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My trip to Japan

Cess

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I hadn't really planned a holiday this year and had been mulling over the idea of a visit to Japan for a long time. I'd always wanted to go and found the Driftworks video - Outsiders - a fascinating take on the country and the car culture.

So, after a couple of phone calls with a mate and bandying the idea about, we reached the point of no return. We ended up booking return flights to Tokyo for the end of August.

The plan was to explore as much as possible over the course of two weeks, with the only definite being we had to be in Osaka on 5th September for the 4th round of D1 GP. I've used to follow D1 GP religiously, so to say I was super excited about going to an event in person was an understatement. Especially as there are still loads of S15s competing.

In between booking the flights and actually flying out, I did even more research, read as much as I could and wrote down a number of things I really wanted to see and do. My mate who was travelling with me isn't into cars at all, so I knew it was going to be a bit of a balancing act between tourist orientated stuff and feeding my curiosity on all things automotive.

The whole trip didn't feel real until I got on the plane.

https://flic.kr/p/z5Fubt

Then ten hours later we landed in a humid and rainy Narita Airport.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/126699377@N04/5KNV97

It started to feel real right about now!

https://www.flickr.com/gp/126699377@N04/MD944i

I spent the way in on the train excitedly calling out the make and model of every car I could see. I think I was doing my mate's head in. First day was tough as we landed at 8.30, had to go through immigration, collect rail passes and find where we were saying, despite being totally busted.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126699377@N04/shares/4UJ399

There didn't do anything productive, apart from wonder about the Shinjuku area of Tokyo and stare in wonderment at the massive skyscrapers and mad buildings. It was a touch overwhelming at first. Plus Shinjuku is the busiest train station in the world. If you are familiar with Waterloo, imagine that only times 100!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126699377@N04/shares/YcM5RE

One of the first things I noticed about the roads in Tokyo was the amount of vans and big saloons. I was really only expecting to see kei cars, but people carriers, big saloons and vans were a common sight.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/126699377@N04/0egP2m

Toyota Century. Got a big thumbs up as I took a picture!

So, as we tried to beat off the jetlag, I had an idea. Let's go to Odaiba and Joypolis. Why? Because I wanted to play on the Initial D arcade machine!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126699377@N04/shares/m2481v

You cannot believe how happy I was to jump in the Treuno.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/126699377@N04/shares/07WZ75

Just outside Joypolis is Rainbow Bridge which carries the famous Wangan or Bayshore Route. I wanted my S15 so bad right now. But, alas, I had to take the metro and turn in for the night, as I could barely stand up by this point.

https://www.flickr.com/gp/126699377@N04/09m839
 
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Cess

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If I can work out bb tags for Flickr, I've 200+ pics from Osaka Drift alone
 

bzh kevin

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It look like you had a nice time .

Really amazing country, people are so nice and helpfull .


Here are a few pictures i took during a trip i did overthere last year .


A local garage nest to the hotel :



On the way back to Tokyo from hiroshima we decided to stop in Yokohama to see the nissan engine museum and the Nismo factory (15min walk from the Nissan factory) .




Nissan engine museum:







Nismo garage :











scalectric track in yokohama :







Other stuff :














 
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Looks awesome, Japan is still on my list of places to visit! May be time to just go for it...
 
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