Random Japan

[95 Z/28 LT1]

I moved to Japan in January and will use this thread to share photos of things I see and do. Feel free to ask questions.


I will start with a few photos of some stuff I have seen recently on a few business trips here just prior to our move.

This will be mostly car related photos for a while but I'll post more photos of the cultural stuff as time goes on.




Nissan R'nessa GT Turbo. Guy from work's daily driver. He also has a red '80s Z car with a single turbo.

Lots of stuff like this in Japan

World's longest suspension bridge - Akashi Bridge connects the mainland to Awaji Island

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

Mid '80s Toyota Cressida Wagon

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

Went to a car show. The theme was European cars but there was a little of everything there.

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

Whale meat.

Not clear what was going on here...

I took a tour of a Kirin brewery and they had this outside.

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

"Hotel" in downtown Kobe that you can pay by the hour. There are lots of variations of these. Especially useful if you got too drunk, miss the last train to get home and can't afford a taxi.

Bar I went to that had fish tanks built in to all the bar tables.

Where I come from they call these fiddleheads and you can pick them outside for free in the spring time. Funny the cost for these here.

Car in the parking lot at work that I think is cool.

Costume play or 'cosplay' is a big deal here and you find people doing this around occasionally. I'll try to get more of these photos in the future but it's tough without looking like a creep.

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

I went to a big car show several weeks ago in Osaka. It's a little like the SEMA show of Japan but it travels to a few big Japan cities and is open to the public.

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

This is a small generator made by Honda.

Poor little guy.

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

One funny thing about the Japanese car shows are the girls and the amount of photographers that they attract. You can see the flash bulbs going and hear the shutters going off from a long way away and then other guys will start heading in that direction.




Yes, this is a wink.

This could be fun. Needs to be a G65...

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

More from the car show in Osaka.


New Nisno GTR with the Time Attack package installed. This is what laps the Nurburgring in 7:08.679

Made from cut up Toyo tires.

Out front of a hotel next to the auditorium where the show was held. Probably could have had their own show out in the parking lot.

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

Shot inside a small neighborhood fire station.

Spring is a big deal here and so are the cherry blossoms. Depending on the weather they are usually only around for a week or maybe 2 tops.

People have Sakura parties. Sakura is the word for cherry blossom. The best time is on the weekend when it's nice out but it's usually really crowded. I went to one with some people from work. One guy took Friday off from work just to camp out and hold this spot for us so we could show up there after work. It was a bit cool outside but everyone spreads out their tarps and drinks beer and sake and eats bento boxes and snacks while getting shit-faced under the cherry trees. Good times.

 

[347convert]

Does a surprising amount of people speak english?

Or is it as rare as me finding people here that speak Japanese?

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

It really depends on the age of the person but I would say yes, it is surprising. On the other hand, English is taught as standard in school now so when I look at it that way it's not as surprising. I usually don't count on it when I go out.

 

[Birdie2000]

So do you speak Japanese well then? How is it as an American living in Japan? Do you feel/get treated like a tourist regularly? Enjoyable place to live? My dad went there once back in the 90s and it sounds like an awesome place to visit.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

I don't speak it well. About enough to order in a restaurant. My wife is doing better than I as she has started lessons but I haven't got the time right now. So far I'm just going off of what little Japanese I have picked up from coming here on trips over the past several years.

Living here as an American is pretty good overall. Japan is super mono-culture and if you don't have Japanese blood you are an outsider (gaijin). The place is so complex with so many layers of things to discover that all the structure wouldn't get boring for a long time. I would say I don't get treated like a tourist but more like a foreigner. People at work let foreigners get away with a lot, as do a lot of the younger crowd. The older folks though are still extremely traditional and they are always looking at westerners to study them and find faults. As long as you act respectful to the elders there's usually no issues.

There is an old saying in Japan - "The nail that sticks out will get hammered". Said another way, it can come with significant hardship to be different here.

 

[95 Z/28 LT1]

Autobacs

There's a local auto parts store called Autobacs. It's a little bit like Autozone but much bigger in scale. They sell cars there and have a huge selection of most things including tires and wheels, some aftermarket parts and about anything else you could want. They also do service and the mandatory vehicle inspection here which is really involved and expensive which is part of what drives the car culture and car manufacturing industry in Japan - It's set up to make people want to get new cars very frequently.


There's also a Super Autobacs in my Prefecture. It's even bigger and the place is a total sensory overload when you go in. They have events there about once a month where they will have a family day or a theme event for some kind of car or specialty part sale. I went to one a while back with my family as they had activities for kids and food vendors outside like at a fair or something. It's the same place that sponsored the track day I went to.


Anyway, on with the photos. I have photos from the Autobacs by my place, and the Super one that is a bit further of a drive away. Really interesting places...




Here's a up high shot of the one by my place. I took this photo from the parking deck of the nearby Costco.

They have a chassis dyno in the shop

As you walk in:

Random shelves of crap. You'll find that they have about 20+ variations of every single thing.

Oil is almost always in metal cans here. I tried to find one of those old funnels that snaps on to the lid of a can of oil but couldn't see them anywhere.

These are all different kinds of wide view rear view mirrors. Lots of people have these here.

You can get a little of the domestic stuff here but it's really pricey compared to what we are used to.

Back in the tuner section

Steering wheel covers...