We are the Stuarts (formerly of Imperial) now residing in Okinawa, Japan.

This blog started from a desire to bridge the miles as we were preparing to leave the USA for 3+ years. It has turned into much more. It's part travel diary, part personal reflection, part "sociology of military life" and part mommy-blog. We hope you read something here that is interesting to you (or at least not a total waste of your time).

Saturday, May 8, 2010

More Japanese Wheels


It's that time again...time to review some of the sweet rides Okinawa has to offer.

To start things off, not a car, but a car's license plate.

(Trivia: Just to let you know how this works, you see the letter "A" below? This means this is a person who has SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) status here on Okinawa. In other words, Amerikajin.The A's (and yellow license plates) are for the small-engine cars (like golf-cart small) and the rest of us get Y's (and white plates). If you are Japanese (or other non-SOFA people) you get a Kanji symbol in that spot on your license plate that corresponds to the town you live in. So it's easy to spot the American drivers.)



If I was this driver, I would have refused this plate. No way would I be driving around in the sign of the beast. I doubt it has the same connotation here, but still!

Now, on to the wheels:


This model was second in the Toyota "Overlord" series. They are hoping it does better than last year's "Evil Dictator" model.



Doesn't everyone want to ride around town in a rabid dog?



Still looking for the elusive "C3PO"



Because the "Heckfire" wasn't nearly as sexy sounding.



And speaking of sexy...nothing says "sleek and sporty" quite like visions of a large, 19th century sailing vessel.

Until next time!


3 comments:

Troy said...

Most of the License Plate numbers I've seen were actually preceded by Hiragana characters. Just sayin' :)

Carrie Stuart said...

OK, Mr. Smartypants. Americans (those of us who don't take Japanese classes) use the word Kanji to describe ALL Japanese writing. Kind of like how people in the South call all carbonated beverages, "Coke".

Troy said...

"You want a coke?"

"Sure"

"What kind"

"I'll have a root beer"

I cringe as I imagine that conversation