1. The toilets. What is that thing, you say? Well, it’s not a urinal, but rather what is known in English as a ‘squat-toilet.’ It might seem hard to believe, but many people in Japan prefer using these floor holes to a standard Western toilet. To use them, you’ve literally got to squat over them to do your business. And despite claims that they’re more sanitary (which I highly doubt), they usually smell terrible. Of course, there are still urinals in the men’s room, but don’t laugh, guys; there may be some ‘emergency’ times when you may have to use this hole in the ground. And that ain’t no laughing matter.
2. Sore Feet – I don’t know how they do it, but I saw women walking around town with stiletto heels as if their feet didn’t hurt. I was wearing sneakers and my feet felt like they were swollen and on fire after about the approximately, oh, two hours of constant walking and standing as we were going from place to place. Basically, unless you’re fortunate (or ruthless – those old ladies are fast!) enough to nab a seat on the subway or train, there’s nowhere to sit in public in Tokyo.
3. The games – Okay, so this is really a double-edged sword. Of course there’s nothing wrong with the games, it’s just that unless you’re one of those import nuts who owns ‘chipped’ consoles, chances are you can’t play any of these interesting games on your Playstation 2/Xbox/Nintendo GameCube once you get home. Japan usually (especially in the cases of games released by Japanese publishers) gets the major titles far in advance of the rest of the world, and often has games that you can’t find anywhere else in the world for a variety of reasons. The alternative, of course, would be to buy the Japanese version of one of these consoles and have it shipped home, but is it really worth it?
4. The language – Not to be a downer, but the Japanese 1 class you took in your sophomore year in high school isn’t going to do you much good when it comes to speaking to people on the street and having them understand you. And of course, it will probably be equally challenging to figure out what they’re saying to you. However, if you look obviously foreign, they may treat you differently and be more patient with you as you struggle to communicate in their language. Obviously, this could quickly become rather annoying if you were to spend a long time in Japan trying to get people to speak to you in Japanese in order to learn the language, but for a short trip it is often much appreciated. On the up side, if you did take some Japanese and you remember at least Hiragana and Katakana, it should help you read signs, menus, and anything else not already translated into English.
5. Lack of internet access – Well, not if you’re a local with a handy cell phone, but places to hook up to the internet or just check your email seemed to be spread out a lot further than in the U.S. According to the Wi-fi Hotspot Directory Japan has only six free Wi-fi hotspots in the country. (Editor's Note: There are actually a lot more Wi-Fi hotspots than that...just not according to the Wi-Fi Hotspot Directory.) Fortunately, you can rent a cell phone at the airport for about $5 a day if you really think you'll need one.
6. There’s too much to see! – Five days or a week is simply not enough time to see everything there is to see in Tokyo. Much like the Internet, Tokyo is full of interlinked places and the city is constantly changing. One would probably need to spend a full year in Tokyo to see everything, not to mention the rest of Japan.
Got feedback? Drop us a line at mailto:feedback@g4techtv.com!
