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NEW 'ROAD RECREATION' CENTERYou Can DriveTamaFlying: saucers are no less thrilling1 lor the squeamish of heart than conventional vehicles as Pacific Stars and Stripes reporter Forest Kimlerlearns by ramming: a fellow saueerlst In a Ginza-type traffic jam. Saucers are not for motorists in. their cups.By FOREST KIMI7ERSS Staff WriterTOKYO—The experience mostakin to weightlessness on earth is a ride in a 70-yen Tokyo taxicab. Or so it's widely believed.Tourists have reported, with considerable awe, of feeling a 5-G thrust against the yen pouch in their pants pocket when a Tokyo cab driver has suddenly accelerated to beat a Little Old Lady through a crosswalk during the Ginza rush hour.And if Cape Canaveral Is the recognized proving ground for training American astronauts for the rigors of space travel, then Tama Tech must be the school of hard knocks for 70-yen cabbies.The Tama Technical Center at Hodokubo, Hinomachi, SO minutes from Tachikawa AB, is the site of Motorland, where “test drivers from 6 to 60 are experimenting with things mechanized that would scare the obi off the most callous pedestrian.A recent visitor to the new Japanese recreation center commented that it would take a person with the skill and nerve of an Eizo Ikeda to accept the mechanized challenge of Tama Tech.Ikeda is the Japanese youth who proved his skill by winning the “Japan’s Best Driver” award.He promptly proved his nerve by putting the blast on the driving habits of his fellow countrymen.“Japanese drivers don't know enough about the correct handling of cars,” Ikeda declared upon accepting the award.Which, since Ikeda is still driving within bumper range of several million potentially vindictive drivers, is like kicking a dentist in the shins while he has the drill in your mouth.But if Ikeda is right, then Motorland is out to correct the situation.Japanese youngsters are not only learning how to pass on the right, left add through the middle with miniature versions of the family passenger vehicle at Tama Tech, but also how' to:—Crunch fenders in dirt road flights on roaring motorcycles.—Lock bumpers in rubber-burning quarter-midget racers.—Skin paint in three-wheeled two-seaters on a fenced-in turnpike.—Tangle anti-gravitational gear on ground-level flying saucers.And just for kicks, Motorland features group courses In how to live dangerously but at ease in a traffic jam by offering a togetherness ride on a bicycle-built-for-five.As an added incentive for the-motor-mad public, Tama Tech officials point out that there isn't a traffic cop in the entire beautiful valley split asunder by the roar of racing engines.Which just shows to go you that traffic cops are a lot smarter than “Best Driver” Ikeda thinks the motorists are.t o motorcyclists roar up a steep dirt hill at Motorland. This test of a cyclist's skill and daring Is one of the most popular rides In the park.Moving the back seat driver up front is a new innovation in motoring at Motorland. The young driver swerves his three-wheeled conveyance in front of a cut-down hot rod and thelittle girl squirms In delight. The plane at right was purchased by the park for the kids to crawl through and dream of someday playing tag in the sky. (SS Photos)Sunday's Shubun-No-Hi The Day Summer EndsTOKYO (SS)—Summer officially ends Sunday night while hundreds of thousands of Japaneseare expected to flock to cemeteries ail over the nation to observe the annual “Shubun-no-hi” holiday marking the autumn equinox.The sun will be directly over the Equator, “at 9:35 p.m.,” a spokesman for the Scientific and Climatological Services, 10th Weather Group, Fuehu AS said Monday.Each year at this se asonal change-over, Japanese pay reverence to ancestors and departed relatives. This is one of the two yearly trips Buddhists make to ancestral graves; They make anotherduring the vernal equinox—the beginning of spring.Another Japanese observance —the moon-viewing f e s t i v a 1— stems from the autumn equinox. Thousands of Japanese will walk to mountains, beaches and fields to view the moon.The day of the equinox is generally regarded as a national holiday in Japan. When it occurs on a weekday ail government and business offices are closed. ,Engler Opens Teensville Club at ZamaZAMA, Japan (USARJ) — Morethan 300 parents and teen-agers watched as Maj. Gen. Jean E. Engler, U.S. Army Japan commanding general, cut a ribbon toofficially open the new teen club—Teensville—at Camp Zama.The club, previously at Saga-niihara dependent housing area, Is in a completely renovated building, S-316, In North Camp Zama.Engler also cut a large cake commemorating the opening. Cake and punch were served to guests at the Saturday affair.Nov. 20 Yule Deadline Listed for Surface MailTOKYO (SS — Postal authorities have reminded patrons in Japan and the Republic of Korea that November 20 is the mailing deadline for surface (fourth class) Christmas mail to the U.S.Packages should bo mailed by that date in order to reach their destinations before Dec. 25, according to Capt. Henry J. Stocker, operations officer, 1st Air Postal Sq., Tachikawa AB.Stocker also said air parcels and air mail letters and cards should be mailed by December 10 to insure Christmas delivery.The postal officer said there Is no longer a $59 gift exemption, but patrons may mail gifts not exceeding $10 to donees in the U.S. without paying customs duties.However, only one parcel should be mailed to arrive at the sama address in any one day. Mailing more than one may result in tho payment of duties for all parcels*Promoted to ColonelFUCHU AS, Japan (OI) — CoL Kenneth T. Barnaby, chief of Plans, J-3, U.S. Forces Japan, has been promoted to his present rankhere.Pacific Stars Stripes J
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Pacific Stars and Stripes
Tokyo, Tôkyô, JP
Wed, Sep 19, 1962
Page 22
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WI, USA 25 Dec 2021
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