ifignow wrote:
 >
 >
 >> Why Kyoto? Not enough concrete in Tokyo for you? In my post
 >> suggesting you get out of town I was suggesting you try some rural
 >> areas.
 >
 >
 > Ok, but do you know exactly which ones?
 >
Japan is full of rural areas. If you take an outbound train from central
Tokyo in an hour or so you'll be in some beautiful countryside. Don't 
like crowds? Relatively close to Tokyo (and most likely uncrowded on any 
given weekday in the winter) is Kamakura. Further down is Atami. The 
latter might be a bit crowded, but from either just start walking and 
see where you end up. If you have the time/money (know that's an issue), 
head to Kobe or Himeji and I'll tell you some great places to go that 
are not hard to get to, fairly interesting, and not at all crowded.

What I used to do in Osaka when I had free time was to take a basic map 
of the city and just start walking. It is really difficult to get truly 
lost and I saw parts of that city many native Osakans don't know exist. 
Do that in Tokyo. You mention that you go to a gym; how do you get 
there? Train? Bike? On foot? Take a different route each day. There are 
so many ways to see cool things in a city. Personally I'm not a big 
talker either; I don't care one way or the other if someone strikes up a 
conversation with me, but if I want to talk with someone I've rarely 
found that hard to do. You just say 'hello' or ask a basic question 
(even if you know the answer) and conversation usually happens. If it 
doesn't, it's no big deal to me.

But I think the problem is that you're a pessimist; at least you seem 
that way. You kind of have to want to find something interesting in a 
place in order to actually find something interesting in a place. I'm 
not in love with Kyoto, but I would never call it a very boring place, 
at least the first time around. Same with Tokyo. It's all in your 
outlook on life and expectations.

John W.