Wanting to Say Thanks in Style

The road in front of our house is pretty narrow. With so many utility poles, when meeting oncoming cars, one of us always has to stop and give way to pass. It’s only about 200 meters to the main road, but since there’s quite a bit of traffic, I encounter these give-way moments almost daily.

Sometimes, when passing each other, someone sounds a cool thank-you horn, and I’ve always thought, “I wish I could sound mine that stylishly too.”

But in my case, “when I try to press the horn button, it often doesn’t sound, and I’m afraid of blasting it too loudly, so I timidly tap the button—and before I know it, time’s up and the oncoming car has already passed.”

There’s no absolute need to honk; a bow would suffice (though I’m not great at stylishly raising my hand), but “if possible, I want to be able to honk in a cool way.” I even practiced sounding the horn in my driveway. However, even if I managed it calmly and slowly, in sudden situations I still couldn’t do it.

It’s Not Really a “Klaxon”…

I wondered if there were any tips online and looked it up. Before even learning how to honk, I found out that

“officially, it’s not called a ‘klaxon’ but a horn.”

What?! Really?! (；ﾟДﾟ)(First time hearing this)

“Klaxon” is actually the product name of an electromechanical horn made by a British company called KLAXON, which became a generic term over time. Also, I learned that a horn sounded as a thank-you is called a “thank-you horn.” Makes sense.

While researching, I found someone on Yahoo! Chiebukuro (Yahoo! Answers Japan) saying almost exactly what I was thinking:

When someone gives way on a narrow road, I try to look them in the eye and nod (I think bowing your head is the most polite). But at night or on rainy days when I can’t see their face, I reluctantly try to lightly honk. Since I rarely honk, a light press doesn’t sound → I press a bit harder but still no sound → then I press even harder and a loud “PAAAA!!” blasts out, making me jump in my seat. Meanwhile, the other person is already out of sight.

At night, this is a problem because it disturbs neighbors, so I try to be careful but end up pressing lightly and failing three times. As a result, even though they gave way, I leave without saying thanks.

Please teach me how to honk once, softly, and reliably.
*Yahoo! Chiebukuro “Please teach me how to honk”

Exactly! That’s me! (*ﾟ∀ﾟ)

However, the replies to this question were pretty harsh…

– It’s a neighborhood nuisance
– Strictly speaking, it’s a traffic law violation
– Taking your hands off the wheel is dangerous

I get it… maybe they’re right… but a little kindness in the replies would be nice… the world’s a tough place (_ _)

There were other similar Q&A exchanges, and reading them I found:

The answer is a chop!
Try a “Hey!” chop motion!

Baba chop!

Instead of pressing the horn, chop it! That works perfectly. Then raise that hand for a final thank-you gesture…

Surprisingly, many suggested the chop method.

So I tried chopping in my driveway but didn’t get good results. I realized that unless you know exactly at which point the horn sounds, it’s impossible to honk well while nervously pressing.

Practice Makes Perfect

Recently, I was watching a video from a Porsche owner who shares touring movies on their blog.

They honked a few times on a mountain road to alert oncoming cars, and it was so natural and skillful that I couldn’t help but comment and ask:

＝＝
I still don’t know how hard to press the Porsche horn. When I try to honk as a thank-you, I worry about sounding too loud and just tap the wheel, but often the horn doesn’t sound and the oncoming car passes first… Any tips?
＝＝

The Porsche owner replied:

As for honking… honestly, I don’t know any tricks, and I’ve never thought I’m good at it, but basically it’s about “getting used to it.” If you own only one car and drive it about 100,000 km over 4 years, anyone will get used to it (laughs).

…100,000 km in 4 years…(；ﾟДﾟ)

Amazing… I felt sorry for asking such a silly question to someone like that. Well, basically it means “practice beats theory.”

After that, I tried to honk once a day as practice, and recently I finally managed to honk well. For me, instead of tapping or chopping,

“placing my hand on the button and pressing firmly with the base of my palm”

was the easiest method,

and it seemed to produce a nice sound. Now that I can honk properly, my next challenge is “to stylishly raise my hand when saying thanks!” (Such a low-level challenge lol)