Part 2: Lost in Translations
So I have edited the last post to add some smaller details I had forgotten. So after you've passed the test CONGRATULATIONS! When I was scheduling my "Inspection Class" as it was refereed to I spoke through I think the one person who was fluent in Japanese and he was one of the greeters/information booth people you see as you come into the Oki-DMV. I accidentally took the form I had filled out with all my information for the test registration, small mistake they called me on the way home saying that they needed it and don't worry bring it back on my inspection class day. I scheduled the class for Thursday and was told over and over and over again 8:15am is when the class technically starts and that I should arrive beforehand to purchase the ¥4200 stamps required for the class.
THE CLASS: Another Brick in The Wall
So just like before the teacher made sure we were at the right place and our paperwork was in order. I was given a sheet of paper with the time and place of the class(which was wrong, always ask if possible for help). Anyways we were shown an area outside which had a simple practice area with turns and streetlights setup, I assume he was explaining what he was going to cover in the practice area. After about 10 minutes of that we were shown a video of exactly not what to do with a I hope a stunt rider crashing an taking a few falls. We were then told to meet outside at the 'moped practice area' in about 5-10 minutes. I was under the assumption we were going to just do a basic; here's a gentsuki, this is the throttle, this is the break and maybe do a short 3m ride. I couldn't be more wrong what follow was everyone riding mopeds around the practice area. Make sure you wear closed toed shoes and long sleeves, I forgot this and
had to wear a long sleeved jacket they happened to have. They force you to wear a number like you're in a 5k race, you are not graded for anything at this point you will still get the license at the end of the day, they just want to make sure you're comfortable with a gentsuki/moped/scooter. So after riding around the track a few hours they give you a break, we were split up into two groups the women where given a slightly longer "ease into riding" season than the men which consisted of them pushing the gentsuki around and doing a short 3-5m ride strait. After the break we rode around, again all in Japanese so I just followed the guy infront of me and copied what he did. Good idea to learn what left and right are in Japanese. We then were told to go pay ¥2500 yen and get our picture taken back inside the Oki-DMV and were left to go to lunch. I followed the group which consisted of Japanese speakers I believe I was the only foreigner present.
After lunch were were given a lecture on the Japanese License point system, i pulled up This Website on my phone. Basically if you X number of points over Y number of days/months you can get the license suspended(you still have it but can't ride) or revoked (taken away) for Z period of time. After that another person came in and showed a video for what I assumed was the police guild fundraiser of some sort I saw I think a suggested donation amount of ¥1000. The room is filled with people who are about to get their gentsuki license or drivers license and the gentsuki group is asked up first. The officer called us up by name and handed us our license and let go for the day. I think it was about 1:30pm. I didn't quite believe it was over. It was a rather long journey, I hope you are better prepared for the test and the process from this post. Enjoy Okinawa and keep the shiny side up.