Did you have a good Tire Gauge Day yesterday? We hope so, because today is the official Tire Day in Japan. Tire Day was started by the Japan Automobile Tire Manufacturers’ Association to promote tire safety. April 8 was chosen because the entire month is devoted to traffic safety awareness and spring is a tisme when people start shaking off those winter doldrums and start driving more. Also the number “8” looks like two wheels balanced on top of each other.
Through out the day, service areas along Japan’s expressways will be open for free tire inspections. In addition, companies like Toyo Tires and Yokohama’s Tire Garden chain of tire shops will offer free tire inspections at their locations across the country. The anniversary has only been in effect since 2000, and the fact that Tire Gauge Day is the day before is no coincidence. The organization behind Tire Gauge Day intentionally placed their holiday the day before Tire Day. So now that your tire gauge is calibrated, go forth and measure your tire pressure. Happy Tire Day, everyone!
I’m always fascinated how Japan just celebrates/promotes and even has mascots for many things.
I remember when I brought my son there, it was Oban Festival, Mountain Day and Pikachu Festival.
If it were a tire day here.. I can only imagine what it would be: burn out contests, donuts and drifting. lol
For those thinking of buying a Figaro (not sure if that is a forbidden word here or not) keep in mind that 12″ tires are difficult to find and impossible to find made by a brand you’ve heard of. Also, most US shops have machines that can safely mount 13″ tires and up. Smaller than that will be damaged by the machine.
I know because it took some doing to get my wife’s new PowerTrac CityTours mounted for her Fig recently. We got the tires from Figaro Shop UK expecting to get Nankangs, which the Fig community has decided are the best available. Well, apparently those aren’t available at the moment.
All said, these are the types of things you don’t think about when looking to buy a JDM or any car without backing in the US. Every normal bit of maintenance poses some sort of challenge, some more than others.
just took my snow tires off lol