The Not-So-Secret, Secret Tokyo Underground Meet

As I descended to basement stage, the scent of stagnant, humid air blended with exhaust fumes started to fill the elevator.

For a cut up second, I believed the elevator had gone by means of a portal straight to Malaysia, however the lack of two-stepping and rev battles informed me that I used to be certainly nonetheless in Japan

The doorways open to Takashi-san’s secret Tokyo underground meet – timed to coincide with the Tokyo Auto Salon – and a parking storage filled with individuals and vehicles.

The location was solely made identified the morning of the meet, and even then the small print had been despatched privately with express directions on what to do, the place to park, and the way not to get the eye of the police stationed proper subsequent door to the venue.

Sharing or discussing the meet on SNS was additionally strictly forbidden.

Watching Takashi-san working backwards and forwards nervously led me to assume issues might need gotten a bit of out of hand.

“The parking workers are complaining that there are too many individuals, and are asking us to go away now,” he mentioned, confirming my suspicions.

I instantly felt sorry for Takashi-san, and was barely irritated, as clearly phrase had unfold far past the invited.

Why do individuals must break a superb factor? Can’t individuals comply with easy directions?

The vibe of the venue is ideal for underground meets and I’m certain quite a lot of effort and time went into securing the spot, so hopefully it hasn’t been ruined for future utilization.

On The Different Hand…

Maybe I’m every little thing the mistaken method, although? It’s attainable that I’m being overly crucial in regards to the state of affairs and wish to take a look at issues from a unique perspective.

As a result of, regardless of there being much more individuals than Takashi-san had anticipated to show up, everybody who was there was extremely well mannered, pleasant, and most significantly, respectful.

And you may’t blame anybody for eager to attend.

Everybody had an unbelievable time, together with Takashi-san, who was so completely satisfied that folks might take pleasure in themselves at his secret/not-so-secret occasion.

The extra I give it some thought, maybe placing that stability between having enjoyable and never crossing that line of being disrespectful is essential.

If we are able to maintain this stability alive and nicely into the longer term, automobile tradition can proceed to be a tremendous expertise to be personally concerned in and better of all – share with others.

I wasn’t the one Speedhunter at this meet; Toby was additionally current and has lined up a extra detailed have a look at a couple of vehicles that caught his eye, so maintain a glance out for that story.

Mina otsukaresama desu!

Ron Celestine
Instagram: celestinephotography