whats up fellas, any of you guys ever been to t.a.s.? me and a few buddies are thinking of going in 2010 dont know the exact dates but i think it is always the first week of jan.

if any of you have been whats it like? what can i expect to need for spending money soveringers local travel food etc etc. i am an admitted clothes and electronics junky so i know i need to plan at least one day in the ginza district but are there really good deals there that i will want or is it more sightseeing?

there are groups like http://www.kintetsu.com/autosalon/package.htm that set up planned tours which i will must likely do but you can get them with several free days so need to plan those days.

also i have heard/read that the car scene people gather in parking lots etc like we do here in the us. any truth to this?

thanks folks

 

Interesting idea, it would be cool to visit the Tokyo Auto Salon...just be prepared, Tokyo is rather expensive from my experience. Ginza has great shopping, but if you're into electronics, the Akihabara area of Tokyo focuses on that and there may be more reasonable prices.

I have also seen some informal pics of people have car meets in parking lots in Japan.

 

You can really go on the cheap if you stay at a capsule hotel(Yes, like the name, there is only enough room to sleep) .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsule_hotel
As for price on travel and food, if you know what you are doing you can get away with it pretty cheap as the train is not that expensive. Food "can" cost you a fortune , but if you shop around and get any of the "bento's"(lunch set) or sandwhich at your local "conbini" (convenience store) you can get by pretty cheap.

As for people gathering in car parks, it does happen, but you need to have some inside info on when and where a meet will happen. Also, there are some street drifting meets that occur every now and again, but you really have to know someone to get to one and actually see some drifting. I really wouldn't suggest you comming to Japan to see these as it really takes some inside info to get to them.

I go most years, but I usually get put up by a company that I do business with.( BTW, I have nothing to do with the car industry.)

 

Even those places are expensive for electronics(Akihabara).

 

dave, you must not know the back streets of akiba. most electronics with the cheapest place to buy on kakaku.com are at Akiba. I got everything from my Tamiya TA04R and parts, computer parts like my Onkyo soundcard and Edirol speakers, for dirt cheap. the regular stores like yamada denki and whatnot in Akiba is expensive, but you gotta dig deeper to those creepy mom-n-pop stores.

You have to know the stores though. But for camera stuff, don't go to Akiba. Shinjuku is the place for camera stuff. Shinjuku also has computer stuff too.

And TAS is NOT in Tokyo, its in Chiba (next state over), about an hour on the train to the on the keiyo line. But once you get to Tokyo, everything should be within 1 hour distance.

I've heard of the parking lot stories, but every year I went to TAS and the Motorshow, I went with press pass for my internship or translation jobs so I never got to see the "behind the scene" stuff.

Lemme know if you need any info about Tokyo.

 

parking lot stories. Can you elaborate on that?

 

i remember reading in scc a few years ago about big meets taking place they had pics and all also, i can remember on one of the nissan forums reading about about a dude that went to a jgtc race and to visit family. and he posted pics of all the cars in lots going and coming to the street races. and just hanging out

thanks fellas i just found out i have a cousin in the airforce who was stationed there for like 5 years , im trying to get in touch with him now for some info

 

I know the place, but I know of cheaper places around Osaka(of corse that does not help here) Japan is just not a cheap as it used to be with electronics anymore and I think you are better off finding something in the states, especially with the way the dollar is now.

 

lol, nothing beats kansai (born, raised in kansai ).

but yeah, eBay and craigslist is really competitive. the one thing akiba does offers is the shopping experience, talking with knowledgeable shop employees, and just hanging out and watching all the weird Japanese....which is quite fun to do.