Greetings from the land of the rising sun!

[geekgirl]

Hi - having spent several happy hours lurking here, I thought that I should introduce mself.

I'm an ex-pat Yorkshirewoman, presently living in Japan. I learnt to dive in Thailand this year (PADI OW and AOW), and since then have been well and truly bitten by the bug.

Luckily, scuba is very popular in Japan, and since getting my certificates I've been diving up in Tokyo (I'm based in Osaka), and will be heading out to Okinawa next month, in search of warmer waters. If anyone has any advice/qu's on diving in this neck of the woods, give me a shout.

GG

[Robert-Jan Bulter]

Hi GG-san,

Welcome at YD! I have been to Japan a few times myself but unfortunately did not dive there (yet). Okinawa is the place to be for a tropical holiday.

If your Japanese is at level you can have a look at the Diving Network Japan
Welcome to Diving Network Nippon!!
Or alternatively have a look at this site:
Dive Japan: Okinawa - Ryukyu Islands - Diving and General Information and Links

Best regards,

Robert-Jan

[B]

Welcome to the forum...

I lived in Japan for 6 months when I was 15 (exchange programme) and travelled from Tokyo to Nagasaki, stopping in Kobe, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and some Island off Hiroshima which I for the life of me can not remember the name of....

Great place... would love to go back and try to dive there...

Berit

[thehappychappy]

Hi Geek Girl.
Welcome to YD.

Have fun & safe diving.

Davie.

[Trevor W]

Hello Geek Girl,
Welcome to the club. I worked in Japan for a couple of years too (back in the early nineties) and like you trained as a diver in Thailand on holiday. However, that's where it stopped for me as I didn't enjoy the experience and didn't go on to dive in Japan unfortunately, something I really regret now.
However, ten years later I had another go and trained with my local BSAC club here in Saudi and now, like you, really enjoy my diving.
Maybe you could put a little trip report about Japan on the relevant section here? I think I'm right in saying you'll be the first 'Japanese' diver to do so.
All the best.
Trevor

[geekgirl]

Hi- thanks for the warm welcome!

Um, I'm frantically busy trying to sort out the details of my trip to Okinawa at the moment. I've only got my flights booked so far, and so am sorting out dive shops etc. (thanks for the links Robert-Jan - v. handy). The diving down there is supposed to be pretty amazing - so am really looking forward to it - not least so that I can escape Osaka's neon-jungle for a while!

My Japanese is pretty basic - so I need an English speaking DM, which unfortunately rules out 99.95% of the guys out here! Fortunately I've been able to hook up with a couple of US - run dive shops down in Okinawa, (who cater mainly to the American bases out there). It's always fun trying to sort stuff like this out in Japan - in fact so far 80% of the challenge is over by the time I kit up and hit the water....,

Trevor - I promise that I'll post a trip-report on my return. Might even be able to post some pics.

GG

[geekgirl]

Originally Posted by The Prices

Welcome to the forum...

I lived in Japan for 6 months when I was 15 (exchange programme) and travelled from Tokyo to Nagasaki, stopping in Kobe, Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and some Island off Hiroshima which I for the life of me can not remember the name of....

Great place... would love to go back and try to dive there...

Berit

Was the island Miyajiima by any chance? Big red torii gate in the water? It's a very popular tourist spot and one of the 3 official "beautiful sights" in Japan (tho' who chose the 3 I can't tell you). Lovely place....,

Yep - I'm loving it out here at the moment, it's a great place to spent some time. Give me a yell if you do ever make it out here to visit!

GG