Japan Trip Report - Part II

In my last column, I wrote about the first day of our trip to Japan. To bring you up to date, Hiroshi Shimamura of the Japanese Poker Players Association had invited Jan Fisher and me to Japan to teach some poker seminars, and we had accepted. Day one of the trip was fascinating as we experienced the wonder of Tokyo.

We slept until 11 a.m. on day two. Hiroshi picked us up at 1 p.m. and took us to an area of the city called Shinjyuku, which was loaded with pedestrians. He suggested we try playing Pachinko in one of the big Pachinko parlors. Pachinko is supposed to be the Japanese version of slot machines. We went into a very crowded, smoky building that was full of people playing these machines on five or six floors of the facility. I put in 1,000 yen ($8.50) and about 300 small silver balls appeared in a holding area of the machine. After I spun a knob, the balls were disbursed like they are in a pinball machine. Within about two minutes, all the balls were gone and I had lost my yen. To this day, I still don't understand how it works or the fascination that so many of the Japanese citizens have for Pachinko.

We had lunch in a noodle shop, and since menus generally are not translated into English, most restaurants have either wax displays of their food or pictures on the menu. We looked at the wax food and pointed to the noodles that we wanted. After lunch, I had a very interesting experience using the restroom. There are two types of restrooms in Japan – Eastern-style and Western-style. The Eastern-style looks like a urinal stuck in the ground. The Western-style has a regular toilet bowl and seat like ours, and many deluxe features. You can push different buttons to get a heated toilet seat, water shooting up from several different areas, hot air blowing up, cold air, and even music. I couldn't help laughing loudly, and when I left the restroom, I was greeted by strange stares from the patrons. During the week, we used many different restrooms and learned that most of the local women prefer the Western-style.

We window-shopped a bit, and then took the subway to some of the busiest areas of the city. The electronics area is called Akihabara. There are stores everywhere selling everything from computers to cell phones, cameras, faxes, microwaves, and rice cookers. Next, we walked to the Chiyokau area of town, where you are not allowed to smoke on the public streets. Finally, we walked to the Ueno area, where Hiroshi's poker club is located. The nearby Ameyoko market was loaded with shoppers purchasing things I couldn't even begin to identify. The fresh fish was interesting to look at, and it reminded me a little of Pike's Place Market in Seattle.

After a walk through a beautiful park on the outskirts of the city zoo, Hiroshi and I went to the poker club while Jan took a nap. They had planned a big party in our honor, so upon entering the club, we saw that it had been transformed into a virtual food fest, with about 50 different types of food spread across many of the poker tables. Of course, I went straight for the sashimi! Yummy! I enjoyed getting to speak with many of the players individually; they like to practice speaking English, but are very shy in the beginning. I found them all to be very polite and friendly. Jan arrived at about 8 p.m., and the seminar started soon thereafter.

Everyone listened attentively while we gave poker tips, and later we answered some of their questions about the differences in playing in America versus Japan, poker terminology, how to avoid tilt, and so on. We then drank and ate some more, and ended the party at about 10 p.m. Hiroshi drove us to see some other areas of the city, which are beautiful at night due to all the lights.

The next morning, we took a cab to the club and arrived a few minutes before starting time of the Japan Poker Championship. There were 31 participants and the buy-in was $250. Hiroshi had bought all players hats and T-shirts embroidered with the tournament name. Players started with $10,000 in chips, with $50-$100 blinds and 45-minute rounds. Unlike the play in the supersatellite, which was fast and reckless, tournament play was extremely slow and deliberate. I was very impressed with what I saw. The players were very determined and very competitive. The tournament lasted about 14 hours. In Part III, I will tell you who won, but here is a hint: The champion is an American. Here is another hint: It wasn't me.

Now, let's play poker!