Tokyo Itinerary - Speedshops

[8110]

Hi all. Would those residing in Japan help me plan my itinerary and also provide some info/confirm the below info.

I plan to visit the below places in April.

1) NISMO OMORI FACTORY (Omorikaigan station)

2) Nissan HQ/Gallery (Ginza station) - what can I expect to see there?

3) TOP SECRET (Sobu line to Inage ~ cab from there?)

4) CRYSTAL (Near Top Secret?)

5) SUPER AUTOBACS (how to get there??)

6) UPGARAGE (how to get there?)

7) BEE*R (Minami-Machida Stn - worth a visit?)

8) VEILSIDE (how to get there? - worth a visit?)

9) ZELE INTERNATIONAL (how to get there?)

10) etc.........

How can I lump the above places and more into planned days??

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3 (perhaps?!?)

What about places to check out the nite car scene around Tokyo?

[HOSTILE]

Crystal is about 5 km or so from TS. Its a bit of a walk but we did it OK.

Upgarage and Bee racing are in the Tomei area and both are walking distance from the train.

Night scene..... Daikoku futo is a must.

Edited March 21, 2007 by HOSTILE

[Blitz]

Veilside is definately worth a visit but its an absolute HIKE to get to.

Its literally in the middle of nowhere, but has one of the biggest displays of carpark eyecandy you are ever likely to see.

The owner of Veilside is quite friendly and loves a good chat

[sewid]

Crystal is easiest to get to from Chiba on the Chiba urban monorail. Get out of either Chiba or Chiba-minato station (depending on which line you took to get there) and go up the escalators to the monorail.

- Take the monorail to "Sports Center" station i think it costs 130yen. From Chiba monorail stn it's in the opposite direction to Chiba-minato.

- Get off on the main road side and walk in the right direction (towards the stadium basically).

- Walk till you hit the footbridge and cross over.

- Walk past McDonalds (dont eat there you're in Japan eat better food!) and crystal is on the left cant miss it.

From Crystal if anyone happens to speak english in the office today (try upstairs counter first usually someone there can) or if you happen to speak Japanese then ask how to get to top secret. They can usually help you out with something to tell a cab driver at least.

[sewid]

Chiba UpGarage is fun to see. Definately worth a visit. This is how I get there:

- Take the JR to Chiba

- Switch to the local line and take the train to Chiba-Chuo station. It's the first stop.

*** Alternatively these days i just walk from Chiba to Chiba-chuo it takes about 10minutes and theres a load of shops on the way but for the first time taking the train is easiest.

- Get out of Chiba-chuo station and walk till you see a kind of median strip park thing. The park is called Shinjuku park but there's not a lot of signage. It's basically a long strip of "grass" and dirt in the middle of two streets that goes for a KM or two thru suburban Chiba. There's a lot of kids swings on it and such so if you see that kind of thing you're going in the right direction.

- Walk along the park until you see a pedestrian bridge in the distance. Walk to the bridge.

- Dont cross the bridge though. Up garage is on the main road that the bridge crosses over. Walk to the right of the bridge till you hit the road then take a right.

- You should by this stage already see UpGarage

Heres some pics of the way:

This is what the park looks like.

This is the bridge right near UpGarage.

[sewid]

SuperAutobacs is pretty easy to get to at Tokyo Bay. There's a train station right next door. Let me try dig up the name of the station as it's slipped my mind.

You probably aren't going to buy anything at Autobacs but it's cool to see anyway.

[8110]

Hostile, do tell me more about Daikoku futo and how/when shall I be there?

Blitz, I have limited time in Tokyo, so I reckon if there's nothing around Veilside I can opt to give it a miss?

sewid, thanks for the excellent direction to Crystal and UpGarage. Are both of them located nearby since for both I have to take the JR Rail to Chiba. How far is Top Secret away from Crystal? Walking distance?

Can't wait for the direction to Super Autobacs!

[Tofu]

you would opt to miss veilside? walk damnit! run, hitch hike, solicite sex to get there. I have only heard good things about that store.

[Beer Baron]

please don't take offence but all the info you are asking is already in this forum, and even in this thread! In fact the very second post said: "Crystal is about 5km walk from Top Secret" if you want to walk 5km then yeah it's walkable. None of the questions you've asked are new, they get asked around once a month.

[Blitz]

you would opt to miss veilside? walk damnit! run, hitch hike, solicite sex to get there. I have only heard good things about that store.

Listen to this man!

When I was there with Beer Baron the owner was kind enough to have one of his staff drive us back to the station in one of their 'run around' cars, a Dodge Magnum with 22 inch wheels (Actually they might have been bigger)

[HOSTILE]

Daikoku is an absolute eye opener... you must have transport to get there... its a big carpark under the bay bridge basically (where a stack of the roads intersect). Go on a friday or Sat night and you will see all sorts of stuff from massive stereo vans to hard tuned GTRs to lambos.

[Blitz_R33]

If you are looking for 2nd hand parts are a great price then try UPGarage! they are great on price! the only downfall is that you can only take back 25kg ( I think) from japan

I went to Super AutoBacs adn thought it was boring and way overpriced (compared to greenline)... I thought it was just a japanese version of Autobarn here....

Edited April 18, 2007 by Blitz_R33

[icandy]

Is it possible to get a taxi to daikoku Futo and some how get a taxi back to Yokohama or something??

[Beer Baron]

yeah you can probably get a taxi there, but if you don't have a reasonable idea of where it is, and some japanese skills it will be pretty hard. getting a taxi back home will be harder still. it's just a freeway rest stop. no one except foreigners wanting to see cars would go there unless they are in there own car. just convincing the taxi driver you really want to go there will be hard i reckon.

[icandy]

I think I have a map of where it is,

is this it

[Beer Baron]

yes, but you want daikoku PA. in the middle of the spirally bit. basically if coming from tokyo you'll be coming from the left of that map, then you'll go around like a corkscrew (clockwise) to get down to daikoku PA.

[icandy]

yes, but you want daikoku PA. in the middle of the spirally bit. basically if coming from tokyo you'll be coming from the left of that map, then you'll go around like a corkscrew (clockwise) to get down to daikoku PA.

Ok thanks very much,

Going next Friday night, what time is best to arrive there.

Heres another map for those who are interested in checking this out one day, if ever in Japan.

http://map.goo.ne.jp/mapb.php?MAP=E139.40....30.203&SZ=2

[NYTSKY]

WOW some cool info and directions.I too am planning for my trip to Japan so ill be watching this thread closely.

[Razzmeister]

Was gonna make a thread bout Daikoku myself...but seems this one is now sorta about it anyway.

So...I will be going to Japan in June. Am planning on hiring a car for a few days in Tokyo

a) cos I can get one really cheap

and b) cos I wanna go to Daikoku! I figured a taxi from Tokyo is gonna be almost as expensive as hiring the car, if not more and then we can use it to check out some other Tokyo workshops and hard to get to areas.

Anyway...my Question is this: If we go there, what are the legalities of this?? ie if the cops show up, are we doing anything wrong by being there checking out the cars? I have heard that they sometimes have come and given everyone fines (although maybe this was just for ppl with their modified cars there?) or it could also be total BS.

I know its paranoid, but I dont wanna spend my last few nights in Tokyo worrying about how I'm going to pay some random fine!!

Oh, and also...can anyone give me an idea of how much it will cost me in tolls to get down there and back (in Yen). Been to Japan a few times but never driven, so if it will cost me heaps in tolls it might not be such a great idea to head down there.

Thanks heaps guys,

Cheers, Ryan

[Beer Baron]

probably total around $20 each way in toll.

and no, you wont get fined for parking your hire car in a rest stop and walking around.