js43 our car collection 2

I can't remember the exact circumstances of the Mira's demise(see previous post). Nadia told me that the new teachers could only drive automatics, so that's why a new car was required. I recall something at the time about costly repairs to worn CV's. All I know is that a perfectly serviceable vehicle went to scrap well before it would have in Australia.

So when we arrived in Japan again about 18 months later, there was a new old car waiting. A Suzuki Alto. Another K-car. It looked remarkably like the Mira and I think I did a double take when I saw it sitting in the garage. The difference was the auto gearbox, air-conditioning that worked and automatic windows. It felt like the next model up from the Mira, if you get what I mean.

We used to take a back route(#49) via Moshi sometimes that wound through the mountains, on our way to and from classes in Sasayama. It was beautiful and narrow and bounded by growing tea fields and spectacular views. Streams dashed and gurgled over rocks and around tight bends with sharp-rising banks. The pic above shows the Alto at rest very near the crest of the range in 2004. We had stopped for a break near a tea farm and to take a few photos.