Talk about Japanese resiliency

I have been attending the Tokyo Motor Show’s Press Days (the first 2 days exclusively for journalists) religiously since the early 90s. Whether it was first in 1991 or 1993 or with Toyota Motor Philippines or Honda Cars Philippines either as host escapes me at the moment. In these two decades I was going to Japan attending the motor show for passenger cars, which was held every two years and at one stage I was there for four straight years when I was invited by Mitsubishi Motors Philippines to attend the motor show for commercial vehicles, which was then held every other year when there was no motor show for passenger cars.

In all these years I have seen automobiles first introduced as concept cars in these motor shows that eventually became reality running not only in the streets of developed countries like the US and Japan but in a developing one like the Philippines. A perfect example is the Prius, which when first presented by Toyota in the early 90s we thought would take a full generation before we could see it full utilization.

I have also experienced the very festive mood in most of these motor shows with dancing girls in skimpy clothing in almost every exhibitor’s booth vying for every journalist’s attention so they would drop by and see the wide array of models that’s on display.

During the 41st Tokyo Motor Show held two years ago in 2009 while in the midst of the global economic crisis we saw the expected considerable down-sizing of the event in which only 129 exhibitors from 10 countries and 1 region participated with the two American mega brands (General Motors and Ford) not being part of the line up occupying only over 21,000 square meters of space.

After the destructive earthquake and tsunami struck Japan in the 1st quarter of this year, the 42nd staging of the Tokyo Motor Show was regarded to be very doubtful considering that the tremendous damage brought about by the double whammy of natural events that caused the cutting off of supply chains in the automotive industry that has brought a major drop in Japanese automobile manufacturing which was likewise felt in the manufacture of Japanese vehicles overseas.

When we got word that the event would be held despite the debilitating scenario but however the venue would be changed from the sprawling Convention Center in Makuhari Messe to Tokyo, specifically in Ariake, Kotu-ku (first time we heard of the place) in a venue called Tokyo Big Sight, the local journalists that have been veterans of past Tokyo Motor Shows and those who were in the recent scaled-down staging of two years ago were bracing for a worse scenario or a much larger down-sized version of the biggest motor show this side of the world.

But the speculation was turned to amazement when a bigger venue met our eyes upon disembarking from our tourist bus that brought the fifteen Toyota-hosted motoring journalists from their hotel, the Keio Plaza.

The Tokyo Big Sight is the popular nickname for the Tokyo International Exhibition Center, a Japanese convention center that opened in April 1996. Located in Odaiba, Tokyo Bay, the center is one of the largest convention venues within the city, and its most iconic representation is the visually distinctive Conference Tower.

Located within Ariake in Koto, Tokyo, the Tokyo Big Sight’s most distinctive feature is the unique architecture of its 58 meter-high 8-storey Conference Tower. The site utilizes steel frame with reinforced concrete construction, boasting a total floor area of 230,873 square meters, which outsizes Makuhari Messe‘s floor space by half, and of which 35% is indoors. The convention center is divided into three main areas, each with their own supporting facilities such as restaurants: The East Exhibition Hall, the West Exhibition Hall and the Conference Tower.

The East Exhibition Hall’s main layout consists of a central 600 meter-long two-tiered galleria, flanked on both sides by three mostly identical exhibition halls, and has underground parking available. The overall height of the structure is three storeys, with the galleria reaching two storeys. The glass-roofed galleria is equipped with moving walkways for easier movement, food outlets, escalators, electronic signboards and a host of other relevant facilities.

Each hall has a mobile roof that enables exhibitors to control the amount of sunlight coming through, recessed electronic and control service pits at regular intervals (six meters), a show office, four meeting rooms and a dressing room. It is possible to merge a hall with adjacent halls on the same side, allowing for a maximum continuous floor space three times the capacity of a single hall, or a grand total of 26,010 square meters. Unlike its West counterpart, the East Exhibition Hall is not located next to the main Conference Tower area.

The West Exhibition Hall’s layout consists of four internal halls surrounding a central two-tiered Atrium. Halls one and two occupy the first floor, and are each equipped with a single meeting room, two show offices and seven meeting rooms. If necessary, they can be merged with the glass-roofed atrium area to maximize all available exhibition space. Halls three and four are individually smaller than the first floor halls, as the rest of the space not taken up by the Atrium’s upper area is largely the rooftop exhibition area.

Adjacent to the West Exhibition Hall is an outdoor exhibition area, which like the rooftop area overlooks the waterfront. Like the other exhibition areas in the Tokyo Big Sight, it is possible to combine both upper halls and both spaces together to create a single continuous floor area. All in all, the West Exhibition Hall boasts in total six show offices, twenty-three meeting rooms and three dressing rooms. The gross total floor area of the Hall stands at 46,280 square meters.

Despite being 50% bigger than the previous venue of past Tokyo Motor Shows that we attended, which was at the Makuhari Messe, most, if not all of the journalists we talked to expressed their preference to the Tokyo Big Sight’s predecessor noting that it more spectator-friendly. Being sprawling in design, all one has to do in Makuhari Messe was just walk from end to end of the exhibit halls and you can be assured that you have not missed a single display. At the Tokyo Big Sight, you’ll have to consult your floor map all the time to know where you are going for what. This can be very cumbersome especially for us TV guys who would have to lug around our equipment, no matter how small they are now, going up and down elevators and escalators.

I remember I used to produce 2 Special TV episodes out of the materials and videos that I take home from the Tokyo Motor Shows taping by my lonesome. With a little help from some of the journalists who were with me at times, saved me the embarrassment of being seen by other TV journalists who were otherwise fully-equipped and technically assisted while setting my camera myself and then going in front of it myself and doing my spiels myself. That I was for several motor shows until the time Arnel Doria, was who then the top marketing honcho of Honda Cars Philippines, realized the predicament I was always in during every motor show coverage and offered to invite our VP and production manager Jenny Bleza whenever I would go with the Toyota contingent and Danny “Sir John” Isla, who was then also first VP for Toyota and now Lexus-Manila president would do the same whenever I was with the Toyota group. Well, this year I have Dax Avenido to thank for making things happen so that I would have Jenny who was hosted by Nissan Motor Philippines assisting me in putting up a TV special on the 42nd Tokyo Motor Show, which we shall be airing very soon on our TV show Auto Focus.

Although the mood in this year’s motor show is generally somber and sedate, especially in the display areas of Japanese manufacturers sans the party-like atmosphere and abundance of skimpy-clad Japanese dancing girls and models, which more often than not digress one’s attention from the automobile models on display, the seriousness of the presentation of present newly-designed models and concept cars was a prevailing aura.

Looking at the continued dedication and resiliency demonstrated by the Japanese vehicle manufacturing industry and the Japanese people as a whole to achieve, prevail and excel despite the challenges presented by past devastating events can only make me watch in quite awe and doff my hat in respect.

Happy Motoring!!!

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