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