I do. Sometimes to see if places I've been have changed at all, or to try and remember exactly where something was. Recently though, I've been stalking where I'm heading to; useful to get an idea of the layout before I even arrive!

Whew, glad that I wasn't the only one, thought that I was developing this weird obsession or complex with Japan.....

I use it all the time, nearly every day, to show my students where I've lived and for them to show me their hometowns around Japan.
It's amazing how even little tiny cities in Japan have streetview!

This one old lady student I have hadn't been back to her hometown since pre-war when she was a kid, she nearly broke out in tears seeing her old neighborhood.

Isn't some technology wonderful that way?! I've done it in the streets of Madrid I used to live on. Not that I'm a child of the streets... the apartments I lived in, that is....

what do people think about western food in japan?
i looove japanese food, but sometimes i will get cravings, and a lot of times people i'm with will want "western" food..and i can't help but notice that anywhere in japan I go there are millions of italian places, some english pubs, korean/chinese places, but not a whole lot else..generally speaking. i found a mexican place, with great food and service, and every single time i've gone everyone else there has also been a foreigner (and this is in an area where it's normally somewhat rare to see one). most of the italian places are average..a little surprised that it's acceptable to use ketchup as a topping for pasta in restaurants but other than that ok fine..
McDs and KFC, although I don't consider them real food, do taste better in Japan than in the US for some perverse reason

it's worse when i get japanese food cravings in the US though, because most of the japanese restaurants etc. are run by chinese, and the food quality is very poor and non-authentic BUT most people have not lived in japan so they can't tell the food isn't that great by comparison, hell it's pretty good by american standards, add on to the fact that most people can't tell japanese/chinese apart..there are some great noodle shops and restaurants in new york though, a few inside boston as well

I only found one Spanish place on Aoyama Dori close to Shibuya Eki, but it was closed when I went to eat there. Not that I was looking for many Spanish places, but I was craving some good Spanish food and was wondering what the Japanese take on it was. I am used to the Chicago take on Spanish food and I'm not all that thrilled about it....

wow thats actually a good idea... time to take a trip down memory lane :D

NO GOD! PLEASE NO!!! NOOOOOOOOOO - YouTube

;-;
American universities... why... WHY...

If you have a powerful enough computer, you should install google earth.. the 3D buildings are awesome.... i "walked" around minato mirai the other day on google earth, its not 100% accurate, but I'd say 85%.. of course, the livelihood sensation is still missing.. but then, whatever ease that crave

How about looking at places you grew up?
I know I do that, and I live in Japan permanently. The chances of me actually visiting the town I grew up in are pretty close to nil as all family has moved away. I check up on the house I grew up in and the neighborhood around it...