Come on a Photo Tour of Car Culture in Japan
Get just a taste of the wide variety of automotive fandoms around Tokyo.
October 2024, Elana Scherr visited Tokyo for the first time with no contacts, no plan, and a lot of jet lag. It didn't stop her from somehow finding American muscle cars, a whole show dedicated to Nissan GT-Rs, and a generous community of car enthusiasts all eager to share their favorite spots in the city. Click through for some of what she saw.
The Tokyo Prince hotel sits directly under Japan's Eiffel-esque Tokyo Tower, which, on a rainy night, will cast warm orange reflections in the puddles outside the lobby. Earlier in the day, the broad entryway had been bustling with executive cars and chartered buses for tourists and convention goers. Come evening, there were just a few stragglers from late-running meetings, sweaty in their suit jackets, wrestling damp umbrellas into green Toyota Crown cabs. Ishii (Mitsu) Mitsubishi's bright orange six-pack Plymouth is an unusual sight in the pickup lanes.
This looks like a screenshot from a video game, but it's four American E-bodies rolling like thunder through the expressway tunnels.
Passenger princess Scherr feels right at home in the seat of a Dodge Challenger.
When you're going to the dark parking lots of the Daikoku Parking Area, bring your own lighting.
Peek around raised hoods and high wings; there's a different car show on every row of Daikoku.
Itasha style builds use anime wraps to stand out at a show.
Racing style graphics are also very popular, on many makes and models.
There might be snobbery at Daikoku, but it was too subtle for us to pick up on during our visit. Exotics mingle with customs mingle with daily drivers.
The universal language of a raised hood at a car meet.
Early drifters would hang subway handles on their cars, a trend that has moved into other shaped charms on all sorts of rides.
Get low.
Sweet kicks.
After Daikoku closed, which it can do at any time during a meet, the whole process being a sort of loosely accepted rule-breaking, Mitsu's crew took us on a tour of some Tokyo neighborhoods.
The 'Cuda was a smallish car in America when it came out. In Japan, it takes up half the street.
Warming our hands on a cold evening. Those big-blocks make excellent space heaters.
RS Watanabe is an aftermarket parts manufacturer based in Yokohama, founded in 1967 by racer Toshiyuki Watanabe. It's known for lightweight, stylish wheels.
A big-money setup anywhere.
Shinji's 1971 Nissan Skyline GTX.
Driving a wedge between us.
Skylines to the skyline at Fuji Speedway.
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