Come on a Photo Tour of Car Culture in Japan
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.
At first glance a GTR meet looks like replicas of the same car, but every owner makes custom choices that set their car apart.
Can hardly bear the cuteness.
A cockpit ready for shenanigans.
Performance culture is alive and well under the hoods of Japan.
Fighting our way through the crowds to get the shot.
Winging it.
For so long in the states, GT-R fans would be happy for just a glimpse of a stock car, while in Japan, everything gets modded.
There is an incredible tradition of paintwork that has parallels in lowrider culture here in the States.
Layers of candy and lines.
Admiring the details.
hello.
More anime.
Big toys and little toys.
Forget cutting through the air, this thing could split molecules.
At R's Meeting, an annual gathering of Nissan GT-R fans, we made a lot of friends, despite the language barrier.
To be fair, this sticker could apply to the entire staff of Car and Driver, even those who aren't parents.
Never let practicality get in the way of style.
Speaking of style.
Although R's Meeting is not a formal Nissan event, the company supports with display cars and brand ambassadors.
Nissan senior vice president of design Alfonso Albaisa shows Scherr the path air takes around the R 35.
While not an open track day, R's Meeting did have an on-track element, and it was turbo whistle and tire squeal.
Fuji Speedway has an incredibly long straightaway with an abrupt turn at the end, which made for some exciting braking and shifting.
Who's winning? A GT-R, I think.
How does anyone find theirs at the end?
R's Meeting is as much festival as car show.
Surf's up.
Hiroshi Tamura signs autographs for his fans.
Every GT-R variant you could dream of, and the aftermarket parts to build it if you can't find it.
This is just the overflow parking.
Where do all these chill cats come from?
An entirely different kind of GTX than those Scherr is used to in the States.
Mitsu chasing down the competition.
Line 'em up.
MX-5 with a nose job. That's a Toyota Chaser front end.
The whole trip was incredible, but nothing beat wide-open through the tunnels.
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