Photography by Ken Au
Golden Week is a week in Japan that contains a cluster of holidays that adds up to a whole week off.
Our contributor, Ken Au, planned his trip to Japan with the help of Simon Chan from Lost Royalty during this relaxing period, spending his time visiting the shows and meets that take place during this pause in pace of the big city rat race. Here is the solid gold he brought back for us.
DAIKOKU PARKING AREA: The Diakoku parking area is not easily accessible for many, as there is only one entrance into the lot. It is located North East of Yokohama, where the Metropolitan Expressway Bayshore route intersects with the Metropolitan Expressway K5 Daikoku Route, where every night, it is one of Japan’s hottest spots for automotive meets.
We happened to go on a weekday of Golden Week, so we didn’t expect to see many outrageous cars, as people tend to leave their busy city lives behind to explore the country side. On the contrary, thankfully, a large number still showed up and gave us a taste of Japan’s iconic meet up spot. We were not surprised when we arrived to see an interesting variety of cars, from VIP to street tuner.
If you are planning to visit this lot in the future, remember that most locals prefer to gather on Sunday evenings. This is one place you should definitely experience if you visit Japan!
MOTOR FAN FESTA: What better way to kick off the start of Golden Week than to attend the second annual Fuji Speedway event held on May 1st, where it was more than just a track day; it was a car show as well. Thousands travelled from the surrounding area to spend the day with their family at Fuji Speedway, where big name aftermarket manufacturers such as Enkei, WORK Wheels, and HKS were packing the heat with cars showing off their latest products at their booths. You could see anything from R34 GT-Rs, to Lamborghinis – even a track-ready Ferrari F40. One notable vehicle that many may not have seen tucked away in the garage bay was a Pagani Zonda Revolucion!
We arrived fairly late to Fuji Speedway and only caught the tail end of the Liberty Walk event, but Kato-san, the founder of Liberty Walk, was still there, always willing to take photos with the public. Although we arrived late, a few vehicles stayed behind from the 140-plus Liberty Walk cruise to showcase their cars to the public. A line-up of Liberty Walk widebody Nissan Skylines (Infiniti G37 over here) did not disappoint to say the least, and a blue Lamborghini Huracan did not shy to strike a pose with its iconic doors while we were leaving the lot.
This is a truly an event that captures the love for automotive enthusiasts in Japan!
WEKFEST JAPAN: The event was held on a Wednesday, which seems a little ridiculous for a large car show to be held in the middle of the week, but it was done so to coincide with the national week-long Golden Week. As such, Wekfest Japan, despite having the show mid-week, attracted thousands of travellers from all over japan to attend the fourth annual event. Some even endured six hours of traffic to make it to the show!
Before attending the show, I had my expectations, as I’ve seen event coverage through social media outlets from previous years, but when I walked through those doors all I could say was, “Extraordinary.” Each vehicle is built with passion and heart, and it showed by the amount of minuscule detail put into each modification.
One thing I would like to point out and was extremely happy about, was the layout of the event. The area was oval shaped with beautiful natural lighting seeping through the glass windows. Vendors were placed around the outside of perimeter, which allowed traffic that wanted to purchase merchandise or speak to representatives at the booths away from the cars. This made it very helpful for any photographer wanting to snap some good shots of the 250-plus cars at the show.
It is really hard to pick out favorites from this show, as there were so many different styles to choose from, so I’ll let you pick your favorites from the photography on the page.
