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+---
+date: 2023-04-30 (2 days)
+toc: true
+---
+
+<!-- TODO: header picture? -->
+
+Before leaving home I had gotten myself an international Drivers License, that
+gives you a permit to drive in many countries (outside the EU) for up to 3 years. 
+It only costs 15 EUR in Berlin and I had set the soft goal of driving in Japan
+at least once.
+
+<aside class="notice">
+The international Drivers License, as it will turn out later,  was entirely
+unnecessary for me.
+</aside>
+
+For my first destination I chose [Nikkō], another common day trip destination
+from Tokyo that I had not done and conveniently located along the Tōhoku 
+Shinkansen line. My plan was to take the train to Utsunomiya, rent a car from
+there and continue towards Nikkō, with the eventual goal being a hotel at the 
+shores of Chuzenji-ko.
+
+[Nikkō]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikk%C5%8D
+
+So I start the day nice and early on one of the first trains out of Ueno
+terminal. It's another grey morning in Tokyo with the weather forecast
+promising sunshine for the next day at least. When I arrive in Utsunomiya
+though, none of that is in sight at all. Quite on the contrary it is pouring
+down as I leave the station building. Luckily I have my umbrella from the last
+trip with me, so I quickly orient myself and find the tiny Toyota Rent-A-Car
+office not far from the station.
+
+<!-- TODO: look at line spacing when using footnotes -->
+At this point my biggest fear is the interaction with the staff there. I am
+very much aware that I don't speak enough Japanese^[hardly any tbh] and they
+won't be super competent in English^[unless you are lucky, which I will be
+today] for us to be much of
+any help to each other, should there be issues with my reservation or
+documents.
+
+So I enter the store and approach the woman at the counter with my phone in
+hand to show her the reservation code. I was not aware at the time, that Toyota
+also has a version of their website in English, but because I booked through
+the local version the emails I received were all in Japanese as well.
+She confirms my booking through her computer and asks me for my passport and
+license, so I confidently give her those, including the International license.
+I know immediately that something is wrong. Her expression of confusion when
+she sees the admittedly pretty retro looking license says it all: This won't
+do.
+
+She goes to the back and after some back and forth she returns with another 
+woman, who I interpret to be her superior. She asks if I have a translation of
+my drivers license into Japanese. Now it is my turn to be confused. I simply
+point at the International license she is still holding, but am well aware that
+it isn't a _Japanese_ translation at all.
+
+So rather than a car, I only receive a polite "sorry" and have my booking fee
+refunded to me. I come back out into the rain with no idea how to even get to
+my hotel later and if it even makes sense to go at all.
+
+I reconvene to the station Starbucks to do some research on what acutally went
+wrong. I figure out that some countries (among them Germany) don't actually
+need anything more than a translation of the local drivers license into
+Japanese issued by the JAF[^jaf]. This costs ¥4000 and takes up to 2 weeks
+(according to their website). So there is no way I can work this out today.
+
+[^jaf]: https://english.jaf.or.jp/driving-in-japan/drive-in-japan/about-dltas
+
+<aside class="notice">
+I applied to receive a translation on the same day from that Starbucks and
+received the notification the next week. It seems that 2 weeks is a very
+conservative estimate. A curious details is that you don't receive a PDF, but instead a button to
+issue 7ELEVEN "Net Print Service" codes (that are one-time use only), which you
+then take to a convenience store and print out on their printer.
+</aside>
+
+Now that I am dependend on public transport my schedule is a lot more
+constricting. The hotel I booked is served by a bus that runs every hour,
+though only until 1800. This means I have to be careful how I spend time around
+today's destination: [Tōshō-gū et al]
+
+[Tōshō-gū et al]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shrines_and_Temples_of_Nikk%C5%8D
+
+## exploring nikkō
+
+<!--
+- check diary (i think i kept one around that time)
+- pouring rain
+- wanted rent car
+- german international drivers license doesn't work in japan
+- ordered japanese translation from starbucks in uchinomiya?
+- decided to move on with trains
+- explored temple grounds in nikko
+- last bus to hotel
+- ordered dinner into the room - gyudon
+- bath looking onto drive way
+- simple japanese breakfast
+- didn't take free bus to station
+- senjogahara (lol monogatari)
+- walked along lake shore
+- twin-dragon falls(?)
+- walk through national park(?)
+- was a bit afraid because of the bear signs
+- recorded my walk through the "wet lands"
+- 20km covered on foot that day
+- took the bus back from onsen town (need to find name)
+- express train from nikko -> ueno, forgot to get express ticket and had no
+cash, conductor was annoyed but i could stay on board until tokyo bc it was all
+that was next stop anyway
+
+travel notes:
+- shinkansen from ueno
+- train to nikko
+- bus to hotel
+- walking to senjogahara
+- bus to nikko
+- express train to ueno
+-->