Car Spotting In Akihabara

Hello everyone, today I wanted to talk about my experience doing car spotting and how to go car spotting in Japan. But, the truth is…

I just wanted to share my photos of it. 😎

Itasha car

What is “Car Spotting” ?

First of all, for anyone lost here: What is Car Spotting?

In short, it’s just going outside with the sole purpose of spotting special cars in the wild.

And since Japan is Japan, the best things you can find here are underground modified cars or Itasha cars (customized cars covered in anime girl stickers).

In summary, my inner late ’90s kid wanted to find some old-school Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift kind of cars.

Where to go for Car Spotting in Tokyo

Well, this can be tricky. Normally, finding these kinds of cars happens in secret, invite-only meetups. So unless you’re part of this underground community, sorry, you can’t.

But do not désespérer mon ami, there are two options:

Going to a random gas station outside Tokyo by taxi or carpooling. This place is Daikoku Futo Parking Area. I can’t provide more details because I’ve never been there, as I currently don’t have a car.
Trying your luck in Akihabara’s main geek area during the evening.

Akihabara Car Spotting: The Land for Geeks

Akihabara is the main geek area of Tokyo, filled with manga stores, video games, trading card centers, and maid cafés. However, around 20:00, owners of these kind of cars tend to come to the area to show off—either parking or driving around.

So basically, you need to go here, walk around the main road, and you will find some cars:

Personal Experience

I went to this area twice for a photo walk, and both times I managed to find some interesting cars—so I’ll definitely be back.

However, I can’t guarantee that you’ll always find cars here, as it’s ultimately random—but both times I was successful.

Here are some of my finds:

The full photo album will be in the photo category (which I’m currently building 🚧).