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JUST got
back from the 40th Tokyo Motor Show late last week, and
I tell you, it was really a very exhilarating but tiring
experience for all who joined and participated in it.
Tokyo is agog nowadays as the gates opened to the public on
Saturday. As we write this piece, a total of 323,300
visitors were logged since it opened to the world’s
media on October 24. On Tuesday, October
29, a
total of 62,100 visitors were recorded at the event,
which is considered as the “mother of all motor shows.”
The
motor show, which ends on November 11, is free to all
elementary-school students and below while adults pay an
entry fee of ¥1,300 or roughly P500 while junior and
high-school students are charged ¥600 or some P230.
It was
my first stint at the Tokyo Motor Show and I am very
thankful for the very wonderful experience courtesy of
our “kabise,” Raymond Tribdino-san (Nissan’s corporate
communications manager), who really showed us the way
during our six-day stay in
Tokyo.
We were
with Charles Buban of the Philippine Daily Inquirer,
Armin Amio of Gadgets Magazine, Botchi Santos of Top
Gear, Manny de los Reyes of Philippine Star, Dino
Directo of Manila Standard Today and Willie Tee Ten of
Auto Hub. We were billeted at the elegant Ana Intercon
Hotel, which is situated right at the heart of the
Roppongi District. We were bunched in with all the
motoring and business journalists that were invited by
Nissan from all over the world at the said hotel
together with those who were invited by Universal Motors
Corp. (UMC), such as Aris Ilagan of the Manila Bulletin,
Andy Leuterio of Action & Fitness Magazine/Philippine
Star, Brent Co of autoindistriya.com and Ronnel Domingo
of the Philippine Daily Inquirer. They were assisted
during the trip by Rachelle Aquilizan of UMC.
The work
started on the day after of our arrival as we left the
hotel at mid-afternoon for the GT-R seminar/presentation
at the huge underground parking complex of Aomi Minami
Port Park in Odaiba—a more than one-hour drive from our
hotel. The delegation of journalists packed all the 10
big buses—all very eager and honored to be the first to
see the soon-to-be launched iconic car. The more than
three-hour presentation consisted of seminars, photo
sessions, roundtable interviews and discussions as well
as viewing of the magnificent cars and their important
parts. We left at past seven in the evening.
The next
day saw us motoring to the
Nissan
Advanced
Technical
Center
and to the nearby Project Imagination Factory, which is
in the outskirts of Tokyo and more than an hour’s drive
from our hotel. The twin complex was so huge that
walking from end to end was a fitting prelude for next
day’s big event, the Tokyo Motor Show. We didn’t attend
the welcome reception in the evening since the group
decided to go to the famed Akihabara district where
various shops selling electronic gadgets are plentiful.
Wednesday, October 24, saw us mingling with the huge
crowd of journalists from all over the world as we
converged at the Makuhari Messe Nippon Convention Center
in Chiba City. That was the first time we saw our
colleagues who were also invited by the other car
manufacturers. We also saw the bigwigs of the various
local car manufacturers who were present at the huge
convention complex.
The
whole complex is so humongous. Its size is equivalent to
three or four times that of our
World Trade Center,
where most of the local motor shows are held. And that’s
only where the various new passenger cars were shown and
launched!
The
buses, trucks, tires, audio and video gadgets and other
motor parts were exhibited in various buildings
scattered nearby, which are all accessible through a
maze of walkways and walk-throughs from all parts of the
complex.
Two good
tips given to me by our editor, Popong Andolong, who has
been to many motor shows all over the world, were to
have a pair of rubber shoes and one small trolley
traveling bag. They were really helpful during the event
as you can only reach and see all the things you want
only through walking. It took me almost a total of five
hours going to and from the various car booths, media
center and other places.
Since I
was overwhelmed by the huge event inside the cavernous
building, I missed the distribution of the lunch box. By
the time I finished transferring the brochures and CDs
given by the various car manufacturers to a box at the
designated DHL room upstairs, distribution of lunch
boxes was already over. I was met by a waiter at the
door who told me that they had ran out of lunch boxes.
But
drinks—both hot or cold—were plentiful at the media
center, unlike the number of computers. I figured that
there were only about 200 or so computers that catered
to more than a thousand journalists from all over the
world. Although I went back and forth to the media
center, I wasn’t able to get hold of one computer
throughout the day. My only consolation was that calling
your loved ones back at home or even anywhere in the
world was unlimited and free!
I was
also fascinated with the way the ID system was used so
efficiently within the whole complex. A chip embedded on
the back of the ID furnished to all media men was all
that was needed for one to enter designated areas. It
was also all one needed for the safekeeping of one’s
luggage and boxes while going around the huge complex.
I
understand that a new “e-tix Online Ticket System” was
introduced this year, enabling purchase of tickets over
the Internet from anywhere in the world. “With e-tix,
you can pay for your tickets by credit card over the
Internet and then print them out with your home or
office printer. There are absolutely no commissions, and
service charges or any other fees beyond the ticket
price,” said the advertisement that promoted the idea. |
