Following the many responses to previous entries, this post has been given a guidance rating; it contains direct references to ridiculous ginger neck-beard that most people should find disturbing.

The Japanese leg of the expedition has always had a strange status in our plans, since it`s the only country we are visiting solely for logistical reasons.  As the expedition has gone on though, its status has risen as we`ve dreamed of the food, the unique culture, and crucially because of the silly agreement we made in Kazakhstan not to shave until we reached Japanese soil.

Well, we made it, and the clippers were unpacked very swiftly, but in what future historians will call the great shaving disaster of 2008, they didn`t work on Japanese voltage.  Hair levels in northern Japan remained dangerously elevated.

A break in the rain

This additional trauma may have helped focus our minds on our goal though – we needed to get to Nagoya in four days, the main highways are expensive toll roads and Japan is a deceptively long country.  So we drove.  It`s a testament to just how much amazing stuff we`ve seen that on a drive through half of Japan we didn`t get particularly excited by much of the scenery.  There are beautiful forested mountains running all the way down the spine of the islands, but there is so much human impact: concrete retainers to stop landslides, concrete barriers off the coast, and of course towns clinging to every inhabitable spot.  It`s a product of necessity, with such a high-density population living on islands at such risk from typhoons and earthquakes, but the impression is of a country fighting nature rather than living with it.

Japanese seaside

Repairs over breakfast

We found a good beach to camp on one night and spent a few hours playing in the sea, but apart from that and a little bit of car maintenance (we’ve worn down the rear brake pads and made a bit of a mess of one of the discs) we didn’t pause for long anywhere.  It would have been nice to explore a bit, but it rained for most of the journey so we didn’t mind being in the car!

Pete delves into a paddy field after a terrible throw in a game of Flop (rules to follow)

We arrived in Nagoya on schedule, and with the timing we seem to be blessed with were whisked straight to Obon celebrations (one of the main Japanese festivals).  We chatted to our host Steve and his family, then delighted the locals with our attempts at traditional dance!

The next day we finally fulfilled our dreams and proudly rejoined the civilised world of beardlessness.  Pete seemed to lose half his head!

Before and after… (the moustache was shortlived)

Spike’s moustache lasted a little longer…

…while Pete went from hair-hero to zero

We`re currently being put up by Steve and enjoying his amazing hospitality while we arrange the shipping and make plans for Canada, as well as addressing the sorry state of our budget!  It seems a very different expedition to much of what went before, and we’re facing new challenges; it’s exciting!

- David

Playing on the iPod: `Don’t let the Man Get You Down’ by Fatboy Slim

We had some warning before we left home that in order to get into Japan our vehicle would need to be clean.  I guess if you`ve seen any of our recent posts you`ll realise that we haven`t exactly been keeping Roxy sparkling.

Worked out what it is?…the rear number plate of course

We found the ferry company easily, and apart from the price being somewhat higher than our expectations (this seems to be a recurring theme!) everything went smoothly, so we set off to get clean.

The outside was easy; we opted for a car wash to let their pressure hose do the work.  The inside was always going to be a mission though, so we parked by a river, emptied everything out and scrubbed until the sun set on us.

Spot the difference!  Roxy before and after

The ferry left early in the morning, and showing great faith in our abilities the friendly chap from the ferry company met us to guide us through the registration and boarding process.  It`s a good job he did – the Russian bureaucracy really excelled itself, and I`m not sure our level of Russian would have understood that an entire form was voided by a tick in a cross box.  We all got aboard though, with grand ideas of catching up on sleep, only to be told immediately by the Japanese staff that our vehicle wouldn`t have a hope of passing the inspection.  They would let us use their pressure hoses, but they envisaged a big job, so we had to start as soon as we left port – so much for that sleep.

And cleaning again

In the end we got her clean enough with a good few hours remaining, so got to enjoy the Japanese style ferry where instead of seats you get floor space and blankets.  The staff set about the process of registering the vehicle whilst still on the ferry, and when we docked everything moved with an efficiency we hadn’t seen for a while, but we still expected to be in for the long haul since we’d rejected the recommended Carnet de Passage (a document allowing temporary import of vehicles) as too expensive.

We underestimated the officials though, the message had clearly gone out from the ferry that we weren’t carrying a Carnet, and so the temporary importation documents were ready for us to fill out.  Within half an hour we were out with the vehicle getting the customs inspection and everything was going spectacularly well.  Then they asked where our Japanese licence plates were.  We stared blankly back.

It appears that you need temporary Japanese plates in order to drive in Japan, but somehow I`d failed to pick up on this vital piece of information during our preparations.  The helpful port officials started making phone calls to see if we could still get them, while I called Steve at Japan Car Exports to ask him if we could get around it.  Within an alarmingly short space of time both parties were looking into prices for loading us onto a train to Nagoya, it seemed there wasn`t a work-around.  We haven`t got this far relying solely on our good looks though, so we worked on persuading the port officials that we didn`t need the plates.  Some clearly wanted to help, others were more sceptical, but when we mentioned an email exchange with people in Tokyo giving us the green light everything changed.

Tokyo?  Well if Tokyo says it`s ok…  A few more phone calls and we were cleared to go.  The whole process had still been quicker than all our border crossings since the EU.

- David

Playing on the iPod: `The Hurricane’ by Bob Dylan