Look What I Found In Japan!
On Tuesday, I will go to the Fuji racetrack in the hills halfway between Tokyo and Nagoya. I will test drive a Toyota that is not available in Japan, nor is it in the U.S. It is however available and quite a success in India. Can you guess which one it is?
When I pointed at the map, my wife mentioned that her father, bless his heart, has some real estate in Yugawara, and that she has the keys. Yugawara, famous for its hot springs and not much else, sits right smack in the middle of the area which has an 87 percent chance of getting hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of about 8 within the next 30 years.
I was reminded of that this morning. Instead of being woken up with kisses and a cup of coffee, the house kicked me in the butt. Earthquake.
Import sales Japan
My wife’s dad’s holdings turned out to be spanking new, but what is parked across the street definitely is not: A Bug! I have no idea what vintage it is. I’d say end of the 60s, beginning of the 70s. It has the big rear window. I could not get closer, because one respects private property in Japan.
The old car must be driven by someone who is even older than the car. See the orange sticker glowing in the window? That’s a golden leaf. There are green leaves for people who have a brand new driver’s license, and there are golden leaves for people over 70. Mandatory over 75, I am told.
In Japan, this is not considered age discrimination, it supposedly announces that there is a feeble driver who should be treated with care and respect for the elderly. The folks who are supposed to display the golden leaves think otherwise. Unless they have a really old car.
“Ore wa toshyori janai. Kuruma ga furinda.” It’s not me that’s old – it’s the car! Which brings us back to the Bug. How did it come here?
In 1972, Japan started to lower the import duties. Importing a car did cost only 6.4 percent (today: zero) and as you can see from the picture, imports to Japan finally got moving. 23,600 cars were imported to Japan in 1972. Of those, 10,920 were Volkswagens, 3,830 Fords, 3,093 were made by GM, 1,611 came from Mercedes, and the remaining 4,146 came from other makes.
As you also can see, Volkswagen marked its domineering role right away, but Americans had their chance and blew it.
Best-selling import nameplates, Japan 2010
1VolkswagenGolf26,0752VolkswagenPolo14,5073BMW3 Series11,6644BMW MINIMINI11,3385Mercedes-BenzE-Class10,8506ToyotaTOWN/LITE ACE9,5337Mercedes-BenzC-Class9,2068BMW5 Series6,0499BMW1 Series5,85610AudiA4 Series5,660Looking at the list of bestselling nameplates in 2010, not much has changed. Volkswagen still rules the roost of imports to Japan. In 2010, more than 70,000 Volkswagen and Audis were imported, holding a joint market share of 28 percent of the small import pie. The first American brand is Ford in place 13. Oddly enough, the bestselling GM brand was Cadillac ( followed by Chevrolet in rank 23. If you want more numbers, the Japan Automobile Importers Association has tons of data.
Don’t think the Japanese are not into Americana. They just don’t fancy American cars a lot. Look what I found again! A Denny’s, just a block from the old bug. I guess I’ll have a burger there tomorrow.
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I recall the sound of metal spheres cascading down in the halls of pachinko. That was back in the mid 1970s. Is pachinko still a hot item or has the newer modern electronic gadgets replaced them; as has occurred within the USA? Heck, due to the ready availability of home-based video games the days of the brick-and-mortar video game joints have basically died. Recall the nation-wide presence of the well-equipped video game places within malls along with free-standing video game firms. A bygone era. Replaced with home-based gaming that appears to have resulted in even further isolation of USA citizenry into semi-isolationists within their own little "universes." Note the multitude of USA citizen-sheep connected to their personal "hive mind" via portable electronic communication devices of various types. Wandering malls, retailers, sidewalks and streets in their vehicles. In public physically but their minds (mindlets?) are elsewhere. Those not plugged into their own "hive mind" are expected to clear a path for those who are. Wherever thou art; make way for those connected via devices into their personal "universe" or face impact by those connected. Body, shopping cart or vehicles: MAKE WAY!!!!!!!!! And USA society changes while "those in the know" lament changes with no anticipation of any increase in civility among the herd. Me me me me me me me. Thoughts of others and their impact upon them? NAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I MUST talk/text/Web browse/play this game while walking/driving/whatever and to heck to any other entity in my path. While those attuned to their external immediate environment are forced to exist in a manner that allows the "connected" herd to bumble through life (where are the predators that once pounced upon the inattentive and consumed them?. Human-type predators are not making up for the lack of leopards, hyenas, crocodiles and other consumers of inattentive human food). Sigh...... Can those who never experienced reality, life as it was in the not-that-distant past, comprehend what I write? But... the first vehicle I ever cavorted in, cruising McHenry Ave. in Modesto, California... the replacement of the cruising streets as portrayed in American Graffiti: ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Graffiti... 9th and 10th streets in 'old' downtown Modesto). No "street creds" for appearing in the 1965 Bug but a couple bucks was ample for an entire weekend of cruising and getting to Modesto and back from the outlaying hamlet. Hemis and 427s and a horde of small blocks; plain and "hopped up" to an extent that in stop light to stop light racing even 440s, 454s, etc. often lost to those quick-revving small blocks for various reasons. He who maximizes traction was usually the winner; until a longer distance was involved and the BIG blocks often came into their own. The Bug never won a race; the few attempted. But spare change kept it fed with gas. Okay... brevity left in the dust, as was the Bug. If too annoyed by my lengthy commentary just recall my nom de plume and scroll down to the next post when viewed in the future but realize that when Friday's test rolls around you will likely fail. Disgruntled Old Coot. Over and out. 10-4 Oh... was a witness to the measured 1/4 mile race. The 327 whipped the hemi. The early model Chevelle (the boxy shaped one, not the 'curvier" 68-69 beauties), easily. The superior traction of the Chevy was apparent but that hemi ROARED. A groovy show it was.
I wonder if Bertel's comment is being moderated for the use of the word "butt"?