FunCargo

See car. 
See Americans driving car.
See Americans trying to park large cars in our tiny parking areas. 
Laugh at silly Americans. 
Oh, look!
Look at their fun car!
Go, car, go!
See that FunCargo!


Driving in Japan has certainly been. . . fun? We had to take a driving test the week we got here to get our special military licences. Probably the most terrifying part of getting out and about is all the hassle and trouble of getting into an accident in a foreign country. As if getting into an accident isn't a pain enough, they told us horror stories of making sure to call base police for ANY incident or J. could practically get court-marshaled! We noticed right away how many people run red lights. We've learned that Americans call it the "3-car Rule" and it's really true. You all know the feeling of not wanting to sit through one more cycle of that light, and Japanese people know that feeling too. They have really limited parking here as well. Makes sense, because it would probably only take 1 Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy parking lot trio to fill their landmass. So without parking, as you're trying to drive down major roads, there are cars stopped all over the place along the shoulder, with half their car in the far left lane, which causes everyone to veer to the right to avoid them. It seems like a fluid dance that everyone knows the steps to. We learned fast. Lots of their cars seem to come with curtains as a standard option, too. Kind of funny. It's like they're saying, "Oh, let's make this all a little more dangerous by draping dark curtains on the front windows to block our vision." And even though car seats are sold in stores, it seems people buy them just for looks. You see little kids climbing all over the seats. I really don't know what their laws are on that. We were told it doesn't matter what they do, it's still a law for us! The other day I saw a baby sitting backwards in his car seat in the front seat (with plenty of room in the back). I admit it would make it a ton easier to keep babies happy if you could keep constant eye contact. So that's a little different. If cars parked halfway in your lane isn't enough to worry about, driving safely for the sake of those other kids keeps me alert.
Anyway, after quickly buying the Odyssey and an RVR that was almost the same length of the van, I decided that maybe a slightly smaller car would be better for these streets. There are plenty of Americans making their mini-vans work, and a few Japanese who drive them as well, but for the most part, the roads are consumed with pug-nosed "box cars." Their hoods are so tiny because of their extremely small engines. The cars with small engines get yellow license plates so you know to give them extra time to get going, which is nice for everyone involved. I also had a nice little incident in the van when I was following a friend to a restaurant. We parked along the street, and after backing up for her so she wouldn't hang out into a driveway, I was hanging out into one myself. She didn't seem worried by it, so I wasn't, until the owner of that business came in to the restaurant with his camera in hand speaking loudly to the owners. I quickly made my way outside to move the van, with the very irate man behind me (and he was BIG!). I gave him my best "sumi masen", to which he replied, "NO sumi masen!" (probably because that wasn't the right phrase for that situation :) and banged his hand down on my hood, standing at my window waiting for me to move. It's a good thing I couldn't understand all that he was saying, because I was already flustered enough as to have put the car into reverse before trying to start it. So I sit there for what seemed like forever, thinking the van was broken now because it wouldn't start! Ha, I eventually got it going and moved farther down the street, and left him out on the curb with the 2 restaurant owners. We all felt pretty awful as he kept them out there for a good 10 more minutes, taking all the past injustices of his life out on them. In my mind, a tinier car might not have impeded on his driveway and could've saved us all from his wrath. . . so I started looking. 
Actually, I already knew which one I wanted. . The Toyota FunCargo. Oh yes, it's a Fun Car GO! It's still on the larger side for a vehicle here, but it's almost 3 feet shorter than the van, and just knowing that it's smaller has given me some extra confidence at getting in and out of places. I'm pretty sure it's the best-named car ever, although they do have some other pretty unique names. . . . the MOVE (I think they should've just added the exclamation point), the Vellfire, and others that just aren't coming to me right now. :)
J. was kind enough to let me sell his car, so we could keep the 7-seater for when we have company (who's coming first?!). My favorite thing about the car is that it's yellow! There aren't many brightly colored vehicles here - silver and white seem to be the colors of choice, so that makes it extra fun. Here's a pic so you can picture us, driving around in style now on the left-side of the road!

Actually an internet pic, but this is still our car. Fun, eh?