Hey guys,
Just wanted to say hello from Tokyo. Today was the first day of the Auto Salon and I must say, I'm out of my mind. Seeing these cars in person and experiencing the culture that's responsible for the cars that we so dearly love is a life changing experience. Today alone I took over 300 pictures, which I will post on my site when I get back. And some video, but I don't think the video is all that great since I was beside myself all day. Other than cars, this country is just amazing. The people are very helpful and very very polite. I'm really going to miss this place when i have to go back home next week, but in the mean time, I will be posting here every night or so with updates.
Greetings from the future!! I'm in Tokyo!!!!!!
-
1dollar240
- Posts: 646
- Joined: Wed Jul 24, 2002 1:46 pm
- Contact:
-
SilviaLuvr
- Posts: 1295
- Joined: Mon Dec 02, 2002 8:03 pm
- Car: shopping for parts going to school to become a massage therapist
-
EZcheese15
- Moderator
- Posts: 6518
- Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 12:40 pm
- Car: 2012 Juke SV
2011 Titan Pro-4X
2007 BMW 328i - Location: St. Charles, IL
- Contact:
Re: Greetings from the future!! I'm in Tokyo!!!!!!
issanni wrote:Hey guys,
Just wanted to say hello from Tokyo. Today was the first day of the Auto Salon and I must say, I'm out of my mind. Seeing these cars in person and experiencing the culture that's responsible for the cars that we so dearly love is a life changing experience. Today alone I took over 300 pictures, which I will post on my site when I get back. And some video, but I don't think the video is all that great since I was beside myself all day. Other than cars, this country is just amazing. The people are very helpful and very very polite. I'm really going to miss this place when i have to go back home next week, but in the mean time, I will be posting here every night or so with updates.
Hey, if you would, Nico would LOVE if you wrote up an article about the show. Email me a write-up and send me some pictures to go along with it (not all 10,000 that you are gonna take, but send me enough to get the point accross). We will put it in the articles listed on the main nico page.
SilviaLuvr wrote:im going to the philly auto convension this sunday. i don't know if it will be the same (considering the fact that i never been out of this country) i ve been to the auto show a few times and it's amazing. seening the latest concepts and latest exotcis and future exotics drool drool drool!!!
i am going one day after exams.
-
SilviaLuvr
- Posts: 1295
- Joined: Mon Dec 02, 2002 8:03 pm
- Car: shopping for parts going to school to become a massage therapist
This country is truly amazing. ‚h‚”?@‚‰‚“?@‚?‚‚‚?‚•‚” 8pm here and we just finished our second day of the show. We were only there for half the day because it is unbelievably crowded since today is the first day the general public is allowed at the show. Yesterday we had VIP press access so it was not too bad. I don't say this to be a jerk, but seeing skylines and S15s driving around and parked on the street is not as exciting anymore because you see them ALL the time. Imagine sitting in traffic on a bus and you are surrounded by Evo's, Skylines, Silvias, Rx7s...and all you can do is watch and listen to the sounds of all those exhaust notes ripping into your ear drum. It's strange what constant exposure can do to your sense of excitement. On the bus ride to the show this morning, we saw countless R34s, yellow, blue, white, R33s, S15s, R32s Silvias, 180sx's, etc. Spending countless hours around the cars, you get jaded. We were in akihabara earlier and there was an R34 and all you can say is 'oh look yet another GTR', but it's all still very amazing. Today we went to the Super Autobacs store and I picked up a few items...TONS of cool stuff there, it's like fantasy land in there with EVERYTHING you could possibly EVER want for you car, just hanging there on racks...a set of Ohlins or NISMO coilovers, just grab a set off that shelf...how about a turbo kit, just ask the worker to open the glass case...want some strut bars, just go through the stack. I regret not buying more, but I have to save up for my SR20 which I'm getting through my connection at Trial JP. It is really shocking to experience all this because it really does change opinions and tastes..for the better. Almost EVERY car you see is modified someway, from R34s to step wagons to A-Specs. All of them are very tastefully done, very sublte yet aggressive. Sometimes it's just some tint, and lowering to get the look, then all engine to assert it's presence on the road. The japanese are a wonderful people, really really helpful and polite. I will get the pics up as soon as i get home, but they are ridiculously high res. each is about 2mb hehe. I'm using a 5megapixel camera at almost maximum quality and I have over 400 pics now and it will be difficult resizing them all individually. So we'll see what happens.
Couple things I noticed about Japan:1. Japanese people are relentless smokers2. Grapefruit is found anywhere and everywhere in every form. 3. The good cars come out on the weekends4. Rainbow bridge is NOT Yokohama bridge.
Tonight, we're going out to Shinjoku and maybe Daikoku to witness some street racing. Apex'i is suppose to be at Shinjoku with their drift team and Top Secret usually hangs around Daikoku with their cars.
As for the article, I am writing one up, sort of as a journal of my day to day thoughts. I wil have it on my site primarily, but I would not mind keeping a copy here.
I'm definately coming back here in July!!!!
Joe *still in tokyo
Couple things I noticed about Japan:1. Japanese people are relentless smokers2. Grapefruit is found anywhere and everywhere in every form. 3. The good cars come out on the weekends4. Rainbow bridge is NOT Yokohama bridge.
Tonight, we're going out to Shinjoku and maybe Daikoku to witness some street racing. Apex'i is suppose to be at Shinjoku with their drift team and Top Secret usually hangs around Daikoku with their cars.
As for the article, I am writing one up, sort of as a journal of my day to day thoughts. I wil have it on my site primarily, but I would not mind keeping a copy here.
I'm definately coming back here in July!!!!
Joe *still in tokyo
-
Just another 240
- Posts: 902
- Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:52 pm
-
EZcheese15
- Moderator
- Posts: 6518
- Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 12:40 pm
- Car: 2012 Juke SV
2011 Titan Pro-4X
2007 BMW 328i - Location: St. Charles, IL
- Contact:
-
Just another 240
- Posts: 902
- Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:52 pm
-
EZcheese15
- Moderator
- Posts: 6518
- Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 12:40 pm
- Car: 2012 Juke SV
2011 Titan Pro-4X
2007 BMW 328i - Location: St. Charles, IL
- Contact:
Just another 240 wrote:OoOO...hope i'll be going to one next year too. How would i get there? i mean is there company or travel agent that would sell a package or something to go there ? or would i need to buy ticket and do everything myself? How you did it,issanni?
I believe HKS sells a trip package with airfare and stuff, but I forget for sure. Issanin well have to answer you
-
matt0941
- Posts: 404
- Joined: Wed Nov 13, 2002 6:33 pm
- Car: Counter-Strike, Cars, Girls (in that order)
Re: Greetings from the future!! I'm in Tokyo!!!!!!
issanni wrote:
Other than cars, this country is just amazing.
Hehe, I am not sure you meant to phrase it like thathey guys
I hate to gloat more, but the events that occured today made the past two days seem dull...and that's really saying something. But first let me answer the question about how I got here...
I'm here with Turbo Magazine on their annual group trip. Go to http://www.visitjtec.com, you register online. But they won't open registration up till end of August early September usually. I was literally the first one to sign up for this year's trip ;D or at least one of the very first. Being in this group, I got VIP press access to the show, so I was able to go to the show on press day where there are about 1000x less people there compared to Saturday and Sunday. You get free stuff and tours of various places. With that said, let me explain just some of the events of today.
This morning, our tour group went to visit the Carmate/Razo offices and showroom. We got to see all the new prototype Shift knobs, pedals, and other accessories. Alot of interesting stuff. Then Yasuyoshi Yamamoto gave the group a talk about his career and racing in general. He is the driver of the C West S15 that you see in GT3. He is also currently playing a big role in the making of GT4, but no release information was given, but he did say that it's going to be even more realistic. He will be driving a JGTC GT300 class S2000 and we got to see behind the scenes photos of the building process, something that very few people get to see the car in it's various stages of build. I have the entire "press conference" on tape if anyone will be interested in seeing it, I will transfer the vid to my computer and post it on my site (I will probably do it anyway). Afterwards as I am walking out the door with the group, I over hear some of the other guys talking about "skyline...two blocks...ride...R34" then the tour guide yells out "Skyline guys over here!!!" So I walk over and she asks me "would you like a ride in the skyline?" of course I say yes. So me and 3 other guys go to the back of the building where one of the carmate engineer guys (i think, i wil have to find out his name and position in the company later) was warming up his R34 GTS (not a GTR, but close enough to make everyone else extremely jealous). So I jump in the back which was very comfortable for 3 people actually, and off we go. We pull into the street and he nails it. Needless to say, it was fun as hell. Some people on the tour didn't seem to care becasue they are the fortunate few to either own a skyline in the states or has been in one before, but for this Jersey kid, I was blown away. So then, after all that fun, it's back on the bus for the 2 hour drive to Kamakura City to take in some traditional Japanese sights, but on the way, we drive over Yokohama bridge and for one reason or another, we stop at the famous Daikoku Foto. The place where beasts of the road gather to flex their muscle. Lucky for us, there was an NSX car club there. The cars they had were the most insane things you'd ever see. Better than most cars at the Auto Salon!!!!!!! You will have to see the pictures and video I took to see what I mean. But some of the cars had several hundred THOUSAND dollars of work done on them and were pushing almost 400bhp each. The guys were super nice and polite to us gaijin. Not at all arrogant, intead they were more than willing to start their engine and show off. Then they started giving rides. 3 lucky people from the group got rides. They didn't go very far, just enough for nice burnouts a donut or three and then once around the lot. originally we were only suppose to be there and take pictures for 10 minutes, but we ended up staying for a good 45minutes. You will most likely see the pictures from this in the May issue of Turbo as one of the editors or something was in the group and participated in the "festivities" hehehe.
Last night we went to Shinjoku to see if we can catch some street racing, but instead we found out that we were given very very wrong information and ended up getting stranded since the trains stop running here around midnight and we were too cheap to chip in for a taxi. So there we are sitting on the sidewalk like homeless people trying to sleep on the streets of Shinjuko the "Demon City". hehe. it wasn't so bad really, just damn cold. At about 4am, we got fed up and just paid the $45 for a taxi back to the hotel. After last night, I'm not sure we're going to go out again tonight. Supposedly Chiba has some racing, we might to there or back to Daikoku if we can get a ride from someone. I will of course let you know what happens.
This trip has been the stuff that dreams are made of, I'm coming back in July and I'm definately going to be first in line again for next year's trip (Yamamoto san hinted that they might include a track day at Motegi as part of the tour next year where he teaches at the racing school).
Joe
PS: "Other than cars, this country is amazing": I meant that if you take away the cars, the country, food, people and culture is still amazing and well worth a visit. Tomorrow is "Coming of Age Day" here. My hotel will be PACKED with beautful Japanese women all dressed up in kimonos. Coming of Age Day is when they celebrate turning 20...so just imagine a hotel packed with beautiful 20 year old japanese girls "coming of age" 
It's about 8pm here right now and I'm already seeing them come in...I'm truly in heaven right now :icesangel
PPS: The cars are nice, but some of the girls are even nicer, I`d rather take one of them home.
Please don't hate me
I hate to gloat more, but the events that occured today made the past two days seem dull...and that's really saying something. But first let me answer the question about how I got here...
I'm here with Turbo Magazine on their annual group trip. Go to http://www.visitjtec.com, you register online. But they won't open registration up till end of August early September usually. I was literally the first one to sign up for this year's trip ;D or at least one of the very first. Being in this group, I got VIP press access to the show, so I was able to go to the show on press day where there are about 1000x less people there compared to Saturday and Sunday. You get free stuff and tours of various places. With that said, let me explain just some of the events of today.
This morning, our tour group went to visit the Carmate/Razo offices and showroom. We got to see all the new prototype Shift knobs, pedals, and other accessories. Alot of interesting stuff. Then Yasuyoshi Yamamoto gave the group a talk about his career and racing in general. He is the driver of the C West S15 that you see in GT3. He is also currently playing a big role in the making of GT4, but no release information was given, but he did say that it's going to be even more realistic. He will be driving a JGTC GT300 class S2000 and we got to see behind the scenes photos of the building process, something that very few people get to see the car in it's various stages of build. I have the entire "press conference" on tape if anyone will be interested in seeing it, I will transfer the vid to my computer and post it on my site (I will probably do it anyway). Afterwards as I am walking out the door with the group, I over hear some of the other guys talking about "skyline...two blocks...ride...R34" then the tour guide yells out "Skyline guys over here!!!" So I walk over and she asks me "would you like a ride in the skyline?" of course I say yes. So me and 3 other guys go to the back of the building where one of the carmate engineer guys (i think, i wil have to find out his name and position in the company later) was warming up his R34 GTS (not a GTR, but close enough to make everyone else extremely jealous). So I jump in the back which was very comfortable for 3 people actually, and off we go. We pull into the street and he nails it. Needless to say, it was fun as hell. Some people on the tour didn't seem to care becasue they are the fortunate few to either own a skyline in the states or has been in one before, but for this Jersey kid, I was blown away. So then, after all that fun, it's back on the bus for the 2 hour drive to Kamakura City to take in some traditional Japanese sights, but on the way, we drive over Yokohama bridge and for one reason or another, we stop at the famous Daikoku Foto. The place where beasts of the road gather to flex their muscle. Lucky for us, there was an NSX car club there. The cars they had were the most insane things you'd ever see. Better than most cars at the Auto Salon!!!!!!! You will have to see the pictures and video I took to see what I mean. But some of the cars had several hundred THOUSAND dollars of work done on them and were pushing almost 400bhp each. The guys were super nice and polite to us gaijin. Not at all arrogant, intead they were more than willing to start their engine and show off. Then they started giving rides. 3 lucky people from the group got rides. They didn't go very far, just enough for nice burnouts a donut or three and then once around the lot. originally we were only suppose to be there and take pictures for 10 minutes, but we ended up staying for a good 45minutes. You will most likely see the pictures from this in the May issue of Turbo as one of the editors or something was in the group and participated in the "festivities" hehehe.
Last night we went to Shinjoku to see if we can catch some street racing, but instead we found out that we were given very very wrong information and ended up getting stranded since the trains stop running here around midnight and we were too cheap to chip in for a taxi. So there we are sitting on the sidewalk like homeless people trying to sleep on the streets of Shinjuko the "Demon City". hehe. it wasn't so bad really, just damn cold. At about 4am, we got fed up and just paid the $45 for a taxi back to the hotel. After last night, I'm not sure we're going to go out again tonight. Supposedly Chiba has some racing, we might to there or back to Daikoku if we can get a ride from someone. I will of course let you know what happens.
This trip has been the stuff that dreams are made of, I'm coming back in July and I'm definately going to be first in line again for next year's trip (Yamamoto san hinted that they might include a track day at Motegi as part of the tour next year where he teaches at the racing school).
Joe
PS: "Other than cars, this country is amazing": I meant that if you take away the cars, the country, food, people and culture is still amazing and well worth a visit. Tomorrow is "Coming of Age Day" here. My hotel will be PACKED with beautful Japanese women all dressed up in kimonos. Coming of Age Day is when they celebrate turning 20...so just imagine a hotel packed with beautiful 20 year old japanese girls "coming of age"
It's about 8pm here right now and I'm already seeing them come in...I'm truly in heaven right now :icesangelPPS: The cars are nice, but some of the girls are even nicer, I`d rather take one of them home.
Please don't hate me
-
EZcheese15
- Moderator
- Posts: 6518
- Joined: Thu Apr 25, 2002 12:40 pm
- Car: 2012 Juke SV
2011 Titan Pro-4X
2007 BMW 328i - Location: St. Charles, IL
- Contact:
-
TheProfessional
- Posts: 83
- Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2002 7:30 pm
- Car: movies, music, cars
-
Just another 240
- Posts: 902
- Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:52 pm
-
Just another 240
- Posts: 902
- Joined: Mon Aug 19, 2002 3:52 pm