JapanNewbie

Drive

Posted on 21. May, 2002 @ 1:03 am by harvey in Culture Views: 71

�h���C�u�s�����I Let’s go drive!

Huh? Go driving? To where?

You just wanna… drive?

I was first introduced to the concept of ‘driving for pleasure’ while I was in Japan. Since being back in the states I had completely forgotten about it until a Japanese friend recently reminded me.

Maybe it’s because I’m from the Midwest… but we never just went out and ‘drove’ for fun.

Driving to the mall? Sure. Drive to the arcade? Many times. Drive to the lake? Ok. But just… drive?

I guess if I lived in a really scenic area it would be more entertaining, but just driving around Indiana, or most likely anywhere in the midwest, strikes me as being really freakin’ boring.

Is this ‘drive’ a ‘Japan-thing’? Or is it just something that I’m not used to?

Here is a ‘Drive Guide’ website that I dug up with a quick Google search. I haven’t actually taken the time to read through
the whole thing yet, but it looks fairly interesting.

It looks like it has information on choice spots to drive around in throughout Japan. Since the public transportation system is so convenient in Japan, I guess driving can really be seen as a pleasure activity. Where I live though, without a car, you’re not going anywhere.

The whole ‘car’ thing has a different feel in Japan. From what I noticed, people in Japan tended to keep their cars extremely clean. A lot of my friends went out of their way to decorate the insides of their car, kind of like some people decorate their rooms. Stuffed animals in the windshield, fake flowers hanging from the mirrors, trash cans in the backseat, whatever.

I read somewhere that the lack of personal space in Japan causes people to value the time they have in their vehicles away from the rest of the world. I don’t buy that particular idea… but it’s one possible explanation.

Enough babbling for one day. I’m sleepy.

-Harvey