Taxi drivers

Trains are the lifelines that connect people within Japan. My little piece of countryside has its own station, called “Gohyakugawa Stn.” My area is called 五百川、meaning “500th River.” Apparently, it is the 500th river from Kyoto. Who knew?!

Anyways, my little pink apartment is a leisurely 22-minute walk from the station. Last year, it was a common occurrence for me to walk to the station every weekend, toting my trusty black overnight bag. I often found myself in the city of Koriyama, singing the night away at karaoke bars or attending surreal hip hop nights at the local clubs. Thus, 22 minutes ended up being a small price to pay so I could hang out with my friends.

But as the weather grew colder and I got lazier, I started calling the taxi company. I remember the first time I called. The dude fully hung up on me, since I couldn’t really stutter anything over the phone in Japanese. As time passed, my Japanese slowly improved… and the dude finally realized that the “gaijin” (foreigner – that’s me!) mainly needed to be shuttled between two places: either to Gohyakugawa Stn., or my apartment.

I’ve used Mashiko Taxi dozens and dozens of times over the past year, and I’d like to think that I’ve developed some friendly bonds with my taxi drivers. Now, I can mumble out what time I’d like to schedule my pick-up. In the past, I’d just say a location and wait it out.

I’d say I get 4-5 taxi drivers whom I encounter on a regular basis. We often exchange friendly conversation! I often feel very fluent in Japanese after regaling them with my tales. (I’m still far from being fluent, ha!) After imbibing a few beverages of choice, it's always interesting to explain my evenings out to them. "NIHONMATSU! ENKAI! SUBARASHII!!!" (Basically, I am yelling out words but not connecting them with verbs. This is an example of how I tried to express that I attended a "wonderful enkai in Nihonmatsu!")

There’s Mr. My-First-Cab-Ride-Home-Ever-Driver. He was the first guy who ever drove me home from the station. He’s very friendly, but I haven’t seen him in a while. He remembered when my family visited over Christmas. He is interested in Canada. Most notably, he drove me home after my arduous Fuji trip. He was very excited to hold my Fuji stick!

There’s Mr. Smokes-All-The-Time-Driver. He’s a quiet fellow, with a cigarette in his mouth whenever he has the chance to sit outside and wait for me. Most recently, he drove me home after my Tokyo trip. For some reason, he was extremely nice and stopped the taxi meter at only 680 yen. The savings! He also handed me a train timetable on my way out.

There’s also Mr. I-want-to-learn-English-Driver. He was really stoked to hear that I teach English. He attends eikawa (English conversational classes) in Koriyama. Last week, he proudly showed me his English textbook which was carefully placed on his passenger seat. I think he wants to take an English proficiency test in Tokyo this year!

I can’t forget Mr. My-Friend-Driver. He only started driving me around recently. When I picked up Liz from the station one day in my own car, he was surprised to see that I actually drive myself. I was introducing Liz to him as my friend (“Watashi no tomodachi!”) He turned it around, and told Liz that he is MY friend. What a funny man!

Motomiya also has a female taxi driver. I haven’t really run into many female cab drivers, so I thought was oddly fascinating. I don’t like that she often takes the long way to the station, making my fare reach almost 1,200 yennies! But yesterday, she finally figured out the shortcut via the rice fields – and I was charged an average amount. She always remembers that she drove my family and our luggage to the station last Christmas.

Yesterday, I had a new driver after I got home from Fukushima. In my limited Japanese, I had to explain to him the way to my place. Like many others, he chuckled at the ridiculously pink exterior of my place. And he followed up with: “Oboete imasu!” (I’m thinking that translates into: “Oh, I’ll remember!”)

Train, plane, taxi cab... all these choices are hip. But I'll always have a soft spot for my Motomiya taxi crew.