Useless Info
 

Not really relevant to you folks, but there is a campaign here in Japan to get everyone on board the Electronic Toll Collection wagon. The gov of japan is giving out over 15,000 yen (about 150 yankee dollars now) to purchase a setup. There are two available, one with the antenna out under the fairing and the card reader, etc. under the seat (in the toolbox it seems) and another unit set with the antenna, reader and other stuff in a small unit that will probably go on top of the right or left side of the fairing. One just has to remember to take the card out when parking to keep it out of greedy fingers.
The good thing is there is now a measure in place to reduce tolls and increase traffic by making the upper limit 1000 yen no matter the distance traveled! This can be a saving of more than $100 on some longer tours, but you have to have the ETC unit to qualify.
The dealer has a test unit to see where the unit can be placed (I am going for the outside unit for a variety of reasons), so we just need to see where the antenna can be placed for accurate and positive recognition. (they have made the gates at toll booths for ETC vehicles much shorter to provide a space in the middle for bikes to go through if the unit is does not read properly instead of crashing, but cameras are placed at the exit to catch those trying to get by free).
Should make touring here a bit more fun and cheap!