Parking in Japan

Even for natives this can at times be a daunting experience. In a standard parking lot probably more than 80% of the vehicles are parked by backing in. Many vehicles are equipped with GPS navigation units which include a backup camera that automatically activates as the car reverses into a parking spot. The navigation systems are indispensable in Japan, but Japanese people who are familiar with North America think it is ludicrous that North Americans have navigation units.
I have mentioned a parking lot we encountered in Shizuoka previously where we stopped the car, jumped out and then the computerized parking system took over and moved the car somewhere into the bowels of the building. The photographs are of a parking area at Kenji-san's mansion. Here Kenji-san lifts the ground level car, backs his car underneath and lowers the system so that his car is hidden from view. A photoelectric eye automatically stops the system if someone steps near the parking area.