Young Version — August 1999

Coming back to Japan is full of surprises. I can’t figure out how to use appliances—especially mobile phones, which have so many features now. Japan is convenient! In America, even receiving calls costs money, so using a phone makes me nervous. Japanese phones are best, right, U-san? “No way! U.S. phones are best—Motorola is the only one.” True, though the battery barely lasts a day, and they’re huge compared with compact Japanese phones. Ringtones are a whole different world… Actually, what good points are there? Why do I use one? Oh, can American StarTAC CDMA phones be used in Japan? (U only has eyes for Motorola.) I recently had to attend a license-suspension class. We tried a driving simulator with a real-car-like cockpit and CG screen. It was incredibly realistic: the wipers worked, and the engine wouldn’t start unless the gear was in P or N. Being curious, I wondered if I could drift by pulling the handbrake, and tested how fast it would go… (Would I have to take the class again if caught? —Tera-ji.) The manuscript is finished, but it’s pouring rain and past 10:30 a.m. Going home feels like a hassle. I took the train, and have to be back at 3. I could buy a change of clothes at nearby Kimuraya and just stay overnight… But I have to pay rent and parking today. As I fight sleep and write this editor’s afterword, I’m surprisingly happy. (Matsugon.) “So the mysterious foreign drift guy, Steve, is finally going back to America today. It feels lonely…” I was thinking that while driving the YV company car on the expressway when the car beside me started honking. Maybe a YV reader? I looked over and there was Steve, hanging out the window and shouting “Chimmanji!” We ran into each other by chance on the way to Narita. Funny how that happens. My car obsession has returned (provisional name). First choice: FC3S; next: SW20, then A70 Supra and 20-series Soarer. If I get one, I want to drive all night like I used to—somewhere a little naughty and thrilling, not like Marimo-chan who’s into Sunday races. It’s just more exciting that way.