Need General Tips/Advice

Need some basic info/ advice. I've become really interested in japanese culture just recently through my work. I build custom cars so i guess that makes me bosozuko (sp?) right? I know almost NO conversational japanese and have never been to the islands. Me and some friends were planning on taking a trip there later on the summer. We can get hooked up with some of the car builders to show us around where the car meets are but we were really hoping to see a lot of the sites. We can get a good list going of stuff we want to see, but i have been told by people who go there frequently that if you have never been, you will get lost a lot. So, basic question is what can a first time traveller do to help make the trip go a bit more smoothly? Should I just read more books on the cit? Should I be learning as much Kanji as possible?(since the highway signs and subway signs are kanji right?) Want to see a good bit of city life and some of the rural stuff. there would be between 6-10 of us all together. Plan on staying someplace fairly nice in tokyo. I'd like to be someplace near the rainbow bridge because thats where a lot of the car enthusaists hang out. Anyway, thanks in advance.

Paul

From what I have learned, print you plenty of maps.. Invest in a wordtank, books, study the language for basic knowledge. Do alot of research before jumping the gun and hopping on a plane over there... The main page of this site has A LOT of information to assist you in learning about your travels, do some searching on the forums also.

If you have any more questions after that, feel free to ask. Plenty of people here who is glad to help, and welcome to the forums!

Also, another tip.. Decide on what you like the best, do you want to see the country areas or the cities.. Then check on a travel site, look at some of the districts.. Pick some places you think you like (from pics and entertainment/attractions listings) And plan your trip around that.

hiya majik and welcome. you may want to check the practical section, theres a tab at the top pf the page for it, in addition to what playaa said. also bosozoku are motorcycle gangs.

Is there many bosozoku in Japan?

i ain't seen none yet

SOMETHING I WOULD TRY THAT'S FAR OUT....

contact the public relations dept. of all the big car makers.
See about touring their factories and/or meeting their racing teams. Visiting one of their export/shipping sites.is incredible!! The way they load & move cars and the ammount of cars is incredible!! You probably would need a concrete date of your trip to set things up, & they may tell you the best times to visit for big car shows etc.. The
worst that could happen is they say no!

Frank

:?

funny, i had bosozuko explained to me as being "crazy drivers", the name people would call the mountain racers and the drifters and street racers.. etc. there is actually a car club, japan and state side called Team Bosozoku but who knows?

暴走族

ttp://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=popvox&id=233
http://www.jingai.com/bosozoku.html
http://www.jingai.com/omoshiroi/hotrod.html
ttp://www.city.yamagata.yamagata.jp/yidff/catalog/ja/97/jdoc98-1.html
ttp://kamakura.cool.ne.jp/kaizosha/
ttp://www.urban.ne.jp/home/yoshiof/images/kidou.mpg

Bring a good map/atlas and plan on getting lost a lot. It's part of the adventure. There's no danger of ending up in a bad or dangerous neighborhood so enjoy the sights you see that you would never have seen if you hadn't gotten "lost".