Youtube comments of redfish337 (@redfish337).
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@weneedmoreconsideratepeopl4006 There are almost certainly predators.
That's nothing new for anyone in the limelight.
It's still a fallacy though.
The people who ATTEND underground idols festivals are predominantly men. As a general genre. There are lots of reasons for that, including the fact that any girls who like idols... can, without any experience, just go join a group. It can be 20-35 year old idols with stage diving and middle fingers and heavy metal, or cutesy stuff- doesn't matter, audience is men. The only underground idol groups that seem to pull a female audience are ones that form based around youtubers or models... or I suppose those that dress as men.
So that's why you shouldn't be quick to judge. But I looked up this particular show. It was a 9 hour festival with 11 different groups on the ticket, including a 2 hour singing highlight of 21 of them doing solo songs. This is the problem with judging the audience- most people in the audience are not there to see just her... they might not even know her at all.
However, this show was actually angled toward younger idols, so this stands out as the only one of these hit job pieces that actually picks a good show to show their point.
Nevertheless, the main event, right after this girl, was a 17 year old which is young but is no different than Western or Korean standards for pop stars.
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Idols don't always list it. But Yune is still a model.
In any case, the fact that blood type is listed should be a big reminder to you that your cultural dispositions on all these stats are NOT the same.
A, B, AB, O probably means nothing to you.
It's basically zodiac mumbo jumbo for them, but with only four available, they're all familiar with the personality types that are stereotypically associated with each. So it's kind of reminiscent of the "four temperaments" so the blood type is sort of like spamming sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic on everyone's bio... or perhaps like a sorting hat house of Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw.
They don't take it suppper seriously... but they take it surprisingly seriously.
But it was probably just a letter you glanced over to look at the three size.
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Japan was the first non-Western power to basically become a "Western power". They were the first to get the Olympics for example. Japan has been a place with the modernity comfortable to those from the West, with the allure of being Eastern.
As an aside, China is and has been Communist. Especially during the Cold War, that put them at an extreme disadvantage in terms of exporting their culture. South Korea has been on friendly terms with the West for a long time, but they were dealing with the Korean War and aftermath as Japan was finishing rebuilding and turning into an economic powerhouse.
So you can look at modern pop culture and say that say, K-pop or Chinese movies, are beating Japan internationally- but Japan has had say, the modern concept of the ninja, or samurai or Godzilla ingrained in the Western imagination for decades. And in modern times it's not just anime- Nintendo revived the video game industry, and that means all their big name franchises are some of the biggest names in video games. Power rangers, to hello kitty, to harajuku styles... they've just got SOOO many angles at this point.
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I went to an event here in the United States.
A bunch of groups from Japan performed- this was the headliner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlpQZ2Ln-Xs
I think they're fairly reasonable- something like $10-15 for a polaroid. Most of these indie style groups in Japan are $15-20, with borderline famous groups usually only offering when they are selling singles, pricing them at $20-30 for a polaroid.
Anyway, there is apparently a studio where some people in the US who are into idols made a few groups just like Japanese idols and a group and a soloist or two performed at the same festival. Because it was a big show, they invited a lot of their friends. They were selling polaroids for $5 each. Even at that price point, their school friends BOUGHT &%$^ING NOTHING. I bought one to support what they're doing... not quite pity, more like, good job, and I want you to know it even though no one is buying anything. To be clear, this was high school or college age and still too poor to buy anything to support their friends.
This is just reality. If you're indie and want to actually be solvent, you need fans who will buy your stuff. If you're a huge ass company like Disney then you can promote to kids. But at Yune's level she would pretty much need 100 kid fans to equal 1 "uncle" fan, and when you're not running a huge profit margin, you can't promote that stupidly. If she ever joins a famous group the young fans will come naturally.
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In short, don't tip.
In longer... there are a couple situations where you can or may want to tip, but you don't have to. Nice ryokan (traditional inn), or if you have something like a personal tour guide. Don't give money directly, but in an envelope (Japanese sell a kind, but I think anything would do...). It's done a certain way. If you're intent on doing this, check up on it specifically!
Taxis, you aren't really supposed to tip, but I've heard some have apparently taken it upon themselves to basically take money if you give an amount of money that would be equal to about fare + tip. Taxis are already ridiculously expensive- don't encourage the practice. You don't tip money like this anywhere else in Japan and almost everyone says not to tip taxis.
If you go to a Western place, there may be a service charge that may or may not be included, but I think I've only seen it once or twice. If you go to a Japanese place like an izakaya there's often a table charge disguised as a small appetizer. But most restaurants don't have this.
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The problem is she is a reporter.
She can hold whatever opinion she wants. And, going through the experience, she can then report on it. Additionally, she's basically there doing fluff work. Maybe one degree more serious than a youtuber, so everything is expected to be positively spun.
Being rude to her server is completely inappropriate.
She can just not like it. People can tell you're not all that into it. She can analyze and report on it later, striking a balance between the kindness she was shown and her general discomfort of the situation. That's an honest review. Here, she's giving them shit from the start.
Here, watch a video of someone not all that into it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzLK_YRD3w8
He tried to make the best of it.
Good, entertaining video, almost 1 million views, 30000 likes to 600 dislikes.
This is the @#%#$@ing BBC. They can throw a fortune at anything and have the credentials to get in almost anywhere. Can't the BBC outdo random youtubers?
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They have lots of freedom. What those freedoms are depends on the group and company, but they generally have plenty.
If they're giving up any freedoms it's pretty much to date, be fat, or smoke. And there are various idol groups that allow each of these things so they should have joined a group with those values if that's what they most care about.
If you want to be a full time, national level, oudou (orthodox, but literally "noble/kingly path") idol, then you usually can't do this stuff.
While there are the occasional weirdos, Japanese idol fans understand and value the concept of on/off. Which basically means they are much less likely to be bothered out in public than people of comparable fame in other countries if they don't appear to be "on". By and large it's much more a job than a lifestyle than it is in other countries.
The girl in the video joined a group with management set up as if it was some huge company... but it was basically being run like a garage band. Basically, she was a salaried contracted employee for the level of a group that most people in the West do for fun with their buddies on the understanding that they'll probably never make any real money. De facto, there was no money, so her salary wasn't paid... but they also wouldn't release her contract even though they weren't holding up their end. So it was a slimy business, or one incompetently run by someone who had a big dream of running a group, didn't want to throw in the towel. In any case, she went to court and got paid. And apparently didn't have so bad of an experience in the idol world to not want to try her own hand at making a group.
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@errorys4183 Idols existed long before the 1980s. But J-pop as a genre didn't exist until around 1989. It's called Kayoukyoku or Showa Era Pop. I don't know where Pink Lady and such actually sort, but in terms of who actually gets sorted into 女性アイドル at stores, that pretty much starts from Morning Musume (1997) due to the relative dearth of idols after at least one suicide and an attempted suicide were the death knell to the Showa idol system at the end of the '80s, fairly clearly delineating the eras. Especially since they had an Emperor change in 1989, the first in over 60 years, and first since the war. Oh yeah, and the bubble burst around the same time. So there's definitely a before and after the early '90s in the Japanese mindset.
MAX and SPEED and such showed a revival was coming with Momusu, but still are usually sorted as plain J-pop.
De facto, the word has shifted. Almost all groups are born by way of Akiba style of AKB48 or Momoiro Clover. H!P is still active and regained popularity so it is still included despite some older methods. And 48 and Stardust both had to adapt to having larger fanbases than they were perhaps designed for.
As for idols who play:
Bandjanaimon
Ai Oke
While it disbanded recently, Minyou Girls had a shamisen.
Probably others but I don't know every group out there.
And also disbanded are some two way groups- PASSPO which ran more idol than band and Rurirori which was the opposite.
The idol festival system isn't conducive to instruments- turnaround from one group to the next can be 30 seconds or less since usually 3 groups get a 20 minute set each hour and any wasted time means you only get to do 3 songs instead of 4. Nevertheless, such groups exist and that breaks that definition. And BANMON has multiple MV with millions of hits so they are significant.
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Looks like you watched too many videos.
Watch too many videos and you'll start having an unrealistically bad.... or good, image of a place.
Reality is nuanced.
I remember I was watching videos on Japan around 2013. Oh, Japan is so xenophobic, they mistreat foreigners, bullying, suicide, overwork, oh it's so terrible.
Man, it sounds so bad!
And then I remembered! "Hey, you lived there two years, WTF are you giving undue weight to this random youtube guy?!"
And after giving myself such a pep talk, I decided to go visit Japan again. And lo and behold, it was still pretty much how I remembered it.
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What same problem?
This talks about a wide variety of problems, which shouldn't really be fully overlapping in most cases, if any at all. The problems of the national idol group members are not the same problem as the main interviewee here, who was in a group which had a disbandment live to about 50 fans.
The girl group industry has crashed at least a couple times and the current iteration has a top tier which has actually encouraged proliferation of other groups.
The boy group industry has been a lot more monolithic, basically all under Johnny's taking a destructive stance against most competition. Only the Exile groups really managed to flourish, perhaps because they were distant enough by theme, perhaps because they were under Avex, which is a goliath company even Johnny's would be concerned messing with.
Johnny's isn't as concerned about age, but is otherwise one of the most controlling of all- sabotaging people who leave the company and try to start out on their own.
Particularly since K-pop has managed to fracture the boy group industry a little bit, more indie style groups and such have formed. I'm not really sure of their particular situation, but I can't imagine them being able to proliferate as much as the girl groups since they're mostly relying on 10-40 year old girl money while the girl groups take 20-50+ salaryman money.
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@justaguyinwonderland I lived in Japan. I've been to 100+ concerts there of most types, including 50+ idol shows and even "accidently" something quite like this. It was an opening act on the same ticket as a group I wanted to see
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So I've actually been to something like this in person feeling awkward.
I've seen shows where it's all guys in attendance. And I've seen how many actually have quite a few girls. And I can draw some conclusions on why some have few and some have many.
Again, only been to that one event (well, it was a two parter I think), so I'm not an expert on the kiddie shows. But I've at least seen it and seen how the people there act.
One group I follow (much older than here... I think oldest is 26) decided to push for female fans- female ONLY events, either free or very cheap. You know why they pushed? One of the girls wanted to do some female only lives before she quit, and the manager was willing to waste money on it as a parting gift of sorts.
And guess what? They could get them. You see, many of the girls who went LIKED IT, especially without that big crowd of guys there who they tend to find intimidating. And some of them even started going to the regular events with the crowd of guys when they decided they liked it enough to put up with the guys there.
So if it works, why don't more do it? Well, when you're barely making ends meet in a competitive market, how can you rent a venue for $1500-2000, pay your other expenses and stuff and probably run $3000 in total expenses, and not charge money, to maybe get a few new fans?
These sorts of guys are going to an event no matter what- all you gotta do is get them to choose your event instead of someone else's. If you want girls or kids to come you need to throw a lot of money at them and a lot of people this far into the indies aren't in position to be able to do that.
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@justaguyinwonderland This video demonizes it. Moreover, the comments suggest that it is "normalizing" it.
My position is that (most of this) is normal and the problems that aren't are in large part because it's long been demonized.
Basically, I find the video to the counterproductive. What was it aiming to do besides give the guy a paycheck and earn this channel some clicks?
What is Yune actually doing?
One or twice a week on weekends or holidays she performs for 20-30 minutes, mostly singing cover songs in outfits inspired by the artists she covers. Afterwards she talks with fans. This is normal stuff. It's not significantly different from gymnastics or youth theater or figure skating or sports. And especially no different from a young band member.
The core of this is legal, supervised, and all sorts of people appreciate her talent and enjoy her performance (in other words, it's POSSIBLE to like it for positive reasons).
She goes to school like a regular kid and then does this extracurricular like all the gymnasts and figure skaters and 12yo bassists.
While some things are a little sketchy, the basics of what she does is normal. It's not normalizing fetishes, it's just normal. If she was performing in front of 12 year olds no one would care. Even most of the weird stuff here, if it was 12 year olds, no one really cares. Quirky little thing at most.
The issue is the audience. And the audience is what it is because of demonization.
In recent years the media has pulled back from demonizing nerds and regular idol fans so much and the result is more young fans and more female fans. Higher up, it's not so monolithic anymore. But it hasn't transferred down this far yet.
This stuff should be normalized. You normalize it and younger people and kids will show up. The cameras will get put away. Everything will sterilize. Demonization keeps this as a fringe element.
Now obviously you can't normalize everything if the core of what they do is sketchy like fetish modeling or something. But the core of what a young idol does is no different from a young band member so the key is to get girls and kids and everyone else to believe that it's okay to go to something like that. Girls show up and THEY'LL CATER TO THEM. They'll sell makeup cases and phone straps and crap like that instead.
This guy had opportunity to push it in that direction. If just 1/1000 girls who watched this video went and posted something positive on her twitter, you'd flood out the guys and could actually promote change for the better. That was lost by making this a hit job.
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@BashaerB-h2c She has different outfits basically every time. They use FOMO to sell the photo sessions. You miss one show you might have missed your one and only chance for that exact outfit, so make sure to come to every show, and make sure to do your photo session, now or never, buy it or miss out.
She even wore a different outfit that day. How they choose them, I don't know exactly, though Yune has input. As Yune is actually mostly a cover artist, it's quite common for her outfits to line up with the image of one of the artists she is covering that day.
As she is an Ariana Grande fan, she's probably covered Ariana Grande before, and so already had that sort of outfit available.
It's seriously one of the most racy outfits she's worn.
So why would she wear that on the day that this film crew is coming to frame her as a pin-up?
IMO, because that's not what they said. They probably told Yune's management the story was about a young Japanese girl who wants to be the next Ariana Grande. They might have even encouraged her to dress the part.
So that's a bit of a problem we have here... they're reporting on something, that they seem to have actually influenced themselves.
It's not a true nun outfit, but you know, it's pretty covered.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6TxDu2RGNI
How about this outfit? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmhhGVBqCYU
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I recommend pre-booking everything. But with airbnb and such available now it's not as vital. The main reason I recommend it is simply because it's something you can get done from home. Anything you can research and get done from home saves you time in country. And unlike say, a backpack tour of Europe where you can see drastic changes country to country and one place may be a lot less your style than you had thought, the differences from one place to another in Japan will be more subtle. You should be able to have a good idea of how long you want to stay in each place before arriving.
Also, while I have been able to find last minute accommodation in Japan- booking like 8 days in a row... that sort of thing... that does in fact often dry up and you get stuck wasting time moving your crap around/checking in to extra places you can only stay 1-4 days or whatever. Also, pretty much as soon as you move out of Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, your hostels choices go way down and you have to rely on airbnb if you wait too long- which is usually fine of course. For example, I looked up Fukuoka- a huge city with not enough hostels. Right now, there are 3 available for late October- one has no rating because it hasn't been in business recently... one is really far out from the city center, and one is actually passable but only has a few male dorm beds left. So, basically, ALREADY nothing, so you'd have to airbnb there.
The other major reason I recommend pre-booking is that your transportation costs depend a lot on where you will be going. You can't really make an intelligent transportation purchase without at least a skeleton itinerary.
And I say this as someone who likes a lot of flexibility. I plan the skeleton well, but leave the day to day stuff fairly open.
Of course, Japan is pretty easy and most things are safe. So if flexibility is your thing, then go for it. But I'd still suggest planning out a skeleton itinerary even if you don't book anything.
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Stay in hostels... and that said, the right kind of hostels, with a good common area and preferably at least some native Japanese staff. Or airbnb with the sort of host who wants to do stuff with their guests... you can usually tell from the description.
There's the typical bar hopping and clubbing and what not, but, not a fan of that... anywhere really.
If you're passable college age... like 15-30 or so, you can try going to a college campus. They're relatively good at English and usually pretty chatty whether or not their English is good. Sometimes there are English clubs on campus, or if you're really lucky, there will be a school festival or something. If you're there in the right season you can research dates and just go to them. The people there will be pushing their clubs and goods... so they'll probably come up to you! Have an interest? If you're there longer term you surprisingly don't actually have to be a student to take part in a lot of circle activities...
You can try going to a place like a park and find people hanging out. This is relies on your personal charisma, but your odds are way better at a place like this where people are having leisure time, than random people walking around the cities, who are probably going somewhere. You can join a pickup game, or start a pickup game of futsal or frisbee or something. Or just try asking people about Japanese culture or recommendations.
And, IMHO, the #1 way... have an interest, and have at least shoddy level Japanese ability. An interest? If you like baseball, go to a baseball game. Talk to the people there about baseball. Interested in Japanese theater like kabuki or bunraku? Go to a show. Have questions. The people there are there because they have an interest. You have an interest. There's already a connection.
Oh, and they use LINE there, so if you actually want to make friends that last more than that day, set that up so you're ready to go.
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@AlexSmith-ky4eg So, when are you supposed to retire from music you like? I'd still go to a show with Kaori Iida (38). But she quit 14 years ago. So then next up would be Takahashi Ai (33). She quit 8 years ago.
Well, to be frank, I mostly moved on past Morning Musume, but many have not- I still like a lot of their older stuff though.
Next up, Shinoda Mariko (33)... but that didn't last long. Quickly moved on to Kojima Haruna (31) before settling on Katayama Haruka (29). AKB has lots of members- it took a little while. She quit 5 years ago, so then on to Nakamura Mariko (26 next week). She quit 2 years ago. And as far as AKB is concerned, it's currently Iwatate Saho (25).
But I eventually fell out of the mainstream, so actually went on to Negishi Ai (27), and with her quitting last year it's now on to Shimizu Riko (22).
Did I lose loyalty? No. That's called oshihen and is frowned upon. THEY QUIT. And then as a fan of the SCENE, you move on to the next.
It's no amazing thing. When Kobe Bryant quit, did his fans just stop watching the NBA? Lakers sucked long enough that many people even jumped off the bandwagon. Some people were indeed JUST Kobe fans, but most people LIKE a sport, a team AND a player. I've occasionally rooted for different teams but I still like the sport. Everyone who played when I first started watching the NBA is RETIRED. But I'm still a fan of the sport, of some teams more than others, some current players, AND some retired players.
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+SquirrelKnight FF9 has severe issues with the ATB. If you don't know what I mean, go watch some youtube videos. Even simple actions like using an eye drop- and even without using time-wasting skills like summons- can take 30+ seconds to get through the queue. Everyone just feels super delayed. Because of the queue, pretty much all the characters spend most of the battle with their ATB bar full- they're just waiting for their chosen action to resolve! This is a massive design flaw.
As for FF8, it still runs fairly smoothly like predecessors FF6 and FF7. The main issue here is the junction system (good in theory, good if balanced well, but in reality, done poorly), and the enemies leveling with you system. Overall, that provides screwy balance for the WHOLE game.
FF7 has it's own issues, but frankly nothing at egregious as these battle system issues that affect the following games top to bottom, start to finish. FFX-2 runs great, but screwed up almost everything else. Now if we could slap FFX-2's system onto FF7-9 and then take a look at it, it'd be a closer fight. But FF8 and FF9 are hampered just so terribly by poor choices with the battle system.
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+96miffy There are a couple kinds of glitches. And that's what makes it hard to say, as some are a bit of a grey area too. Personally, I actually really enjoy Super Metroid speedruns, as for the most part, they seem to allow the mockball and the crystal flash squat issue, and I guess fast kill Kraid. Maybe a couple others. To me, these are elegant, skillful or ingenious, and while they cut off a few seconds or minutes, they come across as nifty semi-legal ways to get through doors/paths a little bit out of order. I mean, really, it's not like the mockball is really all that weird- it comes across as a skill like wall or bomb jumping. On the other hand, I've tried watching other games' speed runs where it's like they glitched the game to hell. Heck, all those SMB games with warp whistles and crap like that- that's a totally legal way to crap all over a speedrun. Anyone who uses a totally in the game warp whistle for a speed run time is cutting out huge areas of the game. And to me THAT is what is uninteresting. I want to see the whole game speedrun- so glitches (or even features) that that wipe out huge sections of the game are a huge turnoff.
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Frankly, your biggest problem is that by going in September you will probably still be catching the end of summer- the humidity doesn't break until about the 22nd-25th or so.
Your next possible biggest problem is that it's typhoon season, which isn't usually a big deal if you're actually there (generally more of big rain storm by the time stuff gets to Tokyo rather than images you may have of a hurricane or typhoon), but if you're unlucky, it could cause heavy flight delays.
With tattoos, you probably won't be able to go to any public baths or hotsprings. There may be some exceptions, but in Japan where pretty much no one has tattoos besides criminals (but tattoos themselves aren't really looked down upon), it's an indirect way to refuse service to criminals. So well, you'll probably miss that experience.
Being extremely tall for Japan is unlikely to be that big of an issue. Frankly, you're probably already used to ducking, and in Japan, instead of a lot of stuff probably just being barely in your way, stuff will pretty clearly be too short so you'll remember to duck even more easily. Normal buildings or whatever are plenty tall... shinkansen has lots of space... you may have to be careful about where you stay if you like to stretch out all the way, but I feel like even capsule hotels provide fairly sufficient space.
Your appearance is unlikely to have much of any effect in how people treat you so long as you stick to the major cities. You never know what you'll get in the countryside.
And, somewhat tangential- but one of the big problems in Japan is the lack of good wi-fi. And wi-fi is one of the biggest helps in getting yourself out of small problems in Japan. I highly highly recommend renting something while there (generally cheaper if ordered abroad in advance).
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The main lingua franca now is English- and even Americans will tell you that the lingua franca of measurement is decimal, Celsius, etc. And, that's fine- it is, overall, a better system, especially since no governing body has ironed out the Imperial system to make it better for the modern day even if it is, in theory, just as useful (if useful for other purposes). English as a lingua franca is kinda stupid, it's just a matter of convenience. So let's switch the lingua franca to Korean- I hear that's supposed to be one of the easiest, at least in terms of writing systems. Then let's ban every other language. They're useless, right? Now, EVERYONE can speak the same language, and we can all understand each other! Double plus good!
But what do we lose? Languages out there are dying like endangered species- languages with a view of the world we don't know. If someone fluent in 2 languages talks to someone fluent in both languages, what language will they choose? Whichever they like of course- but every language has things like homonyms that are ambiguous in one language but clear as day in another and in the case of ambiguity they can clarify easily by using the other language.
The main advantages of the Imperial system are how easily it factors, and that the decimal system is extremely weak with threes. It's fine that the lingua franca is the decimal system. But don't be so belittling of other systems- depending on the particular situation, an alternative system may prove superior.
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This is very indie, so they're taking advantage of preset fandoms they can reach without having to pay to advertise.
So most people won't even know she exists. Many indie idol fans go to events almost every day and it's just a matter of getting them to go to yours. Camera geeks takes photos and record all of the frankly, very few events that you can actually record. And probably there are some undesirables there who looked for this exact thing specifically for the wrong reasons.
Women in Japan have long been told they aren't supposed to like female idols. By poll, some of the more popular groups actually have 20-40% female fandom, but it's hard to convince many of them to actually go to shows.
And as the male % at shows increases, the women feel more awkward and it makes it even harder to convince women fans to go or stay, and they will tend to congregate as fans of a few specific groups where they are able to maintain a decent minority, meaning many other groups will basically have 0.
Personally, I really liked the Backstreet Boys back in the day but I wouldn't have been caught dead at one of their concerts. Lots of guys liked it, you just couldn't say it too loudly. It wasn't cool. Even though I liked them and should have liked all sorts of indie style groups like them, I didn't bother looking into it.
Heck, I didn't even really look into indie stuff in the first place until late high school. The multi-national corporations mostly told me what music I thought I liked before then. Which is part of why there aren't kids there.
If she gets more popular, both will come naturally. Forcing it is extremely expensive.
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Not Chris but... Have you looked at Simon and Martina's videos? She has EDS.
Salt? "Dollar" Store, grocery store, whatever. Probably convenience stores, but likely more expensive. Salt is 塩, Getting it should be no problem. Just bring some salt packets or whatever from McDonald's or something to get you over and surviving until you get situated. Plane food is usually high in everything anyway (cuz taste is weakened at altitude/pressure), but I still bring a lot of crackers and stuff to nibble on. Even cattle class of international flights is MUUCH nicer than domestic though, so pretty sure they'd offer free crackers if necessary. They have electrolyte drink solutions available as well.
Anyway, I don't know about your particular disease, nor do I know anyone in particular. However I have shown some elderly people around, so a few points:
1) There is a lot of walking involved. Despite all the talk of it here, taxis are prohibitively expensive and don't expect to take any unless you get super desperate. Subways mean going down and up multiple elevators if you can't take the stairs.
2) People are a bit distant, but polite and helpful. You can pretty much expect to go at your own pace and not be taken advantage of- help is actual help, not a potential scam. Obviously crime isn't nil and basic precautions are still in order- but this is a big burden in a lot of countries that it's nice to not have when you're otherwise struggling.
3) Things are MODERATELY disabled friendly. My explanation is that the arteries work well, but you may have trouble with the capillaries. Tourist areas, shopping malls, etc are well set up, the train stations as well as can be expected. But ancient temples and castles and such are poor access BY DESIGN, and small little businesses with no space can't really be accommodating- tight aisles and steep stairs.
My opinion is- it's certainly doable. Just plan accordingly. Keep a light schedule and give yourself plenty of time to get around, take breaks, etc.
BTW, if you've already waited this long... you should probably wait and book Black Friday. If you can a good deal now go for it though. Not necessarily a good deal on Black Friday. But usually some of the lowest of the year.
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Even marijuana is super illegal.
As for regular smoking... the best explanation I can come up with is to say that it was basically socially acceptable for wide use among adults much longer than in the West, but the government crackdown has started and with the government now basically declaring it a bother, there's ever increasing social pressure to not be a bother in terms of cigarettes.
In practice, tourist areas are most likely to have limited smoking rules. And the area that includes the palace, and by some quirk of zoning, Akihabara, is all no smoking outdoors.
However, many places are most picky about LITTERING, so smoking while walking is more likely to be restricted than just plain smoking.
The izakaya hadn't really been partitioned. Restaurants were, though with often pretty lousy partitioning. IIRC the law already passed which further restricts smoking in restaurants with multiple locations. Not sure about when it goes into full effect.
Lots of people still smoke. More and more people are going to e-cigs. Stuff in Japan is designed for people who want to smoke to be able to smoke.. somewhere. It's not full-banned yet, it's not even needle in a haystack, but you need to respect the rules. Rules are extra tight ahead of the Olympics, and how far they go in terms of restrictions will depend on the sort of impression smokers present. And the jury is REALLY out now in terms of vaping- right now things are fairly loose but it probably won't stay that way.
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It's a little bit of a pain in the ass to figure out ages in 2015...
There's probably a way to figure out the exact date, but I'll just say winter/early spring 2015.
Here are the birthdates of people active at that point:
1998年3月15日
16-17 depending on exact filming date
1997年6月26日
17
1997年1月28日
17-18
1996年6月15日
18
1995年7月20日
19
1993年10月16日
21
1993年3月25日
21-22
1992年11月5日
22
Their company has this as their current audition policy... which is typical, but I'll just cut and paste.
未成年者は保護者の方の承認が必要です。
Minors require consent of a guardian to audition.
Girl he talked to was the 6/15 one, 18 years old at the time.
The 6/26 one who was 17 is still in the group, and is now 24. All the other current members are new since this video was filmed, and are 23, 23, 20, 19, 18.
This is all publicly available because... it's a serious well known group as far as underground idol groups go, selling albums nationally and with a fairly well maintained wikipedia page. The 16-17 girl eventually got hired to a high profile position in a very high profile group and now has 189K followers on twitter.
It's just a girl group.
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You have to remember most people are arriving to downtown by train. Larger dogs can't be taken on the train. And small dogs must be placed in a carry case and there is usually a fee of $2-3. So people who have to use the train leave their pets at home.
Now, if you actually go around residential districts, then you'll see dogs. Small dogs are popular in the central city. Out in the country medium dogs get more popular.
Anyway, rather than just give my anecdotal impression, I'll look up some surveys...
My findings:
Pet ownership isn't very high overall, about 30%, though over 2/3s have had a pet at one time or another. Apparently there was a bit of a boom and it has been on the decline in dog ownership in particular.
Dogs and cats draw fairly even among women.
Dogs are more popular among men, especially older men.
This results in a greater number of dog owners.
HOWEVER, more people with a cat, have cats... so there are slightly more cats than dogs in Japan.
All of these surveys were taking different points and I can't really well enough to bother checking their sourcing, but this should give you a general impression.
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Typical would be to do Tokyo area, Kyoto area, and since you're on a honeymoon, go find somewhere peaceful for a few days. It can be in range of the others, such as Hakone, Nikkou, Fuji 5-lakes, etc depending on taste. Frankly I've often suggested a couple go do some cheap Southeast Asian or Pacific resort for a few days where you can just enjoy the beach, each other, drinking and eating.. You know, where you're more at a resort than actually in the country- and your money can go a long way... and THEN do Japan, where you're trying to enjoy the cultural aspect more and it probably isn't worth it to spend so much on lodging, etc. Alternatively you could go to some beach town or whatever in your own country for 2-3 days and then go to Japan- more expensive, but decreases chance of getting some stomach bug.
If you go to Tokyo area, there's basically everything.
Kyoto would be the more traditional tourist area, with Osaka nearby.
The point of these is... pretty much any sub-culture whatever you can think of is going to have some presence in Tokyo. There's old stuff too. Endless temples are in Kyoto, but there's modern stuff all over too. You've got options.
When you go off into the countryside to see some great natural site and famous temple... that's all ya go there. You have to REALLY want to see that. You want the monkey hot spring? You have to really want that. Okay with just a hot spring town? Then you've got more options. Okay with just a hot spring? Then even Tokyo can manage that. You also can lean on English a lot more in Tokyo/Kyoto, making for a smoother trip. There's lots to see in the countryside and smaller cities too, but you've either got to be willing to go slow and soak it in, or really want to see whatever you're seeing.
Anyway, I'm not Chris so I'm not getting the views to justify my time. =P I just saw a book in the bookstore that gave a slight overview of different aspects of Japan.
The long of the short is there are probably something like 300 different categories you'd have to go through if it was actually somewhat thorough. Some you can sort of group together- but a full breakdown of subcultures and Japan things would probably take him like 6 months to research... Better to just figure out what you like and ask about that specifically.
Do 25% touristy.
Do 25% your interests.
Do 25% her interests.
Do 25% that you can agree on together.
Of that, do at least 25% old/traditional, 25% modern/pop culture.
You're setting the tone. Pick some safe things. Pick a couple things that are a bit of a stretch. And ESPECIALLY if you don't take the few days early on in some resort town, don't fill your schedules too much- take some time to rest.
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Just as some examples, I personally go for rock idol groups, dempa idol groups, and rock bands.
A friend of mine goes for ramen. Not the other kind of noodles, just ramen.
Another goes for fine dining- Michelin star sort of stuff.
Another goes for tattoos- he'll look like yakuza soon enough.
Another goes for Pokemon related things... even Pokemon Go events, etc.
Another went all the time for Namie Amuro (pop star).
We all do other stuff too of course. How many of those were even on your radar?
And if you look at youtube videos of things to do in Tokyo ... you'll find a martial arts leaning one, one focusing more on makeup and style, one focusing on food, one on anime/gaming things. These aren't specific lists to those topics- it's just things to do, as created by people coming from different interests.
See what's out there. See what piques your interest, and do those. If you can actually narrow it down a bit, happy to help you try to nail something down.
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Everyone takes it, but most people aren't comfortable using it. So in short, English isn't used, but you can rely on it if you're desperate. In practice, learning 100 words or so will help you a lot, but you can still get by with basically nothing (in which case I still recommend learning courtesy words) if you need to or if it isn't practical to learn anything. If you're 6+ months off for a 10+ day trip, then I would recommend trying to learn how to say 50-100 words, and be able to recognize the meaning of ~30 or so important kanji words.
Here, I'll even give you the kanji:
一二三四五六七八九十百千万 numbers 1-10, 100, 1000, 10000
円 yen
入口 entrance
出口 exit
分 minutes 時 hours
日月火水木金土 Have different meanings, but shorthand for Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, etc
女 women
男 men
子供 children
駅 station
北南東西 north, south, east, west
線 line (train, etc)
準備中 business is closed
営業中 business is open
お手洗い toilet
禁止 prohibited
I didn't even provide the readings... you don't need to know that... you need to know it's the 女 お手洗い, not how to actually say it.
Depending on your needs, there are other kanji you may want to know. And again, if you are there for a short time or on short notice, you can get by with nothing. But these can all help you navigate and interpret basic signage without having to continually ask for help.
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I understand common metric and imperial units. It's not hard. If metric is better for scaling up and down to very large and small numbers. Imperial is better at subdividing at practical human levels. So yes, I think a video like this with large scaling would work better in metric. However, it's perfectly reasonable for other videos to be BETTER in imperial.
Is it great if everyone speaks the same language? Well, sure, people being able to communicate with everyone else at a basic level would be great. But we Americans usually just read over your metric numbers, do the conversions in our head or otherwise, and move on. We're mostly bilingual for measurements, just a bit slower with some metric, and we don't have as good of a natural grasp on the values.
But NO language out there is as comprehensive as ALL languages put together. All languages have strong and weak points. If you're a bilingual person talking to another bilingual person you have a greater degree of expression and clarity than if you had only one language to choose from. Homonym or similar sounding in one language? it's probably not in the other. Fifteen and fifty ... can be a bit hard to differentiate. Quince and cincuenta? Much more clear. So is Spanish better than English? Here, yes, usually- though you may actually WANT to be vague or confusing sometimes. But Spanish has its own issues where a bilingual person may prefer English for clarity.
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Sort of, but it's different. Japan is basically 99% Japanese. So for the most part, foreigners aren't threatening, so they have little reason to be purposefully racist. If you try to marry into a family you make yourself a threat though. And again, with 99% Japanese, mom and dad were pretty sure their little girl was going to marry a Japanese guy.
But I mean, it's mostly incidental not malicious. Even with the upsurge of tourists to the major cities, most are just not used to interacting with foreigners. And while, as foreigners, Japanese culture of omotenashi means they try to be welcoming...with 99% being Japanese they're pretty much used to everyone being okay with doing things a certain way.
Also, there's a bit of a culture of being "in" and "out". While some Japanese will avoid foreigners for fear of having to use English, you generally have an easy way in to being in the "in" group with them just on account of being a foreigner. That's the advantage. But you're pretty much stuck at the border just inside the "in" group line... while you can quickly reach that point, it's very hard to get much further in.
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It's not dangerous for anyone, relatively speaking. Almost anywhere else you can go on the planet is MORE dangerous, especially just considering the human element. Compared to most places you could travel, you can be relatively oblivious. Crime isn't zero of course- and there are murderous crazies who are totally off in the head- like anywhere else, but Japan's high standard of living means those people don't just die off before they can be a problem. But if you're not careful in a lot of countries, you will get scammed, mugged, or pickpocketed. Basically, 100% something will happen if you appear off your guard. Japan, you'd probably get through without issue. You should still be on guard to some extent, but you can have much more peace of mind travelling in Japan.
The issue of the trains is... essentially... it's a crime that they can't fix. They can reduce the crime rates of most everything else way down, but groping is something that just can't be eliminated. Because, during rush hour, it essentially can't be caught with any sort of reliability.
BUT, as a tourist, you have a special privilege! You don't ever have to go anywhere during rush hour! Even when you do, you can usually take trains that are going reverse of the commuter traffic! So you're actually in much better position than most!
For those who do have to commute, many trains provide a women only car during rush hour.
Almost everyone in major cities have a briefcase or messenger bag or purse, so even if you're crammed up on everyone, you tend to just be crammed up on bags. So if you are on a crowded train, position your bag properly as defense. Take basic precaution.
But again, Japan gets the bad rap because they TALK ABOUT IT SO MUCH, because it's a rare crime they can't actually get rid of, not because the incidence rate is all that high. Especially considering how packed the trains can be at bad times.
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This is hard to answer since I don't have firsthand experience.
But there're pretty much two competing factors.
1) Japanese people will be very understanding of stuff like handicaps- though as far as companies are concerned, understanding doesn't mean they'll actually break any company policy for you.
2) Shoes damage the tatami mats or ancient wood floors, which is likely going to be the primary reason a tourist would have to remove shoes- the cultural aspect can be overlooked, but this is a very practical aspect.
It's my understanding that Japanese made gear for handicapped people has tatami matting in mind when designed. Easy switch shoes, and extra padding on crutches if they're needed on tatami that your equipment isn't likely to have.
So, in the end, I don't really know what to tell you except that you'll just have to roll with it. Honestly, there really aren't that many situations where you'd likely run into tatami in Japan as a tourist. Mostly old cultural sites, and they'll either have official handicap routing and help and you may not even have to leave your chair, or frankly, be designed for the 17th century or whatever (or heck, as a castle, be INTENTIONALLY hard to get into haha), and probably be completely inaccessible for you.
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No using the phone function of your devices. The confusion comes from calling your handheld computer a phone.
Generally speaking, the only allowable noise on a train is a low to normal voice with people you know who are right there with you in person. If you're prone to excitement you should start lower so that you don't peak over a 'normal voice"- and while it need not drop down to an actual whisper, if things are crowded so you're right up on people, voice level should go down accordingly. Unlike what would be ignoring people right around you, the phone is basically considered to be something that can, and therefore, should, wait. People can pick up and say they're on the train and will call them back (though letting a phone ring in the first place is a mild error). But you shouldn't call anyone. Also, if it actually IS an emergency- a real emergency, not some problem at work, but a real family emergency that really can't wait, and you can get this point across to the people around you, people would be understanding. (well I don't know personally, but Japanese sites seemed to make this sound like it was okay).
Basically any other use is fine so long as you don't cause noise- there are even signs reminding people to be careful of having the volume so high as to cause sound leak from headphones.
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California had the 3rd most Trump voters. (Texas 4,685,047 : Florida 4,617,886 : Califorina 4,483,810)
In 2012, when it was a less divisive Mitt Romney, California actually had the most Republican presidential voters. (4,569,843 Texas 4,839,95 California).
Please don't carpet bomb here. It's a really nice place. SF used to be beautiful and quirky. LA's always been a %#$hole, but, but... beaches! We're just an oppressed minority here. Don't you remember, Reagan used to be the governor! And now we have Brown again please save us!
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Team Shachi of course!
Or Nijicon. Or Qumali Depaato. Fes tive or Neo Japonism or the codomomental groups.
I mean, of course you can follow Candys too. You can follow all the groups on twitter (pretty much the only thing it's good for).
But they're, one, super indie which is no big deal but means survival rate is low, and two, not really full time, on purpose. And three, if you actually go to Japan like some of us idol fans, they are Sapporo based which makes actually seeing them live a pain in the ass compared to almost all other groups.
But hey, if you're following, go ahead and follow:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4a2WS82JyLf1WL6IRZv1ig/videos
https://twitter.com/candys_idol
https://twitter.com/smi1e_25
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Jojo Siwa got popular through TV- heck, TV targeted toward kids and moms. The show regularly got about 1,000,000 views. She took that popularity and branched off to music.
I don't know how involved she was with the music, but her original popularity came from that TV show... which if you follow the money back up, is basically a Disney-joint venture platform. Maybe Disney wasn't pushing her in particular, but they were invested in the success of her show and that show gave her massive exposure.
Compare to this girl, who is starting from zero.
How many kids are already listening to stuff outside the mainstream? Their favorite music is mainstream stuff or stuff that gets play on their favorite anime or TV shows, etc.
She'd need to do an anime theme song or something to get wide exposure, but you're not going to get that job as a nobody.
Until she makes a big enough name for herself to get signed to a national focused company (IMHO she'd already be signed if not for covid but I digress), she's stuck fighting it out in the live houses.
I personally think the cameras give a bad feeling- but most established artists in Japan don't let you film at all. I kinda think those ones are more camera geeks than anything.
You know one guy with video of Yune's performance... you know what else is up on his channel?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtF2fG7YlQY
Oh, and this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWmi2c1m8Ho
They're just going around to whatever shows allow filming. When they post the description of the performance... they also list the camera and microphone type used... who does that besides a camera geek?
While there's opportunity for predators... it's complicated and even at this sort of event which would be prime for pedophiles, I'd still say that at least a majority of them have good motives. I would think it would be better to keep away from events that focus on younger idols... but it's hard to say. Maybe SHE likes those ones better because those are the ones her friends perform at. And there's also the idea that older idol fans may look creepy, but it's the younger ones that DO creepy so in the end it might actually be safer.
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@transentient While there are exceptions, I think a major thing in play is the areas you mentioned are almost completely outside of the Yamanote Loop. So it's no longer the shared area in which people meet to eat and drink before heading off their separate ways... and instead just stuff you'd only know much about if you live that way. So people say Itabashi... but they also say Iidabashi. And they say Setagaya... but they also say Sendagaya. Similarly, transfer stations are much more likely to get named. I would think someone would say Jiyugaoka if that's pretty much where they live, as it's a major known station and also ambiguous on if it's Setagaya or Meguro (it's mostly Meguro, but I think you'd get people imagining more Nakameguro when they'd probably understand if you just said Jiyugaoka). The only person I know from Jiyugaoka said Jiyugaoka, but of course that's a sample size of 1. =P
Anyway, overall, I think it's the idea that there's a set of stations that's basically considered common knowledge for people living in Tokyo- Yamanote Line (I mean, you're probably gonna have to do a batsu game eventually if you don't know these...), major subway hubs, and perhaps to some extent the Chuo/Sobu line, and then some famous due to stuff in the area. But people aren't going to have much reason to know the specifics of Nerima unless you live there or at least pass through it daily, so most people don't know the stations, so it just gets called by area.
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I won't get into discussing the super young ones, as I have almost no experience there.
Idols more generally though...
Women don't go because they've long been told they aren't supposed to like female idols so it's already stepping out on a ledge to openly admit to liking mainstream idols, let alone go to lives of those mainstream ones, let alone go to lives of underground ones.
Although the Japanese media has stepped off the moral panic about geek stuff in recent years a bit, the years of scapegoating has had an effect. So the historical core of the fandoms who actually show up to lives are almost all men, which is then intimidating for any women who might want to show up. Even though the guys are usually very considerate of girls, particular kids, who show up, it's still likely intimidating. At least for the girls- the kids might be with an uncomfortable parent but the kids themselves are usually just excited to see they get to see their favorite group. And are usually doted on by the idols themselves. Many events have female or family areas, and many offer female-only events and discounts when they're big enough to have the money to "waste" on it.
Internet polls on SNS suggest as much as 30-40% of the fandoms of some mainstream groups are female.
That doesn't actually translate into people in seats though. Recent trends in idol groups have new groups formed by hiring influencers. This allows a group to start with a decent enough core of potential female fans that they can feel more comfortable. But this might be people with 100K twitter followers, videos about makeup with millions of views on youtube... and still have trouble getting a few hundred of those female viewers to actually buy tickets and come to venues.
You probably have seen something similar. Before I got into rock music- I was really only exposed to pop music. Around high school my favorite group was the Backstreet Boys. But I knew I wasn't supposed to say that out loud.
It was nice when pop punk trended because then I could realize I could say Linkin Park or whatever. And maybe a dozen of those bands did become my actual favorites. But I still liked those old BSB songs too. I wouldn't have been caught dead at a BSB concert though. Even at this point, I STILL feel a little internal pressure telling me I'm not supposed to like BSB even though I'm far removed from stupid high school social dynamics.
There are probably a whole bunch of lesser known BSB style groups out there, but that was a rabbit hole I never got into because even liking BSB felt taboo. I got into pop punk for a while. And then J-pop in general. And then Japanese rock idols in particular. I can't say I'm totally past the point of not giving a crap what other people think if asked, but I'll still at least listen to what I like, thanks.
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@pjduker05 Westerners have accepted gymnastics, figure skating, ballet that 12 year old drummer (as if no one has jeans fetishes- "About 2,510,000 results (0.54 seconds)"), Emma Watson, Hit Girl, that olympic gold medalist skater, etc, right?
What's your hang-up with idols in particular? The way this was filmed?
Sure, there may be some issues here I don't agree with, but "USA_Gymnastics_sex_abuse_scandal" happened and yet people still watched it in 2021. You could make an argument that everyone who supports it is somehow complicit, but of course everyone watching it has their own reasons, of which serious sexual attraction to the gymnasts is probably not even on the radar as a possibility for most people watching.
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There's not really a way to enforce stuff at the level presented in most of this video unless someone brings attention to it.
To be clear, most of this video is about an extremely indie level group which had a final disbandment live to about 50 people. Pre-corona.
And that was the final disbandment show where basically ALL fans would show up- probably fewer than half can show up regularly since this level of group performs hundred+ times a year.
The point is it's pretty much a garage band level. So if you put together a band with some buddies and play some gigs you probably understand that you probably aren't really getting paid. Especially considering how much time you put in practicing and expenses. If you can manage to get to a medium indie level then maybe it's a little bit more sustainable but at the super indie level, don't quit your day job so to say.
The government isn't coming in to check on your practice hours. Oh, you practiced how many hours for that little compensation?!
In Japan, there's a culture to grin and bear it. In general this is a good thing, but can be abused by the unscrupulous. Or incompetent. And so at her level when they were probably only bringing in 5-10 dedicated fans, everyone could see that there was basically no money being earned, so that there was no money being passed out was no surprise. She said as much. It wasn't until they got slightly more popular that she started wondering about it. (And frankly, after expenses, there probably STILL wasn't any money to pass out to them).
The problem for that girl there was she joined a group with the economic reality of a garage band, but were contracted as if they were a more stable group and she was expected something more like hourly/salary. And had a terrible contract at that. So while a person in a band would either believe in the band and grin and bear it and try to grow the band with the realization they may never earn any money, or fold 'em and try somewhere else... her contract apparently let them not compensate her, and then was unduly strict in terms of termination.
She then brought that to the attention of the courts. And she won a settlement.
Government can be on the lookout for obvious issues in public. For example, minors cannot work after a certain time of night, so on broadcasts, at that point, younger members of groups just leave. Even at this indie level, if a minor is in group those groups play earlier in an event and if they do fan-meetings after, they leave at their announced curfew time. The government can enforce on broadcasters, but even at the indie level the fans can start whistleblowing on their side. But the government isn't coming right up on their grill behind the scenes during their practices and rehearsals- the group just has to clear paperwork and taxes. It's up to the members or parents to whistleblow issues from behind the scenes.
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No. You don't need to know anything. But knowing courtesy words is strongly recommended.
That said, expect English to be light, especially as you stray from tourist districts. Most people can understand it if you speak very slowly or write it out simply. They just aren't comfortable using it. So be patient for the initial shock to wear off and for them to come to their senses and reach back into their high school days and try to pull off some broken English for you.
But overall... Japan is very safe and orderly, and most stuff is posted online somewhere in at least Japanese but often English for the tourist sites. And if it's posted online, you can copy and paste the important words into a translator the night before in preparation.
And in the end, that's what it really comes down to. If you prepare well, you generally don't have to talk with anyone. Basically no one is trying to scam you or pickpocket you, so you can work things out without concern for your safety. If you can't figure it out on your own, then you can find someone who speaks English to help you out.
All that said... language is logarithmic. Knowing a couple hundred words and characters basically already makes you functionally capable to get information across and read signs and such without needing help. Knowing more will grant you easier access to more places, and probably save you some money taking advantage of discounts and such you wouldn't know about otherwise. But those are just advantages of knowing more... how much is worth learning depends on when your trip is and how long it is for. If it's soon and short, then learn thank you, please, sorry, excuse me, hello and goodbye. If you have some more time, learn some tourist words.
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@wizrad2099 The insurance doesn't cover it in full if it even covers "riot" damage at all. Insurance gives you coins back on the dollar, months later.
"insurance policies often cap demolition reimbursement at $25,000 to $50,000, while local businesses have been getting bids for $200,000 to $300,000."
See, when a place is destroyed by fire it's all considered hazardous waste and the bill goes through the roof.
Sure, lives are more important than property, but that doesn't mean the property means nothing. AFTER INSURANCE, it's costing these businesses $200,000... just to get back to an empty plot of land with no building on it.
So, if you burn out 1000 businesses, how many business owners are just going to kill themselves?
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If you've ever been to Japan it's clearly visible.
Though it's a little easier to ignore.
As a tangential example, the convenience stores have signs for say... タバコ /酒 . Even though I can READ, I don't easily latch on to the fact that the convenience stores are heavily advertising their cigarettes and alcohol, not the (relatively, for a convenience store) yummy take-out lunches and snack options that most foreigners think about when considering convenience stores in Japan.
And that's a tame example of course. The red light districts are full of naughty signs. And some not so naughty euphemistic signs like the "free information centers" which are all over.
But all that said, it also fails by conflating that idol group with the rest of this stuff. The JK stuff is riding that gray area line... probably illegal in many cases, but trying not to be so much as to draw attention. Lots of more or less runaways and "living at home but relationally "runaway" kids involved there such as that girl with the mother with mental issues.
They you've got gray area but probably legal businesses.
And THEN you have these sorts of idol groups. It's on the up and up. Minors need parental consent. There's red tape involved. The group promotes nationally to some extent so they draw attention to themselves. So everything has to be above board. Of course there's always opportunity for abuse, but it's pretty much slanderous to conflate them.
So sure, there's a dark side. But these hit job style pieces where they come in with their foreign preconceptions means they often paint too wide of a brush. Sure, there may be some common cause in why they exist, but there's a difference between a maid saying a magic spell over your spaghetti and underage runaways doing sexual favors for money. And there's a difference in the clientele as well.
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Typically, idol parents don't show themselves.
And you mention dad, but did you notice that there's also older brother?
Even of those shown in uploaded pictures or whatever, the majority to family choose to keep a mosaic over their face- perhaps for their own privacy or because it's policy of their work or school or just to try to keep Yune anonymous.
However, at Yune's age she needs a guardian, so mom already has to chaperone and be so involved in everything so there's no real point in hiding.
Basically, that he isn't shown is the normal. That a parent is shown at all is only normal because of her age.
Additionally, their apparent economic situation from looking at their apartment means it's VEEEERY likely that dad is the one paying the actual bills. Full time indie idols still make significantly less money than people with a salary position- they perform about 4-5 days a week and make enough money to support themselves. Yune can usually perform 1-2 times a week.
In order to actually see how they are without any potential bias of this video, I watched one of her streams.
Dad was mentioned, and they know who he is, they know how old he is- IIRC it was given, but I don't remember it at all though it's not clear if he's still an everyday part of the family or not.
However, to me the stream is "boring" (it's about 25% her telling each person good evening), and while staying up until 3am or something to watch it to make sure it was clean and how it's administered was fine, I'm not going to be a regular.
He's mentioned on her twitter or blog on rare occasion. One day she went to his work. One day they picked him up at the station. One day he and her brother were watching a soccer game on TV together. Nothing really recent though.
If you actually went to her meet and greet it's likely you could ask around the subject (eg, what sports does your family like) and you'd get a better feeling for her family than is typically mentioned on SNS. You probably could ask around it on SNS too but it'd be a little bit harder, as they're aware all of that is visible to every Joe Shmoe on the Internet. If you actually appear at an event, you are slightly vetted, and that increases as you go to more. (eg, once you appear at her show and meet her, if you are recognized in her hometown, that's sus, a vulnerability the Internet stalker doesn't have).
tl;dr Idol family members usually choose to remain anonymous so info is rare, but it seems at the very least he's been involved in her life for at least part of the time she's spent as an idol.
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I thought the LGB crowd were trying harder to appear to not be abiding of stuff concerning minors, considering recent backlash.
The general anti-LGB feeling up through the '90s or maybe some of the '00s or so became by and large acceptance though middle '10s and the recent backlash concerns compliance (ie, when you make non-LGBT into stakeholders in the matter by making them swear fealty or face a penalty), or issues concerning kids, where they are still stakeholders on account of their kids.
I've mostly played devil's advocate on this video because I think it is insidiously biased for the sake of gaining clicks and leads people to too extreme of an opinion that isn't inline with the actual safety concerns- where she's frankly probably safer doing this than most people's kids are just existing on account of where they live. Moreover, I think the "actually a fan" opinion is the prevailing one, with the degenerates being a minority and not the 99% that the comment section suggests.
But I really don't think she should be doing this at her age on account of the degenerates that are there.
Nevertheless, as I think it's by and large safe so long as mom is chaperoning and I think most people are just there to enjoy an innocent performance, I would only go so far as to recommend parents not have their kids do it. And that's it. It's not even dangerous to the extent that I judge the mom for letting her do it- only if she forced her to do it.
The recent LGBT controversy has to do with strong-armed promotion of stuff in front of everyone, particularly the kids. Of course there will be backlash. Kids won't even know this girl exists unless they see her on tiktok or whatever, let alone are they being encouraged to be like her- that's why she has to promote to these older guys, who will actually come and pay for a ticket at a venue. It's a gray zone, but it avoids backlash because it keeps to itself. The commercial virtue signaling for LGBT has put it in front of everyone and makes them stakeholders. This drives backlash.
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Zeratultheking You asked for a game where leveling up doesn't increase stats. And I gave you one. FF6.
From the wikia:
"Unlike other games, characters' stats — with the exception of HP and MP — do not rise on leveling up, but are instead boosted by equipping weapons, relics and magicite. Magicite permanently increase a stat on level up, while the others increase them when equipped."
The only way to permanently increase core stats- strength, magic, speed, and the pretty much useless stamina, is to level up with an appropriate magicite equipped. And, low level game aside, this probably means the first 20 levels or so won't be giving any stat boosts at all, as magiciate isn't available until around the 25-35% point of the game- and you still need to wait a bit longer for bismarck or zoneseek to actually get optimal gains.
Also, I may add... stats DO increase in FF9. In a rather annoying way that depends on your current stats- and therefore giving a better boost when you have more +stats on your equipment.
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Nakano Broadway is pretty much straight shopping, manga, really oddball stores, etc. It's just a very large building. If you like different oddball hobbies, it's a better place to look... they have weirder stuff, and anything you can find in both places is probably cheaper in Nakano. As they say, when change started happening in Akihabara, the otaku went to Nakano broadway to buy and sell their stuff.
Nakano Broadway is at the end of a more or less normal shopping street and commercial district... and even when you get to it, first floor is still normal, and basement is a grocery store and such. Then it's a few floors of otaku and oddball goods, more or less getting weirder, more niche and vacant as you go up.
It's basically only 1 stop from Shinjuku- and you can come across from the east as well using Tozai Line, so it's really easy to get to. If this is your sort of thing, then you should go to both.If it's not real your thing, you should just do Akihabara. Yes I said it, even if it's not really your thing, you should still do Akihabara. Nakano is more a quiet search for hidden treasures, or laughing at the oddball merchandise. Akiba is more the glitzy angle of it. Even if it's not your thing, the people watching, environment, etc, is better in Akihabara... and there are more of the oddball tourist things like the various cafes (maids, animals, etc). Also more stuff like idol venues, which aren't touristy for lack of English, but should be- I think anyone with the better part of a day in Akiba should do a maid cafe and an idol show... and shop in the hours between. A lot more expensive than "jumping in" to the culture of a lot of other places, but if you don't do it, it's just shopping and such. And shopping is only interesting if the wares are interesting to you personally.
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Χριστινα Σπυριδου It just depends on the area. New Orleans is pretty dangerous overall, and another Katrina is basically inevitable- it's in a hurricane zone and below sea level.., buyer beware (not a bad place for holiday though).
Anyway, just basically assume that every downtown area in the US has safe and dangerous areas. Do your research before you rent/buy- but once you live there it's easy enough to avoid the bad areas.
That includes Honolulu. But yes, Hawaii is a great place to live, despite the prices. The food is sooooo good, and even though it can be a bit humid with tropical bugs around, somehow the beauty of the place just brightens your day.
The preponderance of guns is unlikely to be a problem if you avoid the bad areas. I have never ever, not even once, seen a gun fire a real bullet. Maybe twice I've heard one fired. In terms of other forms of crime- robbery, etc... no different from Europe. Some areas are like the Nordic countries where you pretty much expect no issues- and others are like some of the southern or Eastern countries where you better hug your bag in front of you in certain crowded areas.
So again, research, research, research! =)
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Baseball is high skill, but since, homeruns aside, you only actually score by chaining together offense- it's like bowling. Look at this ridiculous bowling score: 0. Spare, 0, spare, 0, spare, 0, spare, 0 spare... you knock down 100/100 pins (eventually), and get a score of 100. But if you got say... five strikes to start, and then gutter balls the rest of the way, you'd score 120 having only knocked down 50/100 pins.
Baseball, you can be skilled... but if, for example, all 6 of your hits are in the same inning, you'll almost certainly be in much better than than if you made 1 hit in 6 different innings.
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It's still hot and humid summer until about the 20-25th of September. October temperatures are, overall, great, though it can get a little brisk at times. If you're actually there for some of the humid days you'll probably be glad that to have the weather cool down. =P Anyway, the main concern that time of year is that's typhoon season, particularly September, but also into October. In Tokyo, that usually just means a day... or even just a night, of big wind and a lot of rain. You don't want to be outside, but I mean, you can still usually run to a train station, take a train somewhere, and then hang out more or less indoors. Basically, -it's not that big of a deal if you have a flexible schedule, but can be more of one if you have something to do on a typhoon day you can't move. Also, typhoons can cause planes to have to redirect or delay them. Low possibility events, but common enough to keep in mind.
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Osaka and Kyoto are literally 5-6 USD away from each other... though it'll take a little more money to actually spot you at whatever attractions you want to see there.
Tokyo on the other hand... hopefully you're flying into one city and out of another...
I'll be frank... just take the Nozomi shinkansen... it's super easy, 140 USD one-way, and gets the job done in 2 and a half hours. It's a vacation right? And you've only got one week! So, just make it easy on yourself!
The next level down is reserving a "platt" Kodama Shinkansen... the rate is a little under 100 USD... and takes about 4 hours. Your ticket is for a particular train, if you miss it, you're screwed. That's a whole lot more risky and pain in the butt for a mere 40 USD savings.
An alternative to that is flying... pretty much any domestic flight can be bought from abroad in advance for about 100-110 USD... buying in Japan is a crapshoot. As none of the airports in Tokyo nor Osaka are very convenient, the actual cost, and time spent, will be quite a bit higher... which is why that shinkansen is so popular in the first place! Also, if you have significant luggage, there's possible fees for that too. Tokyo to Osaka is fairly far, but is still basically in the range where train is more convenient than flying.
The standard cheapo way is by bus/night bus... it runs about 3500-7000 yen depending on date and the comfort of the bus with most rolling around 5000 yen or so. These take all night, but can be a deal if you can actually sleep well on the bus (I can't). If you're actually living in Japan and are stuck taking a 2 way route without a JR pass, buses can be significant savings... and ends up being what you're stuck doing unless your job is paying for you or you make a lot to begin with. But as a tourist, I don't recommend it. Also, this is definitely hard mode... if you don't understand Japanese well this will be a big pain in the ass.
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James VS Well, good for you that you made it over the hump without being hustled. Maybe that means you hardly ever frequent the areas where they hit, or you look like you're too much trouble- tourists are the ones with cash afterall, people who live there, even if foreign, won't have much on them. Look savvy to the city, unimpressed by the sights you see everyday, and that you aren't a big score, and you probably get by without trouble. But if you ever get visitors from abroad, you do them a disservice by not warning them.
As I said, the articles just serve to corroborate my PERSONAL experience, where we got to spend the better part of a day helping a friend make a report at the police station, to police who obviously didn't give a crap because that's just business as usual there. And, a facebook friend was score number two for them of people I know.
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Depends on where you're going. Public transportation is wheelchair friendly, though it'll take a lot of elevators to get you to the right platforms properly. Probably a lot of major sites are too. But you may run into some problems in terms of smaller shops and the like. Space is at a premium, and I think they may not be obligated to put in elevators until a building exceeds 5 floors or so. So a lot of shops will go up a few floors with only stairway access, and aisles may be thin. It just depends... supermarkets, department stores, etc... usually going to be plenty of space, no issue, but some stores you can barely move about even with just a bag let alone a wheelchair.
Overall, it's crowded. Some places particularly crowded. Nevertheless, it's overall fairly orderly so maneuvering isn't as hard as it could be in open areas since most people are walking on the correct sides and rarely bump into anyone.
And one bonus that I always add- Tokyo is by and large safe. If you stop and ask someone for directions, someone isn't going to be sneaking in your bag behind you. If you drop something, someone will chase after you to give it to you. You can expect to receive earnest help there, which to me, is one of the most valuable things.
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+muzzirenti Since you're planning to go far in advance and are actually trying to learn some before you go, I'll recommend more than I recommend most people. You can survive with nothing, but the more you learn before you go, the more you can get out of it.
Reading:
1)Be able to read hiragana fairly quickly, with few mistakes.
2) Be able to interpret katakana. This is far less important, and tends to be words you already know. If you went in a store and were vegetable illiterate, could you read that one is lettuce (レタス) and another cabbage (キャベツ).? If you went to a restaurant and ingredients were listed, knowing that most of the katakana words are words you already know, could you, with all the time you need, figure them out?
3) Recognize the meaning of the top 30-100 or so travel kanji, depending on your desire. You don't need to know how to say 女 or 男, but, if no one is around, would you go in the correct one? Station, north, south, east, west, days of the week, etc. Again, no reading necessary- just meaning.
4) Have kanji not be gibberish. Related to that, be able to look up the rest of the kanji, if you have all the time you need. Most languages are gibberish to me, does 禁止 look like gibberish? If you don't know any of the characters, and see it written somewhere you can't copy and paste it in, can you manage to get that into a dictionary? Oh, it has a tree radical! 木(this is a day of the week, so you should know it). And the character has 13 strokes total. That's all you need to find it at jisho.org. Learning radicals can seem like a waste of time since it's not like you're learning any words, but it's very helpful to well... be able to use a dictionary if needed.
Speaking/listening:
1) Know all the major courtesy words... please, thank you, excuse me, etc.
2) Know key travel words... again, north south, station, bus stop, bathroom, map, airport, luggage, etc.
3) Know the format for asking questions, and questions you would want to ask.
4) Learn some key words for the sort of stuff you're interested in. Just go about your day in your own country for a week or so, and figure out what words would be helpful going about your business. You don't need sentences... stick to words and phrases.
5) Know how to ask someone to repeat something more slowly.
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Stefan Frunza I really don't even know what you're trying to argue.
My argument is:
People who complain about Americans using Imperial units when they still use "Imperial time", are ridiculously hypocritical.
The Imperial (ie, factoring) system could use an overhaul, but it still works well, and in some cases, better than a decimal system.
This is, at its core when you take the nationalities and history out of it, an argument of whether a decimal or fraction system is preferable. And that SHOULD get the response of:
"It depends on the application."
But rather, tends to get the response of:
"%(#*$ing idiot yanks"
I on the other hand, will continue to use whichever is preferable for the application. And while I, as others, of course use "regular" time for day to day activities and conversation, I'll still use what amounts to basic decimal time systems for certain applications (such as using 旬(10 day period) instead of weeks when monitoring progress.
Again, it's helpful that there's a lingua franca of measurement/time that everyone understands- but there are still situations where other systems can be superior. So they shouldn't be mocked.
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Vanpyro Gaming I lived in Tokyo for years and not a single pusher was ever seen. There was ONNEE time, where the train was so crowded, I felt that if I jumped, I would remain mid-air and stuck between people, unable to actually reach the ground. One time in years. Granted, if you go during rush hour, you are really unlikely to get a seat (if you get to know your routes you'll know which cars are near the stairs at the major transfer stations though and give yourself a fighting chance to get one), and are quite likely to have people all around you and bumping into you as the train moves. But, that's rush hour. I've been in a car, in Tokyo, where I was literally the only person in there. Recently, the trains aren't so bad. I think their may be more lines, and there was a push a little while back to get working hours a little less standardized so that people are commuting over a wider range of hours.
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Also, a lot of fast food places are open 24 hours (beef bowl place, etc), and many ramen shops are open very late to serve salarymen (some family owned ones may even have hours like lunch + 10pm-2am!). You can't sleep at these like you can at McD, but they won't pester you to leave either if you just sit there on your phone or whatever. But if the point is just to not have dead time, you can wait to eat until after everything else is closed, so that could maybe get you to 2am or so.
Also, some of the family restaurant style places are open very late (maybe 3am or so), if not 24 hour though there's an upcharge after 10pm or so. They're like Denny's style, but the stuff is all Japan's versions of it, though you should go to one other than Denny's if you go there since the competitors are all better. They have drink bars with soda, juice, coffee, tea, cappuccino maker, etc, so they're also a good place to relax for a few hours as there are few other places in Japan where you can just pay a few hundred yen and get unlimited drinks for as long as you wish to loiter.
And some shops are open 24 hours. SOME Don Quixote are, for example. And there's enough random crap in there and stuff you could get as souvenirs for friends, etc, to occupy another 2-3 hours or so until the trains start up again.
Just, again, be careful... check hours carefully, every ramen, fast food, family restaurant, or Don Quixote doesn't have super late or 24 hour service. Some may close quite early. So check carefully!
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They are... but a lot of the airports are very inconvenient (Fukuoka the main exception) and there are luggage issues, etc when you fly. When you add everything up, Tokyo/Osaka is about the crossover point. Anywhere farther than that and, JR pass itinerary aside, flying tends to be favorable.
Basically, if you take flights with your full luggage... you have to take a bus or multiple trains pretty far out to an airport, check bags, go through security, take the flight, pick up bags, take another long train or bus to the city center... Even with only a carry-on it's pretty much constant activity on your part without much break. Shinkansen, you pretty much go to the city center station... get on a train, take a break or nap in a nice big seat, and get off at the city center of your destination. The train takes longer than the plane, but the whole procedure is about even, and for the shinkansen you can just relax the whole way. So, yeah, check your options!
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The only time I ever couldn't get the exact train I wanted was a sakura shinkansen from Osaka to Fukuoka... during Golden Week. It's not really much of an issue. And... this may be BS and if so, I apologize, but one time I had a schedule change and despite the hikari I wanted showing up as "X", or, sold out... they gave me a ticket anyway. It specifically said "JR pass ticket" or something like that. So... apparently there are a few in reserve for JR pass users, at least on hikari trains, at least if you show up before the last minute to get your ticket.
The basic area is sufficiently spacious, especially compared to planes, and the upcharge is fairly significant. (10000 7 day, 16000 14 day, 22000 21 day). It's in play, but I don't know if I'll ever get it. I rather spend the 16000-22000 yen somewhere else.
That said... if you happen to take a Platt Kodama train, the upcharge is only 1500 extra yen from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka. Of course, taking Platt Kodama in the first place probably means you're on a budget, but if the point is more to enjoy the ride than get there quickly, a green car ride on a platt kodama may be a nice trip.
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Because the actual translation is more like:
"In the case of Yune, the people who come for her voice, the singing voice, and such... the people who come for that point are many."
Which was translated as "I think for Yune people come for her singing voice."
Which is an okay enough translation if you weren't trying to read too deeply into every word. And in all likelihood they didn't sit her down for a 1 minute interview. It is likely that 90-99% of her words have been cut and framed, as is the typical cut rate for documentaries, so I won't even try to read too much into the long translation I gave. If you get a 99% cut rate you can make any narrative the truth.
It's a dodge, but she's obviously aware that some people are there for the wrong reasons. She mentions them later as a bother that must be overcome. However, she's trying to explain to him, and I guess also to people like you, that many if not most people there really are just good fans. And in the grand scheme of her activities- not this 24 minute video, but supporting and moderating the livestreams, and reading hundreds of comments on twitter or other SNS praising her voice specifically, she's not without evidence.
Mom actually gave a measured response. She said some are good and some are not. You accuse them all. Which is a pretty ridiculous position. I'd say it's even less likely that it's all of them than that it's none of them. She plays "regular" events too- not just with the young idols... there's opportunity for her to pick up "regular" fans.
Anyway, one more important point:
Yune wears a different outfit every performance. In fact, she had a short 5 minute performance earlier in the day which used a different more conservative outfit. This outfit wasn't beyond what she's done before, but it's one of the raciest things she's ever worn.
THEY KNEW THE CAMERA CREW WAS COMING.
The outfit was chosen for that day in particular.
WHY?
Why wear the raciest thing in your wardrobe for a camera crew trying to sexualize you?
Mom could have even just flipped with the dress she wore early in the day.
Pretty sure this was a setup- a bait and switch. They acted friendly with them while taping, encouraging her to wear something that would appeal to Western audiences and fans of pop stars like Ariana Grande, and then 9 months of editing later it's "pin-ups".
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Shinkansen view is fine. Nothing spectacular- mostly fields and scattered houses, some towns and cities- if you're lucky you can see Fuji... can also get a glimpse of Himeji if you pass Osaka on to Hiroshima. The newer ones have more tunnel segments since they favor investing the money to just blow through a mountain in a straight line. But overall it's just a pleasant view of fields and scattered homes.
There are fairly full videos out there:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0FK0Ax-XDQ
Can skip through to see the sort of stuff there is to see.
Since the shinkansen favors speed it's of course going to take fairly straight routes in open areas. The slower liner style trains and such up in the mountains have nicer views if it's a matter of views.
But it sounds like your point is you're trying to get somewhere and it's just a matter of choice.
The shinkansen is pleasant for all sorts of reasons. Space, leg room. Where the stations are actually located. How easy it is to use. It's a pleasant trip. Get a nice view. Sneak a little nap in. And you might even feel like you even got a little boost of energy from the trip.
The plane is cheaper. If you go past the distance from Tokyo to Osaka, the plane starts to be faster. It can be a lot faster for the longest of distances. But you have to go through this big hassle of going to the airport, checking in, taking a short little flight, then going from the airport to downtown again. Aside from Fukuoka, the airports are pretty far out. The whole experience of a bunch of short segments is tiring.
The shinkansen you just go from city center to city center. Hop on, and relax in one place for the whole trip. And then you're at the other city center.
Shinkansen (and various ways of using it), bus, and plane all have their pros and cons though, so it's just a matter of what you want.
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There are some buses. But it's not really recommended for the city core.
And aside for the tourists routes, it's not recommended for tourists since instead of stops like Shinjuku district, it's stuff like "In the rear of Shimamura Health Clinic" Where the hell is that? If I'm trying to go to Shinjuku do you get off at "the rear of Shimamura Health Clinic" or "In front of Resona Bank"?
The main role of buses is... well, nevermind, let me go back.
Central Tokyo has subways over many routes covering most everything. There is the Yamanote Loop Line, which is above ground, and hits many of the main city centers. Out from these major city centers, go the private company lines, radiating out from the city center. If you're say 4 miles west of the city center, these spoke lines all go east/west. What if you want to go north? Bus.
There are a few train lines which go against the grain of the spoke lines radiating out from the core, but by and large it's buses if you don't have a car or want to bicycle.
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Simply as a matter of course, you'll pass by the Hachiko Statue in Shibuya. If you're not shopping, clubbing or going to a livehouse, there's not actually that much to do in Shibuya... but it's nevertheless essentially required for someone to go there. That poor statue of Hachiko, dead 10x over by second hand smoke, has finally gotten a reprieve. Now it's just lots and lots of tourists.
Hachiko was cremated and laid to rest by his master- but the fur was kept and is stuffed and on display in the Science Museum of Ueno. Although this museum doesn't have that much to do with Japan, it's probably by favorite of the Ueno museums and is a decent size, so if you like science you may want to spend a few hours there. While the special exhibits can be a bit expensive, the regular entrance fee is only 620 yen (~$5.50 USD). While you probably can actually go find the actual grave in Aoyama Cemetery... that's not really my thing. You could do a walking tour from Shibuya up through Harajuku and then on to Aoyama Cemetery, but it's closer to Roppongi and you could just take a train a couple stops there in any case.
There's a new statue at the University of Tokyo. I haven't seen it... but Todai is walkable from Ueno Park.
There are a couple statues up in Akita Prefecture in the far north of the main island of Japan. While I've never been, I can't imagine this would be worth it for anyone not going to Akita primarily for some other reason... And even then I don't really think it'd be worth it.
So basically, everyone sees it at Shibuya... but it's more meeting place and tourist attraction than a place to actually pay respects. Going to the actual grave is a long walk from here, but passes tourist areas almost the whole way. Alternatively it's a few stops by train. And on the Ueno side, the stuffed fur and the new statue at Todai are relatively close and can be hit in one go. The two statues up in Akita are basically all the way across Japan and so no one really goes to those unless you're up there anyway.
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@tappersuzie Because the impetus of them chasing him down was they had previously had stuff stolen, and he was apparently on camera looking inside a residence under construction.
(as someone in the construction business, it'd be nice if we could just leave our tools on the job every night instead of having to lock everything away, on account of stuff constantly being jacked if left out, so I just want you to be clear that stealing from construction sites is common and so anyone wandering around a site is suspicious. Even if in many cases it would be totally innocent, it's suspicious, and so for your own safety, please stay out.)
Someone called 9-1-1, seemingly before the shooting, just to report they saw him coming out of the construction site.
So, if he actually was stealing things, even if this time he was just scoping things out then it's easy to say he was up to no good, and when confronted, knowing that he was at risk of burglary charges, put up a fight that resulted in his death.
If he wasn't stealing anything, then while he was trespassing, most people don't make much of casual trespassing and he wouldn't have felt that he had really done anything wrong. So he would be looking to de-esculate things when confronted. In this case it could be said that they had some cause to try to catch him, and they were likely the instigators that escalated things resulting in his death but this should probably result in a low charge at most that may or may not stick depending on the details.
And, finally, a scenario that doesn't seem to be true. Which is that he was really just jogging along, and some guys came up and shot him. Then this would actually be a case of someone minding their own business, doing the right thing, and basically getting lynched. Then I think it would qualify as an actual hate crime, premeditated, etc.
AND, again, the case is pending. They will presumably have a lot more information than we do, and will hopefully make a just decision. Not that I have to AGREE with their decision, but since one is pending I'll at least wait for it.
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Let's switch the topic.
Go look at a concert for NSYNC and let me know about the gender ratio of fans. It's high pitched squeals.
But let's be clear... lots of guys LIKED some of those songs. I remember "Bye bye bye" was a karaoke favorite. Cuz people were goofing around. What guy would actually admit to really liking them? Like, really really liking them? To the point of going to a show? Nah, a lot of guys wouldn't be caught dead at such a show... again, even if they liked some songs.
It really only goes the one way... girls like boy groups, boys aren't supposed to like pop groups, so girl groups need girl power or girl crush to have enough fandom. In essence, in the West, both boy and girl groups depend on girl fans.
In Japan, it actually goes both ways. Girls follow boy groups. Guys follow girl groups. Again, basically to the point that if you go against the grain and like the same gender group too seriously, you're weird. You can like them a little bit, but not enough to go to shows. So girl crush is fairly irrelevant in Japan, and girl groups instead focus on stuff like cuteness and rock/metal to appeal to the male audience that is expected to follow girl groups.
As this is very fringe in Japan... that push is even stronger. A girl walks around town or watches TV, she'll hear and see Nogizaka46, maybe becomes a fan. But to actually GO to a venue and CHOOSE to see girl performers no one has heard of? That'd be strange in Japan, and in conformist Japan, it would take a lot of bravery. So in general, there are few girls in the scene, especially at this indie of a level. And they tend to congregate as fans of the same few groups for morale support.
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To be frank, it depends a lot on how many people are going and what they wanted to do. His guide provided a lot of options, but the best course depends on your exact situation.
That said, as a general estimate, I suggest:
100 USD/day + flight + long-distance transportation + 200 USD buffer
Of the 100 USD/day, about 50-60/day will be on "required" stuff- lodging, (basic)food, (basic) transportation. And 40-50 USD/day is for fun- entry fees, event tickets, buying stuff, fancier food or drink, day trip transportation, etc.
For a 4 day trip, your long-distance transportation is probably 0. For a 7 day trip, you'd want to decide if it's worth going to another region or just sticking to Tokyo OR Osaka/Kyoto.
You probably won't need to use much if any of the buffer- that's why it's a buffer. However, on a short trip you're at risk of not "averaging out"... on a two week trip there will almost certainly be some cheap days that help balance out your splurge days. If you just go four days they may all be splurge days and so the recommendation may be low. So make sure you have some extra available as buffer.
For a 7 day, 6 night trip, I would just go to Tokyo. If you never plan to go to Japan ever again then it'd be hard to not recommend going to Tokyo + Kyoto, but for me going, I'd just do one or the other.
Lodging would be about 27*6
Basic food 20*7 (one solid inexpensive meal (800-1200), one fast food meal (400-700), snack (100-300) + vending machine x2-3 (200-300))
Wifi: 40- wifi cost is front-loaded with rentals- this is a high estimate for this length of stay
Transportation: 20 (to/from airport) + 30 (two 72 hour passes) + 10 (assorted random costs)
My recommended was 100 USD/day + 200 USD buffer... which means 900 USD + flight for this trip.
My lodging + basic food + wifi + transportation = 402 USD.
That leaves about 300 USD- or about 30 USD/day for fun with 90 USD to buy some stuff, before breaking into your buffer.
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You might as well trudge ex-gov. Cuomo out here at this point in terms of credibility. Find someone who isn't potentially caught up with funding the Wuhan lab.
Look, you can say to follow the science all you want, but you really just need to pretend vaccines are a religion.
How do you, without resorting to tactics worthy of the Taliban (because as effective as that can be, we don't actually want to live in an authoritarian hellhole), get more people to follow your religion?
If you actually believe your religion, it is perhaps even more than a matter of life and death.
Hellfire and brimstone? You'll die? You'll kill grandma?
Well, you've been doing that a while now so if that was effective for some people, they probably already got vaccinated.
A lot of the holdouts are people where- the harder you push your "religion", the more they don't want it. You should know what that's like. You probably know what pushy religion feels like. You've probably experienced it before. You think your religion is so important so you push it so hard- and somehow the harder you try, the faster people run. Cut it out, you're just hurting your cause.
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This is indie. It's not really advertised. It's expensive.
There's little opportunity for kids to know she exists.
Even if they do, kids are still more interested in mainstream stuff since they are more influenced by advertising and peer pressure than even adults. And the mainstream companies view them as fresh mea and advertise at them aggressively.
It's expensive and they don't have the means. For Yune in particular, she can't perform very often, so the events she does do often have a high price point. If you're not really interested in the scene in general but just a single performer, at the indie level it's going to just be a 15-30 minute set at this sort of thing. Even if it's really a parent paying, it's a lot harder for a parent to pay for two people than for a single 30-40 something with money to burn to just pay for himself.
That said, there are young fans, at least of idols in general- which Yune should be able to move into with the next year or two if she likes. But you generally have to go to at least slightly more mainstream stuff, and then, only the bigger events, if you want to see them. Occasionally you'll see a dad with a daughter who is obviously the fan rather than him at a smaller show, but it's much less common than when a group or performer is holding a one-man concert and you'll get 1-3 hours to justify the trip.
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What they're measuring is the skill/luck ratio. Not the total amount of skill required. The ratio.
As an example... let's say I had to play Michael Jordan in his prime, no holds barred, one on one for 5 minutes. Who will win? Jordan will win. 100% of the time. And expand this out to non-professionals, and I think it'd still be 100%. Why? Because I, and no other amateur, could stop Jordan. He can score every single time.
But let's say I have to play Wayne Gretzky in his prime, against an average NHL goalkeeper. Who will win? Gretzky of course! But... it's no longer 100%. If you ran the simulation against random non-professional people over and over, somewhere, someone would beat him. You see, that goalkeeper is the spoiler. He's good enough to stop most shots. And eventually he's going to have a game where he's really on his game and stops everything... except for one stupid deflection from the novice player.
Now, you can look at hockey and say that MORE absolute skill is required because it uses a goalie, and a player usually must beat that goalie to score. And that may be true. But that goalie makes it so much harder to score that it increases the effect of flukes. Own goals and such are embarrassing but usually inconsequential in basketball. But when you're looking at 2-4 made goals an NHL game, compared to 30-50 in the NBA, you can see that the NBA team will tend toward an average score considering how many shots they make, whereas a goalie in the zone can just shut everyone down.
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A week? You don't need much. Courtesy words. It's not like most people speak much English... but I wouldn't think you'd go too far off the tourist track within a week, which should at least have SOMEONE there who can help you in English if needed. So in that case, you could mostly do fine with just gestures... and if necessary, you would likely be able to find someone who can speak it.
That said, you are a year off from going... maybe even almost two years off. Again, not sure if you're really getting much return on investment for time spent learning if you'll only be there a week... but you have time to invest. Even just one word a week puts you at a strong advantage going over there.
Recommended words: Numbers 1 to 10 at least, 100, 1000, 10000 helpful for money.
Direction words.
Simple locations- bathroom, station, park
Courtesy words: sumimasen, arigatou, douzo, etc.
The more you know... the more you can take advantage of... the better you can enjoy things a bit more off the beaten path, and maybe even meet some people who don't speak English well. A lot of things would be quite hard without at least being able to read some, and not being able to speak Japanese will almost always cost you some time and money in country (failure to take advantage of discounts, time lost being lost, etc). Knowing more will improve your time. But... you can do fine without it, and it's probably not an efficient use of time to learn much just for the 1 week of travel.
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Baseball has threshold scoring. It's not scored by hits, but by runs. A team could scatter 9 doubles throughout a ballgame and lose to a team that got a player to first base on a bad call, bunted, and hit a sacrifice fly.
Soccer has almost no scoring. One bad bounce... or frankly, a bad call, could easily decide a game. And shootouts, while requiring skill, are still highly luck based, with the goalie often having to commit pretty hard one way or the other. All that skill and practice and it can come down to that. When you have very little scoring, each point really matters. But when each point really matters... other stuff can start to interfere.
Basketball... everyone takes a whole bunch of shots on goal. If it goes in, it's scored. Even if you say... tip in a shot while attempting to get a defensive rebound... a lousy luck sort of play... it's 2 points out of like 80-120. Luck tends to average out a lot more in basketball because any particular #%#$ up is rarely game changing. One bad bounce rarely costs the game.
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It has a higher rate. But... how high the rate is is also a bit of a myth. Japan's economic bubble popped around 1992, causing a very long recession when most of the rest of the first world was doing fairly well. This caused a spike in Japanese suicides compared to the rest of the world and, considering people already knew about "harikari" (harakiri) and kamikaze, earned them a reputation.
In 2016, the WHO listed it as (per 100,000)
Russia: 26.5(all) / 48.3(m) / 7.5 (f)
S Korea: 20.2(all) /29.6(m) / 11.6(f)
Belgium: 15.7 (all) / 22.2 (m) / 9.4(f)
Japan: 14.3(all) / 20.5(m) / 8.1(f)
USA: 13.7 (all) /21.1(m) / 6.4(f)
France: 12.1 (all) / 17.9(m) / 6.5(f)
UK: 7.6 (all) 11.9 (m) / 3.5(f)
Obviously, there is room for improvement... but it's pretty much in the pack of European countries, and fairly similar to the USA's numbers these days.
Which, honestly, is still pretty surprising because the work is very TIME demanding, which causes poor life balance among many Japanese. Those who let this tip just a bit too much so that they lose their outlet are at extreme risk. The rules aren't that big of a deal IMHO- every place has rules and it's actually kind of nice that things are fairly standardized so you know what to expect. Other stuff is far more frustrating.
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@5thdawg917 I'll just touch upon these things because I really am not totally sure about the interactions... what's causal or correlated or coincidence, etc. I'll make some assertions based on what I think, but I'm not sure.
Overall, the country is very safe. More than Western countries? Well, some of them still do quite fine. The difference is Japan manages to do so despite having very large cities while the lower crime Western counties are mostly fairly sparsely populated.
As an island, Japan is able to- and does, enforce their border laws fairly well. Guns and drugs are extremely restricted in the country.
And I'll just tie this right into the yakuza, their mafia. They are mafia in the more traditional sense- ostensibly they help out their community, police their territory, look out for their people, etc. So overall, they are less willing to do stuff that is as overtly cancerous to society as drugs. Their focus is more on gambling and the adult industry, which can be done more openly and while potentially addictive and destructive to some people, isn't generally as destructive as drugs. They're also involved in white collar crime.
As is typical of organized crime, they have some control of ports and transportation and can import guns and drugs. And do. But as the government turns a bit of a blind eye to their gray area businesses but heavily cracks down on drugs and open violence, there's strong incentive to not go too heavily into the drug trade.
The government cracks down on them as they do extort people- things in general in Japan probably just cost more because the yakuza is taking a cut somewhere along the line. But there's hesitancy to crack down too much because it's felt that if they collapse the void will just be filled by foreign gangs with less concern for the Japanese people, with more extensive drug networks, and profit more from violence and chaos.
WW2 is often taught as some sort of good versus evil, and in some sense that's true. But on the Western front, you've probably heard about the Treaty of Versailles. The massive treaty entanglements of the 19th century finally came crashing down for WW1, and it's quite hard to pin down a good or bad guy for that war. But Germany were the losers, and the winners were bad winners, putting Germany on the path to being an actual bad guy for WW2.
You are less likely to hear about Japan pre-Pearl Harbor here in the USA- I don't know about in the UK. But the key points. They had been isolated for hundreds of years until being forced open around the ~1860s. Shortly thereafter, Western powers played both sides of a Civil War that resulted in the reinstatement of the Emperor. In order to maintain independence, it rapidly modernized. While Korea was some sort of semi-vassal state to China and was attacked largely due to vicinity, when you look at who they attacked, people sometimes forget that they didn't attack Indonesia, they attacked the Dutch East Indies. They didn't invade Vietnam, they invaded French Indochina. It wasn't Malaysia, it was British Malaya. The impetus for Japanese expansionism was kicking Western powers out of Asia. The ideal was corrupted and of course those who did evil are in the end responsible for their own actions. But it's important for Westerners to understand that Pearl Harbor didn't just come out of nowhere- it was just another monster of their own making.
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1st amendment rights aren't supposed to be suspended for anything.
Government isn't supposed to have any power over those rights. They are rights that come with being human.
Any governor who infringed upon those rights- may have had good intentions,but nevertheless, blatantly disregarded the Constitution and should resign or be recalled. They overstepped their authority. And people rightfully spoke up and protested.
And now we're at a point where we aren't all in this together. Instead of everyone acting wisely and cooperating you've got half the nation glued to the TV in hiding, waiting for the all clear in November... or November 2024, depending on how the election goes.... and the other half flouting even the good sense protective measures.
Open everything.
To the best of your ability, avoid everybody.
Wash your hands, the 20-30 seconds.
If you're around people, wear a mask.
If you're in a crowded area, wear a mask and eye covering.
Don't touch your face.
Don't touch anything.
If you're older or high risk, PLEASE HIDE, though get some sun and exercise too.
And as a community, let's do our best to support those who need to hide.
Whether or not a lockdown is a good idea, here in the US, it's not legal. You're supposed to do your part. So do your part.
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@monta2max There is no bullet train from the airport to Tokyo. There are various limited express trains (higher quality trains like shinkansen, but not as fast), as well as buses and regular trains.
The two main express trains:
~1 hour, 2500-3000 yen
The Keisei Skyliner is cheaper and faster and goes to Ueno. The NEX is slower and costs more and can also go farther west without transferring. Additionally, if you are going for 2 weeks or less, NEX has a 4000 yen roundtrip ticket.
The bus, or the slow Keisei Line.
~1000 yen, about 80-90 minutes
The JR Pass price is 29000 yen for 7 days, and 46000 yen for 14 days. You need to spend 4000 yen per day with a 7 day, or 3300 yen per day with a 14 day pass. EVERY DAY, that's the average. 3300-4000 yen per day is the average you need to spend to break even! And, again, a ~1000 yen train from the airport is available. Even if you splurge for the nice/fast train, you just break even for that one day, and maybe the return trip to the airport. All the middle days you'd run below average. It's only ~500-900 yen per day in the city.
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Coffee
Tea... green tea, barley tea, some western teas... also milk tea... and bottled all sorts of stuff like jasmine tea, oolong tea, etc.
fruit tea drinks
Soda (mostly coke, mitsuya cider (ginger ale-ish), fanta grape, and melon soda in restaurants as the standard... stores and vending machines can have more variety).
orange juice, apple juice
lassi at Indian curry shops
some yogurt-ish based stuff like yakult
water, flavored waters, sports drinks and slightly carbonated or not, watery milky weird stuff like Calpis and Pocari Sweat
smoothies, and your typical fancy lattes and such
milk, and milk water... though I think the latter should be avoided and even the regular milk is somewhat lacking
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@notgiven3971 I didn't actually downvote this video. I downvoted the companion video though. (it has roughly 900 likes and 300 dislikes).
My opinion about this documentary is somewhat tinted by my opinion of the companion video.
In the end, they decided that it really didn't fit the narrative they were trying to tell.
So they dumped most of it into that side video, leaving only 2 minutes or so here.
Oh, but they still used them as the thumbnail.
I said elsewhere here, but I'll repeat my main point:
"They get 2 centimeters deep into anything actually illegal.
They break multiple laws getting material on legal stuff.
And then I guess lacking something exciting enough for their video, try to rope in some innocent idol group as part of this whole thing."
And maybe in a way to help you understand... have you never actually been bothered about liking anime? Is it so mainstream enough now you were never harassed about it? Well, the mainstream media likes to rope all this " weird Japan" stuff together- anime, manga, maid cafes, idols, etc... as well as the adult/mature segments of them. You as an anime fan, might have some understanding that "Spirited Away" "Doraemon" and "Fist of the North Star" are all anime and so maybe a fan should be more specific in what they actually like. There's ecchi stuff but that's part of anime, not the whole thing. So when they send reporters over who try to put on a normie persona and seem to know nothing about this topic, they paint with a big brush out of their ignorance. It's kind of like them assuming anyone who likes anime is liking it because of the hentai.
And you should rightly say that's a bullshit take. If they're that utterly clueless going in then they need to spend more time researching the topic before seriously trying to make a documentary on it.
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You may tip at a ryokan. If you have something of a personal guide, you may tip that person. I've heard that some taxi drivers have taken it upon themselves to tip themselves... give them exact cash so they don't. Taxis are already notoriously expensive. However, if you are literally made of money and can use a taxi as a sort of personal guide/chauffeur, then that may be deserving of a tip.
Note that any of this is technically optional... a true tip... and if you do do it, you should research it properly. Most should be given the tip in a special envelope, in a particular way.
So in practice, you can generally get away with tipping absolutely no one. And "getting away" is an exaggeration... there really shouldn't be any situation at all where you even feel pressure to tip.
As a related aside... there are table charges, the otoshi, or appetizer masquerading as a table/seat charge, and generally a required drink fee for live events. So, they'll get you here... shoganai... best to think about the lack of tipping when you have to eat these charges. =P
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@lunajack9947 K-pop fans will post that BTS has something like 40% male fans. And the male fans actually at a show will post that they're extreme minorities there.
I haven't actually been to BTS so I can't attest to it, but it seems like there's a difference between casuals and the fans.
One thing I will say though is if BTS played shows like she did, how long until the pre-teen and even young teen audience gets priced out?
How many parents will pay $100 a week ($50 x 2), every week, to take her to a show? (oh, and add transportation costs...)
This is what causes the middle-aged illusion of idol groups. (the gender split is pretty common in all sorts of idols in Japan and is plenty true of indie AF boy groups who don't promote broadly too)
But back to that... Yune is young so she can only perform 1-2 times a week in most cases, though charges higher for each to try to compensate. Many underground idols can perform about 5 times a week.
Which runs about $7000 a year, not including transportation, just to go to all the shows.
College kids with no income or part time income can't afford that. So they go to five shows a month or something, which after transportation and such, is still probably around $2000 a year. Well, if a group has 50 college-age fans and 50 40+ fans... well, once you account for who can actually pay for it, maybe 40 of those 40+ fans show up at a particular event and only 10 of the college age fans. And of course it's a bit of a feedback mechanism on top of that because fans will be more comfortable around similar fans.
Idols themselves often advertise that a show is "free" you just have to pay the drink charge ($5-6, or sometimes $10-12). It's their job to spin it as just a little extra even when it's paid. But I remember one who graduated going to some event commenting something like oh, that drink charge is quite painful huh!? Indeed- big fans might put down $1500 a year on the BS forced drink charge. That's the scale we're looking at here.
Which is why when he gets asked about promoting to younger fans at 14:16, the manager gives a look of "nice fantasyland you've got over there in your head but here in the real world 11 year olds don't have $2000 a year to waste on this."
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For what? Spending money? Long distance travel? Hotels? Hostels? Plane?
Just for basic daily local travel, food and spending money, I recommend about 50-70 USD / day plus a 200 USD buffer. So that's 550-700 USD.
Note that Japan is a place where, while things aren't cheap per se, you can get by reasonably. Or spend a fortune in a day. It depends on your interest. Note that if your interests are cheap (eg, national museums, parks, shrines, people watching, window shopping, free public performances, hiking) then 25 USD/day is certainly possible. Then 50-70 USD estimate just assumes most people will have cheap days and expensive days that average out to 50-70.
So your total is plane ticket + long distance travel + lodging + 700 USD.
On only a 1 week trip, long distance travel within the country probably isn't recommended. If you REALLY want to Kyoto, etc, then try to clear 10-12 days total for your trip.
Lodging, you can get a capsule at a hostel for about 25-35 USD/night. It's overall probably most economical if going alone. If going with one or more other people then getting a room will get you better amenities for 30-70 USD per person.
Lodging can be done for 200 USD. If you want more than a hostel it may run closer to 150-250% of that.
Airfare, depends on where you are, so I can't even make a guess. But prices around here are normally about 800-1000 USD, but can drop to 500-600 USD or so. Waiting for a deal is one of the easier ways to keep the price of the trip down.
So, cost is potentially as low as airfare + 500 USD, but something around airfare + 1000 USD is a safer estimate, and again, the sky is the limit in Tokyo, and expensive tastes can burn through 1000 USD in a few hours.
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They're into makeup and fashion stuff.
As they get older they're into dramas.
Besides the usual: trips, food, movies, books, comics/manga, music
This is hardly mainstream anyway.
At the mainstream level girls are into their Johnny's groups and K-pop. The most popular stuff in recent years has actually been the male soloists, which have dominant female support, and male bands, which have mixed support.
And the indie boy groups exist too. There was one event that was all girl groups + one boy group. The girl fans got a bad deal since they paid full price to basically just watch one set- that's why they usually just have girl groups or boy groups perform at a particular event. It targets a particular audience... as it has to because there are dozens of events in Tokyo on a weekend. Even though I'm running devil's advocate for these guys, there are better options available that week if they were just into idols generally so they would have had some reasons to go to those particular events.
If there were female, female idol fans, on a day like that they would have gone to see the H!P groups that were performing. Zenkimi was also performing that weekend. Not saying they would have come to this show instead- just that there's something available that's more to their interest.
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In America, all servers are supposed to be paid no less than the minimum wage. I'm aware there may be unethical bosses acting criminally, but that's a matter of enforcement. They're still supposed to pay minimum.
The Texas minimum wage is the US minimum wage- $7.25.
So if your friend was to receive absolutely zero tips, she would receive $7.25 from her employer. The first $3.35 in tips she receives per hour indirectly go to her employer in money they don't have to pay her.
eg
0 tips per hour = $7.25 per hour (all $7.25 from employer)
$3.00 tips per hour = $7.25 per hour ($3 in tips, and $4.25 from employer)
$5.00 tips per hour = $8.90 per hour ($5 in tips, and $3.90 from employer)
$9.00 tips per hour = $12.90 per hour ($9 in tips, and $3.90 from employer)
OBVIOUSLY employers don't want to pay that extra amount... so some may de facto be quite slimy trying to get around it. And they'd prefer getting rid of employees who cost them more than the $3.90. But the de jure minimum wage is $7.25... which is lousy... but she'd still be due that much even if she pulled in no tips.
I have a few problems with tips. Firstly, they aren't necessarily split with other staff who could do just as much if not more work behind the scenes and be stuck with that actual minimum with no hope of better. And secondly, as a %, they don't accurately reflect the effort put in by the wait staff. Cheap stuff deserves the most tipping- the waiters themselves often have to make salads, desserts and drinks... and of course refills. The tip on the soda refilled 3 times is 30-50 cents. The tip on the filet mignon they literally did almost nothing for but write down the order and bring it out is maybe 5+ dollars. And particularly if tips aren't shared, there's little incentive to help out other wait staff... which is why service can be bad even with the best efforts of wait staff if their boss didn't schedule enough servers for the demand. It's really quite a broken system... but one we all still pay into because it's hard to break the machine without hurting the little guy too.
In Japan, servers honestly probably don't get paid enough. Even with higher base pay, without tips, their wages aren't going to be very high. You can't tip them. Give them your thanks. And the respect and kindness they deserve. Not that you wouldn't... but you know what I mean... just because you can't give them money doesn't mean they can't be shown they were appreciated.
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@kimsland999 Because Western countries, including where I'm from, don't mean "age in which they can provide consent" when they say age of consent.
In my country there are literally MILLIONS of kids having sex with each other. Millions upon millions. I mean in the 13-18 range. Is she giving consent? Well, if the age of consent is 18, then, no, she is not because she cannot- she's not at the age in which she can provide consent. So why aren't all these being prosecuted as assaults? Because "age of consent" doesn't actually mean what it says, it's pretty much just the age in which you can't have sex if one of them are too far above or below the line.
In Japan, age of consent is actually age of consent. It's the age in which their yes means yes. Before that age, their yes means nothing because they don't have the ability to consent. After that age, their yes then means yes. Nevertheless, even if their yes means yes, it's still ILLEGAL.
The age of criminal culpability in Japan has dropped from 16 to 14, and while it doesn't quite align even though logically speaking it should, the point is around that age is when they think people are responsible for their actions. An 11 year old shanked a 12 year old, and this made them consider if they wanted to lower it. But since the aoc law in Japan is more about mental capability than legality of an action, raising it would be odds with attempts to lower the criminal culpability law since it would suggest people aren't really capable of making decisions until an older age.
The 13 is an old "federal" law- back when the life expectancy was something like half of what it is now. The 16/18 are "state" laws, and as far as I know, every "state" has them. "State" laws have lower penalties but it's still jail time.
I'm quite all right with celibacy laws for under 18s... frankly, I'm okay with 19 or 20- that ensures they're out of high school. I'm a prude and would prefer all those millions of 13-18 having sex in my country... did not.
But my issues is Japan's "age of consent" actually means what it says, and people give them a hard time about it when their county uses a virtue signal number like 18 or whatever but then doesn't actually enforce on what should then be assaults.
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Japan has long been considered a smoker's paradise. But the cities are cracking down, especially in areas that are expected to be frequented by tourists like the areas near the major stations. And Akibahara is oddly zoned with the government district and so is all non-smoking outdoors.
The most important rule is- follow the rules. No smoking signs will be well posted. Flaunting posted rules is in very poor taste in Japan.
The next most important rule is- don't litter. Lots of public places still allow smoking so you won't see no smoking signs, but you'll still see no littering signs. It's called poisute, and refers to littering anything. but the picture by the sign is usually a hand throwing a cigarette.
Third is a general rule- be aware of your surroundings. Lighting up right on top of pregnant women, young kids, etc, is in very bad taste. While there usually isn't an actual prohibition on smoking while walking, perhaps in part due to the no littering rule, in practice, most people tend to go stand or sit somewhere to smoke. Or alternatively, go to an izakaya or cafe or other place that allows it.
BTW, Tokyo in particular is taking advantage of the Olympics to pass anti-smoking measures. Your available smoking spaces will shrink drastically by spring 2020.
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Basically, treat it as you should treat a library.
The key point is to not make noise. (You may still chat quietly with people there in person, though you should be aware of your surroundings to see if you can chat at a low regular voice or if whispering would be more appropriate- eg, if people are trying to sleep nearby) BTW, this is just a matter of basic rules for the major cities. I once took a "train" (2-3 cars): out in the countryside...basically all kids from one high school going back to their hometowns along a single line. Loud AF.
You may not call anyone.
You may not talk on the phone, except to pick it up and quietly say you're on the train and will call them back shortly.
To even have it ring is a tiny offense- but to actually have a conversation is a huge one. It's accident versus intention.
Obviously, if it's a REAL EMERGENCY then you would be forgiven. But if you don't speak Japanese to inform them, "hopefully" you are panicked enough to convey the emergency.
There's one thing I don't know about- if someone calls you and you just listen to your significant other or whatever and say nothing, would that be okay? It's a hypothetical. Technically it should, because you aren't making noise, but since it LOOKS like you're talking on the phone, it may draw bad attention. Because "talking on the phone" is seen to be bad, regardless of noise.
But it's basically a noise issue. You can listen to music, watch videos, text, etc. But if it's something that makes noise, such as music, you must use headphones. There are occasionally even signs up that remind you to make sure your headphones aren't leaking . Which is very easy to have happen, because the train in motion is quite loud, while it is fairly quiet while at a station. So in order to not have the music be so high as to be a bother at the stations, you probably can't have the music be loud enough to fully overpower the train noise. At least with regular earbuds.
Low voices to anyone right there in your group. Otherwise, you can do what you want, but no noise.
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Yes there are specific bowing rules. If you're a foreigner, especially not on business, then you probably don't need to know anything. Outside of business, you'll probably be bowed to with no expectation of bowing back +95% of the time- and outside of fairly formal places you probably won't actually be bowed to very much to begin with.
What is common, are little bows when meeting say a friend's friend, and little nods in day to day use. These do, or almost, fall under normal nodding and "tipping of the (usually imaginary these days) hat" so to say in Western countries, so it's probably not even far from your normal practices.
In short... tourists and such probably don't have to know anything- could very well not be expected to bow even once. If you're there on some sort of business (IMHO, especially if you look Asian), then you should probably carefully practice from a study guide if you think it's worth your trouble.
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In big cities and particularly Tokyo, basically everyone is taking trains to work. And you more or less aren't supposed to eat or drink on commuter trains. And if you're going during rush hour, having a drink in hand is an UTTERLY TERRIBLE idea in the first place.
So you either got your drink, drank it all the way before even getting to your station, or got it after arriving at your station.
Train stations and coffee places are common.
If you have leeway you might just stay at Starbucks.
Or you'd just head up to your office... with steaming hot coffee, and it'd be a more acceptable temperature by the time you got there.
So there isn't really too much opportunity to drink it as you walk anyway.
That said, the drinking while walking thing is far less of a concern than eating while walking. I by and large ignore it, only caring to more or less not drink while on the train. I might care more if it wasn't just plain cheaper to not care... and pretty much no one cares. When I'm in Tokyo I intentionally ignore rush hour so it's hard for me to say how many do it... but it seems to be rare by say US standards, but not unheard of. Most people seem to just buy something and take to their office.
If you work near Tokyo Station or something, with the more stuffy, set in their ways businesses, it may be more unprofessional than you want to look to drink or eat while walking. But overall, you can drink while walking, and to a lesser extent, eating while walking is okay. Just remember that it's a thing- so read the atmosphere first.
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Eating and drinking while walking is increasingly okay.
Drinking (non-alcoholic drinks) while walking is almost certainly going to be ignored by everyone, despite relatively few people doing it very much.
Eating ice cream and such, or any sort of street food while in a street food area, would also get a pass.
Going beyond that is where it starts running into gray areas where more than the most curmudgeonly 1% care.
That said, the cultural pressure is against "Eating while walking" NOT "eating in the street".
You can always stop, lean on a railing or something or against a building or something and take a drink or eat a small snack. But again, it's to the point few care about drinking while walking and so I won't actually stop unless I'm eating something- which again, most people are okay with as well, but it probably bumps up from 1-5% disapproval up to 10-20% for snacking while walking.
Things are much stricter culturally on the train (commuter trains). But even there, you can meet NEEDS. They much rather have you take a drink or eat a lozenge than cough, for example. You can even likely get away with eating a few crackers and then putting the bag away. To be clear, long distance liner class and shinkansen type trains allow/encourage eating/drinking.
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The world is jumping from heights and falling to their deaths.
That's why the church needs to open and fight.
Covid is a threat. But... we're at 750,000 global deaths from/with covid this year.
Also there are about 660,000 suicides.
I'm not sure how all the numbers are panning out, but I think we're supposed to have about 500,000 by this time of year putting us at about 160,000 excess.
750,000 is bigger than 160,000, so I guess just screw those 160,000 excess suicides?
Well, there is the elephant in the room... abortion is at 26,000,000 on the year.
It's winning against covid 34 to 1.
We've got bigger problems.
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There are basically 5 options:
1) Stick to one general region and not have to buy anything to cover long distance travel
2) Buy a JR pass
3) Buy shinkansen tickets as you go
4) Buy domestic flight tickets
5) Take long-distance buses, likely night buses
Option 1:
+No cost... you can easily fill 7 days of schedule just in Tokyo region or Osaka/Kyoto region.
-You only get to see one region
Option 2:
+Allows you to travel several different far away places. Since it is unlimited use over a time period, it's potentially the most value. Shinkansen is very comfortable and you can board easily from city center. Good instructions in English. Will work on some other trains in the cities.
-Probably the most expensive option. It must be used enough or you actually end up paying too much. Is not very useful WITHIN cities, you will still probably need to buy some subway tickets in addition.
Option 3:
+ May be preferable to JR pass if you only take 1 shinkansen or 2 short-distance shinkansen. It is comfortable and you can take the faster Nozomi Shinkansen if you don't have JR pass, or a slower and cheaper platt kodama shinkansen.
-Fairly expensive, very expensive with an extensive schedule or very long distance.
Option 4:
+ Fairly inexpensive option. It can be useful if you go immediately to the far away region direct from the airport from the time you arrive in Japan.
-Since most airports are far from city centers, a lot of plane trips can take a surprising amount of time to actually reach the city proper... the flight is short, but the whole process takes as long as the shinkansen with a lot of phases keeping you from resting, whereas the shinkansen you can just relax the whole way. If you want to go to several regions that aren't really far apart, it can be a hassle.
Option 5:
+Usually the cheapest option. Since you take the bus in the night, it actually uses up the least "usable" time of all. It means you will not have to pay for lodging one night as well.
- Even though the buses are pretty nice, they are often uncomfortably warm and the seats are not very large. The trips take the longest. It can be very hard to sleep, which may have a poor effect on your condition for the rest of the trip. Although not required, this is hardest to do without good Japanese knowledge.
So, it depends on your itinerary, your desires, your budget, and your stamina.
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There are 1000s of idol groups in Japan.
Are some being promoted to a younger audience?
Sure.
Most are 16-26 year olds or so, aiming for the 14-40 demographic or so though.
Lots of songs about high school, graduations, fun on the beach, etc.
Some of the slightly more major ones maybe get some anime theme songs which would be known by a wider audience.
One of the most famous groups, Momoiro Clover actually did a morning kids' show.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhmNurdsIeY
One group I like, LinQ, which a regional group of medium popularity. But they got a job for some Yokai Watch material.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trNLdKQhnEY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCyW8M-iiX0
Who goes to their theater shows? Mostly men, as that's par for the course with this level of idols in terms of day to day shows. What about major concerts? Well, then it's up to maybe 20-30% female audience. And as regional idols, they often perform at public music festivals and such, and since kids are passively watching, they almost always perform their Yokai Watch songs there.
But by and large kids aren't really the actual paying customers- aside for the initial payment for doing the Yokai Watch stuff, they aren't supporting the group's survival. If they relied on them they'd have broken up already.
Yune is performing in the underground. Maybe about 2-3 tiers lower than LinQ. She probably has more talent than them, but there's no mainstream appeal for super young girls, so she's still in the deep underground. That probably means no media deals, so you do have to rely on fans to pay the bills, and one salaryman is probably worth 10 college students or 30 kids.
And that's probably being generous. These are underground live idols. A salaryman can just go to a show after work in lieu of going drinking with his boss. It's easy to go often. A young child is probably out of the city center... so a parent has to actually take them into the city and bring them home. It's a family affair to get a kid to one of these shows- a salaryman just drops by on the way home after work. So the idols that young people like are the mainstream ones they see on TV, not the ones performing in little holes in the wall downtown. But she's good and has exposure so she'll have opportunities once she gets old enough to gain mainstream appeal.
LASTLY, despite whatever assumptions you come up with from appearances.... crap idol fans are called "pink ticket" fans... or youth discount despite age, due to the high rate of troublemakers among the youth. And the people who actually get banned or arrested are almost all 18-32 or so, focused around 26.
Do the older people look creepy? Well, then you're not looking in the right place to help defend her. The staff will be eagle-eyed on the younger fans who are muuuuuch more likely to DO creepy.
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Yes, the tickets are expensive.
But what would you have them do?
They rent out a nice sterile seminar hall for $3000. However dark and dreary they try to make it look, it's a seminar hall meant for stuff like company orientation ceremonies. It has a seating capacity of 127. So even to just pay for the rental fee on the venue, they have to charge about $24. Assuming they sell out, which doesn't seem to be the case. It's very likely that the $50 entry fee almost completely goes to paying for the venue, and then paying for amenities, staff, sound, ticketing, etc... with the performers themselves mostly relying on photo and goods sales to actually make money.
The fans understand this. Not only does it take $50 to show up, you then actually have to buy something for money to actually go to Yune and not just cover the venue expenses.
And management understands it too- fans who pay for a ticket and don't actually buy anything extra are likely almost useless in terms of making any money.
Of course, they could just rent out a B2 livehouse in the red light district reeking of piss, vomit and most definitely cigarette smoke. The smoke permeating the walls. And then maybe that'd just be $1000-1500 for the day and they could charge a lot less. But yeah, then you're making everyone go to the red light districts and perform in a venue that smells like smoke and piss- even better for picking up young fans, huh? Also, while it does price out kids, it also prices out people without real jobs. Go to a free idol show if you want to see the real creeps come out of the woodwork.
Anyway, kids mostly don't have a way to know she exists. And even if they do, they don't have a way to get to and pay for the ticket. But there are multi-billion dollar companies telling them what to like, in addition to lots of peer pressure. It'll be a while before they realize there's other stuff out there.
As for the women, the powers that be have long pushed men to like girl groups and women to like boy groups. It's already very strong at the mainstream level, and it's all the worse at the indie level. And this is super niche even for indie because it's basically the people who are interested in the up and comers.
It's like how guys aren't going to even admit to liking Backstreet Boys or One Direction or whatever, let alone go to shows... let alone then start researching indie groups that sound like them... let alone then start actually going to those indie groups. I was already peer-pressured against openly admitting to liking BSB, no way I would be caught at some indie show.
It's shaky linking anything on youtube these days, but just search for "メンズ地下アイドル ライブ" here. That is "men's underground idol live". The fandom is basically 99% female.
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Osaka isn't a day trip from Tokyo. Why do you want to go there? Short of some special event like a concert or sports game, I really don't think it's worth it. It's not close. It will add a LOT of cost.. like, almost international airfare level cost. The only halfway cost reasonable way to justify a daytrip... both in terms of time and expense, is to take night buses both ways. That keeps costs down... since you don't even have to pay for lodging cost could very well break even. And since you travel by night, it doesn't use much actually usable time on only a weeklong trip. BUT... two night buses in a row could very well near kill you off and ruin your trip. Of course, if you know for sure you can sleep well on them, then go ahead.
The real alternative, the shinkansen... it still takes a few hours each way... but they only run during normal hours, so while you can head out pretty early, you'd have to head back pretty early too. It's literally adding hundreds of dollars for maybe 9-10AM to 7-8pm in Osaka... which really isn't THAT different from Tokyo. If you're doing more of a typical 4/3 day split, then you can start justifying the time and expense... but even then I lean toward not doing double regions on anything less than 9 days... unless, again, you already know specifically something that you just HAVE TO see. Cuz either of these regions can certainly keep someone entertained for a week.
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Lots of people do a Tokyo/Kyoto itinerary, which is basically the same as a Tokyo/Osaka one in terms of distance. Kyoto has more of the temple/shrine sort of stuff that distinguishes it from Tokyo. So, the difference can perhaps justify a trip. But again, to justify it you really need to spend a good 3ish days or so... and it does add a lot of cost. If you want to see some other things besides Tokyo, I'd suggest some things in the general area that ARE day trips (or at least a reasonable overnighters), such as Kamakura, Hakone, Nikkou, Yokohama and Fuji 5 lakes. And again, if there's something you REALLY want to see in Osaka- I don't mean to dissuade you. Just you should then do it proper and go for at least 2 full days... and realize it does add lots of cost, or force night buses.
As for staying in Tokyo... I generally suggest everyone get an IC card... suica or pasmo, doesn't matter. You may not need a lot on it.
And then usually you'd want to use combined TOEI/Tokyo Metro 72 hour passes, which give a strong network and good cost efficiency. However, since you are staying in Shibuya, and are only staying for a week, your savings using those passes are unlikely to exceed 20-40 USD or so. Which isn't nothing, but you may just want to use your IC card on everything. The passes can save you money, but then you have to pay attention as to what lines they work on... using them when appropriate and using your IC card if not. And while Shibuya actually has lots of subway lines, you'd probably just want to use Yamanote much of the time, which doesn't work with the TOEI/Tokyo metro passes.
So, it's IC card + 48/72 hour passes, or just IC card.
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Complicated? Like Auschwitz? I mean,
Auschwitz II (Birkenau) concentration camp, where an estimated 1.1 million people were killed.
Legal reported (ie, underestimated) abortions in just USA according to CDC:
1970 193,491 52 [2]
1971 485,816 137 [2]
1972 586,760 180 [2]
1973 615,831 196 [2]
1974 763,476 242 [2]
1975 854,853 272 [2]
1976 988,267 312 [2]
1977 950,675 325 [2]
1978 1,157,776 347 [2]
1979 1,251,921 358 [3]
1980 1,297,606 359 [4]
1981 1,300,760 358 [5]
1982 1,303,980 354 [2]
1983 1,268,987 349 [2]
1984 1,333,521 364 [6]
1985 1,328,570 354 [6]
1986 1,328,112 354 [7]
1987 1,353,671 356 [7]
1988 1,371,285 352 [8]
1989 1,396,658 346 [9]
1990 1,429,247 345 [10]
1991 1,388,937 339 [11]
1992 1,359,145 335 [12]
1993 1,330,414 321 [13]
1994 1,267,415 334 [13]
1995 1,210,883 311 [14]
1996 1,221,585 314 [15]
1997 1,186,039 274 [16]
1998 884,273 264 [17]
1999 861,789 256 [18]
2000 857,475 246 [19]
2001 853,485 246 [20]
2002 854,122 246 [21]
2003 848,163 241 [22]
2004 839,226 238 [23]
2005 820,151 233 [24]
2006 852,385 236 [25]
2007 827,609 231 [26]
2008 825,564 234 [27]
2009 789,217 227 [25]
2010 765,651 228 [28]
2011 730,322 219 [29]
2012 699,202 210 [30]
2013 664,435 200 [31]
2014 652,639 193 [32][33]
2015 638,169 188 [34]
An Auschwitz every year or so in the good ol' USA.
Surely some of these are complicated. Maybe one Auschwitz worth of abortions is complicated. Is 1,000,000 exceptions enough? Most of these were just out of convenience.
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@forestofsecrets7273 As the person who commented shows... it's so broad that it's pretty hard to be into everything.
You said Love Live, so first off on anime artists: Mizuki Nana, LiSA, and Konomi Suzuki.
Then onto female Idols: Wa-suta, Neo Japonism, Niji no Conquistador, Fes Tive, Chuning Candy, Kannagi Rabbits, DESURABBITS, Kamiyado, Zenbu Kimi no Sei da, Team Shachi.
to name a few. Most I mentioned have at least one strong vocal (maybe two exceptions), but as wide of a variety of genres as it has, regular idol groups are quite a bit of a different genre compared to "seiyuu idol groups" which have a distinct sound to them.
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There's always luck involved. The reason luck is mitigated more in basketball is because there are more shots on goal in a game, and the odds of any particular shot going in are much higher due to the lack of a goalie.
In the modern NBA game, the fewest number of goals is a game has been 19. Free throws and such aside, even in that lowest scoring game, there were 19 goals. Can a ref still interfere with a game with a bad call? Sure, but it's only worth 1 of those 19 goals... so they have to make a bunch of bad calls for it to usually make much difference. If a terrible shot bounces around and goes in, it's one of 19 goals. If you own goal for some reason, it's one of 19 goals. The large number of goals means the luck factor is reduced.
You can do something really damned stupid and it's still just 1 goal out of +19. The ball hit a little mound and pick up some spin in soccer/football and the goalie totally wiffs it... that has a very strong possibility of being deciding. It doesn't matter how much skill those players had- the very high percentage of soccer/football games with fewer than 3 goals means one bad bounce or frankly, one bad call, can easily cost a game, all that training be damned.
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The reality is it won't actually come up much.
There are some concerns about accessibility. I'm not disabled so I don't have first-hand experience but I've shown elderly around the city so access has been on my mind there. If you'd like some exposition I'd be happy to go through what I know.
The short of the long is you'll be able to do some things, and won't be able to do others and you'll have to be okay with that. Limited space, tradition, and capacity are issues that limit accessibility. But there's still plenty to see and do- even in terms of the traditional stuff. And the general safety means you'd still probably usually be okay even if you don't have a chaperone at the time which is a nice change from most other places where more vigilance is necessary.
Anyway, back to the shoes.
If you don't choose a Japanese style hotel, it's quite possible for the shoe thing to never come up. If you do choose a Japanese style hotel, I'm sure they'll tell you exactly what is expected of you.
The next most common thing would be some of the old temples, shrines and castles with old tatami and wood floors. To be frank, most of these will have poor access- on purpose, historically. Those you can will likely have some sort of program in place- wheelchair transfer, or if impossible, they may cover the wheels. You'll need to research what you can see and the options.
The next most common would be some middle+ end Japanese style restaurants. Often the shoes are removed a short distance from the table.
Again, it's quite possible for it to basically never come up. I think there were only about 3-4 times on my last trip.
Now if you LIVE in Japan... homes, doctors, government and such, especially out in the countryside. It can come up a lot. But as a tourist, it shouldn't come up much.
BTW, the primary issue is shoes (and many handicap assistance tools) can damage the tatami matting. They are understanding of your difficulty, but even understanding, they don't want the expensive matting to be damaged. Japanese made assistance tools and shoes for prosthetics and such are made with this in mind. Your stuff probably isn't.
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Quite simply, too indie.
You know who targets people her age? All the multi-hundred million / billion dollar companies who are looking for fans not yet attached to anybody yet. That's why she's into Ariana Grande, etc.
Pretty much everyone is into what the mainstream feeds them when they're 10-12... until one day they have an awakening that there is other stuff out there. Some of these guys are perhaps sick of the attitude of actual stars and started supporting nobodies who are more down to earth.
As for the outfit. It's a different outfit every day. It probably was what it was because of her love of Ariana Grande though... so... what can you say?
No, that's not what normal Japanese kids wear.
But nor is it what normal Japanese idols wear.
(There are a few different types, but here is an example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkTcA3L1P7w&t=1430s )
As an under-14, she is very limited in how much she can perform. She pushes more photo session sales by using a different outfit every time so basically every performance is one-chance-only, and with only 1-2 performances a week, it's fairly manageable, compared to groups with 4-6 per week and need to have set costumes for simplicity.
Here is a recent one:
https://twitter.com/naohira_kase_8g/status/1328186736858386432/photo/4
Looks quite covered up, don't you think?
Also, idols don't often wear "normal cloths"....
You see, part of idol culture is the concept of "on" and "off" and using costumes helps enforce that. They go on stage, perform with their costume, and change into civilian clothes... and then are NOT TO BE BOTHERED. Letting her perform in truly regular clothes breaks down this divide and is considered dangerous.
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It's a red herring anyway.
It's 18 here.
It's not enforced.
Only if over 18 is with under 18.
That means two people who CANNOT consent aren't actually bothered by the government. But it's sexual assault.
Heck, the entertainment industry glorifies it to the chagrin of many parents. It's sexual assault.
So, de facto, age of consent isn't actually 18. But since that's the law, it's sexual assault.
They can write 18 as a consent law so they look better, but it's not 18 because they don't enforce on all the under 18 people being intimate with under 18s who can't consent. Because consent is a status of a person- you can or you can't. It doesn't matter how old the other person actually is. Whatever age the other person is, it's sexual assault because there's no way to consent.
If you're not actually going to enforce consent, just protect minors from adults, you're just doing what Japan does anyway. "Consent" is 13, but it's still illegal until 16 or 18 (depending on jurisdiction). So under 13 is sexual assault because consent is not possible. Between 13-16/18 is not necessarily anything unless one of them is an adult taking advantage of a minor, which is then prosecuted as adult corruption of a minor.
So, Japan's is "13" and California's is "18". What's the actual difference? Japan's looks worse if you just look at the number without understanding anything. But the laws are more aligned with how it's actually enforced while California just looks the other way at literally millions of under 18 sexual assaults. Which again, is what they are since consent is supposedly 18. Which no one de facto actually believes. I'd be okay with it though. Cuz I'm a prude.
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So do you have bathroom slippers? Kitchen slippers?
If not, you're dragging literal %#$@ and probably some residue and the potential salmonella, etc, from raw meat and such, around the house.
American homes are basically partitioned. Unless you are given permission, as a guest, you don't walk on the carpet (Because you have shoes). So, you have access to the non-carpeted areas. Few people actually wear their shoes all around their own house- we just don't tend to ask our guests to remove their shoes.
When we have good weather, our parties are both inside and outside the house. Older people relaxing indoors with the food, BBQ and such with kids running around by the pool in the back.. When they leave, you can just mop the indoor public area down once and you're done. The carpeted areas were off limits and remain pristine.
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If she was promoted by a major company at the mainstream.
Also, there's a bit of an ironic factor here. As she is under 13? (I think that's the first main tier, there's another at 16 and then 18 iirc), there is lots of red tape involved. I think there may be some wiggle room in terms of borrowing time that has to be paid back later (eg, more hours one week means less hours another week within a month), but basically her school hours are still counted as part of her work day and work week calculations, which means she can usually only perform on weekends and holidays and usually just once per week.
So since the time she is allowed to perform is at such a premium, the events for young idols COST MORE, which makes it even harder for audiences with less money to see her.
Since older groups can perform every day, they don't have to have profit so much from just one event.
So their events are more around $25-30 for the day while Yune's events are $50. There is the advantage that you can just buy Yune's set for $15, but that's a lot of time and money spent to come into the city for a 20-30 minute set.
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@UCgmSxt9aiCQ1RxPjNAs_TgA Here is schedule of a large event going on today:
https://twitter.com/SugimotoyaSeika/status/1406400683830509573
This is multistage, so it is indeed ~$50 as I said may happen for very large events.
Main stage has 28 acts, mostly 20 minutes each.
So it starts at 1030am and ends at 810pm, with the last goods sales ending at 850 pm.
So you probably get up at 8am to get there by 10am, and you get home at 10-11pm.
That one actually has two other stages so most people will have something to watch for the whole time.
But after they perform they have about an hour at a table selling goods/meet and greets- mostly polaroids.
So there's not really much to it. Just a whole bunch of different acts and you watch the ones you like, use your free meet and greet if applicable, buy more if you have money to burn, and turn in your forced $6 drink ticket for a drink sometime along the way.
If you like a lot of the groups you'll be pretty busy the whole time.
If you go to an event with just one stage then there may be a bit of a lull. Some people go and get lunch/dinner then, but many of the venues are evil and charge you the $6 drink fee again if you leave and come back.
Alternatively, some people with lots of $$$ look at all the festivals over the course of the day, and might pay for one with a good early day lineup and then go pay for another one with a better night lineup. Yes, many people do do this.
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It is well known that English is the best language in the world. Why do so many idiots use other languages when English is clearly the best? We should continually tell the Chinese that they are idiots for using an antiquated system of thousands of hieroglyphics that requires years of memorization. Didn't anyone every tell them there's gotta be a better way than all their stupid characters? English just has 26 letters. Why do you need thousands? That's stupid. Ban your stupid language and learn English.
*In case that went over your head, that was all sarcasm. Having a lingua franca... nowadays English, is valuable. As everyone who's ever learned English would know, spelling and pronunciation is all over the place in English. It's terrible in all sorts of ways. And Chinese is terrible in a bunch of other ways. As is every other language, all with their own advantages and disadvantages. It doesn't really matter what is the lingua franca, merely that one exists.
And with that in mind, all kids in the US are still taught Celsius. We don't have as good of a grasp of it in terms of like, hunch power (though I've lived abroad now so I can make a good guess either way, or convert in a few seconds). But we know about it. So we use global common systems of English and Metric.
But in our day to day measurements we use what amounts to Japanese or whatever. Relatively useless outside of our "island" in terms of getting people to understand the meaning. So we'd have to convert to the shared language of metric. Nevertheless, would you just suggest wiping out say, the Japanese language, on account of it being relatively useless globally? You know every language has certain advantages and disadvantages, and knowledge of multiple allows for a greater range of expression than can be given in one- the disadvantages of one tend to be covered by the advantages of the other.
And such is true for measurements too. Overall, metric systems may be superior, but Imperial systems can still shine in certain applications. Perhaps more importantly, driving all other systems to extinction would suggest that metric is the only way, when it is merely the way of the majority. Metric system proponents end up being the real Imperialists. =P
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Blockbusters of anything need a lot of investment... so they do often sell to the lowest common denominator.
But in the old days, you pretty much had to go through the gatekeepers. Maybe your music wasn't up to snuff- or maybe you were just black playing white people music. These days, anyone can put their music up online. Maybe it's barely monetizable, but you can at least get it out to the potential masses. If you get popular on your own, you're no longer a risk.
Look at say... Lindsey Stirling... who, with an America's Got Talent appearance and smart use of Youtube, has managed to get a strong following despite a more or less novel, niche kind of music. A standard record company isn't going to think that sort of thing would sell.
The Internet does the mixing now. Major labels have retreated to produce safe music. Pop music has always sucked- it just sucks more and more as time goes on. BUT, that doesn't mean "music as an art form is dying"... those artists still exist, and, again, if they can manage to survive as a starving artist/musician, or with music as their side hustle or hobby, their music is more available now than it's ever been. You don't have to be brainwashed- find what you like. If enough people start to like it, it's no longer a risk and a record company may make an offer.
And as a side note... I think the concept that you have to like music "at first sight" for it to be good to be wrong. I think that's MOST common of boring pop music...naturally passable at first listen, and then you just like it more and more after a few plays. Naw, a lot of experimental music that'd probably never get a major release takes some digestion time to decide what you think about it. Some people may never like it, but others will appreciate it more and more with each listen.
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I think the main problem besides cost is... ticket sales are already going on sale. Like, literally after the new year. I'm not sure things are popular enough to sell out, but you're losing priority the longer you wait to buy... and you just don't have the mobility to be able to buy with something fuzzy like 70-140 people. I don't know what will be left by the time you could get something organized.
Also, even the pool is over a 3 week or so period over a relatively large swath of Japan even just to see only the Ireland matches. Since you can't just stay in one area or so, cost will be a bit higher. And 3 weeks + travel time would be like a month long trip... so, it'd probably not hit all the pool matches.
More than likely, you'd want to get in touch with a travel agent... maybe the official one they're using... as they'd be able to secure tickets without having to go through the Japanese lottery systems.
I doubt you'd be able to pull it off for under 1500 euro per person for a 10 days in country (~12ish total) without some sort of government subsidy or deal. Which, if you really are a rugby school, may be possible... you'd have to ask... may get you better seats too or some bonus stuff. Also, that's a low-ball that depends on getting a decent plane price. If asking people to put down 1500 Euro already seems ridiculous, well, then it's probably not going to happen and you should start planning just for yourself. If 1500 Euro seems possible, remember that you'd have to work hard to get it that low and it will probably be higher.
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@halfazncwalker It's much more lax in terms of drinking. That said, your situation doesn't really come up much, because you're not supposed to eat or drink in the COMMUTER trains (long distance trains it's okay). I mean, if you get thirsty, pull out a soda or water, take a few gulps, screw the lid on and put it back away no one is batting an eyelash over that. But I mean, taking a hot coffee on a train, especially a probably fairly full one after work? Even if no one cares, it's a safety hazard.
So basically everyone will go out to Starbucks or whatever with a friend or co-worker after work before heading back home (if it's not a izakaya or karaoke or some other thing)... or they'd grab something after getting back to their station. You may see some people sipping some coffee coming home at night, but they're just going to go straight home, or from the station to their work in the morning, but it's only a 5-10 minute walk for most people to get where they're going from a station. So basically it ends up being more of a social thing for them where they would sit down, whereas I feel like here in the US a lot of people get it just so they can not fall asleep driving their commute.
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If you're going home during rush hour, why wouldn't it be a safety hazard?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2h8_Cs6bGrE
I mean, it's not always going to be that busy- it frankly usually isn't, but you still sometimes have to squish a bit between major hub stations and having a hot coffee in your hand would be irresponsible.
The commuter trains have to go back and forth for many hours with little to no refreshment from staff. They do a quick walk down at the end of the line- but time is of the essence, and there's not even an end of the line on loop lines- those have to go until you want to take a train out of service. Many people are cramped together for rush hour (until 9 30AM or so), and it's mostly up to the commuters to keep the train carriages in good condition for the thousands of other people that will use that space until it is refreshed.
Long distance trains most people are going to the end of the line, or a major station along that line- and then the train will be more closely inspected by train staff at the end of the line before going back. Pretty much everything is seated. Unlike the commuter trains where thousands of people may use a particular area before it is refreshed, the long distance trains it's often just you- maybe one or two other people at most, before the train carriage is refreshed- so you're free, and often encouraged, to eat and drink in there.
The general norms for those commuter lines still apply when it's not rush hour, though it would be a bit more lax- you see more people sipping from bottled drinks and doing minor snacking.
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@nickolaskerria2963 I haven't seen. I have no interest. I also have no interest in Junior idols and no real interest in Yune. That's not why I'm here.
I'm here because I object to this sort of video. White guy goes to Asian country to white knight- who stops giving a shit as soon as he gets his paycheck, proving he never really gave a shit in the first place... using all the editing techniques to portray the locals as degenerates and his country as morally superior. He conducts interviews, but he makes himself the main character and might even speak for them more than he let's them speak for themselves. This sort of journalism is dirty and yet people believe him at face value.
Oh, it should be illegal? Why isn't your shit illegal then? Oh, because your culture is used to that so you give it the benefit of the doubt and assume the worst for them. As if Emma Watson didn't get, extreme lowball, 1000 times the wrong kind of exposure by showing up in a Hollywood movie at age 11 in an innocent but frankly too easy to rule 34 sort of role.
All I ask for is consistency.
So, lawmaker- what is the law that can be applied across the board- to theater, to sports, to the Olympics, to dance, to everything- that will make this illegal?
You can either come up with something that applies broadly and yet only really affects this- which could show this is innately wrong compared to all that other stuff.
Or you come up with something that bans more stuff out of an abundance of caution.
You have a suggestion? All I ask for is consistency.
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Anyway, I'll work in USD and you can convert back to NZD if it's convenient for you... currently it's about 1500 NZD to 1000 USD.
In SHORT (with explanation to follow), it's 100 USD/day + long range travel + plane.
So assuming you'll just be in Tokyo (or JUST Osaka/Kyoto, or JUST some other city), it's 30 x 100 USD + 1000 USD = 4000 USD = 6000 NZD
Also, this assumes fairly basic accommodations I'd expect from a month long trip.
Is 5000 NZD ENOUGH? Possibly. But it's not enough to have available... you'll want access to more if needed. Frankly, even though I listed it at 6000 NZD, having another 500 NZD buffer minimum would be wise.
Some things to keep in mind:
You're planning your trip very far in advance. I think you can do better than 1000 USD. Although I'm coming from a bigger hub, the distance is approximately the same. And while 1000 USD is a standard (summer) price, I can get it for less than half that if I check prices often. Even if you can't do that well, 1000 USD seems high for a trip planned this far in advance. Mind you I'm not really sure how they charge flights when you're going south to north hemisphere... but I still think that whatever price you think is normal with your research so far, that you can do better than that with regular price checking.
AirBnB is one of the best options, but it's going through a bit of a legal battle in Japan right now. How this turns out can heavily affect what sort of stuff you'll be able to get at a reasonable price. But with the two of you, you can rent out a private room in some hostels or get a room at a business hotel and it's not too bad. But if AirBnB can get things back in order you can do better for cheaper. Probably average 25-50 USD/night per person... but 20-40 USD outside Tokyo. AirBnB can get you better stuff for the low-mid end of that.
Transportation within Japan is very expensive. Like, within the cities, there are special tickets and while not cheap, they're still decent compared to a lot of other cities. BUT when you try to go far away to other cities, the price goes way up. Staying there a month it's likely you'd want to go to other places. This can get expensive. Bus is a reasonable option, and a night bus saves you paying for a night (but probably means you won't sleep, >__<). Rail pass is expensive... really, this cost is so variable that that is why I keep it separated from the other stuff.
AND then, back to the standard 100 USD/day recommendation. This assumes 50 USD for basic lodging, BASIC food, transportation and wi-fi. And then 50 USD wiggle room to spend to upgrade your lodging or food, or have fun. So if you're spending much above 30 USD/day on lodging, it's either coming out of your fun fund, or you need to save up more. Food is just for basic fast food style stuff... upgrading past that is taking from the 50 USD. And in general, it should average out. Touristy temple days and park days that cost almost nothing average out with shopping and expensive meals and it should come out to around 80-120 USD/day for a fun, vacation sort of trip where you can spend fairly freely but not extravagantly. That said, your personal tastes affect the total a lot too. If you're content with museums, parks, and shrines... 60 USD/day is possible. But expensive tastes every day could run 120-200+ USD/day.
And that is an important point. Japan is a place where there is what amounts to the 1 USD option, the 3 USD, the 10 USD option and the 100 USD option for almost everything... you can get by fairly reasonably... or you can spend a fortune in a single day. You have to know you.
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Are you including flight? If so, it depends on where you're coming from.
The second most important thing is what sort of lodging you need. You can airbnb a studio apartment for like... $50 each for a decently nice place.
And the third most important thing is where you want to go. Going to multiple far away cities means flights or shinkansen or a railpass (or... god forbid, a bus). This long distance domestic travel adds up fast.
So, it's a tentative yes. But just realize that there's pretty much the $5, $50, and $500 version of basically everything in Japan. If you're rolling in the $5 or $50 slots most of the time, you should be fine. But the high rolling opportunities are there, and will burn through budget fast. And again, travel expenses, if you're including them in the $3500, will vary by person a lot.
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In that case, lodging, activities and food for 10 days can be done for $100 per person/day fairly easily which would only take $1000 or so. So a $3500 pace over 10 days would be quite extravagant. Or not really, if you must insist on using regular hotels rather than airbnb/business hotels/hostels. Lodging is the biggest waste of money... Japan isn't a resort destination- you shouldn't be spending much time at the lodging. That said, if you do have this sort of budget, you can spend on 1-2 nights in a nice ryokan as a splurge lodging. Western hotels are world class, but again, you're not supposed to be sitting in your hotel all day in Japan. =P Ryokan are at least an experience. If you can keep spending on that down you should be able to spend on pretty much anything else you'd want.
Just for reference, NOT INCLUDING flight, I'd budget ~$1600/per person for literally everything else (including rail pass).... and have access to at least $2000 to have some buffer. Most stuff of interest to tourists in Japan really isn't very expensive. That's the "careful with the boring stuff so I can spend on stuff I like" budget. But I mean, if you're intent on spending $3500, that's easy enough too. =P
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Go farther back.
Japan was in isolation from about 1650-1850, when it was opened by force and subjected to unequal treaties like much of the rest of Asia.
Also, make sure you look at the world map in 1850 to remember that basically the whole world had been colonized, with South America having just mostly fought off the colonizers for independence in the early 1800s.
Within 20 years, more or less proxy war in Japan by Western powers resulted in the overthrow of the shogunate after about 700 years and the return to Empire.
Industrialization and militarization of Japan was a practical matter- they needed to be as strong as a Western power if they didn't want to be dominated by them. Lacking in natural resources and realizing they needed a buffer, they would eventually start campaigns into Asia- which, a reminder, were basically Western colonies or puppet states at the time in order to bring them under the protection of an Asian protector.
In theory.
I don't mean to justify any crimes, of which there were many- and mostly against people who in theory were also the oppressed, not the oppressor. I merely want to paint it under the idea of them being a cornered dog who WENT SO FAR TO AVOID LOSING INDEPENDENCE THAT THEY INDUSTRIALIZED, causing huge rifts in their culture (including extremism) due to the rapid change to society, rather than those crafty backstabbing ninjas who made a sneaky attack on Pearl Harbor until we bomb'd up back to oblivion oh ho ho ho that the History Channel or whatever likes to say by starting the history of the war in 1941.
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In J-pop, the fans lean slightly female, but it's pretty mixed depending on performer. Maybe 60/40 overall.
In "J-rock" the fans leans slightly male, but it's pretty mixed depending on band. Maybe 60/40 overall.
But when you move onto IDOLS:
For girl groups, the fans lean heavily male and actually at the shows, it leans all the more.
For boy groups, the fans lean heavily female, and actually at the shows, it leans all the more.
Maybe 70/30 in terms of fans, and 85/15 when it comes to actual attendance.
This really shouldn't be terribly surprising. As a guy I liked a lot of old boy group songs, but there was already pressure against liking pop to begin with. I wouldn't admit to actually liking a boy group song, let alone a boy group, and I sure as hell wouldn't be caught dead at one of their shows. Even though I DID like it. Japan has very strong "fit in" culture and I hear it's even stronger among girls, so I expect it would take them even longer on average for them to not care what other people think about their musical tastes.
And once you're into the indie scene- and this is the fringe of even that... it's just all the stronger. And once the ratio has tilted it's really hard to bring it back because they aren't really advertising so a lot of it is word of mouth, and if the ratio is too tilted then potential fans look at the fanbase and ditch out. OR, even if they don't mind the ratio, they're still less likely to stay because it's harder for them to make friends with the other fans.
The boy groups have about 100% female fans as well.
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For the parts that are fully legal and legit, they NEED parental permission if under 18/20. It's just a regular job of sorts like acting or whatever. Oh, and usually they fire anyone who so much as meets up with a fan in public to show that they will not abide even the appearance of side payments for favors from fans.
Most who would actually be doing cafes and such would be perhaps moving to the big city after high school. Some may be in college doing it as a part time job. Others may be doing it full time while trying to move up in the entertainment industry or as one of multiple part time jobs as they try to gain experience in a field they actually want to join. If they're over 18 they probably don't have explicit permission for anything in particular, but have occasional conversations with parents, as would be expected of a college student. Parent assumes they're in school or working or whatever and probably hopes they'll come back for help if they come onto hard times rather than sell themselves. But they're on their own already.
Then you've got the younger ones who probably can't actually easily get any actual legitimate work without permission. They only have to be in school through junior high, but basically everyone does high school... the number of dropouts is very small. The number of single parents is also fairly small. So probably most of these are alienated, with absentee parents too busy working or drinking to notice or care, rather than true runaways.
Additionally, I want to add that this thing with the underage is something akin to a sugar daddy. So some young girls in relatively normal families may still just do it secretly because it pays off very well compared to the regular job opportunities that a high school kid has- ie, minimum wage in menial job or bothersome service industry.
It's not likely to be a direct payment of money for sexual favors.
It's more like they're in a pseudo relationship and the steady stream of expensive gifts or payment of rent or tuition or whatever is maintained by properly giving or withholding affection.
Which... frankly isn't all that different from what many would consider regular dating. Since we've cheapened regular dating quite a bit, it makes it a bit harder to enforce against sugar daddying/enjo kousai.
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1) You can just use cash if you like.
2) You can buy the bus ticket at the airport in Japan when you arrive. I'm not sure which is better- I always take train.
3) Yes, but free wifi isn't that common since everyone has wifi connected to their phone plans... and your hotel probably offers it anyway to plan the next day and talk with family and post stuff. The main point in buying wi-fi is you're buying an active map... active train schedule, translation, etc. Hungry? Check the restaurant reviews nearby... and check which days of the week and hours they're closed while you're at it. All tied to the internet and not relying on what you have downloaded. It's helping you get where you want to go. Hunting down wi-fi when lost is a huge bother- the main point of the wi-fi is to keep things going smoothly... and you can just follow your position and walk to your pre-marked stars on google maps if you have internet access.
4) Yes, but even though some people have basically moved in there, by wary of waiting for the last moment to secure housing. Manga kissa are last minute housing, so they can fill. It can be a fun experience, but may be a bit of trouble to try to do all the time. Especially since it pretty much means you're stuck hauling any luggage around all the time. Personally, it may make sense for 2-3 days of your trip but I'd secure other housing for the rest.
5) You can walk, bus, taxi... bicycle in some cases (can be a hassle in downtown areas where you can't just leave it anywhere). But in general metro is the best option. My rule of thumb is I'll walk 2 stations (JR is farther apart so sometimes only 1 there). Most people are willing to walk 1. But after that you tend to want to take a train. Generally, you'd take the metro to the general area you want to see... then walk around. That may be multiple stations of distance... Akihabara to Sky Tree is about 3 miles/5km. But note that you probably aren't walking straight... you're winding around each district so it's probably more like 12+km on the day. Then you take metro back from there- cuz that's probably 10km back to your hotel or whatever. 12 km on the day is one thing... adding in 20 more just to walk to and from the district you want to see is getting to marathon distances.
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JR pass mostly covers the national train network between cities. In particular, you are paying for the high speed shinkansen, which you can use as much as you want, minus a couple exceptions.
JR also covers some of the trains in several of the major cities. However, the network within cities is a lot weaker. Additionally, the rate you'd pay within a city is much lower than the day by day cost of the JR pass.
In practice, this means if you want to buy a JR pass, it should start as close to the time of your first shinkansen as possible, and end as close to the time you exit your last shinkansen as possible. This means that you will generally pay as you go (using an IC card) in your first or last city, or both. It also means you will probably need to pay some costs to subway companies in each city, even when your JR pass is active.
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July and August have a lot more festivals and events, particularly at night. The weather is brutally hot and humid.
September's weather starts improving, but doesn't really reach a turning point until the 20th-25th or so. Despite still being quite hot, there are fewer activities in September so it's a lot of extra suffering for nothing. =P
October is probably the 3rd best month in terms of weather. If you're there towards the end you may even be able to catch some of the change to autumn leaves, though it may take a day trip out to altitude.
This whole period is technically typhoon season, though typhoons to Tokyo area don't tend to be much more than a bad 1 day rainstorm (Fukuoka and western areas get hit worse and more often). They can still happen in October, but they start to be less common.
I strongly recommend late September or October if you have a choice. Summer is love/hate... if you end up loving Japan and decide you want to go to Obon in Kyoto, or Tokushima Awaodori, or Aomori Nebuta or some of the mostly July fireworks festivals... or climb Mt. Fuji if you're crazy, or some other stuff... there's stuff that is great that you can only do in summer that you may decide is worth the weather. And other stuff that is just culturally summer. But, the weather sucks. Really sucks. Save it for when you're a bit more of a pro so you don't have to deal with culture shock/confusion + heat/humidity at the same time, or your schedule obligates you to go then. There's still plenty to see in October! And for all the stuff you can see any time of year, that's a far more enjoyable time!
ALSO, although variable, flights tend to be more expensive in summer than you can get most other times of year.
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@Janelou42 The humidity burns itself out around next week or so. It should be comfortable and cooling... but since you're going (slightly) south it may be even more stable. It's generally one of the best times of the year, but there's still an off chance of a typhoon.
On or around October 1st, winter... or should I say, non-summer attire starts up again. The more lax rules and "rules" end, and, comfortable or not, people pretend that fall has come. Back to mostly covering up, layering, etc.
The more insane ones stop running the air conditioning and start running the heater. It probably isn't going to be heater weather until you leave. But this is part of why you need layers. Maybe you think a long-sleeve shirt will do. Yeah, and then some idiot is running the heater a mere week after summer has ended. Short sleeve and then a light 2nd layer ends up being more practical.
10 tops, 6 bottoms MAX, 1-2 light second layer
If you bring stuff you can hand-wash and dry or have access to a washer, then cut it down to:
6 tops, 4 bottoms.
I don't know how many of Kyoto/Osaka/Kobe you're actually planning on staying at, but even if it's just Tokyo/Kansai/Hiroshima/Kagoshima, that's a lot of hauling around stuff. Cut back as much as possible.
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That's because you read the translation written by the documentary instead of hearing what she actually said. And we don't even get to know what she really said because the editing team had an agenda and probably cut down a 15-30 minute interview to a few soundbites they wanted. Which, again, they then got to translate as they wanted.
A proper translation is more along the lines of "The people who come for her voice are many" which is in response to his prompt.
The interviewer setting it up that since they're mostly middle-aged she must be concerned, presumably because they must be coming for some sexual reason.
Her answer is nahh, most of the fans are fans who enjoy the singing. And the ones that aren't, which she acknowledges later, are "obstacles" that they're watching out for.
She's not denying it. They ban people.
Why would she subject her daughter to even those "obstacles"?
Well, maybe she thinks that building up a portfolio will land Yune a proper career (which, 3 years later, seems to be the case) and if mom wasn't supportive starry-eyed Yune would just go off and join some group as soon as she could anyway. Which, without the portfolio and parent to back her up would likely result in being some abusive slave contract sort of thing. Which would actually make this route safer even if it's not 100% safe either.
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The short answer: It became socially acceptable to do so.
I forget the exact history, but something like a combination of the Great Influenza Pandemic followed shortly by the Great Kanto Earthquake (and firestorms) around 1920 was what started it. With more outbreaks, came more facemasks, until they were worn more heavily. After WW2, rapid industrialization led to a lot of pollution, making masks useful all of the time, not just in the event of major issues. Eventually Japan switched to cleaner industries and air pollution is now relatively minimal considering the population. However post-war reforesting led to the proliferation of cedar trees, which produce a pollen many are allergic to. So besides typical flu season, the pollen season also causes many people to use them... so they're already used so much of the year already that people still use them any time of the year.
So while the impetus was: flu epidemic, smoke from massive fire, and mass industrial pollution... now the reasons are more:
1) allergies
2) to not get sick... while it doesn't stop all airborne pathogens, it does significantly reduce touching of your face with your hands... which people do quite often without realizing it
3) to not get other people sick (or to appear that you are trying to not get other people sick, so as to avoid stink eye from coughing all over the train without a mask, for example)
And... some social issues:
4) Social barrier- like headphones, a mask is a basic way to shut down a good % of people who may come up to talk with you
5) Anonymity- even if you know all the celebrities and pseudo-celebrities in Japan it'll be hard to pick them out when they aren't working since they'll basically all be wearing masks
6) Convenience- girls who are just going out to the convenience store or such have been known to just put some eye makeup on and a mask instead of doing the whole process.
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She wears something different every time- including in an earlier performance that very day. As mostly a cover artist, she often wears something related to one of the songs she is covering. She likes Ariana Grande, so she's probably performed Ariana Grande songs and put together such an outfit before. FYI, Japanese idol fans don't give a crap about Ariana Grande- performing such a song in the first place would be Yune's choice by her own preference, not something the fans actually want to see.
But it is one of the most risque outfits she's ever used... because it's copying a Western star.
Why would she wear one of the most risque outfits she's ever used in front of this Western camera-crew talking about pin-ups?
Obviously because when they filmed it it wasn't about pin-ups. At the very least, when Yune and mom chose the outfit, they picked something they thought Westerners would like because they thought the video crew was there for a positive human interest story not a hitjob. At worst, the sort of outfit was outright requested by the camera crew.
BTW, regular clothes are considered to be the most dangerous outfit.
Japanese fans by and large understand and respect the concept of on and off.
If they're just in street clothes, everyone understands that they are to be left the f alone.
Then they go the venue, change into their costume, and then their official rules and venue rules apply considering pictures, talking and touching.
Then they change back to street clothes, and everyone understands they are to be left the f alone.
So when you advocate for normal clothes, you're advocating for breaking down this barrier that keeps most people from making contact while they're off the job.
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@Future_Pheonix Well, first we'll start with your kids and teens and middle aged men.
I'm not going to do the math and figure out who was in that group when, but that group has a lot of turnover so probably the ones currently in the group aren't the ones in this video five years later. So what age are the current members? 17, 17, 20, 20., 21, 22, 22.
It's a bunch of college age kids, maybe a couple high school seniors. You do the math on other groups and you'll generally find similar for active members.
There are younger idols though, especially in the major companies that have the staff to bother with the pile of red tape of employing under-16s. A lot of smaller idol companies don't even want to employ under-18s because it still has extra paperwork involved.
And looking at this video- there were a couple older guys but most looked 20s-30s.
What about the even younger guys? Well, groups like this perform 200+ times year. That's maybe 5000 USD just to see the shows. So the unmarried 20-30 somethings have disposable income and spare time and can go to most of the shows. Younger people can only afford to go to major shows, and older people usuaaaally can't spare that much time.
And the rules are super strict and generally include "making her feel uncomfortable" as a catch all offense. No, idols aren't pimped out. Could it happen? Perhaps, but the current framework dissuades it. Of much greater concern is pressure from managers, but that's not new or unique or anything. And I'd argue it's weak in the current system. But you've heard rumors or something? That's the problem with this video.
The "no dating" rules help clarify things. NGT48 had lax rules and apparently let guys into their dorm. And eventually a girl was assaulted to some extent. Management tried to cover it up, but she wouldn't back down and it became a big scandal. I'm not quite sure how I feel about the rule- but as far as management is concerned, if they can get away having it, they do because it simplifies things. They don't want people to see the idols as less than pure? Ehh.. it's more like they want everyone to be clear they have exactly 0% chance so stay in line or get perma-banned. And perma-ban, they do. If you look at who actually gets arrested for stalking/assault or whatever it's mostly 22-26 or so- people close enough in age to them that they might not have quite figured out that 0% applies to them too. Yes, the older ones may look creepier, but it's the YOUNGER FANS who are a similar age to the idols who are the troublemakers that get watched carefully by the staff and regulars.
Yes, we know about Johnny, and we're not talking about him. And I'll pretty much say the same about Perfect Blue. Perfect Blue is from 1991- the anime from 1997. The whole female idol system has basically crashed twice since then... it's like talking Atari when considering video game issues. The boy group system never crashed and Johnny kept it running like it was still the '60s and had so much power no one dared cross him. He might have done stuff. We'll never know because the media was too chicken to push the issue. The current period of girl groups has a huge number of groups and companies. If someone doesn't like things, they can change companies- and many do. Or go solo. There are groups that allow dating. There's at least one group where a member was married but didn't announce it. And a very major group's center member got married last year- and is still in the group. There are groups where they have creative control. There are groups where the members choose the members. They can find one with rules they like.
Working conditions depend on the company. Sign to a company with rules you like. Does it pay well? Not usually. But who are idols? This sort, mostly college girls doing it as a part time job. It's a lot of work but it pays okay for a part time job. May get to tour the country or abroad. Maybe get to meet some famous people. It's not usually K-pop working conditions you know. Again, a lot of them are in school. Some have day jobs.
As for surgeries, again, K-pop, sure, J-idol, not so much. Sure, some have it but lots of them have bad noses, and ears that could be pinned. And bad teeth. Relatively easy peasy stuff to have surgery on, or at least get orthodontics... and yet they don't. Many of them have shown pictures of themselves without makeup. That's... doing much of the work. And some photo editing on SMS.
I don't want to make it sound like it's all rainbows and butterflies, but it's an industry on the up-and-up full of girls who want to sing and perform, that has some abuses, that most staff and fans are on the look out for. It's not like the JK walking which is on the dark side by nature. Most people are just there with their buddies for a fun time.
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Ehh... there's a lot of talk about it closing, and then pushback, and then closing, and pushback. Frankly, it's an old facility no longer ideal for the actual business being done there and so they are moving their facilities elsewhere to a less interesting but more functional location. It's also in the port area, which is the Olympic redevelopment zone.
Of course, they're well aware that it's a tourist destination. Unfortunately basically every non-historical tourist attraction in Japan seems to be reliant on the whims of market forces on whether it stays around. The ancient has a place, but more recent stuff is often torn out.
Last I heard, the outer market areas that are most popular with tourists will be kept there, while the inner market stuff would all be moved. I think that means no more tuna auction, which is why those lines seem to have skyrocketed from "can actually go at first train and get a spot" to "better get there by last train".
Of course, all this stuff is up in the air and seems to go back and forth based on politics.
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I won't deny a potential pedophile angle for some of them.
But I'll try to explain it otherwise.
In Japan there is a general trend to support opposite gender in terms of pop groups. So a girl group may have 60/40 male/female general fandom.
But because it's cultural that you are supposed to like the opposite gender for pop stars, it's awkward to actually go to a show, so at the mainstream level it's more around 85/15 at a major show. (You can see this in the West as guys may sort of actually like a Backstreet Boys or Justin Bieber or One Direction song or two, but few would admit liking it too much, and fewer still would actually go to a show).
This is the underground... the indie scene, groups and soloists almost no one has heard of. So most people who get here would have STARTED by following a mainstream group for years, and eventually found out that this scene exists. These are generally not casual idol fans who like it because they heard a song on TV or around town- they had to research.
To be a major fan at this level is extremely expensive, and while not for Yune in particular who can't really work weekdays, many would have gotten into idols by going to shows on the way home from work. So all this combined drops it down to maybe 94/6.
Then you figure that at that ratio, it's awkward for a lot of girls who would want to go and so they don't, and so actually at a show it ends up being more like 98/2 with most of that 2% gathered as fans of a handful of groups where they have big enough numbers to not feel awkward.
Again, at a casual level, it's something like 60/40. But since girls aren't really supposed to like this stuff too seriously, this far into the underground if you show up there's no denying you're a major idol geek, and in conformist Japan, few girls are willing to accept that.
As for why they're older- again, it's expensive, as each performer or group really isn't being supported by all that many people so younger fans can't go to as many shows in general, and are more likely to skip this show, which had a fairly high entry fee.
Again, there may be a pedophile angle involved. But at this level of the indie scene you'll fine they're almost all men no matter the group concept.
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This is complicated, but normal:
A 2022 BTS fansite poll with over 500,000 answering returned 96% female and more responding as non-binary than male.
As a boy band, they would naturally be more appealing to girls. And everyone knows this... so if you're a guy fan of a boy group, you know it's going to be a crowd of screaming girls at the show and that's dissuading. But the ratio was so oppressive that a lot of the guy fans they did have seemed to have dropped out in recent years making it even more female than before.
But there are still 7500 of them- globally they could still fill a huge hall full of male fans. Scale it down to the size of Yune's fandom... and 1.5% is like 1-2 people (including all followers, maybe 200, but 99% of sns followers aren't going to shows..). If a new female fan shows up at the show... it's literally no one. It's not just oppressively opposite gender there- there's literally no one. No one to go have drinks with after the show or whatever. So they easily peal off, so instead of it being a probably more natural 80/20 for a girl pop act, it's basically 100/0.
For Japanese female pop idols in general, it's about 70/30 at the mainstream level, 80/20 for people who actually go to shows, 90/10 at the underground level... often close to 100/0 for "random Tuesday night" shows, with many of the female fans who do exist at that level congregating as large minorities for a small number of groups where they can more easily make friends with others in the fandom.
This is a sort of "betrayal" video... I doubt she sees it. I'm sure she'd appreciate if you left a nice comment on her actual youtube channel (ゆうねるーみんぐ) or an sns account.
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@lunaticcultist9741 Japan is notorious for suicides. But the reality in recent years is they are simply below average. So at this point it's a stereotype.
The numbers I gave are WHO numbers. They try to normalize. You can argue if they are, in light of the pandemic, credible, but the same could be said for CDC.
The US is about 1 in 5 Catholic, and many still believe it is an unforgivable sin. So you've got a large segment of the populace who will do what they can to get it officially classified as something different. In Japan, on the other hand, it's convenient to label things suicides without doing autopsies because a suicide is a closed case.
Again, the WHO estimates try to standardize everything, and with Japan's rate going down in the last few years with an easing work environment, and the US's trending up, US remains only oh so slightly ahead for now.
Of course, with the pandemic aggravating everything, it's hard to say what the real time numbers are.
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While bad motives may apply to some of them, it's mostly explainable by economics and social dynamics.
Female idol fandom is stereotypically a nerdy male pastime. So even if according to polls, 30-40% of fans of major female idol groups are female, at the actual shows they run more around 10-20%.
Yune is super indie- the capacity at that venue is something around 100-200, and as it said, it was a festival of sorts with something like 20 performers. Not that many people were there just to see her. So if you have 30 fans coming to your shows for you, and 10% are female just as a matter of the demographics of idol fandom... that's about 3. If you're a guy, and there are 29 other guys there, it's easy to find friends- they probably go out drinking and for noodles after a typical show. If there's 1-2 other girls there... maybe you don't like them. So it's not even 10-15%... there's not enough fans for a critical mass of female fans, they shed off easily and go support groups with a larger female fan base, and so at this indie of a level it's approximately zero at shows.
Economically speaking, Yune is only allowed to perform about 1-2 times a week. And that means charging more for each event... which pretty much prices people out. Somewhat ironically, efforts to protect younger performers means it makes it harder for them to get younger fans.
She uploads to tiktok. I'm sure it's not all middle-aged fans there. But again, it's a stereotypically nerdy male pastime, so it's hard to get people outside of that demographic to come to a show.
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Then don't eat stuff you don't like? Liver is high on the dislikes of Japanese people too.
https://matomake.com/I0001636
Liver got number 3. And the description under it actually says that the food everyone was expecting to appear on the list has arrived.
http://www.asahigroup-holdings.com/company/research/hapiken/maian/bn/200407/00041.html
On this list it got number 2.
And on this list, number 3:
https://xtreeem.com/I0011890
Because it's a common yakitori item, it's very easy to order liver in Japan. But if it's not for you, it's not for you. As shown, it's not for a lot of people over there despite it being somewhat common.
Seafood is somewhat common, but I think it's skewed a bit because:
1) older people eat it more
2) some people eat fish as a daily breakfast item
Seafood may be somewhat more common than most places, but it's still easily avoidable.
The core Japanese food is:
chicken or pork or fish or seafood with rice type of dish
OR
noodle dish- usually minimal meat
Frankly, usually if it's weird stuff, it's probably someplace expensive. If weird expensive Japanese isn't for you, eat the cheap, excellent quality "B-class gourmet" foods instead (ramen, etc). If you want to splurge on something expensive, then go for a place specializing in the premium wagyuu rather than the shirako.
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@weeweefeet4030 If you're curious, in Japan it's ostensibly actually the age at which they can consent. Between 13 and 16-18 (depending on jurisdiction... but again, 18 there in Tokyo), they consent to a crime.
There was talk about increasing it, but this is more a philosophical question as to when someone is responsible for their own actions, and they basically decided on ~13-14 or so in order to not weaken cases against teenage murderers.
This 13-18 range is a crime with afaik, required, jail time for corrupting minors.
Under 13, they are considered unable to consent, which means that their yes is meaningless, and so even if apparently consenting, they cannot consent and so it is as if they were forced, and therefore carries much higher penalties.
Sure, that is far worse than the ~1 year of prison you get for the consenting 13-17 year old you are being jailed for corrupting, but running around saying aoc is 13 is underselling the 1 year of prison followed by swift deportation and a probable permanent ban from the country you'd get if they decide they want to prosecute.
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@weeweefeet4030 Nothing about foreigners- except that as foreigner I think it's more likely that someone will not like you and therefore try to get prosecution initiated so you're at higher risk of enforcement- and you have the additional penalty of likely being booted from the country and never allowed back. The law applies to everyone. Enforcement is another matter though. But that's nothing new for anywhere.
"Japan statutory () law is violated when an individual has consensual sexual contact with a person under age 13. At 13, Japan's base age of consent is the lowest of any developed country. However, many prefectures also have local "corruption of minors" or "obscenity statutes" ...which raise the de-facto age of consent to 16-18, unless they are in a "sincere romantic relationship", usually determined by parental consent. For example, the effective age of consent in Tokyo by local statute is 18. The age of marriage is 16 for girls and 18 for boys with parental permission, and 20 otherwise (according to) ", the Child Welfare Act of Japan."
Also, apparently they very recently they did go ahead and push it up to 16 nationally. I should note that a lot of this stuff is done to try to mirror the west though in order to avoid issues like this, as their traditional age of adulthood is 20, and some things have been pushed DOWN to 18, to align with the west. I think 20 is a nice age for a lot of stuff since it's clear of high school. 18 for AV means high schoolers and I think that's pretty gross.
Anyway, I live in a place, California, where the age of consent is ostensibly 18. In terms of penalties and prosecution, it is de facto quite similar to Japan. The main difference has been semantics. This is my main issue with people parroting the "Japan's aoc is 13" narrative which makes it sound like Japan is particularly degenerate. I'm a relative prude pushing for abstinence to 18+ and no AV to 20+, so sure I think Japan is degenerate- most stuff goes unprosecuted... but they're no more degenerate than California is. So why is one 13 and the other 18? The California number of 18 is just a virtue signal. And ultimately the Japanese number of 16 is a virtue signal to attempt to get Westerners to not think it's 13 anymore. As it's already been 16 since normal people don't want to go to jail for a year... 16 just looks better when people glance at numbers on a chart.
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Idol fandom is pretty well split by gender to begin with. And it's all the more true in the underground. Actually, I just saw a post on twitter about a BAND (I think all or mostly male band members) that had a male-only live in Japan, and only SIX people showed up. So obviously the fandom is basically all female. This sort of demographic conformity plagues the underground scenes- and even moreso it's Japan afterall, where they emphasize conformity.
Anyway, there's really just one key point to all of this. No one at this level advertises significantly. It's word of mouth, or advertising at venues or just by performing at venues. There is no broad advertisement. There's basically no way for anyway at this level to reach the mainstream. Very few people her age know she exists. However, she did just perform as Luna in a Sailor Moon stage play, which gave her some exposure in her age group. They mostly won't be able to afford to actually go see Yune, but they at least know she exists now.
Still, up at the mainstream it's something like 60/40 male/female for female idol groups, but even then the rate who go to lives is much more heavily toward males. They've kind of built up a certain culture of cheers and chants and stuff and most of the girl fans don't want to join in on that.
Considering the proximity of people in the trains, I'm not convinced it's even particularly bad there. Sure, it's a problem they can't manage to fix, but I don't really think any other nationality would do any better in a similarly packed train. The crowd makes it impossible to see, so the typical Japanese crime-prevention method of social pressure doesn't apply. So it just reverts to evil human nature... same as everywhere else.
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What's yucky?
That the "documentary" intentionally led you to believe an innocent comment was sexual to boost the video's traction and earn money? Yeah, that is yucky.
That girl loves bananas, or at least that's the character she is projecting. Her SNS has pictures of a banana parfait, banana cookies, banana drink, etc.
BTW, there's also a picture of that cake up close if you want to see it. Just seems like an innocent fruit cake with some sliced bananas.
She even says she loves them in her self-introduction where she mentions bananas and sunflowers and is seemingly trying to have a genki (energetic) image.
All of her fans know she loves banana flavor.
So they got her a cake with some bananas on it.
She thanks them for getting her the flavor she likes.
End of reality.
There in documentary dreamland, oh, playing with fire, gratifying desires that would be criminal.
Oh, and then of course there's the jumpcut at 22:50 that makes a joke out of her comment. Mom, giving her the cake, magically teleports to the back of the room. That didn't happen as they show it. It wasn't a joke. The joke was manufactured. It was a lie.
It's a bullshit narrative.
That doesn't mean everything about the industry is great.
But it's impossible to actually judge it from this video because of how yucky the reporting it.
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Well, with 2.14m subs... if everyone went outside for a run 5 days a week, frankly, by year end, it'd probably kill someone.
Car accident, mugging, heart attack, heat stroke, snake, something's probably gonna get someone. Probably even multiple someones.
But sure, it's probably a net benefit.
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@guardoflite Thanks for answering so I can't start blabbering in the correct general direction.
So it sounds more like you'll be somewhat occupied with classes then? It's more like a short-term stay rather than a trip?
Anyway, since it's 5-6 weeks or so, it shouldn't even require what I normally bring. And I just found my old packing list, so I'll go through things you may not think of (most of which are buyable there, but if you've already got it...)
1) small towel- if you're game for onsen/sento you'll want one or you'l have to buy one. You aren't supposed to use a full size, but if you bring your own you can at least have something a bit more substantial than the tiny scraps you buy from them there.
2) new socks- your socks will often be showing, so make sure you have decent looking ones
3) "old" shoes- you probably can't easily replace these in Japan since shoe sizes run smaller so really old isn't good, but make sure your shoes are comfortable and you've grown used to them since you will probably have to walk a lot more than you're used to. If you don't need a more formal pair for your class, don't bother with a spare IMHO.
4) biggest collapsible umbrella you can get
5) ear plugs
6) deodorizer/air freshener- even if you don't need them for your lodging, it's helpful to freshen out your shoes constantly since you often have to remove them.
7) messenger bag... is really the ideal personal item for a guy. Tourists do backpacks but people actually in Japan use messenger bags. Since you'll be there a while it may be worth buying something.
8) deodorant- only a minority of Japanese people have bad smelling sweat, so the stuff available in Japan is weak and focused on antiperspirant. Have enough.
9) any adapters you'd need... from USA, it's probably only a 3 prong to 2 prong adapter, and only if you have anything 3 prong.
10) portable battery for phone, etc. These are helpful anyway, but for many reasons, your battery charge is more likely to be a problem in Japan, so having a powerbank can be a big help
11) some sort of internet access- if it's provided by your school, great... otherwise you may want to rent wifi. In that case, if you already know some Japanese, kyuushuu wifi is probably best for periods over a month but you should research
12) small gifts from your country/region... famous food, kitschy stuff, whatever. <5 USD is fine for the more important people who help you out there. Bringing other snacks and stuff to hand out more broadly is a nice idea.
13) all your important info- how to get to where you're staying, contact info/address of first place you stay etc- all the important info for the first few days, WRITTEN OUT ON PHYSICAL PAPER. You may be able to get internet immediately- you may not. Be prepared to last for a few days without easy internet access.
14) passwords... I don't know about you, but a lot of stuff to get into banking or whatever isn't kept on my smartphone. And some stuff you're probably just used to auto-filling. Make sure you have some sort of access to what you need.
15) for clothes, you'll be packing for winter but remember that they love to keep stuff inside super toasty- you need layers. Frankly, simply T-shirts, and then a heavy/light or both jackets depending on weather. It can be toasty enough inside of places that a T-shirt is more than plenty, but you can prepare for yourself knowing your own preferences and fashion.
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