{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Kiri the Japanese Fire Truck, Part 2 (S8E16)","description":" In Part 2, we pick up where we left off in Part 1. Todd has just learned the process of importing automobiles into the US. He had one under his belt. He was ready for more. He\u2019d learned about older Japanese fire trucks and set his sights. He was still going to Japan frequently, and began to make \u201ccar friends\u201d over there. As could be expected, there\u2019s quite a subculture around cars in many countries, and Todd had found his in his home away from home. He found a tiny Japanese fire truck on an auction site, but the going price went out of his range of comfortableness. Normally, he\u2019d need his family\u2019s backing to make a move for another automobile. But this time, they were let down that he didn\u2019t get the car. And with that, Todd decided to skip auction altogether and instead work with an importer in Sacramento. We sidebar a little here for Todd to talk about how Japan incentivizes exporting its slightly used cars all over the world. He brings this up to mention that, when shopping for a Japanese car to import, thanks to a robust selling market, you have a good idea of what you\u2019re gonna get. Working with that importer, there was another fire truck that caught Todd\u2019s eye at auction, but he let that one go, too. Then that same truck ended up on a Japanese used car site with much better photographs, and together with his importer, they pounced. Kiri had served a tiny mountain village, and despite being 30 years old at the time, had only a couple thousand miles on the odometer. And because it had served as a vital utility vehicle, it had been well-maintained. The asking price was well within Todd\u2019s comfort zone. Then began the process of getting Kiri to California, a whole other ballgame. One snag was that the buying process got underway the first week of March 2020. Yep. The world shutdown and so, Todd thought, did getting his new red fire truck home. But in July that year, the importer called him one day and said, \u201cYour truck is here.\u201d Kiri looked pretty much like it looks today\u2014a signature red coat of paint, lights, sirens. But it didn\u2019t come with firefighting equipment. Todd supplied that on his own. Emblazoned on the door of his new fire truck was the name of the Japanese town it had served before retirement\u2014Kirigamine, a mountain town in Nagano prefecture. Todd, who\u2019s visited many times since buying the truck, compares the tiny town to Pescadero along the coast. Todd goes on a tangent here to explain why, as he himself learned along the way, Kiri the car is so small. Then I share my reflection on that time in the world. I got married about a year later (in 2021), and my wedding took place outdoors and in the streets of San Francisco. I remember how happy it made people we passed, and ask whether Kiri, once it hit the streets, had a similar effect. Todd goes into some depth about the serendipity and sense of wonder Kiri evokes when he drives his fire truck around. Todd says he gets a lot of requests to bring Kiri to birthday parties, but he isn\u2019t accepting those at the moment. (He jokes that when you start seeing him at parties, it means he isn\u2019t doing too well financially and has turned to his fire truck to help him through tough times.) He will, however, bring the truck to parades and other civic events. He says that since he first rolled Kiri out, it has served as a bridge between Japanese people and the Bay Area. In addition to Japanese and Chinese folks taking delight in seeing Kiri, Todd says that members of our local low rider community have been drawn in as well. Kiri\u2019s flashing red lights work, but Todd is reluctant to use them, mostly because you\u2019re not supposed to. He says that in Japan, fire trucks like Kiri use their sirens\/PA system to double as public service announcement speakers. To get their PSAs into Kiri\u2019s (and other trucks\u2019) system, an input jack was fitted. Todd is able to connect his own player through the same input, and has been loading various messages into Kiri\u2019s PA system, including what you heard in the intro to Part 1. Thanks to Todd\u2019s partner working in publishing, they\u2019ve been making Kiri calendars, which they sell to raise money for CalFire. Get yours on Kiri\u2019s website, teenytinyfiretruck.com. And follow Kiri @teenytinyfiretruck on Instagram. ","author_name":"Storied: San Francisco","author_url":"http:\/\/www.storiedsf.com\/","html":"