Land issues in Japan

[TooFastTim]

I'd heard that motorsport had land issues in Japan (small country + large population = shortage of land) but this is rediculous: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_UnGmYMPfo&feature=related

[Bioflex]

I used to live there for a while and sure didn't see any dirt biking. Some crazy road bikes though that were so modified, yet the police never blinked when they saw them.

[BAHNZY]

The situation in Japan, Tokyo & Yokohama as an example, is nowhere near what people perceive it to be. There is plenty of land it just that people don’t want to live to far from the city areas hence the population is heavily concentrated in pockets around the large cities. Get on a train and head south from Yokohama towards Kamakura and there is plenty of land, but no good for someone that works in Tokyo.
And yes there are motocross tracks in Japan, and nothing like the YouTube clip. There are local magazines that cover the sport with a publication similar to Racer-X and another caller GRRR that cover the local scene.

[Lozza]

Would agree 100% on that. I a ex-pat aussie contact in Japan and they have some awesome trail riding(all on unrego's mxers), Hokkaido is a summer time nirvana, with 1000km's of desserted roads and trails.
The main island is fairly mountainous, gets pretty cold in the winter though so plenty choose  to live on the flat coastal land.
Yes Bio I was passed by the cops while I was doing 130kmph in a 80kmph limit toll road. 

[Gippslander]

Ah, you 'aint seen nothin'....
You should see that track when they run pre 75 and evo together:o...
They run the pre 75's clockwise and the evo's anti clockwise at the same time...
The original rule then applies -- you have to finish to win!!!

[lukeb1961]

A year or two back, I stayed at the Resonare resort out in Hokuto, maybe two hours west of Tokyo. PLENTY of mountain trails and incredibly beautiful mountain sites and locations. To imagine Japan as one crammed large city is utterly wrong. Out there is bike heaven.

[TooFastTim]

Guys, the OP was tongue in cheek.

[Marc.com]

Tokyo is nice at the moment, everyone is off i the country visiting their families for New Year.

There is land in Japan but officially sanctioned areas to ride are pretty limited on the main islands. Plus the logistics of owning, transporting and keeping an MX bike in the major cities makes things very difficult. A car space can run you $6-800 per month, you need a van as no one has a trailer, forget having a garage space or even some place to wash it.

[SAABCOMBI]

in 50 year their be no land over their to ride on, it will be covered in buildings, it will be indoor enduro and motocross, with plastic trees to go in between

[BAHNZY]

in 50 year their be no land over their to ride on, it will be covered in buildings, it will be indoor enduro and motocross, with plastic trees to go in between

David,
To make such a comment, I take it that you have been ex-patriated  to a location within Japan for  some period of time. If not then you need to understand that what you get fed on the idiot tube is far removed from reality.  The only threat to any land availability will come from the other side of The Sea Of Japan.

[SAABCOMBI]

l am sorry if you have been offended by my commend, l don`t know anything about the cities or country side in japan, what l was referring to in my tongue and check comment.
More people more building and more  housing,  land gets swollowed up for building construction,  same as the motocross track in geelong once a good thing 2 years ago all gone making way for new roads.
Its hard to find  good dirt to go riding or racing, as l said in my commend, the future, it will be all man made venues.
In 50 years it won`t be our problem, l will be a cool 105 years old and the worms will be kissing my arse.

[TooFastTim]

As far as I know and I'm open to correction, that land that can be developed has been. The rest is simply too steep/rocky etc to make development economically viable.

(This is of course good news for trials riders)

[BAHNZY]

Tim,
When you look at the seaside area from Yokohama travelling south there is a lot of land that has been re-claimed from the sea. The area around Yamashita Park and the Justice/Court precinct in Yokohama/Sakuraguicho is a good example of just how much land has been reclaimed. There is heaps of land; it’s just a matter of travel time. A significant amount of people that I know have taken to co-sharing an apartment from Monday to Friday then travelling back to the family for the weekend. If you fly  into Narita then catch either the Limousine Bus or the NX Express into Tokyo, the first 15/20 minutes of the 50 minutes trip is travelling through the countryside.

In Japan metro when travelling, it is not measured in km's it's measured in time.

[TooFastTim]

Ah yes, the Limousine Bus. There I was expecting a looong car. It was a rude awakening.

Only spent a day in Tokyo. Pity, there's a lot there I would like to have seen. The country and it's people fascinate me.

p.s. the commute thing might be looming on my horizon. I'll keep you chaps filled in.

Happy new year all. Rubber side down in '11.

[Lozza]

l am sorry if you have been offended by my commend, l don`t know anything about the cities or country side in japan, what l was referring to in my tongue and check comment.
More people more building and more  housing,  land gets swollowed up for building construction,  same as the motocross track in geelong once a good thing 2 years ago all gone making way for new roads.
Its hard to find  good dirt to go riding or racing, as l said in my commend, the future, it will be all man made venues.
In 50 years it won`t be our problem, l will be a cool 105 years old and the worms will be kissing my arse.

Japanese have a different attitude to race tracks, the famous Suzuka circuit is smack bang in the middle of suburbia, no calls to close it down, no complaints (yet).