ifignow wrote:
> I grew up in rural Japan 20 years ago when it was a very
> different culture, where people were earnest and not pretentious.
> Tokyo today feels like a foreign country because people here are so
> obsessed with fashion, drinking, and sex. I'm not into that at all --
> 

Well 20 years ago the people in Tokyo were *much* *more* obsessed with
fashion, drinking and sex than they are now.  That was during the
bubble years, when expense accounts were huge and the entertainments
available were quite a bit more varied and profuse than they are now.
(well, to be honest, I only know about what was going on 17 years
ago.  I assume 20 years ago was similar)

> I am not a religious person, but I've spent the past ten years among
> software professionals in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, plus I am
> going to graduate school, where the majority of students are from
> places like rural China and have probably never been to a bar in
> their life. It's sort of like religious training, so this party
> culture feels pretty offensive to me.  Are there things to see here for 
> people who aren't into the shallowness?

So, you've been working in the Silicon Valley, where before the dot-bomb
the ratio of men to women was probably 10 to 1.  You grew up in rural Japan
where there probably wasn't a whole lot of action going on either.

Maybe Tokyo just has too many women (or men, not sure what you're looking
for) who are ready to have fun.  Might be too much for you, with their
drinking, smoking and sexing ways.

When you get back to the states, why not take a road trip out to
Salt Lake City?  Lots of nice girls there who can probably provide
the kind of clean fun you're able to handle.

-Jim