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Saturday, November 15, 2014

Gearhead’s View of Autumn in Japan

We’re back in the land of the rising sun, this time for the autumn season.
Wonderful colors of foliage are a delight to see!


Definitely Japan’s autumn offering is second only to the cherry blossoms spectacle in March.
As a gearhead and enthusiast, travelling also gives me another visual treat – that of cars, diecasts and bicycles.
I’m delighted to be reunited with this VW Golf MK5, the car of our generous host in Otsu. This hot hatch now sporting Audi alloy rims!

The VW Golf is a popular car in Japan. Truth be told, it is a consistent ‘Car of the Year’ winner, and this MK7 (shot in Nagoya) is the current title holder.

Love to see this VW Polo GTi again in Kyoto, same car I photograph last year. Still, ever hot looking after a year of open air, lifted parking!

Wonderful retro scene, the old district of Japan and the Neu-Beetle (photographed in Kyoto).

Now, for the vintage Volkswagen fans, this pristine panel van is uber cool. Spotted near Biwa Lake (the biggest lake in Japan), this VW T2 rolls on polished Porsche Fuchs alloy wheels.

I’m happy to find this mint in box, 1976 vintage F-series Tomica Porsche 911 in Kusatsu! A worthwhile diecast hunt, and a very fortunate discovery. As the shop attendant relayed, that a single person earlier bought a dozen of these vintage Tomicas. Good thing, this 911 isn't his preference – lucky me!

Kyosho released a limited edition 1-64 scale of the Lamborghini Veneno bundled with a pocket book behind the special boxed packaging. Have to get one (Circle K in Otsu), and another for our gearhead host!

Of course I love bicycles and these two caught my fancy. A Volkswagen folding bike (behind is a Pinarello road bike) …

…and an ultra fat tire commuter bike, both in the city of Kyoto.

The other two wheeled varieties, both spotted in Nagoya, are wonderful curiosities!


This autumn travel is a truly satisfying gearhead experience and also the trips to historic temples, the city-scapes…but I wouldn't want to bore my fellow gearheads :) …. should I?



6 comments:

Juanh said...

Hermosos lugares has recorrido amigo, y muy bueno que compartas las fotos con nosotros. Muy bello el templo histórico, sorprendente que estacionen los coches en plataformas elevadas, se nota que el espacio físico no abunda.
Abrazos!

Beautiful places you have traveled friend, and very good to share photos with us. Beautiful historic, astonishing Temple who park cars on elevated platforms, note that physical space is not abundant.
Hugs!

Gaucho Man said...

very interesting,
i never imagined that vw cars could be popular in japan.
good for the tomica!

komenda said...

Greetings Juanh, I'm happy to share these to my friend. Yes space in Japan is quite premium thus everything is efficiently compact. Glad you liked the blog post. Cheers!

Saludos Juanh, estoy feliz de compartir estos para mi amigo. Sí espacio en Japón es bastante prima por lo tanto todo es eficiente compacto. Me alegro de que te gustaba la entrada del blog. ¡Salud

komenda said...

Hello Gaucho, it is quite curious that VW is popular in Japan. Maybe because of its cars being compact and well adapted to many narrow roads. The 911 Tomica is indeed one lucky find. Glad you like the blog post. Cheers!

JDMike's Diecast Site said...

I knew you where out of the country hehe, great place to be in Erwin! :-) and of course the diecast hunt, I never knew you as a Lamborghini fan as well :-)

this reminded me of my South Korea days, such a nice place, and extremely cold too :-)

good to see you again my friend! :-)

komenda said...

Hi Mike, great travelling season and every journey a new discovery. Happy you liked the post my friend. And yes, I like Lambo (part of the VW group) :) Greets and Cheers!