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When Honda enthusiasts travel to Japan - a summary of events.

Joined
27 July 2014
Messages
343
Location
Southern California
We’ve just returned from a 2 week Japan adventure, where Colin (phryxis) and I lived out some of our dreams.
Attend a Super GT race, drive through the canyons/touge, witness Japan’s natural beauty, visit Mugen and Spoon, explore the Honda Collection Hall at Twin Ring Motegi, and everything in between. I would like to share my pictures and stories with the prime community. I hope you will enjoy a bit of Japan through my eyes.

I Instagram’d everyday along the way. You can follow me @riseful if you’re into it.

Below: Me (michaelbrat) and Colin (phryxis)



Mike B
 
We've been wanting to travel to Japan for quite some time. We've both been there a few times in the past, but mostly for work which didn't leave much time for exploring. This trip would be different. We wrote down everything we've been wanting to do, and set our plans to do it.

We started our trip by traveling to Okayama International Circuit for Round 1 of Super GT in 2015.







It was raining most of the day, so everyone including umbrella girls were dressed for the weather.



Mugen had a nice booth setup, with their S660 displayed.









We helped ourselves to some Mugen apparel (Colin fitting a Mugen jacket)



RAYS booth with the usual beautifully made wheels.





TRD showing off a special edition FRS 14R60 (#33 of 100)





The race is about it start! The parade laps were led by Japanese police motorcycles.






There is quite the variety of cars racing in Super GT. I took way to many pics to post everything so I picked some of the better shots with some variety, with a bias towards the NSX of course. (If you want to see a specific car, let me know and I'll see if I have some close ups for you)



Mighty Autobacs NSX












SLS AMG GT-3



Gallardo GT-3






Probably the coolest Prius on the planet. Won the GT300 class this round.



Lotus Evora.



NSX battle.












Autobacs CR-Z












Okayama Circuit is surrounded by beautiful hills and forests.





















Impreza police car. (Google Japanese if you want to see more of these. They have everything from GT-R to NSX police vehicles.)





Surprised to see Mugen MF10s fitted to this vehicle.



Saying goodbye to our airbnb host Masa.



Off to Osaka via the Shinkansen (bullet train). I'm told the shinkansen nose cones are made of dry carbon by Challenge, same makers of Super GT aero parts and some production carbon like the GT-R rear diffuser.



Next post coming shortly.

Mike B
 
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Excellent pictures. Thank you for those. Looks like you had quite an excellent time!
How did the gt series nsx sound in person?
 
Very cool! Keep em' coming!
 
Man the race tracks over there are so much better by the way they are built around the property and the lay out of the facility....If you went to Twin Ring, you might get my point.
 
Awesome pics!!! So jelly !!!

How'd the NSXs do???
 
That is awesome, great story to tell. I really love the fact that NSX's are being used in real competition before they're released to the public, for some reason it makes me think they're just a tad bit more "legitimate".

Awesome track, certainly isn't Buttonwillow! :D
 
Thanks guys. I'm glad you are enjoying the pics :smile:

Excellent pictures. Thank you for those. Looks like you had quite an excellent time!
How did the gt series nsx sound in person?
Loud. All the cars sound ridiculous, and oftentimes unlike you'd expect. They are so heavily modified that they're far from the original production car. A good example is a Prius won the GT300 class! I'll post up a video of some of the cars rounding the track so you can hear some sounds.

Thanks for sharing Colin. So jealous.
Thanks MrHugo, but my name is Mike :wink:
Colin is my travel buddy and fellow prime member.

Man the race tracks over there are so much better by the way they are built around the property and the lay out of the facility....If you went to Twin Ring, you might get my point.
Ya, I feel that way about a lot of things in Japan. They're excellent at refining most everything and their culture is all about uniformity. It really shows throughout the country.

Awesome pics!!! So jelly !!!
How'd the NSXs do???
The top 6 cars were the RC-F and NSX platforms. An NSX came in 2nd for round 1, but they seemed to be lapping at 1-2 seconds faster than the RC-Fs. Most info here for anyone interested.

I have been following you guys on instagram. Amazing pictures. Living a dream ;)
Thanks! Nice to hear from you. Hope things are well.

So Mugen has a hardtop available for the S660?

Seems that way. It looks awesome, like a baby NSX. I hope we get it in the US.
Here's a shot of the Modulo S660 next door.



Mike B

- - - Updated - - -

A few more pictures and video I pulled off my phone. These are from our stay in Okayama for the Super GT race.

We used airbnb for lodging throughout our trip. The first stop was a nice guesthouse in the countryside among rice fields. We only stayed for 2 nights, but it was the best possible way to start the trip.

Riding with our hosts. They were kind enough to drive 30 minutes to pick us up from the train station. It's a small town, so transportation wasn't easy to come by.



Sleeping quarters. Some of the best sleep of my life.



View from our window. Very hilly, green, and wet.









Lulled to sleep by this sound every evening.

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Homemade Japanese breakfast.



Our hosts.







Beautiful placement.



One of the local homes.



A couple civilian cars in the race parking area. (R32 Skyline & DC5 Integra Type-R)





Some short videos of GT cars rounding Okayama Circuit.

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Bus ride back from the race.



Mike B
 
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Thank you for taking the time to share this with us.
 
Thanks for posting your comments. It lets me know you guys are enjoying the content :smile:

There is still a lot to go. I can't wait till we get to the Honda Museum part :wink:

Mike B
 
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LOVE IT!!!!

Japan has high on my bucket list. Thank you for the great pics!!
 
Continuing on.

The next couple of days were spent walking the streets of Osaka and Kobe. Japan is so photogenic. The structures and surrounding scenes are beautifully laid out, while the moist weather promotes plant growth on everything. It all just feels alive.











The bullet trains are really cool. Designed with so little air drag, and ride so smooth at 150+ mph.



Standard Japanese subway.





Many stores in the subway stations look something like this. It's traditional to bring gifts to meetings of all sorts, whether business or personal. This store is dedicated to just that.



These are the sandwiches sold at a 7 Eleven in Osaka. At $2-3, they are by far the best sandwiches money can buy. And fruit! Wow.



Cool sewer covers representing the city you're in. Kobe.



Celica





Look at that parking. About as straight as it gets.





We hit the tail end of the cherry blossom blooms, so flower pedals began falling off and covering everything. It made it all that much more beautiful.





"Hello Kitty" fire extinguisher anyone?





Temples like this are common in cities. This one was tucked among business and residential buildings in Kobe.







Strangely beautiful flowers. It seemed like every house had their own variety of flowers. With all the rain, they're probably much easier to keep than here in California. No need for sprinkler systems.





I wish we'd see more mopeds like this in the states.



Evo 4.



Nismo Juke.







3 wheeled, Honda GyroX. Used throughout Japan for quick deliveries.



Cherry Blossoms everywhere.







Till the next post...

Mike B
 
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Really enjoy reading about your adventures! Thanks for sharing.

Those Hello Kitty fire extinguishers are pretty awesome. Someone needs to import those and make a pretty penny on some of the more "youthful" forums. Haha.
 
Really enjoy reading about your adventures! Thanks for sharing.

Those Hello Kitty fire extinguishers are pretty awesome. Someone needs to import those and make a pretty penny on some of the more "youthful" forums. Haha.

It's nice to read that you're enjoying the write up. Thanks for letting me know.

Haha, ya those fire extinguishers could make some college dorm rooms fashionable AND safe. I'm sure they'd do well in some show cars too. Extra points at the events.

Mike B
 
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