transports

This is the train I take to school every day! Yaay.
(it snowed a couple of weeks ago, and I felt the need to document it.)

I USED to take one of these to school every day…. but not anymore!! I was shocked when I saw this parked outside the station. I have never seen an American school bus in Japan before. I was kind of curious about it, especially since American cars and trucks are SO rare here. The name of the bus is Thomas, which appears to be a North American brand owned by Daimler. Daimler operates in Japan via Mitsubishi Fuso trucks.. where I’d assume this bus was assembled.
It always just really surprises me to see cars and vehicles from the U.S.! They look so out of place!! One of my co-workers has an H3, and it is comically GIGANTIC compared to the teeny tiny shoebox cars. I’ve also seen my mom’s minivan and a Ford Excursion riding around town and in the grocery store parking lot. I wonder what prompts Japanese people to buy foreign cars versus domestic ones? Is it purely for conspicuous consumption? I can’t imagine that it’s cost-effective to own (or store) a Ford Excursion or a Hummer in a country where there’s very little space and the cost of automotive fuel is significantly high. Perhaps other reasons? Does anyone have more ideas or insight into this than I do?