Photo Stories

A documentation of my photographic adventures.

Travel: Japan Escape 2019 (P2)

The thing I’ve constantly been told about Tokyo is how utterly dense the population is, and how the buildings are tightly compacted in together. My natural inclination is to then anchor my expectations to the densest place I’ve been to before this Japan trip: Hong Kong, a city of millions built on a few islands, where high-rise apartments dominate the landscape.

As our Narita Express train headed into Tokyo from the airport, I waited to see taller and taller buildings, hoping to use them as an unofficial signifier that we’ve entered into the capital city. To my surprise, even as the train announced the next stop is Shinjuku, the horizon outside my window had hardly changed. I’d expected to see tall buildings densely packed together; instead, the landscape I saw could have passed for any major city here in America.

Except for one key component: the streets of Tokyo are far narrower. Outside of main corridors and arteries, the typical Japanese residential street is just wide enough to fit two cars passing each other in the opposite direction.   

That is the secret to Tokyo’s density, rather than super tall buildings as I had imagined. The narrowness of the roads allows buildings to be bunched together, creating more people space per every square meter. Yes, it helps that homes and living spaces in Japan are quite a bit smaller – the typical hotels rooms are positively tiny for what Americans are used to, and the predominant type of housing are apartments, but there’s a significant amount of what we call single-family homes as well scattered all over the city.

This comes as unexpected because it’s been proposed the solution to San Francisco’s chronic housing problem is to copy what Japan does and build denser housing, at the expense of single-family homes. Well, it turns out, you can have dense housing and keep a healthy mix of single-family homes. Tokyo proves that to be possible, though possibility doesn’t necessarily translate into application: for starters, San Francisco will have to shrink the width of its streets by over half – by getting rid of street parking - which is quite impossible. Even if planners managed to make that a reality, to facilitate such a drastic move, you’d need the most superb public transportation network ever built on this hemisphere, to create an incentive for people to get out of their cars.

Indeed, the narrow streets of Tokyo goes hand in hand with its astoundingly good public transportation system.

On arrival day, we alighted off the Narita Express at Shinjuku station, right into the depths of Friday evening rush hour - we’ve made a huge mistake. The sea of humanity never ceases to amaze, even though I’ve been to other Asian cities with similarly intense people flow. Being that it is Japan, however, the chaos is very much organized. Even with our heavy luggage and needing to traverse quite a bit of the station to get to a different platform, threading through the mass of commuters wasn’t too difficult.

Because Japanese trains are always on time, and the planners do a terrific job deploying the correct amount of trains to acquiesce to the vast amount of people during the commute. On our particular line towards Nakano, at peak there’s a train every two minutes, and because each of those train is utterly on time, it doesn’t cause delays and setbacks for the the trains following. I’m sure the immense efficiency of the train system also lowers stress on the commuters relying on it to get to where they need to be. It all compounds into one big positive, virtuous loop.

It’s a product of culture and planning combining together, and not in a hundred years I think can you replicate that here in the States.

It was an early morning start to day two of our trip, as we were catching the first train out to Yokohama. Leaving Tokyo already? After one day? As you shall see later on, our trip was heavily front-loaded with a an immense variety of stuff to do. Seeing as I didn’t plan to return to Japan anytime soon, we were quite choosy with the places we wanted to go, and that necessitated lots of skipping around.

Before anything happens, however, I needed my coffee fix. In Japan, that means walking down to the end of our block and buying canned coffee from the vending machine. Yes, the cans come in hot or cold; road-side vending machines in Japan are truly marvelous.

On the way back to the Airbnb I saw this late 90’s Cadillac Seville (right-hand drive, no less!) parked neatly underneath an apartment building. Japanese car enthusiasts sure have an affinity for the weird and peculiar.

We took the local train to Tokyo main station (shame we never got a chance to walk around it) for our transfer to the Tokaido line towards Yokohama. Breakfast? Tea and onigiri once again from a convenience store.

While waiting for our train to arrive, I took my first glimpse of the legendary Shinkansen bullet train, just hanging out in the adjacent platform. It was another surreal moment, laying actual eyes on the machine I’ve only read and watch videos about.

The Shinkansen train in its resplendent glory.

Off the Tokaido line, we had to transfer yet again to a local train to get to our first point of interest for the day. On the way to the local station, I saw this Mercedes-Benz CLA Shooting Brake up on the lifts at a Nippon Rent-A-Car. This adds to a running theme of cars encountered on this trip: it is not available in the United States.

We will be renting a car later on the trip, but sadly, it’s definitely not one of these.

In a different life, I would have loved to have grown up in Japan. During my childhood I had an intense adoration for trains, and books upon books of it were checked out from the local public library (Internet wasn’t yet widespread a thing back then, kids.) Japan quite literally runs on trains, so much so that there’s a sizable hobby industry of model trains of many types. There’s even a railway museum in Saitama, which I would have love to have gone had there been more time on our itinerary.

I’ve long moved from a love of trains to a still-present passion for automobiles. Therefore, the specialty places for this trip, at least those of my suggestion, largely centers around cars.

On the way to the car-related thing in Yokohama, I noticed this late model ‘Hachi-Roku’ Toyota 86 parked in isolated fashion at the front garden of this home.

And how about this Volkswagen Passat wagon parked nonchalantly at this quite expensive parking lot (~$16 per day rate.)

Obviously, there’s lots of car-related things to do in Japan for a tourist. The museums of the respective major Japanese manufacturers - Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda, etc - alone can occupy a few days’ worth of trekking around. I would have loved to visit the Mazda Museum in Hiroshima, or the Honda Collection Hall in Suzuka, but those were not possible for the short duration of this trip. Car-related activities had to fit in with our general heading from a location perspective, so it narrowed down to two places.

We’ll get to Toyota Mega Web later on in this trip, but first, our main reason for heading off so early in the morning to Yokohama is to visit NISMO Omori Factory. It’s a factory-backed tuning shop for well-heeled customers of Nissan cars, and I was eager to see the place in person after reading the fantastic Speedhunters article.

But first, we had a considerable walk underneath and across a section of the famed Shuto Expressway.

Japan is an urban photographer’s ideal.

More evidence of Japanese van life.

Here’s the front gate to the NISMO Omori Factory. The compound’s showroom and shop area is open to the public, no reservation is required.

The standout car inside the showroom is this Nissan Skyline GT-R (R33) NISMO 400R in an eye-searing yellow hue.

Placed next to the 400R is a R35 GT-R racing car for the Japan SUPER GT series.

Omori Factory’s most awe-inspiring aspect is the workshop where customer cars are serviced; from as mundane as a standard oil change, to as extravagant as a complete overhaul of a car’s mechanicals. With enough money, practically anything is possible.

I was thoroughly amazed at the modernity and cleanliness of the workshop, and the professionalism and attention to detail of the mechanics. I could’ve spent the whole day watching them go about their work. You can tell at a place like this, there won’t be a bolt inserted incorrectly, or fluids poured into the wrong reservoir. It’s the type of place I want to service my 911 GT3 at. I’d be very happy if my main Porsche dealership is half as decent as what I saw at Omori Factory.

Also inside the workshop space are parked customer cars, either awaiting service or pickup by their lucky owners. The metal in here might be even more special than what’s in the showroom - if you discount the racing cars, like this ‘Millennium Jade Green’ R33 Skyline GT-R, kitted out with many NISMO goodies.

Or this, the holy grail of all Nissan GT-Rs: the R34 Skyline GT-R Z-Tune. Only 19 samples were ever produced, and I honestly never thought I’d actually see one in person. No doubt these will be worth into the million once it is eligible for importation into the United States.

The Z-Tune’s iconic flared front fender treatment. “Lesser” GT-R owners can buy a similar fender set from NISMO for about $1,500 dollars, a significant price indeed for what amounts to two large pieces of plastic.

Nobody said this car hobby of ours is cheap.

From “old” GT-Rs to the latest Fairlady Z NISMO: a proud lineage of sports cars, but with an uncertain future.

After staring at GT-Rs for a bit of time, we ventured over to the shop area. Here you can have a consultation with a service advisor, buy NISMO-branded parts for your car, or apparel for your body. I did not buy anything because one, even souvenir-type items are appropriately expensive, and two, I fly the Porsche flag.

There’s entire engines available for purchase, should you be so inclined. I don’t suppose you can check one of these in as plane luggage.

The legendary RB26 inline-six engine, and its requisite twin turbochargers.

By coincidence, during our visit there was a few R34 GT-R owners out in the parking lot doing a photoshoot of their cars. The GT-Rs were still parked outside as we were leaving, so out came my camera that was just put away back into its protective case (angry noises.)

Those legendary quad tail-lamps.

Notice the Z-Tune-style front fenders I mentioned earlier on this R34 GT-R.

I bet this carbon-fiber rear wing costs a few thousand dollar of our money; and those motorsport-grade Brembo brakes? 10 grand, easy - per axle. You really don’t put this amount of money into modification without some genuine passion for the particular model of car. This is wholly different from those rich guys on instagram swapping super cars every month solely to flex.

There probably isn’t a more representative car for Nissan and NISMO than the R34 generation Skyline GT-R.

After NISMO Omori Factory, we walked back to the train station to head towards Yokohama proper (think ferris wheel). For lunch, my friend said we’re having Italian pasta, which is not what I had in mind at all given that this is Japan, so why would you eat anything other than purely Japanese food?

The insulation in these houses has got to be remarkable, what with the noise and ruckus from passing trains, mere meters from the walls.

A modified Toyota Prius with big wheels, and a Bentley Continental Flying Spur absolutely lowered to the ground; car spotting in Japan is such a fun game to play.

And here is lunch: Spaghetti Napolitan!? It’s apparently a very popular Japanese pasta dish that has roots in the Yokohama area. It’s nothing spectacular, just pasta and spam mixed in some sort of ketchup sauce. Personally I’d rate it as okay: decent enough to eat, but I’m in no rush have it again.

The restaurant we went to is called Center Grill.

What is always good, however, is Japanese beer, with the proper amount of foamy head. It’s especially so during the humid and hot summers.

After lunch we walked towards the waterfront to our next point of interest, and the reason my friend wanted to come to Yokohama: the Cupnoodle Museum.

There it is, the recognizable symbol of Yokohama: the Cosmo Clock 21 ferris wheel

The ferris wheel is so named because there’s literally a giant digital clock in the middle of the wheel.

A Jaguar XF Sportbrake appears suddenly!

And here by Cosmo Clock 21 is an Aston Martin DB11 Coupe, followed by what looks like an old-school Chevy El Camino that’s surely been imported from America.

Another look at the ferris wheel before we head into the Cupnoodles Museum, which is literally across the street.

The Cupnoodles Museum honors the legacy of Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant noddles and founder of Nissin. Inside you will discover the story of his creation, and how instant noodle culture proliferated and spread all over the globe. Turns out I owe my love and enjoyment of Shin Ramyun to this very man.

It’s noodles around the world (la la la la la).

The intersection of my relationship with instant noodles.

I wasn’t kidding about noodles around the word: on the fourth floor of the museum is a small food court offering exactly that, a variety of noodles from nearly a dozen countries. I had a surprisingly good bowl of pho - Vietnamese rice noodle - there. Who would have thought!

Also on the fourth floor is a promenade section, offering a wide view of the Port of Yokohama waterfront.

It’s… a giant sail! I believe this is a hotel.

One subway stop away from the Cupnoodles Museum (or we could’ve just walked, honestly), is the largest and most well-known Chinatown in Japan. Being that both my friend and I are Chinese, I guess it seemed appropriate we visit the place of our people, even though it is indeed a tourist trap. More so for me because I’ve had most of the Chinese foods offered at the Yokohama Chinatown at their places of origin. It’s really nothing special for me, though at least we can say we’ve been there. Hashtag for the ‘gram.

Not wanting to spend any more time amongst the crowds, but with still a little more time to kill before our train back to Tokyo, we decided to walk towards the waterfront.

Passed by along the way this Aston Martin showroom, which I believe was only opened earlier this year. Wearing sweat-soaked t-shirt and shorts of a tourist, I figured it was best I didn’t go in and have a look, lest risking the ire of the undoubtedly besuited salesperson therein.

Besides, it’s not like it’s a Porsche showroom…

Also passed by a Mercedes-Benz S-Class Cabriolet in a stunning shade of dark blue.

And this Jaguar F-Type parked in the front of a hotel building.

The view from Yamashita Park. Notice the ferris wheel from where we were earlier on the left, and the RORO car carrier ship on the right.

The famous Yokohama Bay Bridge.

It’s time to head back to Tokyo.

Walking to our main event of the evening, we went through the tree-lined walkway adjacent to the Tokyo International Forum.

I think early evening hour is the best time to walk around Tokyo, though maybe not when you’ve woken up at 4AM to go to Yokohama. The ambiance and atmosphere is simply wonderful.

Getting darker as we approach our destination for the main event.

Which is driving go-karts on the streets of Tokyo!. We’ve all seen the Youtube videos of people wearing Nintendo character costumes driving karts in and around the scenic areas of the city - "real life Mario Kart.” This simply had to be on our to-do list for the trip, because only Japan can offer the culture and environment to do something as crazy as this, (we were driving karts alongside real live traffic on city streets, without so much as a helmet) and we can’t be sure such a concept will be around for much longer.

Nintendo have already successfully petitioned to have its character costumes removed from use, no doubt citing copyright violation. So you’re currently out of luck if you want to dress like like a Mario Kart character. We eschewed costumes entirely because one, we were slightly late in arriving, and two, Japan summer is hot enough as is without the additional layer.

We booked the ‘K - M course’ with Street Kart Tokyo Bay. The route starts in Odaiba district, and it includes driving on the world-famous Rainbow Bridge, and passing right by Tokyo Tower.

The gang of players.

Notice the GoPro strapped to my forehead: of course I got the entire 1.5 hour session on video:

As we approach the ever effervescent Tokyo Tower.

This brings us to an end of a long day two in Japan, and part two of the Japan Escape photo story. Up next, we visit a fish market; see some Toyota cars; and get on a bullet train.