Thanks guys, here's some more. This brings us about halfway through the trip:
The next day we decided to make a non-car day. We instead headed out to the fresh-fish market. If you’ve ever been to the fisherman’s warfs in San Francisco, Seattle, or any other high-profile post, they don’t even compare!
Imagine the freshest seafood you could ever want to meet. I say “meet” because almost all of it was still alive! See these crabs? Even the seasoned ones were still alive! They take their seafood so seriously in Japan that only the freshest will do.
How fresh is the freshest? This octopus will illustrate my point. He’s bagged because he would be crawling out of the cage if he could. I’ve been to the aquarium plenty of times in Chicago, but never before have I been so close to a live octopus that I could see his eyes and how they breathe.
Of course, to the Japanese this is just matter-of-fact. The Americans were the only ones who thought the situation quirky or unique. It’s kind of surreal that something so exotic to me would just be stashed away in a seafood market display.
Normally this street would be bustling with tourists, marketers, and shoppers of all types, but it’s the middle of January. Only a handful of shops were open for us that early so we had the pleasure of seeing things at our own pace and without the usual crowd.
Since we decided it wouldn’t be a car day, I was safe in taking a lone picture of a motorcycle. I don’t personally care for bikes (sport or otherwise) but I had to stop and marvel at remote-resevoir Ohlins dampers on this one:
What did draw a large crowd was a sight I’ll most likely not see again for some time:
One of the near by restaurants was more than happy to put on a display of their sushi chefs preparing some fresh tuna. I mean fresh! Quite a crowd developed while we were there and some, like Jesse, got brave enough to pose with the little fish. Unfortunately my camera skills are slow and I only caught him recoiling. Not because of the smell (after all it was still moderately frozen and outdoors in January) but because he thought he might be getting into trouble. Contrary to that, they started letting everyone pose and take pictures by their prized catch.
How close? Some would say a little too close!
Some uber-fresh sashimi (my first time I’ll gladly admit) and a warm bottle of sake later it was time for dessert. What do we get? Yup, sushi-themed lollipops.
But it turned out to NOT be a non-car day! We got back to the hotel and decided that we didn't have anything planned for the rest of the afternoon so we might as well see if we can go shopping. Our next outing put us in search of the original UP Garage. It was Sunday and tuning shops were closed so it was a day to do some shopping. When we got there, we found a peculiar little used car lot next door. What intrigued me first was the closest “car” to the street:
I told you the Japanese tuning community is all about Nissans!
They weren’t selling just “eccentric” vehicles, they had run-of-the-mill Japanese cars like this lightly modified Civic Type T. With Mugen pedals, a Mugen shift knob, Volk TE37’s and an under-axle exhaust, it could have been yours for about 730,000 yen. With the conversion rate, it would have been just under $6,000USD. Are you sick yet?
After telling them this car in its current condition might fetch $15,000 USD I decided to take a picture of the side marker. I guess I just wanted to show all the people in the States where it really goes. Take notes!
To illustrate the point that Skylines and Silvias are everywhere in Japan, you c an even pick them up slightly used at any general lot:
This lot wasn’t a typical run-of-the-mill lot. With a location next to the original UP Garage, how could you be? That’s a prime market to lure in the tuner crowd and what better way than actually MAKING and marketing your own aero pieces? We asked if this car was for sale and when they said “No” it’s not because we weren’t deserving, it’s because this Skyline is their demo model to show their front lip, rear bumper, and over-fender flares. Yup, a used car lot produces perfect fitting wid ebody components for their own R32.
All for a mere (I’ll let you do the math using the Civic Type R selling price as a base)
After speaking with the guys in the lot (mechanics more than salesmen) we finally got to shopping. Jesse and I both picked up something. Either it was a screaming good deal or unavailable in the US so neither of us wanted to pass. When we emerged I was immediately confronted with the first modified Prelude I had seen in Japan!
Like it or not, at least it was rocking some Volks:
