the Japanese Car Article Here!

Japanese
Car
Culture
Magazine
Nathaniel Tan
Paul Gheran
July Edition
Volume 1, Issue 1
Your inside guide to the life of the automotive enthusiast.
Table of Contents
Editors Note - Nathaniel Tan .........................................................3
Editors Note - Paul Gheran ...........................................................8
Spoon Sports / Type One ............................................................12
Super AutoBacs...........................................................................20
Honda Welcome Center ..............................................................24
Toyota Megaweb .........................................................................31
Nissan Motors..............................................................................35
Editors Note – Nathaniel Tan
What an exciting trip it has been. I have
truly been blessed with this opportunity to
perform a legitimate research project on the
cars and tuning movement in the country of
Japan. Granted, I didn’t get the chance to
genuinely visit all the major tuning
companies or all the car manufacturers, but
I did manage to visit most of the truly
interesting car places in Tokyo such as
Honda, Spoon Sports, Super Autobacs,
Toyota, and Nissan. These places are a must visit if one
considers himself/herself a true Japanese automotive enthusiast
and I am pleased to say that we have included a report on each
individual location within this magazines’ issue for those of you
that are unable to come over to Japan to for a visit!
The initial concept for
this magazines’ issue
stemmed
from
my
personal
interest
in
tuning Japanese cars.
Since high-school, I have
been constantly tuning
Japanese cars, mainly
Honda, and over the last
8 years that I have been
tuning, I have seen many
automotive tuning trends
emerge and fade within the tuning community. Surprisingly, most
of these trends seem to originate from the automotive tuning
movement located in Japan. First it was the big flashy body kits,
next came the clean-cut JDM fad, and now we’re in the midsts of
the “drift” movement. Within the coming and going of each trend,
there has been a big shift in modification priorities within the
majority of the North American tuning community. With the
introduction of body kits, motorists started seeing an influx of
import cars with enough wings attached to them that they
could’ve been mistaken for airplanes. The JDM fad introduced
drivers to RHD cars and the differences between USDM and JDM
cars of the same type. Now in the drifting fad, more and more
“tuners” are switching to rear wheel drive import cars in an
attempt to imitate what has been popular in Japan for the last 7
3
years. What is it about the Japanese tuning community that
enables it to constantly affect tuning cultures around the world to
such an extent?
Motivated to answer this question, I hit the streets of Tokyo to see
for myself firsthand what it was about Japan that enables it to
produce such a worldwide phenomenon. The first 2 weeks
mostly consisted of me staring at cars on the street with my
mouth wide open. I had never seen so many clean and nice
looking cars everywhere. Everywhere I looked, there were neat
and interesting looking luxury cars, sports cars, exotic cars, and a
wide variety of compact cars that just weren’t available on the
North American market. After picking my jaw off the floor and
placing it back securely in my cranium, I got down to the
analytical part of the research.
As already known, each
tuning fad in North America
has always been inspired by
a certain cars that Japanese
tuners have created.
As
such, one can find an
assorted variety of differently
tuned vehicles on the streets
of Tokyo like: drift cars, high
horsepower
cars,
sport
compact cars, and so on and so forth. However, my observations
had shown that the majority of the modified or tuned cars in
Japan had now taken on a “sleeper” look by having added a
tasteful lip/body kit, rims, sporty suspension setup and exhaust
muffler(s), making them look like further improved prototypes of
their factory counterparts. The “sleeper” look is achieved by
modifying a vehicle in such a way that it has no real distinct part
that stands out, but that the vehicle itself stands out as a whole
with the addition of all the parts. Granted these might seem like
complex modifications to most people, but to a tuner and part
time racer such as myself, it seemed puzzling to say the least.
How? That was the question I kept asking myself. What inspires
these tuners to create original designs and parts that complement
the car and appeal so much to tuners around the world. These
modifications are not limited to race cars either. Vans, station
wagons, subcompact cars also make up the bulk of these tuned
cars.
4
It is in the opinion of this writer that the designs and so-called
“fads” that the Japanese tuner culture creates are based from the
culture and lifestyle in which they originate from. My stay there
has shown that the lifestyle in Japan is one that is filled with
hardships despite what North Americans might see on the
television or in movies. I had originally thought that life would be
a lot better in Japan seeing
as how they had access to
many nice cars, car parts,
electronics and many other
things that we can’t obtain in
North America. However as
I found out, although that
might be the case, it is only
part of the truth. Japanese
culture encourages long
hours at work with strict
protocols to endure to. It also places more of a restraint on public
personal expression for the sake of politeness, meaning that
although you think someone is rude, you’re not allowed to publicly
say it in front of him. Not only is social interaction restricted, so is
the space and roads available to vehicles. The roads in Japan
are significantly narrower with less area’s with pure straightaways, and in addition, the roads in Japan (with the exception of
the Wangan) are extremely crowded due to the increased
population and small area of space.
How does this impact the type of modifications that tuners
perform on their vehicles? The polite and restrained social
atmosphere produces mixed expressions of self when a tuner is
designing the look of his vehicle. The subtle additions on the
exterior, such as a lip kit coupled with mild suspension work and
new aftermarket rims can be interpreted as a statement in self
expression.
It reflects the owners want to be personally
expressive while conforming to social protocol. This “sleeper”
look highlights and subtly differentiates that particular vehicle on
the road, while still maintaining its factory origins. The lack of
extensive engine and power modifications reflect the conditions of
the roads in Japan. Due to the lack of space to use this
increased power, most budget-driven tuners thereby skip the
major engine work and instead focus on expressing themselves
through the exterior and interior pieces. An emerging form of this
expression is the “otaku” type car. Meaning cars which are
decorated by Otaku’s to express their love for the anime which
5
they covet.
These cars rarely have any engine power
modifications, but they contain vast amounts of body and decal
modifications consisting mainly of anime characters. These cars
can be viewed regularly on
Friday nights on the streets
of Akihabara.
Although
there are powerful and fully
customized
cars,
their
numbers aren’t as great as
the casually tuned cars
which can be seen at
virtually every intersection.
The
powerful
and
extensively
modified
vehicles are usually owned
by the true automotive racing enthusiast and cost more to modify
and maintain. These cars are therefore typically owned by
middle-age salary-men who have the ability to earn more in the
workplace and spend more on their hobby. This upgraded power
in these cars can be translated to the owners’ upgraded status in
life and work. It also shows their ability to afford time at the
racetrack, or the ability to enjoy attending more race events due
to their increased earnings.
Although my findings may not accurately explain the reasoning
behind each trend that Japanese tuners invent, it is what I have
come to conclude after my extensive observations of both the
past and present trends in
aftermarket tuning.
The
trips I have made to
different
automotive
companies, talk’s that I’ve
had with many tuners and
automotive workers, and
the experiences I’ve been
through in Japan and while
working on cars myself,
have all led me to believe
that the tuning culture in
Japan is based on the want for personal expression, whereas in
North America, it is all about conformity.
6
Trends are created in Japan,
and then North America
imitates and conforms to that
trend. There are many tuners
in North America that might
disagree with my statements;
however, history has proven
otherwise. Japanese tuners
have developed every ground
breaking tuning trend in their
strive to uniquely express themselves, then North American
tuners see what they’ve done and then copy and imitate it to try to
be “cool” and to try to fit in. Deviant expressive tuners are usually
ridiculed in the North American culture due to their failure to fit in,
whereas in Japanese culture, they are embraced. Look at the
past emergence of full body kits, or the emergence of drifting, and
even the “JDM” hype. Going into the history of those movements,
they have all been invented due to the Japanese tuner’s struggle
to uniquely set themselves apart from the rest of the drivers on
the road. To accomplish something not many people have done,
that is how creativity works. It used to be the opposite, with
Japanese tuners trying to imitate North American tuners by
modifying cars and achieving insanely powerful cars for drag
racing. However, as society in North America became more
judgmental as the years went by, so did the lack of creative
outlets for tuners as they feared rejection from their own tuning
neighbors for their inability to fit in. Meanwhile, in a comparatively
more repressive society, it was a complete turn of events in the
Japanese tuning culture as the people’s desire for personal
expression overflowed and blossomed into world trend setters.
Automotive tuning was always about expression and creativity.
Those were the two main concepts I kept in mind when I first
started tuning. Even in this day and age, I have strived to
maintain purpose, expression and creativity in the design of each
car’s tune. It is just unfortunate that living in Calgary, more and
more vehicles are being modified simply just to fit in and new
ideas are constantly ridiculed by an uninformed community of
tuners. It is in my hope that some of my words do change the
current judgemental climate and bring about creative support like
they did back in 70’s and early 80’s. Anyways, I’m done
reminiscing; time to bring on what everyone came for. On with
the show!
7
Editors Note – Paul Gheran
Generally it appears many
people take some pride in their
vehicle
and
attempt
to
differentiate it somehow. It would
be difficult to judge how many
take advantage of a tuning shop
like Spoon offers as the majority
of the work is under the hood,
but Super Autobacs and other
stores like it are likely popular
destinations. Although I did see custom scooters for sale at many
places, I didn’t see any car lots offering new, custom vehicles. I
would hesitate to say that dealers don’t offer some sort of
customization packages, as the sheer number of customized
vehicles is truly astounding when compared to any other place
I’ve ever been. Of course, used cars are available with all of the
modifications the previous owner made. Unlike Canada, there is
no mistaking a VIP car in Japan. These vehicles don’t use
elaborate window coverings, excessive (some would say
obnoxious) size, or gilding to make overt announcements, but
subtle style, dark colors and uniformed drivers. My favorites
included the drivers waiting outside of Isetan, and the pachinko
parlors around larger train stations. Of course being somewhat
more practical, there aren’t many trucks, tuned or otherwise in
Japan, but they too have fallen victim to the convenience of the
mini-van. At Megaweb I was able to sit in the Japanese model
mini-vans, and I have to say not only was it as uncomfortable as
the North American counterparts, it was every bit as large.
Spoon
I have never been in a component research area before, so I
have little to compare Spoon to. I have been in many shops
where custom body work and parts are made, and they were
nothing like the top floor of Spoon’s office. Spoon is a very
professional, well laid out business, whereas the places I have
been were mostly created by car enthusiasts and looked more
like garages than research facilities. The staff at Spoon was
immediately friendly and welcomed us warmly (after settling the
issues of who exactly we were, and what the heck we were doing
there) giving us over an hour of face time with one of the
company representatives before beginning a private tour. For me
8
the highlight was seeing the
Honda NSX-R, one of only 483
produced,
and
unavailable
outside of Japan. Spoon has
customized an array of vehicles,
each for specific types of races
which can showcase their
products, as well as offering
tuning services to those willing
to pay. It seems that Spoon is
preoccupied with the feeling of driving responsive, powerful
vehicles, so their product offerings make sense. There is nothing
available from Spoon which is strictly designed to increase the
comfort of the driver, and there were no luxury cars to be seen
anywhere in their facility. Spoon is located in the heart of Tokyo at
a corner where a narrow residential road meets one of the main
streets of the district, convenient to visit by train, but I am sure
driving there would be awful.
Super Autobacs
There are certainly auto parts
warehouse stores in North America, but
I have yet to see one which would rival
Super Autobacs. Even though they
don’t sell Honda key chains, (which was
a disappointment to my partner) they
sell just about everything else you
would need to make your car reflect
your personality. Starting with air
fresheners, and moving all through the
car to the suspension systems, it
appears Super Autobacs has a product
available for almost every part of a car.
Their business is definitely not about replacing a broken part with
a new one though; Super Autobacs obviously aims to provide
people with options as to their vehicles appearance. A huge array
of head lights, seats, grills, tires, stereo systems, decals, and rims
(among countless other details) allows customers to achieve any
style they wish. My personal favorite was the horn display where
customers could test at full real volume how the horn would
actually sound when installed. Super Autobacs also has a full
vehicle service centre with all normal maintenance services listed
and priced. Outside the retail store they have a large shop area
with at least a dozen bays for installation and servicing. Not
9
connected to the main building but residing in the corner of the
Super Autobacs compound is an auto dealer, which has many
unique vehicles for sale. All of these were either custom to the
point of looking like completely different cars, or quite high on the
price scale ensuring their rarity. Super Autobacs is located on
reclaimed land, so the facility is large, the parking lot is large, and
the roads leading to it are large. It is conveniently located in a
sense.
Megaweb – the Toyota showcase/Toyota Showcase Ikebukuro
As Megaweb is only a car
showcase, we didn’t get to see
anything to rival what we found
at Spoon and Super Autobacs.
We got to see just about
Toyota’s entire line of vehicle
offerings, including the Lexus,
Scion, and the iUnit, Toyota’s
take on the future of human
mobility. Megaweb included a
brief history of automotive
design which was interesting in direct correlation to the cost
(Megaweb was free to enter) and the same area housed a display
which described the evolution of household products such as the
iron. Toyota Racing Development (TRD) also had a few displays
inside Megaweb, including some mock ups of their formula cars
and cut away displays of tires, and engines. A few simulators
scattered about test reaction time and driving skill to see if you
have what it takes to be a racer. Toyota’s auto showcase located
in Ikebukuro was a greatly scaled down version of Megaweb,
displaying the most popular and most anticipated models. Neither
of these showcases have any concept cars, but allow potential
customers to get a feel for the comfort levels and designs offered
by Toyota. I enjoyed viewing the F1 simulator, as even though it
wasn’t very elaborate, the footage used for the simulation was
excellent! Megaweb is one of the main attractions in Odaiba,
making it easy to find.
10
First, determine the audience of the booklet. This could be
11
Spoon Sports / Type One
To any Honda tuner, the Spoon tuning company represents the
pinnacle of perfection in the pursuit of Honda car modification.
Spoon has consistently developed excellent quality race parts for
Honda cars since being founded by Tatsuro Ichishima. Their
devotion to tuning a car as a whole for total balance has
differentiated them from their competitors and has catapulted
Spoon to international recognition.
Although they have accomplished
amazing feats of engineering such as
a 12,000 rpm redline capable EK-9,
Spoon tends to cater more to the
casual and daily driver in helping
them achieve an exhilarating and
exciting feeling while in the drivers
seat of their Honda. In the recent years however, Ichishima-san
has recently separated the R&D part of the company to be known
12
as Spoon whereas the actual tuning sector of the company is
known as Type One. This was done in order to allow Spoon to
be known as an automotive racing research company and
distance itself from its reputation as a parts seller. Type One was
then founded as a top notch custom Honda tuning facility and to
handle parts sales. Spoons’ involvement in circuit races has
allowed them to constantly research and develop race quality
parts to be used in both race and street cars.
Despite
their
constant
involvement in motor racing,
Type One typically caters to
normal everyday drivers that
expect and demand more
from their cars.
From
moderate tunes in daily driven
cars to full blown race setups
for circuit only cars, Type One
is fully dedicated in tuning a
ride to accommodate the owner’s needs while maintaining
Honda’s signature fun to drive feeling. In addition, Type One also
sells pre-modified cars to interested customers who want to
experience the feeling of a completely balanced street car.
My visit to Spoon came on the heels of
my exchange trip to Japan. Being a
Honda tuner since 16, one of the places I
had planned to visit was the Spoon and
Type One buildings deep in the heart of
Tokyo. With that in mind, I had set my
final culture and immersion project to
deal with the Japanese tuner movement
with Spoon being one of the many car
tuners I would investigate during my stay
here. I also wanted to setup an interview
with Spoon on behalf of Beyond.ca and
ClubCivic.com since I actively lookup both forums and am a
member of both sites.
Before departure, I had attempted to set up an informal interview
with Spoon through many emails. However, all attempts seemed
to have failed with no response from them. When I arrived and
had settled into my daily class schedule, I then decided to see if I
could drop by the Spoon and Type One buildings to snap up a
13
few shots of the building for my project document. So on a
Wednesday after class, our reporting team headed down to
Ogikubo station which is the station closest to the Spoon building.
Spoon Sports was a 5min walk directly South of the Ogikubo
stations’ South(B) gate exit.
After arriving at the front of
the building, I found myself
in awe of the fact that I was
actually there standing in
front of the building of one
of the most famous Honda
tuning companies in the
world. After snapping up
another few pictures, the
car inside the first level
garage window caught my
eye.
After drooling over it outside the building, we then
rd
proceeded inside to the 3 level office in an attempt to
communicate with someone working in there. The office was of a
fairly big size given the typical Japanese building size constraints
and we were immediately greeted by a table through of
photographs and trophies won throughout the history of Spoon’s
racing involvement. To the opposite side was a fully built B18CR
sitting on an engine stand for display. The office seemed
deserted from our standpoint so we then tentatively announced
our presence in order to draw attention to ourselves as to not
surprise the workers that might be there.
Shortly after, we were
greeted by Spoon’s customer
relations representative and
we then introduced ourselves
and our reason for visiting
Spoon. I also told him about
both
Beyond.ca
and
Clubcivic.com
and
the
interest members on both
sites have in Spoon. Our
credentials were then taken to Tatsuro Ichishima himself where to
our surprise, we were granted a special Q&A session.
Unfortunately, Ichishima-san was very busy that day due to our
unannounced arrival so he couldn’t spend time answering our
questions. However, since the Type One tuning factory was
14
closed on that same day, Ichishima-san
told us he would open up the facility for
an hour to allow us a private tour of the
facility. We immediately thanked him for
this great honour he had given us.
Ichishima-san then went back to work
and the Q&A session began with Spoon’s
R&D representative who then proceeded
to answer my questions where I
discovered the following:
1) Spoon is currently still focusing on NA engine
development and tuning. Hybrid cars are one of the
possibilities they are looking into, however, due to the
current technological state, it is still not a feasible
research area they are willing to invest in at the moment.
Also, currently the sports models of Honda’s give an
exhilarating feeling when driving. Until that feeling can be
replicated in hybrid cars, Spoon will continue focusing on
the gasoline driven cars.
2) Currently, there is a noticeable lack of civic’s on the roads
of Japan. This is due to the fact that the new Civic
chassis, the FG2, is larger than it’s predecessors. With
the narrow width of Japan’s roads, the preference of the
people is for smaller cars or minivans. Hence, the huge
representation of Fit’s and Odysseys.
3) Rumours of Honda developing a turbo civic in the future
may be possible, but for now, Spoon has dismissed all
rumours of a near future turbo performance Honda car as
rumour and nothing more.
4) Spoon has no intention of being involved with D1.
Tatsuro Ichishima has stated this. With the lack of
availability of drift oriented rear wheel drive Honda’s, it’s
not a feasible sport for Spoon to be involved with. Spoon
is more oriented around circuit racing around Japan due
to the company philosophy of achieving total balance in a
circuit/track race.
5) Spoon has also stated that the FG2 is the best balanced
civic thus far despite the use of front MacPherson struts.
This is due to their philosophy of tuning a car as a whole,
not just one component. MacPherson front struts might
not be the best setup for a performance oriented car;
however, with proper tuning of all the other aspects of the
FG2, Spoon has said it is the most balanced of all in
15
terms of handling and
power. Personal opinion
of our guide was that in
an auto-x situation, a
Silvia would dominate,
whereas in a circuit with
lots of curves, an S2000
would be the preferred
choice and in an oval, the
Spoon Civic Type R surprisingly would be the better
choice. He also told us that he thinks that the EK9 is the
most agile civic out of the entire civic line-up thus far.
6) Spoon currently has no intention of setting up another
office in North America anytime soon.
So North
Americans will have to stick with authorized dealers for
the meantime to satisfy their Spoon product needs, in
Canada this means original Spoon products can only be
bought out of Vancouver’s based authorized distributor.
7) Type One will not swap a H22a into a 78 civic. Sorry
guys.
8) Type One tunes individual customer’s cars to their needs.
The spec and tune varies depending on what the
customer hopes to achieve. A true race tune car would
have full engine work done, bore up, port and polish,
cam/valve/piston replacements, throttle body upgrade,
race suspension and transmission; whereas a mild street
tune would cost less and require less part upgrades. In
essence, each customer’s car would end up different
from each other and suit each particular owners needs.
Technicians will also bring up any recommendations as
needed after the initial inspection. To my own surprise,
although Spoon only develops parts for performance trim
Honda’s, Type One will work on even non-performance
trims. For example, D-series engines can be modified by
Type One, however, every part will have to be
customized directly in the shop due to the absence of
production D series parts from Spoon.
After the Q&A session, we then proceeded to the first floor of the
Spoon building where we did a mini photo-op in front of the
sponsored Integra Type R’s. We then headed off in the company
car to Type One.
16
To a dedicated Honda tuner,
Type One is as close to car
heaven as one can get. The
moment the main garage
door opened, our team was
treated to a sight of
meticulously modified and
tuned cars.
I use “cars”
instead of “Honda’s” due to
the fact I saw a Mini Cooper
in the middle of Type One’s main floor garage. When asked, I
was then informed that it was a part of a customer trade-in deal
when that particular customer bought one of Type One’s pretuned cars. The Mini Cooper was just being cleaned and
prepped to be sold, not to be modified. Our team was walked
through each different car from the Spoon sponsored twin DC-5’s,
all the way to a customer’s damaged DC-2.
While
photography
was
going on the cars, I observed
a crowd starting to form at
the entrance of Type One.
At that point, my head was
honestly spinning and I found
myself
having
difficulty
believing this was real and
that I was actually at Type
One being given a private
tour. Here I was, a simple guy from Calgary, sprawled all over
the floor of Type One taking pictures and talking shop with
Spoon’s representative while everyone else could only stay on
the outside and look in. It was a surreal experience. After
covering the cars on the
first floor, we then took the
garage lift to the second
floor where our team
literally drooled over the
NSX-R sitting on the far
right corner of the room.
We were then introduced to
Type One’s circuit race cars
and a line up of Spoon
products lined up against
the wall. In the middle of the room, we saw the legendary
17
hanging ramp that I had seen time and time again on previous
enthusiasts magazines where Type One currently stored the
Type One S2000 and another 2 Integra R’s. Unfortunately, the
legendary 1987 Civic in which Ichishima-san raced with was not
there. We then walked through each different car and the line up
of parts that Spoon had developed compared to the products
currently available in North America.
After talking shop for
another hour or so, our
team met and agreed we
had covered everything
we could think of at that
moment and we all
headed down the lift and
proceeded
out
the
garage door. After the
building
was
closed
again, we thanked the
representative for his
time and for answering the many questions we had for him. He
dropped us off at the nearest train station where he presented
each of us with a model of Spoon’s original S2000 as a parting
gift from the company. We again thanked him many more
numerous times before exiting the car and heading back to the
crowded streets of downtown Tokyo.
18
anyone who might benefit from the products or services it
19
Super AutoBacs
Japan is the most famous place for searching and purchasing
aftermarket tuning parts for most import cars. This is due to
many aftermarket part companies situating their headquarters in
the country. Companies like Spoon Sports, Blitz, HKS, Mines,
Cusco, and RS-R among others, are known throughout the world
for producing high quality and dependable aftermarket tuning
parts. Needless to say, tuners around the world constantly flock
to Japan in order to purchase these parts at a less ridiculous
price than what they have to pay in their own respective
countries. But, where do they go? With each different tuner’s
headquarters scattered throughout Japan, it is not cost effective
to merely plan on visiting each individual tuner and buying parts
from them. Nor is it wise to not shop around for different prices
and manufacturers for any certain part. So where is it that these
local Japanese tuners go for their parts? Super AutoBacs
naturally of course!
20
AutoBacs is one of the
most famous car parts and
tuning retail outlets in
Japan.
There are 2
different
kinds
of
AutoBacs.
The regular
AutoBacs, and the Super
AutoBacs.
The regular
AutoBacs resembles your
local everyday mechanic
shop. With engine bays
and service prices, the stench of engine oil and nice cars on lifts,
it’s your everyday shop for vehicle modification and tuning.
However, the Super AutoBacs is far different from the regular
AutoBacs.
Super AutoBac’s is home to a warehouse of
aftermarket automotive tuning parts as well as a larger car tuning
bay. In addition, Super AutoBacs also contains its own AutoBacs
dealership, selling pre-modified cars of all types and makes to
interested tuners looking for a new ride. In true AutoBacs
fashion, all cars are modified with quality parts produced by well
known and respected aftermarket tuning companies.
The Super AutoBacs which
we visited was the Tokyo
Bay Shinonome outlet. As
a tuner myself, Super
AutoBacs
is
legendary
among my circle of tuner
friends as the biggest parts
outlet store ever known.
The impact from walking
from Shinonome station to
the Super Autobacs lot itself
was an indescribable feeling. The first thing one sees when
walking from the station is the dealership, followed by the parking
lot and the tuning bay. Needless to say, with all the hot and
beautifully tuned cars that were present, it was as if I was walking
into a Hot Import Nights car show. Every car from the dealership
to the parking lot was tuned in some sort of way, shape, and
fashion that I had to be dragged up the stairs and into the actual
parts store with my mouth gaping open by Paul. Not that it got
any better inside.
The parts department of Super AutoBacs was huge. When I say
huge, I mean Superstore huge. There were literally thousands
21
upon thousands of parts ranging
from electronics to books. All
arranged in neat aisle just like a
food supermarket.
It was
absolutely mind boggling to see
so many parts that we can’t
obtain in North America, just
dangling loosely on selves and
hooks for my convenience. Not
only are the parts available, they
are also retailed at a much lower price compared to if one was to
try to buy them from North American shops.
After walking around the
entire store and visiting that
same store many times, I
figured out how everything
worked
out.
First,
electronics, books, tune-up
materials and cosmetic parts
(little parts that make your
car stand out), are readily
available and can just be
purchased as if in a normal food store. However, big parts, most
engine modifications, suspensions, and specialty parts can be
obtained by speaking to a Super AutoBacs representative at the
parts counter. After confirming the part that you wish to
purchase, you then pay the cost of it and it will be sent to Super
AutoBacs in a few days, at that time you will then receive a call
requesting you come pick up your ordered part. If installation or
any tuning services are needed, it can also be arranged by
speaking to the representatives at the service counter. Speaking
from personal experience when purchasing a part that needs to
be ordered, it is preferable to have a cell phone number for them
to contact you as you will receive word of your part arrival in the
fastest way possible. Email does work also, however most filters
assume an email from AutoBacs is spam so one must watch out.
With that said, Super AutoBacs is a place where every tuner’s
dreams can be fulfilled. I only hope you bring enough money with
you when you go visit the store during your trip to Tokyo.
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23
Honda Welcome Center
Honda is one of the biggest motor producing companies in the
world and is certainly one of the most famous automotive
manufacturers also. Honda was founded in 1948 and has been a
force to reckon with in terms of sales and engineering. Honda
also has a rich history in automotive racing and their production
cars are the best out of the 3 biggest Japanese automotive
companies in terms of handling and suspension. Honda’s line of
luxury cars are branded as Acura in North America and China.
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Currently, Honda is the second largest manufacturer in Japan
behind Toyota and ahead of Nissan.
Honda is headquartered
in Tokyo, Japan.
The
Honda Welcome Center,
as it is called, is located in
front of the AoyamaIcchyome subway train
station. It was a sunny
day when I dropped by
the center. In accordance
to the other dealerships in
Tokyo, showroom cars
were placed both outside
and inside the building, in full access to the public. Unlike Nissan
and Toyota however, Honda’s Welcome Center also housed their
line-up of available motorcycles. Honda also had 4 daily shows
featuring the robot, ASIMO.
Being arguably the biggest
Honda fan in the world, the
trip to the Honda Welcome
Center
almost
overwhelmed me due to
the many different cars
they had on the showroom
floor.
The
outside
consisted mainly of minivans, subcompact vans,
and hatchbacks, while the
inside showcased the motorcycle line-up, the Civic hybrid, the Fit,
the brand new Honda Inspire, and the absolutely stunning S2000
Type S. The inside also consisted of a stage, an information
center, and the Honda merchandise store. In the back of the
building hidden in a parking stall, I also spied the stunning brand
new Civic Type R.
My first impression was the difference in showrooms between the
North American dealerships as compared to this particular place.
There was an absence of salespeople circling me and
approaching me with sales offers. Like every other place in
Japan, I was greeted politely and left alone to check out the many
vehicles Honda had for sale in the showroom. I really like this no
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hassle policy, and constantly wish it would be the same in North
America (hah fat chance).
The next thing that caught my
eye was the availability of many
Honda models that just were not
available in the North American
market. The Honda Odyssey
Sport, the Honda RS-Z, the Civic
Type R, or the newly release
Honda Freed are just some
examples of great looking cars
that have not been seen on the shores of America and Canada.
Mind you, these aren’t your typical hastily made cars like the
Chevrolet Cavalier, Ford Focus, or Pontiac Sunfire. From
inspecting each car inside and out, I can assure you that these
are quality built Honda cars whose prices vary from 2,000,000
yen ($20,000 CAN) to 3,000,000 yen ($30,000 CAN). Just like
the Integra and Civic Type R’s, North Americans are again denied
access to sporty Honda cars. After asking an employee, I was
informed it was because that North Americans generally prefer
big cars which do not look like hatchbacks and that the North
American stereotype is that sporty cars should not be hatch’s or
vans. Also in the case of
the Type R’s, it was shown
with the previous model
Type
R
that
North
Americans refuse to, for the
most part, pay over a MSRP
of $30,000 for a front wheel
drive Japanese Sports car.
Makes you wonder why
North Americans complain
about not having access to
quality cars.
Prices in the cars and the factory equipment they came with
amazed me. For example, a Honda S2000 Type S merely costs
4,000,000 yen. That’s an equivalence of $40,000 CAN for a car
that retails for $55,000CAN base model before taxes. Moreover,
the Type S is not even available for purchase in Canada.
Another example would be the Honda Fit. A cool 1,500,000
($15,000) nets you a Fit fully equipped with on-board GPS.
That’s a far cry from the $24,000 that I was quoted from the
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Canadian Honda dealership. Why such a difference in price?
Many blame the fact that these cars are made in Japan, hence
the lower cost in shipping
and production. That may
be true with the case of the
S2000,
but
North
American Honda Fits are
made in the Ontario
facility. Also, does it really
take an additional $15,000
to ship a 2 door convertible
from Japan to North
America? Supporters of
this additional fee claim that it is to make a vehicle meet the
Canadian automotive safety standard. A whole $9,000 worth of
“safety standard” for a car built in the same country.
ASIMO is the result of
Honda’s
Research
&
Development
robotics
program. It is eleventh in a
line of successive builds
starting in 1896 with Honda
E0 moving through the
ensuing Honda E series and
the Honda P series. ASIMO
resembles a small astronaut
wearing a backpack and is
capable of recognition and movement on two feet. ASIMO can
also run, dance and interact with people. There are 4 ASIMO
shows that occur daily, and if you are ever so lucky to drop by the
welcome center, you should attend one of those shows to get a
demonstration of everything ASIMO is capable of and what
Honda eventually hopes to achieve with their robotics program.
As a bonus, at the end of the demonstration, there is also a
photo-op that everyone in the audience gets to participate in. Say
Chi-tsu!
For any Honda fanatic, the Honda store located at the bottom of
the stairs of the welcome center is definitely a must go. It has an
assorted variety of Honda products ranging from lanyards to
watches. A new set of designed products is released annually,
although not all products are immediately available at the store.
As I found out, the current year’s products are usually released
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mid-way through the year and
you can either order it from the
store or online. Shipping takes
around 2 weeks, but Honda
only ships to locations within
Japan. Sorry guys, you’ll have
to find someway of extending
your stay until your item gets in
to the shop.
th
On June the 14 , the Honda
Welcome Center held a
cultural event titled “Touch the
World”. It is an international
exchange event designed to
let the younger generation,
especially
children,
meet
people of other nations and
discover other cultures. This
year was the 10th anniversary
of the event with 4 nations present: Peru, Saudi Arabia, Latvia,
and Zambia. Honda is happy to count a total of 41 participating
countries up to this year. “Touch the World” is a whole days line
up of events with dance, booths, food and games for each
participating country to showcase themselves. It is a media and
press filled event designed to promote the diverse cultures that
also exist within Japan.
Performances
of
each
culture’s folk dance were
scheduled for different times
during
the
day,
from
ceremony opening all the
way till closing. Despite the
smaller
venue
(in
comparison to a North
American venue), the area
was absolutely packed with
families and children, highlighting the success of the event. With
this event, Honda showed that they are more than just your
regular motor/vehicle company. Way to go Honda!
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The Honda Welcome Center is an absolute must visit place for
the Honda fanatic, or even
anyone who is truly interested
in cars. To see the different
types of cars and motorcycles
that they offer, to see the
advances made in the field of
robotics, and even to pick up
some
sweetly
designed
Honda gear that can only be
obtained in Japan. Just don’t
forget to check out the
underground parking garage, I hear there are even more cars
stored
in
there
just
waiting
to
be
seen.
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contains. Next, establish how much time and money you can
30
Toyota Megaweb
Odaiba is a large artificial island in Tokyo Bay, Japan, across the
Rainbow bridge from central Tokyo. It was initially built for
defensive purposes in the 1800’s, dramatically expanded during
the late 20th century as a seaport district, and has developed
since the 1990’s as a major commercial, residential and leisure
area. Today’s Odaiba is a popular shopping and sightseeing
destination and one of the major attractions is Palette Town which
contains Megaweb. Megaweb stretches 2 buildings and has 2
floors serving as an exhibition hall for Toyota.
Just a little background, Toyota
was founded in 1937 by Kiichiro
Toyoda as a spin-off from his
father’s company Toyota Industries
to create automobiles. Toyota also
owns and operates Lexus and
Scion, and has majority of the
shares in Daihatsu Motors. Toyota
is headquartered in Aichi, Nagoya
and in Tokyo. Toyota is the largest of the 3 main Japanese
automotive producers, ahead of both Honda and Nissan.
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The moment I walked into
Megaweb, I was completely
blown away.
Imagine a
showroom for cars, only this
time it’s the size of 2
Superstores combined. The
first
showroom
is
immediately to the left after
going up the escalator into
Palette Town. The top floor
of the showroom features
the latest production vehicles, such as the Vellfire, MarkX, and
the newest Crown. It also has a concept vehicle and Lexus
section that features cars such as the new Lexus IS-F and the
interesting iUnit. There’s also a place on the top floor for you to
experience taking a ride in an electric car on a building wide track
for the cost of 500 yen ($5 CAN). On the bottom floor, Toyota’s
motor-sport involvement in F1 is the main feature, with a replica
F1 car and GT Supra in the middle of the floor under an
entertainment unit which showcases Toyota’s involvement in both
sports.
There is also 4
Toyota F1 racing simulators in
which the public can try out
their racing skills with.
A
Formula 1 shop is located on
the left side of the escalators,
and the rest of the floor
consists of a Hybrid’s section,
a restaurant, and the rest of
the space is given to the
remaining line-up of Toyota’s
cars.
As with every other showroom, all
cars with exception of the concept
and Lexus cars, are available for
the public to inspect. As with the
other
automotive
companies,
Toyota’s showcases cars that are
mainly not available to North
America. In fact as much as 90%
of Toyota’s automotive line-up is
not for sale in North America. It is such a pity as cars such as the
MarkX and Vellfire are absolutely remarkable in terms of the
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features and luxuries they would be able to offer North
Americans. Toyota’s mini-vans such as Vellfire, offer such
luxuries as reclining lazy-boy seats as rear passenger seats. The
Toyota MarkX offers the same luxuries as one might expect from
a BMW 530i but at a significantly lower price. Again, I would like
to express my disappointment at the lack of choices we have in
North America.
The second showroom is
located in the mall to the right
side of the escalators leading to
Palette Town. This showroom
not only houses Toyota’s
historical
cars,
but
also
historical cars from many other
manufacturers such as Lotus,
Honda, Chevrolet, Ford, and so
on. The bottom floor of this
showcase also features Toyota’s race cars from rally, F1, LeMans
and JGTC. Also housed on the bottom floor is a Toyota race
engine tuning shop and a café featuring views of the race cars
housed in the showroom. As a racing and car fan such as
myself, the second showroom was comparable to heaven.
Legendary cars such as the original Ford Mustang, or the
Chevrolet Corvette Stingray, or even the Honda S800, are
extremely hard to come by nowadays especially in a free
showroom. To top it all off by including the race cars that were
used in the past, that place is priceless.
No where in North America can
you see a car show like that for
free. Not to mention, Megaweb
is usually not crowded on the
weekdays, so it’s perfect for any
tourist to come in during a
holiday in Tokyo. Megaweb can
be accessed by taking the Rinkai
line to the Tokyo Teleport station
which is located on Odaiba. Be warned though, since the Rinkai
line is a private subway line, expect a slightly higher cost when
purchasing tickets or using your passmo/suica card.
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34
Nissan Motors, Ginza
Nissan Motor Company is the 3rd of the big 3 biggest Japanese
automakers. It was formerly marketed under the “Datsun” brand
name and is one of the most recognized car manufacturers in the
world. The company’s main offices are located near the Ginza
station in Tokyo. Nissan also operates the Infiniti brand.
35
Among the top 3 Japanese
makers, Nissan automobiles,
arguably, usually make cars
that contain more horsepower
than its other 2 main
competitors.
Nissan has
demonstrated this through the
release of the original Datsun
Fairlady Z, their entire Silvia
lineup from the S13 through to
the S15, and their Skyline
GTR line-up. In fact, these Nissan cars possess such power and
easy tuning ability that they are extremely popular amongst car
tuners throughout the last 20 years. Nissan’s use of both RWD
and 4WD for their sport performance cars has also placed them
in the forefront of the drifting community. For these reasons itself,
there is a noticeable abundance of Skylines and Silvia’s on the
streets of Japan. North America also is now experiencing a
significant increase in the presence of these cars on the road as
the “drifting” trend picks up speed in tuner culture during present
times.
Visiting
Nissan’s
headquarters in the heart of
Ginza, one is treated to a
showcase of current vehicle
models at the main lobby of
the building. The building is
flanked by a 350Z Fairlady
on the right side, and a 2008
Skyline on the left. Both cars
on small pedestals as if they
were guard dogs protecting
the Nissan building. Also like Toyota and Honda’s showrooms,
Nissan’s showroom contains many cars accessible to the public
and that aren’t available to the North American Market. However,
most visitors that come here are only here to see 1 thing. Well,
technically 3 things. Those things are the 3 Nissan Skyline
GTR35’s that were only released to the public a few months ago.
36
Nissan’s Skyline GTR line has
enjoyed immense popularity in
movies, anime, and in the
tuning world. This popularity
stems from it’s twin turbo’d 2.6
liter engine and it’s All-wheel
drive layout. The GTR’s also
come equipped stock with the
ATTESA E-TS system and
LSD transmission stock from
the factory. Also, Nissan’s
success in motor-sports with the use of modified GTR’s has also
helped maintain the car’s legendary race status. In short, to any
tuner, a Nissan Skyline GTR is the king of all street cars due to
it’s power, handling, and claim to fame. There are many parts
that have been produced for tuners to modify their GTR’s over the
years, and it is very rare to find
a non-modified GTR in this day
and age.
However, the
release of the brand new
GTR35 might change all that.
Nissan claims it to be the most
complex GTR ever produced,
and
thus,
nearly
not
modifiable. From personally
examining the R35 up close
and personal, I can support this claim as it feels like I was in the
cockpit of the space shuttle from the moment I sat in the drivers
seat. However, with tons of automotive magazines hailing the
power of this new R35, I’m sure Nissan will have no problem
unloading many of these cars at a cool price of $80,000 CAN to
$120,000 CAN.
So is power the way Nissan is
heading towards the future? I
had a little sit down with the
manager of an authorized
Nissan dealership during my
stay in Tokyo where I had
some
burning
questions
lingering in my mind.
I
learned that in this day and
age, car sales are declining at
an ever steadier rate per year
37
due to the increased costs of production and gas prices.
Japanese people are not too concerned about luxury or power
anymore; instead their focus has increasingly been on hybrids. In
the opinion of this
manager, hybrids will be
where the future of cars
will be heading towards.
Despite all the hype in
North America about
American car companies
striving
towards
the
development of gas
saving
hybrids,
the
common
consensus
amongst the Japanese
people and the car manufacturing community is that American
companies still do not really care about the development of
hybrids. Instead, they choose to develop bigger cars at a
cheaper cost in order to try to make more money.
This was very interesting, whether it be propaganda or truth. It is
only through the future that we will finally discover where trends
lie and which companies are going to be ready for it.
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