Demon Dave

Yep, just checked with Rezz - going to be sat 10th Jan.

20 guys in an Estima - should be possible! Rezz, I should be able to go (wife and son also). Just wanna confirm with everyone on the thread - what day will the SAU be invading the TAS??:D Friday is open to the public, but I believe it's from mid afternoon only. Oh, for anyone wanting more info on the event look here

Good idea - split the discussion from the photo diary, kinda helps to keep everything organised. I wouldn't consider myself an expert on Japan, but I've been living here for five years so I know a fair bit, so fire away with questions and I'm sure between myself, Rezz, DaiOni, Sentric Dancer and the other Japan residents we can answer it... Unfortunately I've also never been to Gunma, so I don't know the specific location of any drift tracks. I will say that there are lots and lots of small "local" circuits (varying in size/quality) dotted around the country. Some might advertise in local car mags, or even have a homepage, but many won't. The best way to discover where they are is through word of mouth. I have a small circuit about 8KM from my house, hidden away in the mountains, the only reason I knew it was there was because a friend recommended I check it out. It's small (but getting better), the facilities aren't up to much either, but there's regular meets and it's cheap to join and race...

From the angle not sure it's an East Bear kit - looks very similar though. Have a look at the East Bear site for more info... Dave

I was told this by a Japanese friend of mine - he was planning to do a similar mod to his (then) GTT. He told me that to do the conversion seemlessly you'd need the front fenders from a GTR also. But he was talking about doing a full conversion - rear fenders and all. Having said that, a lot of other people (yourselves included ) have said that the front fenders aren't necessary. That's probably the case since it's even possible to fit a GTR front bumer onto a Primera without using GTR fenders...have a look at Skymera

no blue tag (VIN plate) is highly suspicious... Without going out to my car and checking, that blue tag has the chassis number, engine code, paint codes, transmission codes etc...

The front fenders are necessary to ensure the bumper lines up properly. It can be done without changing to GTR fenders (so I've been told) but it doesn't look as "good". There is at least one company making wide arch kits for the GTT (rear arches only) but I don't have a link to their website (don't even know if they have one). IMHO, a GTT is a damned good car and does not need to masquerade as GTR...

Well put Rezz. Everyones experience is different. Best advice, come over here and experience it for yourself!!!!

Re: Salary. AFAIK, it used to be the case that in order to qualify for a working visa your employer had to guarantee you (on paper at least) a min of 250,000 yen a month. Whether this is still true or not I don't know. I would say that of the many English teachers I know of, most are earning 250,000 yen a month or more - a lot depends on how much you're prepared to work and how many extra classes you're prepared to take on...

Good one. That's Fire Department = 1 Drunk a$$hole on the road = 0

DaiOni I know the feeling mate! I live way out of town in and amoungst all the old farmhouses where 99% of my neighbours are over 60 years old! And old neighbourhood with old traditions, one of which is to casually strole into your genkan at 6am! I remember the first time it happened, I was casually walking across the hallway heading to bathroom and glanced to the right to see this eldery woman stood there with a handfull on Daichon in her hand! Scared the crap outa me! Other pains are being expected to do community cleaning - which isn't that bad, but why they have to schedule it at 6AM on a sunday morning I'll never know!

sounds like I'm living in the wrong prefecture!!! Having said that, Yamanashi being a rural area has plenty of mountain roads that are popular with drifters...

Now that's funny!

Sentric Dancer, Feel free to go ahead and tell you're perspective on life in Japan. While most people are probably considering coming to Japan and working as a teacher, it's just as viable to come here as a student...

Just to add to what the others have said: Being able to speak Japanese is not a prerequisite to teaching English in Japan. It certainly helps, and may even get you a better salary, but don't worry if you're Japanese isn't very good. I knew nothing when I came here, and five years later I'm doing better but I still have all the fluency of a rock... Although some schools require some Japanese ability, my experience is that just about all school encourage you NOT to speak any during the class - indeed I currently work at a Kindergarten in the mornings teaching 3 year olds English and I (plus my assistant who is Japanese) are not permitted to use any Japanese during class time!

Yeah, best advice is to get to work cleaning it off ASAP. The longer it's left there the harder it is going to be to remove...

It's all case by case. Some of the bigger schools have mini training courses or something similar. Most however don't. In my case I was interviewed by the school on Friday. They knew I had no prior experience (hell, I hadn't got a clue what I was doing), but nevertheless I started work the following Monday and was literally thrown into my first class (a group of 4 year olds!). No training. No advice from the Japanese staff. Nothing. Fortunately some of the other foreign teachers were able to give me a few ideas, but at the time most of them (like me) had only just started themselves. I guess it just comes down to getting on with it, doing the best you can. I have no doubts that I was a totally crap teacher the first few months I was here (though non of my students said so). You just get better with experience. To be honest, I don't think training or any kind of teaching experience is necessary - it would help, and it would sure make the move into Japan a little less stressful, but you shouldn't be put off teaching just because you've got no prior experience. By way of an example, the school I originally work at had 10 foreigner teachers. Out of them, only 1 had any prior experience before getting the job...

I have to agree with what Akeenan said - there are so many more opportunities to get a job once you're in Japan. My case is proabably a good example: I applied to Nova back in the UK, but failed to get a place due to the demand. I was told it is next to near impossible to get a job in Japan while living abroad, and in many ways this is true. If you're prepared to take a risk, then I recommend coming to Japan on a vacation and start looking for work soon after you arrive. Being available for interviews is a big bonus, and in the newspapers (eg. Japan Times) you'll find tons of wanted ads, especially around Feb/March time - towards the end of the school year here. I was amazed at how many jobs there were, so it didn't take me long (a day in fact) to set up several interviews. I was lucky - by a lucky coincidence my first vacation to Japan was at the end of March, at a time when many schools were desperate to fill last minute teaching posts. Despite having a small suitcase with a weeks supply of clothes (and that's about all!), no experience, no preparation and no idea of what I was getting myself into I managed to secure a good job and the rest, as they say is history!

I've also deleted my posts from the Photo Diary thread (sorry Rezz for the hijack there! ) Regarding general info on the web, I've heard that Dave's ESL Cafe is a good place to start (and no that Dave isn't me! ) Dave

Sorry The photo was taken from gtr.co.uk, it's a piss take - supposed to be Reliant Robin (3 wheeled car) but I thought it gave a pretty good idea of what an convertible skyline would look like...

here's an idea of what an R34 convertible would look like...very nice!

Very nice wheels I'd be reluctant to take 'em off and replace with originals. It might be worth trying putting the rears (with 275's ) up front and testing to see whether you're gonna have problems with it catching the fenders. If not, then you know you can go out, get another set of 275's and run that size at all four corners... Very nice car BTW!

There are many good kits for the R33. It would be a waste of time (IMHO) to kit an R33 out to try and look like an R34...might as well sell the R33 and get an R34 proper! Here are couple of the better known kits for the R33, however there are many many more... Veilside NISMO IMPUL TopSecret East Bear AeroMaster

If you're talking about Apexi manuals for Apexi products (in general) then the best place to start is here

Not sure, I've heard of people running tyres that wide on a R34, not sure about an R33. You might have to have the guards rolled and making sure the wheels are the right offsets is going to be essential. 275's...seriously wide-ass tyres!