Why Driving In Japan Stinks Like A Skunk

So, in a country so developed, so similar to the US, why would it be hard to drive in Japan you ask? It's not that the driving it styled after the British, not that the cars are flipped inside, but the simple fact that hardly any roads are marked. Unless it's a freeway or highway, it really doesn't get a name. Things like Google maps and Mapquest.com are useless here. I can't even imagine how people get somewhere knew! You have to "drive like a female" you could say, and go off of landmarks because the streets just don't have names!

Anyway, I have a family in Shimonoseki that has lessons on Fridays. It is an hour drive to the south and very tricky. My boss offered to let me follow her there and even she got lost the last 5 miles of the drive or so, twice! I know how to get there now! After the lesson, I was able to follow one of the mothers who drives her son to the house for lessons onto the freeway. We parted ways until Kanmon Tunnel. I was in the correct lane until a sign that was misleading (haha) pointed to the left, bringing me to a toll booth and a tunnel with a fugu (blowfish). I had to pay and turn around, but was never able to get back to my starting point. Being lost in a foreign city, in a foreign country, with no phone is one of the most stressful situations I've ever experienced. So yes, that foreigner crying in her car at the stoplight was me :) Finally I found a place after 45 minutes of almost, and maybes, to ask for directions. The old man at this sketch gov center/convenience store/whatever it was made a photo copy of a map. Whew. I called my boss too and said "I don't think I'm going to make it for my last class, I'm lost!!!" Luckily, a way home was right around the corner (literally) and I got on another freeway route right back home. I never want to do it again so hopefully I will never goof it again! My boss wanted me to drive the route again but since I know what screwed me up, I'm going to say I'm alright. So here are my souvenir maps :D One from the Takizawa family and one from the Ojiisan (grandpa).