David Wallens Japan Travel Journal

Welcome to Japan! Yes, you don't want to make an emergency landing down there. This time we changed planes in St. Paul, Minn., before making the arc to Tokyo. It's a one-stop flight from Orlando. The Shinagawa Prince Hotel, our regular home away from home. It's a nice place to stay. Cool view, too, from our room on the 26th floor. That's the Shinagawa Station plus assorted office towers across the street. Microsoft is in the third tower from the right. The main purpose of our visit was the Tokyo Auto Salon, more or less their version of our SEMA Show--the place where the automotive aftermarket struts their stuff. We take in the show early Friday, before the public is allowed in. Meet the upsized version of the new MINI. We again traveled with our friends from Nitto Tire. While they're a Japanese company, they're kind of known for possessing a Western flavor. Traditionally their booth features American or European cars. The camera boys were back, and this time they brought the heavy artillery. A Miata fighter from Toyota? It's their TES Concept T-Sports. As usual, Goodyear played up their Americanness. Honda showed an interesting concept: a car aimed at runners, complete with a changing room, shower and shoe storage bin. Doggie driving suits? Who would be crazy enough to buy those? I love these guys--a shop named Blow. They turn little Japanese vans into old-school America vans. They need to do an A-Team van. That evening we visited the Daikoku Futo car park. It's basically a rest area on the outskirts of Yokohama, but on Friday evenings it attracts the gearheads. Each group gets their own piece of real estate--European exotics here, stereo-filled vans there.... And the geeks get their own space. Then the bosozuku rolled in. They're a cross between the bike gangs seen in Akira, Mad Max and Bike Week. The look features lots of modified fairings, uncorked exhausts and poofy pants. This rest area also has the cleanest public bathroom in the world. Check it out. It's near midnight and the place is spotless. Spotless! Then we took our coach back to the hotel. Saturday we hit some car shops, including Super Autobacs. It's like a Best Buy for car people, although sadly it no longer has a book department. They do have an aisle full of nothing but air fresheners, though. See, lots and lots of air fresheners. They also carry real performance parts, too. By the way, they asked us to not take any photos, so these were taken on the D.L. Shhh. We also visited Nissan's HQ and toured their displays. The good stuff, like these models, were kind of hidden. We wrapped up that part of the tour with a visit to Yebisu Beer. Spied in the beer museum's gift shop: Ragu cheesy sauce. Since the beer tour was in Japanese, we decided to walk around nearby Ebisu. And we found a place to snack. The staff, by the way, was extremely polite. The Krispy Kreme was in a very Western-type mall. It could have looked just fine in Atlanta, Orlando or where ever. By the way, that's Mrs. Editor along with Ron Bergenholtz (Bergenholtz Racing) and Harry Kong from Nitto Tire. Check it out: a chicane on the sidewalk. We're figuring it's to keep the cyclists from going crazy. Maid café girls out trying to drum up business in Akihabara. I love Akihabara. It has everything a 15-year-old boy needs--or thinks he needs, from anime to die-cast cars to video games. On weekends the main drag through Ginza is closed to vehicles, turning the place into a pedestrian mall. Ginza can be called Tokyo's version of Fifth Avenue as it's also home to many top-shelf stores from Coach to Rolex. Ginza now has a MINI dealership, too. Ginza also has a slot car track. Lunch was Subway, but not the usual Cold Cut Combo. That's shrimp and avocado with some anti-freeze. (Okay, it's melon soda.) Truth be told, we were in the mood for something quick and easy--gotta get back to looking at stuff. Plus many of the restaurants in Ginza were either smoking or smoking. The perfect car for cruising Ginza. Not. We have seen a few other exotics in this area, including turbo Porsches. Maybe this is more appropriate for the area. While leaving Ginza we spied a Don Quijote. It's a chain of discount stores, and it's the most awesome place ever as it's aisles are just packed--no way it would meet code here. You can get a pillow shaped like a butt. Or a snack from the sea. Monday we were greeted with rush hour. This is the Shinagawa Station. But the crowd was worth it as we were heading to sumo. The winter tournament coincides with our trip, so we go. Most tickets are pre-sold, but each day they release a few tickets. The trick, as we have learned, is getting there early. Once we have our tickets, we then head off for a while. We grabbed a train for Ueno, a ward in Tokyo. While walking around we found a bike shop that specializes in race bikes from the '70s and '80s. It was crammed full of great names: Eddy Merckx, De Rosa, Campagnolo, Bianchi and more. Linky: http://www.cycles-yokoo.co.jp Ueno is also home to Ameyayokocho, a huge market that offers nearly everything--from dry goods to fresh fish to shoes to coats. It's a network of narrow streets and alleys. Lots of fish varieties, including both fresh... ...and dried. Back for sumo and, yeah, a 17-40mm lens doesn't exactly work from the cheep seats. We got to see Kotooshu win his bout, so that was cool. Where do you line up to get on the train? Don't worry, they're tell you. Tuesday we were in Asakusa--more shopping and looking at stuff, like these two dogs. This is Senso-ji, Tokyo's oldest temple. It was recently restored and looks beautiful. It's in Asakusa. For the first time ever, I think, I received a good fortune while visiting the Senso-ji. Senso-ji is surrounded by a huge network of pedestrian malls and shops. A snack? We spent our last evening in Tokyo in Ikebukuro, home to the world's busiest pretzel stand. Seriously, there was always a line out front. No, we didn't have one. Tokyo-ers take their toilet seats seriously. Most feature bidet action plus heated seats and other luxuries. Basically, they're more advanced than any car I have owned. I'm pretty sure this was taken in Bic Camera, a huge electronics store. You're never far from Denny's. This was interesting: Want a cat but can't make the commitment? Well, for a few yen you can play with some. Toyota has a huge showroom in Ikebukuro--half a dozen floors showcasing all of their latest wares plus some race cars. Sadly this one wasn't offered for sale. This one is for sale: 12 million yen for the latest Century. At today's conversion rate, that's about $142,000. This one was cool: Vitz G Sports Concept. No price was listed, though. We also got to try the safety simulator. The pods moved, and the experience was pretty lifelike for a sim. They also had their own version of Asimo. Theirs plays a trumpet. While in Ikebukuro we found a soccer field--on the roof of a seven-story building. The next day we took a bus to Narita Airport and flew home.