What is the above document, you ask? This is my first (and hopefully only) traffic ticket in Japan. Yes, that crazy drivers license process could not have prepared me for this. Here's what happened:
I was driving with my mother-in-law and J and G to get a haircut for J. I used my navigation system to find this kiddie place for haircuts. Well, I made a right turn (don't forget, this is like making a left turn in the US), and about a block later, a police officer motioned for me to make a left turn onto a side street. I honestly thought that the road was blocked, so I said, "Shinjuku Station?" He looked at me like I was on drugs. I said, "Shinjuku Station?" once more, and then he started to say something in Japanese. I indicated that I didn't speak Japanese, and he said, "no yellow line." I had no idea where the yellow line was. There were actually three officers who were working with me, and they were trying to indicate that I crossed a yellow line when I shouldn't have. And really, I had no idea what they were talking about (and I will admit when I make a driving error). Finally, they pull out a pad of paper and draw a diagram. I still didn't understand. They then told me I was getting a penalty of 6000 yen and 1 point, with the money payable at the post office.
The funny part about this episode is that one officer was writing the ticket, another officer was looking up which rule I broke in his "guide," and the third officer was making funny faces at Gracie in the back seat.
Eventually, Gracie started to get really fussy, so I kept opening up the back door to put her pacifier back in her mouth. This whole episode took about 20 minutes, so Gracie was losing her patience! I think Joseph thought this was just generally amusing.
Bottom line: I had no idea what I had done wrong, and it took 3 officers to give me a ticket. No wonder the unemployment rate is pretty low in Japan.
Second bottom line: I drove on the route again to see what I had done wrong. There was no yellow line anywhere. However, I did do something wrong. I shouldn't have made a right turn between 8 am and 8 pm. So there you go. I was at fault, but the police picked the wrong rule out of their book.
