Sigsputnik's Pix From Japan (regularly Updated)

[aussie_tul]

Awesome NSX

[leech_]

heysig only just checked out this thread cheers for the special mention hehe some great photos in there

[dbloemhard]

Darling would it be alright with you if I pimped the Rolls?

Thats a Nissan President... But very nice!

[sigsputnik]

OK, Duncan asked for restaurant pix and I have some of those for another post, but this one's worth doing now. This might be a good time to get your girlfriend, if you have one.

First, it seems dessert is popular here:

I don't know what the grey cream is - if anyone knows, please let us in on it.

They have a place here which is designed to satisfy any dessert/cake craving. It's called "Sweets Paradise". The idea is you hand over a fee (about AU$16) and then you get to eat as much dessert as you like for 90 minutes. This is the queue to get in:

Basically, there's loads of different cakes, tarts, custards, profiteroles and others rotated as fast as they can cook them out the back. Pasta and salad also, for the lightweights.

They have popcorn...

...and this is a liquid chocolate fountain. Here's how it works:

1. skewer a bit of banana, marshmallow, apple, wafer or something.

2. dip it in the chocolate.

3. roll it around in nuts or hundreds+thousands if desired

4. Consume.

5. Repeat.

It's very popular with the girls. There was a whole fleet of them there on the night we went. Could be part of the curriculum.

Ferrari F355

Lancer Evo VI.

Wen to an art exhibition recently about Gundam (i.e. big robot battle suits). This was the only photo we were allowed to take (these were about 7 feet tall) but you can find more photos here: Gundam Generating Future.

350z with some nice rims.

R34 with bodykit and zorst.

More pix next time.

[sigsputnik]

Thats a Nissan President... But very nice!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Oops, crumbs they look similar. I should do a post showing the Nissan range over here (the Toyota "Belta" was also just released).

[aussie_tul]

Ice Cream makes me hungry

[R32Ninja]

I don't see how they can eat all thouse sweets, I'll have like one dish and I'll be full. Kinda a rip-off IMO

[Dan_J]

well you could just skip breakfast , launch and go at dinner time ...you'll be hungry by then

hey sigsputnik,

great work i'm enjoying it

-dan

[sigsputnik]

Hi y'all,

More pix.

R34 to get the ball rolling.

This place lets you, essentially, muck about. You pay your cash, and you get free internet, video games, (40,000) comics, free coffee, CDs and DVD listening, massage etc etc.

Nissan Red Stage!. A Nissan dealership group, as far as I know.

Bags on show. No idea what kind of car it is. Caddy maybe?

Porsche 911 Carrera (I think?)

Of course space is an issue over here, and this goes for parking too. Here's a storage bay for taxis. Some flats and houses also make use of this kind of thing.

I've been meaning to get some more shots to document this phenomenon, but on Sundays in Akihabara they close the road to traffic, opening up six lanes to pedestrians. You frequently see the odd indie rock star, cosplay or advertising girls out and about.

Grabbed this shot of a gadget shop in Akihabara. If you look closely you can see those pillows shaped like a girl's lap. Suits you sir!

Ferrari Modena

This GTR sounded NOICE.

Sorry for the crappy focus on this, blame my a510. and my skill. Anyway it reminded me of the old Tamiya Sand Scorcher RC car. Ah, how I miss you Sand Scorcher.

Someone PM'd me asking for any R31s and that. Here's one, though I must admit they aren't common around here . I suspect I'll have some more photos of these in the next few weeks though.

See ya next time.

[aussie_tul]

Nice Porsche and Great plate

[Frink]

Great pics mate! keep it up, its very interesting to see and read all about it......

[sigsputnik]

Hi guys,

I just posted a bunch of pix of record stores in another thread. More pix of cars coming soon.

Sig.

[DaiOni]

I'd guess the grey cream is sesame and egg whites. Also contains soy milk.

pass on that one...

nissan showrooms tend to be 'red stage' or 'blue stage' - it could be defined by what cars each group carries - but to be honest, I've never cared enough to find out

[sigsputnik]

yep i think you're right about the sesame. we tried some the other night and it was great!

[Beer Baron]

ohh, how much were the girls lap pillows? i've been meaning to get one of those since i was in japan last time. nice work.

[tN^]

hey post some pics of japaneese hookers

[urbanoperations]

LOL

that pic of the HR31 GT passage is clean

nice love the 31s

japanese hookers... lol

[sigsputnik]

A bumper lot of pix this time.

A few days ago we visited Odaiba, which is a new area built on reclaimed land. You can ride a monorail to get out there, and the view is quite something. They have a large shopping area called VenusFort, which is targeted squarely at the girls. BUT they thought ahead and have a special attraction for the blokes. Toyota maintains a fairly fab showroom/museum out there and it is definitely worth a visit. It's all free and GREAT.

As you walk over the entry bridge, you see lots of cars running around an obstacle course. This is where you can have a ride in their experimental driverless navigation system. You can ride in, say, a Rav4 or an MR2 without touching the gas or steering as it drives around a circuit, dodging obstacles e.g. pedestrians. You will need a valid driver's licence, so don't forget that.

Then you walk in - here they're advertising a special feature on the Trueno and Levin. More on that in a sec.

The place is situated in a huge open area, two stories. They have an area for design, hybrid cars, the Lexus badge, current models and others.

Toyota really talks up their race knowledge, so there's a focus on JGTC and F1:

There are several games you can play, for example to test your driving reflexes etc. Here, you can sit in a hydaulic cockpit and take a Gran Turismo 4 lap around Fuji Speedway. Unfortunately you only get a JGTC Supra. No Skylines.

Eventually you get to the section on design, which is one of my pet hobbies. The purpose of this section is to show off how Toyota has changed their approach to car design. Very hands on.

cont'd..

[sigsputnik]

About five minutes' walk away is Toyota's "History Garage". Here they have classic cars from history. The first thing you see when you walk in is the Toyota 2000GT. Sorry if these shots are a bit dark, lighting was really poor.

They have an area where you can watch classic car commercials from around the world.

As I said earlier, they happened to have this small special section on the Trueno and Levin, including a panda AE86 from Initial D and some drift action. Looks like they had a Drift exhibition in Odaiba at some point, not sure when.

They have two areas where you can buy car stuff: models, posters, books, some clothing. What you'd expect.

As you move around, you get to some of their other classic cars. Chevy Corvette:

DeLorean!

Ferrari 246 GTS

Jaguar E-type

Alfa Romeo Spyder

Subaru 360

cont'd...

[sigsputnik]

Well of course by this time I was thinking there was something missing. And then I saw it:

Downstairs is dedicated mostly to racing and F1.

Not sure what this was doing there.

There's a cafe down here but sadly part of it was locked by the time I got there.

Celica GT4:

Toyota TS020 Le Mans

Messerschmitt KR175 (maybe a sign of things to come from Toyota).

See ya!

Sig.