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News Gaijin Warning Labels

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう
15 Mar 2002
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It seems foreign visitors have been involved in accidents in rental cars at such an alarming rate that warning labels are now available.

Customers have the option to refuse the labels if they want.

While I admit I was appalled to read that some local police in one area actually asked car rental companies to stop renting to people from Korea and Taiwan, the accident rates are high enough that I'm surprised the companies didn't think if it themselves first.

訪日外国人は迷惑ドライバー? レンタカー事故が急増|オリパラ|NIKKEI STYLE
 
It makes perfect sense to deploy multilingual signboards. I still don't fully comprehend the purpose of those voluntary labels: "Caution: foreigner at the steering wheel"?
 
It makes perfect sense to deploy multilingual signboards. I still don't fully comprehend the purpose of those voluntary labels: "Caution: foreigner at the steering wheel"?

So Japanese drivers know not to get near them.
 
There's such a strange mix of "our drivers are the best" and "our drivers are the worst," practically everywhere I go.

It seems that there's some kind of validity to a concern about a foreign driver, as they might not have as much experience driving in Japan (as that's the topic here, but could be anyplace)... they might be used to driving on the other side of the road, or generally don't know certain rules like that everyone stops at train crossings, following distances, general etiquette etc... but a "gaijin on board" sticker also invites a whole lot of stereotyping and potential abuses.

At least it's voluntary for now?
 
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