The claim: “Japanese service is good, but too automated. It’s all “irrashaimase” and no listening to the customer. Service workers are afraid to break the rules if you ask them for something out of their routine”. Buying a used scooter I found this to be wrong.

Would you buy a scooter from this man? Well, I did. And I’ll tell you why I think you should too in a minute. First something about scooters in Japan. Everyone drives them. Students, housewives, sushi delivery-men, pizza delivery-men, mailmen, policemen and yes, even salarymen. Ok then, why?

-They navigate well in the narrow streets and congested traffic here.
-They are cheaper to buy and drive than a car.
-They are easier to learn and get a license for. (yes, you need one)
-They are easy to park.
-They are fun to drive!

How to get one? If you want to buy a new one there are stores everywhere, go to your nearest station and you will find one. Finding a used scooter is a little more difficult. Many stores sell used and if your lucky your store does. If not you might want to try using Rakuten or a similar service. This is if you can read japanese well.

If you live in Yokohama I recommend this shop. After browsing their web-site we went there to have a look. I was worried about meeting some sleazy car salesman type, but au contraire. They guy working this place does half his time in the garage and other half selling, does a lot for his credibility I thought. After test-driving we ended up with 50 cc Honda Today. Four stroke and fully automatic. The price was 70 000 yen and it was about on or two years old. A brand new would be around 100 000 yen. With a two year insurance the total cost was 98 000 Yen. That included 2 000 yen for home delivery. Why didn’t I just drive it home you might ask. Well, there where two of us, and I wasn’t really sure about the way.

Two days later the scooter is delivered. Two my surprise I found a lock that came with it. “Presento” I was told. Ahh, “saabis” I replied in broken Japanese. I was eager to go for a ride, and thought it would be wise to get some gas first. I mean, a scooter comes with an empty tank, right? So at the gas station they gave me 20 yen of gas and the tank was full. The scooter came with the tank filled up! Delivery, a lock and a full tank of gas. I don’t know about you, but I like the service here!

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