I hate to be captain obvious, but read the following.What you are requesting is for a Japanese company, in a country whose official language is Japanese, to send products from Japan for the benefit of foreign, non-Japanese speaking purchasers.When I type that out, does it not seem ridiculous to you too?The argument will come up that Japanese will order from the US, blah blah blah... BUT! Those foreign people are forcing themselves to learn English so they can order products from a different foreign country. Not everyone in this world does, or should be forced to, speak English.End point.
move to japan and start a flatland mail order company
For the Europeans, Louis in Porto is starting a flatland specialist mail order store with Magic Fruit and some other cool stuff.Early days, but worth keeping an eye on it ;-)Raso
If you took that perspective the western world would not have a wide variety of cameras, motorcycles, and automobiles. Also, you will find that Japanese culture is based slightly more on tradition -combined with the incorporation of western concepts, cultures and communication. (explains why you see thousands of businessmen in dark blue suits everywhere) As for Japanese exports to the US, I see here english as the 2nd most commonly spoke language in all of Asia, but it often takes time and resources to translate ideas and product catalogues into a English-speaking market. The population is so big here (Asia) that it supercedes Canada, USA and Europe combined, so I'm sure certain smaller Japanese companies aren't too concerned with all the effort in exporting overseas. I'll be in Hong Kong next (after Japan) and ask them what they think about it. I know they get Japanese flatland products.
Quote from: pitdog504 on November 05, 2007, 01:20:51 PMDoes flatland fuel ship to Japan? I thought the mail flew both ways... we ship to Japan almost every day. The Japanese would rather have what we have than what they can get there in a lot of cases. Even with shipping its less expensive to order from the US or Europe than to buy locally in Japan.
Does flatland fuel ship to Japan? I thought the mail flew both ways...
well, alot of stuff in Japan is expensive... generally speaking the same part you would buy in the states for 30USD will cost the equivalent of 50-70USD here....
So true... my bank account got murdered while living in Tokyo when it came to buying parts. $30 Frequency G's, anyone? The Japanese companies were usually the most expensive brands in the shops... nothing like getting to see every flat part you could want in person and having it be out of reach! hehe...For a good indication of what kinds of prices you can expect for getting brands like Magic Fruits and 059 stuff in the US, just take a look at the Ares Bikes America site... tons of respect for Scott getting everyone access to those parts, but you can see how much it costs to provide that kind of product stateside. Which reminds me: I want a Garuda.