TOKYO TIMES

Introduction

Following on from his extremely popular forum postings, we asked MX-5.com member dfunkyt to write a longer article about his driving life in Japan. Here's the first half of his story.

Part 1

Welcome to a glimpse into the driving life of a recently hooked MX-5 junkie – who just happens to live in Tokyo. I just can’t kick the habit of jumping in and driving off for no rhyme or reason. And two more great reasons have recently sprung up...

Firstly, it’s cherry blossom season now and that's a special time. The Japanese love to drive out to picturesque spots, where they pitch a blue tarpaulin on the ground, gather some friends (strangers will do) and then eat, drink and be merry. So, where there are cherry trees, there tends to be an influx of merry revellers.

The second reason is that the Japanese government has just slashed 25 yen (12p) off a litre of petrol. This is great news when pulling in at the standard full service gas stand, where your windows are always cleaned, tyre pressures checked (also oil if you ask), ashtrays emptied (if only I smoked) and moist cloths offered for that quick interior wipe down.

With all this in our favour, the only thing left to do is jump in and Zoom-Zoom off.

This being Japan, nothing is quite as ordinary as it could be and, it has to be said, the extraordinary is often a solution to a problem – and the key problem in Tokyo is space. Twelve million people bring with them a fair number of cars and this requires a funky car park solution. Mine is four stories high, with a basement floor. It rotates the cars like a big Rubik’s cube, minus the upside down twists and turns. Hard to explain, so let the pictures do the talking.

Car parks here are quite an important part of life. Generally there is no such thing as street parking, unless it’s a five-minute stop to pop into one of the plethora of convenience stores. So before you even own a car, you have to prove you have a parking space. Then a friendly policeman will come to make sure that the space you have will actually accommodate your car! Papers are stamped in triplicate and then off you go. Bear in mind that, as space is at a premium, it comes at a price. Luckily in my apartment block the prices are reasonable but, on average, you are looking at 30,000 yen (£148) per month in Tokyo – ouch!

Anyway, enough about parking, let’s pull out, drop the roof, set the navi – and take off...

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