The Joys of Japanese Auto Insurance

At the start of the year, I wrote a post about being involved in a minor traffic accident. A coach decided to merge into my lane and, although I wasn’t moving and beeping my horn, the coach scraped the fender and bumper of my car. It’s annoying to have to fill in paperwork, get your car fixed, and drive around a loaner for a week or two, but accidents happen.

In the previous blog post I wrote:

The one issue that does remain is exactly whose insurance will be paying for the repairs. You might assume that the bus company’s insurance would pay for everything, but in Japan blame is rarely attributed entirely to one driver. If the discussion between insurance companies results in me being given a token 10% of the blame, my insurance will pay for 10% of the damage to my car and the bus, and next year’s insurance premium will go up.

A couple of weeks ago, I got the accident summary from my insurance company ( J.A. ) it said that both vehicles had been moving at the time of the accident. On the day of the accident I had been told that the accident summary would be written after consultation between myself, the bus driver and both insurance agencies. I pointed out that not only was the accident summary wrong, but that the J.A. investigator had never contacted me.   I said I wouldn’t sign the papers until the correct accident summary was written. They pointed out that it didn’t really matter as I have comprehensive coverage so I won’t have to pay either way. I said I understood, but I still wouldn’t sign the papers until it was correct.

Later that day the accident investigator phoned me and said that he, the bus driver, the representative for the bus company, and I would meet at the accident site to discuss the matter. This wasn’t a good sign. There shouldn’t be much to discuss when you’re not moving, beeping your horn and someone else hit you.

A few days later I was standing by the side of the road in Nago with the J.A. accident investigator, the bus driver and two representatives of the bus company. The representatives from the bus company got straight to the point –  If you looked at my fender it showed a compression crimp that indicated frontal collision rather than a side collision. I therefore must have been moving when the accident occured. Amazingly, the J.A. accident investigator also said this sounded correct.  I said that as I was in the car, with my foot on the brake, and beeping my horn, I was certain I was not moving when the bus hit me. For thirty minutes a strange circle of repetition took place where the bus company representatives pointed to photographs of the fender, and then brought out my actual damaged fender from their car to prove their point, while I continued to tell them I was stationary. At one point the bus driver started to speak and he was gestured to remain quiet by the bus company representatives. I finally said that my story wasn’t going to change no matter how many times they repeatedly showed their evidence. They said they would agree on 70% of the responsibility. I said that’s unreasonable. We decided to continue the matter at a future date.

The J.A. guy asked me what I wanted to do and I said I wanted an accurate accident summary before I would sign the report. I told him again the sequence of events and even wrote them down: Bus signals, I stop, bus moves closer, I beep my horn, bus clips the car, bus stops.

A few days later the papers arrive with a correct accident summary. I sign and send back the papers.

Yesterday I get a phone call from J.A. thanking me for sending in the papers. The J.A. man says they have decided to agree on 70% / 30% and am I okay with that. I say of course I’m not happy, but there’s nothing I can do about it realistically. J.A. guy says no.

I agree to the split, so that this minor fender bender doesn’t grow from an irritation into a surreal nightmare.

I didn’t mention the name of the bus company in the original post, because accidents happen. However the actions of Ryukyu Bus Kotsu – 琉球バス交通 in dealing with what should have been a simple matter have shown they have some ethical issues they need to sort out. As for J.A. they have shown either a lack of  competence, or a desire to meet the needs of a company rather than one of their own clients.

Shisa Maker Haru Toshi ( Pentax 645 FA 150mm )

Shisa artist Haru Toshi was at the sunflower festival in Kitanakagusku Village.  He said he had a face like the lion-dog talismans he creates.

The 150mm lens for the Pentax 645 is a great portrait lens. It is the equivalent of a 118mm lens on a 35mm FF body so it gives nice proportions to the face, and at wide apertures gives a very limited depth of field.

If we put the following information into a depth of field calculator: 645D sensor, f/stop 2.8, lens 150mm, focus 1m 20cm it gives the depth of field as 1.58cm. This means if you focus on the eye, the tip of the nose and ear will be fading into bokeh.  (Interestingly it’s about the same D.O.F. as you get with an 85mm at f/1.4  at 1m 20cm on a FF)

Sunflower Festival in Kitanakagusku Village, Okinawa

There’s a sunflower festival taking place in Kitanakagusku Village at the moment. Local farmers have grown thousands of sunflowers in vacant plots of land between the vegetables. It’s free to wander around, and there are small paths that wind through the flowers if you want to immerse yourself in nature. Enterprising locals have set up a few stalls selling ramen, soba, shisa and garden plants should you wish to help the local economy.

Sunflower Festival in Kitanakagusku Village, Okinawa

Ikelite Housing for Pentax K5 / K7

Living on Okinawa, I can scuba dive most weekends. If you shore dive and only pay for tank rental, a day’s scuba diving actually works out cheaper than an evening bowling. I’ve tried underwater photography a couple of times before. First with an EWA Marine bag for my Nikon film camera that was good down to 5 meters, but limited functionality. Then I got a used Sea & Sea MX-10 submersible camera that you could take scuba diving, but the optical quality wasn’t great. I sold off the MX-10 and for the last 8 years have dived without a camera. From 2012, however, things are going to be different.

Ikelite recently started production of a housing for the Pentax K5 / K7 cameras.  I ordered an Ikelite housing from the States and picked up a K5 on sale at Amazon Japan.

The housing is rated to be waterproof to 60M (20M below the maximum depth for recreation divers) and allows you to access all the functions of the camera while underwater.

You must attach a lens port to the front of the housing to complete the system. The type of port will depend on the lens you are using. For the 10-17mm fisheye lens I can use the standard dome port. The port comes with a shade that will vignette the image if the lens is wider than 12mm, but the shade is removable.

Taking your camera underwater is not cheap at around US$1200 dollars for the housing plus a couple of hundred dollars for the port. If you wish to use flash underwater you can get specialist strobes from Ikelite that mount onto the arms of the housing. I will probably get these in the future, but they are not required for the shots I want to take in Yonaguni.

So far I’ve read the manuals and tested it out in the bath. I thought about a test dive today, but weather conditions weren’t really favorable. Hopefully I’ll get in the ocean sometime this week as I need to be comfortable with the new gear before heading down south to Yonaguni next month. You don’t want to be  fumbling with new equipment when you’re also trying to deal with cold water, ocean currents and … sharks.

Tripod by 3 Legged Thing

3 Legged Thing is a young British company making camera tripods. After being on the waiting list for several months, a friend just received one of the tripods so I thought I’d check it out and offer up some comments.

The tripod is really well made, and similar in many ways to my Gitzo. They have carbon or alloy legs and twist locks at the end of each segment. The design of the legs allows the tripod to be placed very low to the ground, a real bonus for people who shoot a lot of macro. The motion of the ballhead is smooth and it comes in a range of anodized finishes. The quick release camera mount is available as a stylish Black Rapid compatible plate or a more traditional Arca Swiss style plate. Each tripod also comes with it’s own bag to protect your investment. All in all, a great piece of kit.

Although I’m impressed,  I already have a great tripod that will continue working fine for several more decades. A quality tripod is one photographic product which is a good  longterm investment. The technology won’t become obsolete in a few months or years, it has few moving parts to wear or break, and it’s really useful if you actually take it with you rather than leaving it in the car or the cupboard.

Get a tripod, and give your life some stability.

You can buy 3 Legged Thing tripods directly through the 3LT website or on Amazon or at B&H Photo

Japanese Alcohol Free Beer

In Okinawa most people travel by car, the nearest train station is in Kagoshima, 500 miles away. Many Okinawans drive to a bar, and then use a daiko service to bring both them and their car home at the end of the night. (A daiko service is similar to a taxi service, but with two drivers. Driver A chauffeurs you home in your own car while driver B follows behind to collect driver A.)

The cost of using a daiko service, the health benefits of reducing alcohol consumption, and a crackdown on people who drink and drive are some of the possible reasons for the growth in popularity of alcohol free beers. The other night I had a few friends over to test the various alcohol free beers and the results were pretty conclusive. Four beers were sampled: Kirin Free, Sapporo Premium Alcohol Free, Suntory All-Free, and Kirin 休む日のAlc. 0.00 %. The Sapporo Premium Alcohol Free was by far the most popular, with Shawn even stating “it actually tastes like beer.”

As a final bonus, alcohol free beer doesn’t have the same tax as regular beer so you can get a high quality malt beer for just 128 yen.

Happy Healthy Drinking And Safety Drive

Happy Surfing Okinawa - Danny Melhado (image by Danny Melhado)

With its reef breaks, Okinawa is not one of the easiest places to surf, you have to be aware of the underwater topography, the tides, the currents, and weather patterns. What you really need is someone who is both a good surfer and a good teacher that can guide you through the choppy waters.  Danny is almost the archetypal laid back surfer, with a relaxed personality and an understanding of what are the really important things in life. He set up a great guesthouse by the beach, built a pizza oven in the yard and continues to share his passion for surfing with others.

Pizza Time at Happy Surfing Okinawa

I haven’t tried surfing on Okinawa yet, but once the warmer weather arrives I’ll definitely be giving it a go.

Photography 101 Workshop - Lemont & Mitzi

It was a bit wet and windy as we explored the area around Cape Zampa, but even in inclement conditions there are plenty of opportunities to create images.

Cape Zampa and Whitecaps

We were also practicing composition looking for repetition and leading lines. Overall a good weekend with excellent company.

All roads lead to Zampa

As for Kevin I wish him all the best after he leaves Okinawa. He’s heading back to the States to study pre-med at Liberty University, but I’m sure he’ll always have great memories of island life.

Kevin - Senior Shoot on location in Okinawa

Kevin - Senior Shoot on Okinawa

Kevin - Senior Shoot on Okinawa

Kevin - Senior Shoot on location in Okinawa

Kevin - Senior Shoot on location in Okinawa

Kevin - Senior Shoot on location in Okinawa

The thing is that, in England, we don’t have proms, high school graduation ceremonies, homecoming balls, or senior photo shoots.  In many ways it’s strange that we don’t celebrate these glory days, and taking a series of portraits of someone who is about to leave home and make their way in the world is a great idea.

I discussed with my friend and his son Kevin the kind of photographs they’d like, and we decided that we’d shoot a selection of images both in the studio and on location around Okinawa.  Here are a few of the shots we got in the studio.

Kevin - Senior Shoot on Okinawa

Kevin - Senior Shoot on Okinawa

Kevin - Senior Shoot on Okinawa

Kevin - Senior Shoot on Okinawa

Kevin - Senior Shoot on Okinawa

Kevin - Senior Shoot in the Studio