The Long Arm of the Law

The long arm of the Law

So without incident I have been driving in Japan. We the help of the navigation lady in the computer I have journeyed to visit Bryan , driven to Mt. Fuji, and even taken the family to Disneyland…..brings back memories. So the other day I am driving down the highway and begin to exit to the appropriate street to get to my hotel. Now the speed limit on the highway is 80 KM per hour and most people drive faster, just like in the states. So as I take the exit I have slowed down a bit but was still going like 60 KMH. At this point I see a guy sitting in a chair on the median wildly waving at me with a little orange flag. As I pass him I look a couple of hundred feet ahead and there are two police officers waving me to pull over and pull up to where they were. Uh-Oh !! I was in trouble as the official speed limit for the exit ramps is like 30 KMH….so I was like double that. As I pulled up and rolled down my window one of the officers came up to my window and began to speak very fast in an irritated voice….”gobla..hasa.konachi…wacchi..gause a mas” or something like that….as you know I speak no Japanese. He sounded really serious and mad however. I answered him with ..”HI” which means yes in Japanese….but I didn’t know what else to say. So I pulled out my international driver’s license and handed it to him. He took it and looked at it and looked up and said…”blah..blah “wachi..hookey.gause a mas” …that’s probably not a direct quote either, but again he was not a happy camper. Again I smiled and answered “ HI” and gave him my Texas License. Now this confused him and he stood there for a moment with an angry look on his face. After a moment I smiled and introduced myself in Japanese which I can do but can’t spell. Then he looked back at me and a very dejected look came over his face as he handed me all my stuff back and spoke the only two words of English he obviously knew…..seat belt. So assuming he was asking about it, I pulled the seat belt up from my chest and said…”HI” . He then, looking even more beaten, mumbled something and pointed down the road and waved for me to go. I told him thank you in Japanese and drove away. I love this country.