rebreathers in Japan

[Plavin]

Its looking like I may be moving to Japan next summer - wife got a job at Yokosuka.

I'm in Hawaii now and I've amassed a healthy collection of tanks, camera gear, a genesis 600, and of course my rEvo.

Just wondering what if any rebreather diving is going on over there, what support exists, what I should bring with me (ie tanks, scooter, etc?) or what's not going to do me any good. I've come across Masa's page, looks like that's all going on in Okinawa, anything going on Honshu? Is sorb available or should I stock up and bring it? Anyone diving deep- mod2 depths?

When I moved to Hawaii I learned the hard way that I should have bought all my tanks before I moved instead of when I got here - trying to avoid that sort of situation again. Military will be paying for the move, so that cost isn't really a factor.

Patrick

[moose_grunt]

Kondo's group seemed pretty exclusive to me when I was living in Okinawa, but then again I wasn't diving rebreather then. I know Thomas Jonsson was doing a lot of Meg diving (I think he's an ANDI or IANTD instructor on Meg) as well as a lot of general tech diving (he's also a GUE instructor) in the Tokyo area. Jim Goddard (Discovery Divers Tokyo) also did a fair amount of tech diving, but no rebreather.

I found out there are two different diving communities--military and civilian/expat. They didn't necessarily intertwine, and diving was much different between the two. If you have access to base facilities, you can use your DOT stamped tanks, and might be able to get O2 if the base shop offers it. If you don't have access to those facilities, then you most likely won't be able to get your DOT tanks filled. You might be able to find a shop that is willing to look the other way, but I wouldn't count on it. As to sorb, I think Thomas used to buy in bulk and resell to the expat community. You probably won't find it in shops, though, either on or off base.

I left Japan in 2013, so things may have changed in the past two years...maybe someone else will chime in with an update. I also never lived in the Tokyo area, so hopefully someone with more local knowledge can give some more direction.

Jim

[ntokyo]

There are "Civilian" routes in Tokyo. Not sure about military ones.

In Tokyo, if you want oxy you will need Japanese tanks to get filling (straight valve for rEvo are expensive though). Or boost it yourself. Sorb is not a problem. After, you will not be able to dive anywhere around Tokyo. But still many options.

Contact me when in Toky. Happy to give you tips. Cheers, Nicolas

[Plavin]

Thought I'd update this, I am definitely headed to Japan in July, looks like Iwakuni most likely. Does anyone have any connections there?