#ITK – Go Karting on the Busy Streets of Tokyo
We are in Tokyo getting ready to do something that was never in our radar. Some background….Somewhere tucked into the corners of my childhood is a memory involving the video game Mario Kart. I can’t say I remember actually owning the game. What I do remember is having plain old Super Mario Brothers on Nintendo… maybe Mario Kart was some kind of add-on? I couldn’t tell you the specifics, but what stuck with me was the feeling of racing through a city at night, weaving between glowing buildings that grew taller as you approached, looming up dramatically as you crested a hill. I digress—but for good reason.
In March of 2019, Ron and I spent two incredible weeks in Japan. Our trip spanned Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima, and like always, we did our homework before going. We read everything we could get our hands on, talked to friends who had been, and somewhere along the way, (possibly on our 2018 trip to Morocco), we met a couple who told us about something totally wild: driving go karts through the actual streets of Tokyo.
Not on a closed track. Not on a side path. Real roads. Real traffic. Go karts. In Tokyo.
Obviously, we added it to our must-do list.
Back then, the company was still operating under the name Mario Car, and they went to great lengths to make it clear they were not affiliated with Nintendo in any way. Meanwhile, they handed Ron a green plumber suit and dressed me in a pointy-eared kitty costume 😹. Nowadays they operate under the name Monkey Kart.
For one unforgettable hour that evening, our group of twelve (each of us decked out in some kind of ridiculous costume), go kart raced through the busy streets of Tokyo. We zipped through Harajuku, cruised by Yoyogi Park, and crossed Shibuya Crossing not once, but twice. It was completely surreal. There we were, taking corners on an overpass in a go kart, with a city bus right beside us doing the same thing. Traffic was all around, cars in front, behind, and beside us, and somehow, we were right there in the mix. The adrenaline was unreal, and we laughed the entire time.
Our guide made sure everyone got a turn at the front of the group, paired in rows of two so we could all get our photos snapped mid-drive. It’s one of those experiences we still talk about all the time, not just because it was so much fun, but because it seems impossible that it’s even allowed. Truly, it boggles the mind.
We told some friends about it when they were heading to Japan last year. They didn’t seem all that excited. Maybe they were humouring us a little when they said they would look into it; but after they did it, they messaged us immediately, completely blown away. They got it.
It might sound silly or over-the-top, but of everything we did in Japan, this experience is high on my list of favourites. I can’t recommend it enough.
Just, you know… don’t say “Mario.” 😄
