I was driving through the streets of Ginza on my way home. Following a white car, I turned right on a street that leads to Tokyo station. Then, there was a guy directing the white car, in front of me, to stop. Before I knew it, there was another guy directing my car to stop as well.

Looks like I turned right on a no-right-turn intersection. I tried to argue I was just following the car in front of me but obviously, that couldn’t save me. In my defense, I really didn’t know turning right in that intersection was illegal and I’ve done it several times before already.

Got my ticket and a 7,000 yen fine. Two points deducted from my license. Got the usual compliment from the police for how good my Japanese was. I guess my gold license, which I was supposed to get in March, will have to wait another year.

In a way, it felt good though.

I felt human.