Jump to content

Are we of to Japan

ladysaint

By ladysaint,
in The Saints

 Share

Recommended Posts

Tokyo-Saint

Tokyo-Saint

Posted
Posted
No visa needed for Japan. Guessing it's pretty expensive out there.

 

Not really, it depends on where you go. The problem is that tourists fall into the 'tourist trap'. It is very much like London, if you wonder out of Leicester Square station and straight into a Aberdeen Angus stake house, you will get ripped off. The same this applys in Tokyo, if you come straight out of the station and into an Irish bar and order a guinness or an imported beer, you will pay about £5 a pint. However, go local, drink in Izakayzas, local beers and whiskeys and you can save loads on here. For example, nomi hodi is offered in most places and usually means 2 hours unlimited drinking of local beers and spirits (good stuff as well). This will usually set you back £15 and is well worth it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
david in sweden

david in sweden

Posted
Posted
for preseason training, someone mentioned that they had heard that part of the Lee deal was that we would play in Japan preseason.

 

if they pack a few thousand Saints shirts as extra baggage, selling them at the ground might pay for the trip...?

 

what's their crowd attendances like anyway ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Red and White Army

Red and White Army

Posted
Posted
Plus I don't want us to become the next Fulham or Chelsea with a load of gawking Japanese sat there, whilst frantically snapping away on their DSLR's whenever a player comes near the touchline.

 

Sounds like you have some issues.

 

don't think the YEN is so strong as it used to be ...?

 

It is very strong - was 250 yen/pound a few years ago... now it's 128 yen/pound.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sour Mash

Sour Mash

Posted
Posted
Tell me about it! I've just booked a ryokan in Tokyo, that's a hotel room with a sleeping mat, and it's costing me 73 quid a night!
Know a fair few people that have lived in Tokyo over the last 10 years and all say it was never cheap at the best of times. How much does it differ in the provincial cities?

 

Guess it'll be no different to all the other places Saints have been pre-season, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway......

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tokyo-Saint

Tokyo-Saint

Posted
Posted
Know a fair few people that have lived in Tokyo over the last 10 years and all say it was never cheap at the best of times. How much does it differ in the provincial cities?

 

Guess it'll be no different to all the other places Saints have been pre-season, Switzerland, Sweden and Norway......

 

I am going to be shouted down here but having lived there for over 5 years, the price is comparable to London. As with London, it depends on what you do and where you go. For example, you can get a shinkansen (bullet train) ticket that lets you have unlimited travel around Japan for about £150. This is only open to visitors but is an amazing cheap and quick way to travel around a long country. I have felt it is much more expensive to travel and eat on Europe recently, easily spending £50 for a crappy meal for 2 in an ok restaurant.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
capitalsaint

capitalsaint

Posted
Posted
Yes, I do have issues. My main one being I don't want SMS turned into a soulless bowl full of day trippers. I thought I made that quite clear in my previous posts?

 

What are you struggling to understand here?

 

What if they're here for the week?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sour Mash

Sour Mash

Posted
Posted
I am going to be shouted down here but having lived there for over 5 years, the price is comparable to London. As with London, it depends on what you do and where you go. For example, you can get a shinkansen (bullet train) ticket that lets you have unlimited travel around Japan for about £150. This is only open to visitors but is an amazing cheap and quick way to travel around a long country. I have felt it is much more expensive to travel and eat on Europe recently, easily spending £50 for a crappy meal for 2 in an ok restaurant.
How many days does that £150 train pass cover? Can live with £4 a pint, but hearing stories of double that isn''t too clever. Mates that lived over there lived on a diet of noodles, rather than sushi or proper meals.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Red and White Army

Red and White Army

Posted
Posted
Yes, I do have issues. My main one being I don't want SMS turned into a soulless bowl full of day trippers. I thought I made that quite clear in my previous posts?

 

Oh yes, the famous day-trip from Tokyo to Southampton, with hordes of Japanese tourists outnumbering the real fans. I am sure the expensive 12 hour flight and eight time zones won't be an issue for them to pop over for the day.

 

Either you have issues with delusion or issues with racism.... not sure which one it is. Probably both.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
This Charming Man

This Charming Man

Posted
Posted
Oh yes, the famous day-trip from Tokyo to Southampton, with hordes of Japanese tourists outnumbering the real fans. I am sure the expensive 12 hour flight and eight time zones won't be an issue for them to pop over for the day.

 

Either you have issues with delusion or issues with racism.... not sure which one it is. Probably both.

 

Are you really that thick?

 

Of course nobody is going to literally come over for a day. The term day-tripper doesn't apply to their period of stay in England, it applies to the fact they would be coming along to SMS for the day, watching Lee play, snapping away with their cameras and generally turning the place into a morgue much like they have done at Craven Cottage, Emirates, Stamford Bridge etc.

 

As for the racism comment, Jesus christ. Please don't reply to my posts in future. Your level of stupidity is infuriating.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tokyo-Saint

Tokyo-Saint

Posted
Posted
How many days does that £150 train pass cover? Can live with £4 a pint, but hearing stories of double that isn''t too clever. Mates that lived over there lived on a diet of noodles, rather than sushi or proper meals.

 

You can find full info on the trains here: http://www.jrpass.com/?gclid=CJmUg5_I868CFaImtAodagNRWw It is very similar to the eurostar but actually even easier as you don't have the security checks or immigration stuff. It is a great way to get around.

 

No offence (for once I don't want to offend you) but your mate was either very poor or stupid or is winding you up a bit so that you are impressed with his survival skills. It is a massive misconception that Japanese eat sushi all the time. I would say on average once every couple of weeks. Tokyo is a massive city and is pretty cosmopolitan, you'll find that the food is similar to here, as in there are Italian, Indian, American (burgers etc), Chinese restaurants pretty much everywhere. People in the UK don't really survive off roast dinners and fish and chips and Japanese don't survive off noodles and sushi.

 

You can pay over the odds for things, especially if you are a football fan or a load of lads. The Irish bars and the nightclub/pub chains like 'The Hub' and 'Gaspanic' are there just to get this type of person in, pay over the odds and then moan about it at home. There is always a load of American service men on a weekends leave with a load of money to spend that are looking for exactly these types of places. If you ever went to Jumping Jaks or Ikon you will be able to imagine exactly what they are like.

 

If we do go there on pre-season, I will maybe do a blog on here or something with tips on where to go and where to eat or drink etc and not get completely ripped off. To give you a rough idea, eating out should cost about £10 per head in a Japanese pub/restaurant maybe £20 if you are having a few beers as well. Spirits are a lot cheaper than beer and most places sell it to you by the bottle, so if you and a couple of mates buy a bottle of something and a few mixers, it shouldn't cost you much more that £10 -£15 and is a pretty good way of getting ****ed. On the other hand, wonder straight out of the station in a big tourist place, into the bar with the loud music and all the lights and you may end up paying £5/6 for a half pint but the same would probably happen in Leicester Square, New York or Paris.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sour Mash

Sour Mash

Posted
Posted
You can find full info on the trains here: http://www.jrpass.com/?gclid=CJmUg5_I868CFaImtAodagNRWw It is very similar to the eurostar but actually even easier as you don't have the security checks or immigration stuff. It is a great way to get around.

 

No offence (for once I don't want to offend you) but your mate was either very poor or stupid or is winding you up a bit so that you are impressed with his survival skills. It is a massive misconception that Japanese eat sushi all the time. I would say on average once every couple of weeks. Tokyo is a massive city and is pretty cosmopolitan, you'll find that the food is similar to here, as in there are Italian, Indian, American (burgers etc), Chinese restaurants pretty much everywhere. People in the UK don't really survive off roast dinners and fish and chips and Japanese don't survive off noodles and sushi.

 

You can pay over the odds for things, especially if you are a football fan or a load of lads. The Irish bars and the nightclub/pub chains like 'The Hub' and 'Gaspanic' are there just to get this type of person in, pay over the odds and then moan about it at home. There is always a load of American service men on a weekends leave with a load of money to spend that are looking for exactly these types of places. If you ever went to Jumping Jaks or Ikon you will be able to imagine exactly what they are like.

 

If we do go there on pre-season, I will maybe do a blog on here or something with tips on where to go and where to eat or drink etc and not get completely ripped off. To give you a rough idea, eating out should cost about £10 per head in a Japanese pub/restaurant maybe £20 if you are having a few beers as well. Spirits are a lot cheaper than beer and most places sell it to you by the bottle, so if you and a couple of mates buy a bottle of something and a few mixers, it shouldn't cost you much more that £10 -£15 and is a pretty good way of getting ****ed. On the other hand, wonder straight out of the station in a big tourist place, into the bar with the loud music and all the lights and you may end up paying £5/6 for a half pint but the same would probably happen in Leicester Square, New York or Paris.

Yeah I get the food thing cheeers, was more a joke about living on Sushi. Happily give one of those all you can drink in 2 hours bars a go, though can't see how they'd work in practice. Sod paying £6 for half a pint. I'm sure it'll all be irrelevant anyway as we announce another dull week in Switzerland. That train link is class, stupidly good value for what you're getting.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tokyo-Saint

Tokyo-Saint

Posted
Posted (edited)

The 2 hour drink thing is down to cultural differences. It wouldn't work here as we tend to drink more than them and try to get our money's worth. Japanese, in general, don't down it like we do. There is also the fact that they mostly eat when drinking as well and mixed sex groups mean that most women don't drink nearly enough to get any value.

 

You do get a lot of (fecken annoying) ex pats living out there who try to live more like the Japanese than the Japanese actually do. They have sashimi for lunch, sleep on futons while their Japanese co-workers have spaghetti and sleep in a normal bed. I hated the try hards more than the Americans on shore leave.

 

I think you are right, a few weeks in Switzerland followed by a couple of friendlies with some French teams on the border.

Edited by Tokyo-Saint
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Red and White Army

Red and White Army

Posted
Posted
Are you really that thick?

 

Of course nobody is going to literally come over for a day. The term day-tripper doesn't apply to their period of stay in England, it applies to the fact they would be coming along to SMS for the day, watching Lee play, snapping away with their cameras and generally turning the place into a morgue much like they have done at Craven Cottage, Emirates, Stamford Bridge etc.

 

As for the racism comment, Jesus christ. Please don't reply to my posts in future. Your level of stupidity is infuriating.

 

Are you really that thick?

 

You think the atmosphere at those grounds is solely due to the Japanese fans? Hahahahahaha

 

Please don't post in future. Your level of stupidity is infuriating.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BlakeySFC

BlakeySFC

Posted
Posted (edited)

Japan's an amazing country. Got the chance to go there in 2007, and it was insane.

 

I for one would be absolutely amazed if we went there for pre-season though, just flying the team out would cost £20,000-30,000

Edited by BlakeySFC
Link to comment
Share on other sites
david in sweden

david in sweden

Posted
Posted
The 2 hour drink thing is down to cultural differences. It wouldn't work here as we tend to drink more than them and try to get our money's worth. Japanese, in general, don't down it like we do. There is also the fact that they mostly eat when drinking as well and mixed sex groups mean that most women don't drink nearly enough to get any value.

 

You do get a lot of (fecken annoying) ex pats living out there who try to live more like the Japanese than the Japanese actually do. They have sashimi for lunch, sleep on futons while their Japanese co-workers have spaghetti and sleep in a normal bed. I hated the try hards more than the Americans on shore leave. I think you are right, a few weeks in Switzerland followed by a couple of friendlies with some French teams on the border.

 

 

 

aside from the Japanese' domestic habits, it does sound most unlikely that Saints would travel to Japan - at least at this point in time,

but for interest sake' what size crowds do Japanese stadiums hold ? Do you know the average attendance at Hiroshima games ?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tokyo-Saint

Tokyo-Saint

Posted
Posted

No idea about the average for Hiroshima, wireframe box is the J-league fan. The stadiums are big, very big. I would guess most of them hold 60k+, at least the ones around Tokyo and Yokohama. The games I have been to had at a guess 30k people for the bigger ones, or 15k for a mid week meaningless fixture. They are real JCL and work hard so mid week games are quiet but then a big match like FC Tokyo and Urawa Reds held at the weekend could well sell out. As I say wireframe is the real J league expert, I just went to a few games.

 

The commercial interest could be very big, it would all be down to the marketing. Japanese in general love a craze, if the games were heavily marketed and Chun was playing, there would be some big crowds. Madrid etc sell out abut I think we would be looking more at 30-40k games, especially if it was some kind of Emirates cup style competition.

 

I have een told that saints have been on the sports section of the national news, so I guess Chun is pretty popular and there is potential interest out there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
suewhistle

suewhistle

Posted
Posted
Yes, I do have issues. My main one being I don't want SMS turned into a soulless bowl full of day trippers. I thought I made that quite clear in my previous posts?

 

So you think a few hundred foreign fans are going to make that much difference? Some of the away followings in their hundreds have been pretty quiet but that hasn't stopped the rest of SMS making a noise, and if anything I think the visitors could be easily led into singing OWTSMI with very little encouragement. Obviously not if they were sat next to you..

 

Southampton isn't that dynamic a city economically and putting it on the map and raising awareness would help in other ways if visitors were actually to stay and spend money there. Hundreds of extra language students would put many thousands of pounds into the local community and stimulate employment. There's a reason the council, for example, would look favourably on expansion as it's part of a far wider picture than your worry you might have to sit next to a Japanese with a DSLR!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
suewhistle

suewhistle

Posted
Posted
The 2 hour drink thing is down to cultural differences. It wouldn't work here as we tend to drink more than them and try to get our money's worth. Japanese, in general, don't down it like we do. There is also the fact that they mostly eat when drinking as well and mixed sex groups mean that most women don't drink nearly enough to get any value.

 

You do get a lot of (fecken annoying) ex pats living out there who try to live more like the Japanese than the Japanese actually do. They have sashimi for lunch, sleep on futons while their Japanese co-workers have spaghetti and sleep in a normal bed. I hated the try hards more than the Americans on shore leave.

 

I think you are right, a few weeks in Switzerland followed by a couple of friendlies with some French teams on the border.

 

Nah, some Italian teams on the border!

 

Are the Japanese like the Chinese in not being able to hold their drink that well: I believe it's an allergic reaction? I think I'd personally get embarassingly good value from the cheap drinking deals!

 

As to the other phenomenon, I've heard similar complaints on the chinese section of an English language teachers' forum, and people not even replying to you in the street when asked for directions: "The only gay in the village" syndrome!

 

Thanks for the information, but I don't reckon it'll be this year, but I'm sure it'll happen at some stage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
This Charming Man

This Charming Man

Posted
Posted
Are you really that thick?

 

You think the atmosphere at those grounds is solely due to the Japanese fans? Hahahahahaha

 

Please don't post in future. Your level of stupidity is infuriating.

 

Ask Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man Utd fans what they think of their atmosphere these days since the influx of day-trippers, compared to their atmosphere's before it became 'cool and trendy' for tourists to attend a Premier League game.

 

It's not just Japanese fans, it just so happens they're the ones we're attracting at the moment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Tokyo-Saint

Tokyo-Saint

Posted
Posted
Nah, some Italian teams on the border!

 

Are the Japanese like the Chinese in not being able to hold their drink that well: I believe it's an allergic reaction? I think I'd personally get embarassingly good value from the cheap drinking deals!

 

As to the other phenomenon, I've heard similar complaints on the chinese section of an English language teachers' forum, and people not even replying to you in the street when asked for directions: "The only gay in the village" syndrome!

 

Thanks for the information, but I don't reckon it'll be this year, but I'm sure it'll happen at some stage.

 

Yeah, some of them are real light weights, not all though. I didn't mean that our girls wouldn't get their moneys worth (or you) just that in general, if a Japanese girl was out for a few drinks after work on a Friday, she wouldn't look at the 2 hours free drinking as a challenge she had to complete. To be honest, once you are used to it, the novelty wears off and you stop seeing it as a challenge yourself. There are plenty of times I went out for a few quiet ones, did nomi hodi and it may have been cheaper to have just had a couple of pints.

 

I am sure there are try hard ex pats everywhere, Phil has probably met a plumber from Dunstable who insists on wearing a full sheiks outfit and living in a tent as a nomad, only drinking goats milk from his own herd.

 

On the subject of cost to the club, If the skates can get sponsors to pay for a (shambolic)trip to USA, I am sure we could make the trip at least free if not a money spinner.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
david in sweden

david in sweden

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

I have been told that Saints have been on the sports section of the national news, so I guess Chun is pretty popular and there is potential interest out there.

 

 

Now I'm sure that really is the sort of mouthwatering news that Saints merchandising manager would love to hear.

 

....just as long as we don't send out XXL sizes. Most Japanese I've met are about Youth size shirts ...unless we also attract interest from Sumo wrestlers..

Edited by david in sweden
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Big Dick Last

Big Dick Last

Posted
Posted

I do not understand why our pre-season tours are now as secretive as an SAS mission to Afghanistan!

A few on here, myself included, have had great times in Sweden and Norway on pre-season tour.

Now we get told of the tour so late it is virtually impossible to sort anything out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...