DaiOni

? The 'V' sign = the peace symbol. It's been in (over)use in japan for decades. It was universally used (ie: worldwide) in the 60s. Japan just never stopped doing it. I'd say the majority of young japanese think of it as the 'camera gesture' - and its original meaning has gone by the wayside

it's not going to be in english - but if you want to see the kanji (rather than squares and squiggles) - (in IE, at least) - go to the view menu, then encoding, then japanese if you want to convert the page to 'english', this is your best bet - http://www.google.com/language_tools?hl=en probably the best electronic translator is - http://www.excite.co.jp/world/english/ but you'll need to cut and paste blocks of text

this probably expresses the point you are trying to make in a more obvious manner;

ramen is pretty much a tarted-up version of instant noodles.

in the gauge section surprise surprise! ;p

bloody hard to see in that pic. my guess would be 'tomei power'

plenty of cars in my area have slicks or semi-slicks (at least the weekend warriors do), big t-wings and stickers - it doesn't necessarily mean the car has been raced.

my guess about 'steer shift' - is adjustable steering column

absolutely - as I said, the degree is irrelevant

TEFL = Teach(ing) English as a Foreign Language. In the Japanese market, having that, and not a tertiary degree, isn't going to open up your chances significantly (IMO). The majority of jobs require a tertiary degree (from a university) - they're not picky about what type. The bar has been getting lower and lower over the years - especially since certain visa requirements have been cut - which means it is now easier than ever to get a job without a degree. Unfortunately, pay scales have gone the same way. It's almost a sick joke - seeing companies advertising 'MA preferred' and then offering under 200,000 a month for full-time work! I hope there are few people that educated, who are that desperate. However, not having a degree will cut your options drastically. Check some of the major corporations - NOVA, GEOS, AEON - (their websites aren't hard to find), as they might be your best bet. I think someone on here got in because they had done a certain number of years or credit points or something, at uni. Some of the private/smaller operations may also consider you - but going down that avenue also increases your chances of getting screwed over. The corporate teaching world in japan can be a very nasty environment - and as a foreigner, you will be seen by many as a 'disposable' (/replaceable) employee. Think very carefully about your options - as it's not all rainbows and flowers (as some recent threads have highlighted). Also, given the continually sliding japanese yen (vs oz) - your almost certainly better off, economically, to stay where you are.

If you are teaching English, one year abroad is 'life experience', two is stretching it, any more than that and you are kidding yourself. I wish it was the opposite, but you can see, on any of the teacher forums, exactly what the reality is - as so many people have found when they return home. Try to imagine it from an interviewer/potential employer's viewpoint (I've done hiring/firing in the past - and I know what I'd think...). At the very least, you have to be able to tangibly demonstrate why you stayed so long, and how you constructively spent that time. If you're teaching in a corporate situation, then that multiplies your issues somewhat (teaching in the government system is invariably easier to 'sell'). If you have language skills - then you have that as an option (unfortunately, the avenues to pursue that aren't as frequent as they used to be). If you have the ability and capital to start your own business, and exploit your language skills - then there's another avenue. For people who enjoyed teaching (and weren't a teacher to start with), retraining in education is a great option - you have the skills, the learning-curve is therefore easy, it's relatively cheap and definitely one of least time-intensive options (if you already have a degree, a dip ed is only a year-long course, + whatever requirement subjects you need). Other than that, it's back to square one on the career path (not so great if you're not young), pick up a spade, or find some sort of realistic retraining for a new career. As with any job-searching, nepotism is the best thing you can rely on (great if you have it). /2c

rebuild for a modified 13brew is around the 100k km mark. A stock one will exceed that considerably. Modify badly and rebuild time could come around at any time.

...he also inferred that it could be translated as 'pedals', not suspension. However, I've seen enough of these to be fairly certain it's a suspension reference.

I just asked the teacher next to me - and he agreed that it means 'all around' - so I'd assume you could read it as 'changed at all 4 corners'. Also checked the timing belt final kanji - and it means 'timing belt has been changed'

given the rrp of CDs here, even at wholesale, there's going to be sfa profit margin. major waste of time.

There's some really obscure kanji on that sheet - I'd be interested in what a japanese person had to say. There is a reference to aftermarket suspension - but the kanji after is unknown to me - so I can't get an exact context. My rough guess would be 'aftermarket suspension all around' (from what I can gather, the kanji is the same or very similar to kai/mawari kanji). The upper part of the bottom section refers to a t-belt (timing belt, I'd guess!). The first two kanji are basically 'exchange'. The last kanji is a bit hard to read, but my guess is midasu/kou. However, contextually, I have no idea what it means. Obviously, it's either 'timing belt needs to be changed' or 'has been changed'. The next section is about damage. The first circled part is, irrc, 'stone chips'. No idea about the second. The adjacent section is about interior wear and tear - so it's good to have nothing circled there. The next part (below) is also about damage. But it's written in 'auction sheet code' - which I only know bits and pieces of (and these have been, largely, educated guesses). It looks to say, "at the tip of the right 'inner' (guard?) there is an 'A'". And "there is a small 'AU'". Yeah, well... your guess is as good as mine. to fill in some of the gaps left by akeenan; the bit where it says "18 2" is a reference to remaining shaken (registration). The circle below '205' says "jikayou" which means 'personal use' (ie; not a fleet/business car). The smaller kanji to the side of it mean 'car history'. Finally, it's not 'service point' but 'sales point' (FWIW)

read what? the handwriting to the right looks like the name of a dealership "matsu-something prince" would be my guess.

I'm not really sure what you are talking about - can you clarify what you mean by 'japan CDs'???? pretty vague

I'm going to say: no. Utes aren't exactly popular in japan - there isn't much call for them. Tradesmen and farmers seem to either use vans/kei vans or kei trucks. The only 'performance' trucks/utilities I've seen in japan have been american (though there is an hsv dealership in tokyo). The closest thing I can think of, in the nissan range, would be one of the early 90s 'GT wagons' (sr20det)