Japan

The afternoon sun spreads a silver glow on the sea, as we drive our Landcruiser out of the vessel "Figaro" at the port of Kobe. We park the car on the berth and hop into a waiting taxi for completing the immigration and customs papers. The immaculately dressed driver with white gloves bows deeply and opens courteously the door to his car where white laces cover the seats. It is a hearty reception in this special country about which we know so little. The complicated and apparently very costly car entry conditions caused us more than headaches during the last days of our sea journey - starting from the MOT inspection, the expensive adjustment of the vehicle to the Japanese regulations and the inevitable shut-down of the car during this time, up to the replacement of the Swiss license plates into Japanese ones. Will we ever manage to enter the "Land of the Rising Sun"? Two hours later, although without local Kobe license plates, we integrate into Japans left-hand traffic. Until today we do not know whether these easy customs formalities were due only to lucky circumstances or to the efficient preparatory work of the Japanese Wallenius agent.