OV9

So my car buddy here in NZ messaged me last weekend and said 'Do you wanna go to this?' It helps he works for an airline and gets mates rates on flights, but in short, we're going to Tokyo next month:

https://lufttokyo.com/



I'm quite excited! Not only is it Porsche nerdery of the highest order, it's a few days in Tokyo and a very, very good reason to dust my camera off.

That looks flipping amazing! Got spare space in your checked luggage?

Obviously...

Not sure about on the way back mind. Buddy has a habit of buying car shit. Last time he came back with a cylinder head and a set of ITBs for his MX5 in checked luggage

That looks awesome!

Trying to get over in October for the kids as they are big Godzilla fans and I'm pretty keen to get on a Shinkansen. The whole country is weird and wonderful.

The cars around Kobe were pretty cool at night too.

Dave!

In retrospect, I should have tried to go to a car meet in Japan while I was there. I was probably there the wrong time of year though.

Have a great time Dave you definitely need to put some pics and a few words here once you're there!

The Shinkansen is amazing. It's so much more than just a fast train. The whole system is just everything done utterly right.

Marv wrote: Wed Feb 04, 2026 11:46 am The Shinkansen is amazing. It's so much more than just a fast train. The whole system is just everything done utterly right.

I'd say all the trains - not just the Shinkansen.
What was stood out for me was that all the train systems, from overground, tube equiv, regional or bullet - they all were clean, working and never stopped unless it was at a station. No stopping to regulate service or let the train go in front etc

Mind blowingly awesome.

Sounds epic - I really fancy visiting Japan.

Excellent stuff, I hope you're there for long enough to take in and enjoy the experience

Tokyo is epic, but journey times from Europe are currently horrendous.. you need to be going for a long time for it to be worth it currently imho

unzippy wrote: Wed Feb 04, 2026 12:23 pm

Marv wrote: Wed Feb 04, 2026 11:46 am The Shinkansen is amazing. It's so much more than just a fast train. The whole system is just everything done utterly right.

I'd say all the trains - not just the Shinkansen.
What was stood out for me was that all the train systems, from overground, tube equiv, regional or bullet - they all were clean, working and never stopped unless it was at a station. No stopping to regulate service or let the train go in front etc

Mind blowingly awesome.

Same, the suburban trains where you were free to watch over the driver's shoulder as he kept time with a little analogue stopwatch to arrive perfectly, to-the-second, on time.

IanF wrote: Wed Feb 04, 2026 8:44 pm Tokyo is epic, but journey times from Europe are currently horrendous.. you need to be going for a long time for it to be worth it currently imho

He lives in NZ, he's used to sitting on a plane

unzippy wrote: Thu Feb 05, 2026 9:49 am

IanF wrote: Wed Feb 04, 2026 8:44 pm Tokyo is epic, but journey times from Europe are currently horrendous.. you need to be going for a long time for it to be worth it currently imho

He lives in NZ, he's used to sitting on a plane

Even just passing over Australia and the Tasman Sea to get to NZ (or vice versa) seems to take an eternity

What do you mean "Currently horrendous" Ian? As far as I can see, a direct flight from LHR to Tokyo is around 13 hours, which isn't crazy. 16-19+hrs if you stop somewhere. Standard long haul flight to the Eastern part of Asia, innit? My flight to Manila later this year is nearly 17hrs with a 1.5hr stopover.

Looks like 11 hours from Auckland to Tokyo, so not a silly amount of difference than from Europe. Though I agree that you want to maybe spend a half decent amount of time there, given flight times and costs.

Night flights for the win and then who cares.

Dave!

I was gonna say... Japan is literally half way home, basically the same trip from UK as it is from NZ. Toughen up

Is there any interest in a write-up on this here? I don't wanna bore people, but if people wanna see, I'll sort something out.

Yes please!

Ja

Definitely

Please do

and pics motherhubbard!