Journey to Japan
After a very long time, I was thankful that Mazda invited me to go to Japan for the 2024 Mazda Fan Festa at Fuji Speedway.
It was the perfect trip to break myself into the international media trip regimen, having been absent from many media trips since 2022 after I was diagnosed with kidney failure.
We arrived on a Friday, got myself acquainted again with Tokyo and spent the afternoon walking around Akihabara. Saturday saw us drive towards Fuji Speedway with a stopover at the beautiful town of Fujikawaguchiko in the Yamanashi Prefecture. Of course we had to see beautiful Lake Kawaguchi too!
And finally, it was Sunday. The huge welcome sign of Fuji Speedway greeted us. As the bus pulled up early behind the main grandstands, we rushed to the media center, got our accreditation and media vests, then headed over for a quick briefing and finally down to the paddock area to see all the amazing Mazda vehicles, particularly the historic race cars, drift, attack cars and the tuned custom cars from the aftermarket vendors who are integral to the strong following of Mazda.
The Mazda Fan Festa is when the Hiroshima-based company rolls out their most sacred wares, displays them to the public, and lets them run amok at the track in anger, their engines revving to the high heavens and hearing the mechanical symphony fueled by high-octane, oil, burnt tire and brake smell. It is overwhelming to say the least. They also have a static display of their landmark street-going models from their Museum displayed at another paddock, and of course the aftermarket vendors who displayed their iconic modified Mazdas.
Of course, the star of the show was and always will be the Mazda 787B which won Le Mans in 1991, the first Japanese manufacturer to win the fabled endurance classic. Though Toyota has now won Le Mans five times, Mazda fans will point out that the 787B was a truly Japanese designed and built car, whereas the Toyota endurance racers were actually made in Germany by Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe, based in Cologne, Germany. It (the 787B) is very much Japanese in heart and soul, carrying the pride and spirit of the Land of the Rising Sun.
So when the Japanese engineers fired up the 787B just for a warm up before the demo laps scheduled throughout the day, it was, for me, an overwhelming, unbelievable, almost spiritual experience. I would never have imagined being here a year ago, strapped onto my dialysis chair and seeing my colleagues post photos of events they were covering abroad. The brap brap brap of the 4-rotor 26B was like a very loud affirmation that yes, miracles do happen if you believe. I had to leave the very crowded paddock and catch myself as I could feel tears rolling down my face. I later told my trusted friend and Mazda Philippines boss Steven Tan how I felt. It was also a culmination of a promise he made to me: “Botchi, as soon as you are well, we’ll go to Japan again.”
Thank you Steven. You made this grown man very weak in the knees, very humbled, and very blessed.
Of course, work was far from done: we spoke to Yojiro Terada, nicknamed “Mr. Le Mans” in Japan having competed in the fabled French Classic from as early as 1974, and continuously from 1981 until 2008. Terada-san was involved in the development of the 787B and though he wasn’t part of the squad that drove the winning car, Terada-san considers it the pinnacle of his involvement with Mazda at Le Mans. I also asked Terada-san what made him race at Le Mans a record of almost 29 times, 28 of which were consecutive. Terada-san said it’s in the Japanese spirit to always keep challenging to always be better, to always improve. Something we can all learn from.
Of course, being a proper matsuri (festival in Japanese), i had to partake of all the available merchandise on the track for our Mazda CX-30 and team wear, with two large bags worth. The missus was definitely NOT impressed.
This was the highlight of my Japan trip of course, but hey, this wasn’t the only thing I did. Watch this space and find out soon what I did after extending for another four days after!
