OBTAINING A DRIVERS LICENSE

Before I give you some insight into obtaining a Japanese driver's license, I want to add to my last blog about driving. Occasionally we need to go to the Christian School which is less than 7 miles away. The problem is that between here and there, one needs to go through 37 stoplights. Sometimes they are green, sometimes they are yellow, sometimes they are red, and occasionally I would call the color a real deep orange (if you catch my drift).

Now back to the test. First, you have to have your present license translated into Japanese. Then you must go for a written test which consists of 10 true/false questions. Some sample tests can be found on the Internet and here are a few of those questions.

1. If you are in a hurry it is okay if you do not slow down for an ambulance.

2. If you are going to drive a motor vehicle, it is important to know the rules of the road.

3. If you consume only a small amount of alcohol or sleeping medication, but still feel OK, it is acceptable to operate a motor vehicle.

4. When crossing a railway you should gear down so you can accelerate quicker if needed.

5. With a yellow blinking light, you can go through the intersection without paying attention to other drivers.

Some of the questions pertain to road signs. The stop sign is painted on the road and looks like this.

Speed limit signs might be painted on the road or they could be on a pole.

Also on many poles there are mirrors positioned to help a person to see if another car is coming around a sharp turn or a blind curve. This is a picture of the exit from our campus and you can see the one mirror--there are two, one on each corner of the entry to the OMS Campus.

And here is a picture of what I sometimes see as I attempt to leave the Campus.

Of course I have to check the mirror in the other direction as well...but I digress.

If you pass the written portion, then you can schedule a day for your driving test. This is taken on a closed course and 12 people will be scheduled to arrive at the same time to take their test. The order is randomly chosen after everyone arrives. You will know when you complete the course (or sooner in some cases) whether or not you have passed, but all 12 people have to stay until all are done. Also, the next person scheduled gets to ride in the backseat while you take your test, so they can see what the course is like. (No I don’t know what happens if you are the first driver. It seems like a disadvantage but…) Since many Japanese roads are very narrow (see previous blog), part of the test is driving between poles that are hung along both sides of the test road. If you hit one, you have to come back another day to take the test again. There is a charge for each part of the test, and the total cost for obtaining your license is around $75. Of course if you don't pass, you have to pay again for each part of the test that you retake.

To help me get ready for the written part of the test, OMS has a “RULES OF THE ROAD” book in English. One page that I found particularly interesting was the “don’ts” of the road which are as follows:

1) One must not take inherently dangerous actions on the road as indicated below:

· Pedestrians must not stagger drunkenly on the road, or otherwise interfere with road traffic by talking, sitting, or lying on the road.

· Don't rollerskate, skate board, or play catch, etc., where there's a lot of traffic.

· Don't throw or shoot anything into the street.

· It's illegal to damage the road, or to pour wastewater, rubbish, nails, broken glass, or any other item which can interfere with traffic.

· It's illegal to throw cigarette butts, wastepaper, empty cans or any other rubbish out of the car window. One should also refrain from placing any part of his / her body outside the vehicle.

· It's illegal to grab onto a moving automobile or street car.

· One must not flash a light onto the road, as an approaching driver could be blinded.

· Don't pour water on the road when there is a danger of freezing.

2) Don't display goods or place sand, lumber, or other items on the road in a way that can obstruct traffic.

3) It's dangerous when traffic lights, road signs, or pavement markings are difficult to distinguish. It's against the law to erect a neon light, etc., near a traffic light or to post signs which can be confused with traffic signs. It's also prohibited to damage, alter, or otherwise tamper with traffic lights, road signs, or pavement markings.

4) It's a violation of the law to ask a non-licensed individual or person who has had even a single drink to operate a motor vehicle. One should never rush or disturb the driver.

5) It's also illegal to offer alcohol to any individual who will be driving.

6) It's prohibited to ask someone to drive an overloaded vehicle (carrying objects heavier than the legal weight limit), or to sell or deliver objects to a driver that will knowingly overload the vehicle.

Some make good sense. Others bring strange pictures to my mind.

But even if a person thinks they've done everything perfectly, there may still be cause for concern. We were told that one person who didn't pass and asked why, was told,"You didn't do anything wrong, I just didn't like the way you drove."

I'll let you know in the spring how the test went.

By the way, in case you were wondering, the answers to the true and false questions above are:

F T F F F

GOOD NEWS/BAD NEWS

The good news is—we have a car. The bad news is—we have a car (actually it’s called a Kei-Van) and that means I have to drive. Over here they drive on the left side of the road and the driver sits on the right side of the car. At least the floor pedals are in the right order, but the turn signal and windshield wiper levers are reversed so occasionally when, at the last moment, I put on the turn signal, the windshield wipers go. Actually I had been driving a borrowed car that our neighbors had let us use and it’s really not too bad, although the roads in Japan can be described with 3 words: narrow, curvy and unmarked. In the US every little alley has a name; not so here, as only the major roads are named.

Many roads here would be a narrow one-way street in the U.S., but many of them are 2-way (as you can see below),

and all cars have side mirrors that fold in if things really get tight! The other problem with the narrow roads is that I am told (although officially unconfirmed) that in our area there is no such thing as a right of way for the utility companies. So since a land owner would not have to allow the company access to their poles, the poles are put out on the road.

Also the shape of a homeowner's lot can be irregular so the road width may need to change suddenly.

And you always must be alert for bicycles and especially motorcycles which do not wait their turn. Motorcycles will pass on either side, and they always go to the front of the line when waiting at a stoplight or for a train. Sometimes on the major highways, they may decide to ride between cars, thereby creating a very narrow third lane.

Getting gas here is somewhat like getting gas in the States in the early 1960’s. When you pull in, an attendant tells you exactly where to stop, and if they aren’t busy you may have two people washing your windows and checking your oil.

Afterwards, someone will stop traffic so that you can safely leave the station.

From the picture, you can see that gas is 142 and that would be in yen. At today’s rate of exchange that would be about $1.45.

Now before you get too excited and think how easy we have it, let me point out that over here they charge by the liter and since there are 3.87 liters per gallon, our gas costs $5.63 per gallon. SO STOP YOUR COMPLAINING about high gas prices.

Probably some time in the spring I will need to get a Japanese driver's license which will require both a written and a driving test. I'll give you some information on how that process will go in my next blog.

HAPPY DRIVING.