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＊As I told Mr. Yoshinobu Nakamura, owner and general manager of an internet cafe in Lake Kawaguchi, to see him at one o'clock this afternoon, I left my home at 10:30 this morning. As I could not estimate how the traffic on the Chuo Express Highway would be, I was planning to leave Tokyo earlier enough. I got on the Metropolitan Speedway from Tengenji but it took about thirty minutes to Ichinohashi as it was congested with an accident involving a few units of vehicles (usually it takes only three minutes.) After that, I drove smoothly and entered the Chuo Express Highway. But on the this side of the Hachioji interchange, I met a heavy congestion caused by accidents involving a few vehicles. It took about one hour to pass through it. But right after the Hachioji interchange, I met another congestion caused by car accident. It was past noon when I arrived at the Dango-Sake service area. It has big parking lots. But almost every vehicle who passed through heavy congestions came here to take rest. So the big lots became almost full and the rest house was very crowded with people. I bought a pack of sandwiches at the front left bakery on the bottom picture. And I sat on a bench under shadow outside of the house. When I left here at 12:40, the navigator on my Prius warned me there was a broken vehicle inside the Ohtsuki tunnel and it caused a congestion. But it fade away before I came over there. So I could drive smoothly and arrived at Mr. Nakamura's cafe at 13:20. Although I could not see Mt. Fuji at all on my way, I saw it vaguely through mist at the front street of his cafe.
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＊Soon Mr. Nakamura started to check my personal lap-top computer (V2) and confirmed the troubles were caused by the entanglement of anti-virus software with the machine. After he operated the machine for a few minutes, it was restored. He cleaned the machine by taking out virus enclosed by the anti-virus software. He also checked another small-siza laptop personal computer (Ｖ1） which I brought here and update its softwares.
While Mr. Nakamura was working on my computers, two foreigners with small bags on back came in and each of them sat at the front of desk top and started to operate it after they heard from Mr. Nakamura the short explanation about the operation and asked him the hourly rate. As the only transportation available here is a individual vehicle but both of them walked here. I wondered how they knew this cafe, Although there are many things to ask them, they were operating machines so earnestly that I hesitated to ask them queations. Before I left for Tokyo, I was told by them that they were American and came here by bus. While I was observing them, I thought that the level of internet technology infiltration into daily life of American people was much higher than in Japan.
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＊On my way back. I drove through a newly built three lane tunnel smoothly as the connecting roads at the front and rear of the tunnel.were completed. Last time, I was involved in a big congestion here. But after I passed by the Fuchu interchange, I met a very heavy congestion caused by car accidents involving five vehicles. Furthermore I met another congestion on the Metropolitan Speedway caused by car accident, It took three hours from Lake Kawaguchi to the center of Tokyo the same as on my way there.
| While my car stopped on the speedway due to the congestion, I could take a rare picture of tower in Roppongi from the speedway. Mr. Iino is expected to move in a residential building beside the tower (a brown tall building shown in the right picture ) in March, next year. |
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When I was in Brazil on business tour thirty years ago, I was surprised to see many traffic accidents on highways. Japan in 2002 became Brazil in 19723 as far as the danger of traffic accidents is concerned. The inexperienced and bad mannered drivers caused the most of accidents. But in Japan, we had another cause of troubles. The traffic capacity of express highway is far short for holiday season's demands. I hope politicians, central and local governments, scholars and business leaders will make every effort in their power to easing and solving the problems.