AF News

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Window Side Curtains For Your Car!

Window side curtains for your car…I never knew they existed before we came to Japan, and I don’t know how we managed all this time without them! I recently broke down and bought a set to install in our Honda Fit. For some reason I thought it was going to be a complicated install, with screws, clamps, and some cursing mixed in. But there was none of that, just a lot of double-sided tape, which it came with. Don’t let that double-sided tape fool you though, it holds tights and you would have to rip those curtains off to mess anything up. Anyways, I highly recommend them, even if you have tint on your windows. Because of the blaring sun here, even with dark tint, you will still cook in your car. And for some reason, most cars here don’t have tint on the front windows at all, but I am guessing there are laws against that here or something.  So once I installed the curtains, I definitely felt like a VIP in my car, felt less heat, and it added to the privacy factor a lot. Plus it helps us blend in with the locals, but never mind the obvious Y plates though!


Well, the curtains are on rails, so they can moved back if needed, and secured when you don’t need them. There are plenty of styles and colors to choose from, so knock yourself out, but I went simple black and cheap (~$20 a set). I got mine at the SunSea, which is the big green building down road on the right out from Kadena Gate 3. The instructions are in Japanese, but the pictures will give you an idea how to install them. Just make sure to mount the metal railing on the top, since that is the one you can bend to form along the top of your doors. My Honda Fit uses the small size, and surprisingly so does my Odyssey, so don’t just think you need to by the medium or large sizes because you have a van. The main measurement of concern is how tall the inside window frame is in your car, so measure that before you buy. If you get curtains that are too short, it won’t connect to the top and bottom railings. If they are too long, then they will sag and bunch up and look like crap. Also, the straighter your window frame (the rear) the better. I tried mounting these in the front windows, but there was to much of an angle and it didn't fit right. I have pictures of the packaging of the curtains I bought for reference down below. 

Side Curtain L-112 
Side Curtain L-112

Side Curtain L-112

Side Curtain L-112

Side Curtain L-112

Side Curtain L-112