3. What is the general layout of the Tendo home and
surrounding land?
##Try Tendo Home Project::
http://www.jps.net/searlsa/tendo/intro.html
The beginner's mistake is to put the large bathroom
(containing the ofuro) on the second floor. It's on
the ground floor. As far as we know, the surroundings
are purely residential, low-rise.
There is not usually zoning in Japan in the
sense we think of it. Large and small houses can and
do exist side-by-side, and mixed with small apartment
buildings and boarding houses.
4. What types of buildings are in Nerima? i.e. Is
Nerima primarily a residental neighborhood
(such as the typical American suburb), are there any
office buildings, high-raises, factories,
etc...
##you've got me on that one. There aren't a lot of
high-rises in Japan. (earth quakes ^_^) I can tell you
that Nerima is in Fire District #5. You can probably
pick up some more information on-line.
Most of the pan-out scenes in the manga or anime show
low-rise residential, with a few low-rise commercial
districts.
Allyn, what do you mean by "a lot"? I recall seeing
several dozen approx. 30-story apartment buildings on
the train in from Chiba to Tokyo station. (This is
NOT close to Nerima.)
6. What is the general attitude concerning
foriegners.
##Ummmm, depends on who you talk to. On the whole
Japan is for the Japanese. There are various "grades"
of foriegner. (also depending on who you talk to)
My general experience is that Japan is very welcoming
to obvious tourists, i.e. if you speak the language
badly or not at all. I've been told that foreigners
who speak Japanese well can encounter a suspicious
atmosphere.
This question is directed towards a
daily
encounter scenario. For example, if a foriegner (or
small group of them) walks down the street,
would they attract a lot of attention from the local
populance?
##yes. (although there are supposed to be more
"cosmopolitan" areas)
Would they have a problem
In the Ginza, no. In Nerima, my guess would be yes.
##as I mentioned above, do NOT make up names.
Much easier to find one that you like.
Allyn, I'm not sure what you mean by this. Gary
Kleppe and I, and I'd assume others, make up Japanese
names all the time, by using the Japanese for
descriptive nouns and adjectives. In fact, this is
how RT came up with a fair number of hers.
Gary: 'Tsumaranai Insurance', Ookinachichi Mountains (sp?)
While I don't know about Gary, I don't remember ever
getting any negative commentary about my names (granted,
I don't use this technique for major characters, usually
only names I'm going to mention once or twice).