Japan Stories: October 1999
The 1999 Tokyo Motor Show
In mid-October, we take the train to Tokyo's Makuhari Messe exhibition hall to see the 1999 Tokyo Motor Show. Angela has been to some auto shows in the States, but this is a first for Jan—and what a motor show it is! Japanese cars already look pretty cute and/or weird by American standards, so it's hard to tell the concept cars from the production models. Plus, the advertising campaigns for the cars have that surreal Japanese quality to them, straddling the line between avant-garde and completely ridiculous.
Boy, are there a lot of cute little cars at the show
The show has a big area showing electric cars. We wait for a long time in a line to get a test ride, but since we don't have Japanese drivers licenses, we can only go along as passengers. The thirty second ride is anticlimactic: riding in an electric car is exactly like riding in a gasoline-powered car, only quieter.
These electric cars do seem pretty easy to start
Some of the cars on display offer really bizarre amenities:
This van's car seats fold away, creating a small Japanese-style room
where you can sit on the floor and watch a movie. Not sure why,
though.
Subaru's special edition Legacy wagon includes a built-in attached
picnic table,
and comes with matching picnic chairs and picnic accessories
Not all the cars are dopey, though—some are drop-dead gorgeous.
Bugatti muscle car
Volvo has a fun display where you can sit in an enormous model of a child's safety seat:
Ready to be buckled in
Virtually every car or car product was accompanied by a young woman in small clothes.
Models, models, everywhere. Not sure whether it's better to have to
wear
skimpy clothes and sell car tires, or to wear a snowboarding suit in
a warm room.
Does Pris know you borrow her clothes?
The year 1999 marks the 100th anniversary of the introduction of the car to Japan, so one section of the gigantic exhibition complex chronicles the history of Japanese cars.
The three-wheeled 1951 Daihatsu Bee
For us, the highlight of the motor show is the dance stage and light show in the enormous Honda booth. A team of dancers try their best to distract viewers from the fact that the cars are completely ridiculous.
Dances with cars
Honda showcases three cars on their dance stage: the Spocket shown above, the Neukom (another car with a built-in rear projection movie theater), and the Mover (a tall vehicle in which passengers don't really sit, but stand). We love the dance for the Spocket the best, though: every time the announcer mentions the word, "Spocket", all the dancers do a sort of Power Rangers-style salute. We can't stop laughing.
And the 1999 award for the dumbest car with the best dance number
goes to...
The Honda Spocket -- half sports car convertible, half pickup truck!
Both of us sold our cars before coming to Japan, so we'll need to buy new cars when we get back to the States. At least now we know what some of our options are... and what to avoid.