AhztheCat <greatbig@dummy.com> wrote in message news:<Xns94D49F50EA778greatbigdummycom@130.81.64.196>...
> I will be heading to Nagano in about two weeks, and will be there for a 
> year.

stocking up on your favorite deoderant -- AFAIK you still can't get
that (anything worth the name) in Japan (outside of the foreign
buyer's club, but that takes a month or two to arrive). Glance at the
fbc's offerings, and bring / arrange to have shipped everything you
think you're going to need.

> an english option on the atms...good cheap  bars...stuff like that.  Any 
> info would be much appreciated!  

never been there, but most places are frickin' cold in the winter,
anything away from the Pacific coast especially. So arrange to have
warm clothes and stuff shipped later this year. Seamail works well for
this; you can have someone kick the boxes off to you around July I
suppose.

Oh, and study the friggin language. It isn't that hard to pick up
kanji you see every day, quite fun actually.