Regarding Amy Chavez's Feb. 21 article, "Driving in Japan is not for the gullible": I am an American living in Japan and have my own car. Japanese spend a long time at driving schools — not like Americans in the United States who just take drivers' education in high school and maybe a short weekend at a driving school. Japanese spend more time and money to get a driver's license. Of course, the majority of the roads are narrow, but sometimes it just intrigues me how drivers manage to park their cars. There are some places where it seems that a car can never go, yet tons of cars are found parked beyond that point.
Driving in Japan is very safe. I can tell you that Japanese — most of them — are cautious drivers and abide by the traffic laws. I have been caught behind many careful drivers while late for work or something, and had to find a way to subdue my emotions. I believe I have encountered only one Japanese with road rage my whole four years in Japan. I don't have to worry about driving around and pissing someone off and having that driver draw a gun on me or something violent of that nature. I also love driving on the left side of the road.
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