Show sc 0 a S if 4 4 1 f ti I 1 t gi g faw eve seine scene on a japanese highway prepared hv national 0 graphic society D 1 C service TH motor cars multiplying wi in n japan the nipponese are becoming increasingly interested in good roads A few years ago travelers scanned railway maps when planning to tour japan now new roads linking great cities with regions of historic and scenic interest on the larger islands are diverting the attention of ft visitors to automobiles to and improved highways it Is possible although it must be confessed sometimes iome tImes slightly uncomfortable for table to go by automobile throughout the len length tb and breadth of japan to be sure many of tile the roads are true sunshine roads which mean woe to him who attempts to travel them during the rainy seasons when light bridges across flooding streams often become unsafe for heavy traffic or float away entirely yet motoring at proper times presents only minor cuttles cult les drive along that historic to toraldo kaldo road from yedo tokyo to kyoto past lake sacred fuji and th the east seacoast with the sharp autumn air bringing red blood tingling to your cheeks spiral up to Chu zenJI from nikko along the zigzag road carved on the steep mountain side behold there the exquisite panorama of multihued maples climb to the mountains that gird the blue waters of lake gowada lush in the greenery of summer or aflame with riotous golds and reds of frost tinted october direct your car out into the country byways nhen summer rice planting or autumn harvest makes evident the patience and ceaseless industry of rural life discover for yourself charming places along the inland sea the fuji lake district and elsewhere if you take one such trip you will agree that motoring Is well worth the effort even when the roads are in poor repair today in japan autom automobile oblIe traffic Is steadily expanding if one excepts the innumerable motorcycles and three wheeled delivery that dart about everywhere and includes only the tiny flyweight cars the raucous taxicabs that cruise the city streets for CO sen fares normally about 25 cents the public and private automobiles tile the lumbering trucks and the long low IS 18 passenger busses that overfill the narrow roadways there are now about motorized vehicles v on honshu island alone and on the four main islands a total of more alinn better roads for motors the number of cars already in operation era tion together with those arriving daily at the docks or taking final shape in locally established assembly plants plant Is III ever a pressing argument for better roads in the first eleven months of 1532 the flip united states exported to japan 2829 busses and trucks rind and 2736 27 ft passenger automobiles the value of automobile parts exported in this same period was nas 2 arery day motors are il dening their all sphere lere of activity treaded Tre adeil pneumatic tires tire patterns patter rv tn if paths which for azes ages knew no pints p ints sale rae those of hare or dandil clid feet gasoline it ile fumes fume minzie with the diat that rises from roadbeds heretofore powdered and rutted only by the wheels heels of dog bullock liui lock or man drawn nuts the roads are rapidly even tile historic old from tokyo to kyoto which served japan its as the via appia served ancient rome home although th the old roadbed broadb d that echoed to ane hoofs of horses in the grand days of chivalry has been altered until only cobbled spots between tile the bcd gnarled pines and stately identify it tile alie panoramas are as delightful as eler eier mount fuji 1 ajl still stands supreme in her winters mantle or a the blue haze and shroud of cu cumulus millus clouds the rivers still rush down from the purple hills and nd tile the In rolling wates of the pacific still break along the rast nast seacoast Sea const as in bygone years there Is tile the music or of tile the harp in the pine one tree and the sound of thi in tile wanes the panting of the carriers Is like the sound of flutes flatea and the of the horses feet like the boora boom of the drum hakane barrier long gone if chemel went to H rite that portion i of his Ti mikaldo kaldo diary today lie he would have lieve to tind find sovie sone additional inspru mental similes for or the exhaust of motors and the blatant sounding of klaxons klamons kl axons the old 11 alcone barrier gateway has been gone these OO 00 odd years no more do armed sentries there challenge one and demand to see passports pas and credentials as in the days when glittering trains of feudal lords marched arched in in ceaseless parade back nod and forth on tills this route between the courts of the shogun generalissimo and emperor tr ekkers now stop only it if they are interested in examining the age old site it la Is sheer pleasure however to loiter along the way and enjoy the surpassing views across the cerulean hakonen lake which on calm days mirrors that stately mountain named by the aboriginal alnus fuji the goddess of fire not only along the toraldo To kaldo but elsewhere as well men with picks shovels and dump carts are beginning to carve wider and better trails of joy and utility through the empire A wide asphalt and concrete road which connects the titan industrial city osaka with the port of kobe Is in the final stages of construction and mind you speed cops are stationed along the way to check up on motorists trying more than the permitted 25 miles an hour thus far however motor traffic raffle has grown much in excess of the development of the roads and the education of the people to the innovation that la Is elbowing its ita way into the congested thoroughfares persons who have become accustomed to wide macadam highways or spacious boulevards and are inclined to tread rather heavily on ac accelerators may find travel in japan somewhat irksome at first anxiety and impatience must be left at home otherwise the nervous strain will destroy all of the pleasures of motor vaga bondan bonding careful and patient darivin driving 9 Is of necessity the motorists watchword on tile the japanese highways not only are the roads generally narrow and full of turns but up and down them passes a multifarious traffic there la Is a constant succession of heavily laden bullock carts bl bi cyclists beyond count people plodding under ponderous burdens high piled carts with dogs straining at leash to assist their perspiring masters to pull them peddlers hawking their wares trundling horse drawn wagons and children babies playing in the open streets youngsters going to and fro from school hundreds of students on picnic or pilgrimage grimage children everywhere and there seems to he little inclination on the part of any of them to share the road probably nowhere else in the world Is there such extensive jay walking or such a horde of irresponsible bl bi cyclists squeeze the bulb of your horn repeatedly peat edly then sound your electric klaxon every motorcar Is equipped with both and still there Is little movement in the traffic lc why there Is such slowness to respond to the repeated signals Is hard to understand since courtesy Is one of tile the outstanding traits aralts of the people many blany persons have tried to analyze the problem in the tha hope of a remedy bicycles the chief trouble how many miles we get out of our horn and not how many man 7 miles we get out of our tires Is the tha question we have hare in japan a motorist resident may jokingly remark when you are discussing the subject of congestion on the roads an and streets ghe che a man or boy a bicycle in japan where there are ore live and three quarter iu arter million bicycles to be reckoned with and he be will dart about with utter abandon entirely disregarding traffic of all kinds consequently bicycles constitute easily tile the most serious ot worries it if only the traffic frame police in fit the cities would devote to bi cyclists a little of the assiduous at they seem to think necessary in controlling motor car traffic lc the situation would improve perhaps clearer dourer roads are in prospect irrespective of facts regarding the right of way the motor owner usually has as yet the heavier responsibility in court in event of a traffic accident congestion and delays that would evoke from americans hoods of i leave the japanese elia chauffeur of outwardly unperturbed if he be speaks at all it Is probably to ask ak with most profuse apologies apol if tile the eatter carter who blocks the road WIN will be so kind as to try to move ills his vehicle far enough to one side to permit a car to ta squeeze past after more apologies apo for causing inconvenience the chauffeur expresses his thanks and drives drive OR on it Is a rare gift indeed this courteous etiquette of chauffeurs |