pezpunk

I will bump my own thread as both an answer to my question and plug for Rad+air snowboards!

Yeah the board is sick and I got a killer deal on it. I was lucky enough to meet the president of rad-air last season, I know some guys who ride tankers here and I got a good hook up on a like new demo board. The 187 actually handles great on groomed snow. Fast as hell and very smooth. I've also ridden their 2m tanker.

Hey Just recently moved to Kansai from Tokyo and I need to pick up a couple of pieces of gear for the season. I'm going to be heading into the backcountry with some friends this season. I was wondering if anyone could recommend some good shops in the Kansai area? I need some new snowboard boots and wear. I got a new Rad-Air Tanker 187 that I cannot wait to take into some deep pow. Thanks much appreciated.

lol thanks for the advice everyone definitely given me something to think about.

Yeah thats what I was thinking too! Getting to ride in the kind of terrain would definitely be a unique experience. and it kind of fits with my time frame of late feb.

I'm not too worried about accommodation and time isn't really so much of an issue. when I said three days I meant three days of riding plus whatever travel time is. I'm really just looking for the better experience, looking to get into some nice powder, good scenery, some tree runs, stuff like that. I dabble in the park, but I can get that stuff closer to Tokyo so it's not a priority. I'm willing to take time off work so I want it to be worthwhile. If anyone has another suggestions I'm definitely open to them. I've lived in Japan about three years now so I'm not afraid to go off the beat

Thinking about taking some time off work for a little snowboard excursion (3 days or so). I've done Gunma, Nagano, and Niigata but have never been any further north. So I was thinking about taking a trip up to Hokkaido for Niseko or going to Zao. Any suggestions? Or other places people would really recommend. Thanks

Hmmm yeah that's true. But when I looked into shipping, it takes about two months. I don't really wanna wait that long. EMS looks like it's going to cost me around 10,000 yen which isn't too bad. Especially considering it takes only 3 days. If I were to bring it as extra baggage on the flight it would cost over $200

Yeah I think I'll do that this weekend. Thanks for the advice. How long did it take for your items to arrive?

Kinda of a backwards question but figured I'd ask anyway. It's about that time for me. Heading back to the states after two wonderful years in Japan. I really love the board that I bought here and want to take it back with me. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on the best way (cheapest) to bring it back to the States?

Nice, just google mapped the place, its near akihabara right?

Hey I appreciate all the really good feed back I've gotten from this thread. Off-topic question but I've decided not to ship my board from the States (too expensive). So I was wondering where's a good place in Tokyo to buy a board and bindings, I'm looking for something mid-level/affordable ;p

Hmmm Tubby that sounds very interesting I'm going to have to look into that as that sounds like a really good deal. What are the night buses like? easy to sleep on, roomy etc?

yeah moving isn't really an option ;p after doing some research looks like i'm going to be spending my time in minakami which is fine by me.

ahhh cool, thank you very much