Anyone in Japan or lived here recently? I haven't driven anything except the fucking train in the two months since I got here and I'm itching for some behind the wheel experiences.
Anyone know of any tracks/services when I could rent a car for a track day? Preferably near Tokyo but I can travel.
no, but i hear the shuto guys coming home at the weekends and sometimes you'll see some bosozuko. tokyo ain't toegay town
Lucas Martin
>I haven't driven anything except the fucking train in the two months Driving a train sounds pretty exciting
Alexander Scott
Do you have a Japanese driver's license? You can go to the Toyota showroom in Odaiba and try out some cars. I haven't actually rented there before although I have visited.
Carson Cook
I live near Tokyo but idk what to tell you, besides going up to Ebisu and renting a drift missile
Joshua Sanders
waito piggu go homu
Kayden Parker
>homu You were doing so good too, weeb
Adrian Rogers
OP, one thing to do is check out the culture and events guide here: noriyaro.com/ English speaking and has a full events calendar around Japan.
Their YouTube is also good about just traveling to Japanese circuits and buying/renting drift pigs around Japan.
Oliver Myers
thx i follow that guy on youtube i was gonna email him and see if he could recommend anything
i actually found a place that does rentals for street driving which i might try out:
i think i found another thing where you could rent a miata at suzuka maybe. a blue one.
can you rent a car for ebisu? plus i've not done any drifting in my own cars, just grip track stuff. i guess ebisu has a grip circuit too... i'll look into it thanks. you go to any driving events around Tokyo? I don't know anyone here into cars, we should do a meet if we can get enough Veeky Forums weebs to come
Julian Lopez
go home gaijin, jk I'm in Hiroshima and can introduce you to people if I felt like helping you, which I dont.
Lucas Fisher
...
Jordan Murphy
Why do the Japanese like porches so much?
Chase Gray
Best handling ever, it corners like it's on rails.
I forgit the name of the shop but you can Google it. They're the only place I know of you can rent a GTS-R from
Luis Hughes
I'm going to be moving to Japan with in the next year, I know it's possible to get an international drivers license but I don't currently have my full license. (Currently on Australian P's) I haven't been able to find any information to confirm that you need a full license to get an international license or if it's possible for me to get on on my P's. Would anyone here happen to know? It would be nice to know that I'd be able to buy a car and drive while I'm living there, if not I guess I'll be like OP and drive trains.
Jordan Phillips
>international drivers license Do they even exist?
John Wilson
Sure thing Bruce-sama
Aiden Cook
Yes they do.
Michael Wood
Are they accepted in every country? Besides India?
Benjamin Fisher
I'm not too sure on which counties do/do not accept them but I did see that Japan does. I'm just not sure if I qualify for one or not since I don't have my full license.
Luis Jackson
Have fun moving an inch at a time in that shit holes street layout that is traffic ridden
Chase Nguyen
Didn't Top Gear disprove that?
William Wilson
Confirmed for never having been to Japan. Even downtown Tokyo's traffic isn't especially bad as huge cities go. Everyone just rides the trains.
Jack Jenkins
bamp
James Hill
>sounds pretty exciting Yeah. Multi track drift bro.
Alexander Young
>I have no idea what the fuck I'm talking about ftfy brobeans
Hunter Fisher
bumping for info on international licenses
Jackson Sullivan
I'm not Australian so I don't know for sure, but based on what I'm reading about the P licenses and what I know about the process in Japan, you'd *probably* be able to convert it as long as you've had it for at least three months before you leave. You'll need an IDP in any case, so as long as you can get that I think you should be fine.
Kevin King
English teacher GO HOMU
Dylan Cooper
>IDP what is this?
Cooper Rivera
Hey, that's what I'll be doing.
Jose Young
International driving permit.
Parker Reyes
I did Fun2Drive last year in Japan, I can vouch for it. It's fucking awesome!
Camden Young
How's you get the conductor to let you drive the train?
Carter Barnes
Enjoy the radiation, from me to you
Hunter Brooks
How do I drive in Japan if I'm not Japanese?
Oliver Collins
...
Jason Jenkins
Apply for an IDP in your own country. It's good for one year. If you're planning to stay longer than that, you'll need a Japanese license. Getting one of these is either easy or hard depending on where you're from. For some countries (Australia, Canada, UK, some others), you just pay for an official translation of your license and take it to the licensing center. No practical test necessary. For other countries (the US, etc.), you have to take the notoriously strict Japanese practical test and hope it only takes you a couple of tries to pass. I've heard of people taking 10+ tries; some proctors are stricter than others, but you can pretty much expect to not pass on your first try.
Anthony Walker
gotta be 26 to rent a car for street driving from fun2drive. Other than that though, they good.
Tyler Sullivan
For anons living in Japan, what would it take for a Gaijin like me to live in Japan?
>fluent Japanese
Besides this? I'm currently in school for mechanical engineering so I'm hoping that would help? Is the car culture excuse to those who are super rich? Would there be no way in hell to own a GTR? If so, I'll just move out of California and buy a GTR then.
Joseph Morris
b-bump
Justin Martin
Good luck. Getting a visa is pretty tough unless you're an English teacher/translator. You might be better off getting a job at an overseas company with a presence in Japan and convincing them to transfer you. Also, don't expect to make big bucks in Japan even as an engineer. Contrary to popular belief the cost of living and wages are both relatively low compared to the US.
A used R35 is 5-6 million yen. Taxes are going to be pretty high due to the engine size, but still definitely attainable if that's what you're after. I see them all the time. If you're fine with an R32/R33 GT-R, you can get a decent one for 1.5 million or so. Maybe cheaper if you get lucky at an auction.
Jackson Johnson
I'd love a R32, but the 33 is also a beast I'd love to have. Which ever I can get more power out of.
I mean you can import them in the US now, but still something about Japan seems nice.
Julian Ortiz
There's no real difference in power potential between R32s and R33s. '92+ has better oiling, but that's about it. R32s are lighter and you can put them in RWD mode by pulling a fuse, R33s have a better chassis and better 4WD. Prices are roughly the same right now.
Japan is a nice place to live, yeah. The food's good, the people are good, you can take walks at night without getting stabbed/shot, etc.
Ayden Ross
>RWD by pulling a fuse I always read that but never believed it, but it makes sense since the GTS exists.
See my area used to be like that, wasn't so shady but its progressively getting worse and it sucks. Fucking junkies and hobos, man Fuck, man, you only fuel my ambition to live there more and more.
Jordan Hill
You have to have a REAL JOB, so you can have a work visa. Also be prepared for people will treat you like a foreigner, and for some people it really bothers them.
Owen Jenkins
It makes sense if you understand how the ATTESSA system works. The same fuse exists in R33s/R34s as well, but driving with it pulled will kill the transmission in short order because unlike R32s they always put a bit of power through the front wheels.
Jeremiah Mitchell
thanks user
Nolan Russell
>Have fun moving an inch at a time in that shit holes street layout that is traffic ridden
Unlike the USA with unregulated car purchases, in Japan, you don't just buy a car if you have no place of your own to park it and various known destinations to park it. That reduces the amount of aimless driving that clogs american roads. Gasoline per liter is high-priced in japan unlike in the USA so that reduces aimless driving that clogs up roads. The mass transit systems in japan are efficient, frequently available in minutes, and have stellar on-time peformance so people rely on them because they are reliable. Unlike the USA, japanese station staff aggressively reduce passenger hysteresis.
Another problem the USA has is deliberately bad drivers. One of my friends likes to troll other drivers. He gets kicks and LOLs when he drives slow to clog up people at certain roads. His driving is all legal though and he is careful about that. It's just that he has a lot of LOL-attitude type schadenfreude in him.
Remember that it's legal to go 55MPH in a 60MPH area in the left lane on a freeway. This causes traffic jams and I bet Japan doesn't have anywhere near the same number of deliberately bad drivers the USA does. Community spirit is a big thing in Japan. My friend does that because the impatient people then use the electronic driver-pass only lane to pass around him. The cameras take pictures of those violators and they get a big fat penalty charge in the mail. If they use the HOV lane to pass, they get a real traffic ticket which goes against their driving history and insurance rate. He LOLs a lot about all those many people getting tickets due to him as he cleverly uses the american infrastructure against the drivers. LOL lol lol.
Jonathan Collins
good thread thanks for the useful info
Henry Evans
Funfacts Stick and RHD. If you can't do both then stick to the rails. Seriously.
Adam Torres
I see yank retards here with manual cars that have absolutely no fucking idea how one works. Students.