Well it was another early start and the train into Tokyo was packed. It's the first time I've seen the "pushers" actually push people into the train. I finally got to Tokyo , quickly bought my ticket for the Shizuoka Hikari shinkansen and boarded. If you've never had the bullet train experience I urge you to try it. The ride is comfy, there's plenty of leg room and it feels like you're in a jet cruising at 3 feet. Nice! I purchased an unreserved ticket as they're cheaper but seating is limited - luckily I got the last seat in the non-smoking carriage - all I had to do was sit back and watch the scenery go by - very, very quickly...

The second fastest Shinkansen in Japan

About one hour later I arrived in Shizuoka and there was a free shuttle bus available to take me to Twin Messe. After a brief bumpy ride I got off the bus and checked in as an official member of the press. The show was divided in to two halls - one for RC and one for models and Tamiya. I checked out the RC hall first.

Now, imagine a place where everything that your heart desires is in the one exhibition. When you read a magazine and wonder "what's that like?" - This is the place where you can pick it up, turn it over and scrutinize every screw, turnbuckle and carbon fibre hop-up.

Kyosho easily had the best car demo track at the show.
The perspex tube at the far end allowed the cars to loop the loop.

In the RC hall they had all the major companies represented. HPI, Futaba, Sanwa, Yokomo, KO Propo, Atlas and many more. There were drift demonstrations, choppers flying, robots cart wheeling, buggies jumping and much, much more.

This robot could do cartwheels and imitate a Sumo.

The easiest way to go through everything is to browse the photos - links are at the bottom.

There were lots of new products on display as well as the occasional prototype. I've tried to list everything I saw but there was a lot so excuse me for any omissions. I have tried to put a comprehensive list of every new product, sorted by manufacturer, at the end of this report.

I did manage to speak to some of the sales representatives from different companies and they were more than happy to answer my questions.

Sanwa - they have just released the M11 which is getting very favourable reviews when compared to its predecessor - the very good M8 version 3. They hope to make inroads into the Australian market with there full range of RC gear. I really like the M11 - it's loaded with features and I like the very comprehensive screen. It's a little heavier than the M8 but not noticeably so.

KO Propo - I met the director of the company and he answered all my questions with enthusiasm. He is currently overhauling the website and is making it more comprehensive (a criticism made by more than one reader). There are no plans to release a synthesized module for the EX-10. The ICS software will eventually find its way on to CD for distribution.

JR Propo - Their top of the range controller is a beast - literally! It's like holding a brick in your hand. Expect it to disappear into the "what the hell were we thinking?" zone very soon.

HPI - great bunch of guys. Lots of new stuff under the HPI banner.

Futaba - Mentioned that their synth module was finally coming out at either the end of June or early July. A lot of Japanese 3PK owners are waiting for these.

Yokomo - Drift, drift, and drift. Sure they had other stuff but the main push was for its recent line of drifters. They showed off their new additions to the range as well as demonstrating how easy these cars were to drive.

Kawada - Some interesting update and releases. I liked their new treaded drift tyres.

ABC Hobby - showed off its current range of chargers and accessories but nothing stood out aside from their lighting kits.

Atlas - had its range of boxes, batteries and motors on display.

Kyosho - Lots of new products on display. Kyosho are spearheading the launch of Virtual RC Racing in Japan.

Noticeable exceptions - Much more, Eagle racing, Team Magic.

This is not 1/10th scale!

After I had checked out everything in the RC hall, I crossed over into the main hall. There were a lot of companies involved with the model industry, Aoshima, Bandai, Tomy and many others. Although I was there to check out the RC news, I browsed these other displays as they had gone to a lot of effort.

There were also a lot of hobby suppliers. They had different paints, tools, airbrushing equipment and other hobby items on show. I tested a couple of the airbrushes and I think I'm hooked. There were also a few airbrush demonstrations - they were mainly painting Mini Z shells and the level of detail was simply amazing.

The detail on these car shells was simply amazing.

Tamiya had the far end of the hall and they easily had the largest exhibition space at the show. They had a small demonstration area that was a little unspectacular compared with some of the other manufacturers in the South hall. However, the range of merchandise on show was quite the opposite. The TA05 featured heavily and I had the chance to pick one up and go over the car. In stock configuration it is probably going to be the entry level car that any smart buyer is going to choose as their first car. There are a ton of hop-ups available for it and they had the specific TA05 hop-ups on show. They also had a TA05 with a medium hopped-up configuration and another car that had everything on it that you could possibly imagine. If you are prepared to invest in the car it can be very quick although I'd be more inclined to hop it up to a certain level and then upgrade if you feel you want something better. e.g. TRF415MS or TB-Evo IV MS.

I asked about the future of F1 and the staff were being a bit cagey on the subject. It either means that they are loathe to spend any more money on F1 or that they have something in the pipeline. They did allude to the fact that cigarette sponsorship was making it more difficult for F1 as a whole and perhaps there is a flow on effect to the model market. It may well be that there's some pressure being applied to Tamiya in regards to cigarette advertising but as I said - they were unwilling to talk about the subject at length. They did say that it was a shame that F1 isn't being raced at the Australian TCS and they did acknowledge that the recent F1 TCS in Tokyo was quite successful. What this means will inevitably be discussed strongly in the forums.

Old school Tamiya products are available again.

Tamiya also had a lot of retro gear on display and also as re-released product. There was a lot of Expert Bulit product but they have rereleased the Grasshopper as a build kit. I was expecting quite a bit more from Tamiya, considering the amount of floor space that they had available. The other companies had a few prototypes on show and I was hoping to see the following: TRF416 (the 415 received an upgrade recently but it is essentially a 3 year old chassis. I'd like a glimpse of something new - perhaps curved carbon fibre parts?) and a F301 (Isn't it time that Tamiya brought us a TCS legal carbon chassis with hop-ups?). I'm sure that fans of other types of vehicles can think of a number of new items they'd also like to see in prototype form. Considering the lead time on these products is measured in years, they could have given us a few glimpses to whet our appetites.

There are probably more details that I could go over in this part of the report but it's easier to look at the more detailed comments beneath each photo.

I finished up the show with a quick second look, snapping a few more pics before boarding a bus to the station, for the very quick trip home. All up I spent just over three hours at the show. It wasn't as big as I thought it would be but it was definitely very interesting to any RC enthusiast. Time permitting, you can use Tamiya's own track at Shizuoka for about a $2 fee.

If you are ever in Japan in May, make sure that this show is on your itinerary.

Click on the manufacturers below for pics and info.