Kei & Mighty: Exploring Japan’s WAZUKA Microcar Museum

Japan’s huge street community boasts 1.2 million kilometres of tarmac throughout its sprawling panorama.

That may sound like so much, nevertheless it manages some 82 million autos in among the world’s most densely populated cities every day. As a rustic, it needs to be at a perpetual standstill. But, ever because the Nineteen Fifties, the Japanese have held a tiny little ace up their sleeves…

Kei-jidõsha, or ‘kei automotive’ because it’s extra generally identified, refers back to the smallest class of motor autos permitted to drive on Japanese roads and highways. For many years, the kei class has produced among the most unusual-shaped autos anyplace on the planet, powered by bike-sized engines with tyres that wouldn’t look misplaced on a wheelbarrow. In an automotive panorama extra bloated and obese than ever, the Japanese kei automotive seems to be the cheat code required to beat the system.

This phenomenon first entered service again in 1949, after the Second World Battle. Japan wanted to mobilise its nation once more, however restricted assets and a weakened financial system meant conventional commuter autos have been out of attain for most individuals. Enter the brand new ‘gentle automobile’ class, initially restricted to a 150cc four-stroke engine (or 100cc two-stroke), adopted by a bigger 360cc restrict within the mid-Nineteen Fifties. It’d take till 1958 for the primary mainstream kei automotive to take off – Subaru’s 360 – which boasted seating for 4 whereas measuring below ten ft lengthy.

By the Nineteen Nineties, kei class engine capability was raised to 660cc, and with producers embarking on pressured induction to spice up energy and effectivity, it quickly yielded among the most iconic fashions so far, together with the Suzuki Cappuccino, Autozam AZ-1, and Honda Beat. There wasn’t an official restrict on energy, however a gentleman’s settlement capped it at 63hp. Dimensions, nevertheless, have remained the identical since 1998 – not than 3.4m, no wider than 1.48m, and no taller than 2.0m. Kei automobiles don’t have to stick to the identical security requirements as non-kei automobiles, which is why you hardly ever see them bought formally outdoors of Japan. Not as a result of they’re inherently harmful, however you’d assume the Euro NCAP staff wouldn’t look too favourably at your shins forming a part of a front-end crumple take a look at.

Such is their reputation that kei automobiles account for greater than a 3rd of all automobile gross sales in Japan. However rewind to these youth earlier than their reputation boomed, and there was one other automobile development rising that made even the smallest kei automobiles really feel like a Hummer as compared. A category that didn’t even require a driving license to make use of as a result of the Nineteen Seventies would mark the launch of the even wackier world of Japanese microcars. What’s extra, the driving drive behind them was a producer you’ll already be aware of in relation to constructing obscure, alien-like autos. Take a bow, Mitsuoka Motor.

Earlier than Mitsuoka spent their days reworking K11 Micras into AI-generated Jaguar Mark IIs, its enterprise centred round importing and servicing European automobiles for purchasers throughout Japan. Founder Susumu Mitsuoka all the time dreamt of making his personal autos, nevertheless it wasn’t till the late ’70s that he was in a position to take action. When a buyer introduced their Italian microcar in for repairs – a Casalini Sulky – Mitsuoka-san was left pissed off that he couldn’t discover the components required to repair it. Slightly than quit, Mitsuoka-san adopted the optimistic Speedhunters angle and declared how laborious can it’s? A number of years later, in 1982, Mitsuoka’s first full automotive was born – the BUBU Shuttle-50.

To name the BUBU Shuttle-50 a automotive by fashionable requirements is perhaps pushing it, although it does have doorways, wing mirrors, and a windscreen. Its engine measured simply 50cc, driving a single wheel on the rear, with two additional wheels up entrance doing the steering. However this wasn’t Mitsuoka being bizarre for the sake of it; its purpose was to mobilise all Japanese individuals. Due to its 50cc engine with steering, throttle, and braking managed by handlebars, the BUBU Shuttle-50 solely wanted a moped license to be legally pushed on the street. What’s extra, its rear-opening door – full with fold-out ramps – allowed it for use by these with disabilities, because of the hand controls. It might even match by way of a doorway, that means you didn’t want the posh of a storage or off-street parking to retailer it.

The BUBU Shuttle-50 was shortly joined by the BUBU 501 in the identical yr, a smaller, sleeker mannequin that also solely featured a 50cc engine and three wheels, albeit with the addition of a steering wheel. Three years later, the BUBU 505-C joined the vary, which mimicked a quarter-scale Morgan Roadster. Mitsuoka shifted into full-size autos from the late Nineteen Eighties onwards, however their microcar imaginative and prescient remained a part of their mannequin vary as much as 2007.

Each automobile – regardless of wanting obscure even by Mitsuoka requirements – served a vital function that even kei automobiles couldn’t fulfil. Not solely have been they much more handy for navigating Japan’s (usually) tiny roads, however a moped license was significantly cheaper to acquire than the equal automotive one. Whereas gross sales have been by no means actually booming, the microcar market went from power to power proper till the late ’80s when a regulation change would all however seal their destiny. Other than security now being fairly vital, microcars would now require a full driving license to function, dramatically slashing their enchantment.

Nevertheless, a long time later, there’s not less than one man in Japan who has made it his life’s mission to hold on the legacy of this weird period of Japanese motoring: Wakayama-based Kaoru Hasegawa.

“I received my first microcar almost 30 years in the past,” Hasegawa-san proudly states. “I’ve all the time loved small autos, and I used to be given my first microcar. It had been deserted within the nook of a automotive store out within the countryside, so I hung out restoring it and began driving it round. It was a lot enjoyable, and the response from different individuals was superb. I knew I wished one other microcar, so I began wanting round and researching their historical past.”

Regardless of hundreds of microcars being bought throughout Japan, monitoring down a great, working mannequin is changing into as troublesome as unearthing uncommon supercars – primarily as a result of most individuals purchased microcars for fast and simple transport slightly than one thing to cherish and acquire. For Hasegawa-san, he is aware of that is half the enchantment, too. Many people are aware of the BMW Isetta and Peel P50 – each bought all through Europe in a lot bigger numbers – however what makes the Japanese fashions much more fascinating is how a lot smaller and rarer they have been as compared. Hasegawa-san’s assortment now options greater than 10 completely different fashions, and regardless of being three a long time deep into his obsession, he’s nonetheless looking out for extra.

“Once they have been new, microcars may very well be pushed with a moped license, so that they bought very nicely,” he provides. “Particularly amongst housewives, as that they had been designed to permit individuals to maneuver shortly with baggage or procuring in all climate situations. They have been less expensive than a automotive and may very well be saved in a standard home simply. However when the brand new legislation was handed, that means that homeowners wanted a driving license to run them, the gross sales stopped and sellers turned their consideration in direction of kei automobiles as a substitute.”

Hasegawa-san is greater than only a collector of those oddities. For years, he’s shared his love for them throughout social media, and it wasn’t lengthy earlier than he was being inundated with messages from intrigued automotive followers attempting to decipher what they have been or likeminded microcar lovers that – in lots of instances – assumed the early Mitsuoka BUBU fashions would by no means be seen once more. Hasegawa-san’s assortment expands past Japanese automobiles, nevertheless. Two of his cherished fashions embrace the Italian Cassalini Sulky and All Automobile Snuggy Charly, and sure, these are the precise names. Given the worldwide curiosity his humble little assortment had gained, Hasegawa-san determined it was time to create an precise museum for his microcars. That may sound like an enormous and costly venture till you realise that every one of his assortment matches comfortably in a daily downstairs storage.

“I created the WAZUKA Microcar Museum due to the messages I saved receiving on social media from individuals eager to see the true issues,” Hasegawa-san provides. “There are various automotive museums in Japan, however there isn’t any museum anyplace that specialises in microcars! So, I believed I’d make one myself. The entire automobiles on show are in good, unique situation whereas additionally being the fashions produced within the least numbers. I’ve travelled all throughout Japan to search out them, and the buddies gathered right here with me have been all lovers met alongside the best way.”

Slightly fittingly, the WAZUKA Microcar Museum is situated on a tiny road, crammed right into a tiny terraced home with the upstairs dwelling quarters affected by tiny memorabilia. It’s fully unassuming on the skin, however its attraction is simply matched by the quirky autos it homes behind the wooden-slatted storage door.

Regardless of this, Hasegawa-san usually hosts microcar gatherings by inviting buddies and lovers together with Sinchirou Kubo and his Morgan-like BUBU 505C, Kai Kuramochi who has stretched his Casalini Sulky to hold passengers, and Takayuki Teramura whose Casalini Sulky is slammed so low to the bottom it’ll seaside on any velocity bump if he doesn’t method it quick sufficient.

These 4 homeowners and their automobiles will shut down any road with intrigue and crooked necks greater than any fire-spitting Lamborghini might dream of. All 4 will slot in a single 7-Eleven parking bay, and, offering you go nowhere close to a freeway, their high speeds can range between 65km/h and 85km/h relying on wind route and street gradient. They’re in contrast to the rest you’ll see on the roads, and their intrigue captivates nearly all ages and era.

“We don’t get many vacationers down right here!”Hasegawa-san laughs, which is unsurprising given it’s a seven-hour drive from Tokyo and two hours south of Osaka. “However my purpose is to inform everybody in regards to the museum and present them the historical past of the microcar. I’m all the time in search of extra automobiles so as to add – it’s half the enjoyable with microcars as a result of they usually find yourself in essentially the most obscure and weird locations. So to carry as many collectively as attainable – and maintain them in good usable situation – is a dream for me that I’ll proceed to stay out so long as I can.”

Kaoru Hasegawa’s WAZUKA Microcar Museum is situated within the Kainan area of Wakayama, Japan. To rearrange a go to, you possibly can message him at @kaoru.bubu on Instagram.

Mark Riccioni
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mark@speedhunters.com