I bought a used Jimny. Used Jimnies are a real hit-or-miss.
After spending days browsing used car site and checking out cars in person at various dealerships, I had a good sense of what made a used Jimny good or bad.
I found a 16-year-old previous-generation Jimny in great condition down in Kumamoto. It was originally a standard glossy black. I had it fully repainted in a matte olive drab.
Matte paint scratches and peels easily. Even a light scrape from a fingernail when opening the door leaves a mark.
Apparently, using an automatic car wash is an absolute no-go. If the ownerIf the previous owner opted for a wax wash, a few remaining drops of wax left in the machine could drip down and stain the paint. This isn’t the kind of car where you’re supposed to worry about every little scratch. However, since I had it painted so beautifully, I want to take good care of it.
After all the customizations, the total cost was enough to buy a used, current-generation Jimny, but I’m thoroughly satisfied. It was a great purchase.
From the moment I decided to buy a Jimny, I searched for about ten months. Buying a car—even if it isn’t a Jimny—takes a fair amount of time.
You look for people driving the same car on blogs and YouTube, and gather information using AI and the internet. That process is part of the fun. However, if this had been a camera, I would have bought one in just a day or two without hesitation.
Even factoring in the time required for paperwork and maintenance on a car, I still buy cameras far more casually.
When I was younger, I would gather information, agonize over the decision, go to the store with excitement, and feel moved when buying a camera. Nowadays, though, cameras don’t give me that sense of awe anymore.
If a young person has the money to buy a camera, I’d recommend buying a used motorcycle or car instead. A car is a machine for creating memories. Heading to the ocean with friends before dawn to watch the sunrise together is a wonderful experience.
And that’s not limited to young people. Doing this during middle age or old age is just as enjoyable.The only difference is that the person by your side may change from a friend to a family member or pet, or just by yourself.
I drove my Jimny all the way from Kumamoto to Tokyo, turning it into a road trip. Along the way, I met elderly couples traveling in their cars and people traveling with their pets. To them, I probably looked like a carefree solo traveler.
Driving through unfamiliar towns, navigating crazy local traffic rules, eating local food, and taking in the scenery—those kinds of memories are best recorded with a camera.
When it comes to life experience and richness, I recommend a car or motorcycle the most—though having a small camera makes it even better.
Hatano Hiroshi
Born in Tokyo in 1983. Studied under advertising photographer Tsutomu Takasaki and won the Nikon Juna21 Award for "Marine Ruins." Winner of the Epson Photo Grand Prix. Diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2017 and has been living with the disease ever since.
’Bokutachi ga erabenakatta koto o erabi naosu tameni (To Choose Again What We Could Not Choose)','Shashinshu (Photos)','Boku ga kodomo no koro hoshikatta oya ni naru (Being the Parent I Wanted When I Was a Child)','Nan de boku ni kikun daro (Why Do They Ask Me?)','Tanin no nayamigoto wa hitogoto, jibun no nayamigoto wa ogoto (Other People's Problems are Trivial, My Problems are Serious),'Love letter',
https://note.com/hatanohiroshi/
