Reminder: there's a Santarchy Tokyo phone contact list available as a Google
Spreadsheet. It's not public (for obvious reasons) but if you're a Santa this
year let me know and I'll add you to it if you're not in it already.

--- In santarchy-tokyo@yahoogroups.com, Michael <michael_k000@...> wrote:
>
> 080-3479-0635
>
> Here is my number. I'm heading up to Tokyo now. Will be hanging out in Tokyo
this weekend and heading to Yokohama on the 14th in the afternoon.
>
> ~m
>
> On Dec 8, 2009, at 7:00 PM, Agent Xray <xray@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> I just got my phone number for my rental ketai.
>
> If you need to reach me in Japan, please call:
>
> 080-3418-2941
>
> Arriving the evening of Dec. 10th
>
> -=X
>

 

I just got my phone number for my rental ketai.

If you need to reach me in Japan, please call:

080-3418-2941

Arriving the evening of Dec. 10th

-=X

Free. Exhibits only registration code for Those who want to come to
SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 in Yokohama. Be sure to wear your Santa attire.
Courtesy of my friends at Side Effects Software, makers of Houdini.

Cheers,
-X

>

I just got my phone number for my rental ketai.

If you need to reach me in Japan, please call:

080-3418-2941

Arriving the evening of Dec. 10th

-=X

Whoops... correction. Not in Yokohama.

In Tokyo, as if I shouldn't have know. Ikebukuro, actually.

I wonder if we could get some of the whacky ice cream
(http://www.who-sucks.com/food/101-frightening-ice-cream-flavors-from-around-the\
-world)
at Ice Cream City, though. Maybe after that we could visit Jigoku Benjo
(Hell's Toilet) whatever the heck that is.

-=X

Agent Xray wrote:
>
> Something to do in Yokohama:
>
> Sunshine Namja Town featuring Ikebukuro Gyoza Stadium and Ice Cream City
> (No Ice Cream For You!).
>
> http://www.namja.jp/img/pdf/guidemap.pdf
> <http://www.namja.jp/img/pdf/guidemap.pdf>
>
>

Something to do in Yokohama:

Sunshine Namja Town featuring Ikebukuro Gyoza Stadium and Ice Cream City
(No Ice Cream For You!).

http://www.namja.jp/img/pdf/guidemap.pdf

This picture is going into my SIGGRAPH Asia 2009 presentation on crowd
animation as a representation of the definition of "what is a crowd".

http://gallery.agentxray.com/main.php?g2_itemId=14512&g2_imageViewsIndex=1
<http://gallery.agentxray.com/main.php?g2_itemId=14512&g2_imageViewsIndex=1>

Love the flyer.

I am another Tokyo-bound Santa, coming from San Francisco.  This is not my first
visit to Japan, though it will be my first SantaCon.   Looking forward to
meeting everyone.

Brenda



--- In santarchy-tokyo@yahoogroups.com, "oyabun_santa" <oyabunsanta@...> wrote:
>
> Hello, new Santa. The plan every year (so far) is that Santas meet on the last
Saturday before Christmas in front of Hachiko, in Shibuya.
>
> Santa Magari just released the new flyer designs with instructions and
supplementary URLs if you'd like something to refer to.
>
> http://100santas.org/tokyo
> http://www.magarisugi.net/santa/omote.jpg
> http://www.magarisugi.net/santa/ura.jpg
>
> I will arrive in Tokyo on December 13 and will be bumming around Yokohama
mostly with a few santas when I'm not at Siggraph. Feel free to contact me if
you'd like to get together.

Hello, new Santa. The plan every year (so far) is that Santas meet on the last
Saturday before Christmas in front of Hachiko, in Shibuya.

Santa Magari just released the new flyer designs with instructions and
supplementary URLs if you'd like something to refer to.

http://100santas.org/tokyo
http://www.magarisugi.net/santa/omote.jpg
http://www.magarisugi.net/santa/ura.jpg

I will arrive in Tokyo on December 13 and will be bumming around Yokohama mostly
with a few santas when I'm not at Siggraph. Feel free to contact me if you'd
like to get together.


--- In santarchy-tokyo@yahoogroups.com, Kerry Drew <kerryika@...> wrote:
>
> Konnichiha Kerry desu.
>
> I'm here in Berkeley, where the wonderful Santarchy happened last year
> downtown and at the Jupiter Pub.
>
> Yes, I will be in Tokyo, staying with my fiance, and I'd love to surprise
> her by encountering a Santa swarm, but since she likes to plan things well
> in advance, (with some wiggle room left for me), I'd like to get some idea
> of where the swarms MIGHT be occurring, and when.
>
> Obviously along the Yamanote (downtown loop), line is most convenient, so
> can I get any hints, either on or off-list?
>
> Domo arigato gozaimasu!
>
> Jya matane,
>
> Kerry @}:^)
>
> P.S. If you need any translation help, I have a friend who might be willing
> to help.

Magari is using @SantarchyTokyo on Twitter to keep the Santas updated, which is
difficult for me since I don't speak Japanese.

I spent a little while screwing around with Yahoo Pipes and came up with this
RSS feed. Drop it into your reader and it'll display an automatic,
machine-translated translated version of Magari's feed.

http://bit.ly/5LkoTG

Recent comments mention "carpet bombing", "destructive acts", and "high risk of
death". This is looking to be a very exciting santacon.

http://www.icebartokyo.com/en_index.html

Perhaps a good place to check out whilst in Santa suits?

Seems fitting
http://twitter.com/loadedsanta

- Santa

The failure of all known commercial santa suits is the pants. You generally have
to wear them over your normal pants which is hot and bothersome if you're trying
to get into your pockets.

Dickies sells an excellent pair of pants in bright screaming red. They're well
made, comfortable, reasonably cheap, very durable, and work well as the lower
half of your santa suit.

http://tinyurl.com/yjx7w7a

I was reminded of this because two pairs of pants just showed up at work and
they're not my size. Did one of the foreign santas buy these and mail them to
me, intending for me to bring them to Japan?

Did anyone catch this???

http://www.japanprobe.com/2009/11/17/scuba-santa-in-osaka

a

I don't know about sim card compatibility, but phones may be rented.

I found the best rate on a softbank phone reserved over the internet at
Y250/day + usage. They have a retail shop in Shibuya across from Don
Quixote or airport pickup.

http://www.softbank-rental.jp/smpl/ib/phone-rental-japan.html

Accordign to the web page, they also rent SIM cards but I don't know
anything about compatibility. You probably need a quad-band phone. Not
sure about the iPhone.

-=X


> also, anyone know if an unlocked american iphone 3gs would work on the
> network over there? was considering just renting a sim card...
>
> --- On Thu, 11/19/09, Michael Kennedy <michael_k000@...> wrote:
>
> From: Michael Kennedy <michael_k000@...>
> Subject: renting a cell phone
> To: santarchy-tokyo@yahoogroups.com
> Date: Thursday, November 19, 2009, 11:10 AM
>
> has anyone done research on or have experience with renting a phone in
> japan?
> thoughts, recommendations?
>

An interesting read...

http://pinktentacle.com/2009/11/top-60-japanese-words-phrases-of-2009/

-=X

On Nov 14, 2009, at 12:24 PM, Agent Xray wrote:

>You might want to double check the location of the Yamazaki. I'm >pretty
>sure it's near Osaka, not Kyushu.

It is near Osaka, in a suburb about 18 miles NE of Osaka.  It's been marked on
my map for a while.

Suntory Yamazaki Distillery
5-2-1 Yamazaki, Shimamoto-cho, Mishima-gun, Osaka

http://tinyurl.com/TheYamazaki

- Deaf Midget Santa

You might want to double check the location of the Yamazaki. I'm pretty
sure it's near Osaka, not Kyushu.

-=X

oyabun_santa wrote:
>
> This sounds good. I don't know my Japanese geography very well so I
> made a map of where the distilleries are, plus other points of
> interest. Let me know if anyone would like write access to this shared
> map.
>
> http://tinyurl.com/yfonvwe <http://tinyurl.com/yfonvwe>
>
> One problem: "Suntory Yamazaki - Near Osaka" seems to not be near
> Osaka. I am illiterate, so I might have either looked up the wrong
> place or placed the pin wrong.
>
> --- In santarchy-tokyo@yahoogroups.com
> <mailto:santarchy-tokyo%40yahoogroups.com>, xray@... wrote:
> >
> > I'm quite interested in Japanese whisky distilleries and would like to
> > visit a couple. Anyone else down? I may have some connections at The
> > Yamazaki.
> >
> > Suntory Yamazaki - Near Osaka
> > http://www.theyamazaki.jp/en/distillery/guide.html
> <http://www.theyamazaki.jp/en/distillery/guide.html>
> > http://www.suntory.co.jp/factory/index.html
> <http://www.suntory.co.jp/factory/index.html>
> >
> > Suntory Hakushu - On the way to Nagano from Tokyo
> > http://www.suntory.co.jp/factory/hakushu/index.html
> <http://www.suntory.co.jp/factory/hakushu/index.html>
> >
> > Nikka Yoichi - Near Sapporo
> > http://www.nikka.com/eng/distilleries/yoichi.html
> <http://www.nikka.com/eng/distilleries/yoichi.html>
> >
> > Nikka Miyagiko - Near Sendai
> > http://www.nikka.com/eng/distilleries/miyagikyo.html
> <http://www.nikka.com/eng/distilleries/miyagikyo.html>
> >
>
>

This sounds good. I don't know my Japanese geography very well so I made a map
of where the distilleries are, plus other points of interest. Let me know if
anyone would like write access to this shared map.

http://tinyurl.com/yfonvwe

One problem: "Suntory Yamazaki - Near Osaka" seems to not be near Osaka. I am
illiterate, so I might have either looked up the wrong place or placed the pin
wrong.


--- In santarchy-tokyo@yahoogroups.com, xray@... wrote:
>
> I'm quite interested in Japanese whisky distilleries and would like to
> visit a couple. Anyone else down? I may have some connections at The
> Yamazaki.
>
> Suntory Yamazaki - Near Osaka
> http://www.theyamazaki.jp/en/distillery/guide.html
> http://www.suntory.co.jp/factory/index.html
>
> Suntory Hakushu - On the way to Nagano from Tokyo
> http://www.suntory.co.jp/factory/hakushu/index.html
>
> Nikka Yoichi - Near Sapporo
> http://www.nikka.com/eng/distilleries/yoichi.html
>
> Nikka Miyagiko - Near Sendai
> http://www.nikka.com/eng/distilleries/miyagikyo.html
>

I'd like to do a Skype conference call to brainstorm what to do post-christmas
and post-Okinawa. Getting a JR pass and ending up in Nagasaki is good but we
should talk about stopping in points along the way.

Some Santas are in California, Santa Kennedy is in Wellington (-3 hours +
"tomorrow"), there are some Santas in Japan (-6 hours + "tomorrow"), and Santa
Totoro is in Khartoum (+11 hours).

How is Saturday, 1:00PM PST for everyone? If my math is right that would be:

Khartoum: Saturday, 12:00 Midnight
Tokyo: Sunday, 7:00 AM
Wellington: Sunday, 10:00AM

If anyone can't participate I'll post a summary here when we're done. My Skype
ID is the same as my AIM and YIM ID. If you don't know any of those please mail
me and I will tell you off-list.

Are hotel rooms anywhere else likely to be cheaper?

--- In santarchy-tokyo@yahoogroups.com, "oyabun_santa" <oyabunsanta@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> --- In santarchy-tokyo@yahoogroups.com, Agent Xray <xray@> wrote:
> >
> > On the three day Okinawa trip, is the only full day the middle day (the
> > 22nd) on this schedule? If so, I would think you'd want to change it to
> > make the full day the same day as the holiday/main event (23rd)
> > otherwise people will be scrambling to get to the airport after a full
> > day of festivities. Just sayin'.
>
> If I was reading the calendar correctly (and I'm illiterate, so it's far from
certain that I was) we're not staying beyond the 23rd because that's when the
holiday is, which means hotels get a LOT more expensive. Twice as expensive or
something. It would be preferable to do the big event on the 23rd, stay
overnight, and fly back on the 24th but I think there are affordability issues.
>
> Ijinden? Can you confirm this?
>

--- In santarchy-tokyo@yahoogroups.com, Agent Xray <xray@...> wrote:
>
> On the three day Okinawa trip, is the only full day the middle day (the
> 22nd) on this schedule? If so, I would think you'd want to change it to
> make the full day the same day as the holiday/main event (23rd)
> otherwise people will be scrambling to get to the airport after a full
> day of festivities. Just sayin'.

If I was reading the calendar correctly (and I'm illiterate, so it's far from
certain that I was) we're not staying beyond the 23rd because that's when the
holiday is, which means hotels get a LOT more expensive. Twice as expensive or
something. It would be preferable to do the big event on the 23rd, stay
overnight, and fly back on the 24th but I think there are affordability issues.

Ijinden? Can you confirm this?