Amayama

Well I thought some very Japanese style refreshments might go down well with the atmoshpere of Arashiyama... but yes by all means avoid that tea shop if you don't like maccha.

If you're in Kyoto don't forget Arashiyama and the Sagano bamboo forest if you've had enough temples for the day. http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?hl=ja&q=...00c011e9d769d,0 Take a taxi to the top of the forest and walk down through it. The temperature should drop noticably when you enter and by the time you get to the end you should be ready for some green tea and maccha ice cream... this place is good: http://maps.google.co.jp/maps?hl=ja&q=...2,46.2,,0,-7.88

I don't have time to answer all your questions but it seems Nagoya is the place to stay if you're seeing the Suzuka F1 race, it's about an hour or so by express train AFAIK, Osaka is another 30mins longer (or thereabouts). Much of a muchness in real terms. So that being said, can you not land in Nagoya? You mentioned Toyko or Osaka... if it's only those two then yes, land in Osaka (Kansai Airport) and take a train to JR Shin-Osaka station (not JR Osaka) and there you can board the Bullet train to Nagoya. I've only satyed once in Nagoya at a Japanese style Ryokan in the city center, was a great place, very cheap and the staff were excellent. You may want to stay closer to the circuit though for the GP... which I can't make any recommendations sorry. You could hire a car to go to the circuit but it may be a bit daunting if it's your first time driving in the Japanese country side... I'd want to be pretty handy with the car's navi system in that case. Anyway Suzuka city isn't a big place and getting to the circuit is easy by train from Nagoya station to Shirako Station, then to the circuit by taxi (takes about 15mins), all up assuming you have no problems it'll take about an hour, according to the circuit access guide on the Suzuka Circuit website.

I know these guys personally : http://www.global-auto.ne.jp Talk to Tsukasa Matsumoto, he speaks good English and will get anything you want, and give you all the advice you need about local Japanese GT-Rs. Seriously give them a look before anyone else, they're very well known in Kansai and I've seen/driven a number of their cars (not only GT-Rs).

He's in Brisbane. Don't they have a Kinokuniya bookstore in the GC or Sydney? They could get the DVDs in if they don't have them on the shelf (which is unlikely).

I can help out. I'll PM you with further info.

Don't know about 2011 yet but Osaka Auto Messe is traditionally on in mid-February.

Yes I've had that too, company wouldn't pay into a JP account so had to take out an account with the same bank as they were using... ended up only being there for 6 months! I can't think of any other probs with a JP account. I've had one since forever as a "savings account" and is good because I forget about it for months and never withdraw from it.

I wasn't implying it was the norm at all. Just that there are schools out there that have students who require you to be a serious lecturer rather than a clown reciting fixed lesson plans. I didn't mention their levels as it wasn't much different from what was mentioned earlier (early high school) but it's the "type" of student attracted to the schools I worked in. If you look at the quote I replied to in my comment I was pertaining to that only, not the "overall experience of teaching English in Japan" which I agree with, you will be required more often than not, to be a monkey trying to entertain people... but that's not the whole picture, which was my point.

Japanese Nissan owners didn't like the V35 either... stating the obvious really when it's quite difficult to find more than a handful of 350GT with manual trans at any given time. Aftermarket support was mentioned too which is virtually non-existent even after many years since its debut. And someone mentioned the S14 wasn't so popular... in comparison the the R33 these days I think it is, well popular enough to still see them getting around at auction and on the streets and circuits. R33 (non-GT-R) is the opposite.

... or you could go for a job at a foreign company in Japan like P&G, Nestle etc and speak no Japanese (have a JP assistant) and enjoy working in comparison to any Japanese company position. That's just me though... some diehard Japanophiles like the torture from a Japanese bucho.

Like Adam said local banks aren't any cheaper than the post office so might as well continue using JP, although banks are faster by a least a few days IIRC.

As an additional reason why the R33 isn't favoured in Japan is because it doesn't follow the typical Skyline shape that goes right back to the C210. It's that "sleakish, angular" look (lol might have to use your imagination with that) was present even on the R32 and R34, but in comparison the R33 was the odd one out. Example: R30, R31, R32 - evolutionary design, less angular with the R32. R33 - round 90s jelly look. R34 - Back to the angular look but updated for the 2000s. Those descriptions are pretty lame I know but that's the essence of the styling in the Japanese context so I've been told by some Skyline owners. The R33 is the odd one out and reflected that in the huge amounts that were exported to the point that you're more likely to see an R32 than an R33 getting around. Also too at the time I think Toyota gave some stiff opposition to the R33 sedan with the JZX90 sedans of that era which are still fairly easy to come by in comparison, mainly due to the local Japanese still wanting them! I like the R33 by the way, I had a GTS coupe (yes NA 2.5L boo) but it was a good decent daily and it did skids.

I thought I was looking at a car built by Garage Defend for a moment there! Car looks fantastic

Fantastic pics! You really captured the feeling of driving long distance in the first batch of shots. Actually it gave me an uneasy feeling knowing how it can lighten your wallet! Good Salon pics too. Lats time I went was 2004

They think R33s are "whales" not unlike Aussies do. For drift you only occasionally see them being used, the last guy I met at Meihan Sports Land said it was more a case of being different than anything else. Having said that he also ran triple side pipes angled up behind the front doors... At any rate the sheer number of these that have been exported over the years means you hardly ever see them anyway, in RB20E doily seat cover form or otherwise. Actually the most common would be the BCNR33 GT-R if you regularly go to the circuit.

I will more than likely (99%) be there with some friends to meet Nick (Blitz) and crew

Well there are quite a few serious Eikaiwas and language schools out there that require a lot more from their teachers. In my time in Japan (8+ years) I've worked at at least 3 or 4 schools where adult students demanded so much from their teachers it was almost a full time job supplying the other part time (less experienced) teachers with suitable materials and training. These are students who aren't content to open up any old textbook and start listening and repeating. They're also ones that don't bat an eyelid paying 20,000 yen entry fee and the same amount each month for intensive private classes. It's not all "hey I'm a clown" type entertainment posing as education.

Thanks People can also take special (limited to 20km/h or so) kids two-seater go karts around the short track for one lap, it was pretty fun dicing with the other guys at walking pace while trying to keep the best racing line

Try again... Hi, I'm from Amayama Trading in Osaka and do part-time photojournalist work for a UK publication and a couple of Russian websites. On this occasion I was asked to do an article on a "Beginner Soukoukai" or beginner's track meeting featuring a current Toyota Mark X. It was pretty simple, hire a GRX133 Mark X and go driving! Well that wasn't to be when we found out no 3.5L Mark Xs (the current model) were available. The Mark X was supposed to be the feature car. Anyway, what other cars were available? Only a Nissan X-Trail! Apparently it was a busy time for every single rent-a-car place in Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe so we had to settle. An X-Trail... on Suzuka Circuit... yep But can you take 4WD SUVs on a race track? Officially, no. When we made the booking we asked if a X-Trail was OK and the polite young lady on the phone said yes, which was wrong, she thought we meant NS"X"! Go figure! So they kept their word when we arrived and they saw the big hulking X-Trail waiting to unleash its kilowatts through the mighty CVT. I don't think it'll ever happen again so I don't recommend anyone try to take a SUV or non-performance car there. Anyway after a short meeting with the chief safety official (we were late for the drivers lecture) and instructions on track etiquette and a clear warning that Porsche 911s and GT-Rs would be on track going a lot faster than us, we were let out on the circuit... for 2 laps! The car we unfortunately had to drive. I asked the Editor if we could pass this time and organise it for another day but he said "no, it'll be interesting to see how it handles" hahaha... yeah ok. In the pit lane ready to go out, with much faster and drool worthy machinery behind us. We had to wait for them all to go first before we could go out. Just as well because they were at half track by the time we got to the first corner! Esprit was there doing some testing and tuning of their R35 GT-R and NSX race car. The NSX went out alone during another time slot for GT cars. Porsches, Skyline GT-Rs... I sure felt like a moron in the X-Trail! ..and off we go. The first thing I felt was the sheer history of Suzuka Circuit and being on the very same tarmac where Senna, Prost, Mansell and other childhood F1 heroes battled each other. Nevermind about the heavy, ungainly wagon doing it's best to make this as painful as possible. Through the S Curve Under the bridge... it kind of felt smaller than what it seems on Gran Turismo, and the changes in elevation seem more noticable. The famous hairpin. The elevation here too felt more severe than depicted on any game. Down the back straight. The X-Trail was hopeless, it was a 2.0L MR20DE and CVT and was wailing trying to get up to speed... I think we hit 140km/h or so. After going through the Casino Triangle we get on the main straight and it's foot to the floor almost stretching the accel cable trying to get every last ounce of power. On the bright side at least we got to see more of the scenery around the track. Yep, even the Navi agrees we are finally on Suzuka Circuit... "In 300m turn right"... is there any other way? I thought it was nice that the Suzuka Circuit staff apologised to us about the mixup. They actually offered us a ride in the Honda Legend Safety Car instead of going through the ordeal with the X-Trail but we came here to drive so that's what we did. It's a real ultra-professional (of course) track meeting and well worth it if you want to drive at speed on one of the worlds top racing circuits.

I'm not sure how cheap they are compared to Tire Rack but try Fuji Corporation, one of the bigger wheel and tyre places: http://www.fujicorporation.com