For a very long time, I had no interest in cars.

Of course, I collected supercar cards as a child, and when I got my driver’s license at age 19, I got my Class A license and said, “I’m going to be a racer in the future!” I was a student and couldn’t get a loan. Anyway, I wanted a sports car, but I was a student and couldn’t get a loan. I worked part-time and was able to buy a beat-up used Fairlady Z with a manual transmission (modified to handle a Ferrari, so the steering wheel was heavy and I had muscle strength when parallel parking) for 180,000 yen, which I thought was used by a motorcycle gang. But my girlfriend at the time didn’t want to drive it because she thought it was “uncool”….

However, since entering the workforce, I have lost all interest in cars. Now I don’t even drive a car. Perhaps “driving” is as special a hobby as “reading” in a city like Tokyo, where transportation is plentiful.

But in 2020. With Corona now having a base in Okinawa, I inevitably had to drive. 20 minutes to the nearest convenience store! Sometimes I have to go from Nanjo in the south to Kunigami village in the north, which requires a two-hour drive. A car is a necessity here. However, it is not just a matter of getting around. I want to find the joy of life and enrichment in my choice of car.

To enjoy such a situation, I became interested again in the design and performance of cars. First, I got in a station wagon because I needed to load my SUP, chairs, and diving kit to go to the ocean. But it was kind of sluggish and unexciting. Next, we tried a convertible for driving pleasure. It was nice and nimble, but the problem was that it couldn’t carry enough luggage and I couldn’t carry many friends.

So I looked for an “SUV with horsepower, four doors, a large body, and a low height,” and the Porsche Cayenne fit the bill. Even a Cayenne, which you see every minute in Minato Ward, would stand out in Okinawa. The color was also reproduced in ocean blue. In the Okinawan countryside, light cars are the norm, so driving a Cayenne and showing off is not something to be proud of. This is a world of self-absorption and self-satisfaction.

I think it is important to pursue what you enjoy and pamper yourself. There is no such thing as strict self-discipline! To get something done the way I want it, I have to think through how I can do it with ease and in the shortest distance. Of course, there are many things I can’t do, but I never give up, thinking that one day I will be able to do it. Eventually, you will see a breakthrough because you never give up. I push all the buttons that people tell me not to push. That’s why I get hurt. You will always get hurt. I believe that the cost of those painful experiences is what brought me to this Cayenne, which is the best looking and most comfortable car I’ve ever owned.

I think the highest need for approval is the ability to recognize oneself.

P.S.: At the concrete pour site at Speedy Resorts Okinawa.