Moving to Japan

[Mr. Butlertron]

Hey everyone! I'm moving to Japan and there are not many reviews to refer to. Are there any "must play" courses that I need to check out? Thanks

 

[sgamerp]

maybe sure you bring 150 discs. I think anything above that is a weapon, but I could be wrong.

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

good one................

 

[tbird888]

good one................

He's serious about 150g discs.

 

[MrFixIt]

maybe sure you bring 150 discs. I think anything above that is a weapon, but I could be wrong.

He's serious about 150g discs.

Not wrong sgamerp.
Ditto what tbird said.

 

[sgamerp]

I am not sure if you need 150 class putters

 

[kenjiac]

Yes Japan doesn't allow any discs heavier that 159 grams. Bring the blizzard plastic. Putters I'm not sure about. I have family in Japan I hope to visit and play some courses over there soon.

 

[jasonc]

I thought the 150/159 limit was a rule specific to the Japan Open tourney because the course is normally used for ball golf and the owners were making an effort to minimize damage caused by heavier discs.

However, it has been a while since I read or heard anything about Japan.

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

Ha! That's the silliest thing I have ever heard. I guess I will have do look into that.

 

[gvan]

Sillier than the somewhat arbitrary weight limit imposed by the PDGA?

(I am not advocating a change, or even disagreeing with the current specs, BTW. Just wondering why one limit is sillier.)

 

[jsc430]

^PDGA weight limits are not arbitrary. If you think they are then you really have never put any though into it.

 

[JC17393]

My understanding is that 150-class is required in Japan because all of the permanent courses are in heavily trafficked parks. The idea of putting a course in an otherwise unused part of a park is unheard of there, since all land is at such a premium. So in the name of safety, discs have to be lighter.

Of course, that's the reason for the weight limits everywhere else too, but we have so much more space to work with that we can take safety into account much more with design of holes and courses than they can in Japan. We can build entire courses in areas where no one else bothers to or is even allowed to enter. They don't really have that luxury over there.

 

[Mr. Butlertron]

I throw what is made. I currently only throw one blizzard disc that would work within the supposed weight limits. My putters are not even that light. I'm pretty sure I would do around the same rate of destruction, not matter what the disc weight is. I'm also sure, just like here in South Korea, I'll be the only one going out to courses and rating them. If they are crappy, which it kinda looks like, disc weight won't be the biggest issue.

 

[wolfobert]

I played Showa Kinen Park (which is accessible by train) when I was in Tokyo for a couple of days this March. It's ok if you are craving for some DG, but nothing spectacular. The more rural courses might be better. You definitely need a car to reach those, though, and most of them seem to be pretty far away from the bigger cities.

 

[Khao Pra]

I thought the 150/159 limit was a rule specific to the Japan Open tourney because the course is normally used for ball golf and the owners were making an effort to minimize damage caused by heavier discs.

However, it has been a while since I read or heard anything about Japan.

not entirely accurate, as this rule was in place 20 years ago when i first played the japan open and it was at showa kinen park, not the nasu highlands golf course which is used for the japan open these days.

they consider it a safety measure.

 

[Khao Pra]

I played Showa Kinen Park (which is accessible by train) when I was in Tokyo for a couple of days this March. It's ok if you are craving for some DG, but nothing spectacular. The more rural courses might be better. You definitely need a car to reach those, though, and most of them seem to be pretty far away from the bigger cities.

the standard day to day course at showa kinen bears no resemblance to the tournament course setup for the japan open.