neo-geo forums field trip to japan?

would it be possible for us to all put some funds in an go to japan?that would be awsome wouldnt it be cheaper?what do u guys think?
we can raid the last remaining neo geo land.we can all even crash at tsukaesugis house
but seriously who would be down for this

You couldn't pay me to spend a night in a room with you freaks.

{MERCENARY X99 walks into room and puts down a bowling ball bag full of cash on the floor and looks up at 5thlion5thlion.}

"Count me in, hope this is enough. Always wanted to tour Japan with a Cadre of droogs. Games, high school uniformed hotties, gambling at a Yakuza owned casino... watching movies in the theatre while smoking a cigarette, eating SUSHI ON THE RAW (i.e. naked chicks) and shopping in Akiba for MORE GAMES. Uhhh... what's not to like about that?"

COUNT ME IN!

MERCENARY X99

...the change to M99 is almost complete
just two more business transactions to finish.
Then I will start again from zero.

See what I mean?

MegaDrive20XX said:

{MERCENARY X99 walks into room and puts down a bowling ball bag full of cash on the floor and looks up at 5thlion5thlion.}

"Count me in, hope this is enough. Always wanted to tour Japan with a Cadre of droogs. Games, high school uniformed hotties, gambling at a Yakuza owned casino... watching movies in the theatre will smoking a cigarette... shopping in Akiba for MORE GAMES. Uhhh... what's not to like about that?"

COUNT ME IN!

MERCENARY X99

...the change to M99 is almost complete
just two more business transactions to finish.
Then I will start again from zero.

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Man, that sounds like some fun shit to do while there. I need to get more money!

Funny you made this topic. I'm planning a trip in December 2004, and I had asked a couple of people here if they wanted to go with me. I know how to save a lot of money on a trip like this, and I have gone myself for cheap. I also know a good hotel in a good part of Tokyo that is very reasonably priced, and it's 20 minutes walk from the game capital of the world.

Anyone seriously interested in going would need to save a minimum of $2000. $600 for the plane ticket, $400 for the hotel, $250 for food, $100 for travel expenses, and $150 for sightseeing expenses. That would leave $500 or so for spending money on souvenirs and Akihabara's game stores.

Of course, you could take more than that, but keep in mind US Customs taxes you if you spend more than $800 on items.

kool i can get that dough by then we should make this a sticky or somethin. who knows how many of us will join in on the raid to japan ...i hope at least like 10 deep or more

Average Joe said:

You couldn't pay me to spend a night in a room with you freaks.

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I won't tell anyone you looked at this thread if you can keep quiet about me looking.

5thlion5thlion said:

kool i can get that dough by then we should make this a sticky or somethin. who knows how many of us will join in on the raid to japan ...i hope at least like 10 deep or more

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If you're serious about going, start saving now. The trip could cost more by December, depending on how well the US dollar is doing by then. The above costs would be a bare minimum quote, if you want to eat at nicer resteraunts and do more tourist stuff it would cost more. The above price would cover a bus tour, a trip to the Edo Museum and that kind of stuff, but not much else.

Also, I'm not really going just for fun, I will be visiting the in-laws and doing stuff outside the group, so I wouldn't be available to give you guys the tour every day. Maybe Tsukaesugi would be kind enough to volunteer his services for a day or two?

We should bump this topic up in a few months and see who is still on board. Ideally it would be a group of 3-5 people, any more than that would be beyond my scope to handle.

Can someone bring me back one of those mint MS1 homecarts that are like $4.99 over there? I here it rains MS1 the morning after a pink sunset

ha will do
yo ghost i was plannin on bringing 3k i thought that would be good enough ..i think?
yeah i hope more people jump on board we can establish a meeting point an everything that would be kool

so far its me, mega an u ghost. come on people we talkin the mother land of all that is gaming and kick ass samurai culture here!!!!

Here's some pics of the hotel I stay at:



And the bathroom:



Not bad for $65 a day, and when you factor in the cost of breakfast it works out pretty well. You'll appreciate the heated toilet seat in late December as well. The nice thing is, if you want to go on your own and just hang out, Akihabara is 20 minutes walk. Just a few minutes and you will be here:



For a little of this:

hell yeah how big is akihabara?
that hotel looks nice nothing fancy, nice an simple an best of all its cheap!
also how far is the hotel from tokyo?
we would have to hop the train huh?

I'll have to see where I'm at by Christmas, but I was kind of hoping any trip in mass would be during the summer. *An alternative to hotels would be HOSTELs. I used to stay in them when I travelled a lot during age 19-21, and some were better than others. I hear that some of these places in Japan are in corporate buildings and one is even a traditional style home/martial arts dojo? Never made the jump across the big pond though so it might be bullshit. The pricing you quoted Ghost Dog seems about right though. I'll start saving up right now anyohw and see where things go. I too however would probably break up from the group at some point, considering this happens at all... because there's places I want to visit, like Himeiji Castle, any and all historical landmarks, the place where the battle of Sekigahara took place in the 14th Century... Japanese tea houses in Kyoto, and more or less the more rural aspect of Japan. I'd be interested in the BLING, BLING, Tokyo Underground thing only for a few days at best, but would spend most of my time meshing with the nation itself.

I would however, like to find a place selling knock off Armani suits (since that would be the price of the trip for one double breasted suit no doubt) then go to a Yakuza owned speakeasy, and sit down and drink and talk with some of the elders about their past greats like KAZUO TAOKA "the Godfather of Yakuza" who headed the Yamguchi-gumi up until his death in 1981... or about Godfather of the Korean syndicate Towa Yuai Jigyo Kumiai Hisayuki Machii. --That is of course if they'd be willing to talk about it. But I've bowed to more than a few places here in the states where a picture of a Yakuza Oyabun is on the wall, and I get all the V.I.P. treatment for even knowing who these people are. If it's anything like that in Japan, then I'd probably be considered a "V.I.P. Gaijin" among the elders and the entire group of us would get to drive around in BMWs and have some protection from the bad asses who run the nation, connected to some of the highest money makers on the planet. ---Maybe we could get to join some Sokaiya and start shit at a Share Holders meeting too!

...but I could settle on more normal activities and do that on my own later of course.

MERCENARY X99

man that sounds awsome i would love to meet some yakuza heads. that is if i dont have to chop a finger of to do so

COME TO JAPAN

I can bunk a few, the only price for accomadation is neo competition.

Sounds like a lotta fun - I just wish I wasn't a broke-ass college student.

u can swing it bro jus ask moms an pops for some cash if all else fails.rb the competion will be accomidated

Count me in!

5thlion5thlion said:

hell yeah how big is akihabara?
that hotel looks nice nothing fancy, nice an simple an best of all its cheap!
also how far is the hotel from tokyo?
we would have to hop the train huh?

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That hotel is in Tokyo, in Ueno more specifically. There are tons of things to see and do in Tokyo. We could:

-Cruise Akihabara and hit up all the game shops..
-Go to the arcades and have some serious competition..
-Visit the Kabuki Theater.
-Tour the Edo Tokyo museum.
-Play some serious slots and pachinko.
-Take a bus tour of the city, with some historical stops at the imperial palace and Asakusa temple.
-Eat at all kinds of different resteraunts, including sushi.
-Sing karaoke and see the night life.
-Go see an American movie subtitled in Japanese.

And a shitload more. As far as staying in a hostel, I have no knowledge of that. You guys would be on your own there, but if you need the hotel hookup I can help out with that.

If I could get the cash and get around school I'd be all for it, man i'd love to go to japan

np man we got till dec/jan so thats plenty of time for heads to generate some cash

japan here we come!

Ghost-Dog said:

I'm planning a trip in December 2004

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Ghost-Dog, have you already got your travel dates picked out? Just wondering when some of the other n-g.com members might be in Japan, as I'll be there for my annual New Year's vacation from 12/27/04 thru 01/10/05.

Ghost-Dog said:

keep in mind US Customs taxes you if you spend more than $800 on items.

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Every year I make sure to have some leftover cash in-pocket just in case Customs decides to hit me with a tariff, and every year they just wave me on thru. On my 5 most recent return flights (January of 2000, '01, '02, '03, & '04) the Customs agents have simply looked at the items listed on my declaration form (books/comics/magazines, video games, cds, dvds, laserdiscs, and misc. souvenir items), marked them as no tariff due, and sent me on my way. Now, I do fudge a little when declaring the value of these items (perhaps a more truthful $ total would raise an eyebrow -- or just roll a pair of eyes), but the fudged estimate always comes out higher than the we'll-let-you-bring-less-than-$800-in-stuff-back-with-you-before-we-start-taxing level. If Customs ever decided to open my luggage and gauge the real value of my purchases, I figure I'll be in less trouble if I've only lied a little (shaving $500 to $1000 off the value of the items) rather than attempt a big lie (shaving $1000 to $2000+ just to get the declared value below the $800 mark). BTW, Customs has yet to actually open my suitcases to take a gander at any of the stuff I bring back (good thing, too, as half the books I usually buy there are doujinshi -- try explaining that stuff to the uninitiated, let alone an uninitiated in law enforcement). Can't recall if I got hit with a tariff at the end of my first Japan trip (Summer '92) or not -- don't think I did, tho'. Heh -- the Customs agent in Jan. '00 had to ask his supervisor what a laserdisc was, and whether they taxed those or not. Anyway, not guaranteeing that Customs wouldn't tax you on these sorts or purchases, just that I've yet to be hit with a tariff.

Good luck with the trip planning, folks -- sounds like a great idea. Hopefully, if our trips overlap, we can meet up in Akihabara.

--Chris

I can bunk a few, the only price for accomadation is neo competition.

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YOU SIR WILL BOW TO MY MAGICAL DROP PROWESS!

-Kris

P.S. DOWN AS A MOTHERFUCK. Hanging out in Japan with you crazy gamers would be awesome. I wanna play DDR out on the street. That would be awesome.

Dash No Chris, our trip dates will probably overlap. I will be there the week of Christmas, and be going back the first week of January.