f*kushima, Shizuoka Or Gunma Prefecture... Which To Choose?!?

[13Beast]

Hi there,

I am currently living in Shikoku, but it being in the middle of nowhere with very few decent circuits nor driving roads nearby, I think its time for a move onto Honshu.

I'm thinking f*kushima prefecture, or Gunma or Shizuoka. Namely Shizuoka city, Hamamatsu city, f*kushima City or possibly even Maebashi.

I was thinking Tochigi as well, but have heard that it is a hole and a very boring place to live.

Does anyone have any experience of living or even visiting any of those prefectures?

Somewhere very liveable, with a quality circuit not too far away (allowing amateur hacks like me to thrash their car around on cheap weekend time trial days etc), Tokyo within 2-3 hours, and plenty of road trip opportunities (and some nice driving & cycling roads around) would make me a very happy camper.

Thanks

[MRSAMO]

Gunma isn't too far from Tokyo, lots of mountain climb, nice clean town and plenty of natural onsens.

[13Beast]

And its the spiritual home of Initial D! Do you know where the nearest race circuit is to Gunma?

[stylz7]

Gunma is great place, as been said nice hill runs nearby, have seen a few of the road up / near there, i believe there is a track about 25km away cant remember the name sorry .

[BigWillieStyles]

Your not that far from me in Okayama. Shikoku is got to be one of my favourite places in Japan.

Personally, I dont think you will ever find the perfect place for what you want as all tracks are located quite some time from cities.

Another option could be Kobe as there are a few tracks within a couple of hours drive such as central and Okayama.

Edited February 18, 2010 by BigWillieStyles

[13Beast]

Bit of an update:

I work with AEON, and inquired as to the chances of me moving to East Japan. AEON, whilst appearing to be all one company, is segregated internally into Aeon West Japan, Aeon East Japan and Aeon Central Japan.

Basically, if I wanted to move to Honshu, I would have to interview in Tokyo (with recruiters from Aeon East), hope I get the job, and then if I did, I would have to do 2 weeks of training again (effectively starting at square 1 again with AEJ) - which would mean back down to the starting salary, which would mean 20,000 less yen a month. And I would have to shoulder the costs of moving (at my own expense) up to the new school.

Seems like a big jump considering how much wages I will be losing, and a big gamble on going to a new branch, which could completely suck.

The other option is to change companies, so I had a squiz at some other jobs available in Japan for teachers, and they absolutely suck. Ailta is probably the highest paying that I saw, and they are offering 240-260k a month but stinging 80,000 for rent! Even in a tiny town like Maebashi!

With Aeon right now, I am on 290,000, and have pension plan etc, so the perks are good, even if I am getting very bored with the town I am living in.

BigWillieStyles - where abouts in Okayama are you? What car do you drive? I have an SW20 MR2. Do you get out to the tracks much, or go for cruises?