During my time in Japan, I visited Auto Produce Bellezza a handful of times. I've followed the shop's page on Instagram for several years now, and it remained at the top of my list of sightseeing spots since.
Located in picturesque Ibaraki prefecture, it's not the easiest shop to get to without a car. So I waited until a couple of friends came to town, then we rented a car and drove out there. We were immediately greeted by Mr. Yamaguchi and Hina, who were so kind and showed us all of their cars. Mr. Yamaguchi then insisted that we come to a car meeting in the area that night, which ended up being a super fun cruise around Tokyo. It wasn't easy keeping up with all of the kaido racers in our Toyota Rent-A-Car, but we made it.
This video was taken during my last visit to Bellezza. Mr. Yamaguchi offered to pick me up from a nearby train station, and we spent a couple of hours at the shop getting ready for the subsequent night meeting/touring. It was something out of a movie getting to ridealong with everyone in a handful of different cars. We stopped at the PA and I did my best to talk to everyone with my very little knowledge of Japanese, to which everyone was very understanding and kind.
We ended up staying out too late for me to take the train back home, so I stayed in a nearby hotel before heading back to the shop in the morning. The next day was a bit more relaxed, despite being one of the hottest days of the summer. I had a ton of fun hanging out with everyone and goofing off with my new friends, especially Mr. Kuroda who is one of the beloved shop staff.
It was bittersweet leaving, as this was one of my last weekends in Japan and I knew that I wouldn't get the chance to see everyone again for a while. Before taking me back to the train station, Mr. Yamaguchi made sure that I did not go empty-handed and gave me a bunch of goodies to take home with me to Canada. I am beyond grateful for this to have been one of my last experiences during my stay in Japan. Thank you so much to Mr. Yamaguchi and all of my new friends.
They're very busy, so make sure to message them on Instagram first before stopping by. But, if you ever find yourself in Japan and are looking for some cool car accessories, or you just want to see some great cars, I would highly recommend checking out Auto Produce Bellezza!
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Visit our website: checkpointjapan.com/
Shop now: bit.ly/shopcheckpoint
Join us on Discord: bit.ly/joincheckpointdiscord
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Enjoy!
(Professional drivers on a closed course, do not attempt.)
26 июл 2024
