Giovanna wrote:

Actually...I wasn't sure whether to start a new thread on this or not, but as Folks Who Have Lived In Glorious Nippon, I was hoping you might help with a vague bit of research for the Akio site. I'm working on an analysis of, well, the car. For the most part I plan to analyze it at face value, but given the car is directly based on a car that actually exists, I want to also touch on why Ikuhara took a liking to that particular vehicle. Obviously I don't mean to discuss one director's preoccupation with one shiny car, since I don't think that's the situation, but I do know the Japanese have a long-standing love/hate/fascination with American/western symbols of excess, which the car certainly is. Have you guys any thoughts, confirmations, whatever on that? It's something I've smelled out in my viewing of the culture but haven't formally researched. I'd like to, but I'd need a starting point, and I thought to ask about any impressions you might have before I start looking up research articles.

Actually I was interested in looking into that too. I've actually seen a few (a scarce, scarce few) big American cars like Hummers here, and I'm sure their very existence in the country inspires a mix of envy and loathing. There's also the point that many streets and parking spaces in Japan simply cannot fit a large American car or truck at all.

But in any case those vehicles are built to Japanese standards. Not so with the Akio car: It's so American that the steering wheel is still on the left side and the speedometer is in mph. That is extremely unusual and possibly even illegal to take out on the road here. Also, it's bright fucking red, and I just realized that I've never actually seen a red car in Japan. Just food for thought.