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2014 Haruna Hill Climb - Sun 18th May

Wasn't interested in doing something like this but @theBlob 's comments are swaying me towards applying for at least one event this year. It'll be a learning experience if nothing else.
 
@andy - I couldn't agree more. If you start accounting for the yen/km, then we'd be a sorry lot that ranks right up there with Disneyland attendees. The only downside I've seen in local events is the lack of contingency (weather) planning resulting in oftentimes shortened or cancelled events with no recourse other than 'shogunai'. But the experience of mashing it up a road with a few hundred other riders all pushing their best (or not) is a sublime one to be added to any rider's resume. HC in particular raise the bar by putting you to test yourself against the mountain. Therein is the beauty. Whether you go to race another rider or just complete the climb at your best effort.
 
@GSAstuto - That's what I wanted to hear! Also, having something like this to work towards would give me further motivation to get out there and improve my fitness, especially at this time of year. Might give tomorrow a miss, though!
 
To all who have already commented on this thread, I have reposted the details of he Haruna Hill Climb at this link
https://tokyocycle.com/bbs/threads/2nd-haruna-san-hill-climb-in-takasaki-gunma-prefecture.5339/
On the official event for the event, the "Nearly English" has vastly improved, a telephone number is available for English inquiries, an English form is available to send and receive inquiries, and for those who with to participate, but who cannot navigate through the Japanese online registration system, you will find a downloadable PDF entry form in English which can be faxed in.
Thanks.
 
you will find a downloadable PDF entry form in English which can be faxed in.

You would probably have better luck putting an email address to print + scan and send the entry form to, or even just a normal mailing address if you really want people to enter. How much taxpayer money would it take to convince the Takasaki Executive Committee to forward email, or even open letters?
 
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Geez, give the guy a break. He is trying to help out, isn't even a cyclist and doing it. Is it that hard to learn some japanese or get a japanese person to help, or god forbid learn how to use a fax machine?

You would probably have better luck putting an email address to print + scan and send the entry form to, or even just a normal mailing address if you really want people to enter. How much taxpayer money would it take to convince the Takasaki Executive Committee to forward email, or even open letters?
 
Sanitised version:

They would probably have better luck putting an email address to print + scan and send the entry form to, or even just a normal mailing address if they are committed to having people enter. Would it take much to convince the Takasaki Executive Committee to assume the extra workload of forwarding those emails or opening those letters?
 
Sanitised version:

They would probably have better luck putting an email address to print + scan and send the entry form to, or even just a normal mailing address if they are committed to having people enter. Would it take much to convince the Takasaki Executive Committee to assume the extra workload of forwarding those emails or opening those letters?

Even better;

They would probably have better luck putting an email address if they are committed to having people enter. Would it take much to convince the Takasaki Executive Committee to assume the extra workload of reading those emails?
 
Even better;

Shut the fuck up about it and appreciate the effort people have gone to to make the event accessible to people that may not have the language skills to navigate the entry system.
 
What about people who dont have Fax machines and printers, due to it being 2014?
 
What about people who dont have Fax machines and printers, due to it being 2014?
You could perhaps go to a convenience store. They all have fax machines, and I found out the other day that most can be changed to English. How convenient huh!
@GrantT @TCC btw, are either of you moaning old farts actually gonna enter or are you just having a moan for the hell of it?
 
No, because I dont have a Fax machine or a printer, because it is 2014.
 
Once again, thanks for all your comments.. and from the input received, an email address has now been added to permit entries to be sent by those who do not have access to a fax machine.
http://www.haruna-hc.jp/english.html

I should have replied a little earlier to the above comments, but the combination of the time this took to happen, plus a new work commitment is the reason for the delay. The official closing date for entries is April 6 (tomorrow), so it is probably too late to expect any entries through the English webpage at this stage, but the interaction on TCC has been an overall excellent experience, which will help tremendously for future projects of this nature going forward.

And as a side note, some of the previous comments have stated that in this day and age there are many people who do not have fax machines, but this being the year of 2014 and with the advanced technology that is available to us these days, there are plenty of online services (many of them free), that allow this void to be filled as follows (not an exhaustive list):

10 Best Free Online Fax Services
http://webseasoning.com/technology/10-best-free-online-fax-services/1106/

Free Online PDF Document Editors
https://www.cutepdf-editor.com/
https://www.pdfescape.com/
++ many more that will show up after an online search..

I would also like to thank the TCC for giving me the permission to use this platform to promote the Haruna-san Hill Climb. If there are further comments or questions, I will be happy to respond, and if not, thank you to everyone for your contribution to this discussion.

Jim
 
Jim, it would be great to hear from you after registration and then after the event as to what you and the organisers learned. I am sure there are many other events around Japan which would like to attract non-Japanese riders who could follow a simple template for promotion and registration if one is developed.

There is an annual event on Yakushima which is not a race, more of an experience. If people haven`t been there, it is a great reason to go. http://www.eco-ride.info/ I know that the island would love to get more overseas participants. I was in Akita a few weeks ago talking to Senboku city about inbound tourism, and they have a marathon every year around Lake Tazawa - I suggested that with the cycling boom, they could easily look at organising a cycling event or cycling based tourism there too. It is a win win - they get inbound tourism, we get to go to some great events in fabulous places. The registration and support does not have to be perfect, it just has to work and seem welcoming to non-Japanese speakers. And I think the reverse is true - the more non Japanese speakers try to work with the organisers to make things run smoothly, the more likely the organisers are to reach out to us. We all know that registration and payment are likely to involve a bit of stress (I have been here 18 years and furikomi payment is still a lottery) but where there is a will there is a way.
 
Regarding furikomi payment specifics:

I do this online to a number of places, and one thing that is helpful is to have the exact name of the account that the money is being sent to--and I do mean exact.

Sometimes a space where there shouldn't be one, or no space where there should be one, is enough to make the payment bounce. On any registration or payment form, the account name should be displayed as it should be input online, and not prettied up for how it is usually written in other situations.

I do get some free transfers every month, but having to use those up to get an account name right is frustrating.
 
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