Driving, Round Two

Driving in Japan is definitely an experience. For a start, they have some of the world’s narrowest roads. Things that we would look at and consider to be a bike path, they actually drive on on a regular basis. Some, but not all, are one way roads. The road we regularly use to go to work is one such road – very busy, frequently in use, and you spend most of the time creeping up the side of the road or pulling into the small driveways and such on the side of the road, or not, in which case it's sorta like a game of legalized chicken in which you hope the other guy pull off to the side before your front bumpers meet. Another road we use on the way to our taiko class is horrible. Take a very narrow road, add lots of turns (fortunately with those wonderful mirrors) but add the ditch on the side of the road (the ones that are very deep and wide enough for a car tire to go into it). It’s a very popular road because it cuts off close to 20 minutes to get to the main highway…need I say more? To get to the dentist I go to, you have to cross a rice paddy on a very narrow road on the dike between fields. It's so narrow I wasn’t even certain it was wide enough for the car!
The attitude towards stop lights is also different. OK…picture this. The light turns yellow….we generally think of stopping because it’s going to be turning red. Uh uh…wrong. It’s turning yellow so you gun it to make sure you get to turn on that light cycle. Now…it has turned red…well….it’s still ok to go for the next 4 seconds because that’s how long everyone has a red light. It was designed to make sure everyone was able to get out of the middle of the intersection but they use it as a great excuse to not have to stop. Now…the cars that are stopped going the other direction are now creeping forward because, after all, the light is going to turn green in 4 seconds so they want to have a jump on the light. Once again, need I say more? Now…add the motorcycles and scooters to this mix. These guys can go anywhere, weave between cars, come up to the front of the line, pass you on any side at any time. They like to come up to the front of the line and the creep out – they’re halfway into the intersection before the light has turned green! Scooters also regularly drive wherever they want to…sidewalks, across fields, weaving among the bikes and walkers….it’s a crazy mix!
Oh yeah…and if you want to just run into a place (cleaners, grocers, flower shop, whatever), just stop the car. It’s fine, really. The guy behind will probably honk the horn but he’ll get over it and you can run in without worrying about finding a parking place. Trucks, busses, cars….everyone just stops when and where they want to. I’m sure it’s not legal, it’s just done. Another dimension to the mystery of driving here.