Things I want to say about episode 83

[Gorkamorka]

So I listened to episode 83 when it came out.  And I found that I had a lot to say about it.  None of the things I wanted to say were in any way important, but dam did I want to say them.

Then I got sick and promptly forgot all of them.  So now I'm listening to it again and have started this thread to document my  inane opinions.

So first up
Ross: "All food with a face on is Chinese food"

NO.  Although a lot of Chinese food is facy.  As a proof I walked down to my local shop and took this picture.



More to come...

[crash2455]

You misplaced your set order. He said "Not all Chinese food has a face, but all food with a face is Chinese. "

[Daerke]

I just re-listened to the episode yesterday and now I really want to listen to Ross run his game of Night's Black Agents set in Tokyo.

I'm going to pick up a copy of the book Ross mentioned concerning the different social groups in Japanese youth because that aspect of Japanese society really interests me, but I wanted to say a little something as I've lived in Japan for a while and know a little about how young people behave over there.

While many people think of Japan as having these crazy sub-cultures (and they do) over the past 10 years Japan has begun to shift the way their employment of young people into the workforce from long-term employment with full benefits - a.k.a. the traditional concept of the salaryman - to the more westernised concept of casual employment. This has led to a change in the way young Japanese people view joining the workforce and how they act in their own social groups. These social groups, which were once a method for young people to rebel against the traditional institution of life-long employment within a single organisation have become less rebellious to some extent, and are now more like a coping mechanism for dealing with the realization that they may never get to have one of these safe jobs.

There is much more to it than that of course, but the general feel I got from these different social groups when I was over there was young people joined them much like any other westerner would join a club or sporting team in order to meet new people and have fun, the notion that these fringe groups where is some way 'sticking it to the man' was not really supported by any of the people I met over there.

I hope this helps. If there is anything else you think I might be able to help with I'd be more than happy to answer questions. just for clarification, I spent 4 months studying in a Japanese town a couple of hours away from Tokyo so my experiences with these fringe groups is pretty diluted but i met a few people who were part of these groups.

[clockworkjoe]

Well I would appreciate any useful info that I could throw in a game set in Tokyo - night clubs, fashion, rundown wards/neighborhoods, new subcultures (not otaku, bosozoku or other ones well known in the West)

[Daerke]

One thing I did pick up which you might find helpful is that certain districts of Tokyo tend to be shunned due to Genpatsu (radiation) since the tsunami. I'm not 100% sure but some of the areas around Shibuya are avoided because of this - I know I started to feel pretty sick after spending a couple of days in the area but that was probably psychosomatic.

Also, I don't know if it will help or not but Shibuya has a place called love hotel hill which is a literal hill covered in hotels where you pay by the hour and the rooms are all themed. could be a cool place to have clandestine meetings as many of these hotels don't even have staff in the lobby - it is all paid through vending machines.

Finally, Japan has a cool chain of shops called Don Quixote (abbreviated to Donkey) which pretty much sells everything under the sun, from electronics to b.b. guns to porno DvDs and are well known throughout the country for their good prices. Think of a multistory discount store with shamwows being sold next to adult toys and you get the right idea