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Kei cars and life without a train
Japan's 軽自動車 — kei cars and kei trucks — are a vehicle class with strict limits on size and engine capacity, in exchange for lower taxes and insurance. In rural Japan they are everywhere: on narrow mountain roads, a small car is not a compromise but the best tool, and the 軽トラ is the workhorse of every farm. Every car in Japan must pass the 車検, a roadworthiness inspection, every two years for most used cars, and the time left on it is part of a used car's price. In cities, buying a car also requires a 車庫証明 proving you have a parking space, though in many rural areas this is not required. The grammar of this lesson is the grammar of conditions and trade-offs: ないことには, ない限り, 以上は, かわりに and さえ…ば.