While I was managing a gift shop at Expo '70 in Osaka, a friend arranged the loan of a Daihatsu Hijet mini pickup. It was probably a mid-1960s model, so small that the only way I could squeeze into the cab was to remove the seat and use a folded beach towel as a cushion.
Although Osaka was gaikokujin darake (外国人だらけ, crawling with foreigners) during the Expo, a police officer, perhaps curious at the bizarre sight of me crammed into the tiny truck's cab, flagged down the vehicle. I showed him my driver's license, which still bore my old Tokyo address. He then inquired, "Kore wa mai kā desu ka?" (「これはマイカーですか」, "Is this 'my car'"?)
Not being familiar with this particular English borrowing for a privately owned vehicle, his question left me incredulous.
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