Rezz

Yep. I`ll be at the TAS on the 10th with a whole bunch of other guys (foreigners). I probably won`t be going back to Australia for quite some time.... not for at least another 5 years. Whats your clostest Drift Track? Aaaah Tsukuba? Sorry man, I`m in Kobe, and I`ve never been to Gunma. In fact I`d just look on the Internet to find the clostest track... probably what you`ve already done?

Alright! Sounds like we`ve got a contingent going... Franks: You say you`ve got 6 guys coming? Blitz: PM sent mate, sorry. You`ve got 6 coming too. Plus Funkymonkey with the "J-Spec" guys... (how many Funkymonkey?) ...and of course me and Demon Dave and our wives... Thats about 20 people? Two groups of 10? I have a feeling the J-Sec guys won`t want to join our group though?

I`m pretty sure the Skyline will continue on through V36, 37 ,38... but whether it`s ever going to emulate the R31 - 34 series again I don`t know. I hope so, because at the Nismo Festival, the R32s and 34s ruled, there was hardly any kind of enthusiasm for the V35! I like your second question... I agree. There MIGHT NOT be another GT-R for the forseeable future. Carlos Ghosn has pretty much put it on the backburner, and when Car Company CEOs do that, we all know that most of the time it doesn`t go any further. Remember the Nissan Mid-4? Hang on to your R32 -34 GT-Rs!!!

After what Redback suggested about seperate threads for the "Photo Diary" and and "Comments", I thought it might be a good idea... So this thread is solely dedicated to ANYTHING even remotely connected with Japan, or it`s car industry or scene. Fire away with the questions, and if Dave and DaiOni can help out with their expertise in this area, that`d be great. Cheers, /Rezz ...oh, PranK? Could we sticky this one too?

Hi Steve, Did you see me and my wife walking around at the Nismo Festival? Did you meet up with Nick Jenkins from "Croydon Wholesalers" (NZ)? Or did you run into a guy called Rod Wilson and his coworker Nick (maybe!) from Sydney? Sorry for all the questions, I just thought that I had met all the foreigners that were there... but I didn`t meet you!

Nissan Wheel Matching List... I just posted this yesterday Ash... you must have missed it!

Prank, just an extention of what we were talking about the other day, it seems that nobody (regular members) can see the entry fields in the "Avatar" section of the control panel in order to change their cusom avatar. You sent me a screenshot of what it "should" look like, but I`ve had it confirmed by another member that they don`t see all the options in the "Avatar" sectiomn either. Has this feature been disabled for all regular members? p.s. The new look forums are soooooooo easy to use, when I was putting the "Photo Diary" thread together, it was so quick and easy! Cheers!!

Nissan Wheel Matching List... Check it out, theres all the standard wheel sizes, offsets, PCDs and widths. Also, possible inch-up wheel diameters and widths for those who want to upgrade. Sorry, the car names are in Katakana, but you guys should know how Skyline and Silvia etc look in Japanese script, right? /Rezz

Aaah! Another person who can`t alter their Avatar! I was talking to Christian about this, and apparently he can see all the "Avatar customizing" sections in the "Avatar" part of the Control Panel... but now I`m thinking nobody can see it except for him... because I can`t see (or should I say - the customizing avatar entry fields don`t appear) anything in my "Avatar" section, except for a "Do not use avatar" button.

No, but most of the game has English captions and things anyway. The only place where you might get stuck is the "Save Game" and "Delete" features. If you`ve played the Gran Turismo series from the beginning, you shouldn`t have any trouble navigating GT4... I can help you out if you have trouble!

That is just lovely mate, it looks really good. Don`t go putting chrome wheels on it now, will ya?

Aaah Mist, how are ya mate. GT4 Prologue is kinda like GT3: 2001 Tokyo (is it called "GT3 Concept" in Oz?), so it`s kinda like a half-game, the full GT4 version is coming out later on in `04.

Alright lads, who`s going??? I wanna sort this out so it`s done right... 1) Assign a rally point outside JR Kaihin-Makuhari Station. 2) Have a plan of attack so that (if need be) we can get through all the important stands and displays on the Saturday. 3) Assign group leaders (with phones) who can contact each other if we get split up - if theres enough people going that is... 4) Get lagered... 5) Have a "most candid Campaign girl photo" competition... with prizes 6) Go up Tokyo Tower and on the Sunday for those that will stay overnight. Anybody up for a little Auto Salon action? I know you are Dave!!!

To dAVE and Cereal: Guys, bite the bullet. We could go on for days outlining what we did and how we did it... but trust me, your case will be different. The main reason is because we`re (Demon Dave, DaiOni and me) are talking about experiences from years ago. Just come over on a working holiday visa, University degree or not, with $5,000 - 7,000 handy, and see how it pans out. One thing (the only thing!!!) I`ll guarantee is that your life will be changed...

Sure is...

Ok, anyone who can play Japanese games on their PS2 and wants GT4 Prologue delivered to them in December, please leave expressions of interest here. A *tentative* price of 3,750 yen (A$48) I`m quoting to your doorstep. **Note: Depending on availability, I might not be able to ship these right away. Remember, Japanese people love GT4 too, so you might have to be a little patient. To keep this post on topic for General Automotive Discussion, I actually saw GT4 today at the Nismo Festival at Ti Circuit. It`s bloody awesome, it`s like a tweaked, ultra-realistic version of GT3... if you can imagine that! The sound too, is much improved, they`ve really worked on the engine sounds, and the reflections of light off the cars HAVE to be seen live on a monitor to be appreciated. I have no idea how they can top this... Whens the Australian release date?

Heh, heh! Nice one. She`s alright though, she`s still got 1.5 hours before she has to rock up to that armed assault call...

Try this... ...from Xanavi...

Woah, they`re some interesting rumours you got there... I`ll try and put some facts down: 1) Crazy Salarymen feeling up girls on the street: Yes, occaisionally, but these guys are pissed drunk after going to the bar after work, and usually the victims are *Japanese* girls. I have heard some Caucasian girls getting felt up (on the train), but that was an exeption... but in a country of 125,000,000 people, the wierdo factor per capita compared to Australia seems to be the same, if not a little more. 2) Panty Vending Machines: Mostly centered around Chiba, near Tokyo. Chiba is famous for it`s Red-light businesses, and the Panty Machines were an extention of that. As far as I know, they don`t exist anymore, although my Japanese mate showed me Panties for sale on a Japanese website once... soiled too But the girls actually *sell* their used undies to shady guys who either keep them, or sell them on. It`s the same with the "unofficial prostitution" offered by many a fit Highschool girl... they need money, so they sell things that rich guys pay good money for. Kashikoi ne? 3) Crazy Game Shows: Aaah, your talking about the famous game shows reminiscent of the "Bubble Economy" era... where people would do almost anything to win stupid amounts of money, or stupid amounts of Gucci or Luis Vuitton goods... well, they`re still around, but just very watered down. Then again, I`ve been here for quite some time, so what seems ordinary to me might be shocking to you. 4) Japanese People Work Very Hard: Most do, but I`ve seen some extremely lazy examples that would give an Aussie Roadworker a run for his money. Again, this is variable, but the point is, Japan has a reputation as a hard working country, whereas Australia has not... don`t know if thats good or bad.

Some schools (like the one I work at now) require a conversational Japanese language skill level. But most smaller schools don`t require it, but it`s better if you do... not to mention your salary will prolly be higher. I think the key to speaking Japanese in the classroom is to: Don`t speak Japanese at all, and if you do need to speak Japanese, make sure you`re able to explain grammar points and nuances in Japanese capably. I get 300,000 yen/month working 9 hours a day, 5.5 days a week. But I`m an Admin Manager too, so I don`t spend ALL that time in the classroom (although I used to).

Yes, Daves experience is quite common really. My friend (who I came to Japan with originally) had the same thing happen, he just answered a whole bunch of ads in the newspaper, and he got lucky and was literally thrown into his first class, with a textbook, and "Ganbatte!" from his boss!!! For me, it was a little different. I had "quite a bit" of spending money, so the pressure was off to find a job (we were on working holiday visas). While my friend had broken the ice and taken his first part-time job, I was holding out for something more permanent (and a higher salary). Eventually I got a 1 year contract to teach out in Iga-Ueno, Mie... right out in the country. The teacher who I was replacing was quite experienced, and he taught me for 2 weeks before I took up the post. The way I saw it, it was better to make a sacrifice and live out in the country away from friends, in order to get my foot in the door in Japan... best thing I ever did really...

www.ksgara...... aaah f*ck it just click my sig...

I`m on it as we speak...

I lost my "Photo Diary" thread...

By all reports (and I talk to *Japanese* Industry guys too you know) the New GT-R was slated for a 8/2005 debut, but since the Tokyo Motor Show, it seems our man Carlos "Mr V8 R35 GT-R" Ghosn thinks it`s going to be 2007. Theres a few things wrong with that. The V35 was released in 2001, and (as far as Ghosn is concerned) the GT-R variant will debut a full 6 years later? What, after the life cycle of the V35 is over? Also, deferring the debut of the GT-R from 2005 to 2007 just so Nissan can "get it right"? Whats there to get right? They made Godzilla damn it! If you read that like I did, it seems like Ghosn is really trying to weigh heavily on the GT-R R+D team to get it how HE envisions it... whether the Japanese like it or not (read: he`s a tool).