I woke up early in the morning after a long break. It was to participate in Segway tour in Tokachi forest. As you might know, Segway is an innovative vehicle with two wheels driven by batteries. Though I sometimes saw it running in the U.S. and Canada, it is still banned to run on public roads in Japan. Therefore we can't get it for personal use and only companies with a spacious land such as golf course or factory can purchase it. Tokachi forest is a private forest which is 60 times as large as Tokyo Dome and is owned by a newspaper publishing company. The Segway tour is a popular program held daily in the forest and as far as I know, it is the only for usual people to experience Segway in Japan. It was so easy to ride it that all the tour members were riding it as they liked after 30 minute practice and we started the tour on it. The tour course was really great; running through a ranch, climbing up and down a hill and moving slowly on the rough road in the forest. The maximum speed, which is 20 km/h, may not seem fast comparing with any other vehicles, but it was fast enough to enjoy moving around the vast area in a limited time. I hope this vehicle is someday permitted in Japan and it becomes as popular as mini bikes.
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