Next time you’re stuck in traffic, keep your fingers crossed that this guy is nearby.
As a country that’s famous both for its expertise in building cars and the value it places on politeness, it’s not surprising that Japan has developed some unique forms of automotive courtesy. It’s customary to flash your hazard lights when someone lets you into their lane in traffic, for example, and also to turn your headlights off when stopped at intersections at night, so that you don’t blind the driver on the other side of the crossing.
However, Japanese Twitter user @haru_san_ytk recently encountered a driver who displayed an unprecedented level of vehicular hospitality: screening a feature-length anime on the back of his car for others to watch!
This wasn’t just any anime, either, but Spirited Away, the Hayao Miyazaki-directed Studio Ghibli classic that’s Japan’s highest grossing film of all time, as well as the only anime to ever win an Academy Award. And to clarify, that’s not a monitor for the car’s rear-seat passengers; the display is mounted on the white car’s rear glass, and not visible to anyone inside the vehicle (though a second, smaller monitor inside the car also seems to be playing the same anime).
“For some reason, this guy was showing us all Spirited Away, so I got to watch it on my way home,” tweeted @haru_san_ytk, who appears to have spotted the car somewhere along Nishi Ojidori street in Kyoto. Online commenters had the following to say about the unique car customization job:
“He should broadcast the audio on a FM station that you can tune into.”
“But how does he see what’s behind him?”
“Just be careful not to crash into him.”
“I’ve seen a car that looked like this in my neighborhood too, but it was playing some moe anime.”
“This would definitely keep me from getting bored during a traffic jam.”
The last commenter makes a good point, but there’s one problem, which @haru_san_ytk experienced. “Just as the anime was getting to a really good part, he turned left, but I had to keep going straight to get home,” he laments, so hopefully the two driver’s paths will line up again at some point in the future, so that he can see how the movie ends.
Source: Twitter/@haru_san_ytk via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Studio Ghibli
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Follow Casey on Twitter, where a large portion of his time behind the wheel has been while listening to anime theme songs.