This “guest blog” entry is by Baron VC, technology blogger and influential digger. His blog is at baron.vc.

If you’re a geek you’re probably longing for some kind of geek paradise where you can feel at home and not feel like an outcast. Some call it Silicon Valley but if it’s general weirdness you’re after – and a break from those uber smart dudes who breathe code out of their nostrils – you’re going to love Japan. Really.

Japan is home to the world’s weirdest stuff, great transportation, wonderful job opportunities for English speakers, and much more. Oh and did I mention Akihabara?

Akihabara

Geek mecca. Enough said. Might not make you automatically sexy but you could likely end up becoming the closest approximation of Brad Pitt in the right atmosphere.

Home of the World’s Weirdest Stuff

Japan is no longer famous for its technology. With the Internet we now know that Japan is the home of the world’s weirdest stuff. So much that bloggers have an endless supply of material to write whether it’s maid cafes or wacky health devices. Not only is some of the stuff from Japan weird but it’s weird in a way that gives geeks that tingly feeling.

Great Gadgets

photo from tamouse via flickr

Despite the waning of Japan’s fortunes in the technology sector and the woes of flagship manufacturers like Sony, Japan still has sexy phones and weird gadgets in general. You’ll find lots of weird and wacky stuff in abundance in Akihabara to the point where your brain goes numb and you stop noticing what’s weird and normal.

It’s Safe

NRA be damned, the fact that Japan outlaws gun possession makes things at least 70% safer. Sure, there is crime and Tokyo has no shortage of seedy parts but you don’t have to maintain the same level of alert that you would walking down a crowded street in New York.

Also, no offense to the Japanese but people are skinnier and less built than American counterparts making it much harder to feel physically intimidated. People also tend to avoid eye contact or generally ignore you whether you’re Japanese or not.

As a geek, that means you can walk around with your latest gear whether it’s your new digital camera or Nintendo DS Lite dressed in a Dragon Ball costume and not worry too much about getting mugged.

Clean, Safe, Efficient Public Transportation (in the cities)

photo by photocapy via flickr

Public transportation in Japan is clean. No gum stuck to the back of that pole you just grabbed or grimy stains from heaven knows what. Japanese public transport is not the ghetto fare you’d expect from any other industrialized country. It’s efficient too. This might not seem like much but for someone coming to Japan this means you don’t have to invest in buying a costly car that drains your wallet with insurance and gasoline bills.

You Can Always Teach English

When you’ve exhausted all your options trying to find a tech job and get down on your luck you can always teach English for a decent living. Never mind that you have a thick Brooklyn accent and ignore the fact that you never got higher than a B+ in English (and that was in the 6th grade), you can teach English in Japan!

This is all thanks to the fact that Japan invests billions of dollars to teach young Japanese worthless, antiquated textbook English and force them to memorize vocabulary terms and mimic the thick Japanese accent of the middle-aged English teacher who’s never travelled outside his home prefecture.

Some great blogs to give you a taste:

• Danny Choo : Anime, Figures, Idols, Gundam, Otaku, Events, one Stormtrooper and Photography from Japan
• the odk – o c t o p u s d r o p k i c k !
• PingMag – The Tokyo-based magazine about ”Design and Making Things”

Thanks Baron VC! Check the his awesome blog at baron.vc!

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