The Tokyo Motor Show which just wrapped up in November was among the top three motor shows in the world attracting over two million visitors who travel to the Tokyo Big Sight location by public transportation.
This is what I want to talk about because this same location – the Tokyo Big Sight and the neighbouring Ariake Stadium – will be used for next year’s Olympics and Paralympics.
The public transport to the Tokyo Big Sight location and the Ariake Stadium beside it is super convenient and is an eminent example of well-planned Transit Oriented Development (TOD). There are two lines serving the location – the Yurikamome and the Rinkai line.
Our group of automotive journalists used the Yurikamome line because the Shimbashi station is situated just 200 metres from our hotel, and for me personally, it was a nostalgic moment. The Yurikamome line is a monorail just like our Malaysian monorail except it is more luxurious and less congested. It offers million-dollar views of Tokyo Bay as the monorail swoops high above the ground. This is a ride that any visitor to Tokyo must take and even if there are no Olympics or Motor Show, you can stop at the Mega Web mall which offers plenty of retail shops and one factory outlet without the crowd.
Many other automotive journalists from around the world stayed all over Tokyo in hotels that suited their budget. This was easy to do because the hotels that are further out from Tokyo metropolitan area are less expensive.
Just make sure that you are within walking distance to a train line station whose routes spread to places that you may fancy visiting such as Harajuku or Ginza or Tokyo Big Sight. The easy thing to do is to buy a Passmo travel card pass which allows you to travel on all the Tokyo lines. As for the biennial Tokyo Motor show, this was the first time in its 46th anniversary that the Japanese automotive industry embraced the family spirit and allowed free entry to children under 12 years of age.
There were also activities for youngsters including an “Out of Kidzania at the TMS 2019.” The Tokyo Motor Show also hosted the All-Japan Under-18 e-Motorsports championship and also the Gran Turismo e-motorsport, the latest title in the Gran Turismo Series.
Besides trying to win back the new young generation, the Japan Automotive Manufacturers Association (JAMA) which organises the Tokyo Motor Show is facing the same existential crisis as the US and European auto show organisers.
While the 46th Tokyo Motor Show is still huge by any standard – with 187 exhibitors from eight countries – it also includes manufacturers, parts suppliers and telcos with 5G trial playing roles in developing technologies linked to electric vehicles and autonomous driving.
Mazda launched its first electric vehicle – badged the MX-30 – at the Tokyo Motor Show yesterday and will start delivering the vehicles in Europe by next year. It will be quite a while before it is revealed In Malaysia. And, that’s talking about electric vehicles in general – as we’re still waiting for the announcement of the new National Automotive Policy.
Yamin Yong is an icon in the Malaysian automotive, who started his career as a business journalist in 1980. He has covered the Tokyo Motor Show under the first Malaysian automotive media group in which he was invited by UMW Toyota in 1982. He is the pioneer of the Malaysia Car of the Year awards, an annual event which started in 1999.
