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Introduction from Aomori, Japan

Started by mccunicano, October 28, 2019, 10:17:07 PM

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mccunicano

Hello fellow road enthusiasts,

It just came to my attention that my request to join this forum was approved some time ago, but here I am! I am a writer/teacher living in Aomori in the Tohoku region of Japan. I often write about the roads around here on Wikipedia and I have filmed a few of them (the most recent of which can be seen here):


I plan on moving to the Seattle area eventually, so I'm curious about roads in that area, but I'm pretty familiar with the roads in the Southeast since I grew up in the Atlanta area. If you want to talk to me about my Wikipedia work, videos, or just roads in general I'm all ears.


ozarkman417

Hello from Southwest Missouri! There are several active members on this forum living the Seattle area, so any questions you have about those roads will most certainly be answered.

noelbotevera

Welcome from the Keystone State!

Out of curiosity, does driving on the left still feel alien to you? Or vice versa?

mccunicano

Thanks for the warm welcomes!

After the first 48 hours of driving on the opposite side of the road it felt pretty natural. Honestly the most difficult thing to get used to was the windshield wiper lever being switched with the turn signal lever. Turning rules are a bit different here too- most notably, the equivalent of a right turn on red (left on red) is illegal here.

kevinb1994


hotdogPi

Welcome from Massachusetts!

We have several Wikipedia members here.

Most of our members here are from the US or Canada, but we have two from the UK, one from Spain, and one from the Netherlands.
Clinched, minus I-93 (I'm missing a few miles and my file is incorrect)

Traveled, plus US 13, 44, and 50, and several state routes

I will be in Burlington VT for the eclipse.

froggie

Greetings.

Never got to the northern end of Honshu while I was stationed in Yokosuka.  Was mainly limited to the Tokyo/Yokohama area and Kanagawa Prefecture.

kurumi

Welcome from California!

I have a couple pages that mix roadgeekery and Japan:
http://kurumi.com/jp/2017/08/26/t-sasson.html (Sasson Expressway, Sapporo)
http://kurumi.com/jp/2018/05/12/t-fukutoshin.html (Secret routes in West Shinjuku)

I've never made it north of Nikko (except for flight to Hokkaido). It's good to see some videos from Aomori.
My first SF/horror short story collection is available: "Young Man, Open Your Winter Eye"

ClassicHasClass


mccunicano

Again, thank you for the greetings! 本当にありがとうございました。

Northern Japan certainly isn't as active or complex from a roadgeek's perspective as the Kanto or Kansai areas, but the scenery is great.

Thanks for checking out my videos, that article about the "hidden" routes of Shinjuku was an interesting read for me- I'll have to check them out when I go up to Tokyo.

ozarkman417

Quote from: mccunicano on October 28, 2019, 10:49:18 PM

After the first 48 hours of driving on the opposite side of the road it felt pretty natural. Honestly the most difficult thing to get used to was the windshield wiper lever being switched with the turn signal lever. Turning rules are a bit different here too- most notably, the equivalent of a right turn on red (left on red) is illegal here.
How was the change from sitting on the right versus the left while driving?

mccunicano

Quote from: ozarkman417 on October 30, 2019, 09:32:58 PM
Quote from: mccunicano on October 28, 2019, 10:49:18 PM

After the first 48 hours of driving on the opposite side of the road it felt pretty natural. Honestly the most difficult thing to get used to was the windshield wiper lever being switched with the turn signal lever. Turning rules are a bit different here too- most notably, the equivalent of a right turn on red (left on red) is illegal here.
How was the change from sitting on the right versus the left while driving?

It felt natural enough since the center-line or median was to my side. If I was driving on the left side of the road in a left hand car- now that would be weird, but I've seen several left hand imports from the EU or the US. The toll booths here are actually set up so you can get your toll ticket on either side of the car.

tolbs17

Welcome from Greenville, North Carolina

adventurernumber1

#13
Welcome from the northwest part of the state of Georgia!  :wave:

The video you posted was a great watch, and thank you for sharing it!

I am looking forward to seeing you around on the forum.  :nod:


Now alternating between different highway shields for my avatar - my previous highway shield avatar for the last few years was US 76.

Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/127322363@N08/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-vJ3qa8R-cc44Cv6ohio1g

yakra

Dozo Yoroshiku!
I participated in the Bath-Shariki exchange in 1994, and have some fond memories of the 青森ねぶた祭り and Cheseborough Cup.
"Officer, I'm always careful to drive the speed limit no matter where I am and that's what I was doin'." Said "No, you weren't," she said, "Yes, I was." He said, "Madam, I just clocked you at 22 MPH," and she said "That's the speed limit," he said "No ma'am, that's the route numbah!"  - Gary Crocker

mccunicano

Thanks!

I learned a neat piece of US-Japan history because of your comment.



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