I usually don't fully plan my routes. I do some Googling, pick some road numbers, and then go. If I need a reference, I wait until a light or a stop sign to check my phone and find out where I am. Actual planning may have helped me here. But in my defense, once you get out into real mountain road territory, there are very few signs around to tell you where you are, or where you're going. For much of the route, it was straight up road. No street lights, few lane dividers, overgrowth everywhere. This, however, may be a surprise to you if you caught the first few minutes of the video.
Back in the states, there were two types of roads: national routes (think Route 1 or 66), and then state roads (in Connecticut, I'm thinking Route 154 or 166). You can probably determine the comparison with Japanese roads. What is strikingly different, however, are the layouts of the roads themselves. And I'm not just talking about the whole "wrong side of the road" aspect. In Fukushima Prefecture, if not for every prefecture in Japan, the zoning laws encourage building as close to the road as possible to save space. This is especially obvious as I turned onto Route 53. The road was a [relatively] wide two-lane road for about a mile, and then there was a residential zone with a route sign above it. The route sign basically said that going straight on that road will mean that you are still on Route 53. Surely, this baffled me.
I was now in the middle of a residental zone, with a road that could fit a car and a third if you tried. After not one, but two close calls involving blind corners, I ended up having just putting the car in second and staying slower than 20 MPH until I was well away from that neighborhood. If you've been on a country road back in the states, and your road passes through the heart of a rural residential zone, you have probably benefitted from a wider, straighter road. That is absolutely not the case here in Japan. When you are driving through a neighborhood, you are driving through the neighborhood.
Before I was to turn onto Route 53, the road narrowed to one driveway-wide lane. A few farm houses were situated right before the junction. Unfortunately, because of their seclusion, this allowed the farmers to just congregate on the road if they ever needed to and not worry about passing cars. Which is exactly what they were doing when I pulled into their realm. One of their friends (?) was parked in the middle of the road in his black Toyota station wagon, and had to leave as soon as I pulled up to the area. The farmer gave a friendly hello. His wife said nothing.
At one point, when turning into Yanaizu's center, I wound up having to stop at what seemed like every manual transmission driver's worst nightmare: a sudden "hump" up onto the main road, with the corner of the curb right at the point where if you are not immediately moving forward after releasing the brakes, you are moving backwards. Therefore, I ended up overcompensating on the throttle when trying to move from a stop. Because Tackawanna has no traction control, I ended up spinning quite a bit, but it was entirely controllable.
The center of Yanaizu was like the earlier neighborhood that I first went through; everything was right next to everything and up against the road. Shops were so close to the road that I could see what they were selling towards the back from my car. Again, space is a premium here in Japan. Still, it was nice getting to drive through Yanaizu, and there were some nice shops around. I'll definitely have to go back someday.
Because the ride was relatively short today, I may do another one tomorrow. I'll have to be careful, however; if I start up Tackawanna for the first time in the morning, I get a rather rough start. I have to crank for about four seconds, and then she'll spur herself to life. But when she gets up to a higher temperature, she'll start up without issue. I checked with the others in the Miata forum that I'm a part of, and they are suggesting, much to my fears, that it's the starter motor on its way out. I'll need to find a starter, which is actually way cheaper compared to a car battery, and then install it myself. The installation is simple, but I don't have any jack stands or a jack, and one of the front wheels has to come off to get to the starter. I've been thinking on asking the local dealer that couldn't help me earlier if I could work in his shop. It would give me a local connection not related to the University, and if there was something that I really needed done to Tackawanna, I'll have someone to turn to that I can trust.
Speak of the devil, I spotted the Ford Excursion that either he or one of his employees owns on my way to the route today.
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| Probably worth $40k in this section of the world |
It's the gas engine, but seeing one of those things here, especially when lifted, put a smile on my face. Plenty of love for USDM here.
-wp
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