All this month I’d been looking forward to the 12th. The Saturday of Tokyo Auto Salon 2008: one of 3 “auto salons” held yearly around Japan and easily the mecca of Japanese car tuning. I once entertained the idea of going before when I was living stateside so now that I was living in Japan there was no way I could pass up on the chance. Besides, tickets themselves were really cheap at about $15 a day. The transportation was already costing more than the day’s admission ticket. Tokyo Auto Salon (TAS) is well known for being the place to see some of the best tuned and finest Japanese cars from all categories be it VIP, GT/Track style, Drift, you name it.
In place of the standard car show which may feature the newest designs, models, and concept cars for the future, TAS offers a few of those but focuses mainly on existing cars and perhaps tuning for said existing cars. In other words, if you car was made in the 90’s and you want to look at tuning parts for it you won’t feel like you’ve come to the wrong place. Even my car, a 1991 model had 5 or 6 chassis there showing off the newest tuning for a car that old. Granted it’s a spinoff of one of Japan’s most popular sportscar models, but that still says something.
I wasn’t just interested in going to see what I could see. I was hoping that I could take some money along and do some shopping as well. I’ve been working as an English tutor in between classes to cover my apartment rent as well as slowly saving to buy some “souvenirs” to take back for my car and the 2008 Solo 2 season. 5 or 6 months of saving and patience had finally opened the door for a chance to buy a part of two from Japan. A great souvenir for a car guy like myself.
Killing time one day I used the internet to look up reviews of TAS 2007, specifically searching to see if anyone had written about actually buying product at the show. Sure they have t-shirts, tote bags, tracksuits and displays, but I wanted to know if I could lay down some hard-earned cash at the booth of my choice and walk away with some special TAS-only discount priced parts. It was surely through this approach of searching for TAS 07 along with manufacturer and purchasing terms that I came across this website: Original Made.
OG-Made is a site which features news and commentary on the car and tuning industry from people in the industry. An opportunity to get a look at the perspective on the other side of the sales desk, if you will. I found a link to their site with a well written review of TAS 2007 and after perusing through it I read some of the newer posts on their site. The writing style is good and the perspective is fresh too; I recommend having a look if you’re interested in Japanese cars and tuning.
I didn’t find the part buying information I was hoping for from the review; instead I found a review of another event that takes place concurrent and even alongside TAS: Kyoho Private Show (KPS). KPS is a one day event that occurs the Friday of TAS. It takes place at the same time as TAS and additionally it’s right across the street from Makuhari Messe, the exhibition center where TAS is staged. The best way to describe KPS is to quote Dom from OG-Made:
“What’s the Kyoho Private Show you ask? Well on the Friday of Auto Salon, Kyoho (which is sister company to Enkei and the biggest wheel distributor in Japan) holds a private show to exhibit only brands sold exclusively (or mainly) by them. It’s a show that was held at the New Otani hotel right across the street from Auto Salon. A show where dealers from all of Japan can come and actually purchase product. The show is so successful that they consistently do $3,000,000 in sales in just that one afternoon…
…VIP treatment to the fullest. Upon arrival you’re greeted and given a bag of AME goods. Once you enter you meet and greet the President of Kyoho himself. After all the formalities, have some complementary food and drinks. At the end of the food table, you’re greeted by the salesman that always takes care of you so you don’t have to deal with someone you don’t know. He takes you around the room looking at the manufacturer displays and once you’re ready you both have a seat and discuss your order over, what else, some beer, wine, or whatever else you please.” -quoted from OG-Made
Here’s where it gets interesting. As I was scanning through the recent articles after reading the 2007 archive of KPS and TAS, I saw a post from Kent Chen of Endless USA mentioning this year’s KPS and saying that since it’s invitation only any dealers or media interested in attending should send him an email. I thought about it for a little bit and decided to give it a try. I’m certainly not a dealer, though as a graphic design major I’ll be able to call myself a media-related professional in the future. So I sent off an email to Kent saying clearly that I’m neither dealer nor media (yet) but that it’d be a great experience as a designer to get to see the inside look at the show so if he ended up with a spare guest pass to please get back to me. Eventually a reply came explaining that I was on the list and to ask for Dave Fujii at the front. I knew Dave’s face from the photographs in the review of last year’s KPS also. The wonders of the internet. Big thanks go out to Kent of Endless USA and Dave Fujii of MLJ for getting me in the door!
However, at this point I was put into a bit of a bind, as I received word on Tuesday. KPS was Friday, but TAS access is limited to only press and manufacturer’s/their guests until after 1:00 pm, so I was planning on making a day trip on Saturday. Starting Wednesday I was in a bit of a dash to lock down a hotel for the weekend. To make matters worse the following Monday was a national holiday for “Coming of Age Day”, meaning a long weekend and plenty of people traveling. Compounding that was the fact that TAS isn’t actually in Tokyo; it’s in Chiba about 45 minutes out of the parts of Tokyo I’m most accustomed to. Leaving from Kofu there was no way I could expect to make it to KPS on Friday morning, so I had to get a hotel for Thursday night and Friday night. I then planned to check out, store my bag o’ clothes at a coin locker in the station, and go to TAS Saturday, taking the clothes back with me as I returned to Kofu Saturday night.
It was a little hectic, but somehow everything came together. Using the Japanese travel site Rakuten I searched for an affordable room. The hostels in the area I was hoping for were booked but I came across a pretty thrifty and interesting alternative: a capsule hotel which had a room I could use the two nights I needed. In an effort to appreciate Japanese culture through experiencing things I booked my space at the capsule hotel. In fact, it had some nice features which I was looking forward to: and indoor onsen, 2 outdoor ones, 3 saunas, and more all included in the room fee which you could use anytime you wanted, any number of times. Considering the bus ride up and the prospect of trying to sleep in a capsule I was pleased to have found one that would offer me an option to stretch and relax after cramped bus and train rides as well as TAS itself which would likely also be cramped.
I never found out if I’d be able to do shopping there so I decided to bring my car fund along and take it from there. The following series of posts will cover a day by day review of KPS and TAS 2008. Enjoy!
Also, galleries are up! Click to view the galleries.
Kyoho Private Show 2008
Tokyo Auto Salon 2008
