Visiting Japan for the Tokyo Auto Salon is a pilgrimage every gearhead should make

“You should go to Tokyo Auto Salon next year,” a good friend of mine told me sometime in January 2024. He had just come back from that year’s TAS himself, and he was raving about the experience.

That was the inception of the idea of Charles and me going to Japan the following year to get a real taste of the local car scene. We knew it was going to be a gold mine for content. That was a given. What we didn’t know then was that it was going to be a completely life-changing experience.

Watch: Immersing ourselves in Japanese car culture at the Tokyo Auto Salon weekend

Fast-forward to January 2025, we eventually made it to Tokyo. The goal was simple: See as many cars, go to as many meets, and shoot as much content as humanly possible. Good thing we put an emphasis on ‘humanly,’ because trying to cover everything all weekend was too much.

Just Tokyo itself was different around TAS. We’ve been to the city before, but there weren’t nearly as many hot cars as there are during TAS. It felt as if Tokyo just transformed into car-spotting heaven overnight. It didn’t matter the time, the day, or the place—exotic cars and rare finds were aplenty. JDM legends roamed the streets. The overall vibe was just…different.

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When we finally got to Tokyo Auto Salon, it was even more overwhelming. We had just gone back then from Yokohama where we went to pick up a Nissan Ariya Nismo at the carmaker’s HQ. The drive from Yokohama back to Makuhari Messe in Chiba was fun, because like I said, there were a lot of nice cars out and about. Once we got the TAS parking lot, though, our excitement just instantly shifted to high gear.

We already got a tip from our friends Justin Santos (Buzzhype) and Alex Lim (Banaweboy) that the parking lot in and of itself would already be like a car meet, and lo and behold, it was. Just as we were queueing up, we already had various generations of the Nissan GT-R, classic Toyota Sprinter Truenos, and loud STIs lining up alongside us. We entered the parking lot and found a slot, and we had a nice STI pull up beside us. And these were just mere fractions of the tip of the iceberg.

We arrived right before lunchtime, and the Makuhari Messe parking lot was already starting to get packed. It was about two-thirds full when we got there, which was also a good thing—as far as the eyes could see, there were exciting cars.

There were Mazda RX-7 FDs, S13 and S15 Nissan Silvias, and AE86s on all corners of the lot and then some. Heck, there were even multiple Honda NSXs in the parking lot alone. And if you thought there were a lot of GT and GR86s in the Philippines, in Japan, they’re one of the most common sightings there.

Even R35 GT-Rs, GR Yarises, and FL5 Civic Type Rs were in abundance. Random Liberty Walk supercars were also right around the corner. Unicorns were here and there, too. The Hakosuka? We saw more than one just there alone. Imagine that. Everywhere we looked, it was just all smiles, and frankly, it felt surreal just being there and standing in the middle of all that.

The car meets around TAS were also absolutely bonkers. Local meets here in the Philippines are fun and all, but the ones we went to in Tokyo, Chiba, and Odaiba were on an entirely different level.

There were a few we went to. There was the welcome meet at Tokyo Bay organized by automotive lifestyle brand The Lowdown where we were greeted by multiple NSXs and R34 GT-Rs. There was also a memorable sight during that meet where an NSX, an A80 Supra, an R34, and an FD RX-7 were all lined up—I don’t recall seeing anything like it in Metro Manila.

Peaches. One Universe, another lifestyle brand, also had its own meet on the first night of TAS. Unfortunately we didn’t see the peak of it because we were late to the party, but we did get to catch all of the cars rolling out. And boy, was it something. Have you ever seen a widebody Hakosuka before? Heck, have you ever even seen a Hako running on our roads before? Neither have we.

But perhaps one of the core memories during our trip would be of the night we chased a car meet. There was one night that we went to the legendary Daikoku PA only to find out that there weren’t any cars that hung out there in the evening because the police usually closes it down. We eventually wound up in Odaiba after we got a tip from Macoy Dubs about an underground meet there, so we winged it and went around the city to look for said meet. We did find it—and in the middle of the cars switching locations at that—and it was an experience I’ll never forget. 10 out of 10, I would gladly do it again.

There was also a pop-up event by Karrera Showroom and Carbon Detailing Studio at the Daikanyama Garage, which we joined during the tail-end of that exhibit. It was a nice event to be a part of—just automotive enthusiasts sharing pieces of Filipino car culture with the Japanese and TAS-goers in general. We know for a fact that this first outing by Karrera and Carbon will lead to many more in the future.

That’s also the best part about our trip to TAS this year. We didn’t have strict schedules, so for the most part, we were just guessing and going with the flow. And that made it more fun. At some point during our trip, we ended up near Meiju Jingu Gaien, where the road leading to the stadium was a hangout spot for all sorts of cars on weekends. Little did we know, though, that this was the place where cars from Daikoku PA head to on Sunday mornings after getting kicked out by the police from the parking lot just before midday. It was here that we saw vintage Bentleys and Jaguars and classic McLarens and Ferraris. Charles even got to ride shotgun in a stranger’s Testarossa which, frankly, sounded dangerous, but he did come out of it in one piece. All is well.

We’ve tried to capture as much as we can in videos, and I’m still trying to put our experience into words, but nothing will ever give justice to what we experienced in Japan around TAS. Even if we did the best we could, we won’t ever be able to truly share with all of you the absolute euphoria that is Japan during TAS weekend. We saw more A80 Supras, LC500s, NSXs, AE86s, S2000s, RX-7s, and GT-Rs on this trip than we ever have in our entire lives.

Ultimately, it wasn’t just about the content. It was also about appreciating car culture in general. And more than anything, it was about allowing our passion for cars to burn even stronger than ever. We basically tended a fire that wasn’t even dying out to begin with, yet we’re still very much happy and grateful that we did anyway. And while Charles and I were just two humble gearheads passing through and enjoying the view, we still came back home from Japan with a more profound appreciation not just for the Japanese car scene but for car culture in general.

Needless to say, we’ll be back again next year. We’ll have an even more packed itinerary because we still have so many iconic places, shops, and personalities we’ve yet to see. And to those of you reading this, if you’ve been waiting for a sign to go to TAS—this is it. This is the sign. We encourage you to take this pilgrimage yourself and see what Tokyo has to offer during TAS weekend. I give you my word: You won’t be disappointed.