Driving in Japan is not as hard as everyone seems to make out. However it different. Some of the differences I have noticed:
- People drive a lot slower here. Admittedly the speed limits are lower here – 40 to 60km/h on the national roads, and the traffic moves at about 60-70km/h on a good stretch of road. But that’s actually a good thing! Your car runs more efficiently at lower speeds – cruising along in overdrive at 60km/h is probably the most efficient speed you could be at. As a result, I get decent fuel efficiency even with my big V6 4WD van. Not great, but enough so that I don’t have to extend my loan with the Yakuza any further. Another advantage is that you can get away with driving slowly while trying to read the signs on the buildings and no-one will care.
- Mountain driving. This was a new experience for me. Even today, I’m more careful than most of the other people on the road. Especially when the winding pass with a cliff on the left and a blind corner to the right is only wide enough to accommodate one car. And there is a small, dirty mirror on the road which you are expected to use to navigate the corner. Yeah, call me a pussy but I slow down. I also use my driving lights, or full beam – see below.
- Driving Lights. No-one uses them. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t. It makes you a lot more visible on the road. (Ok, I admit, truck drivers, motorcyclists and anyone going through a tunnel uses lights). Particularly for the mountain passes, you are a lot more visible in the mirrors, which is a good thing. Of course, as far as insurance is concerned it would be nice if everyone else was using them too. But at the end of the day, you want to do everything you can in order to avoid a crash.
- People falling asleep at the wheel. My mate Shonan Dachi gave me this tip. He has been driving in this country for about six years, and it was his number one piece of driving advice, to keep an eye out for people falling asleep at the wheel. These are your stereotypical Japanese salarymen and office ladies who have just put in a 19 hour day at the office, on their way home. Luckily I haven’t seen this yet, though I have seen the aftermath of a truck crash. That could have been related to someone falling asleep at the wheel, or it could be related to my next observation.
- All the assholes on the road are truck drivers. In Australia an asshole on the road can take any shape or form – young, old, male, female, truck-driver, sports car, van driver, or regular sedan-driver. Expect truck drivers to tailgate, overtake at dangerous times, and race you. This is something that I have experienced myself many times. I’m fortunate enough to have a slightly larger car. But if a truck collided with a smaller Kei car I don’t think there would be much left of the Kei.
- Getting from city to city is easy. It’s navigating around a city that is difficult. Ok, this isn’t exactly a revelation, nor is it different to Australia.
Navigating
Good maps are essential. At least, that’s what everyone kept telling me. I just followed the signs, and used Google Maps. It wasn’t easy considering I was on my own, and someone to help navigate, or at the very least a car navigation system, was something that I often longed for. For general navigating, and making my plans I used Japan Atlas: A Bilingual Guide which I strongly recommend you invest in. It has all place names in romaji and kanji, which is useful for so many reasons.Unfortunately the maps are a little light on detail, so I also picked up a Japanese map book for 105 yen at a second hand book store. But between the two books, road signs and Google Maps I managed to survive.
