Japanese Motorcycle Police
Sunday, June 22nd, 2008 at 12:40 am by angrybob
Sitting here holed up in the Narita, Japan airport mulling over the injustices of life (my Northwest flight to LAX is delayed beyond my connection to get me back to Phoenix…but I am sipping on a bottomless glass of Bailey’s), I had to reflect on what I saw on the bus ride to the airport this morning - Japanese motorcycle cops.
Its the rainy season here…which is probably why my f’ing flight is 3 hours late and counting…and that does not stop the law efforts of the Aichi prefecture policing.
<shit - the bottle of Bailey’s just ran out>
These guys are tough as nails. Maybe not Noriyuki Haga tough, but tough nonetheless. Its raining cats and dogs here, enough that the blazing inferno of Phoenix sounds nice right about now.
I wish I had a camera to document what I saw, but alas, once again I am not a good tourist. I saw two guys on mopeds…not scooters…mopeds. The kind that fat girl jokes are made of. These could be no larger than 70cc and must have been WW2 versions. Two-stroke nonetheless for the ever-so-envornmentally conscious Japan.
They had their high-tech rain gear on though. This included a stadium quality clear poncho and nothing more. The Japanese standard half helmet that fulfills so many of their sterotypes with a half shield and no gloves.
Admittedly, Japan is a safe place with a compliant citizenry (compliant when it comes to following rules). But seriously, who the hell are they going to chase down and arrest? My guess is that a Segway could give them a serious run for their money…a Benny Hill skit is born.
I know crime is different here in Japan, and so is the severity. But what a way to neuter one’s capability. On the other hand, it provided some smiles on my end for several minutes of an otherwise boring bus ride.
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AngryBob,
Nothing is more fun than being stuck at Narita Airport waiting on a delayed flight. Once you have looked over the high-tech electronics in the shops and had a bite to eat, it’s pretty dull even though it’s a busy place.
The motorcycle police in Japan are actually pretty decent and competent people. Once when we went skiing at Yuzawa, Japan, we got a tire chain wrapped around an axle in our haste to get there. It was snowing, cold and wet. There we were on the side of the expressway trying to solve the problem with a car jack and lug wrench. Two motorcycle police pulled up behind us with blinking lights blazing. They quickly analyzed the situation and resolved the issue by plunging under the van and unwrapping the tire chain. They didn’t care about the weather or about how dirty and wet the job was, they had to get us and traffic safely moving again.
We thanked them, exchanged information (name, phone, address, etc.)for their report purposes and moved out smartly, promptly forgetting our car jack. We didn’t realize that the jack was missing until we got back home to Camp Zama. We chalked it up as a loss but notified the local police anyway.
We received one each car jack via mail three months later from the Japanese Motorcycle Policemen. How’s that for service?
Skid Lid