Japan?

[Revere]

I will be permenantly moving to Japan as of the 27th of this month due to work and family obligations, any Japanese members out there?
I will be located in Sakura, Chiba prefecture (near Tokyo).
Also any information regarding the legalities of flying in Japan would be welcome, as at present I have no idea if hobby flying is even legal without permits etc.

 

[Cocreatr]

Welcome to Japan

How is life so far? By now you probably found out you need a transmitter licensed under national radio law, and RC insurance is much recommended (3600¥ for 2 years). Both available at your local hobby store. they'll try to help even if you believe your Japanese is not up to it. Safest to fly at RC fields, (ask the store people where they go) Basically you can fly out in the open public spaces, well away from inhabited areas, airports (4km, more if in line with a runway), rail and roads, high voltage lines, not higher than 150m, the usual safety precautions. No permit needed for hobby flying, except if you use private land (farms), ask the owner.

 

[JimCR120]

My son flies near Misawa.

 

[Revere]

Japan is good, been kinda busy though for the past 9-10 months so I haven't had much of a chance to check things out flying wise.
Thanks for the info Cocreatr, good stuff to know.
I am still somewhat leery though. While here I have heard many stories of JSDF (Japan Self Defense Forces) confiscating RC equipment (aircraft, cars and even boats) and it doesn't seem to matter how far you are from an airport or civilization. Apparently when they fly overhead in their helicopters or when they just drive along in the jeeps, they pick up the RC signal and then home in on it and take the lot for "public welfare and military safety reasons".
That's probably one of the main reasons that I have held off for so long.

JimCR120 - is your son in the US military at Misawa AFB? If he is maybe he can get the scoop from some of the JSDF guys directly.

 

[JimCR120]

He's near the Misawa AFB. So far no stories about JSDF.

 

[Revere]

Just had my first bad experience in Japan.
Not RC related but I feel the need to rant so here goes.
I was looking for a bike (Yamaha XJR 400 to be precise) so I do as I does and go online to find a cheap used one nearby. One catches my eye but it's listed for US$4,190 (445627.45 Yen), I think to myself "That seems a bit expensive for a used one".
My wife says "You're searching the English version of the site, search in Japanese".
So I do. I search on the Japanese language version of the site and find the same bike....
148900 yen that's US$1400. 3x cheaper.
At this point I think "Surely it's a mistake, their website's backend is screwed up or something".
I phone the dealer and ask him (in English) to confirm the price of the bike.
"445628 Yen" he replies.
So I ask him why it's 3 times less expensive when I do the search in Japanese.
He immediately hangs up the phone.

WTF?