Who's in Japan?

victorl

victorl

Where'd my stroke go?
Silver Member
Hi guys, I'm new to the board and currently living in Japan. I was wondering if any of you are living out here as well.

It seems like I'm the only foreigner in every tournament except for the occasional Filipino pro who comes to steal the easy tournament money. Being the only person with an English name in the tourney is good for intimidating other players too, that is, until they see me shoot:p.

Anyway, it'd be great to have someone to chat and practice with. So even if you're just here for vacation, let me know, bring your cue and we can hit it up together! You, too, can experience the weird rules and aggravation that come with playing pool in Japan:grin-square:!

Cheers,

Vic
 
welcome

Welcome to the forums.

When you get the time maybe you could tell us about some of the rules in the land of the rising sun.Whats the pool scene like there?Any stories?
 
victorl said:
Hi guys, I'm new to the board and currently living in Japan. I was wondering if any of you are living out here as well.

It seems like I'm the only foreigner in every tournament except for the occasional Filipino pro who comes to steal the easy tournament money. Being the only person with an English name in the tourney is good for intimidating other players too, that is, until they see me shoot:p.

Anyway, it'd be great to have someone to chat and practice with. So even if you're just here for vacation, let me know, bring your cue and we can hit it up together! You, too, can experience the weird rules and aggravation that come with playing pool in Japan:grin-square:!

Cheers,

Vic
Click to expand...

What pert of Japan are you located
 
Hey guys,

Wow there are actually some players out here, that's sweet! I'm living in Kyoto right now, so it's quite a distance from Tokyo (and Sendai).

As for the question about pool stories in Japan... where do I start? I came out here about 5 years ago and my first time in a Japanese pool hall was an absolute disaster. I literally left the pool hall in tears. Here's what happened (kind of long):

I saw three locals playing a ring game of 9 ball, so I asked if I could join and they were all serious and said we're playing for 100 yen (about a dollar), are you sure you want in? I was all like, a dollar? What's the big deal? So, I sit down and the one guy breaks,makes 3 balls and runs out the rack. Then the guy sitting next to me starts scribbling all kinds of marks on the board and writes a 20 under my name. I was confused, so I asked him what the number was and he looked at me like I was crazy. Then another guy came over and asked if I knew how to play "Japan" and I was like, we're not playing 9-ball? That's when I learned the rules of "Japan".

It's played like 9 ball, except the money balls, 3, 5, and 7 are worth one point each, and the nine is worth two points. Making a ball in the side pocket is worth double points and a break and run doubles your entire score for the whole rack. That's not even the messed up part. Fouls are ball in hand in the kitchen AND you can pick up the lowest numbered ball and put it on the center spot or foot spot. OR you can just do one of these and leave the other ball as it lies. OR you can play both balls from where they lie. I still don't really get it:eek:.


So anyway, the guy who broke and ran out made 10 points on the table which doubles to 20 points, which he receives from all the players in the game. And that's when I realized that they were playing for a dollar A POINT:sorry:, which meant that I had lost 20 bucks before even putting my cue together. The guy finally missed and left an open table for the next guy, who ran out and proceeded to run the next rack. So while I was sitting in the chair like a fool trying to figure out the friggin rules, I was down almost 50 bucks before my first shot, which was a kick shot that I missed, leaving a wide open table. My wallet suddenly started feeling a lot lighter:frown:.

Long story short, it ended up being the worst beating of my life and I vowed never to play that stupid game ever again:mad:. Of course, I came back and took a couple more beatings before I finally figured things out. And I still lost. Since then, things have gotten better. I now play 20 cent a point games with the little fish away from the main table:cool:.

Vic.
 
I have some new friends from Japan, they love pool also. They are like kids in a candy store buying cues to send back home. Evidently cues are 4-7 times more expensive there. One player they all fear?...GODZILLA
 
victorl said:
Hey guys,

Wow there are actually some players out here, that's sweet! I'm living in Kyoto right now, so it's quite a distance from Tokyo (and Sendai).

As for the question about pool stories in Japan... where do I start? I came out here about 5 years ago and my first time in a Japanese pool hall was an absolute disaster. I literally left the pool hall in tears. Here's what happened (kind of long):

I saw three locals playing a ring game of 9 ball, so I asked if I could join and they were all serious and said we're playing for 100 yen (about a dollar), are you sure you want in? I was all like, a dollar? What's the big deal? So, I sit down and the one guy breaks,makes 3 balls and runs out the rack. Then the guy sitting next to me starts scribbling all kinds of marks on the board and writes a 20 under my name. I was confused, so I asked him what the number was and he looked at me like I was crazy. Then another guy came over and asked if I knew how to play "Japan" and I was like, we're not playing 9-ball? That's when I learned the rules of "Japan".

It's played like 9 ball, except the money balls, 3, 5, and 7 are worth one point each, and the nine is worth two points. Making a ball in the side pocket is worth double points and a break and run doubles your entire score for the whole rack. That's not even the messed up part. Fouls are ball in hand in the kitchen AND you can pick up the lowest numbered ball and put it on the center spot or foot spot. OR you can just do one of these and leave the other ball as it lies. OR you can play both balls from where they lie. I still don't really get it:eek:.


So anyway, the guy who broke and ran out made 10 points on the table which doubles to 20 points, which he receives from all the players in the game. And that's when I realized that they were playing for a dollar A POINT:sorry:, which meant that I had lost 20 bucks before even putting my cue together. The guy finally missed and left an open table for the next guy, who ran out and proceeded to run the next rack. So while I was sitting in the chair like a fool trying to figure out the friggin rules, I was down almost 50 bucks before my first shot, which was a kick shot that I missed, leaving a wide open table. My wallet suddenly started feeling a lot lighter:frown:.

Long story short, it ended up being the worst beating of my life and I vowed never to play that stupid game ever again:mad:. Of course, I came back and took a couple more beatings before I finally figured things out. And I still lost. Since then, things have gotten better. I now play 20 cent a point games with the little fish away from the main table:cool:.

Vic.
Click to expand...

Have you ever met Jun Shimizu? He's the only guy I know from Kansai.
 
victorl said:
Hey guys,

Wow there are actually some players out here, that's sweet! I'm living in Kyoto right now, so it's quite a distance from Tokyo (and Sendai).

As for the question about pool stories in Japan... where do I start? I came out here about 5 years ago and my first time in a Japanese pool hall was an absolute disaster. I literally left the pool hall in tears. Here's what happened (kind of long):

I saw three locals playing a ring game of 9 ball, so I asked if I could join and they were all serious and said we're playing for 100 yen (about a dollar), are you sure you want in? I was all like, a dollar? What's the big deal? So, I sit down and the one guy breaks,makes 3 balls and runs out the rack. Then the guy sitting next to me starts scribbling all kinds of marks on the board and writes a 20 under my name. I was confused, so I asked him what the number was and he looked at me like I was crazy. Then another guy came over and asked if I knew how to play "Japan" and I was like, we're not playing 9-ball? That's when I learned the rules of "Japan".

It's played like 9 ball, except the money balls, 3, 5, and 7 are worth one point each, and the nine is worth two points. Making a ball in the side pocket is worth double points and a break and run doubles your entire score for the whole rack. That's not even the messed up part. Fouls are ball in hand in the kitchen AND you can pick up the lowest numbered ball and put it on the center spot or foot spot. OR you can just do one of these and leave the other ball as it lies. OR you can play both balls from where they lie. I still don't really get it:eek:.


So anyway, the guy who broke and ran out made 10 points on the table which doubles to 20 points, which he receives from all the players in the game. And that's when I realized that they were playing for a dollar A POINT:sorry:, which meant that I had lost 20 bucks before even putting my cue together. The guy finally missed and left an open table for the next guy, who ran out and proceeded to run the next rack. So while I was sitting in the chair like a fool trying to figure out the friggin rules, I was down almost 50 bucks before my first shot, which was a kick shot that I missed, leaving a wide open table. My wallet suddenly started feeling a lot lighter:frown:.

Long story short, it ended up being the worst beating of my life and I vowed never to play that stupid game ever again:mad:. Of course, I came back and took a couple more beatings before I finally figured things out. And I still lost. Since then, things have gotten better. I now play 20 cent a point games with the little fish away from the main table:cool:.

Vic.
Click to expand...

I got in a game like this in a room outside of Roppongi back in the 80's. We were only paying on the 5 & 9 and were betting 200 yen per ball, and they kept score for 10 games and then settled up. I made several money balls during the 10 game set and still lost somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 yen for a ten game set. That was 80-90 bucks back then. The exchange rate was around the 120 yen-$1 back then. When I played the money balls would be spotted back up if they were made out of rotation, so it was possible to get paid multiple times in one game.

I wish the ring game rules over here were structered a little like Japanese rules. I loved them. Around here, after a foul, the incoming player has 2 options, take the shot or give it back to the fouling player. Over there, like you mentioned, the incoming player has several options.

1. he can accept the table as is.
2. He can accept the cue ball position and have the object ball spotted either on the foot spot or the "center" spot between the side pockets
3. He can accept the object ball position and take ball in hand behind the line.
4. If both balls are behind the line after a foul, He can do any of the above with the exception that if he takes ball in hand, the object ball must come out of the kitchen and go to the spot of his choosing.
5. On a scratch, The cue ball is behind the line and the incoming player may accept the object ball as is or have it spotted on one of the 2 spots. If the object ball is in the kitchen, it must be spotted.
6. To slow down the multiple break and runs, I've seen it played where you must stop the cueball in the kitchen after you make the last 9-ball. You must then break from where the cue ball stopped. If you fail to get the cueball into the kitchen after making the 9, You lose the break and the next player gets to break with ball in hand in the kitchen.

I was there over twenty years ago, but these are the rules that we played with as I remember them. They might have been adjusted some over the years. Great Game..:)
 
Didn't see this thread till now...

I am in Tokyo area. If you get the chance to come up here lets go shoot some pool!~

Chi Wai
 
Welcome aboard Vic.
They lock this place up at nine o'clock so it's kind of hard to go anywhere.
Say, is there a place over there where they make pool cues? I'd like to know because on the bottom of my cue it says: Made by J. A. Pan & Co. :wink:
 
swrooster said:
I have some new friends from Japan, they love pool also. They are like kids in a candy store buying cues to send back home. Evidently cues are 4-7 times more expensive there. One player they all fear?...GODZILLA
Click to expand...

Ok I'll bite. Who is GODZILLA?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top