Anyone in japan?

[dnicoletti]

Hi there,
i'll arrive in Tokyo on tuesday June 28. My plan is, after been cleared the bike from Narita custom and get the mongolian visa, to ride the east coast down to Hiroshima, then up, through the west one, to Wakkanai, heading to Sakhalin isalnd (Russia).
i've planned to stay in Japan untill July 28. If may anyone should be around, we could shar a cup of sakè...

cheers

www.lungastrada.it

[Chris of Japan]

I don't think many travelers are in Japan now.
But you should send an email to the Japan Horizons Community. Horizons Unlimited Motorcycle Travellers' Community - Contact a Community!
Maybe someone local will want to meet you. I am not on your travel path it seems (I live in Nagano).
Don't forget you have to go to JAF (Japan Automobile Federation) to get your carnet "authenticated" before going to customs. Unfortunately, that means you have to go into downtown Tokyo and then back to Narita.

[dnicoletti]

Thanks for the answer Chris,
i've already sent a CPD copy to the JAF's Tokyo office one week ago. i'll be there on June 29 morning to get the CPD authenticated and insurance. Then, i'll reach Narita to clear the bike.
as for my route: it is not compulsory ride along the coast to me. i could also make diversions inside. so...
thanks for the Japan HU community suggestion. i'll get in touch with them.

regards,

[klaus]

Hi there and welcome to Japan!

Chris is "THE" source over here - so if you have any questions ..... he is the one to contact! (Hope you don't mind Chris!! )

Elsewise, you might also want to put your information on this site:

Gaijinriders

Those are the foreigners who are into bikes and living over here in Japan. They have been very helpful more than once already!

Greetings from Shikoku.

[henryuk]

I was advised by a friend to drop Japan from my travel plans for 2012 on account of the radiation level, is it really that bad out there? Also does anyone know if there is a shipping route from somewhere in Japan to Magadan, and what port it goes from?

Cheers

[Chris of Japan]

Originally Posted by henryuk

I was advised by a friend to drop Japan from my travel plans for 2012 on account of the radiation level, is it really that bad out there? Also does anyone know if there is a shipping route from somewhere in Japan to Magadan, and what port it goes from?

Cheers

If it were really bad do you think we would be still living here?
Take a look here for a visual idea of radiation levels: microsievert.net Less than natural background levels of several places in Iran, India and Europe.
Emissions of radioactive materials at Fukushima are about 10% of those from Chernobyl (and nobody evacuated all of Europe).
You stand a higher risk of getting killed from Russian drivers than the radiation in Japan.

As for Magadan, contact russian shipping company FESCO. If anyone goes that way, it would probably by FESCO. I think SASCO also has service to Magadan (probably not from Japan).

[henryuk]

That's good to know, I thought it was a bit dubious that it would be that severe!

[farqhuar]

Right now the only people affected by radiation in Japan who are dying, are those who are dying by their own hand.

My wife's sister and husband are staying in a refuge after their house was washed away - it will take 2 years before they can rebuild as the Japanese government has bulldozed what was left of their seaside village and is relocating the whole community to higher ground. She says that many locals are committing ritual jisatsu due to frustration and despair over lost loved ones, as well as concerns over the future effects of the radiation.

[klaus]

Have to agree - it is not that dangerous!
Just stay away from the greater Fukushima area!

Elsewise, be careful where the food comes from that you will be shopping.
As for us, we only buy stuff produced South of Osaka, i.e. Shikoku and Kyushu area
or even from foreign countries.

All in all, you will be safe over here, don't worry too much!!

[Chris of Japan]

Originally Posted by farqhuar

many locals are committing ritual jisatsu due to frustration and despair over lost loved ones, as well as concerns over the future effects of the radiation.

This is off topic, but...
Increased suicide rates are an unfortunately common occurrence after major disasters. After Hurricane Katrina in the USA, suicide rates tripled.
However, I can assure you that there is no "ritual" suicide in Japan. I don't know where you get your information, but cutting one's belly with witnesses and all the fanfare went out of practice along with feudalism more than a century ago. Like with most people in despair around the world, it is done alone with a rope and a convenient tree.

[farqhuar]

Originally Posted by Chris in Tokyo

This is off topic, but...
Increased suicide rates are an unfortunately common occurrence after major disasters. After Hurricane Katrina in the USA, suicide rates tripled.
However, I can assure you that there is no "ritual" suicide in Japan. I don't know where you get your information, but cutting one's belly with witnesses and all the fanfare went out of practice along with feudalism more than a century ago. Like with most people in despair around the world, it is done alone with a rope and a convenient tree.

Hi Chris, yes, I did use a little licence with that term and didn't think it would be interpreted in quite the literal way you took it.

By using the word "ritual", my intent was to let forum members know that sucide is seen as an honourable, regular, and socially acceptable, means of death in Japan, as opposed to the Western world's view that it is the "coward's easy way out".

[Chris of Japan]

Originally Posted by farqhuar

sucide is seen as an honourable, regular, and socially acceptable, means of death in Japan, as opposed to the Western world's view that it is the "coward's easy way out".

Hmm.... My opinion as a 20-year resident and the 150 million dollars the government spends annually to prevent suicides seem to contradict your opinion. But this has nothing to do with motorcycle traveling, so lets just leave it at that. Differing opinions doesn't mean we can't all be friends.
The most depressing thing for travelers to worry about now is the unusually high yen . 120 yen to the US dollar a few years ago is 80 yen now! With the increased value of my yen, I should be on the road not sitting in front of a bloody computer!!

[dnicoletti]

hi there,
finally i made it. i`m in tokyo since yesterday. already went to jaf to get the carnet authentication, then got insurance and japan road map also, but not the bike!!!!!
went this morning to narita to get my harley back, but the guy at the jal office frozed me sayng we do not have any bike on here.
got in touch with thai cargo, they`ve told me the bike is still in bangkok due to room shortage. it should to arrive on saturday, july 2, at 6.20 am. finger crossed.
in the meantime, after beeing through the crowdy and noisy indonesia on the last two months, i`m enjoyng the quiet of nishitokyo.
but how`s japan expensive!
@ crhis: so i think i could get around nagano on the way up to hokkaido, around july 20, more or less.

cheers

[farqhuar]

Originally Posted by Chris in Tokyo

Hmm.... My opinion as a 20-year resident and the 150 million dollars the government spends annually to prevent suicides seem to contradict your opinion. But this has nothing to do with motorcycle traveling, so lets just leave it at that. Differing opinions doesn't mean we can't all be friends.

No worries Chris, If you'd like to debate it off forum with my wife I can give you her email address. However, I should point out she has some fairly radical ideas about Japanese life, acquired during her days at Hosei University in the late '60s.

[Chris of Japan]

Originally Posted by dnicoletti

hi there,
finally i made it. i`m in tokyo since yesterday. already went to jaf to get the carnet authentication, then got insurance and japan road map also, but not the bike!!!!!

Good to hear you arrived. I sent you a private message, so you can contact me off the HUBB.
Where did you get insurance? I ask because sometimes it is hard to get for a traveler.
Good luck on your travels in Japan, and let me know if you have any problems. Don't forget to send a message to the Horizons Community. You might need help getting ferry tickets (if you don't have reservations yet).