DaiOni

at junior high I think they do

I'd be asking ford that question if I were you

that's right, the other thing you'll find in NZ, as graeme mentions, is a host of very boring japanese cars that people (usually) don't bother to import to australia - sunnys, bottom-spec skylines, currens, cavaliers, laurels, carinas etc etc etc. A lot of these cars, versions mostly from the 80s and early 90s, are becoming very uncommon in japan - because most have already been 'cubed' or dumped on other countries.

Certainly is good weather for thirsty turbos We had a big dump of snow here the other day - didn't last long, but I was talking to some elderly japanese gentlemen (70s and 80s) in my eikaiwa class and they both said it was the only time they had ever seen heavy snow in march. Roll on humid weather I say! still got the frickin' rainy season to go though...

"nah its not the same book... " - ahh, right - now the attached image is coming up for me (it didn't yesterday!) "the "new, streamlined and minty fresh" Japan of the 21st century." LOL, well that's one definition

"Does a TAFE cert. count" - no.

yeah, those figures sound about right. Having a (japanese) wife in japan is a big difference - IMO, that's what keeps a lot of the 'lifers' here (of course, the 'players' stay for another reason...). What I meant was - for the average person who comes to japan, long-term residency is not necessarily a realistic/good idea. If you have a partner (and married), then obviously things change (so does your resident status!). An important thing for potential job-seekers to keep in mind is "what will I do when I'm finished?" (it's always in the back of my mind - rapidly followed by "what happened to that damn exchange rate!?"). Coming back to 'reality' with 5-10years of 'english teaching' on your resume isn't particularly valuable to a prospective employer. In other words - you have to be careful, as more than one year away makes 'life in japan' quite a diversion from any given career path. I chucked mine in anyway, knowing that I'd have to start again when I got back (not something I'm looking forward to). I will say this: If I was a single man now, I would probably never leave japan - I'm quite certain of that. At this stage, I will likely seek an extra year or two of work (if we can both find some) here once my contract is up. It's kind of sad, but my prime motivation is finishing my car! So many mods, so few paychecks... I'd love to be on the mainland and within convenient distance to a rotary workshop with a dyno!

I kind of agree (I definitely agree in principle with the point gekisouzoku was trying to make with the example). It's just like anywhere in the world - some students are studious, others prefer to do their own thing. And, as Rezz states, it's the parents who are most often the determining factor. The more rural you go or the more 'white trash' (yellow trash?) the area, the worse things get - that's a pretty common scenario anywhere. Then we have university students.... terrible! But hey, that's exactly how I remember university to be in australia. I've read a few books where gaijin uni lecturers detail the habits of japanese students ('legless in ginza' (IIRC), by an australian author, is a good example). Must say though - I really don't think that we were any different. The usual synopsis is: japanese students are driven so hard through their primary and secondary schooling = uni is a brief explosion of freedom before the mindless conformity/reality of white collar japanese working conditions needs to be faced. ---------- Demon Dave's description of business creation/self-employment is, unsurprisingly, accurate (I think the income required is actually less than 250,000/month - but you'd know better than me). I know of a few people who have chosen to do this. I'd guess, though - it's far easier to do this at the end of an existing visa (ie: progressing from employment in japan), rather than arriving in country and trying to set up shop. To digress a little, I know an engineer (who drives a rather lovely blue evo 7) who has recently finished his work here and says he is about to go on the dole (in japan) for a while! I was quite surprised at the payment amounts he quoted, but the exact figures escape me now.

nah, I don't have any problems with ore - indeed, I hear it most from 16yo's anyway, but if we are going to do his homework, let's not potentially lose him any marks! jikoshoukai + ore = bizarre, IMO, at least in a school speech

Honda's have got a pretty good image here, for several reasons. One of them is that the founder of honda, Soichiro Honda, has devout 'legend' status in japan (however, his son, head of mugen, horotoshi, had a very public fall from grace last year). While they don't do forced induction, they do make some serious rwd vehicles - many often forget about the NSX and S2000 - both of which, whether you like them or not, are 100% top shelf cars. The NSX is, arguably, the best mainstream sports vehicle to have ever been made in japan (yes, the GTR is great - but the componentry and performance of the top spec NSX is sublime. Big price tag to match it, too) One of my impressions of the japanese car scene is that FF isn't neccesarily degraded like it is in most western countires. Also, circuit racing is seen by many as the pinnacle of tuning - as opposed to sheer straight line speed. This falls to the favor of the FF hondas - which can hold their own far better in this field. I've seen FF spoon civics demolish some very respectable 4wd cars around a circuit. A couple of other short points: 1. Just like everywhere in the world, it seems, if you see a 'rice-d' vehicle (horrible exhaust, decals, bad bodykit, huge innapropriate wing) - chances are, it's a honda. Why is this so? 2. Hondas hold their price very well in the voracious japanese 2nd hand market. This came as a big surprise to me - someone who could never choose a small capacity NA FF car over a similarily priced and aged turbo car 3. 'honda people' are great, too! I actually worked part-time at a honda primo dealership in japan for some time (long story...) - and they are the best people I've met in japan. Irrelevant to this thread but just another observation!

well, guys, would have been nice to challenge the young man, rather than do his homework for him! afaik, 'stepfather' isn't common usage in japan (stepmother is- mamahaha), but you can use: mamachichi gekisouzoku's spot on - but in this context I definitely wouldn't use 'ore' - stick with watashi

"They don't really have many gaijin doing anything but teach english" - From your post, I'm pretty sure you are aware of this, but for clarification to others: this is actually untrue, but what you come into contact with really depends on location and who you fraternize with. There is quite a large business population here, and, as you mentioned, IT specialists, also - many (many!) engineers, exchange students... If you want to teach other subjects - you can become a SEA (which is a section of the JET program) - but it requires that you are a specialist in a sporting field (ie: a rep soccer player, etc), or you can teach at an international school - teaching gaijin children in english (the usual types of subjects). Both of these avenues are very hard to pursue. I'd agree that people of european origin (broadly speaking, that also includes australians, americans, canadians etc - ie: white english speakers) teaching english are the most common caucasian gaijin in japan. 'Gaijin' of course, refers to "foreign people", not just people from western english-speaking countries. In my area, the biggest foreign population is a relatively large group of indonesians and brazillians who work in a 'sweat shop' making buttons for mobile phones. There is, as many may know, large populations of brazillians throughout japan, as well as koreans and chinese. And let's not forget the black hip-hop dudes you see on so many street corners in urban japan!! So funny, I'm sure they are hired by hip-hop clothing stores to attract customers or something... I'm not sure if the average japanese teenager realises that these guys are usually from places like central africa - not south central LA! my bottom line: if you come armed with a degree, there are many avenues you can pursue to teach english in japan. Without one, well, you are most likely going home disappointed. At the end of the day - go get an education, you can't teach english in japan all your life (well, you can, but...). [nb: there are also some pretty horrid alternatives if you are a female, but that's not really worth discussion here]

I believe this book is available in english, if it is the book I am thinking about. I often see it in my local kinokuniya bookshop here in japan (in the english section), but it doesn't interest me so much... ...here we go - possibly this book (it's the same topic, anyway): Turnaround : How Carlos Ghosn Rescued Nissan by David Magee there's a pile of editorial reviews on amazon, hopefully this link will work: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai...=glance&s=books

key advice #1: get a uni degree first

well, come on chris, show us what you got!

exactly, that's slim pickings from a huge market. I hope your man in japan has a good eye and knows where to look.

"like the good old big blocks right!!" umm... etc "I never realised how lucky we are in australia untill i saw (threw internet of course) all the rice in america, im hoping it never gest that bad here though" no, it's too late. per capita, australia has just as much

oh U12! I didn't read that bit (I was thinking of the next shape). I regularly see one of those in my area - seems to be quite modified too. Not real pretty, but probably very good bang for buck. I just had a quick look on car sensor, goo and carciao - and, well... good luck finding one! Some great prices on the later cars though - pity they aren't eligble for 15yr importing

I've honestly never ever seen one on the roads or for sale. That's just my experience.

just to digress once more (though a separate thread is a good idea) - in response to this comment: "all the domestic crap and hondas will get owned so badly." - there are some seriously fast vehicles (domestic crap) in the north american market - things that make our top HSVs look like puppies

"I have a few questions, Im 18 almost 19 whats the legal age for most things there?" 20. But my 19 year-old brother-in-law never got asked for ID at the million bars we went to. I'd think, being gaijin, you would be very unlucky to get asked. "I plan on taking 5k for the trip expenses for about 2 weeks?" That's do-able, especially given the current exchange rate "Is 2 weeks long enough?" sure. "How long does it take to learn Japanese?" properly? a long time. Basic 'survival' japanese - not too long, but don't expect great conversation "How do, did people who live in Japan get a job? Wwas it easy to get a job and 'live' in Japan?" Answer to your second question is no (if you want a good one). Pre-requisite is a university degree. Without one, it becomes exponentially harder.

if there is a car that really notices this sort of mod it's the FD rx7 (which loves! exhaust mods) -rmagic in japan dyno tested straight pipe vs high flow cat and found a 10ps advantage to the pipe. End resuly = on a skyline: don't bother, it's not worth the potential fine

No statistics, but I'm an ex-pat kiwi (ex-nz, now ex-nz ex-oz - it's getting confusing!), and have family in nz. As such, I've travelled back and forth from oz to nz (and now japan to nz/oz) over the years, that I've been able to watch the import market expand there. Personal observations: * there are more skylines in australia * there are more skylines per capita in NZ I have very fond memories of being in NZ in the early 90s and seeing my first GTiRs, GTRs, etc - it had a great affect on a teenage mind.

what's experience? you've got to start somewhere mind you, I have heard some linguistic theory that says the human ability to (relatively) easily master a second language peaks when we are young, shudders to a halt at about 21-23, then it's all down hill from there... motivation is the key - if you can keep yourself genuinely interested then the process of learning is no pronlem (ability is something else all together)

direct from apex: power FC: 98,000yen controller: 35,000yen and, if you like, boost controller add-on: 38,000 Given the current exchange rate (and throw in japanese sales tax): power FC: $1247 + controller: $1693 + controller + boost control: $2176