Driving in Japan

Since we’re going to be here for so long, we decided to rent an apartment closer to work (the hour-long commute at 6:30 in the morning is killing me!). The secretary at work set it all up (since the rental office wouldn’t let us sign anything without a qualified Japanese person to play parent) and “all” I had to do was find my way to Hitachi before 7pm to pay the bill. I left at 3 and although I was assured it was a 50 minute drive, I didn’t get there for 2 hours. This seems like the perfect time to comment on driving in Japan (yes, rant alert).

First, there’s driving on the left side of the road. It’s rather interesting – like playing Bomberman with reverse controller disease, only more life threatening if you mess up. Getting over the lifelong compulsion to “stay to the right” is incredibly hard – subconsciously you keep expecting to be hit because you’re in the wrong lane. And then there are the habitual screwups. What I’ve noticed is that stories about it are only funny to people who’ve actually tried it. Some deserve mention nonetheless:

· Yes, I turn on the windshield wipers when I want the turn signal. But it’s even more ironic to spend all day turning on the windshield wipers by accident, and then get the turn signal by accident once it starts raining.

· The shift lever is on the left, so the instinct for both passenger and driver is for the passenger to shift. Never mind trying to figure out which car door to get in at.

· Look over your LEFT shoulder to back up. And look up to the LEFT for the rearview mirror. The right in either case leaves you staring into the support columns of the car, which aren’t particularly see-through.

For all the Japanese call themselves a fast-paced society, their speed limits do NOT reflect it. We took the toll road part way back from Nikko (the only roads in Japan without stop lights are these toll roads – essentially they’re what we consider highways) and the speed limit was 80. And they’re not talking miles per hour here. The fastest highway in this country has a speed limit of 50 mph!!!! EGAD! (the road to work is mostly 40 or 50 kph, with occasional stints of 30) Luckily for my sanity, standard speed seems to be 20 kph faster than the posted limit.

We think a stop sign is a red upside-down triangle. I say “we think” because although that’s what the guide book tells us, we’ve never actually seen a Japanese driver stop at one. The only times you see them stop is for railroad crossings. I’m guessing that means the train also runs stop signs.

Red lights are similarly optional. I’ve seen people run lights that were so red a Bostonian wouldn’t even try it. Not to mention that it’s perfectly acceptable to go through a red if you know it’s going to turn green in the next 30 seconds.

If the oncoming car is more than 3 car lengths behind the one in front, you have more than enough time to make the right turn. That car will wait for you. Especially if it’s an American driver seeing her life flash before her eyes.

What passes for a pickup truck here looks like a little VW mini-bus with the back chopped in half to get a truck bed. If you see one of those coming, give them right of way. Maybe it’s just me, but all the near accidents I’ve been in (and all the cursing I’ve heard) has involved one of those things. Maybe it’s like sailing – right of way goes to the working boats like tug boats and these things are the tug boats of Japanese streets. I don’t know. All I know they’ve been trying to kill me all week. (I did see a crew cab version of the thing – if I hadn’t been so afraid of it, I would have taken a picture)

Ironically, if you take the Japanese out of their cars and make them pedestrians, these same people will now wait patiently by the side of the road in the pouring rain to get a walk sign. Even if it’s clear the street light is out of order (ok, it wasn’t raining that day, but she did wait a really long time – she only crossed once I got to the intersection and crossed myself).