Motoring oddities

Photos of some of the things we have found different

Directing Traffic 2 - May 2007

Photo - Nagoya Port - Golden Week - May 2007 - One of the army directing traffic.

There are so many people in Japan that direct traffic. (Which is a good thing) Road works, industrial sites has people waving you around obstacles Most medium to large size carparks have an army of people directing traffic. Everyone seems in on the act. Our hairdresser helps us when we leave the salon by stopping traffic and waving directions. Maybe Japanese people have the traffic directing gene!

Gas Station - Apr 2007

Near Hongo station, the petrol bowsers are in the roof saves space. This is not common but you do see them around. These are full service stations though, not self serve. (Photo by Susan Ryles)

Car Parks - Type 4 - May 2007

May 2007 - Near Ginza in Tokyo. Lft style car parks are more common for residential than for commercial parking.

Stuffed Animals.in Cars

Visiting Monica - April 2007
Have not seen a collection for a while, but the rear window of this car is building a collection
Stuffed Animals

Directing Traffic - Apr 2007

Everyone in Japan appears at some time in their lives to have to direct traffic. There are thousands of car park attendants everywhere you go and every road in Japan seems to be having roadwork where construction workers, or road workers are waving flags at you. Even when I have my haircut, the staff always come out and wave me instructions for when to pull out.

But this was unexpected. Traffic waving dummies. I saw them soon after I arrived in Japan and have been trying to get a photo. I never have the camera, or I am driving and cannot take a shot. But on our recent trip to Tsumago I finally got some photos. The life size dummies are always dressed the same way with their arm going up and down.

polite Sign

The thank you sign for Roadwork - Apr 2007

Yes after you have driven through the roadworl, there is a little sign to apologise for the inconvenience.

Car Parks - Type 3 - March 2007

March 2007 - First time I have seen this type of car park. Just near the local shops at Fujigaoka. Must have driven past it a number of times and not noticed

Car Parks - Type 2 - March 2007

March 2007 - First time I have seen this type of car park. Looks pretty inonvenient too. This was taken in downtown Kyoto.

Car Parks - Type 1 - December 2006

There are a number of different car parking options in Japan. This photo is of a car park in Hiroshima ( there are similar car parks all over Nagoya).

Basically you drive your car in to the machine and turn off the engine. Once you have got out the attendant pushes a button and your car is rotated around and a new space is made available. I am not sure if the machine is like a chain and rotates the cars around a central pole, or whether it is U shaped and the cars are moved either left or right.

We stood and watched the cars being rotated around. Lots of fun

a few new Odd.Photos

I took this when I walked down to take a photo of St Nicoraus. What to do when your car is longer than your garage is deep.

Easy to read - Road Signs - January 2007

How are you meant to understand this sign when you are driving past it!

Freeway signs explaining where to go are so complicated that they are useless. There is one sign between Tokyo and Nagoya that puts this example to shame in its level of complexity. Thank god for the Navi (GPS)!

roadmap2

Here is another sign from near Kobe in Feb 2008. Please remember that these are not the most complicated that I have seen, just one's where I have had my camera handy.

Easy to read - Traffic Lights - March 2007

These traffic lights areat some major intersections. They always confused me and I was never sure what to do. I meanwhat do you do when you get a red light AND a green arrow?

I finally found the answer on another website (which is well worth a look), "The red signal does not mean that you are supposed to stop. It means that traffic coming in the opposite direction has a red light so you can make right and left turns (or go straight through) without having to worry about oncoming traffic. This system is also used in some Canadian cities. Answer kindly submitted by Raymond J. Smith and Mike Kuma" - From the very interesting http://www.quirkyjapan.or.tv/saq.html

Japanese Hearse - December 2006

Photo by Jan Moesen (Thanks Jan)

hearse

May 2007 - Toyota City

Occasionally seen in Nagoya are the amazing Japanese buddhist-style hearses.The back of the hease is done up like a Shrine. Funerals are big business in Japan and heases can be incredibly ornate. The wikipedia Hearse page has a good photo.

While looking for some good linksfor here I came across information about the largest cemetary in Japan, Okuno-In near Osaka. The cemetary contains company burial sites. See the links I found, the triva section of the Wiki Japanese funeral page and Justin Hall's description from 2002.

Stuffed Animals.in Cars

It is common to see stuffed animals on car dashboards, some people have pretty impressive displays and we are amazed they can actually see out of their cars. . Hello kitty and disney are perrenial favorites.

Jan's Photos from Nagashima Carpark - October 2006