No Show Blues: Celebrating Tokyo Auto Salon Week

The second week of January marks the “holy pilgrimage” of every JDM fan boy: Japan’s famous Tokyo Auto Salon. Spanning twelve halls full of every tuning car and genre you can think of, TAS is effectively a 3-day ultimate sensory trip for its attendees. Show grounds aside, countless events are always held around Tokyo during the weekend - completely bringing japanese street car culture to life. We’ve been covering the show for a few years (once during 2019 for S63), however due to the Coronavirus, the show was cancelled for the first time in 37 years.

To somehow celebrate the bond and fond memories formed through attending various meets and trips to the show, we held a small gathering of friends at the Crossroads parking lot last January 13, 2021. Following local COVID-19 guidelines, friends from Stance Pilipinas / Manila Fitted, Legends of the 90s and Buzzhype gathered at the “home turf”.

While it’s a far cry from the automotive mecca that is Daikoku PA, the BGC Crossroads Carpark, also known as ‘The Turf’, is as much the equivalent of a local automotive melting pot – meaning this would be the best place to stage a small gathering of folks that share the likeminded ideal of being inspired by the Tokyo Auto Salon.

Most of the cars present during the evening are inspired from our trips to the Land of the Rising Sun. As parts are individually flown in by its owners straight from Japan, the vehicles here are a healthy sampling of what could possibly be encountered out on the infamous highways of Tokyo.

Quality over quantity. A proper representation of the culture that set our imagination on fire. Here’s to hoping the Tokyo Auto Salon will be back on its feet for next year.

Words by Kevin Carlos

Photos by Jaime Miguel Echavez