Japan

Peter Payne tells about enka music, "Enka songs often deal with the more bittersweet aspects of life, drinking alone in a cold bar, pouring your own lonely sake because your wife left you. Enka songs capture the sweet pain that we all feel in life." and gives a couple of samples:

http://www.okada.de/archive-japanasitis/enka2/images/mizunash.ram
http://www.okada.de/archive-japanasitis/enka2/images/sute.ram

Especially the latter one is not unlike usual Finnish ballroom dance music (Tanssiorkesteri Ilpo Karinen: Alla Pohjanmaan taivaan; the first example I happened to find).

Again from Peter Payne: "you must go to Akihabara, the electronic mecca of Japan, with hundreds of large and small electronics shops. When riding the train, you can always tell you've stopped in Akihabara because all the gaijin suddenly get off the train."

Peter Payne: "Roppingi is also good -- famous for its bars and "image clubs" (establishments where you can have girls dressed in costumes pour drinks for you), and Tokyo's Hard Rock Cafe is there."

Peter Payne: "Shibuya, also on the Yama-no-Te train line. Go out the Hachiko exit (Hachiko was a faithful dog who waited at this station for ten years for his master to return, unaware that his master had died; you can see a statue of him here), preferably on a Friday or Saturday night, and just feel the energy from the lights, the massive TV screens, the street musicians, and the cool restaurants."

Peter Payne: "Harajuku, a stylish area on the Yama-no-Te loop line where you can find very cool shops, and very hip young people. Go on Sundays to see people dressed up in Gothic & Lolita fashions."

Okinawa was featured in the Churasan TV series, and it looked like a beautiful and laid-back place with nice people. I would like to enjoy its foods, including goya (vegetable) and awamori (rice wine) and its warm climate.

J-List staff recommends Anne Miller's restaurants because of good Boston-style food and pretty waitresses in sexy uniforms: "Supposedly, the best place to experience Anne Miller's is the restaurant in Meguro, Tokyo -- the girls are supposed to be the prettiest there."

According to J-List's Peter Payne, "Yokohama is a fabulous place, steeped in history and international culture".