My New Katana

In keeping with my koryu bent (for an indepth discussion of koryu, visit Koryu Books), I have bought a new car. 'A new car?' you ask. Yes, a new car. It is the type of car that anyone fascinated with Japanese Sword Arts should buy, because it is the automotive equivalent of the katana. 'What is it?' I here you say. Drum roll...wala.

Yes, it is a Mazda MX-5. Like the katana as a sword, the MX-5 isn't the most powerful or weighty of cars, but it is sublimely agile and designed for a single purpose: to fuse driver and car as one. It does what it was engineered to do to perfection. Here in Australia, it won Wheels Car of the Year in 2005, which is our most prestigious car award. Read the article, and it gives you a taste of the absolutely joy the MX-5 is to drive. It has also won a host of other awards, and has been otherwise buried beneath voluminous pages of praise.

I had half a mind to get a private number plate that reflected the MX-5's purity of concept, but private number plates are, basically, a bit silly (apologies to any who own one).