Mark your calendars: Tokyo Motor Show 2011: Dec 3 to 11

Sorry I'm late w/posting this. More info at http://www.tokyo-motorshow.com/en/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. If you're planing a trip to Japan soon and you like cars, try to allocate at least 2 days to the show.

Pointer to my post about 2009 TMS at http://priuschat.com/forums/other-cars/70124-mark-your-calendars-tokyo-motor-show-2009-oct-24-nov-4-a.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

I did go in 09 (my 3rd time to the show) when it became much smaller (almost all the foreign to Japan automakers (i.e. GM, Ford, Mercedes, BMW, Citreon, etc.) pulled out. However from http://www.tokyo-motorshow.com/en/booth/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, it looks like they're back. The venue has changed from Makuhari Messe to Tokyo Big Sight.

Every TMS I've been to has been great from both the eye candy POV as well as being able to see all sorts of components from various vendors ranging from fuel injectors to sensors to differentials to cut open transmissions to door panels to gauge clusters and more.

I HIGHLY recommend the show if you're a car enthusiast and/or if you like seeing Japanese booth babes. That said, I wouldn't go only to Japan for a few days at TMS. There's a lot of other cool stuff to see in Japan.

Side note: When I had a Z and Maxima, I did take a tour of one of the Oppama plants. I posted a bit about it at http://my350z.com/forum/2003-2009-nissan-350z/52525-wow-just-wow.html#post562428" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; and http://my350z.com/forum/2003-2009-nissan-350z/62216-pictures-of-oppama-wharf-from-november-03-a.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I don't know if Nissan currently does any English tours of their plants. I got VERY lucky w/having an interpreter on hand w/my tour (http://my350z.com/forum/2003-2009-nissan-350z/118370-tour-of-tochigi-confirmed.html#post1390402" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. At the time, they didn't do English tours anymore.

I've also taken tours of a Mazda plant (all the way in Hiroshima) and the (a?) Toyota Tsutsumi plant where I saw 2nd gen Priuses on the line along w/Camrys and other cars. Both of them did tours in English.

Nissan HQ got moved to Yokohama and I never got around to going to see if there's anything worthwhile to see.

Although everything in Japan is more expensive than the US and made even worse by the strong yen, hotels aren't that horribly expensive. As I posted in another thread:
On my trip in 09, I stayed at http://www.tokyustay.co.jp/e/hotel/MON/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; in Tokyo. I just checked for a room in the next few days and it's only 5400 yen or ~$70 USD. The place was ok (but small, which is not surprising for Tokyo), clean, safe and near public transit.

I've stayed at a few other hotels in Tokyo that were decent and not crazy expensive. I can dig up the info, if anyone's curious.

cwerdna said:

I've stayed at a few other hotels in Tokyo that were decent and not crazy expensive. I can dig up the info, if anyone's curious.

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I would actually. I'm going to try and get to Tokyo at some point in the not too distant future.

mwalsh said:

cwerdna said:

I've stayed at a few other hotels in Tokyo that were decent and not crazy expensive. I can dig up the info, if anyone's curious.

Click to expand...

I would actually. I'm going to try and get to Tokyo at some point in the not too distant future.

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Go for Tokyo Motor Show!!! Otherwise, you'll have to wait another 2 years.

The show used to alternate between where passenger cars and motorcycles were one year and commercial vehicles were the next. So, it was always 2 years between the interesting (to me) show. I believe they stopped doing that and just combined the shows, once every 2 years. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Motor_Show" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; seems to confirm that.

I can email you some other Japan travel tips/random info, if you wish. I've been to Tokyo, Hiroshima, Yokohama, Hakone, Kamakura, Osaka briefly, Kyoto, Nagoya and Toyota City.

I picked the Tokyu Stay hotel I mentioned thanks to http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/japan/300546-budget-tokyo-hotel-suggestions-3.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. One cool part about Tokyu Stay hotels, at least the one I was at is that the rooms (all?) have a washer and dryer (http://www.tokyustay.co.jp/e/hotel/MON/service/#anchor2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false. So, one doesn't need to bring as much clean clothing. When I went, using the washer and dryer was free. I spent a tiny amount of $ on buying detergent from the front desk.

I've personally stayed at these other hotels on the other trips to Japan I made (in 01, 03 and 05):
Kasai Pearl Hotel
6-1-7 Higashi-Kasai Edogawa [IIRC, was near Kasai subway station, also on the light blue line on the right side of the subway map]
Tokyo 134-0084
Japan
Tel: 81 (3) 3804-8080
Fax: 81 (3) 3804-8088

Kayabacho Pearl Hotel [near Kayabacho subway station]
1-2-5 Shinkawa Chuo
Tokyo 104-0033
Japan
Tel: 81 (3) 3553-8080
Fax: 81 (3) 3555-1849

Dai Ichi Inn Ikebukuro (near Ikebukuro JR station]
1-42-8 Higashi-ikebukuro
Tokyo 170-0013
Japan
Tel: 81 (3) 39-86-12-21
Fax: 81 (3) 39-86-12-21

Shinagawa Prince Hotel [near Shinagawa JR station]
10 30 Takanawa 4 Chome
108 8611 Tokyo
Japan

New Miyako Hotel [across the street and a within a few blocks of Kyoto station]
Hachijo Guchi Kyoto Railways
601 Kyoto
Japan

I'd found them all via Expedia. All of them were acceptable to me (nothing fancy) and close to public transit (either a commuter train or subway). I rarely took cabs there and virtually always took commuter trains and subways. Hotel rooms and bathrooms in Tokyo are TINY by US standards though. Perhaps if one paid BIG bucks, one could get a much larger room.

Prior to my 1st trip to Japan, I'd asked a friend of mine for advice who used to travel there for business regularly and was even stationed there for 6 months by his work, at one point. He said basically, unlike the US, in Japan, it's virtually impossible to get a hotel room where you get completely screwed.

http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/info/map_a4ol.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is the JR (commuter) train map for Tokyo.
http://www.tokyometro.jp/en/subwaymap/pdf/routemap_en.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is the subway map.

http://www.jreast.co.jp/e/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; is a separate organization from subway operators Tokyo Metro and Toei, depicted on the 2nd map.

Side note: Bullet train (aka shinkansen) travel is expensive. The Japan Rail Pass (http://www.japanrailpass.net/eng/en003.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, ordinary car is good enough) when I went in 01 was helpful if I wanted go between Tokyo and Kyoto as it (at the time) wasn't much more than the round trip ticket between the two. In my 01 trip, I rode bunch of JR trains and did these on the bullet trains: Tokyo -> Kyoto, Kyoto <-> Hiroshima 2x, then Hiroshima all the way back to Tokyo. I definitely got my money's worth.