That’s a whole other discussion: Are APA hotels, run by a nutso right-wing couple, “regular”?
I don’t know anything about that, and I’m not a travel guide. I’m just making a point that there’s plenty of standard Western-style daily rate hotels in Kabukichō. It’s not all love hotels (which need not be a seedy thing - they can have a very practical purpose).
1 Like
I was thinking “Kangaroos”
There have been multiple! Reading through this I instantly though “Oh, I know all these, I’ve beaten loads of thugs in Yakukza/LAD games for doing this.” The modeling scam one is featured in the game so often (minor spoiler for one game): they actually subverted their own trope in 6 and Kiryu is surprised to find out, after busting in to beat up the fake modeling scouts, that they are totally legit.
4 Likes
There’s been so many games in the LAD universe and so much overall content (and I know because I’ve put in a cumulative 1000+ hours playing them all), it’s easy to get things muddled and forget what came where. I resorted to asking ChatGPT to try to remind me which game I was thinking of, and every time it got the plot I was looking for bang on, but could never settle on which game or substory it was (and it was always wrong). 
Thanks for reminding me about that one in Y6. I love how the series writers are able to laugh at themselves like this. (When it comes to to the LAD universe, I can confidently say that the substories are often the best parts. Sure, there’s also plenty of serious substories, but there are also plenty of downright silly ones as well that can provide some much needed levity from the main story and its constant drumbeat of Serious Stuff.)
4 Likes
Aren’t there more reliable sources?
1 Like
According to this article, across the 8 mainline LAD titles, there’s a total of 826 side quests. I could have gone through GameFAQs or similar and read through every single description of every single sidequest until I found the specific one I was thinking, but it just didn’t seem worth it to write a single comment response saying “yup, I remember this from the Yakuza series” with that level of specificity.
4 Likes
You know how a lot of hotels in the West have Gideon Bibles for bedside reading? APA hotels have alternate history books explaining how the Rape of Nanking never happened, etc.
It’s really weird. And it’s a national chain, so in some areas, it’s your only option for lodging.
8 Likes
First place I stayed off the plane on my last trip to Japan, because it was convenient to Narita (hit the hostels after that first night).
2 Likes
Wow, they even have them in English.
Oh my god, they even have a press release (Japanese only) on their homepage defending it and reiterating the claims about “what really happened in Nanking.”
5 Likes
Well, that’s properly awful. Like I said, I was just giving examples of Western-style daily rate hotels in Kabukichō to counter the “it’s all love hotels” comments. Not endorsing anything. At least I know what to avoid next time I’m in Japan.
5 Likes
Oh yeah, It’s business time!
Golden gai is worth a look if you are out for a couple of beers with friends and the Giant godzilla is worth a peak but there are heaps of better places to stay in central Tokyo. If you all enjoyed it though who cares.
In Jamaica, it’s pronounced, “Mi allright!” with as much scorn as desired.
An Ocho Rios higgler opened his mouth at me in an attempt to hustle me one afternoon. Before any of his words could happen, I said, “Mi Allright!” w/a perfect baritone Jamaican accent, and his jaw hit the sidewalk. When he recovered, he LOL’d and said, “Yes, mon, mi a-see dat now!”
Our friend/guide/driver who’d hipped us to that useful phrase was very proud of me, and for once mom was, too.
All four of us had a jolly good laugh, the higgler wished us well, and we him!
7 Likes
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
