Tag Archives: Grand Touring

GRAND TOURING: Late night blast in the S800

While in Tokyo for the big Motor Show, we took Skorj’s Honda S800 coupe out for a mini-grand tour around the city. At night, of course. 

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GRAND TOURING: The Ise Peninsula, Part 02

In Part 01 of our journey to the Ise Peninsula, we crossed Ise Bay by ferry. While our navi plotted the quickest route to our next destination via a number of linking bypasses and expressways, we chose a twisting road designated … Continue reading

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GRAND TOURING: The Ise Peninsula, Part 01

Our destination for this tour was Mie Prefecture, some 250 miles southwest of Tokyo on the far side of Ise-wan (the same wan in Wangan, meaning “bay”). Known for its ancient craft ceramics and as the birthplace of the ninja, … Continue reading

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GRAND TOURING: 1,000 miles, Three Car Shows, One Week

The plan was simple. Three classic car shows, one week, 1,000 miles of driving. We even had at our disposal Japan’s latest long-distance luxe-UV, a brand spanking new 2013 Infiniti JX35. What could go wrong? A lot, apparently. Oh, it … Continue reading

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GRAND TOURING: Shio no Michi, The Salt Road – Part 02

In Part 01 of our trek down Shio no Michi, Japan’s famed Salt Road, we stumbled upon a collection of kei jidosha, the ruins of Iiyama Castle, and traced the path of salt dealers from the era of shogun and … Continue reading

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GRAND TOURING: Shio no Michi, the Salt Road — Part 01

Having not been away in a few weeks, we decided to take a Monday off and spend three days exploring Nagano Prefecture and some of the less traveled valleys near the Northern Alps. Using our usual form of taking the main … Continue reading

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GRAND TOURING: Mobara Twin Circuit

As some of you might know, I own a dark gray Honda S800M Coupe, and it has landed me right in the middle of Tokyo’s S-car scene. When some friends went out for a day of circuit racing, I decided to … Continue reading

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GRAND TOURING: Kanto

Since the opening of the Yamate Tunnel, provided traffic is light of course, traversing Tokyo to join the out-going expressways has become a lot easier. In ten or fifteen minutes, you can join the Joban for a quick run out … Continue reading

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GRAND TOURING: Driving the Chubu Touge, Part 02

In Part 01 of our Chubu grand tour, we escaped Tokyo by expressway northwest into the mountains. Our return trip took us on roads less traveled, over some of Japan’s most famous winding passes known as touge. We had made … Continue reading

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GRAND TOURING: Driving the Chubu Touge, Part 01

With an extended weekend available and being rather tired of Tokyo one tedious week, we decided to explore Chubu. North of Tokyo but with its name meaning “central”, Chubu is the region between Kanto (the greater Tokyo area), and Kansai … Continue reading

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GRAND TOURING: A SevenStock Pilgrimage in Japan’s Car of the Year

We didn’t know it as we barreled up the Newhall Pass, but we were driving the best new Japanese car of 2012. What might that be, you ask? Well according to the panel of journalists that make up the Japan Car … Continue reading

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Grand Touring: Up the California Coast in a Toyota FJ Cruiser

In Part 01 of our Bayline Gathering coverage we promised an in-depth examination of the steed that carried us north, away from our familiar SoCal environs and to the Bay Area in search of precious Nihon metal. First, let’s recap. Why exactly did … Continue reading

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Grand Touring: Nostalgic Nissans in Yamanashi Prefecture

In exploring the non-traditional Japan, you quickly learn to identify markers to indicate you are on the right track to discover something old and special — narrow roads lined with closed shutters, anything made of red brick, disconnected power meters, … Continue reading

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