The afterparty is all the time the place it’s at, and after the super crowds skilled at Tokyo Auto Salon final Friday (after which proper throughout the whole weekend), hanging out on a chilly and windy rooftop carpark in Tokyo with a bunch of automotive nerds was a breath of contemporary air in additional methods than one.
Final yr’s Underground Tokyo Meet was a heady buzz of vehicles and fans from throughout the globe. The occasion identify might have had you considering it was absolutely underground within the sense of being secret, like a techno rave in an deserted quarry, however in actuality it was actually held in an underground carpark. Round 40 or 50 vehicles rocked up by invite solely, with lots of of spectators there to examine them out.
I don’t usually get complications, however spending an prolonged period of time in a poorly-ventilated underground carpark as vehicles repeatedly cruised by had my eyes watering from the fumes and my head throbbing till mattress time. This time round although, the Underground Tokyo crew teamed up with NVRFUKNSUC and automotive way of life model Peaches to ramp issues up a notch.
A brand new location on a rooftop carpark in Tokyo’s Koto Metropolis ward was secured. There was loads of house and, most significantly, breathable air.
Having spent the whole day at Makuhari Messe, Rick and I arrived fairly late to the celebration, lacking a particular look from the Nissan Hyper Pressure GT-R idea and likewise Nissan’s Skyline Tremendous Silhouette race automotive. Bummer. Nonetheless, there was lots to see – form of.
The rooftop location would have been further superb if the parking space had overhead lighting, however sadly it didn’t. The organisers introduced alongside a couple of big moveable lights, though they have been by no means going to light up the total website. A few individuals had torches and there was the odd videographer round with an LED gentle unit, however for those who got here unprepared, you might need been wishing you’d eaten extra carrots the week prior.
Annoyingly, Rick appears to be uncannily secure along with his digicam and may shoot proper right down to a 1-second publicity and nonetheless have his pictures pin-sharp. I attempted my greatest, however I may solely efficiently get right down to half a second. Nonetheless, I felt a way of satisfaction because it was a lot better than my ordinary 1/twentieth of a second go-to shutter pace for night time capturing.
A smorgasbord of 911s, GT-Rs, Evos (together with the unique reference automotive for The Quick And The Livid: Tokyo Drift Evo), Imprezas, RX-7s and all the pieces in between lined the rows of what would usually be parking for grocery-getters and minivans. 108 invited friends in whole. Fairly particular.
The bustle of the gang, the chilly winter air and the nice and cozy under-glow of tuner vehicles was an actual vibe.
The lined parking ranges beneath the rooftop have been stuffed with spectator vehicles, and we discovered some beauties down there too. An actual combined bag.
All good issues should come to an finish although, and with simply 20 minutes left to run within the occasion the police confirmed as much as politely ask individuals to depart, which they did.
Not that it actually mattered, as a result of the next night there was one other meet to take a look at. Keep tuned for that as our protection from Tokyo Auto Salon 2024 and all the opposite TAS week actions in Tokyo continues.
Toby Thyer
Instagram: _tobinsta_
tobythyer.co.uk
Further Images by Rick Muda
Instagram: ardskellig