This is Omori, representative of KRM.
On Sunday, May 3, 2026, right in the middle of Japan's May holiday week, we were able to hold "Roadster in Tetsujin Plaza ~2026~" safely in Shin-Nagata, Kobe.
The 18-metre-tall Tetsujin 28-go that stands in Wakamatsu Park - and Roadsters lined up in neat rows at the feet of that enormous monument. It was the day a scene I had been picturing for a year finally took shape.
From the Jewel event in April, straight on to Tetsujin Plaza with barely a breath in between.
To everyone selected in the lottery, to our invited guests, to Kobe Mazda, to our volunteer staff, and to the town of Shin-Nagata and everyone who gathered at Tetsujin's feet - first of all, thank you. Truly, thank you very much.
Tetsujin Plaza as a stage
Wakamatsu Park, Nagata Ward, Kobe. Tetsujin 28-go stands in this plaza, five minutes on foot from Shin-Nagata Station.
On January 17, 1995, Nagata was one of the areas hit hardest by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake.
The people who rebuilt the town from the burnt ruins wished to "bring this town back to life", and put up a giant monument of a character created by local-born manga artist Mitsuteru Yokoyama. That is Tetsujin 28-go.
It was completed on September 29, 2009.
The Mazda Roadster was born in 1989. The Tetsujin monument rose in 2009.
"An open-top car that set off at the dawn of the Heisei era" and "a symbol of recovery that stood up in Heisei's final years" meeting in Shin-Nagata over a Reiwa holiday weekend - in the end, that single point is the whole reason KRM keeps holding this event.
Morning assembly and staggered entry into three areas
Tetsujin Plaza is a public space used by the general public too. To avoid causing trouble for the neighbourhood, we stagger arrival times and guide cars into the venue in sequence - that is the promise KRM has made to the town of Shin-Nagata.
This time we divided the venue into three areas - "the shopping street side (front row)", "the park side" and "the centre (behind Tetsujin)" - and asked people to arrive at the time matching their area.
Some of our invited guests had already met up the night before at nearby KT STATION, and in the morning air the event had really already begun, with people asking each other, "Where have you come from?"
The schedule of the day
This year's Tetsujin Plaza event brought together lottery-selected general participants, invited guests and the Kobe Mazda group, for a total of around 50 cars. That is compact compared with the 120 cars at Jewel, but it is a deliberate piece of design on our part, putting the capacity of the plaza and consideration for the neighbourhood first.
- 9:00 AM- Entry for the shopping street side (front row) in front of Tetsujin, free photography
- 9:35 AM- Entry for cars arranged in the centre / park side in front of Tetsujin (free photography from the afternoon)
- 10:15 AM Opening ceremony and group photo
- 10:20 AM- Driving clinic by Mr. Kosaka / free time afterwards
- 1:00 PM Assembly and rock-paper-scissors tournament
- 1:10 PM Litter pick-up
- 1:30 PM Start of repositioning (cars in the centre move behind Tetsujin) / cars on the shopping street side (front row) depart
- 2:00 PM Cars on the park side depart after free photography
- 2:35 PM Cars in the centre depart after free photography
* Because of the rain forecast, we moved the whole afternoon one hour earlier
Originally, the rock-paper-scissors assembly was set for 2:00 PM and the final departure for 3:35 PM. But on the morning of the event the forecast showed the rain getting heavier in the afternoon, so we decided to move everything scheduled from 2:00 PM onward one hour earlier, changing the final departure to 2:35 PM.
To all the participants and volunteers who adapted to that sudden announcement, thank you very much. Rather than "running things exactly as designed", we choose "protecting the weather in front of us and the people taking part" - that is always where our top priority lies.
As it turned out, on May 3 the sky above Wakamatsu Park went from slightly hazy cloud to a scattering of light rain partway through. It never became a real downpour, and for driving with the roof down the temperature was "actually just right", but looking at the time we finished packing up, I felt again that moving everything an hour earlier had been the right call. To all the volunteers and staff who kept one eye locked on the rain radar, thank you for your hard work.
Roadsters lined up at Tetsujin's feet
Just after 11:30, when every car had reached its position.
With Tetsujin 28-go behind them, NA, NB, NC, ND and RF stood in neat alternating rows.
Tetsujin is 18 metres tall. A Roadster is just under four metres long. That overwhelming contrast is the very core of the picture this event sets out to make.
Kobe Mazda Racing Team "KMRT" car #17 descended on us too
Among all the cars on display, one in particular caught the eye: Soul Red Crystal Metallic and black, wearing the number "17".
This is an active competition car that "KMRT", the racing team of Kobe Mazda Co., Ltd., campaigns in the Mazda Group Challenge Cup. They came all the way to Tetsujin Plaza in a gap in the racing calendar.
The commemorative pin badge, "KRM 2026 Spring Meeting AT ShinNagata"
For this event we produced a commemorative pin badge.
An NA Roadster runs across a silhouette of the Kobe skyline - Kobe Port Tower, the Port Bridge, the Ferris wheel. The design is composed so that any Roadster owner understands it at a glance.
We handed these out as a "participant gift" to everyone who joined us on the day.
For KRM, every single car and every single person who takes part is not a "customer" but a friend who helps create the view with us. When we said "here, this is for you" at reception, the slightly surprised looks on people's faces made me happy. Thank you for accepting them.
And at Takahama Wharf, Kobe on Saturday, October 31, 2026, we want to take the plunge at last and move into "merchandise". T-shirts, stickers, a second run of pin badges, collaboration items with Kobe Mazda - we are working on ideas within the organizing team and will bring them to life for the next stage. Stay tuned for updates.
"Please never climb on the Tetsujin monument"
There is one thing we as organizers absolutely must mention.
At Tetsujin Plaza, a notice is posted that reads as follows.
We have received many complaints from other users,
and because they are dangerous and a nuisance,
ball games, skateboarding and roller skating are prohibited in this plaza.
Please never climb on the Tetsujin monument.
For everyone's safety, this area is monitored by camera.
This notice has been up long before KRM was ever allowed to hold an event here.
Tetsujin Plaza does not belong to KRM. It is a public space at the heart of Shin-Nagata, where local children play, neighbours take walks and tourists take commemorative photos.
On the day, not a single KRM participant touched the monument, crossed a rope or got in the way of local people going about their business. That is something I can state with pride.
In the end, Roadster owners really are people who know where the line is - as an organizer, it made me proud all over again.
The "homework" carried over from Jewel, and our answer at Tetsujin
In the event report for Jewel of Kobe on April 11, I wrote the following.
"Where a car's roadworthiness leaves genuine doubt, we intend to confirm the facts and then decline that owner's participation in future KRM events."
Tetsujin Plaza was the first event we hosted after Jewel. Naturally, it was also the moment we would be tested on whether that policy actually held up in practice.
Let me give you the conclusion first.
At this year's Tetsujin Plaza event, there were no participating cars that appeared to be clearly outside the legal safety standards. I believe both factors played their part: narrowing the field by lottery, and the fact that everyone took the stance we showed at Jewel to heart.
Thanks to the good sense of the overwhelming majority of our participants, we managed to be both "a place to enjoy ourselves" and "a place that draws a line". That is the biggest thing KRM takes home from Tetsujin Plaza.
Looking back on the running of the event
- Entry and marshalling: The flow from KT STATION to Tetsujin Plaza went broadly smoothly. On the other hand, in the final departure slot there were moments when our route overlapped with pedestrians around the station. Next time we will dig one level deeper into the analysis of departure times against pedestrian peaks.
- Sound levels: Out of consideration for nearby tenants and homes, we kept the microphone volume at the opening ceremony low. Some people told us it was "hard to hear from the back". Next time we will add more portable speakers.
- Flexible departure times: The three-slot system of 2:30 PM / 3:00 PM / 3:35 PM, letting people choose to suit family plans, was generally well received, so we will keep it next time.
- The load on volunteers: To all the staff who gave so much of themselves over a long day, from the 9:35 AM assembly right through to pack-up, thank you very much. We will improve the refreshments and the break rotation a little more next time.
Gratitude to the town of Shin-Nagata
It was not only participants and staff who made this event possible.
The local neighbourhood association who gave their understanding for our use of Tetsujin Plaza, the nearby commercial facilities, the Shin-Nagata shopping streets and everyone at the Tetsujin 28-go Monument Preservation Society - this event stands on the agreement of many "people of the town".
After the event, one participant who had walked around the neighbourhood shared this with us:
"Shin-Nagata is a lovely town. I went into a teppanyaki place and it was absolutely delicious." Hearing that, I felt relieved that the cycle KRM cares about - coming by car, spending money in the town, and going home again - really had come full circle.
To everyone in Shin-Nagata, thank you very much. KRM will never take being allowed to borrow Tetsujin Plaza for granted.
On to the next stage
KRM's 2026 has only just passed the halfway mark.
Our next big milestone is Takahama Wharf, Kobe on Saturday, October 31, 2026 - "Jewel of Kobe 2026 ~autumn~". We are planning a meeting sponsored by Kobe Mazda's head office.
The final scale of the event is still undecided at this point, but KRM's feeling right now is that we want to reach a stage bigger than the 120 cars that came together at Jewel of Kobe in April.
Having Kobe Mazda, an official dealer, formally support the local Roadster culture is a truly enormous boost for us.
We will carry the small dose of confidence Tetsujin Plaza gave us through to the next stage.
Acknowledgements
Finally, once more.
- To everyone who took part, having come through the lottery and joined us on the day.
- To the volunteer staff who were up and working from early in the morning.
- To everyone at Kobe Mazda Co., Ltd., who supported the venue as invited guests.
- To everyone in the Shin-Nagata community and everyone connected with Wakamatsu Park, who gave their understanding for our use of the venue.
- To everyone at the Tetsujin 28-go Monument Preservation Society, who continue to watch over what KRM does.
This day was made possible by the efforts of so many people. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
Through the Roadster, we will keep sharing the appeal of Kobe, the recovery of Kobe and the future of Kobe.
KRM will not stop walking forward.
See you at Takahama Wharf on October 31.