Having lived off and on for thirty-five years in Japan, I’ve found a few idiosyncrasies here with regards to driving – things you wouldn’t expect, at least from those of us that learned to drive in North America. Here are my top five;
Gas stations are still right out of 1950’s America. Yes, just like the scene in “Back to the Future”, almost all gas stations here still offer full service. Pull in and you’ll be directed to an open pump by a uniform-attired attendant – then two more will run, yes run, to your car. One will take your order while the other will wipe the front, side and rear windows. You’ll be offered a wet towel so you can wipe the inside of the windshield. They’ll ask if you want them to look under the hood and check the tire pressure. If the tire pressure is low, no need to pull over to the air hose, they have portable air canisters to top them off. Pay your bill, and they’ll run out to the intersection, then wave you into the road when there’s a gap in traffic – and send you off with a bow and a doffed cap. There are self-serve pumps, but they’re a clear minority. In Japan, customer service still reigns supreme…
Japanese take trips to visit expressway road stops and service areas. That was something I didn’t expect, given the condition of road stops and service areas in the US. In Japan, these areas are destinations unto themselves. The service areas here are all spotless and have restaurants and shops specific to the geographic area and region where they are located, some quite prestigious. Almost all will have a variety of food choices and most are renowned for their local cuisine. And as the Japanese are all gift-givers, there are a multitude of shops selling snacks, goods, and locally grown fruits and vegetables. Almost all outside the cities are located near a scenic area – rivers, mountains, etc., so you can enjoy the view while eating your bowl of delicious Aichi-prefecture spicy-shoyu ramen…
Japanese don’t honk. I’ve been to a lot of big cities, both in the US and abroad, and the one thing they have in common is a cacophony of horns. But not in Japan – the Japanese don’t use their horns to display their displeasure at some traffic effrontery. And that includes that most egregious of traffic misbehavior – staying put when the light changes from red to green. Just based on my own unscientific observation, the unwritten social rule here in Tokyo is that drivers have a five second “grace period” at a green light before the horns start to blare. And then it’s just a quick hit, not a long blast. You don’t hear horns for other traffic slights either. It makes for peaceful motoring.
Motorcycles and scooters can pass between lanes and on the outside of lanes – lane splitting. This was a shock for me when I first arrived in Japan. Seeing motorcycles and scooters passing cars between lanes. It just seemed so risky. But you become used to it, albeit with a heightened sense of alertness. Changing lanes requires a lot more checking and glances over your shoulder to ensure a bike is not zooming up beside you. And good turn signal etiquette is a must also.
Getting and renewing a Japanese drivers license is a lesson in bureaucracy. Last time I renewed my license in-person in the US (which was quite few years ago) I went to the local Ohio license agency, gave them my old license, signed the new print-out application, looked into a machine that tested for color-blindness, stepped back for a picture, and had my license a few minutes later. I renewed my license here in Japan this past summer, and it took four hours. I arrived at the license bureau and went to Step 1; showing your old license and getting an application for renewal. Then it was off to Step 2 to fill out the application and pay. From there you go to another station where you get a quick eye exam. Next station inquires if you have any health conditions that would make you ineligible to drive. From there you go to an ATM-like machine where you select your PIN code. Next is a station that double-checks your identity by having you show two picture IDs. Then it’s off to turn in your old license and get your new picture taken. After that, you go to a station to schedule your mandatory hour and a-half drivers safety class (for those on their first renewal – all others have a thirty minute class). After the class is finished, you can go pick up your license, and before leaving check to see if your PIN works. It sounds bureaucratic and it is, but the folks at each station know their jobs and keep things moving with a minimum of disruption.
Irrespective of how long I’ve lived here in Japan, I still experience something new and surprising each day…it keeps life interesting…
Wow full service gas stations they are but a vague memory, but lane splitting is legal here only in slow moving traffic though, gas station food here well I guess you can eat it the coffee is usually ok but destinations they are not and Im in them daily refueling my truck though that is changing with restaurants opening up around highway fuel stops but still mostly fast food joints youd recognize, driving in Japan doesnt sound too bad.
The ONLY ‘service’ we get in USA/ Canada now is Ben….Dover! L0L I remember when people had pride in their work, and pride in their service too! That’s LONG…..gone.
Lane splitting is likewise legal in California. While attending language school in Monterey, I rode home to Treasure Island every Friday just as the late afternoon tourist traffic headed into San Francisco seeking evening amusements. Being able to split lanes and cut through stopped traffic had me thanking the traffic gods I had a bike. When traffic was completely stopped I also prayed they’d protect me from the occasional motorist opening their car door to check the cause of the backup. I wish more states allowed lane splitting. Makes a lot of sense on crowded freeways. The US is backwards in prohibiting this in most states.
Yes on this, lane-splitting is what made motorcycle riding bearable (and worth doing as a commuter) in CA for me. Nowadays I see motorcyclists caught up on traffic jams etc in the heat and just remember the waves of heat coming up during a traffic light…
The speed limit in CA for splitting is I think 30mph, it seemed quite safe (in proportion to the exercise in general), it’s not hard to see what a driver ahead of you is doing or noting him/her veering subtly away from the area you want to be in etc…And if traffic is at a full stop you don’t go through there at 30 but thread your way through at a little over walking pace…
As a driver I generally preferred it as well, I’d rather have the motorcyclist get ahead of me than have him on my flank for miles and miles and have to remember where he was and consider him constantly, not being able to constantly see him (or her).
I have been wondering why California doesn’t designate the space immediately to the left of the freeway fast lane for motorcycles. Generally, the bikes split the left and second lane, and most drivers are good about it. But it makes changing lanes into or out of the left lane extremely tedious.
The problem is not so much that there will occasionally be an accident (there is always that problem, as traffic engineers will tell you, that sooner or later, every inch of the roadside will come in contact with a crashing car), but that the consequences for the motorcyclist can be so dire. I don’t know the stats on lane splitting accident rates, but I would prefer to see the motorcycles on the left side of the fast lane, breezing by without much of a care, while the rest of us grind away in traffic.
I agree Rob! I have a 72 volt ebike and it can easily fit between 2 cars, and that gets me home quicker! I have to be SUPER-alert though!
All I can add is about the honking. Even here in today’s U.S. Honking just means you’re an asshole, usually by Benz, Porsche or RAM drivers who think they are both above the law or better than you. I live in NW Oregon, and I am sick of these wannabe I have clout clowns.
While I am inclined to want to agree with you, I actually think that in some parts of the country, it’s almost worse than that. I’ve found in the past 4 or 5 years…particularly when driving in DC (the city where I learned to drive), but really in most Northeast cities…honking has become almost reflexive when the light changes.
I can’t count the number of times I’m sitting a few cars back from a light when it changes and I IMMEDIATELY hear honking from cars somewhere in the line waiting to proceed. So yeah, maybe they’re jerks…but when jerks appear to be everywhere, I think it’s more than just an individual personality flaw.
The last time I was in China they did something interesting at their traffic lights; while a lot of countries do a yellow before the green as well to warn drivers that it’s almost time to go, in China a lot of large intersections have a large yellow digit countdown clock that would display exactly how many seconds until the light turned green.
That said it does get somewhat annoying when people aren’t remotely ready to go, clearly on their phone not paying any attention and you’ve been in traffic for a long time. Just like when you’re at the supermarket or Costco, the person in front of you is getting rung up, and not until everything is past the scanner and being bagged and the total is rung up, then that’s the time they open their bag and start to search for their method of payment…
Ah man, you’ve hit on one of my real pet peeves, especially here around DC. I’m, say, third or fourth at a light, it turns green, and the car behind _me_ immediately starts honking. What do you want me to do, buddy? Drive over the cars ahead of us? You can’t take the literal second it would need to see that there are cars in the way? Grr. Not that I’m irritated.
During my work day a honking contest can be some fun twin airhorns on the roof of my truck drown cars out completely but generally car traffic id quite good with exception of people getting too close in front, I cant stop quickly.
My son bagged the horns off a decommissioned loco, and fitted them to a mate’s Nissan Patrol. “You call that a horn? THIS is a horn!” 🙂
@ R&DMan, I agree some CLOWN was laying on his horn a while back for no good reason, and I gave him a good piece of my alleged lol mind! Society has DEvolved a LONG time ago, so I try to WITHDRAW from it as much as possible.
I love the destination rest area concept. Before we traveled with kids (and the big yellow arches became so highly prized) we made it a point to eat at places (and to order things) we couldn’t get at home. This, of course, almost always required a trek from the highway into a nearby town. A restaurant/market that is focused on the local would be a cool thing here.
There are the cult gas stations here in the USA people make a point to actually visit/eat at. Sheetz and Wawa for people up north, Bucees for those in texas(they are expanding in the southeast) The Racetrac gas stations in TN have legit buy by the slice pizza(way better than pizza hut, little caesars, etc) Also dont confuse them with Raceway, which have no pizza and are always dirty/nasty/rundown.
Still though its all corporate owned and really just well executed fast food. Would be neat to have local and healthier places to eat at on our interstate exits like in japan
These five are a near-perfect condensation of Japanese culture overall. Which is of course stating the obvious.
I was always amazed at how orderly, polite and clean everything is there despite the massive crowds and congestion. No country does that better.
If you think about it, many of these ‘perks’ of Japanese culture and society could/should be the norm in advanced countries. Or used to be. But we increasingly have a ‘bottom line’ oriented approach to many services to the public now, in other parts of the world. Thoughtful courtesies I remember as a kids in the ’70s, like occasional cars behind you flashing their lights when they about to pass you, are long gone. Or cars actually braking promptly to ensure they stopped for yellow or red lights for pedestrians. Remember when you used to actually hear cars brake hard for red lights. Even with pedestrians about to cross, more and more cars sail at speed through yellow and red lights.
+1
And looking at the service provided by the Japanese gas station, my mind goes to the fact that that station is providing jobs for 3 people. 3 people who seem to have pride in their jobs and their work. And I’m sure that whoever owns that station is able to make money through their ownership, while still providing jobs to three times the number of people who would be employed at any of the gas stations that I go to. I’m sure that there are some aspects of Japanese culture that I as an American would find difficult (tourism of Interstate rest-stops…maybe not so much), but personally I would much rather be either a customer or employee of the Japanese gas station.
In Oregon they have gas attendants that fill your tank. I haven’t found any to clean your windshield or other services.
I just got this email prompt, and it’s very applicable to THIS topic, about our LACK of service in our societies.
VERSE OF THE DAY
September 10
Colossians 3:23
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,
I’ll TRANSlate! lol ” A job worth doing, is a job worth doing…GOOD!”
+1
” more and more cars sail at speed through yellow and red lights”
Toronto? I’ve had people behind me honk at me for stopping for yellow lights, as the law requires. Many people memorize those intersections with red light cameras. No-camera intersections see more red light runners. Between that and the wholesale running stop signs make defensive driving skills essential.
My lovely wife lacks such skills and has been hit regularly in her car. It’s never her fault but she’s too trusting that other motorists will drive properly. She obeys the law but is unprepared when the other guy does something adventurously illegal and unpredictable.
Indeed. I’m a regular pedestrian who walks to work in Ottawa. Professionally driven transit buses fully stopped at intersection bus stops letting passengers on, will then accelerate through a yellow light at the same intersection. Sometimes a red light. Routine.
People lacking patience and/or tolerance. These are ‘professional’ drivers, on the job, with passengers.
In many (most?) Japanese cities, railway stations have evolved into big, destination upscale shopping malls that happen to have trains. When I was visiting Nagoya (Toyota’s hometown) a decade ago, the locals told me that the railway station had the best food. It turned out they were not kidding. Quite a shock to one who’s main rail “food” experiences had been in the US and UK.
It sounds they simply applied the same thinking to expressway service areas.
Great article Jim, very informative and interesting. I don’t have much to add other than the last time I’d gotten my license renewed here in Ohio I didn’t actually leave with a new license. They used a machine to punch a bunch of holes in my old license to use while I waited for my new license to arrive by mail.
Man, I would love to see a full service station like the old days, clean your windshield,or buy tires and shocks. Remember Atlas tires and shocks, sold and installed at the corner gas station? My dad bought a set of tires, which said Union 76 on them about 1970. These stations should come back.
I think this goes a long way to explaining why some Japanese cars (at least the smaller ones) have such “wimpy” sounding horns.
As a kid I remember Pennsylvania and a few other states, awarded contracts to restaurants for exclusive rights to serving food at rest stops on the turnpike and interstates. Towards the end, restaurants were mostly fast food “joints”. My sister and I loved Howard Johnsons and always ordered food we didn’t get at home, like BLTs.
Yellow light here means stop if you can safely, If Im too close stopping isnt even an option in my truck I simply cant, air brakes discs on the trailer and 28 tyres on the ground is fine, but 30,000 kg of bulk liquid is a lot to overcome, and empty its even worse no weight no traction, especially if the road is wet.
Good point kiwi! I don’t envy you trying to make a buck by truck! (Unless U R getting paid by the hour!) I did that in the 70s-80s, as an owner/operator in Vancouver! Ask me why I drink. L0L
Have traveled to Japan many times. Having lived once in Japan for a year my wife and I and leased a van for a 10,000 km road trip. We were shocked and delighted by the rest stops. We often camped in the parking lots and once, in Tohoku (the rural north) we pulled up to a large rest stop late at night to find it unlocked! I got close enough to the front door which opened automatically and also turned on the lights. I can say that Japan is a dream to travel by car or van. Rural Japan is becoming more empty by the day, but retains excellent roads, services, and less and less traffic. For traversing urban Japan just jump on the expressway and bite the bullet with tolls (many years ago the toll for crossing the Seto Nai Kai Bridge was $60 each way, now its free), but gets you through the cities quickly.
My understanding is its actually against the law to use your horn in Japan except in specific situations. I also always thought motorcycles were allowed to split lanes because their air-cooled engines were too prone to overheating.
The author should write about the cost of learning to drive in Japan as well as the absurdly low price of used cars (they used to be even cheaper).
I once sat at a light early one morning and watched the manager of a gas station run his staff through their paces practicing their bowing. Saw a group of tour bus drivers once practicing the same thing.
Douglas,
It is against the law to sound ones horn in the US unless for an emergency. The difference I believe in behavior is that “laws” in the US are often regarded as advisory. Many laws, little enforcement. In Japan, the expectation is that laws will be followed, always. The political situation in Japan has allowed organized crime and corruption to flourish, but it operates behind the scenes.
I have never been to Japan, but about 10 years ago we had a client in Seoul and I spent a bit of time there. My apartment was in Gangnam, which is a very trendy part of town. Just down the street was a Hyundai department store, which was exceedingly high end. We know Hyundai as an automobile company, but it is huge conglomerate with many businesses, mostly heavy industry, but also including retail. The store had its own underground parking garage, with a ticket dispensing machine and a gate at the top of the entrance ramp. This was evidently not up to the service requirements of the store, so they had a female employee stand beside the machine. Like all staff she was wearing a dark suit with a white blouse and white gloves, When a car drove up she pressed the button, took the ticket from the machine, and handed it to the driver with a slight bow.
The bowing is normal there. In the office when you met people in the morning at the elevator, you would bow slightly instead of saying good morning. It is just tilting your head and your shoulders a bit.
Unfortunately I do not have a photo of the this, but I do have one of a similar arrangement at the parking for the Convention Center next door. She does not appear to have a ticket machine.
In Mexico, all gas stations are full service, and they wash your windows and check the tires if you wish. After living in Mexico for over ten years, it was hard adjusting to self service gas stations when I was visiting the US again.
How is it I’ve never seen a comedy sketch of the Japanese full service gas station process? Somebody needs to get on that pronto. Living in the city I’m 100% for the no honking etiquette.
I find the prank in this video to be hilarious. In Japan it would likely be cause for a police radio BOLO alert.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://m.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3D1aZO3mz9eWc&ved=2ahUKEwiKkeO8poz6AhXuk4kEHe2mCHYQo7QBegQIBxAF&usg=AOvVaw3001X9I_icziYtFOL2PROD
Jim,
Thank you for this great story. I enjoyed it greatly. My only experience in Japan was cycling occasionally for a month in April 2013. I noticed the gas station attendants in action. More noteworthy was the consideration of the motorists. Despite the paucity of cyclists on the country roads, and the absence of potholes, I experienced no brush backs nor other murderous behavior. I would love to see a requied class for license renewal. In California where I live, I often ask my friends who have standard licenses about renewal testing. No one reports any kind of skill or knowledge demonstration until age and health declines are overwhelming evident.
My girlfriend did seem to really enjoy thing e food of her city very much, an emphasis absent from my life and that of my upbringing. The US, despite its huge geographical and human diversity, is rather homogeneous and dull with national chains dominating.
Love this post, Jim-san!
I am still in the initial stages of this voyage of discovery myself. The (relative) lack of honking is, I find, partially offset by various sound trucks (those who sell stuff, those that advertise for stuff or the political ones that sell candidates or ideology), big motorcycles and boy racers in their souped-up Skylines. Oh and the damn firetrucks and ambulances, sirens at full blast in the dead of night, while stopping at every intersection to essentially blare “Sorry, sorry, emergency vehicle going through / turning left/right!” OVER THE SOUND OF THE BLOODY SIRENS. Sorry, it’s one of those things I’m still getting used to.
Re: petrol stations, the thing that keeps my mouth agape are the ones with ceiling-mounted pumps. Great space-saving concept, but it sure looks like a complex system
Thanks T. Yep, we have some boy racers in the neighborhood who also like to interrupt our Saturday nights with their two-cycle aural assault…the cops never seem to catch them. Those overhead pumps really shocked me too…
Pretty neat IMO .
I especially like the pic. of the service bay, so clean and tidy .
In the early 1970’s I ran a three pump island for Atlantic Richfield, full service to all comers .
The service are was old and beat but we tried to keep it clean.
I think a trip to Japan would be fun .
-Nate