Classic Cars Available for Rent

Yokosuka: Classic Cars Available for Rent - The Japan News (yomiuri.co.jp)

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Vintage cars are lined up along a prefectural road near the coastline on the Miura Peninsula in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.

Auto Shop Cat is a shop that rents classic cars which were popular in the Showa (1926-1989) and Heisei (1989-2019) eras.

In front of the shop, you can see cars that symbolize those times. Among them, three are available for rent: two Nissan Sunny Trucks, small bonnet trucks that were launched in 1967, and a Mazda Eunos Roadster convertible. These vehicles remain popular to this day.

The company has sold and repaired used cars for about 30 years, including classic cars. It started the car rental service last year as Kazuki Sato, 57, the president of the company, wanted to make it easier for people to get to know the appeal of classic cars.

He tries to make the cars look cool and stylish even though they are for rent. One of the Sunny Trucks has a part that looks like a third-generation Nissan Skyline on the front, which is the kind of customization that enthusiasts once coveted. The other truck mostly maintains the state of its initial shipping conditions while having carefully selected wheels and adjustments to its interior. Sato also modifies the cars so that beginners can drive them more easily. “Making adjustments to these cars to make them easier to drive is one of the required skills,” Sato said. The Roadster for rent is an automatic car.

Not only do generations reminiscing about the good old days get behind the wheel of these cars but an expectedly large number of people in their 20s also rent them, according to Sato. Some young people drive along the nearby beaches and post photos of these cars on Instagram and other social media. For young people, classic cars not only offer them an extraordinary experience but they also look great on social media. The shop also contributes to the revitalization of the local community by distributing a driving map of the Miura Peninsula to customers.

Sato plans to increase the types of cars for rent. “Driving a stylish classic car along the beautiful coast is a simple but fun experience. I would like to offer such an experience going forward.” Sato said.

Yokosuka Iris Garden

Yokosuka Shobuen (iris garden) | kokosil Yokosuka

Yokosuka Shobuen is one of the renowned iris (shobu) gardens in Japan. It boasts 140,000 irises of 412 varieties in the area of 3.7 hectares. It holds "Hana-shobu matsuri" (Japanese iris festival) in June, featuring live performance of Koto (traditional stringed musical instrument) on every Sunday of the month. In addition, it also features 250 Japanese wisteria (fuji) of 11 varieties; their flowering season is from late April to early May.

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Kanagawa's Yokosuka Shobuen Iris Garden: Wisteria Fuji Festival, Enjoy Stunning Blossoms - Yokosuka Travel Guide (guidoor.jp)

Yokosuka Shobuen is one of the largest iris gardens in Japan. From late May to late June, 412 varieties and 140,000 irises bloom on the garden’s 3.8-hectare grounds.

In June, the “Hana Shobu Matsuri” (Iris Festival) is held to celebrate the iris blooms. Every Sunday during the festival, a “koto” (Japanese harp) concert is also held.

In addition to irises, there is a “Wisteria Garden” with 11 varieties and 250 plants, a “Weeping Cherry Blossom Garden,” and other flower gardens that can be enjoyed throughout the year.

The visitor center has a restaurant that can accommodate up to 100 people, an exhibition room, and a rest area (where visitors are allowed to bring their own lunch).

The complex maze-like Upper Town Yokosuka

 http://www3.koutaro.name/machi/yokosuka.htm

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The military port city of Yokosuka had two city centers with very different landscapes.

One was the labyrinthine townscape up on the hills and bluffs.

It is a town where houses are lined up so as to cover the intricately detailed hillsides, and the alleys continue like a maze.

It is an old urban area that expanded rapidly as it developed as a military port city after the Meiji period (1868-1912).

The other is a rectangular townscape on the seaward side of the city.

It is a town of the reclaimed land that was built in a planned manner with high-rise buildings neatly lined up on a wide straight road.

After the war, the urban area of Yokosuka was expanded by reclaiming the coast.

The Keikyu Main Train Line separates these two towns.

From the Keikyu Main Line stations such as Shioiri, Yokosuka Chuo, and Kenritsu Daigaku, one step into the mountain side and the labyrinthine town spreads out, while on the sea side, the flat land and the shaped townscape spread out like a different world.

This is because the Keikyu Main Line was laid along the edge of a hilly terrain.

This gap between the two urban areas, old and new, is a characteristic of Yokosuka's townscape.

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In the hills and bluffs areas, including Shioiri-cho, Uwamachi, Tadodai, and Fujimi-cho, there are hills where narrow ridges and deep valleys intersect like folds in a complex. There are no roads of any kind, and houses are built to the best of one's ability on narrow flat lands with cliffs.  There are narrow, winding roads along the ridges and valleys, but the roads that branch off from these roads immediately come to a dead end, and 10 to 20 houses are located along the roads, forming a cluster at each dead end. The narrow, winding roads are so steep that it is impossible to drive on, and it is a maze to walk up and down.  First-time visitors will probably need a map to find their way out.

The labyrinthine town also had a main street.  The road from Yokosuka to Misaki is called Misaki Kaido, and Uemachi-dori, the street line, is a wide straight road with arcades on both sides.  Many signboards can still be seen in the shopping streets along the street.