Things sound different in Japan, too

As most of you may know, I've been big into music since I started playing the saxophone when I was 9. It's a hobby that has weathered the years and all the school changes (domestic and international), budgets, and competing interests that I've had. In my earlier years of high school, I actually wanted to be a music teacher. However, this was just as Bear Stearns was starting to seriously tread water, and many people in the arts industry fell on hard times. Therefore, I ventured into the computer field for study and career.

However, music had especially played an important role in my upbringing, especially during my high school years. I played in the school's jazz band all four years of high school (something that was apparently a rare thing to do at the time), and played three different instruments in the regular band. Four mornings a week, I either got a ride to or drove to school at the crack of dawn for practice. It was a big commitment, but that commitment was supported by my friends, my band teachers, Jeremy Taylor and Tom Conti, and my mother. I wasn't a full-blown band geek like you see flooding the Instagram feeds with half-assed memes behind three filters, but it played a big part in my life.

Since I enrolled at the University, I've joined the school's wind ensemble and have played in multiple concerts, with the main yearly concert occurring during the school festival. It's been heaps of fun, and it's a great way to socialize and get out of the English-only bubble that can be very tempting to fall into. However, I haven't had the chance to actually go to a wind ensemble concert in Japan where I wasn't playing. Today, I went out and did just that. On the English version of the city's website is a monthly "community bulletin" that lists a bunch of different events. For October, at the Aizu Fugado, there were two wind ensembles holding their yearly concerts. I wasn't able to go to the first one, or the ones in September, due to a busy work schedule. However, I made the effort to go to the concert today, which was for Aizu Technical High School's wind ensemble.

The man hours it must've taken to make that curtain...

I arrived about twenty minutes before the start time and purchased my ticket at the door. While I was waiting for the show to start, I thumbed through the pamphlet to get an idea of the program, which is structured differently from concerts in America. Wind ensemble concerts in Japan, or at least in the Aizu area, are divided into three sets, or "stages." The first stage involves everyone dressed in business/professional attire playing more serious-themed songs. The second stage varies, at least in my experience. Theirs was based around a miniature play mixed in with quick passages from smaller ensembles. The third stage is a dress-down (usually in matching T-shirts) affair with the more pop-style songs. The total concert, including breaks between the stages, was about two hours.

This band had a more balanced ratio of males and females. Wind ensembles in Japan are usually majority female.

Towards the end of the third stage, the OBs and OGs came out to play with the band for a song. OB and OG respectively stand for "old boy" and "old girl." These are essentially the alumni; they played in the band while they were attending that high school, and now they're back to play with the current generation. This is apparently common with Japanese school-based wind ensembles; some graduates of our university also played with us during our concert.

In addition to the pamphlet, I was also given a survey. (We also distributed surveys at our own concert.) The survey asked for basic information, such as how old I am, am I part of any music groups, which songs did I like, and what songs would I recommend for future concerts. I filled out most of the survey in between the breaks as it took a while for me to consult Google Translate to figure out the more difficultly-worded questions.

The play they put on was based on the story of Momotaro.

The overall quality of the concert was pretty good. My favorite and least favorite part of the whole concert was during the last song of the second set. The play's resolution was reached, and everyone assembled for the obvious let's-play-music-together-now-that-we're-all-friends song. One of the kids asked if everyone was ready, and after affirmation from the rest of the band, kicked off the song by yelling "Let's music!", and it was at that moment that a small piece of me died on the inside. (Seriously, a lot of people in the country misuse "let's" for all sorts of nouns and verbs.)

They took a few liberties with the plotline. Cross-dressing high school student aside, their version involves the kidnapped old couple defeating their kidnappers in advance.

However, my spirits picked back up when I noticed the saxophone section. It was originally divided into a soprano/alto player, a tenor player, and a baritone player. However, for this song, the first player traded in both saxophones for another baritone. That meant that there were two baritone saxophones for that song. These kids have their priorities straight. ;)

I had a grin on my face for most of the concert, mostly because I kept going back in my mind to my band days in high school. Seeing the students up there on the stage having fun invoked a sense of nostalgia in me. Sure, our methods of practicing and our approaches towards our concerts (in Japan, wind ensembles of all stripes compete in a national competition, while ensembles in the states usually take a more relaxed approach) may be different, but the overall enjoyment could still be felt in the music and seen in the faces of the players. I could hear the occasional out-of-tune note and the mangled phrase, but I could also tell that they put in the effort and the practice, and that alone made all the difference.

There was a section in the survey that allowed you to send additional feedback or a message to the band. I put down, in Japanese, Well done! I'm looking forward to next year's concert! Here's to hoping that I can go to that one, too.

-wp

License conversion, take 6

Today was round six of the seemingly-eternal rigmarole that involved me wasting a whole day in Fukushima City taking a ridiculous driving test and going home with nothing to show for it. Today felt like it was going to be horrible, and I had good reason to believe so. For starters, I misplaced my sunglasses in the lab, and I was running late, so I had to drive up there and fend off the sun as best as I could. (I had to take out the sun visors as they were blocking my view.)

I managed to make it almost 10 minutes before the cutoff time and turn in my documents. However, as I was packing up and preparing to go back down to the third floor, the clerk came out from behind the counter and flagged me down. As it turned out, they wanted to check my eyesight again, for reasons beyond my comprehension. I did the eye test again and then waited for my turn in the afternoon.

The hardest section of the course, hands down. Get up to speed, turn on the blinker, then immediately slow down for the stop sign. All within less than 100 m.

There was a new proctor today, and there were three foreigners taking the test this time. One was going for a bike license. The other, a man named Nautiyal who owns a few Italian restaurants in the Tohoku region [including Aizuwakamatsu], was going for his automatic license. We did third-party duty for each other. I noticed that he made a few mistakes that would normally be considered a failure. Then we swapped cars and it was my turn.

I made two pretty important errors. The first was at a four-way intersection with flashing stoplights. Today, for some stupid reason, there was an additional car and two mopeds on the course. The car was coming to my right. My lights were flashing red, but his were flashing yellow. However, the other car came to a stop at his stop line just before I was pulling up to mine. I traded looks with the other driver for a few seconds. He wasn't moving, so I made my safety checks and then made the turn. The proctor said something as I was going through the intersection, but I was too nervous and in the moment to figure out what.

Then, there was the straightaway. I'd just managed to get up to 50 km/h in fourth gear, and I was about to shift back down into third while doing the proper downshift technique. I went to move the stick into third, and it didn't go all the way. I started jerking the shifter back and forth as I was pumping my brakes and slowing down. At this point, it was too late, so I went back into two as we pulled into the bay.

The proctor had me finish the test by exiting the car properly, then getting back in to explain my results. He asked me how I did, and I told him what had happened. I also told him that I went to the driving school two days ago to figure out the proper downshifting technique. He told me to be a bit earlier with the brakes from then on out. Then I was dismissed.

I went back up to the third floor and had a quick Skype chat with Mom about my results and my imminent failure. I felt foolish, because I had taken that test so many damn times at great personal expense, and today's mistakes were purely preventable and did not require any careful translation. The results care back at around 1500 hrs, the same as before. The clerk came out of the back with the basket that holds the documents. I opened my portfolio so I could then take back my documents and put them away. The clerk then handed me my yellow card, and as I went to put it away, I noticed something. I expected the sixth black 不合格 (failure) stamp under the driving test column next to the date. However, there were only five failure stamps. The sixth stamp, today's, was rather faint. I had to hold it at the right angle to see it, but once I did, I was absolutely caught off guard.

The stamp was in red ink. It read 合格 (success).

The final tally

I was so overcome with joy that I hugged the clerk with both arms.

As it had turned out, all three foreigners passed their tests today. It was my sixth time, and Nautiyal's fourth. A clerk from downstairs came up to give us our documents that we needed to pay for (around $20). In my excitement, I also requested a beginner's driving mark from the store, as it was required to show on the car for up to a year after I had received my license. But as the clerk explained to me later, because I had more than a year of driving experience back home, I didn't need the mark after all. So I bought the decals for nothing. But I was still excited regardless. (And, there's probably someone with a JDM craving back in the states that I could sell this mark to when I get home.)

All three of us got our pictures taken. I had and still have a serious zit on my nose that I've already popped twice without success, so that made it into the picture. My middle name also had to be truncated, as it was too long for the license itself. Once they were ready, the clerk pulled Nautiyal and I aside to give us our licenses and a sheet of paper outlining what the license is good for and the renewal periods. My license is valid for two years after my birthday this year, so I'm good for the rest of my time in Japan.

my jay-dee-ehm license

And with that, this series (finally!) comes to a close. I'm glad it's over. It has taken me, from the date I first asked the foreign personnel advisor to book the appointment to today, three months and ten days to get this license. It was an absolute nightmare, and I'm glad it's over. Now I can put my passport back into safekeeping without having to worry about it getting lost or stolen. I could not have done all this without that advisor, my friend Naoki, the driving instructor at Ougimachi, and the various online turotials about the whole process, two of which were actually based in Fukushima Prefecture. (I actually plan to do my own writeup for anyone else that may be moving to Fukushima in the future and wanting to take the driving test.) And as for today's proctor, he's okay in my book.

But man, I never want to do this again. If I come back to the states and then move back to Japan for some reason, I'm moving to Maryland beforehand. They're the only state right now that doesn't have to put up with this shit.

-wp

License conversion, take 5.5

After my last unsatisfying trip to Fukushima City, I decided to book an appointment at a local driving school to figure out exactly what I was doing wrong that was causing me to fail all these times. I know that the proctors are absolutely brutal, but I wanted to see for myself exactly what I was subconsciously doing that could cause me to fail. The University of Aizu is across the street from not one, but two driving schools. I booked an appointment for today at Ougimachi Driving School, which is two days before the next [and probably not final] installment of the "license conversion" series. I had 50 minutes with the instructor; it was 5400 yen for the session.

Naoki went we me earlier this week to fill out the initial documents, but was unable to come with me today. Although my Japanese is still terrible, I was able to communicate with and understand the instructor, who was very friendly and helpful. I showed him the notes that I had and explained to him my issues with "controlling the car." We walked over to the car together, which was a Nissan Tiida (Versa) and did a safety check together before he started it up. He then took me out on the course that we would run, and then we swapped seats and I gave it a go. I was pretty nervous about the whole driving test and made the occasional careless mistake, such as forgetting to shift into gear when setting off, or stalling at the light. (Fun fact, I am allowed one stall during the actual test.)

The layout here was much smaller than in Fukushima, but it still had all the proper obstacles.

As it turned out, he believed that I was doing the safety checks properly. (Wow, what a surprise. /s) However, he noticed that I have a habit of riding the clutch when slowing down or coasting. Apparently, that costs you points when you do that. I'm supposed to stay off the clutch except to shift or when I am coming to a stop. (I can, however, ride the clutch in the crank and S-curve, provided I stay in low gear.) He walked me through the process of how the downshift should be done. First, I have to pump the brakes a few times to get my speed down. (I can't use the clutch just yet.) Then, once I'm down to the right speed, I can shift into a lower gear. Other than that, stay off the clutch. Upshifts were fine as they were; just shift.

Plus, while on the track today, I went through a few turns too fast (~20-25 km/h) for the instructor's liking. He told me that taking a turn too fast is an automatic failure, so I have to be careful. Other than that, and the occasional careless mistake, there were no issues with my completion of the course. I ran the entire course four times, and finished up just as the session was over. By the end, I was nailing the downshift. I then took my feedback form (which actually said the issues that I was having) and turned it in at the front desk.

I decided after that to get a drink and a snack after the session and then practice the "proper" way of downshifting. I went up on Fukushima Prefecture Route 69 towards Hirota, turned around at the train station, and then took the side roads back to campus. The clutch in the Tiida was like the Crown in Fukushima: quite loose. It felt easier to do the proper downshifting technique in the Tiida than in Tackawanna. However, once I started do it, it felt a lot more natural and less awkward. (My leg was aching by the end, which means that it must be working.)

I now have a better idea of what to do. Let's see how this helps [or hurts] me on Tuesday.

-wp

Roadster Tohoku Meeting 2016

(Want to see pictures [first]? Go here.)

I drive a Eunos Roadster. If you're from Europe, it's a Mazda MX-5. If you're from the US, it's a Mazda Miata. Whatever you call it, it's a popular car; over one million have been built by Mazda since its introduction in 1989. It has amassed a dedicated and loyal following, of which I've been a part of since may. Like many followings, there are the occasional meetups for people to come together and share their love and passion for whatever it is they're following. Today was one for the Roadster.

Regional decals

This is not the only meeting for Roadsters. There are plenty of them in Japan, including the big one down in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, which I had to miss this year due to a busy schedule. This one was for Roadster owners in the Tohoku region. (I should clarify for those not in or from Japan; the Tohoku region consists of Fukushima, Yamagata, Akita, Miyagi, Iwate, and Aomori prefectures. [Sorry, let me rephrase that; it's everything north of where I am up to but not including Hokkaido.]) Last year, the meeting was in Sendai. I was worried at first because when I had first heard about the event, Tackawanna was having some drivability issues, and I thought that Sendai would be too far. However, I got very lucky this year; the meeting would be held in a park in Bandai, the town right next to Aizuwakamatsu. Even better, the park itself was five minutes away from Somei House. Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime event.

ゲロゲロ

I showed up about an hour into the meetup, and I pulled into the section of the park where everyone was parked. Roadsters were crammed right next to each other, and even though I had arrived late, more people were still arriving. I checked in at the registration tent and walked around the park. Roadsters of all colors, models, and trims were present. Each one had their own personality which definitely reflected its owner's commitment. There were stanced Roadsters, Roadsters with track accessories, and even an itasha. One particular Roadster stood out to me. The owner took off the Japanese badges and replaced them with the badges used on the American Miatas from that era. He had a suitcase rack on his trunk, and a roll cage with a JVC video camera attached to the top bar. (The remote control was attached to his parking brake.) He had a whole list, in English, of all his parts on his dashboard. This, folks, is a true Roadster fanatic. You could see his passion in his car, and it showed beautifully.

I need this setup because reasons.

While there, I met two people. The first was Shimizu-san, a person from Fukushima City who graduated from Tohoku University and lived in the area. He gave me his business card (note to self: put a few of mine in the center console) and said that he is currently working for Hitachi in their suspension department, especially with Mazda products. He arrived in an NC Roadster with an automatic hardtop, and although the car was had an automatic transmission, it was purple, which was a rare color produced by Mazda. He had plans to look for the same car with a manual transmission, though I told him that he could also do a manual conversion to save himself the hassle. I got to sit in Shimizu-san's car, and show him why I had to go with an NA Roadster instead of an NC Roadster. We spoke in both Japanese and English; Shimizu-san said that he also needs to speak English at Hitachi. He claimed that it was elementary-level English, but I thought that he spoke it quite well.

Shimizu-san's Roadster is the one second from the right.

The other person I met was Matsuda-san. He is from the Naha area (Nagoya is in this area), and drove up for the event in his NA-8C. (For reference, mine is the NA-6CE.) He and I actually knew each other from before; we are part of the same group for Roadsters/Miatas/MX-5s on Facebook. Matsuda-san spoke excellent English; he was an exchange student in Alaska, and lived in San Jose for a while. He toted his DSLR around the event, and offered to take my picture of me with my car. We also took a picture together, and the three of us talked about our cars and about Roadsters in general.

Matsuda-san and his NA-8C.

There were a few stalls setup at the event. One was a local produce stand, where I managed to snag some potatoes for a decent price. Another was a tent for the Roadster Club hosting the event. They had an NA scale model (yay!) for 8200 yen (boo!), which I yet again had to pass on. Also there was a local Mazda dealership, which had an ND Roadster and a Demio to test out. I can't fit inside the ND; my legs hit the plastic dash above the footwell. However, I took the Demio for a spin. It was actually a very nice drive; it felt a little high, and the tachometer was digital, but the suspension was soft, and it even told you when to shift gears. It even had engine stop technology, which I originally thought was for automatic cars only. If I ever had to relocate here, or my 3 got totaled back home (lol jk the US isn't getting it), I would get the Demio. With the stick, it's a pretty nice daily driver.

A respectible vehicle

After lunchtime, a charity rock-paper-scissors tournament was held. The organizer played the game with the crowd, and those that beat his hand got a chance to play for prizes. If you won, you'd get your prize, and then you'd pay whatever you could into a jar. I was playing with Shimizu-san, and we both won something. He won a Demio-themed smartphone case. I won an Aizu sake set: two bottles of sake produced with different rice and water from different streams in the area. According to Matsuda-san, you are supposed to pair them together and try to taste the differences between them. I'll try them later on and report back.

Locally-produced liquor for a good cause.

After the event ended, it was time for everyone to leave. I was one of the first to leave, but I was surprised to get a send off. As I was pulling out, everybody waved and said goodbye. I've never seen something like that happen at an American car meet. Everyone was nice and excited to see everyone else's car. Even Tackawanna, with its mismatching paint job, basic interior, and lack of extensive upgrades, was appreciated at the event. Next year I have to go to Karuizawa. If today was a good day, then that show should be a blast.

And so, it's back to the grind.

-wp

Travels with Tackawanna 10: The Road to Hachinohe

It's time.

The video files had been sitting on my computer, converted to an iMovie-friendly format for the past two months. However, I wanted to wait for Tackawanna to come back from the repair shop before I posted the videos, and after that, I came up with plenty of other excuses not to do it. Oh, I'm too busy. I have to leave the computer running overnight for the video processing. The time spent editing and uploading just isn't worth it for me right now.

Well, this past week I decided that enough is enough, and started editing the videos. I had over fifteen hours of video, and I was able to bring that down to about a third in the below videos. So let's go through each of them now. If you haven't been following my blog long, you can catch up on my August adventure by following these links in order.

This first one is me travelling on the Sanriku Expressway from its starting point off the Tohoku Expressway to its current end in Minamisanriku. The Sanriku was undergoind a piecemeal-style rebuilding; there were expressways in some places and there weren't in others. Half of this distance was a toll road, which was very helpful on my wallet. (It was around 6000 yen to get from Aizu to here on the expressways.)

Next, we have the actual travelling on National Route 45. The only footage of interest was south of Miyako, my first overnight point. Because I stopped for lunch in the middle, the footage has been broken up into two parts, and both are pretty long. You can see exactly what I was talking about when I said that the tsunami cleared everything out. Even five years later, there's not even grass.

I didn't stick to Route 45 the whole way. I also took a detour onto Iwate Prefecture Route 44 to check out the seawall at Fudai.

Finally, this coastal drive on Aomori Prefecture Route 1 was actually in Hachinohe, about an hour before Tackawanna's radiator exploded.

There. Got that off my waiting list. Now let's see what if tomorrow's Roadster meeting will produce anything interesting as well.

-wp

University of Aizu Soshosai 2016

Most, if not all, middle schools, high schools, and universities hold a school festival once a year in the fall. They are usually referred to by two different names: 学園祭/gakuensai/school festival and 文化祭/bunkasai/cultural festival. However, some schools give their festivals their own name. Ours was called 蒼翔祭/soshosai. Various student groups and local vendors set up tents and displays all over campus. A main stage was constructed in front of the student hall entrance, again with many performers from on and off campus.

They cut giant banners out in strips...

...and taped them to the sides of the steps.

 








I participated in not one, but two stage events on day one (Saturday). The first event was the wind ensemble, which did a "mini-live" the day before our regular concert in the auditorium. For this event, we got some additional help. The university's wind ensemble has a partnership with the wind ensemble at the Kyoto University of Foreign Studies. Eight of those members travelled to Aizu to participate in both this mini-live and for a few songs during the regular concert the next day. They arrived in the morning as we were setting up for practice. We did a quick practice run of the songs and then went out on stage. It was raining at this point, which was definitely not what Tenki was predicting for the day. As a matter of fact, just as we finished the last song, the rain started to pour harder. 

A tight fit, but we all managed to get on the stage.

After that, everyone was given time to tour the festival. Unfortunately, I did not have that luxury. I had to go straight to the SAISUA tent after the live. SAISUA, or Support Association for International Students of the University of Aizu, was the organization that recently granted me a scholarship. (I should point out for the record that I am not a doctoral student; I am a master's student. UPDATE: It's been fixed.) As part of the terms of accepting the scholarship, I had to assist with the tent during the school festival. They were selling Sri Lankan curry; some of the students serving it were from Sri Lanka. I tried some afterwards, and it tasted way better than the 7-brand stuff I usually eat.

This is one of the ways that SAISUA can afford to give scholarships.

After a few hours at the tent, I headed back to the student hall to setup for the next live. The music group I was with this time was called Sound Baccano. (This was the group that I stayed really late with the past week to practice.) With Kaneta-san as the leader and main organizer, it comprised of some students from both the wind ensemble and the other music groups that usually practice next door. This group played fusion-style J-POP. We got onto the stage while the rain was still coming down, taking refuge along the way from students nearby who held up umbrellas and tarps to keep us dry. They were also there as we got off and moved our equipment.

Kaneta-san got some makeup applied to give himself angry eyebrows.

In both stage events, I got to play a solo. With the wind ensemble, there was an optional ad lib solo for bari sax during the last song that no other part had, so you bet your sweet ass I was going to take that chance. I'm not as good with improv as I used to be in high school, but I still have some of the talent left in me. The solo with Sound Baccano was a written solo, but it was stupid hard, and even with all of the practice effort that I was putting into it, I couldn't get it up to the main tempo. I was a bit nervous when I got on the stage that second time. But then, coming into the first verse of the second song, Kaneta-san's EWI had a malfunction. At that point, I realized that I had wound myself up too much during the festival. I was supposed to be having a good time, and his misstep reminded me that even though the solo may not work out, I was on the stage, with my friends beside me. I ended up messing up the first half of my solo. But I was having fun regardless.

A little drizze isn't gonna stop us from getting our jam on...

After that event, we went right back to practicing in the student hall for the concert the next day. We got out at around 2000 hrs, and I went back to Somei House to reheat some tacos and pass out. While I was getting settled in, I got a message from one of the members. Apparently, there was an afterparty that night at a local izakaya in town. (Another detail lost in translation.) I changed clothes and drove out to meet them.

This was around round two.

By the time I had gotten there, everyone else was already settled in and starting to hit the sauce. I felt a bit awkward at first, especially because I couldn't participate in the passing of the huge shouchuu bottle due to my means of transportation. However, there was some hope left in the evening in the form of the person sitting across the table from me. Her name was Taniguchi-san. She was her wind ensemble's tenor sax player, and I actually remembered her name out of everyone else's because she introduced herself in both Japanese and English. We ended up having a conversation, and we got to learn more about each other. Taniguchi-san was relatively new to music; she had only played the saxophone for about a year. She was an exchange student in Australia for a year in high school. She also wants to go for her doctoral degree someday. At that point, some of the other members started channeling the liquor and interacting with us, and we all ended up having a great time. 

Had a great time and made some new friends, too.

Day two (Sunday) was the regular concert. I was able to walk around the festival and see what was going on, though I wasn't able to do much due to time constraints. I arrived at the auditorium a few hours earlier to help with setup and do one last quick rehearsal. I had to wear my suit for the first two "stages", and then there was a third stage with the people from Kyoto again. Turnout was rather light, but we still played very well. (UPDATE: Here's the link to the wind ensemble's Youtube channel.) We had our group photo taken afterwards, and some of the students from Kyoto wanted their picture taken with me. I suppose that they wanted proof that they actually met someone who is 200 cm tall.

\m/

That's Taniguchi-san on the left. I look like a giant next to everyone in this country.

Metal (groove?) gestures with Ono-san (L) and Kaneta-san (R).

It was getting dark after the concert, so we packed up our things and temporarily disbanded. After a brief but amazing fireworks display on campus, it was time to say goodbye to the wind ensemble members from Kyoto. We all went to the bus terminal in town, where they were going to catch a bus to the depot in Koriyama and connect their way back home. We waved goodbye using the "metal" hand gesture, one of the gestures that we had to do for a song we played at the concert. Then we went to another izakaya for another afterparty.

Safe travels, friends.

I ended up having fun this weekend, which was a good thing given the stressful week that I'd been having. As for the wind ensemble in Kyoto, some of us are going to take our own trip there in March after classes are finished to visit and play with them. I'm excited and can't wait to go.

Everything turned out great in the end.

Today is a day off due to a national holiday, so I get one more day to recuperate before it's back to work and school. Next weekend is the Roadster Tohoku Meeting, which I will be attending. I guess that October will be the month of making new friends for me.

-wp

License conversion, take 5

I have so fucking had it with that license center.

Last time, I talked about how I received extra feedback through my foreign personnel advisor about "security verification." As it turns out, security and safety share the same word in Japanese (安全, anzen). They meant "safety verification." Which means check during your maneuvers more.

Excuse me?

You couldn't tell me that shit to my face, in the car with you, while you were giving me feedback about my driving test, after my fourth time? Look, I may not be the best at Japanese, but if you sit there in your seat and try to act out how I should be checking my mirrors and blind spots, I'm going to get the hint. No need to make me feel like a toddler, too, assholes.

I'm running out of shit to photograph.

Today was the absolute worst day for me to go. It's the day before the school festival, and the wind ensemble is playing sets on both days. Every night over the past week, we've been meeting from 1830-2200 hrs. Then, there's another musical group that I'm part of that meets from 2200-0000 hrs. (Last night I actually didn't get out until 0100 hrs.) The ensemble leaders had also booked practice for all day today. This was after I had already booked my test. Between work and school, I had very little time to even rest. I was always moving. Even during meals, I had to shovel so that I could finish up and be at my next activity on time.

I got the same proctor as the first three times. Guess how that turned out for me? Honestly, I should've cancelled, because it was a waste of time.

As usual, he had his three points™ to address:

• He had little confidence in my overall control of the car. His main concern was when I was trying to upshift. This is despite the fact that I was now using higher gears during my test and going faster overall. Why the fuck do you think I was driving in the lower gears?
• There were two turns in which I did the proper safety verification checks prior to making the turn, but did not move over closer to the curb shortly before doing the turn. These were both in areas where there is little room in between turns.
• I don't know what the fuck he was going on about for his third point, and he wouldn't elaborate.

I even had the balls to ask the proctor a question about the course before we started, when he was open to taking questions. I asked him how fast should I be taking this one particular curve that isn't like the other curves? Should be a straightforward answer, no? He responded with the biggest non-answer that I had ever heard in my life. I don't know what it was, but he said "safety" a few times in it, so I just said fuck it and did a significant brake pump in that curve. No complaints from him regarding that. (probably didn't fit in his three)

I got my documents back at around 1430 hrs, and they let me book my next appointment there this time instead of having to call it in. (It will be towards the end of the month.) I then got in Tackawanna and floored it for the university, arriving at about 1600 hrs, just in time for us to transition over to soundcheck. The Dramamine pill that I took before my test was probably a dud, as I was starting to feel a little carsick by the time I pulled up to campus. Of course, flat out sprinting between buildings to get all of my things together probably did not help this sickness.

The fatigue definitely showed during rehearsal. I missed more cues and played more wrong notes than usual. I feel terrible because not only did I have to skip that much practice for absolutely no gains, but now I was suddenly finding myself falling behind on a musicianship level while fighting to stay awake and vertical. In addition, I made a very serious scheduling error. As part of the deal for receiving my scholarship, I had to help out at the stand run by the organization that gave me the money. I made my schedule with them, but at the same time forgot to clarify the schedule with the wind ensemble in advance. This made it very awkward when tomorrow's schedule, which now consumes a significant portion of my afternoon, was announced. Thankfully, as I was typing this post, I got the error sorted out. I'll be able to do both things.

I blame myself for making this error, as the scheduling organization probably got lost in translation and I never sought to clear it up. I really like playing with the ensemble, and I don't mind the practice times nor argue why they were held at those times. Still, it really puts a thorn in my side, because this week has been overall stressful, non-stop, and unrewarding. I can only blame myself (well, that stupid proctor certainly has a significant stake in this) for what I've gotten myself into. I should be looking forward to the school festival, which will have its own post, tomorrow. But to be honest, I'm not feeling that great about it now. At least when it's over things will [kind of] go back to normal.

In the meantime, I've booked a lesson with a local driving school for later this month. I need to start figuring out where I could be making critical errors. Maybe once I start getting some solid explanations, I can avoid making the same esoteric mistakes that I've been making this whole time.

Dinner's over. Back to practice.

-wp

Review: 8th generation Mitsubishi Minica

I spent a good portion of August and September without Tackawanna. First, there was the ruptured radiator that had to get fixed in Hachinohe. Then, after I brought her home, I had to bring her over to Straight Arrow Motors to get a further inspection. Because I dropped Tackawanna off on a Friday, I had to wait until the next week to hear the verdict.

The prognosis was much worse than I had feared. The cylinder head, which sits on top of the head gasket and the engine block, was warped. That had to get sent to a machine shop to be refinished. There were also other issues (head gasket, water pump, timing belt, etc.) that had to be taken care of, so I would technically be without a car for some time. However, Saito-san offered to put me in a car, free of charge, while I was waiting for Tackawanna to get fixed. I consented to have him fix the car, and two days later, he dropped off my loaner at the dormitory. It was a Mitsubishi Minica.

It took up two-thirds of the length of the parking space.

The Minica was a kei car sold on the Japanese domestic market from 1962 all the way to its phase out in 2011. (It has since been replaced by the eK Wagon, another JDM goodie.) The Minica that I drove was from the eighth and final generation, which was released in 1998; I do not know what year and didn't check. Kei cars were essentially one of the key players behind Japan's rise as a global vehicle manufacturer. The concept was a postwar government-created one meant to provide auto manufacturers a opportunity to develop small, practical cars for Japanese families and business owners to drive. James May actually explained the history really well in a documentary that he did a few years back. A kei car is especially defined by its size, weight, and displacement constraints, which have not been updated since 1998 and most likely will not within the future.

With a wheelbase of 2.3 meters, length of four meters, and 150 cm height, the Minica was definitely a challenge to get into. I know that that sounds odd considering that I drive Tackawanna, a low-seated convertible with foam missing from my seat to accommodate my height, but even in her, legroom was relatively okay. This was not the case in the Minica. Like Tackawanna, the steering column was locked, so I had to position myself going in and out of the car to fit my left leg underneath the steering wheel so that I could get in. My legs in the driving position were positioned in a way that they weren't at a right angle but also not stretched out to a point where I could handle it. This is a position straight from a nightmare for people my height. In addition, I could also rest my left leg over the gear shifter handle. I was glad that the shifter used a push button on the handle, or else I probably could've destroyed the transmission just by moving my leg.

The Minica that I drove was a front-engined, front-wheel drive car with a 660 cc, three cylinder, 12-valve SOHC engine. It produced the government vehicle class limit of 64 hp, which was sent to the wheels via a three-speed automatic transmission. This mean that, for all intents and purposes, the car was slow. It certainly felt that way. If you wanted to go anywhere at a decent rate with the flow of traffic, you needed to seriously mash the gas pedal. Of course, because this was a three-speed transmission, the engine got angry whenever you did that and voiced that anger loudly.

There's the whole engine bay, complete with a transverse layout of both engine and transmission.

The interior was nothing to write home about. The seats were cloth and could fit four adults, two in the front and two in the back. There was a radio/cassette player/CD player and manual climate control with A/C. The dashboard did not have a tachometer; it only showed the speed, which only displayed up to 140 km/h (~85 mph). In addition, the shift lights on the dash for the transmission would turn on if you were in park, reverse, or neutral. The light for drive, however, did not turn on, even though there was a space for it on the instrument cluster.

My friend Naoki and I took the Minica on the Ban-etsu and Tohoku Expressways for my first trip to the license center. Getting the car up to speed on the highway was...interesting. The classic car enthusiasts and older portions of my [very small] blog audience may understand where I'm going with this. The effectiveness of a transmission depends on the number of speeds that it has. A transmission with many gears can allow for a better selection of the engine's torque output, thus saving engine wear and fuel. However, the kei car is not meant to go fast; the usual top speed of one is around 140 km/h, and expressway tolls can make travel on them economically unfeasible. Therefore, the three gears that the Minica has are more oriented for lower speeds. You're at top gear at around 55 km/h (~35 mph). So if you want to go faster in third gear, you have to wait for the engine to produce the torque required to get you up to a higher speed. That was especially the case as I was getting it up to around 90 km/h (~56 mph). It'll stay up there with minimal throttle input once you get it there, but you're going to have to wait for the power to come as you put your pedal on the floor. And wait. And wait. (And the engine will be crying the whole time.)

I didn't even have to use my hands to stay in a straight line!

As for fuel economy, I measured the mileage between two fill-ups. The tank was smaller than that of a regular car, but the engine's small displacement should help balance out the number of required stops. An 80/20 (city/highway) mix of driving with occasional A/C usage put me at about 16.4 km/l (38 mpg). In the late 90s/early 00s, that would've been pretty impressive, but there are cars out on the market today that can do the same or better, and at higher displacements.

But griping aside, I have nothing against this car. It was a loaner generously provided by Saito-san, to whom I owe a ton of gratitude for helping me out (本当にありがとございました、Saitoさん！私に助けました！), and it served as a manageable errand-runner and grocery-getter. Outside visibility was easy thanks to thinner pillars all around. The A/C blasted cold air at low settings, and it had power doors and windows and remote entry. And the mileage was definitely better than on Tackawanna. If I had to buy a car in Japan, and I had little money and didn't give a shit about cars, I probably would've bought a Minica. With renewed shaken, I could've pulled out of the dealership lot with an eighth-gen Minica like this one for 300,000 yen (~$3000). It was plain and boring, but for most people, that's enough as long as the car did what it was supposed to do, and in my case, it did.

Flavien Vidal wrote a piece for Jalopnik about kei cars in a contrarian light. (i.e. They're not cool like anyone says, they suck, and they're outdated.) No doubt, he made a few good points regarding the current condition of the kei car market, but he also missed the overall point of the kei car. In the states, you can go onto Craigslist and find a "beater" for $500, then get it registered for another $100 or so, and if the engine blows up, you sell the car for scrap and buy another $500 one. Cars do not work like that in Japan. Even if you found a regular vehicle in this country for the same price, the taxes, fees, maintenance, and inspection costs are going to balloon the final price of the car in multiples. (Why else would Japan be trying to offload all their older cars onto Africa and Southeast Asia?)

If you're poor or working class, and you live in a section of the country where public transit is either sporadic or non-existent, you still need a car, because a bike can only take you [and only you] as far as your legs can push the pedals. You aren't going to get a car for the equivalent 50,000 yen unless you just lose a family member who had a car with a recently renewed shaken. But here comes the eighth-gen Minica. Including dealership handling fees, you could probably take it home for around 250,000 yen (~$2500), and so long as you take care of it, it'll last you a very long time. Your displacement and weight taxes are going to be lower, and while the fuel economy isn't super great, it'd be much better than a regular-sized car from the same era. Plus, if you do find yourself taking the expressways, you'll save a few hundred yen on tolls.

Or, maybe you're middle-class and have a small parking space available that a normal car can't fit into as explained by the friendly police officer processing your parking space application required for registration. In addition to the discounted costs above, modern kei cars have technology like engine idle stop that turns off the engine at stoplights and CVTs (hurk), which bring the car's average fuel economy to around 70 MPG. The OTD cost? Around 1.2 million yen (~$12000). Not bad considering that the cheapest car in the US (Nissan Versa sedan) goes for about the same price. Sure, it isn't a hybrid, but good hybrids can start at around three million yen (~$30000), and for the occasional trip around town, what's the point in shelling out extra? (Speaking of hybrids, even electric cars can comply with the existing kei car regulations. Mitsubishi also manufactures the i-MiEV, which has a 63 hp electric motor in its tiny body.)

Fun fact: the plates on the car were issued before the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism started assigning Aizu-based plates in 2006.

Back to my earlier point. Even though the price points are different, the Minica, as well as similar kei cars of its age, are the Japanese equivalent of the $500 Craigslist beater. They serve a functional purpose as a car (or truck, or van) to shuttle people from one place to another. They're modest, well-built, and fairly economical. As an automotive enthusiast, I'd only drive one if the circumstances warranted it like they did when Tackawanna was getting repaired. But for what the Minica is, and what it is supposed to do, I can only do nothing but respect it. So if you ever find yourself over here, whether for military or JET/eikaiwa purposes, and you need a car that you will otherwise be indifferent about, get a Minica. You won't be floored, but you won't be disappointed, either.

-wp