If you are like me, and let's face it, that is unlikely, but if you are, then you must be thinking that learning to drive in Japan must be the best ever. Surely?
Drifting round bends, down hill racing, all the cars have names like AE86 and RX8. Then there is the hot chicks, the drama, the small cans of warm coffee from seemingly unpowered and randomly placed vending machines that litter Japan, and of cause, the complete absence of Police. The complete absence of traffic police anyway... I have a re-occurring dream about that. [sigh] Anyway...
The inhabitants of Ridge City don't have police. Tak Fujiwara of Initial D fame has never been pulled over by the fuzz. Not once have you seen the little chap sweating profusely in his Dads Toyota, as some sarcastic traffic cop asks him questions like: "How fast do you think you were going?" or "Is this your car?", "Where is the fire?" or my personal favourite "Sorry Mr 3DO Kid, emergency Cocaine deliveries to hookers does not justify speeding" that sort of thing. You know how police are.
Fast and the Furious Tokyo drift taught us the Japanese cops can't even be bothered to chase Toyota Supras with body-kits. It's like the law over there.
So is it racer Heaven? Apparently, and predictably, not. Firstly getting a license is expensive. Really expensive. So I'm told.
Secondly, they have all manner of stupid questions to answer before they get given the chance to even prove to the driving license test guy they can drift. And then, once all the stupid questions have been answered, drifting and power-slides during the exam is frowned upon. It's just crazy. The movies, games and anime have lied to us. Thanks a lot Battlegear!
Learning to drive in Japan is just as dull, and quite possibly, the biggest anticlimax in the Westernized world, including Japan. Yes you're free! Free to pay car tax, petrol, repairs, servicing, the list is endless. For what? A lump of metal that simply sits there and when you do drive it the only thing that really accelerates is the depreciation.
...and this game for the 3DO, a Japanese only game that allows you to practice for the written part of the Japanese driving license test, proves this emphatically. Bah.
Rare, for obvious reasons, outside of Japan.
3DO Kid.
