I’ve made a quick hop from Japan to “Los” (as the Japanese call Los Angeles) to attend the popular E3 video game convention. I’ve enjoyed roaming the floor, oo-ing and ah-ing at all the awesome cool games that were announced, and playing with the new hardware from Sony and Nintendo was great, too. I’ve been traveling with three Japanese guys J-List does business with, and it’s been an interesting journey for them as well. I’ve had to explain such complex linguistic concepts as “booth babes” to them (they have them at Japanese conventions, but they’re called “companions” or “campaign girls”). Los Angeles is a special place to the Japanese. Like Hawaii and New York, it’s an area they’re often quite familiar with, and there’s a sizable community of Japanese expats living in the Los Angeles area. While the “real” America might be mysterious and unnerving for the average Japanese person, Los Angeles is generally “terra cognita” for many Japanese, who know they can find familiar foods and services in Little Tokyo or Torrance or wherever, and are more relaxed there. The guys I’m traveling with had an extensive list of famous spots they wanted to hit, and we’ve been having a lot of fun playing tourist.
To most Japanese, Los Angeles is a special place, more familiar than most parts of the U.S.
