Hello Tokyo

[dom1]

Hi,

I am probably the umpteenth person to post this month... But I am moving to Tokyo soon, the flat's sorted, the tax is sorted and the job's nailed down.

I just need to meet people, and build a life up!

I'm 31 from London and have no friends or family in Japan so if you'd like to grab a beer or some food and are in a similar situation or just a decent person who doesn't mind answering questions like 'where do I get an english newspaper from?' then would be great to hear from you!

If anyone also has tips on gyms and swimmig pools - would be great to hear! I need to get fit and love swimming... but have no idea how an expat can join a gym or a pool in the city>

As for soccer... the only place i found last time was a grotty irish bar in Ropponghi... not bad but are there any better sports bars?

Any keen cyclists on this site?

Hope to hear from you

Regards,

Dom

[Rube]

English papers are sold at most convience stores but the quality is horrendous, mostly old news and AP stuff so better just using the net.

[nevaeh]

I go to a bilingual gym but it's mainly classes and not machines. As for the pool, I've used the public pool in Kinshicho and although staff (probably) don't speak English, it was very hassle free (bought the ticket from the machine, 500yen for 2 hours) and most of the signs were in English and Japanese. Not too many stares at the gaijin and her thunder thighs either! I'm sure you'll have a similar experience at the other (newer) public gyms.

As for the newspapers, you can get FT in the major stations, and I think Kinokuniya stocks international publications, but going there to pick up your daily news?! Talk about a pain in that place. As Rube said: stick to the internet, get an online subscription.

BTW - You don't have tattoos do you? Pools/Gyms can be a bit picky about that.

[Rube]

If you do have a tat and they give you a problem try telling them it's a temp tat and if that doesn't work (it takes balls to even bring up the topic for them and they are looking for an excuse to escape the confrontation easily) you can cover it up with a bandage.

[Dade]

Originally Posted by Rube

If you do have a tat and they give you a problem try telling them it's a temp tat and if that doesn't work (it takes balls to even bring up the topic for them and they are looking for an excuse to escape the confrontation easily) you can cover it up with a bandage.

What about body piercings?

[Singapore Saint]

I haven't joined a gym as I prefer to pound the streets, but when I looked at the costs, I thought the monthly fees were pretty expensive.

I haven't been, but I have friends who go to the Metropolitan Gym in Shinjuku, Y600 per visit, no monthly fee / contract. Apparently it has plenty of the usual stations with a track next door, and I think it also has a pool. It's easy enough to find online.

[figambie]

Hello Dom
Myself and husband are from London, 32... Been in Tokyo 2 years and always up for beers. He is also into swimming and cycling... My email is figambie at gmail dot com if you want to message me and we can chat some more..

[peterteh]

tokyo is a nice place i plan to go there

[jimfred]

I have to ask the obvious question ... Aren't you concerned about the radiation poisoning that is taking place in and around Tokyo?

[larabell]

Originally Posted by jimfred

Aren't you concerned about the radiation poisoning that is taking place in and around Tokyo?

Not at all. That's because reports of contamination in Tokyo are overblown. There were reports of so-called "hotspots" immediately after the accident and a couple of those were large enough to warrant attention but since then radiation levels in the Tokyo area have fallen back to normal background (no matter where you live, there is always a small amount of background radiation due to natural sources).

I wouldn't want to live in Fukushima-ken right now -- nor in any of the areas to the Northwest of the crippled plant (which, according to surveys, is the direction most of the contaminants -- at least what didn't blow out to sea -- wound up). The average level of radiation across Fukushima is around double the natural background level from before the quake and while that's not high enough to present a definite health risk, I don't think I'd want to take the chance.

But Tokyo isn't under any significant risk at this time and isn't likely to be unless another huge quake damages the spent fuel pools at the plant before the fuel can be offloaded. We saw a spike in readings during the first rainfall after the accident and things dropped back to normal within a couple of weeks. There are a number of sites posting real-time readings -- some amateur, some professional -- and they all indicate more-or-less normal background. We're not being poisoned.

Most of the "scare" reports you see about Tokyo contamination are copies of an article from a specific anti-nuclear blog that only came into existence right after the quake. The site (which I won't mention here but you can ask me privately) isn't even associated with Japan. There are unconfirmed claims that it may be connected to a certain anti-nuclear activist who is falsely passing himself off as a nuclear expert (which he is not) but is really associated with a wind energy startup (conflict of interest, perhaps?). At least that's what my research turned up.

Of course, whenever the question comes up as to why this "contamination" isn't being reported on by mainstream media, the activists always say it's part of some kind of government cover-up. But that's highly unlikely, especially when everyone is being careful not to even give the appearance of hiding anything and when the media are falling over each other to be the first to report anything unusual. Even contamination levels so low that they wouldn't even be recorded before are being broadcast as major headlines.

If you ask me, you have a far greater chance of contracting cancer from second-hand smoke in Tokyo than from radiation. Why, then, don't we see forum posts saying: "don't move to Japan because half the male population smokes"? Isn't it because radiation is such a hot-button for people right now? Do we really want to base our future plans on superstition, even in the face of facts to the contrary?