montoya

pretty interesting article: "Old (ski) Outfits From the U.S. Have Real Value Abroad" http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/25/sports/othersports/25SKI.html

Next time you're in Shikoku, this looks interesting: "FEATURE: Mountain hermitage challenges thinking on rural Japan" http://asia.news.yahoo.com/031219/kyodo/d7vhbago0.html chill-out in a thatched-roof farmhouse...

uh oh... "U.N.: Warming threatens ski resorts" http://edition.cnn.com/2003/TECH/science/12/02/un.melting.mountains.ap/index.html

ok, mother is Japanese, father is American (of Portuguese/Norwegian background), so I'm all over the map. At various times I've been told I look: Spanish Filipino French Italian Asian ...

A bit late, but sorta related to this incident: "Drivers using phones to avoid police checks" http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/newse/20031123wo24.htm

looks like something Spock would carry.. where did you see it?

I'm around 177cm tall, about med weight, my current board is 157cm long, fairly stiff. Works good for both the pow-pow and carving.

Interesting.. Are you implying: a. there is no personal need to believe in a god? or b. cultures based deeply on religion (eg Islamic countries) are irrelevant?

Ok, this is really off-topic... Any programmers out there? If so, what technologies are you using? I'll go first: PHP Perl XML MySQL/Postgresql

Hey, what magazine is this? Will try to look for it later today...

Avalanche airbags.. Has anybody here tried using one? Opinions? Also, anyone know if it can be purchased at shops in Japan?? Here's some background links: http://www.akxtreme.net/ http://www.avalanche.org/~lsafc/TUTORIAL/EQUIP.HTM#BAG http://users.south-tyrolean.net/avalanche/e/ski09_e.html -montoya

Somewhat old but interesting article about the back-country snow in California: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2003/05/01/SP267539.DTL&type=ski Anyone know of any similar events in Japan?

Before Japan: legal assistant assistant stock trader In Japan: english teacher proofreader futures desk clerk web programmer/developer ..next?

Looks like the giant slope is finally going to be torn down this month: "Mitsui Fudosan to dismantle 'SSAWS' indoor ski slope" http://asia.news.yahoo.com/030819/kyodo/d7t0u7k00.html

Similar to the Hakuba-Rentals thread, am considering renting a cabin/room for a month or 2 this winter at Niseko. Anybody been there/done that and have any advice or links, before I hit the search engines?? thanks, -montoya

Between Higashi-Nakano and Nakano

Completely unrelated to any other thread here, but I'm looking to creating a small UBB site for some Japanese users. The J-section of SJ looks closed for the minute, but does anyone have any hints for localization? Probably the biggest issue is ensuring data integrity (eg figuring out how to make sure the Japanese text doesn't get mangled and turned into mojibake or stuff like #?1209) thanks, -montoya

Both the big city and nature?? I"m from San Francisco, it's a pretty fun place, also you do not need a car to get around. Lots of clubs, museums and restaurants. I would also take the ferry to Sausalito and spend a day there. Also, Muir Woods with its redwood tree forest is worth a visit. Probably my favorite place in SF has got to be North Beach, with all its Italian restaurants. If you want to see nature and have time, I would recommend trying some National Parks in Utah, particularly Zion and Bryce. The Grand Canyon is also worth a visit, of course. Probably easiest route is fly

Hi there, In Tokyo, I went to Naganuma Japanese Language School (in Shibuya), which seemed to be pretty good: http://www.naganuma-school.or.jp/ They offered a variety of programs, from daily 9-1 intensive courses to once or twice a week courses during the night for people working full-time, etc.

If anyone is interested, here's recent article about mortgages in Japan: "Hazards of buying a home in Japan" http://www.iht.com/articles/90599.html

hi big-will, There are eating places near the station, but in general my J friends mentioned the whole area seemed kinda drab and uninviting (esp to the OL types). But, if you know of any really good places, please let us know!

All of Ocean11's ideas are intriguing, would be nice to see it realized someday. It would be a way to quickly differentiate your resorts from your competitors. But you know, businesses here are extremely quick to copy, if they see something becoming successful (which could be good thing here!) Just speaking of Yuzawa in particular (since that's what I'm most familiar with), I recently asked a few buddies who are skiers/snowboarders what they would want changed: *common/free bus system to the major resorts *common lift ticket system for major resorts *more places to eat/drin

Nice article about how Heavenly is spending it's bucks (40 million of them!) to revitalize itself: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2003/02/20/SP165546.DTL Mainly looks like capital improvements in: *better hi-speed lifts *better surface quality from snowmaking machines *better base area attractions

Just a thought, do most resorts lease land from the govt or do they own the land outright?? Regarding mogski's post about buying a place with spare change, well my vote would be for ...Kagura (since I'm in Tokyo). Get some new hi-speed lifts in there, run more buses from Yuzawa, open its back-country fully and prep it for nightas - that would be sweet.

Quote: Originally posted by Ocean11: montoya, what led you to this article? Do you often go through Yahoo Singapore's Financial section, and if so, why? Hi Ocean11, Not really. I found it on this site, which I use once a day or so. Very convenient. http://www.newsonjapan.com/