---
date: 2023-04-30 (2 days)
toc: true
---

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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
-->