- Not looking both ways before cross train tracks

- Not looking both ways when crossing any road in Japan

- Be careful in Roppongi (certain areas) at night.  All those hecklers trying to get you into their clubs, just keep your hands to your side, and just keep walking and say "No Thank You."  Its the safest way, to avoid trouble.

- Stay away from the Yokosuka Honch!  Nothing but trouble.  I tell all newly arrived personnel, go somewhere else.  Why do you want to remain SO CLOSE to the base, which you can get hemmed up.  Take your drinking, your partying to another distant location.  Its only a matter of time, and then your being brought back to your command in hand cuffs.  It might not of even been your fault, but it doesnt matter.  You were close, and there were shore patrol everywhere.  Why even take the chance?

- Stay away from the massage girls, that try to pick you up on the street.

- If the sign on a door says, "Please no foreigners, dont go in there to look around."

- If you are in a taxi, and dont have money to pay the fare, DONT GET INTO THE CAB!

- If your drunk walking around at night, please dont do anything stupid, like kick over bikes, store owner signs, break windows, pee on peoples property, rampage through funeral homes, break into homes, fall asleep on the sidewalk, pass out on the train..

- Never ever ever fall asleep in public near the base.  They will bring you back to the base and contact your command.  I've seen it happen to a few people I knew..

- Never sit in the drivers seat and nod off while driving.  If your tired, pull over, and get in the back seat and take a nap.

- Never think you can use the ETC lane without having ETC when your driving in Japan.  The cameras will get your license plate, and you will receive a fine/ticket.

- If your in a buy-me-a-drink bar.  Dont buy the girl drinks all night.  Better yet, "ask her to buy you a drink."
Save your money.  Avoid these places!!!

- If there is a rally outside the gate, dont try to go and start taking pictures of them, or making fun of them from the side of the street.  I once saw an american driving buy the entire group of protestors, screaming outside his window at them calling them losers.  DONT DO THIS!  Please dont be that stupid.

- If you meet a girl, strap it on.  Dont take chances.  Although the STD's in Japan is quite low, STD's are everywhere.  Don't think you dont have to protect yourself, because you think some girls are just so innocent, and its their first time.  Some may surprise you..

All other members, please comment/reply on some of these, and lets build a massive library of BEWARE's for reporting people to Japan.

Be aware of the Japanese Shiitake mushrooms.. It causes hallucination..
Pedestrains have the right away, and the Japanese people don't look before they cross the street... (Some do, Most don't)
Blow fish can be dangerous and deadly if not prepared by an experience chef.
Those crawling creatures the getchi getchi(I guess thats how u spell it) are poisonous, some of the spiders are too..
Don't try to rub up against a female on the train or there is a chance u might go to jail...

Should have read this before today... got into a biking accident with my husband because a Japanese person stepped literally right out in front of me. We do road biking trips, and the guy didn't even look. Going 15 miles an hour slammed on my breaks my husband rear ended me and flipped over his bike, we are both okay but seriously did they not learn to look both ways before crossing??

Adam this made me laugh.. a lot of this stuff seems like pretty normal common sense things not to regardless of  where you live! :o) The sad part is I am assuming all of these examples you know of someone who has done these things..

Like this...
"- If your drunk walking around at night, please dont do anything stupid, like kick over bikes, store owner signs, break windows, pee on peoples property, rampage through funeral homes, break into homes, fall asleep on the sidewalk, pass out on the train.."

Love this...
"Please dont be that stupid."

Seems like a fairly easy thing to just not be stupid!! lol

Geji-geji are poisonous??? I had heard they weren't!

Watch out for mopeds...from ALL sides. One second they will be walking on the sidewalk, and the next they pull out from crosswalk locations and turn into moving vehicles. And they don't just drive on one side of the lane...that would be too easy.

Like this...
"- If your drunk walking around at night, please dont do anything stupid, like kick over bikes, store owner signs, break windows, pee on peoples property, rampage through funeral homes, break into homes, fall asleep on the sidewalk, pass out on the train.."

Yes Amanda! They are all things that I remember.

Here are a few more.

- Dont think you can smuggle drugs into Japan. Please, please please, dont be that stupid.
** PRINGLES CANS ** I will tell the story in another thread..

- Dont stick your chop sticks straight up in rice. (very rude) especially in public.

- Take your shoes off when you enter a Japanese persons home.

Man I remember the buy me drink bars and yes avoid them. I use to love watching folks come in from out of town (state side) and spend all their money on them. What happened to the "honch"? Besides the previously mention bars it was a good place to go. The worst place was Popeye's which was on the north side of the honch, but never had a problem there.
A good place to go is a park about 10 miles south of the base. If I remember correctly you just need to drive down route ?16?, the road just outside of the main gate. There is an old gun mount from WWII in the hills. I was there from 93 to 96 so things may have changed, but the trail change from paved to a small dirt path when you got close to it. The guns were gone but it was still a cool place. Actually the entire park was. A closer place is the Mikasa park. It has a battleship from the war between Japan and Russia. You can tour it and play with the guns, kids would probably love it and it's right next to the base.
The main things is enjoy your time there. I have 1 coworker that lived in Yokosuka and while have been away for a long time we still talk about our time living there.

Be aware of this girl in Harajuku, I don't know, but she may put a spell on you.

This is one I have seen a few times in Japan, but have never had a problem with after 6 years in Japan. I think it is really poisonous, so stay away.

"Be aware of the Japanese Shiitake mushrooms.. It causes hallucination.. "

I don't even know where to begin with a response to that idiocy...

"Don't try to rub up against a female on the train or there is a chance u might go to jail..."

Why not just shorten it to "Don't try to rub up against a female on the train" and leave it at that?

"Geji-geji are poisonous??? I had heard they weren't! "

I don't think this is the one that is poisonous. The one that Picpostman posted is. It's called a Mukade. I am pretty sure.

I have yet to personally see either. I am on a constant look out though. lol

Posted By AmandaDumo on 24 Jan 2010 05:28 PM
... got into a biking accident with my husband because a Japanese person stepped literally right out in front of me.  We are both okay but seriously did they not learn to look both ways before crossing??

Actually, they did not. Japanese are taught as kids to raise up their arm when they cross the street and cars will stop.  For them, it works.  Drivers here are very cautious and alert and will always yield to pedestrians no matter how reckless they are.  WARNING: Pedestrians will dart into traffic at any time without looking.  If you hit them, it's YOUR fault as the driver!  This may be more prominent in rural areas like Iwakuni, but I've seen it all over the place.  There's a spot in my neighborhood where a bike trail crosses the street.  It's a blind crossing; I can't see when bikes are coming. I have to slow to a dead crawl here cuz kids, even adults, come dashing across the street from this bike trail with NO warning. If I'd been going even 20 MPH there is no way I could avoid hitting them, and still it would be considered my fault.

I wish cars would stop for me when I try to cross the street. I frequently get honked at for stopping for pedestrians at crosswalks near Ikego when I'm driving. Then, the pedestrians bow and wave at me the whole time they're crossing as if I did this HUGE favor for them.

I would say be careful when exiting off the trains, especially if you have children with you. Sometimes there is a large gap between the train and the platform. I know Julie on this site actually had her daughter fall down the gap when they were trying to get on. Luckily everyone around her was fast moving, and they got her daughter out with just a few scrapes. Her story terrified me. I always tell my kids "Big step" when getting off the train. I now notice that I do it to my friends as well when we take the train somewhere. lol

About the Geji Geji or also known as the Scutigera coleoptrata  or "silverfish " in America ....According to Eric R. Eaton (2007). Kaufman Field Guide to Insects of North America  Stings are generally no worse than a bee's sting, with its venom causing redness and mild to severe swelling.

Techniques for eliminating centipedes from homes include drying up the areas where they thrive, eliminating large indoor insect populations, sealing cracks in the walls or get an exterminator.

Posted By KP on 24 Jan 2010 11:15 PM

Mukade (ムカデ = centipede) can be quite large and nasty, so definitely keep your distance.
In addition to the aforementioned geji-geji (which usually run away), watch out for kemushi (毛虫 = fuzzy caterpillar). There are several varieties, but not all are poisonous.
The harmless fuzzy brown ones found in North America are here as well, but a quite common one with a really bad sting is the chadokuga larva.

Chadokuga (チャドクガ) = tea tussock moth

About the nastiest bug you will come across in Japan is the suzume-bachi (スズメバチ). Hornets are bad enough in North America, the Asian giant hornet is a really nasty customer. Check the Wiki link for more details.


Suzume-bachi (スズメバチ) = Asian giant hornet

Hi BiginJapan. I think it is so cool that you post pictures along with the names of the monsters!

I would like to add an addendum: the Japanese Hornet is NOT going to make off with your small poodle. They are massive armored transformer Iron Man 3 things, but they don't like humans and they leave us alone. Typically.

But still: they are so cool to watch, and if you find one, crack out your camera and YOU TUBE THEM!

Like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fTrSOFyfxs

Note to self: BE NICE TO JAPANESE HORNETS.

Hello,
A helpful topic, so I thought I'd add a note about a snake found in this area, the mamushi. According to http://sciencelinks.jp/j-east/artic...862663.php ,

"The genus mamushi pit viper lives widely in Japan including Sapporo. Annually, nearly 3000 people suffer from snakebites. The toxicity of his venom is stronger than that of the genus habu, a notorious viper which lives in the Okinawan Islands. Though, most of the effects from the mamushi snakebite remain mild, as the snake is usually small and the amount of venom is limited. However, fatal outcomes have been known to occur. The mortality rate is reported to be 0.07-0.1 percent of all cases."

I've hiked quite a bit in the mountains around Zushi and Hayama and in the summer it's not unusual to spot a few snakes, including the mamushi.  The picture I've attached was taken on the steps above Arden Hills. I once spotted a baby mamushi on a sidewalk in Arden Hills.

Great pictures of the mamushi can be found here:
http://baikada.com/JSM/?p=18" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://baikada.com/JSM/?p=18


I don't know if they are on Yokosuka base, but I would not be surprised if there are some in the restricted areas above the tunnels and I would bet the farm they are in Ikego.

I've never let the fear of snakes interfere with my hikes, but I do wear a pair of snake-proof boots in the summer.

PS I couldn't attach the photos-one I took and another I found on Google images, but I think I can do so by adding a reply.

The ones at http://baikada.com/JSM/?p=18" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://baikada.com/JSM/?p=18

 are excellent

For some reason the links appear twice.  Only the 2nd ones will direct you to the site with the nice pics/

Here are the two pics, the first one you have to look closely to see the mamushi.

Cool pictures and explanations! I live in a condo near the base and only see the big spiders, but I appreciate the info anyway.

Ok so tonight I was bitten on the foot by a mukade. It hurts sooooooo bad. I have killed five of them in my apartment in the last two weeks. Does anyone know what to do to keep them out of the home? Or what to do when bitten? Thanks in advance!

Or what to do when bitten?

This looks like a nasty bite here:
http://forum.gaijinpot.com/showthre...post793092

This person said in the comments, that he went to the medical center and they put medicine on it:
http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/05/1...centipede/

I would probably recommend if you have any worries, go see a doctor immediately.
let them figure it out. The base doctors may or may not know what to do. I am sure, Japanese doctors are more familiar with these types of bites.

Oh wow, thankfully my bite doesn't look quite so bad it did swell up some though. We used an antiseptic wipe and first aid creme on it, and iced it for a few hours.... it still hurts so I will be keeping an eye on it just in case. Thanks Adam

I don't think I like those things. What happens if your pet were to get bitten? Could it kill 'em?

My dogs are small, so I'm quite worried now about them going outside in my back yard. I have a large back yard w/ lots of trees and shrubbery for bugs like that to hide......although, I can't say I've seen one since I've been here.

Anyone know if a bite could be lethal to our furry friends and what to do if they happened to get bit?

I uploaded a picture of a spider we have had visit our house a few times. The second picture is of my hand for a comparison. I don't kill them as they are huntsman spiders. They are creepy to be sure, but they eat bugs... like roaches and other kinds. We only have these critters and only one once a year. None this year, so far. But I am sure as it gets cooler at night, they will find a way to sneak in. My Japanese friend calls them Lords of Houses for they task they perform and allows them to be.

CREEPY spider. Holy cow that's the size of a Nissan March!

But after reading your comments about the spider...you're right. I'd rather be creeped out occasionally looking at one of those than have to worry about all the other nasty stuff around. Can you text the spider and ask 'em not to hang out inside? Or if they do, not to crawl all over you at night?

And buy 'em a top hat and monocle. Lords of Houses seem like they should wear a tophat and monocle. And tap dance. Buy 'em some tapdance shoes. Looks like that sucker wears a size 13 at least.

OMG, that is a big spider! I usually can tolerate them (aka, move them outside) but only when I know they're non-poisonous! (So in the States brown recluse and house spiders got kinda tricky, lol).

...I'm pretty sure I'd be tempted to bring out the broom to combat that sucker, dangerous or not.


And those centipedes are one of the few reasons I like living in a tower and not on the ground floor. *shudders*

Man, I'm getting itchy just by looking at the insect pictures!! My husband and I are PCSing in December in Atsugi, and we both hate things that crawl. Are these insects frequent visitors in your apartments??

Oh Yikes, I hope I can live in a tower as well so I wont get them as much as the ground floor homes do. I do not do well with creepy crawlers, we were stationed in Southeast GA and I hated it cause of all their creepy crawlers, I hope I dont have the same bad experience In Japan as well. =/

I am in a townhouse on main base and have NEVER seen anything like that in my home or yard, and I have been here nearly 3 years. The bugs are WAY worse in Ikego, though.

Ok I just hope we can get housing in Yokosuka, I am the biggest scardy cat of those creepy crawlers. I am sure we can get a 2 bed tower (fingers crossed)

We have those here in Maryland too!

For a person moving onbase (Yoko townhome), it is reassuring to hear there are few pest.  We lived in a brand new western style home in Oppama our first tour over here and bought centipede powder from the local department store.  I am not sure what it is called, but had all kinds of pictures of creepy crawlers on the outside of the container.  We usually put it down once every 3 months around the perimeter of our house.  However, we had no grass.  We saw lots of centipedes and millipedes that tour (mostly outside) and only one spider that could wrap around a baseball it was so big (inside).  Hubby and brother-in-law swatted it with a baseball bat.  We had an infant at the time so do not know what it was called, just wanted it out.  Was told later it was a fruit spider.  We had some of that powder accidentally shipped back to the states in our HHG shipment and used it on the perimeter of our home until it ran out.  It was by far the best pesticide I have ever used. 

Are there a lot of bugs in iwakuni, I have a serious phobia  to these nasties. I suffer from anxiety attacks as well so imagine how bad I get. This is my biggest fear and now I'm not so excited to move to Japan. I know it seems childish but trust me I get bad. If anyone lives in that area can you please let me know, and if there are bugs what can I do to prevent them from entering my home.

Posted By MzPurpleLover89 on 10-31-2012 4:41 AM
Are there a lot of bugs in iwakuni, I have a serious phobia  to these nasties. I suffer from anxiety attacks as well so imagine how bad I get. This is my biggest fear and now I'm not so excited to move to Japan. I know it seems childish but trust me I get bad. If anyone lives in that area can you please let me know, and if there are bugs what can I do to prevent them from entering my home.

Not to be negative or anything, but be prepared to freak out when you're there. They do have some freaky bad bugs in Japan.  I don't think there's any way to entirely keep them from your house, but I can think of a few suggestions to minimize the intrusion.  Someone above said it's worse in Ikego, so don't live in Ikego.  Likewise, don't live near a wooded area or open field.  I think the more urban your setting, the less critters there will be nearby. When you're house hunting, check to see that there are well-fitted screens in all doors & windows.  Finally, if you can get on base in a high-rise upper floor that might be your best bet.

Here's is a quick solution to resolve your insect phobia:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnU2Ld1ttoE




Let me know how it turns out.

Oh god I literally just cried. I'm really not excited anymore . My husband thinks its funny because he's never seen how bad I get. I will heed your advice and try my best to  bug proof my home. I need to find that centipede powder lol. 

Holy crap that just made me sleepy lol thanks, but still scared of bugs 😳

Thanks for all the info. I knew about the spiders, but thought the size was an exaggeration......I was unfortunately wrong.

This will be fun, We just submitted for orders to Japan, and we live in a critter dangerous world of Georgia. I'll survive, my husband is in Norfolk, he will be the one squealing at the sight of the critters and freaking out over them being on him... I just worry for my dogs, and fearless children. We have a lazy male Siberian Husky and a tiny black and tan female Shiba Inu.  She is like cat...she is so going to try and eat one of these bugs, I hope we get on Yokosuka housing.

I do know one thing to avoid, It's the Host clubs! They're not just ones for men out there filled with pretty girls getting you to buy expensive drinks to share with them. There are ones filled with handsome men as well, and they do the same thing, sometimes better. A friend of mine got mistaken for a boy as she has very short hair and masculine features and ended up being a bit insulted when they kept making sure she wasn't a homosexual male.

Conversing with Japanese - tips form a Shinjuku native friend of mine.

Don't call someone by the first name unless they give you permission, its very rude and insulting. Always use Honorifics! If you really want to get out and be able to enjoy some of the things the country has to offer, start learning the language while the written looks hard to learn the verbal isn't for most foreigners.

Being called a gaijin -  it is an Insulting Japanese term that essentially means 'dirty barbarian'. While an insult coming from the mouth of a Japanese person, other foreigners in Japan will readily refer to themselves and others as Gaijin. Much like in America use the 'N' word to show unity, so do the foreigners in Japan. Please don't do this, you'll just get laughed at and if your someone with a short fuse I'm sure this won't end well.

Beware of " TRAPS " as well, Men that look like females, and just the opposite as well.

Shinji always says alot of Public PDA can get you in trouble, and don't ride double of a bike its illegal, dangerous, and unlike alot of places in America enforced.

Do not try to copy the stunts in japan performed by movie comedians ( your not johnny knoxville ). There is a lot of cameras in japan, I don't know personally about Yokosuka and surrounding areas but in Tokyo they'll bust you for acting out in public.

- If you venture out into the country itself on leave to see the beauty of japan, and happen to see some more of their wildlife, Dont mess with the monkeys or boars. Or any of the religious statues, no matter how funny or stupid some of it is to you, it's very rude to make fun of it. Golden Rule.

外人　Gaijin

外　＝outside

人　＝person

No dirty. No barbarian.

Your explanation is off base.

野蛮人　＝yabanjin (wild person). Maybe that is what you were thinking of but I have never heard any Japanese person refer to a foreigner as such.

I had always been told and also looked up myself that Gaijin means outsider meaning not japanese. I am glad to know that this is truly the case and not the other translation.

外食　＝gaishoku ("eating out" and not "eating dirty, barbaric food").

The only time 外人 has been directed at me was by a surprised Japanese man in the countryside 25 years ago - and he referred to be as "gainjin-sama" - certainly not an honorific I deserve!

Sorry I did not clarify what my friend had told me, before his family moved to the states he said a lot of the younger crowds ( he was referring to his age which at the time was 17-19 ) would use it in aggressive manner to be offensive to foreigners. So when I googled it's translation that is what it gave me, didn't question it too much. I'm glad to be known it was not such a offensive translation.