Always Having Fun…

The comment I see most often on this blog is, “I always enjoy reading your posts.” I’m grateful for every comment, whatever it says, but hearing that someone finds the blog fun makes me especially happy. That’s because one of the things I care most about in running this blog is:

“Making it a blog people enjoy reading.”

The power of fun is remarkable. When a place feels fun, people naturally gather there. And when more people come together, more information and ideas flow in, opening the door to all kinds of new possibilities. Imagining the futures that this “fun factor” might create always gets me excited. (Though I do sometimes get carried away dreaming about things that may never happen!)

I’m a serious person by nature—in fact, my school reports always described me as a “well-behaved child.” So before I know it, I’m in serious mode, writing something with not a hint of humor. That’s why I make a conscious effort to ask myself: Am I enjoying writing this? Will readers enjoy it, too?

In a face-to-face conversation (and maybe on YouTube, too), there are plenty of ways to communicate: facial expressions, tone of voice, and more. A blog, though, has only words. So I’m always trying to find ways to use those words to bring a scene to life and show what my husband and I are like together.

How a Personal Porsche Blog Differs from Automotive Media

There are plenty of automotive publications and corporate-run car websites online. They offer useful information and articles that teach you a lot. They also have brand recognition, credibility, connections with automakers, and the budget to take on projects that individual bloggers simply can’t.

They can test the latest models, record lap times at a circuit, interview automaker representatives, and cover motor shows, for example…

There’s a lot I look at and think, “I wish I could do that!” But as an independent blogger, there’s no point trying to compete on the same terms. I started asking myself, “What can I write about that only I can?” And I found my answer:

“A blog people enjoy reading.” (Of course, it should be useful to readers, too.)

Looking back at my older posts (especially the ones from the early days of the blog), I realize that I used to write some pretty silly things, and my dialogue was practically all in the Kansai dialect. That kind of personal touch is something a corporate publication can’t easily replicate.

So I decided to make the most of the freedom I have and hold on to that style. That’s not to say I try to make boring things sound exciting. It’s more that we have fun in all sorts of ways, and I enjoy writing about it.

How Porsche Helped Our Marriage Through a Difficult Time

These days, I think my husband and I talk a lot. But for a while after our second daughter was born, we barely spoke to each other. (Life with two children was harder than I’d imagined.)

At the time, work took up much more of my life than it does now. I was often so tired from getting the kids to sleep that I’d fall asleep myself, and I wasn’t nearly as interested in Porsche as I am today. Our daily conversation as a couple, (and I’m not exaggerating), was pretty much limited to:

“Good morning.” “Have a good day.” “Welcome home.” “Good night.”

Neither of us is the type to say, “I’ve got so much to talk about—listen to this!” So if something came up, we’d often send a message during the day and leave it at that. And because of my work, I spent a lot of time thinking about how to get a message across clearly and concisely in as little time as possible. Before long, I was talking that way at home, too. My husband often told me:

“Minami-chan, the way you talk and think is totally ‘like a guy.’”

At one point, we realized that we really weren’t talking enough as a couple and sat down to discuss it. But we couldn’t come up with a clear solution, and life went on…

Then I gradually started getting more interested in Porsche. I launched this blog in June 2017, and around April of the following year, I decided to take blogging seriously. From then on, my husband and I slowly began talking more.

We started going out for drives together more often. After the kids were asleep, my husband would teach me about cars so I could write blog posts, and we’d bounce ideas around: “What do you think of an article about this?”

Back when the blog was still getting very little traffic, we pored over the analytics and tried every idea we could think of. When visits went up, we celebrated together. And when a post we’d poured our hearts into didn’t get the attention we’d hoped for, we talked about what might have gone wrong.

Sure, about 80 percent of our conversations are about cars (ha!), so you could say we talk more like work partners than a married couple. Even so, communicating more made our home feel brighter and happier than before.

Before the company, society, or local community, the closest and most important community is the one a couple builds together. Through these experiences, I learned that a strong marriage is the foundation for feeling happy in everyday life.

That’s why I’m truly grateful to Porsche—and to this blog—for setting all of this in motion. For me, Porsche is more than a car, and more than a sports car that taught me the joy of driving. It has become something precious that supports my life from the ground up.

I hope I can keep sharing, in a fun and natural way, how Porsche can bring a couple closer and make life richer—without sounding like I’m trying to convince anyone.

All That Kansai Dialect

There is one thing I’ve been wondering about lately:

What do readers think of posts written in a strong Kansai dialect?

According to Google Analytics, the largest share of this blog’s readers live in the Kansai region. The Tokyo metropolitan area has a far bigger population and, surely, many more Porsche owners. So I wondered: Could the Kansai flavor of my writing be a little too strong or hard to follow for readers in the capital?

Or maybe it’s because I often write about the Royu Driveway and driving spots around Kansai, so it’s only natural to have more readers from the region. I asked about it on Twitter the other day, and got replies like these:

“It’s definitely better as it is now. The conversations feel real and come across more directly.”
“I’d never really thought about it… I don’t think you need to worry about it!”
“The dialogue has a real sense of presence, and it sets your blog apart from others. I think it’s great!”

You’re all so kind…

I also remember visiting Porsche Japan and hearing a German product specialist—who had lived in Kansai during his student days—tell me in fluent Japanese, “The Kansai dialect is one of the things I love about this blog! Please keep it up!” So I think I’ll carry on having fun with Kansai dialect just as I am.