Towering Tokyo

Overwhelming. That’s the first impression we got of Tokyo twenty years ago, during our first visit. This time, even those memories, and with all the material we’ve read days before the trip, it’s still a mind-blowing city. The impression begins even before we’ve reached the city, as our airport train manifests elements of Voltes V. The train, made up of twelve or so cars, actually splits in half during the journey, with one set of cars going to one destination, and the rest to another. It’s all invisible to the passenger, who just sits and watches the surprisingly rural scenery and sips on

If there was one area in Tokyo that would capture its essence as the megalopolis of the future, it would be Odaiba. The artificial island was developed in the 1990s to showcase the possibilities of living in a high-tech urban setting. Located in Tokyo Bay, in the Eastern part of the city, it features buildings and a transportation system that could have come from 2050. Man-made islands have been present in that area since the days of the Togukawa shogunate (circa 1850s), but their most recent incarnation is fairly recent. Following some difficulties in the area’s development due to the collapse of Japan’s property bubble, Odaiba was successfully established as a leisure and entertainment area.

The best way to enter Odaiba is by driving—or perhaps drifting—on its banked, elliptical roadway. Odaiba is also known as “Tokyo Teleport Town” but alas, there were no transporter beams as yet. Instead, we had to take the train, a silent, driverless monorail that crosses the Rainbow Bridge onto the island. While admiring architectural wonders such as the sphere imbedded within the Fuji TV building, the feeling is of being transported to the future. JJ Abrams could have filmed Star Trek’s 23rd century in Odaiba and he wouldn’t have had to resort to CGI.

The train deposited us near the entrance to Pallete Town, a collection of entertainment and shopping areas. It’s quite hard to miss, as a 115-meter ferris wheel, the world’s tallest when it opened in 1999, sits on top of it. Superlatives are apparently Odaiba’s strong suit, as right under the ferris wheel is Toyota’s Mega Web, billed as the world’s largest auto showroom.

The Mega Web is actually spread out across three buildings, occupying a floor space of 23,000 square meters (almost three times World Trade Center’s main hall). 150 cars are on display at any one time. We entered the Toyota City Showcase, the center building. This building houses Toyota and Lexus’ complete lineup of vehicles, as well as several interactive sections.

Some of the notable cars we spotted among the scores lined up in the showroom:
Lexus LFA: Looking as mean as any Lamborghini, Lexus’ supercar was the only one cordoned off from the public. Ready to breathe fire from any of its orifices, the LFA is a performance flagship for the brand. It was the last car to be developed by the company’s legendary test driver Hiromu Naruse.

Toyota iQ: One of them was overdone in red Chinese wedding regalia, complete with tassels, but in pristine white it looks absolutely cool. Like Mercedes’ smart, it’s a diminutive sub-3 meter long car, but it has an option for four seats. With its 900kg curb weight and 1-liter engine, it should be a zippy performer. With its radical styling and that T badge, it would certainly find a home in many Manila garages, if it were to be launched here.

Lexus HS250h: Lexus has hybrid versions of its LX flagship and RX SUV, and this one is a hybrid-only sedan. It shares some similarities with the Prius, but the suspension and drivetrain are different. The HS250h uses a 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine paired with an electric motor for a total of 187 hp.

Toyota Crown Majesta: While the Camry may lord it in the large-sedan category, those who have owned the Toyota Crown are still wistful of that car’s combination of huge space and soft ride. The Crown has continued to develop the Crown lineup, including this one, a Japanese take on the Maserati Quattroporte (styling-wise, at least).

A highlight of this building is the glass-encased tower showcase, which stacks cars like so many Matchbox toys. Another attraction is the Mega Theater, a simulator ride that takes the audience on a virtual race lap of Fuji Motor Speedway. Fittingly, there are some company race cars displayed outside the theater, including a NASCAR racer. Curiously, the ride and the displays make no mention of the company’s Formula One efforts, still the pinnacle of their motorsports activities. Lack of success in the area probably led to the likes of Ralf Schumacher being expunged from the official records.

The Toyota City Showcase is also a launching point for the eCom ride, a two-passenger car that loops around the Mega Web. Think of a Disneyland ride in the form of a microcar. No visit to a showroom would be complete without a test drive, and the Mega Web happily obliges. For a fee of about 300yen, you can take any Toyota model onto a 1.3-km section of road surrounding the facility. Before you dream of smoking away in the LF-A, note that there is a 40km/h speed limit.

We could have spent a whole day browsing Toyota’s massive ode to the joy of cars, but we instead had only half an hour. Two other buildings within the Mega Web are: Universal Design Showcase, a conceptual look into how Toyota designs its vehicles, and the interesting History Garage, which displays cars from the 1950s to the 1970s in a recreation of the Tokyo streets from that era. For the car nerds among us, there is yet another Toyota facility called Amlux, located near Shinjuku. As with a large part of the Mega Web, we had to leave that for another day. The wondrous sights and glorious food of Tokyo beckoned. Still, were delighted to begin the trip with a visit to “Toyotaland.”