Our Car-filled 10 days in Japan

In November/December, my husband James and I went on the trip of a lifetime – for a Nissan Z-car enthusiast, anyway! Good thing James fits that bill: his father had a 240z and later a 300zx, and James had a 350z and currently drives a 370z.

For 11 days, we joined 16 other “Z Crazies,” as the Japanese have dubbed our group of visitors from the U.S. (a different group goes each year), visited Yokohama, Tokyo, Nagakute, Utsunomiya, Nikko and Tochigi. In each city, we visited a variety of Nissan and Yokohama facilities and spent time with local Z car clubs.

Driving brand-new, 2015 Nismo 370zs at Nissan’s Grandrive proving ground in Yokohama – and getting driven around by Nissan test drivers and in local car club members’ own cars

Attending Nismo Festival at Mt. Fuji Speedway with some of Nissan’s most historic racing vehicles and drivers – past and present.

Viewing Toyota Motor Corporation’s Automobile Museum, full of some of the most historic and industry-changing vehicles ever made by all OEMs, and Nissan’s DNA Garage that houses the company’s pristine collection of notable cars… from 70-year-old trucks to one-of-a-kind racecars with 115 miles on them.

Dinner in the executive dining room at Nissan’s world headquarters in Yokohama with the COO and the

head of the 370Z and GT-R product team.

Spending the afternoon with Mr. K, the former president of Nissan North America who is credited with bringing Datsun and the Z car to the U.S. – and who is spry and witty as ever at 105 years old!

Visiting the Tochigi factory where 370zs, Nissan GT-Rs, and Infinity sedans and SUVs are made – and a special trip out on the test track in a Nismo GT-R with one of the company’s GT-R test drivers.

Riding around 45-degree banked turns and going 180 mph in a Mercedes C-63 AMG and a Bentley Continental Supersport at Yokohama tire’s D-PARC testing ground.

But it wasn’t all cars….

We visited the famous Nikko Temples…

Walked the Imperial Gardens…

Prayed at the oldest temple in Tokyo, the Sensō-ji temple in Asakusa, which was built in 645 AD…

Visited the Kirin brewery…

Watched Mt. Fuji out the window of a bullet train going 165 mph…

Ate sushi for breakfast at Tokyo’s famed Tsukiji fish market…

Visited a traditional Japanese hot spring…

Crossed the hectic Shibuya crossing…

Ate more ramen that I care to admit…

And met so many wonderful people who share our enthusiasm for the Z!

And here’s a fun tidbit: we dined one evening with the owner of Datsun Freeway, a well-known performance, repair and body shop. As we exchanged business cards, a formal tradition in Japan, he was excited to see that I worked for AutoTrader. Turns out that he knows and uses AutoTrader.com and KBB.com when he comes to the U.S. to buy and price Z cars to take back to Japan (for parts and because left-hand drive Zs are a novelty).