I drive a Eunos Roadster. If you're from Europe, it's a Mazda MX-5. If you're from the US, it's a Mazda Miata. Whatever you call it, it's a popular car; over one million have been built by Mazda since its introduction in 1989. It has amassed a dedicated and loyal following, of which I've been a part of since may. Like many followings, there are the occasional meetups for people to come together and share their love and passion for whatever it is they're following. Today was one for the Roadster.
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| Regional decals |
This is not the only meeting for Roadsters. There are plenty of them in Japan, including the big one down in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, which I had to miss this year due to a busy schedule. This one was for Roadster owners in the Tohoku region. (I should clarify for those not in or from Japan; the Tohoku region consists of Fukushima, Yamagata, Akita, Miyagi, Iwate, and Aomori prefectures. [Sorry, let me rephrase that; it's everything north of where I am up to but not including Hokkaido.]) Last year, the meeting was in Sendai. I was worried at first because when I had first heard about the event, Tackawanna was having some drivability issues, and I thought that Sendai would be too far. However, I got very lucky this year; the meeting would be held in a park in Bandai, the town right next to Aizuwakamatsu. Even better, the park itself was five minutes away from Somei House. Talk about a once-in-a-lifetime event.
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| ゲロゲロ |
I showed up about an hour into the meetup, and I pulled into the section of the park where everyone was parked. Roadsters were crammed right next to each other, and even though I had arrived late, more people were still arriving. I checked in at the registration tent and walked around the park. Roadsters of all colors, models, and trims were present. Each one had their own personality which definitely reflected its owner's commitment. There were stanced Roadsters, Roadsters with track accessories, and even an itasha. One particular Roadster stood out to me. The owner took off the Japanese badges and replaced them with the badges used on the American Miatas from that era. He had a suitcase rack on his trunk, and a roll cage with a JVC video camera attached to the top bar. (The remote control was attached to his parking brake.) He had a whole list, in English, of all his parts on his dashboard. This, folks, is a true Roadster fanatic. You could see his passion in his car, and it showed beautifully.
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| I need this setup because reasons. |
While there, I met two people. The first was Shimizu-san, a person from Fukushima City who graduated from Tohoku University and lived in the area. He gave me his business card (note to self: put a few of mine in the center console) and said that he is currently working for Hitachi in their suspension department, especially with Mazda products. He arrived in an NC Roadster with an automatic hardtop, and although the car was had an automatic transmission, it was purple, which was a rare color produced by Mazda. He had plans to look for the same car with a manual transmission, though I told him that he could also do a manual conversion to save himself the hassle. I got to sit in Shimizu-san's car, and show him why I had to go with an NA Roadster instead of an NC Roadster. We spoke in both Japanese and English; Shimizu-san said that he also needs to speak English at Hitachi. He claimed that it was elementary-level English, but I thought that he spoke it quite well.
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| Shimizu-san's Roadster is the one second from the right. |
The other person I met was Matsuda-san. He is from the Naha area (Nagoya is in this area), and drove up for the event in his NA-8C. (For reference, mine is the NA-6CE.) He and I actually knew each other from before; we are part of the same group for Roadsters/Miatas/MX-5s on Facebook. Matsuda-san spoke excellent English; he was an exchange student in Alaska, and lived in San Jose for a while. He toted his DSLR around the event, and offered to take my picture of me with my car. We also took a picture together, and the three of us talked about our cars and about Roadsters in general.
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| Matsuda-san and his NA-8C. |
There were a few stalls setup at the event. One was a local produce stand, where I managed to snag some potatoes for a decent price. Another was a tent for the Roadster Club hosting the event. They had an NA scale model (yay!) for 8200 yen (boo!), which I yet again had to pass on. Also there was a local Mazda dealership, which had an ND Roadster and a Demio to test out. I can't fit inside the ND; my legs hit the plastic dash above the footwell. However, I took the Demio for a spin. It was actually a very nice drive; it felt a little high, and the tachometer was digital, but the suspension was soft, and it even told you when to shift gears. It even had engine stop technology, which I originally thought was for automatic cars only. If I ever had to relocate here,
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| A respectible vehicle |
After lunchtime, a charity rock-paper-scissors tournament was held. The organizer played the game with the crowd, and those that beat his hand got a chance to play for prizes. If you won, you'd get your prize, and then you'd pay whatever you could into a jar. I was playing with Shimizu-san, and we both won something. He won a Demio-themed smartphone case. I won an Aizu sake set: two bottles of sake produced with different rice and water from different streams in the area. According to Matsuda-san, you are supposed to pair them together and try to taste the differences between them. I'll try them later on and report back.
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| Locally-produced liquor for a good cause. |
After the event ended, it was time for everyone to leave. I was one of the first to leave, but I was surprised to get a send off. As I was pulling out, everybody waved and said goodbye. I've never seen something like that happen at an American car meet. Everyone was nice and excited to see everyone else's car. Even Tackawanna, with its mismatching paint job, basic interior, and lack of extensive upgrades, was appreciated at the event. Next year I have to go to Karuizawa. If today was a good day, then that show should be a blast.
And so, it's back to the grind.
-wp
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