2 Days in Tokyo - What Car Stuff?

I'm in Tokyo the next 2 days. What car stuff is a must see? Super Autobacs, museums, etc...

Later, Bruce

Stop by a news stand for some magazines.

If Toyota Mega Web is still operating, it is good for a fun afternoon.

Junkyards!!!! And then bring me back all kinds of cool things!

Can you fit an R34 Skyline in your carryon bag for me?

Take a train and visit motegi and suzuka. The Honda museum is located @ motegi. There's a dirt oval track up there too. Like said earlier Toyota megaweb if its still open. When I was there it was fun just to sit outside the train station and watch all the cars go by.

If I had time, I would have gone to Motegi and seen the Honda museum. I didn't, unfortunately, but I did get to see the Tokyo Motor Show due to some fortunate timing.

Super Autobacs was interesting to see, but I really didn't buy anything...nothing of use to me that I couldn't get in the US for WAY cheaper. I couldn't find any equivalent of a junkyard anywhere near Tokyo...big city with very, very few old cars and really expensive stuff, so I wasn't surprised. There are tons of huge bookstores which I found to be pretty great for obscure car books I couldn't have found on the internet or anything else, like 60s and 70s Japanese Honda books and magazines. Hard to read the text, of course, but still cool pictures. The book stores also have a pretty bizarre amount of other stuff that you'll be able to tell the guys back home about, makes for fun stories if nothing else.

I looked up a few famous tuners and found out that almost certainly, it's usually a teeny tiny shop without any kind of way to visit or anything like that...fortunately found that out via somebody else's experience they posted on the web.

I rode with a friend in his Evo 9 and he took me to Daikoku Futo parking area (at my request, not his), but unfortunately the "PA" was closed at the time and pretty dead out there. No public transport goes out there, so you either have to taxi, rent a car, or know a local. It's pretty bizarre to navigate the highway around the PA as well, so I highly recommend the taxi or local version.

I would have loved to get outside Tokyo in the country and find more auto culture in the countryside, but didn't have time.

Oh yeah, and if you want to see the Tokyo auto bling, I saw more around Rappongi than anywhere else.

Bryce

The Honda museum at Motegi is cool, but with limited time I'd stick to Tokyo.

Megaweb is cool, and you can get there via light rail. If you go, also visit Venus Fort. It's a big Vegas-style shopping mall located next-door to Megaweb, and they have a pretty good free car museum/book store on the lower level. Village Vanguard, located in Venus Fort, has a good selection of car books and magazines, too. They're on a landing on the right side of the store. Map: http://www.venusfort.co.jp/multi/en/floormap/1f.html

Akihabara (Electronic Town) is still my favorite place to visit. Tons of hobby shops, die-cast shops, etc., etc. Tam-Tam has a great selection of die-cast cars at good prices.

Super Auto Bacs is also cool, but I tend to just look as the prices aren't anything special. The one we went to used to have a book store upstairs--totally killer selection--but now that space is used for a bike shop. If you're feeling adventurous, see if you can find this place: www.lindbergh.co.jp. They operated the bookstore at Super Auto Bacs.

If you go to Yokohama, Nissan has a big showroom. It's cool but not sure it's worth the trip. I'd go if you're already heading in that direction. Yokohama has a big China town, too.

When I went (10 yes ago) in shinjuku there was a massive book/magazine store w/ 13 floors. I also visited spoon and Jun auto.

One of the best stops was Mr. Craft in Ebisu. It was like half a dozen floors of nothing but car stuff: die-cast models, plastic models, F1 memorabilia, books, magazines, stickers, etc. The top floor was a slot car store. Sadly it's no longer with us, but at least I got to visit several times.