Daiko

Last night I went to my ikebana teacher's house for dinner with some of the ALTs. She fed us an awful lot, and then we went to a karaoke place that she practically lives next door to. Of course, we were drinking with dinner, and most definitely whilst we were doing karaoke. In Japan there is no 0.5% blood alcohol - here it is zero tolerance, so I was a little confused about how we were going to get home, and get Shak's car home too (given he had driven us all to her house). I just figured we would get a cab between the 4 of us - making 4 stops - and that Shak and Matt would carpool out to her house the next day to retrieve Shak's car.

No. In Hagi there is a service called Daiko. When you have had a drink and need to get you, and your car, home, you call the Daiko service and tell them where you are. A guy comes in a cab and drives you home in your own car. It costs ￥1000 and though I rode in the cab I didn't have to pay any extra! Awesome...