Owning a Car in Japan

You learn something new everyday. Today's lesson: Cars.

My attention has often been drawn to the different - and sometimes quite funny - cars you see here in Japan: usually smaller than home, often boxier, and often with additional accessories (four video screens for passengers, a camera in the back to show the driver what they are backing into, feathers and boas strewn across the dashboard, etc). They also come in wacky colors (the pink ones are my favorite), but one thing you almost never see, however, is a car that needs repairs. Dents, rust... you name it... they're just not on the street. I'm starting to suspect you pay such a high fee to get rid of a car here (trash it) to cover the shipping costs of sending all the less esthetically pleasing vehicles abroad!

Until recently, I had always assumed the reason for the well-maintained state of cars here was the expensive car tax car owners pay on their vehicle every two years (called "shaken"). Cars are generally cheaper to buy here, but the shaken can really increase the general cost of owning a car and gas is getting more and more expensive.

Well, to add onto those costs, one of the worst things that can happen here is getting in an accident. If you don't have the money to fix your car right away (and remember Japan is a cash-based society), it seems you are actually expected to not drive at all. This seems a little extreme to me, but a friend of mine got in an accident this week, and we learned that if she doesn't get the (minor) dent hammered out, she risks getting pulled over and fined by the police. Yes, you can get a ticket for havig damage!

In addition, you need to register any and all accidents with your workplace (which means a ridiculously long paper trail for even minor accidents), even though you are dealing with the insurance separately, and you also need to factor in the cost of presents for the person you were involved in the accident with. I thought the presents part was a joke, but my neighbor, Miwa, was in an accident last week, too... and it's true. Her car is totalling, the other guy was alright, she is already paying the man money out of her own pocket (in addition to him getting NINETY percent from the insurance company)... and she still needs to give him presents. This is obviously a cultural difference. Wow.

Anyways, I found all of these details sort of strangely fascinating and wanted to share. While it would be nice to have a car here at times, I still love being able to ride my bike all over the place and am starting to be glad I don't have to deal with everything that can come with owning a car...