I was given a free Canon 20D recently. I've taken it out to play from time to time, and for some reason, there is something about the look from it's 13 year old sensor, that I really like.
Every time I go back it's like I never left. I have real friendships that have stood the test of separation while I've been away. The beauty of the surroundings. Drivers on the road that don't suck. The strait-talking zero-BS way of life. I miss it so much. I'll give up everything in a heartbeat for any job that pays halfway decently back in Gunma.
I've been half-assedly making vlogs about my car now that I've returned to carlife. As one should expect from anything with the word "VLOG" in it, the quality is appropriately terrible. Definatley nowhere near my usual standards... But that's the point. They're meant to be VLOGs hence not quality. Anyway. Enough preface. If you like cars or VLOGs, check out my new(ish) car-vlog.
The whole train, public transport thing may be good for society. But it's not good for me. I can't stand Tokyo's trains and the selfish, idiots who ride them, Now, I no longer have to.
It's actually 10% - 15% cheaper to drive into Tokyo than to ride the train. Even in my 2 litre high octane drinking, carbon spewing, sportscar. It does take longer though, but 30 minutes more in an airconditioned comfortable space with my music as loud as I want it, as opposed to standing pressed up against a salaryman, absorbing his smoky hangover tinged sweat into my clothes? I'll leave early and drive every time I can.
With my tax return, I have purchased my third Nissan Silvia. Yet another white S14 Kouki, but this one is a Q's Automatic, not a K's Manual. It's almost certainly going to become my daily driver. The black beast will be relegated to track duty only (as soon as I can actually afford to track it again).
"But wait, you can't even afford parking!?" is what you're going to say, but in a month, things will be a bit different. Soon, I'll be back in my natural habitat, behind the wheel, once more!
Everyone sees Japan as a destination in which to visit more destinations.
Between from 2008 to 2013, I lived in Gunma Prefecture, I drove a Nissan Silvia S14, and found that the best parts of the prefecture, and in fact, the country, are more often than not, the places that are a bit of a drive past the typical destinations, and the best experiences you can have, are the ones that you share with the amazing people you meet on the long, winding road.
To cap off 2015, I rented a Toyota 86, called on some old friends, made some new ones, and went for a drive through nostalgia.
0:02 Rings Autoshop, Owned by Yoshitatsu Kaneda (0:08), Pro drifter and head of Team YRC (Also my closest friend in Japan)
0:35 Mt. Akagi (Shrine and Lake)
1:06 Shibukawa City (My hometown) Many of my earlier vids were shot here, check them out to see more.
1:15 Rokumonsen -essence- My favourite ramen. The Master's mom is essentially my Japanese mother.
1:43 Mt. Haruna
1:49 Mt.Haruna Melody Road. drive at a steady speed and lines in the road play notes as your tires roll over them. Gunma has a bunch of these melody roads on mountain passes throughout the prefecture.
2:11 hidden lookout on Mt. Haruna no locations to this, I take you there or you find it on your own ;)
2:22 Allen Bo, The man behind the Drift Hunter doccie-in-progress.
2:47 Kusatsu Onsen. It's rated the best hot-spring in Japan, and I do quite like it, but the water is too hot and it's always full of tourists, It's a good place to stop and take a break though.
3:36 Tonya, My favorit Tonkatsu place. Prices are average but value is phenomenal. Tastes bloody good too.
3:38 Shiriyaki Onsen. A few kilometers away from Kusatsu in the middle of nowhere (Kunimura) is a heated river. Yes. The river itself is a natural hot spring. No entrance fees, No time limits, no restrictions and on clear winter nights, an infinite ceiling of stars.
3:49 Convenience store munchies aka a drivers' lifeblood.
4:07 Takayama
4:11 The Nihon Romantic Highway. 350 twisting kilometres of mountain roads from Tochigi, through Gunma and into Nagano. An epic drive, with almost no public transport access.
4:20 Shout out to MannyMarx, The man who made the music for this vid (and many of my other ones too). Producing Frank Corva's (4:26) new solo album.
Sometimes I snap things with my phone that I only ever use once or intend to use in the future but never do. They gradually build up till I drag them all off my phone into a dump folder, where would usually spend the rest of their digital eternities...
Until now.
Enjoy these random images of random times in random Japan.
東京で人は多いけど人間は少ない。
In Tokyo there are many people but very few human beings. ~me
That's what I said over dinner the other night in Shibukawa when explaining to my mates why I was so unbelievably overjoyed to be there. In the 2 days back home I had more meaningful conversations about life, history, politics and cars with more different people than in the previous month the zombie apocalypse that is the capital.
One truly doesn't appreciate how awesome a place is till you leave it. The people, honesty, generosity, delicious food, clean air, hot springs , driving, scapes and fact that it is all true and real. I love that little town on the confluence of the Tone and Agatsuma Rivers. It has truly become my home. More than anywhere else, It is there that I want to return.
Monday: New CD (Korpiklaani - Karkelo)
Tuesday: Amazon sent me gifts
Wednesday: X-Box whut?
Thursday: Spectacular view from the top of Mt. Haruna
Friday: Follow Friday: World how it is https://www.youtube.com/user/Worldhowitis
Saturday: Karaoke Live (featuring Ibara)
Sunday: Blood Dragon mu~~fu'kurs!
I went up to Ebisu circuit this past Friday as I had an itchy right foot that needed to be scratched. I had intended to get a full day’s practice in but by mid day I hung my arse off the track a bit too far and fell into a ditch.
Last week It actually snowed enough for the roads to get dangerous (or fun if you can drive).
Thanks to La Niña, the first year I bother to buy studless tires, there is no bloody snow to warrant them. It was good to finally see if they actually made that much of a difference...
What better way to kick off the new year than to tell you about shit that happened in 2012. My neck is stuffed so I am at home and have free time so why not get the backlog out of the way…
The cat and I got into the car and went for a drive. We had a general Idea of direction but no destination was planned. We headed up Mt. Akagi at first and were worried by the piles of snow on the side of the road. Being late autumn, we new some snow had already fallen but we expected less. There were some threatening clouds in the sky too but they dumped their load on the peaks slightly above the level of the road.
Since the trackday at Ebisu Circuit, I had gained a good deal of suspension trouble from my riding the side of the track too hard. The alignment was so far off centre that it could only be called chaotic evil and the rear toe and camber arms needed replacement. After sorting all that, i gained a mysterious clunking from the rear of the car when the weight shifted or I went over bumps. after 3 looks at the struts and pillow balls (it sounded like pillow balls) we wiggled the subframe a bit when it was jacked up and found that the bushes were, in a word… F*CKED.
Replacing bushes is crazy difficult but you do get aluminium spacer collars that solve the problem. I ordered a set from my buddy Yoshi (Ring's) and to keep costs down, with Yoshi telling me what to do, I did the hard work myself. It was surprisingly not that difficult, though having someone who knew exactly what to do giving me instructions made the task much easier. I probably would have dis assembled half the rear subframe if I followed the tutorials on the various Silvia and 240sx forums that are out there.
All in all. Job done for the price of cheap parts and a delicious Hamburg steak. AND MY CAR FINALLY DRIVES PROPERLY AGAIN…
Well almost... The transmission is still on death's door and could give out at anytime.
I have been sliding around in my car for a while now and have been saying that this year would be the day I took it to the next level and get my track cherry popped. In July I did.
It was no competition or anything. Just a track day with some mates. For me however it was a rather big deal. I saw it as a watershed in my sports car life. If the track turned out to be as fun as people said, I would continue to upgrade my Silvia and track it as much as possible with the intention to eventually participate in a low level competition sometime in the next year or so. If the drift bug didn’t bite me any harder than it had up till now, I would move on from the Silvia and head into big power and speed territory with a Supra or GT-R….
