RE: The Biggest Obstacles
Yeah. There are a lot of differences. Probably the biggest is that roads here tend to be very narrow and often requiring looking into mirrors that are mounted on walls and telephone poles to see around corners. In addition, there are a lot more pedestrians and people on bikes over here so you really have to look all around you before turning. Also, you can't turn on red lights here and the turning order at four-way stops is different.
In America, you take turns based on the order in which you came to a stop at the intersection. In Japan, the turning order is based on who has the near side turn, which means you can sometimes find yourself waiting for a long time.
Plus, speed limits are slower, and police stops/patrols seem to be much fewer.
Another funny difference is that police cars, when they are on patrol, flash their sirens to let you know they are patrolling. There are more differences, I'm sure, but these immediately popped into mind.
Amazing. Thanks for telling us this. I was going to ask about the speedlimits and the police, but see hear you already got to that.
The speed limits are generally 40 km/h through towns, I think. Now that I've written that, I suddenly can't remember what they are. On expressway-like roads, they are often only around 60 km/h (I think). Honestly, though, I don't think many people pay attention to them.
And police here are not intimidating at all.
ah! okay. Thanks for the Comment.
Any time. Also, the stop signs are triangular.