Travelling Japan!

[tonex]

Hey guys!
I'm planning a trip to Japan in July and being the car enthusiast that I am, need to find some cool JDM things to do!
I know about the more mainstream stuff like Tatsumi PA and Daikoku Futo PA; not really sure the best way to get there.
And also, Fun2Drive - the Initial D car hire experience. Autobacs and UpGarage are on the places to go. And hopefully, I'll get time to travel all the way out to see the Honda Collection Museum.

I was just wondering if any of you guys knew anymore things to do? The things I listed above are just things I have brief knowledge about so if you have any further advice, please let me know!
Things I really want to find out more about is things such as: are there specific communities like a Honda(Or cars in general) Meet/Cruise. Or any Honda parts buy/sell facebook pages in Japan. Any other good places to buy car parts? Or more daringly, good places to look at importing cars back to Aus?
And have you tried bringing car parts back with you to Australia; any problems??

I'll be travelling mostly around Tokyo and Osaka, so hopefully a lot of stuff to do around there.
I'll appreciate all suggestions and advice!
Cheers!

[felixR]

Check out these threads!

http://forum.clubitr.com.au/showthre...A-LOT-OF-WORDS!!!)

http://forum.clubitr.com.au/showthre...-picture-heavy

Definitely do the Fun2Drive and steer the NSX!

[Toddxxx]

My thread died so quickly :P
I got over it haha

History garage is a must! Check out both levels. Top level is historic cars (hako, 2000gt etc) bottom level is all old school racing memorabilia. They usually have a car or 2 on display as well.
Toyota megaweb is also okay.
Both are right next to each other in odaiba. And 2 stops down the line from Tokyo bay super autobacs.

Nismo Omori factory is cool! It's in Yokohama just down the road from daikoku futo.
While in Yokohama also check out the mooneyes cafe and asm.

Spoon/type one garage is only like 15mins from shinjuku as well and is in the Tokyo metropolitan area. Type one is cool to look around.
Can't buy parts from either only stickers :P

Js racing in ibiraki in Osaka was awesome. Hisaaki is super nice and showed me around the workshop and all the demo cars etc
Can buy parts direct from the store if in stock. Message ahead so they can try and organise it.

As for bringing parts back I got extra back age on the way home and had 2 suitcases. One filled entirely with car parts and magazines etc. no issue

[eskimo_firefighter]

Honda Collection Museum is amazing at the Twin Ring Motegi. I went there when there was a bike track day there and the track is quality.

J's Racing is awesome. Powerhouse Amuse is a very far hike and you got to make sure they're open, but it's an awesome shop with friendly people.

Yokohama ASM is a great place to visit. If Alvin still works there, he speaks fluent English and you can have a chat to him about S2000's all day long like I did, haha.

You can get to Fun2Drive by taking a bus there, we hired a car to go to Fun2Drive. If you want to take a bus to Fun2Drive, email Fun2drive for directions and instructions.

If you are into motorsport, stake out where there are big track day events and attend them, it's great. Japan has an abundance of great tracks with a strong time attack scene. Tskuba, Fuji Speedway and Twin Ring Motegi are few of the tracks that Japan has to offer. The easiest to get to would probably be Tsukuba though, that can be taken via Public Transport from Tokyo.

[tonex]

Thanks for the replies guys!

@Toddxxx:
Wow, nice. Mind if I ask you what you bought? I've heard that some car parts can raise some troubles through customs. I guess bring home big steel pipes and brake calipers labelled "SPOON" could look questionable ahahaha.

@eskimo_firefighter:
Oh how was the Fun2Drive experience? How was the pricing?
Here's something I found on the reddit thread:

Alright I'll give you the breakdown from my trip. 6 hour rental in Mazda FD3s RX-7. I booked everything via email.

Price:

Car rental JPY19,480 (basic rate JPY14,980 + 30% non-resident surcharge JPY4,500)

Reduction of deductible JPY2,160 per day

Membership registration JPY1,080

Private tour JPY15,000

Gasoline for rental and Pace car JPY10,000

Tolls for rental and Pace car JPY4500

= Total JPY 52,220

Did you do the obtional private tour? If so, was it worth it? I would like to do it but.. "Private tour JPY15,000" is money that could potentially be spent on other things haha
if budget is an issue I was thinking maybe to just figure out a route and just follow that.

Also, "pace car" does that mean I'll have to follow his/her pace? I know it's not my car, but I also want to give it a squirt here and there haha :P
Or is the pace car only there if you choose to do the private tour?

[eskimo_firefighter]

Pricing was high but is a once in a life time experience. Hired a NSX and R35 with a friend and we split the costs so it wasn't so bad.

The private tour was compulsory as I was under the age of where we could drive out without a pace/private tour.

In saying that the private tour is awesome. He will show you around the best mountain roads and views of Japan. Unfortunately we could have had the best view of Mt FUJI but it was really foggy that day so we couldn't see sh*t.

Also he can go at quite quick pace if you wanted him to, so yeah you can have a few squirts. Haha.

Also to get to Tatsumi PA and Daikuko Futo PA, you will need to hire a car. It can be very confusing on how to get there even with a GPS as the GPS trips itself out with all the freeways and all. We missed a couple of exits and had to pay tolls multiple times but there car meets are insane.

[Toddxxx]

i bought back a bunch of stuff man. NOt massive things but lots of little things

-js racing thermostat
-js racing thermo fan switch
-js racing ETD heat shield
-js racing oil filter stopper
-js racing oil cap
-js racing gold logo plaque
-3xmugen dress up bolts sets
-spoon magnetic transmission/engine bolts
-rays wheel nuts
-bride headrest
-3xbride seatbelt protector pads
-works bell quick release hub
-s2000 boss kit
-assorted japanese car magazines
-assorted stickers
-couple of js racing/tactical art t shirts