www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Welcome to the #1 Source for Information on Costa Rica
It is currently Thu Jul 17, 2025 6:39 pm

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]





Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 10 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 3:15 pm 
PHD From Del Rey University!
User avatar

Joined: Sat May 17, 2008 2:26 pm
Posts: 1021
Location: North west Wisconsin
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 3Dcomments

:lol: :lol: I got better ways to spend my money or time,

_________________
My best friend was the clock on the wall, and he turned out not to be much of a friend in the end


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:31 pm 
Masters Degree in Mongering!
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2007 7:37 pm
Posts: 682
Location: Gringalandia
Great find!
Sick stuff :shock:

I wonder why Japanese men don't start moving to more friendly countries like Thailand, the Philippines and even Costa Rica after retirement? The ex-pat lifestyle seems to work pretty well for Americans, Brits and Aussies.

Here is the full article:
Only in Japan, Real Men Go to a Hotel With Virtual Girlfriends
Dating-Simulation Game a Last Resort For Honeymoon Town and Its Lonely Guests

By DAISUKE WAKABAYASHI

ATAMI, Japan—This resort town, once popular with honeymooners, is turning to a new breed of romance seekers—virtual sweethearts.

Since the marriage rate among Japan's shrinking population is falling and with many of the country's remaining lovebirds heading for Hawaii or Australia's Gold Coast, Atami had to do something. It is trying to attract single men—and their handheld devices.

In the first month of the city's promotional campaign launched July 10, more than 1,500 male fans of the Japanese dating-simulation game LovePlus+ have flocked to Atami for a romantic date with their videogame character girlfriends.

The men are real. The girls are cartoon characters on a screen. The trips are actual, can be expensive and aim to re-create the virtual weekend outing featured in the game, a product of Konami Corp. played on Nintendo Co.'s DS videogame system.

"Atami has always been a romantic place, but it is now a romantic place for a modern generation," says Sakae Saito, Atami's mayor.

Love Plus+ re-creates the experience of an adolescent romance. The goal isn't just to get the girl but to maintain a relationship with her.

After choosing one of three female characters—goodie-goodie Manaka, sassy Rinko or big-sister type Nene—to be a steady girlfriend, the player taps a stylus on the DS touch-screen in order to walk hand-in-hand to school, exchange flirtatious text messages and even meet in the school courtyard for a little afternoon kiss. Using the device's built-in microphone, the player can carry on sweet, albeit mundane, conversations.

If the real-life Romeo earns enough "boyfriend power" points—by completing game tasks like homework or exercise to become smarter and more buff—the reward is a virtual trip to Atami.

In the game, the couple tours the local landmarks. The girlfriend changes into a yukata, a casual summer kimono, to go see the fireworks, and then they stay overnight at the Hotel Ohnoya. It is known for its cavernous, white-columned baths in the style of Ancient Rome.

In his first visit to the real-life Atami, Love Plus+ gamer Shunsuke Kato planned to walk around the city and see the sights familiar to him from playing the game. One small hitch: his girlfriend, Manaka, was giving him the silent treatment.

She was upset that he had been so busy at work that he had been playing the game only 10 minutes a day. "On days off, I spend one to two hours with her. I guess, compared to the people who come here, our relationship is a bit lukewarm," said Mr. Kato.

Located at the bend of the Japanese archipelago and a one-hour train ride from Tokyo, Atami has definitely seen better days.

The number of overnight visitors has dropped by half from the peak in the late 1960s. The main shopping area has many boarded-up storefronts—a lot of them defunct bars, clubs and other remnants of the city's heyday as an entertainment mecca.

The city is going all-out to indulge ardent Love Plus+ fans.

At the real Hotel Ohnoya, which opened its doors in 1937, the staff is trained to check in Love Plus+ customers as couples even if there is only one actual guest. Says Atsurou Ohno, the hotel's managing director, "We try not to ask too many questions because we want them to be able to remain immersed in that game world."

Some devoted fans will go so far as to pay twice the rate—most hotels in Japan charge per guest not per room—to indulge the fantasy that they are not there alone. A night's stay, at most, can cost $500 though many rooms are cheaper.

In Atami, the Love Plus+ fans—mostly men in their twenties and thirties—stand out. Unlike the deeply tanned beach crowd wearing very little, they are often pasty and overdressed for the heat in heavy jeans and button-down shirts.

Tatsuya Fukazawa, a 19-year-old college student, was visiting Atami for the first time on a recent weekend. In a small waist bag, he carried his Nintendo DS. Once he turned on the device, his virtual girlfriend Manaka Takane—a Libra who enjoys making pastries—greeted him in a syrupy sweet voice.

"There isn't a lot of romance in my life and this helps me cope with some of the loneliness," said Mr. Fukazawa with a chuckle.

Adding real elements to the virtual relationships is central to the Love Plus+ series. The games can be synched up to an actual calendar and clock, which means playing the game too late at night might mean that the virtual girlfriend is already asleep. Players are expected to remember important dates like birthdays and holidays.

Local businesses are feeling the love.

Yamadaya, a shop selling processed fish cakes on Atami's main shopping street, started offering special Love Plus+ fish cakes at the end of July. On top of a rubbery square white cake about the size of piece of toast, Yamadaya draws the characters' faces using black squid ink. At 450 yen ($5.30), the store has been selling out its daily allotment of 150 cakes—50 for each girl.

Korean barbecue-inspired restaurant Hien says a quarter of its customers are currently game-related. For 5,000 yen, customers get a special Love Plus+ menu of Japanese beef and side dishes.

Kanji Nagasawa, Hien's owner, says he is accustomed to making small talk with customers, but the Love Plus+ crowd often sits in silence and plays the game while eating.

"We've been stunned," Mr. Nagasawa said, "how happy this makes those customers."

Alas, the boom ends this month, when the imaginary characters have to go back to school.

_________________
"All them women gonna make me,
teach 'em what they don't know how..." TMIB


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 5:37 pm 
Masters Degree in Mongering!
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2007 7:37 pm
Posts: 682
Location: Gringalandia
Quote:
In Atami, the Love Plus+ fans—mostly men in their twenties and thirties—stand out. Unlike the deeply tanned beach crowd wearing very little, they are often pasty and overdressed for the heat in heavy jeans and button-down shirts.


I didn't originally catch the age of these 'gamers'.

Here are some of the comments on the article:

Quote:
I´d love to have the "hand lotion" concession at this resort.


Quote:
Has anyone even noticed that these "women" all look like 12-14 year old girls? How very sad. And I thought the Japanese killing whales and dolphins was sick.


Quote:
Look at it this way, if you an average/below average guy you can now have a virtual girl that's essentially perfect with none of the actual drawbacks of the real thing. Why bother getting rejected by girls that are out of your league or pretending to care about an average/unattractive woman. We're going to reach a point where technology and haptic interfaces will be as good or better than the real thing. It's not too hard to imagine a point where a virtual 10 is more appealing than an average girl for many men. Short of laws prohibiting such technologies or even more extreme social stigmatization, this seems like a trend that's here to stay.


Quote:
This is truly pathetic. From a commercial point of view, the creators of this sad fantasy world have a burgeoning market of lonely men in China due to their one-child policy which has created a huge shortage of real femailes in in this current generation.


Quote:
Nobody goes to the nudie bar any more?


Quote:
wow... I thought my life sucked...


Quote:
Um.. yeah, that and a fleshlight :)
One of the few comments I saw written by a woman. And the response by a guy:
Quote:
I had to google that one. You are sick, but now strangely attractive..

_________________
"All them women gonna make me,
teach 'em what they don't know how..." TMIB


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Wed Sep 01, 2010 9:00 pm 
PHD From Del Rey University!
User avatar

Joined: Mon Feb 18, 2008 1:21 pm
Posts: 1303
Location: Southeast of Disorder
THAT IS JUST DUMB!

_________________
Livin' & Lovin' in Key Largo....oh....And the one in The Keys, too!


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 12:03 am 
PHD From Del Rey University!
User avatar

Joined: Sat May 17, 2008 2:26 pm
Posts: 1021
Location: North west Wisconsin
yea but is is a dam good money making scam..... makes the scam I working on look good..

_________________
My best friend was the clock on the wall, and he turned out not to be much of a friend in the end


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 2:12 pm 
Masters Degree in Mongering!
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 25, 2004 11:10 pm
Posts: 744
Location: Canada
Guys here is something that really pisses me off. Someday I was planning to do an Asian trip which includes Macau, Thailand and the Philippines. I was also planning to visit Japan until I investigated further. It turns out from my research that Japanese men go to great lengths to prevent Gaijans (a derogatory term to describe us) access to their women. The Japanese men believe that their women are for them only.

Of course they have no problem importing women from other countries including North America to please them. It is also very common to see Japanese men visiting other countries for mongering. Does anyone else see a double standard here?

_________________
The most dangerous adversaries are the ones that come with a smile instead of a sword


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 2:56 pm 
PHD From Del Rey University!
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2005 11:30 am
Posts: 8005
Location: Where Am I ???
Devo wrote:
Guys here is something that really pisses me off. Someday I was planning to do an Asian trip which includes Macau, Thailand and the Philippines. I was also planning to visit Japan until I investigated further. It turns out from my research that Japanese men go to great lengths to prevent Gaijans (a derogatory term to describe us) access to their women. The Japanese men believe that their women are for them only.

Of course they have no problem importing women from other countries including North America to please them. It is also very common to see Japanese men visiting other countries for mongering. Does anyone else see a double standard here?

This is pretty much the same sentiments that I posted in my trip report last year, after I got back from Hong Kong, Thailand, Cambodia and Tokyo. My wingman and I were in Shinjuku, and couldn't wait to get outa there. From what I understand, there's more options in the Rapongi (sp) district, but whatever! I will NEVER go back to Tokyo. Rudest people I've ever come across in all my travels! :x And they are very clear about how they feel about us Gaijins! :evil:

_________________
You ALWAYS have an option ....... "NEXT" !!! :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow: :arrow:


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 3:17 pm 
PHD From Del Rey University!
User avatar

Joined: Sat May 17, 2008 2:26 pm
Posts: 1021
Location: North west Wisconsin
DEVO-- YES to the double standard, but NO to not being surprised about it.
Based on how historically Japan has viewed all outsiders, as displayed in WW2 as less then human, and how they attempt to limit immigration to keep the society as one, this is easy to understand. This belief is a learned behavior going back a thousand years and not going to change over one of two generations.
In some of our subset groups in this county there is the same type behavior ( our females are for us only, yours are available to any one) But due to the more diverse nature of American the rigid rules are not across the whole society, but only small groups and thus easy broken or ignored by the society in whole by just moving some where else, going to a new school of getting a different job.

As for manners, there is never a excuse for bad manners no matter where you or they are.

_________________
My best friend was the clock on the wall, and he turned out not to be much of a friend in the end


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Thu Sep 02, 2010 5:45 pm 
Masters Degree in Mongering!
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jul 22, 2007 7:37 pm
Posts: 682
Location: Gringalandia
While Japanese society in general and Japanese men in particular will try their best to deny outsiders 'access' to their women, it's actually not at all difficult to pick up non-pro women there.

In fact, since Japanese women have become more active in the workplace and more modern in general, they are less willing to put up with Japanese men who have a well deserved reputation for treating their women like indentured servants.

Go out to regular bars & clubs in areas like Roppongi where ex-pats are known to frequent, and you will have your hands full with self-selected Japanese women who are looking to meet guys who won't treat them like shit. It helps if you are living in Japan of course but is not completely necessary.

_________________
"All them women gonna make me,
teach 'em what they don't know how..." TMIB


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
PostPosted: Fri Sep 03, 2010 12:39 pm 
PHD From Del Rey University!

Joined: Thu Mar 17, 2005 11:44 pm
Posts: 1448
Location: Wisconsin
The Japanese do seem to be the leaders in recreating the experience of being with a female via technology. As posted here earlier, they also have made the most advanced robotic girlfriend to date. The day is coming sooner than you think when we can finally ditch actual biological females for robotic ones. :D


Top
 Profile  
Reply with quote  
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 10 posts ] 



All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:



Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group