Pain at the Pump

So we just got a new (used) car.
The mileage for our new car as turned out to be 11kpl (kilometers per liter). I've heard that the price of gas will be going up to about 186yen per liter. Our old car had a diesel engine and got a little better than 12kpl. Our new car is going to cost us more to own, not to mention the cost of buying it.

Have you done anything to try and save money since the price of fuel has risen so much? We are driving less and trying to drive as economically as possible. By changing my driving habits I have increased the mileage of my work vehicle from 9kpl to over 12kpl. I usually put 40 liters of gas in the tank when I fill it up. That means that I can drive about 480km on a tank of gas. Before I could only drive about 360 km on a tank. That is a difference of 120km! It works out to about 600yen difference per tank of gas at current prices. I usually use 12 tanks of gas a year. So that would work out to about 7200yen a year in savings, not to mention the reduced CO2 emissions. That also means that I can travel 1440km more per year using the same amount of gas.

This has made me think that it should be required that everyone learn how to eco drive. Especially public employees who are using vehicles bought and maintained by public money. They should be required to learn how to drive economically and they should be required to drive that way, keeping logs of fuel economy with fuel economy targets for each vehicle. We are shutting the lights off and turning down the airconditioning and heating. Why not? There is a hybrid vehicle in the office fleet. I never drive it but I asked one guy what it's gas mileage was. He said 13 or 14kpl. ???? Only 13 or 14kpl!? My 1989 Mazda Familia is getting slightly better than 12kpl! Obviously the people driving it are not concerned with fuel economy.

My problem with Japan

I would like to introduce a short article written by one of my predecessors because I agree with him totally.

I like Japan. It’s a great country. The food, people and geography are all enjoyable. That doesn't mean that it is perfect though. Japan, like all countries, has its problems. But I feel that one major problem here are the clocks. I don’t understand them. Why does my clock tell me its 4:30am when it is already bright outside.? Doesn't the clock know that most people sleep are sleeping at that time? I heard that some farmers get up at sunrise but according to The Japan Times, only 5% of Japan’s population are farmers. And there is more to this problem. Sometimes when I’m driving home from work I see the sunset. Normally I like sunsets, but why does the summer sun go down at 6pm? In my view, we should all come home from work and have time to cut the grass, play outside with kids, hit golf balls, or wash our cars. Doesn't everyone prefer doing these activities in the daylight? I wish I could have the 2 hours of daylight from the morning for these activities. In my opinion, many people would be happier, and we could save on electricity, if Japan made this simple change.

By Dan Rupp

His article was meant to be funny as well as make an apeal. He wants Japan to adopt daylight savings time. So do I. Not only does the shift in time help people enjoy their lives more with more light in the evenings to do things, but it also saves energy! Japan is very energy concious so I think this type of move would be very fitting for Japan.