2019 Japan/Korea - Tokyo 5

This was the one day in the whole trip I was most looking forward to, a trip to the Honda Collection Hall in Motegi. This was also the first time I would drive in Japan and Asia in general, so I was a little anxious navigating in a language I genuinely did not understand. Fortunately the majority of the road signs were romanized so while we may not have understood what the words meant, they were at least legible to our English-speaking eyes. Also our rental included VERY useful GPS. It not only called out where to go pretty well, but had wonderfully useful (if not a little dated looking) graphics that showed which specific lane I needed to be in. Honestly preferred it over Google maps during the drive, even if some of the functions were stuck in Kanji and the assistant’s voice had a few Engrish moments in its pronunciation.

Some RHD cars are designed better than others and fortunately being Japanese and from a RHD country, our Nissan Juke is one of the better ones which flips the side the indicator stalk lives. Wouldn’t have been an issue in this automatic-equipped car anyways, but it was one of the things that really annoyed me with the Vauxhall we rented in UK, which forced me to use my shifting hand to start/cancel the indicators.

Going to put together other posts dedicated to the car/bike spottings on this trip, but I highly recommend a visit for anyone who’s a fan of cars, motorcycles, or Honda/racing in general. It was a really amazing place and even though it seemed like I thoroughly combed all 3 floors, I’d happily return here again someday just because some of the vehicles here are that amazing. Just as I started to feel like I’ve become jaded over all of the stuff I’ve seen over the years, places like this instantly get me geeking out all over again.

One of the great things about the collection was it’s located within one of Japan’s most legendary racetracks, Twin Ring Motegi. Like several other tracks in Japan, racing isn’t the only thing this place offered, as there was a mini-amusement park and an adventure park for families. Could even camp here if you wanted to!

After grabbing a quick lunch of some light-broth ramen, we started heading back into Tokyo to drop off the rental and enjoy our last night in Tokyo before heading off to Seoul the following morning.

One of the breweries we managed to swing by was Yo-Ho brewing, a brand I was familiar with in SF by their very unique styled artwork on their cans. They have several locations, this one being their Aoyama location which had a great vibe; active but not too crowded or loud. And while their beer was really good, their German style appetizers (sausage & potato wedges) were great!

Finally ended the night with dinner at Tonkatsu Maisen Aoyama Honten. Really, really good katsu at really reasonable prices, it’s definitely on our list of places we’d want to go back to.

Finally grabbed some dessert at a cafe across the street and headed back to the hotel just as the rain picked up. Next stop, Seoul!

2019 Japan/Korea - Tokyo 4

Before we headed back to Central Tokyo, we swung by Shimokitazawa, an area best known for its many vintage clothing shops. Despite being known for being one of the largest cities in the world, there are plenty of areas within Tokyo that don’t feel incredibly busy and crowded. This was not one of them, as the small floor space of the shops meant that it only took a dozen or so people to make the place feel packed.

Once we decided to start heading back, we swung by our favorite neighborhood, Nakameguro. This was the area that we stayed around during our first visit and it’ll likely be the area that we’ll try to look for lodging for the next time we go back.

2019 Japan/Korea - Tokyo 3

Starting off the day right at Hoshino Coffee next to Tsukiji Market. Unfortunately the market had closed (as a thriving fish market) back in 2018 so nowadays it’s more of historical site than anything, not that I personally am complaining about the lack of fishy smells.

Later that morning we headed over to Gotukiji to visit the Temple and check out the area. As fun as Tokyo itself is, the neighborhoods outside offer a really nice breather from the pace of the city.

This temple is best known for cat figurines. Lots and LOTS of them.

2019 Japan/Korea - Tokyo 2

This was a place we originally discovered in our first trip and then later stumbled on another branch in Dundee, Scotland of all places. Considering they’re based out of New Zealand (and nothing to do with the streetwear brand) it seems like they try to stick with small islands.

A tiny, homely bar with craft beer and cute dogs? Love it!

2019 Japan/Korea - Tokyo 1

Last year in October we took a trip to Asia. Originally we were planning on going to Hong Kong and Seoul, but due to the protests that were happening in HK at that time we ended up making a last minute change to Tokyo since it was still relatively close to Seoul and we didn’t need any excuses go to back to Japan. Since I already saw a lot of the typical tourist locations from the previous trip and I wouldn’t be able to make it to one of T-Site’s car meets, I wanted to go to someplace really special, so we spent one of our days outside of Tokyo but the rest of the time in Japan was in the city.

We arrived late at night and so we went straight to the hotel, walked around a little bit to find some dinner, and went to bed. Last time we were here we went for an AirBnB but earlier in the year Japan changed some of the regulations that allowed for hosted places. That resulted in a decrease in options and an increase in pricing to the point that the hotel options ended up being more attractive on both fronts. Our hotel ended up being a little further from central Tokyo than we liked but the room itself was VERY roomy, had a funky Scandinavian-like style, and had a great view.

Japan Trip / Rides 2

Second half of my ride-specific pics. 

Oh look, the perfect car for everything, aka RS4 Avant. 

S class rocking a full Lorinser kit!

Japan has some strange cars, but never would have expected a modded XKR! Looks like it would have come straight out of a catalog from the late 90's.

Tokyo is definitely the place to be for some perfect condition Euro classics!

This 901 seems more fitting going to a meet at Venice Beach than cruising Tokyo, but it works there too!

Admiring the beautiful bikes in this city when suddenly a wild Dodge Ram van appears!

American cars are far from popular in Japan, but whenever you spot one, it's always an interesting model. 

Something timelessly classic about the Toyota Century. 

Shy little guy

I think I'm in love...

And on the very last night, near our place, I finally ran into a proper R34 GT-R, though I spotted some interesting mods. It has some aggressive venting on the passenger side of the bumper but not the other side. But then it's also rocking Endless calipers and what appears to be BBS RE-MG wheels (!!!), so who am I to judge? 

Japan Trip / Rides 1

So now that I've wrapped up the general travel pics, I gotta of course mention all of the amazing cars and bikes I encountered while in Japan. I didn't spot anything too exotic, but for such a metropolitan city that frankly doesn't require any sort of personal transportation to get around, there's an amazing amount of interesting rides. So, that said, here we go!

Subaru, please! If you're not going to give us a hatchback Impreza WRX, then for the love of God, please bring over the Levorg! Honestly I'd prefer the Levorg, and if I were going to push myself for a new car, this would be the one car that I'd immediately jump for. 

Why yes that's a Lancer Evolution IX Wagon with an older diesel G-Wagon in the background. That's Tokyo for ya.

Japan Trip / Pt 12

Finally at the end of the Japan posts, at least the ones focusing on the trip itself. 

I've been eager to go to Japan for years and despite the amount of excitement I had when the opportunity finally arrived, the experience still managed to live up to the hype.

Can't wait to go back as soon as possible!