Day 04 - 31/12/1997: Fuel from Above: Filling up with petrol in Japan is a very different experience. Firstly the petrol is kept in the roof in a lot of petrol stations (or as Japanese people call them "gasorin sutando"1). Apparently this way of storing the petrol is safer in the event of an earthquake, but why it is safer is beyond my understanding.
The other thing about filling up your car in Japan is that there is no self service. The station attendants don't just fill the car up, they check the water and oil, wash the windows, empty the rubbish, clean the mats and direct you back to the road with respectful bows. All of the station attendants are young, well groomed and dressed in colourful overalls like a Formula 1 pit crew.2
I heard that someone attempted to start a self service station with cheaper fuel, but no one would go there so it so went out of business.3 Now that's militant consumerism for you! It's not only for petrol that they demand good service in Japan, It's for everything! If a company doesn't give good service then out of business it goes!
