese. Ask a Japanese man a question that may require thought to answer and his first reaction is to suck air through his front teeth. Watch some interview videos and you'll see this quite a lot.

cool. I wasn't offended by GP's statement, I just didn't get what he was trying to say.

[GaijinPunch]

cool. I wasn't offended by GP's statement, I just didn't get what he was trying to say.

Yeah, it's one of those well-known quirks of the language. Old men are the main offenders. I have many colleagues that lived here for a short while and can't speak a lick of the language. But when I say something they don't quite agree with, they do the sound (perfectly).