Daihatsu

Before I arrived in Japan, I thought that I would not need a car in Japan. I was tough. Japan had trains as well. I felt I could bike everywhere. When I arrived in the town though after one week of living in the humidity and being caught in a giant rainstorm I realized that I was in someplace completely different. Again my ego had gotten the better of me and soon I was realizing that I needed a vehicle in Japan. It took me a month or so get a vehicle and during that time I made due with a bike, which proved to be a great way to get used to the intricacies of Japanese driving; for example, the fact that the lanes were opposite to that of the U.S. In the end being on a bike first was a good way to transition to Japanese motor life.

The Naraha Futaba Board of Education were extremely helpful in giving me support in getting used to Japanese life and they went out of their way to find a proper vehicle for me. I would often receive a call upon returning to my home after work and my supervisor or one his co-workers would take me to test out a new vehicle. In the end I fell in love with a white Daihatsu Move. It was the dream vehicle. Although Japanese cars are notoriously small, many have the pleasant feature of having high ceilings. Naturally this would make them more prone to tipping over, but this would never happen to me in my travels so far and so I continue to regard the probability as mere "details." I came to appreciate having small vehicles or spaces more and more and realized that the abundance of space could very much be enhanced by having high ceilings rather then increasing width. Owning a Daihatsu Move was my first realization of this concept and this sentiment would continue to reinforce itself as I continued to journey in Japan. I loved the vehicle and it took me on many journey's that wouldn't of been possible without it. I remember its yellow "K Car" license plate and fondly approaching a gas station knowing that it would take little to fill it up and then it would drive forever. As soon as I got the vehicle my perimeter of what I could explore in my area expanded and one of the first discoveries that I made was happening upon the fact that I could in fact eat a traditional Japanese breakfast in Japan.

During one of my introductory days to Naraha at a time when I was being skirted around the town by different teachers and staff. My main teacher Enei Sensei drove me to see Hirono Drive in and have lunch. It seemed like a restaurant, but I remember feeling something special about the place when I walked in. It was a brief visitation and an experience which all was but forgotten until the Daihatsu Move came into my life a couple of months later. Maybe it it was the smell of the newly cleaned seats or maybe it was the feeling of the slick steering wheel in my hands, but for whatever reason it was then that I remembered the brief visitation and wondered if a place such as that could also for some reason serve breakfast. I struck off early in the morning before the sun grew hot and warm and the air was cool. The drive was short and when I pulled into the familiar space the smell of Asian seasonings wafted into the dirt parking lot and I thought that there might be a possibility of success in my searching endeavors thus far. I slid the glass door open and an older woman busy cooking looked at me with a welcoming, but seemingly confused face. I asked in broken Japanese if I could have breakfast and if they were open. The woman looked back and replied yes, but hesitantly and I had no idea why. Little did I know that I had stumbled onto another key institution of the J-Village network. This was the restaurant that fed all the players and all the coaches and the facility staff, for instance the guy in charge of keeping the grass cut neatly, I often sat with and he had fascinating stories of traveling the world and cutting grass. The breakfast was delicious. Every morning there was a spread of freshly made rice, pickled vegetables, tofu, fresh fruit, different types of seaweed, miso soup and it varied with the day letting me sample the organic food that Naraha naturally produced. The location became a favorite location of mine and eventually I would be introduced to some of the professional soccer team players and would end up practicing English with them and would teach their kids as well. I felt that I wasn't teaching though. I would be invited over and they would prepare an amazing feast for me. I became close friends with the members and this relationship would only develop more and more as I continued life in Naraha and as my Japanese improved as well naturally because of living in the countryside. The fact that I had found breakfast in Japan turned out to be the smallest of details. It later made me realize that almost always desires always lead to more expanded passions and that more and more everything had been laid down perfectly for that moment to be experienced.