This time, I’d like to introduce a rather unusual activity where you can drive around the streets of Japan in small, Mario Kart–style vehicles.
They look like this — tiny, toy-like cars.
In fact, this service is completely aimed at foreign visitors, and applications from Japanese participants alone are not accepted.
However, once I explained that I would be joining with friends coming from overseas, the booking was approved without any issues. So, in a way, I owe this experience entirely to my visiting friends.
To participate, you need to present an international driving permit and your passport.
(The booking staff gave me a lot of detailed instructions, but to be honest, I didn’t fully understand everything. So I simply forwarded their messages to my friends and left the specifics of what to bring on the day to them.)
When getting into the car, you can rent various cosplay costumes, or even bring your own. However, they explicitly ask participants to refrain from wearing Mario Kart character costumes — which probably tells you everything you need to know.
Most of the available costumes are from American comics or Disney, but there are also a few options from Japanese anime.
Apparently unable to completely give up on the Mario Kart dream, I noticed a few Nintendo-style character hats, so I ended up borrowing a Pikachu headpiece.
Driving through the streets of Tokyo in what feels like a toy car is oddly hilarious.
The vehicles sit much lower than regular cars, and the bumps and vibrations are transmitted quite directly, making the driving experience very different from normal.
You also pass close to famous landmarks such as Tokyo Tower, so there’s plenty of scenery to enjoy.
Participants were clearly having a great time, waving at pedestrians whenever the group stopped.
Seeing people of many different nationalities, dressed in cosplay and driving in formation through the city in these toy-like vehicles, seems to be quite an entertaining sight. Many people on the street waved back at us.
For all I know, some might have assumed I was just another tourist from abroad.
At one point, a police car drove alongside us. Even though we weren’t doing anything wrong, it still made me strangely nervous.
Even if you don’t have time to take photos yourself, the staff will capture moments like these for you.
Since you can’t join as a group of Japanese participants only, this is definitely something worth trying when you have friends visiting from overseas.
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