This is Omori, representative of KRM.
**“The 3rd Roadster in Tetsujin Plaza,”** held today, came to a safe close without any major incident.
“Take that one step, and everyone will find happiness.”
Those words suddenly crossed my mind, and looking at the scene today I truly felt, “yes, that's exactly right.”
Roadsters lined up in neat rows by colour at the feet of Tetsujin 28-go. I felt strongly that this is a sight I want to keep creating in the years to come.
Above all, the smiles on the faces of everyone taking part are simply irresistible.
With this many people smiling and looking forward to it, we have renewed our resolve that we should keep holding this event.
On social media as well, everyone has been doing a wonderful job of spreading the word with the tags #SymbolOfRecovery #Tetsujin28go #Shinnagata. Thank you so much!
Shopping Street × Tetsujin × Roadster: What People Told Us
We received a great many delightful comments from those who took part and from members of the public who came to watch.
Comments from Participants
- “This is the only event where so many people get to see your car!”
- “I had been looking forward to lining up beneath a Tetsujin 28-go this huge.”
- “Tetsujin was far bigger than I expected — it took me by surprise.”
- “No other meeting has a location like this, with a shopping street right alongside.”
- “This is my second time taking part, and I want to eat my way around the town beyond just the sobameshi!”
- “It made me happy when someone from the public called out, ‘That looks so cool!’”
- “I want to aim for a perfect attendance award at the Tetsujin meeting — please keep holding it!”
And what deserves special mention is that we were able to achieve **“zero illegally modified cars.”**
That is a huge success. We were able to prove just how good the manners of Roadster drivers are. We will keep this up rigorously from the next event onward.
Issues, and Improvements for Next Time
Of course, we cannot simply celebrate without reservation.
We will look back properly on the issues we faced as organizers, and on the ways we caused trouble for participants and sponsor companies, and carry those lessons into the next event.
⚠️ Safety and Operations
- Guiding children: A great many children come and go across the plaza, so thorough marshalling is essential.
- Photography risk: Lining the cars up for photos in front of Tetsujin looks fantastic, but we also received a caution from the police, so from a risk-management point of view the way we do it needs to be reconsidered.
- Looking after guests: Our sponsor guests went to the trouble of coming, and yet we inconvenienced them through inadequate preparation of power supply, microphones, chairs and the like. We are deeply sorry about that.
📊 Entries and Finances
- Handling cancellations: This time about 17 cars cancelled. We need to work out how to run additional entries (through the website, or first come, first served on social media?) and what the right number of cars is (is around 65 about right?).
- Revising the participation fee: The financial reality is tough, and to maintain the quality of the event and keep it going, we need to consider raising the price.
- How often we hold it: We had planned on twice a year, but partly because of delays to the construction work on site, we are also discussing whether once a year might be enough.
We are also grateful to those who aim for a “perfect attendance award,” but this event also has a **“support for recovery from the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake”** side to it.
How to draw in people from further afield and first-time participants, so that they come to know Shin-Nagata, is another challenge for the future.
On to the Next Stage: KRM's Vision
There are challenges, but ideas for what comes next are already swirling around in my head.
As our profile grows, we are aiming for an event that gives participants even more satisfaction.
Next Targets?
While keeping Tetsujin Plaza as our home ground, we are thinking about how KRM can guide everyone on to the next venue.
We also need to look at ways of getting our message across beyond the tin badges we made this time.
We will raise KRM's profile further and press ahead with preparations so that we can keep holding this event.
Everyone, thank you so very much for today!!
[Update] Event Report Video by YouTuber Wat42
As it happens, the other day the popular YouTuber Wat42 kindly came out to cover this event!
Please do watch his wonderful footage of the Roadsters gathered at Tetsujin Plaza.
▼ Wat42's Event Report Video Is Here
Watch it directly on YouTube (click here if it will not play)