The first time I drove out of the airport in Cairns Australia, I turned on the windshield wipers instead of the turn indicator, and the Aussie driver next to me yelled out "hey Yank". We both had a good laugh, but that first week of driving meant that I was briefly turning on the windshield wipers a lot. Not to mention that I scared my Aussie friends riding in the car with what they considered "way too excessive speed" as I tended to ignore the speedometer in the car and drive like the typical Californian (for this reason they always volunteered to drive in my place when we were together). One eventually becomes used to driving on the "wrong side of the road", and then experience brief contrary lapses when returning to the US. For various reasons, I have lately been living in countries (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, and now Japan) where driving on the other side "confuses" me whenever I return home to California on short visits - I actually have to think about driving when first starting out. Because I'm now in Japan for about 3 and 1/2 years and living in a large, congested city, I elected not to drive. Parking is definitely not easy as compared to California. And the regulatory requirements can be time consuming. So, given the extremely efficient public transportation system, it's just easier to use what most of the local population relies upon, and resort to taxis when necessary. And I believe in the long-run, costs less for transportation with respect to one person. When I leased my condo, the realtor asked if I needed to register a bicycle. I even passed on that for safety reasons because the few earlier times I did get on a bike, I used it as though I was in the US, and it was scary (both for me and the others). A few days of the week I run about 8 to 10 miles so walking is not a problem. My only problem now is trying not to keep my weight. This is one of the reasons the Japanese are the slimmest of the G7 nations.

While almost all our friends tend to buy new here, the used discount is massive and I've always been surprised how great condition the vehicles are kept. And yes definitely get that ETC card as it's so much easier to drive on the expressways. Even though the tolls add up, I strangely feel the money working after visiting the many awesome "Service Areas" or SAs on the longer toll roads with perfect clean bathrooms (and no fees or tips) and lots of local souvenir snacks and foods.

You know very well from your experience, that traffic rules are not exactly the same around the world, so in my opinion it makes perfectly sense to have people take a test before allowing them to drive in a country other than the one they made their license in. 👍

Great choice! I drove a Honda CRV with 3 kids in Tokyo but the versatility was priceless! Parking, alleyways etc.

Thank you for sharing your life and the time and effort in making the videos!

I did a Roadtrip from Tokyo to Fukuoka and back once. Toll roads were so expensive that on the way back I actually drove the most part on the rural roads. The speed limit on most highways in Japan is only 80 km/h. However outside townships speedlimit is mostly 60 km/h. So there is not that much of a time difference if you take normal streets. The only highway which is worth the money is Shin Tomei Expressway as it has a speedlimit of 120 km/h. However I also heard speeding is quite common and the speeding cameras are only flashing above 24km/h over the limit.

Tanner saying "じゃねー！/Janee!" to that toll guy made me giggle. 😁 Just as a side note if you haven't heard it yet: Although it's technically not incorrect it's usually only used between people who are very familiar with each other. So just a thank you in this case is enough. 😊 But overall I'm impressed by his ability to learn foreign languages so quickly! And I'm glad that you could experience that Japanese way of welcoming a new year. Hope to see so much more of you guys! Have fun! 🍀

"Why do the cars have so little mileage on them here?" _...ten toll stations later..._ "...okay, I get it." That earthquake-resistant, well-maintained infrastructure comes at a cost.

I guess that thw milage is that low because the car is only used for long trips, because parking in the big cities is hard to find and maybe quite expensive as well. Therefore the people commute with public transportation and not with their cars. In the countrysite it might be quite different. Roughly 5000$ for the minivan would be my guess.

Left-side driving when right-side is practically engraved into you, is quite an experience. In 1991 I went on a 3 week vacation in the UK (from Germany), with my first car, a Nissan Micra, which I had just paid off. So it was all mine. When I got off the ferry in Dover I went into a residential area to get a feeling for the right and left turns. Then I tested parking garages and finally dared to go into the city of London. I managed it all without an accident.

People in the big cities go to work by public transportation so they only use cars on the weekends. They also have shorter vacation so they won't go long distance.

In my experience japanese drivers don't follow all the rules in every area. Especially speed limits in more rural areas or the highways are often not followed. As a foreigner I was very aware of the speed limits and I was constantly being overtaken by cars and trucks, so over time, I started to adapt the way things were done by the locals.

I'm guessing the cost is $1,000 or less for the cost. [EDIT] Ok, I totally lowballed that one! As for the low mileage thing, I will echo what some others have said below and also add that the design and infrastructure of US Cities is not mass transit friendly so we depend on cars to get to and go places. Also that's a lot of tolls, but you look at the highways and how well maintained they look and I would say, "Worth It!" Also, I'm glad you two got out of Ikea alive! ;)

I would have guessed 12,000....wow how nice!

Japanese drivers don't really drive on a daily basis, even for work commute. Typical routine is to ride a bicycle from home to the train station and take various trains to the office. Even on long (2-week) holidays, many Japanese families take flights overseas. High-way tolls are quite expensive as well. Back in the 1980s-1990's there were good business to sell used Japanese cars (good maintenance and low mileage) to other countries such as Australia, NZ, Thailand, etc. Such trade is, until recently, also quite busy with eastern Russian ports & regions.

2600 US dollars, that's really possible. Even if an engine change is due soon, this is still tolerable..However, I find life in Japan to be quite expensive. you have to have it...😮‍💨

I have done this change once in my life. In Ireland. And it was surprisingly easy.

Low milage is because it's on an island... Not many miles to drive, plus public transit is probably preferred... Just my guess.

So, driving on the left. Don't let your attention wander for even a second during the first few weeks of driving. I drove from England to Germany in 1967 and again in 1969. I got used to driving on the right quite soon after leaving Ostend for Brussels. But when I got back to the UK a week later I had to drop someone off on the way home and when I pulled away, I suddenly realised that I had been driving on the right for a few metres. Luckily there was no traffic and I quickly swerved back to the left. A mistake some British drivers make when they drive off the ferry into France or Belgium is when they are with a group of people in the car. One guy drove for about 30km, then the family wanted a toilet break and to experience their first French roadside cafe. All were laughing, untroubled, throughout their meal. They were on vacation, right? So then it was time to leave and get back on the road. It was late as they had been travelling all day. Still laughing, the driver started the car and drove away. ON THE LEFT! His mental muscle memory had forsaken him. He had forgotten they were now in France. Within seconds they collided head on with an incoming vehicle and most, if not all, the occupants died instantly.

19:00 Driving on the left side. It happened to me in England/UK. As long as I was on a divided road it was no problem. But when I turned onto a divided road from a small one without markings I found myself a few times on the right side after the turn. And only within a few seconds (half a minute or so) it dawned on my that I was wrong. Fortunately that happened without any oncoming traffic. OTOH I had no problem with roundabouts. They were a pretty rare thing in Germany at the time. But in England they had them everyhere, even on the motorways. So I was not forced to de-learn how to navigate them. Just to learn to drive them clockwise.

The biggest difference besides driving on the left side, is that you have to pay for the "Autobahn" In Germany this is only for trucks...🤓🤔 But it's quite similar to the surrounding countries like France. For Austria and Switzerland you need a Vignette.

You could try the Google Maps feature to only use roads without toll to compare times. Maybe it doesn’t take much longer and will save some money! :)

Wow!!!! In California that would probably be $15000 or higher by the time you pay tax license documentation fees and that doesn’t include insurance

Wir haben ein japanisches Auto gekauft + und sind das erste mal, im Linksverkehr gefahren. I'm glad you're mobile now. And driving in left-hand traffic can be confusing. I know this from our holidays in Thailand. Assume that after this time you have a German driving license which you have to have translated into Japanese, then you can drive a car legally in Japan. So have a German driving license and the Japanese translation with you and everything is fine

Driving on the left would just freak me out, especially in tight spaces. Nice to see you all thriving!

I was going to guess 8k - but the actual price really surprised me

Japanese people buy new cars and replace them every four years. Most Japanese drivers drive an average of 15,000km per year. Gasoline price is ¥170 to ¥180/1L

Thank you sharing family video

Hi there, great deal Tanner, well done. I am sure after a while you will become a van lover. Used such a a camper van in QLD and it was perfect. There were always small, ver smal signs closed to the bottom in front of an upcoming crossing just saying "keep left". These words burned into my head and never got in trouble. Well, the windshield wipers is a different story. Enjoy your van. Btw, such a car can carry the Christensen five easily. CU

Come to Nepal someday 🇳🇵 ❤

Your mini van is so cute 😊 thats for sure Very cheap 😂driving on the left my husband had to get use to that in the Uk When we are over to visit family 😜. Thats a lot of tol you went through 😮 . When do you get your New home ? Have a Good weekend 🥰

I smiled a little when I saw on the screen of the introductory event that "good bye" means "sayonara". It sounds weird to Japanese people because the meaning is a dedicated final farewell. It is also used very formally in schools to greet the teacher before going home. In everyday speech, the usual way to say goodbye casually is "mata ne" or "soredewa mata" or "baibai". The very respectful way to say goodbye is "osaki ni shitsurei shimasu". You use this with superiors.

Understandable car being cheap because of great public transportation.

Your car looks great! So excited to get to explore Japan through your eyes :) I found that the only way to break the IKEA spell of masgically multiplying purchases is, if you have to carry it all home. And even then...

I'm impressed at 10:10 . Do workers in base have to take classes about major language in each places ? Even though in japan ? It might be hard to learn, but がんばってください !

Good guess from my side. I guessed 2500. - € 😊

You need to start backing into parking spaces like the Japanese.

A good car😄

As I watch this I realized I'm wearing my MOAB UTAH tshirt: ) But the other day I wasn't watching, I was reading the subtitles of an American TV show (modern family) and there in the subtitles was, "Your girlfriend is a supermodel, and you, you are from UTAH!" I found it hilarious but a little insensitive.

My question is, how many bales of hay fit in there? : )

Great video… but what did you classify your car in Germany?? I thought this to be a van too… a bit more elegant but wasn’t it bigger or at least longer ?? Ok the driving experience must be something. I was only once driving in the uk for 2 weeks and it took me a while to adapt but like in Japan traffic in the uk is much slower and people never or seldomly go only a few inches behind you and get impatient like in Italy😂. But I can not remember the indicators (Blinker) being on the right side of the wheel.. I could swear everything with the wheel was just like „normal“ so I had no issues.. of course the gears are to be put in on the left side of the seat, but as I am a lefty it really felt super comfortable for me.. whereas my friend was putting the gears in with „violence“ 😂😂 for me it actually felt more natural. With price guess I was somewhere in the middle. I guessed some 6000 but.. but sometimes you are lucky to find those cars over here as well. Housewife or senior cars who were only used to go to the supermarket twice a week. Of course over here those cars are usually not vans but VW Polo or Golf something small being usually the second car in the household.. of course I have no clue how Japanese travel. Over here traveling by car throughout the whole of Europe is common. I’ve been everywhere with my own car from northern Norway to the Deep South of Portugal. So maybe flying abroad for holiday is more common? Have no clue about Japanese travel culture. And of course Europeans usually have much more time to travel and explore. Much more holidays.. could be another reason but honestly just a wild guess. Hope I’m gonna learn everything from you guys in the future. 😊 stay safe. Did I miss the video for new years celebration?? This looked very interesting.

A minivan for an American is a full grown van for the rest of the world..🤣🤣🤣 3 seatrows and still a minivan?🤔

I didn't finish the video yet but I think 2000 to 2500 dollars

When you introduced the car i thought : ok maybe 3000 euro. 140000km is quite a lot even though japanes cars are highly reliable. 10 years ago i bought a Volvo Station Wagon on mallorca for nearly the same price. It rans

some mistake here miles with km. he said, the car has 140000 MILES (!). thats 225000 km. dont know if he confused that, because Japan also has the Metric System just like Germany/Europe (and most countries in the world). if it was really miles then its more on the higher side - at least for Europeans. Dont know if for US-Citizen/Canadians, who depend more on cars and drive statistically more/longer distances the expectations are different. But usually one still looks in general how well maintained a car is - and how much the price + potential repair might be. Anyway, that the car is inexpensive should also not surprise if one takes into account that everything is built on the wrong side. in Germany this is called 'Werkfehler' and also reduces the prices a lot ..... . ;) ...jokes aside: yep, Japan has indeed relatively affordable used car prices (and I read that the prices even went up due to covid - but maybe that effect is already gone now). I guess it really has something to do of being a) a huge car producing country (for large scale) in combination with being an Island and shrinking population and a culture which prefers newer cars - and sees used cars, especially with a lot of km, as 'to risky'. risk aversity can also be a cultural mentality which impacts prices (and explains why there are sometimes irrational gaps between new produces and used ones. thats also often true for clothes. re-using second hand/used clothes like it is more common in parts of Germany is not a world wide mentality) ...

Tanner is the new Doug Demuro 😅

Those Nissan Serenas usually have transmission problems I hope yours is ok

What did you do with your US car which you shiped to Germany?

Concerning the stop signs: It seems you have missed an information - or did I get you wrong? You said the difference is that in Japan at a stop sign you have to do a "full stop". It is the same in the German "Straßenverkehrsordnung". All four wheels have to come to a standstill, it says. The thing is, that most drivers don't care and nobody controls it. But in Germany too we have to make a full stop. Okay, we do not have soooo many of them. :)

Congrats on your car purchase! I would guess the price was below 1 million yen, like 6~7,000 $ because the Japanese just don't like to buy used cars and often those are exported to poorer countries like Russia (maybe not anymore because of sanctions?) and those in Africa. The mileage of your car is quite high for Japan because long trips are usually done by Shinkansen bullet train or by plane. Car travel is terribly slow in comparison (yet still nice in rural areas).

No way, the price sure was nice. Guess you did not ask again , how much LOLOL

I guessed 8K. Wow. I only drive Japanese cars, and my husband must conform to this idealogy. I used to like "cool" cars (an 80s volvo!, a 60s Pontiac Catalina!) but they were always in the shop. Then very wise man told me to buy Japanese. I said, "They have no soul." He replied, "There is a reason they are everywhere." When I moved to Germany the first thing I did was reseaerch "most reliable car" and it was both Honda and Toyota. So I'm sticking with Team Reliable. Bye bye Team Cool. There is nothing better than knowing when I press START, the car will go.

Hi. Interesting again. I love car buying 😅. And I love minivans. I guess your price was 8000,- $. How much ist the gasoline over there?Do you have to pay tax vor the car, as in Germany ? I'm exited to see the house. Greetings from Germany

$7000

Unfortunately, our country is not special when compared to Germany and other Western countries, which have a good and comfortable infrastructure and a mature car culture. I understand how you feel inconvenienced.

Mileage: 140k might be little to Americans, but even for Germans, 140k in 10 years is average. Smaller countries, shorter distances. I also suppose that german/japanese cars are not made to run that many miles, so 140k can mean it might need costly repairs soon or already had some.

Thats a minivan? Its to big.

You're still in your 20s, as far as I know. And I admire your curiosity about the world and how quickly you adapt to a new country. But your global family lifestyle, like that of many people, is unfortunately beyond what the earth can still provide. Constant moving, constand flying. Eating all kind of food, artificial food, sea food, white meat, red meat. All animals that humans consume have suffered. There is neither species-appropriate husbandry of “farm animals” nor is there species-appropriate slaughter. Millions of all kinds of animals die in the seas every year due to overfishing and littering. At your age you don't think about it too much, but I do in my early 40s. And I consciously decided against having children and eating meat, although I like it, too. The nature on this planet is dying because too many people consume too much without having a second guess. Even Ikea is known for having entire forests cleared in Europe and soon all over the world in order to throw more and more short-lived products onto the mass market. The comment is just meant to make you think for a minute, nothing more. And yes, buying cars is cheap in Japan, but driving a car in Japan is very expensive, which is why a lot of Japanese people don't have a car.