Japanaholik’s Journal | First Day in Tokyo

I threw up a rough itinerary beforehand, because when travelling Japan for two weeks, ideally, you need to know when and where you want to visit in an organised fashion. Simultaneously narrowing down the must-see spots and then ensuring they are within fair proximity of each other is a task and a half. Tokyo, as big as the metropolis is, has an efficient and smooth-running public transport system, so I didn’t even bother hiring a car out for the first portion of the trip.

Tokyo and its greater area is home to many famed tuning shops and motorsport outfits. But its the lesser known garages that I wanna check out, so I made it out to Car Make Corns’ location in Edogawa, just outside central Tokyo. The ‘Corns’ in the name is a literal metaphor for the kernels found on a corncob. It represents the unity between Roadster enthusiasts and how the members of the community are one and the same. This might sound a bit idealistic, but I met some cool lads on my visit, and they all owned MX5s so I can verify the company’s quirky name.

CMC is a well established company from what I could see, and I know that their online presence is healthy, with distributors in both the UK and the USA. CMC USA distribution co-ordinator a.k.a. MiataMan happened to be there at the time I went. He was helping out at their vending stall at the Karuizawa Roadster Meeting (the event I missed by a few days!).

Anyway, heres the stuff I got to see.

The conversion kits caught me by surprise, and definitely look even better in the metal. I’m glad these kinds of modified MX5s exist, as it shows how limitless creativity can be without sacrificing quality and execution.

I mean, that off-white/cream Pit Crew NA wasn’t exactly showcar quality, as the owner clearly drove the car well, but it exudes character and charm. Even when you look at the interior, every detail is thought out and nothing clashes at all, from the billet CNC-machined handbrake lever to the custom quilted dashboard.

This offroad NC was getting prepped for its shaken (MOT test).
Not what I am into, but makes you look twice, thats for sure.
Definitely the cleanest NA I have ever come across.
This Nardi deep-corn reminded of my memories with my NB…
so did these wheels, but not for good reason…
VIP backstage pass
CMC owner’s runabout Supercub
This Simpson Design interpretation of the Roadster with Italian influence was very classy

As you can see from the photos, a lot of their product range consists of accessories and dress-up items for your Roadster, but they do manufacture some of their own parts such as stainless-steel exhausts, bucket seats, and the CMC-03 14″ pepperpot-design lightweight wheel. They also have a good link with Mazda themselves which allows them to source and sell those old and hard-to-find OEM bits to the hardcore purists.

After hanging out for a bit, I felt like I ought to get going, because the longer I stayed there the more emotional I got due to being an ex-Roadster owner. Since I was only window shopping, we bounced and headed in the direction of Tokyo over the Arakawa River to the most R.E.spected tuner of the land.

The first time I saw an RE-Amemiya FD was on Gran Turismo in the form of the 2004 JGTC car the company built and powered using the extraordinarily turboless 20B 3-rotor engine. It was the first RX7 I had come across with fixed headlights, so it took some time for me to warm to it, but as we’ve gone through 15 years of awful styling (especially in the west when it comes to race cars) the car looks better than ever.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to live out my childhood dream by witnessing the car up close in the “real world”, but the guys at RE-Amemiya were working on a bunch of cool stuff, including the next D1 Grand Prix season’s competitor: 20B RX-7 ft. forced induction.

This location base the company have in Tokyo is quite compact in comparison to their Chiba shop from what I have seen of it online. I regret not taking time out to visit the other one, especially with it being close to the airport… there’s always next time…

I am by no means a keen Toyota enthusiast, and I have always looked at the brand a bit sideways as they tend to cater for the masses, especially in recent times. Nowadays, cars are measured by their numbers and stats, and it appears that Toyota does that very well, but lacks the vital property that is SOUL.

I won’t go off on a tangent in this blog post, so I’m gonna let you check out what’s under the roof of the ‘Megaweb’ situated on the artificial island, Odaiba. It’s part-museum, part-R&D centre, part-dealership, surrounded by and connected to a retail shopping complex.

Reminded me of Arnie in Terminator 2
Nice company to have when eating lunch in the cafe
Pretty radical
You already know what I did here…
Super GT A90 Supra had some brave angles
The TRD corner was mint. A Toyota fanboy would have acted like a kid in a sweetshop
Livery resembles a kitsune mask, the design looks nice and uncrowded, maybe the sponsors’ decals are yet to be applied…
I laughed as soon as I saw these blatantly rotor-shaped wheels, whats the inspriration, Toyota?