Ghibli Tavern - Studying in Japan!

Registration Date: 08.15.06
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 10665

Of course! In some of the photos further up on this page you can see the lights of the city in the evening. Downtown there are many shops and all the buildings are very high. Traffic is crazy anywhere as far as I can tell. Where I am is quite far from the city centre, but it's definitely a busy place. Actually, Nara was remarkably different as it was only a smallish town, and had a lot more green than Kyoto which is basically all buildings and roads.

__________________

12.09.2013, 07:05 AM

Registration Date: 09.28.06
Location: On your case
Posts: 10069

Do you get the impression that Japan is a very overcrowded country or are there still places you can find solitude? (other than the obvious ones like mountains and the national parks/deep forests).

__________________
Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info

"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

12.09.2013, 10:06 AM

Registration Date: 08.15.06
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 10665

Yeah, I think that's fairly accurate, at least from what I've seen. I'm sure it's different in the countryside, but the cities are pretty packed. Nara was smaller and less crowded, so I imagine it doesn't feel like that around there. Where I am is on the very edge of Kyoto, so I could walk out of the city easily enough, but that's not something I've got round to so far. Maybe I can find some solitude if I go that way.

__________________

12.09.2013, 10:28 AM

Registration Date: 08.15.06
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 10665

Now I'll post some pictures from Nara!

Please ask if you have any questions. And there's a lot more where those came from, so if you'd like to see more of anything, just let me know!

__________________

12.10.2013, 06:53 AM

Registration Date: 02.24.12
Location: Dhaka,Bangladesh
Posts: 1749

does not it look like yakul?

__________________
Watch everything but only take the good things from it

Ask, think and learn. Because the more we know the more we grow.

Watching the wrong to happen is the same as commiting the wrong.

If it looks like things are forcing you to be creative, Then be creative.

its a uniquely Miyazaki film, one only he could make and its uniqueness places it beyond being easily critiqued.[About Porco Rosso]
taken from a quote of Saddletank and Orphic Okapi

12.10.2013, 08:43 AM

Registration Date: 08.15.06
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 10665

You mean the fountain statue? It is a bit similar, isn't it? The actual deer I saw (of which there were many) were much smaller though, and didn't have full antlers.

__________________

12.10.2013, 10:54 AM

Registration Date: 09.28.06
Location: On your case
Posts: 10069

Those are some vicious deer! Surprised there wasn't a graphic of one holding a gun at someone and warning "bank robbery".

I admire how much the Japanese adhere to ceremonies in traditional costume, the whole country is like one big cosplay event only in their case the fat old guys still look cool.

__________________
Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info

"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

12.10.2013, 11:29 AM

Registration Date: 08.15.06
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 10665

Haha, the deer were pretty sweet really. Some were a bit greedy about the crackers that you can feed them, and there was a lot of variation regarding whether they liked being petted, but they were nice.

And I feel I should point out that these were specifically the people involved in carrying out ceremonies! One would expect the clergy of any religious institution to wear the appropriate garb for rituals, and these aren't just ordinary people visiting the shrine. Though I do see people in kimono fairly often in town, when I've been to temples and shrines and the like, I haven't noticed people other than the "staff", as it were, wearing clothes with religious connection, and in general people just dress normally.

__________________

12.10.2013, 11:52 AM

husky51
The Old Guy

Registration Date: 03.17.08
Location: Southern California
Posts: 12791

quote:
Originally posted by Saddletank

I admire how much the Japanese adhere to ceremonies in traditional costume, the whole country is like one big cosplay event only in their case the fat old guys still look cool.

What are you trying to say here, Saddles.... hmmmmm!

__________________

12.10.2013, 02:26 PM

Orphic Okapi
Baron

Registration Date: 04.08.07
Location: Saskatchewan
Posts: 1335

Awesome pictures, Arren. I really enjoyed Nara. I thought the atmosphere was much more relaxed than Kyoto, and the scenery was often beautiful. It's also incredibly easy to bike around the city (dem sidewalks). Of the famous touristy places I've seen so far in Japan, Nara was probably my favorite.

__________________
I like tea!

12.11.2013, 05:40 AM

Calforsale
Totoro

Registration Date: 01.19.10
Location: Sydney, Australia
Posts: 866

Nara looks very beautiful, i'll have to go there sometime. It's even the sister city of my hometown, we have an annual nara festival here in Japanese style park in the central part of the city.

__________________

12.12.2013, 12:53 AM

Registration Date: 08.15.06
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 10665

Oh, that's pretty cool! What kind of things do they have at the festival? Also, I've just discovered that apparently Edinburgh is twinned with Kyoto prefecture! I'm surprised I never knew that before actually...

__________________

12.12.2013, 05:17 AM

Registration Date: 08.15.06
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 10665

I'll be back with some New Year photos very soon, but first I'll post a few from other things I did in December.

On Christmas Day I went to a flea market at a shrine near the university campus. The weather seemed weirdly nice for the time of year!

I returned to the same shrine on New Year's Eve, so when I post those pictures you'll see it again, but much busier and darker.

One evening it snowed, and the next day I went to Kinkakuji temple with some friends, and the weather was great for taking pictures. You can see a little bit of snow in some of them too.

__________________

01.02.2014, 05:46 AM

Registration Date: 02.24.12
Location: Dhaka,Bangladesh
Posts: 1749

Arren can you please inform me about typical japanese lifestyle [not citylife]

01.02.2014, 09:24 AM

Registration Date: 08.15.06
Location: Edinburgh
Posts: 10665

I'm not sure what you mean by the question... It'll be hard for me to tell you about real people's lives outside of cities, since I'm in one. What kind of thing were you wanting to know about?

__________________

01.02.2014, 11:09 AM

Orphic Okapi
Baron

Registration Date: 04.08.07
Location: Saskatchewan
Posts: 1335

Also, Japan is an urban society. The typical Japanese lifestyle is city life. Only 5% of the population is involved in agriculture, and small towns are shrinking by the year.

__________________
I like tea!

01.02.2014, 01:07 PM

Registration Date: 09.28.06
Location: On your case
Posts: 10069

One of the key issues raised in several Ghibli films.

Beautiful photos Arren, I can easily see how Makoto Shinkai was inspired for the artwork in his most recent film.

__________________
Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info

"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

Post last edited by Saddletank on 01.02.2014, 01:17 PM.

01.02.2014, 01:15 PM

Registration Date: 02.24.12
Location: Dhaka,Bangladesh
Posts: 1749

it means they live the cereal breakfast life?

still as it is one of my favorite hobby i would like to know a typical routine of a university going student of a middle class japanese family having little sister/brother/both.

@arren and orphic

Post last edited by saviour2012 on 01.03.2014, 05:33 AM.

01.03.2014, 05:29 AM

Registration Date: 09.28.06
Location: On your case
Posts: 10069

What's a "cereal breakfast life"? If you mean the kinds of lives that 90% of people on the planet live (wake up/work/come home/TV/eat/sleep/wake up...) then I suppose they do. I don't imagine there's that many magical girls, vampire hunters or mecha pilots out there, contrary to what your TV screen shows.

__________________
Isakaya High School Roleplaying Info

"An old man like me stands no chance fighting against a high school girl in her underwear" - Oshino Meme, Nekomonogatari (Kuro)

01.03.2014, 09:11 AM