Japan > Coolant leak

I’m feeling much better. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for Brutus. As we park the car in the hotel lot, coolant sprays out of the reservoir. Trouble. It’s good that we can now see where it’s leaking, but it’s leaking badly. We suspect the reservoir cap is broken or missing a seal. There’s a Land Rover dealer in Okayama, and the hotel staff call them. It’s Sunday, but they’re open. We’re greeted with Japanese friendliness. The mechanic, using a translation app, indicates that it’s not the cap. He suspects something is wrong with the circulation and points to a hose.

Japan - A coolant leak later found to be a blown head gasket

He wants to try repairing the hose but cannot guarantee it will solve the problem. Between the expensive Jaguars and Range Rovers in the showroom, we’re offered coffee. The mechanic comes back: the hose is not the cause. He advises us to top up regularly and avoid driving too fast. Just then, the hood won’t close anymore. Is everything going wrong at once today? The car goes back into the workshop. The tension spring is adjusted. When we ask what it will cost, we’re told it’s all part of the service. Just as warmly as we were welcomed, we are waved off. For safety, we buy extra coolant at a gas station. Luckily, the old jerry can has a Japanese label, because explaining it would have been impossible. Even refueling proves tricky—what is diesel in Japanese? The payment machines have an English option, but not all menu options are translated. By trying different options, we manage to figure it out. We drive via the toll road to Himeji. Himeji is home to the largest preserved feudal castle. The castle’s tower is particularly impressive. From the outside, it looks like five stories, while inside there are six levels—designed to confuse attackers. The castle dates from 1346 but took its current form in the early 1600s. During World War II, the castle was heavily bombed, but the tower was spared. The guided tour of the castle follows Japanese custom: everything is organized

Japan - Himeji has the largest preserved feudal castle

. Visitors are led along a fixed route, with staff stationed everywhere to prevent deviation. The route is planned so that ascending and descending visitors use different staircases—likely the only way to handle such large numbers of visitors. Due to this morning’s delays and the castle visit, it’s already four o’clock. From Himeji, it’s still 320 kilometers to our planned overnight stop in Nagoya. As we leave Himeji, the navigation takes us on an inland route to the main road, even though we had only briefly left the highway. The inland route goes entirely through urban areas—kilometers of buildings, shops, and especially traffic lights. So many traffic lights. It seems like all of them are either red or turning red just as we approach. I estimate there’s one every 300 meters. Progress is slow. After two hours, we’ve only covered 35 kilometers. This is going to take a long time. On the map, we see a main route, but the navigation doesn’t pick it up. We first enter Kyoto as the destination, which works better. Shortly after, we finally reach the desired toll road. Past Kyoto, we enter Nagoya again. Eventually, we arrive in the city around 9:30 p.m. Near the center, we find a hotel. Across from the hotel, in a small Japanese eatery, we have yakitori—a kind of Japanese tapas of chicken pieces. It’s the last evening the four of us eat together. By the time we return to the hotel, it’s already past midnight.