Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/05/26/hugh-jackman-discovers-mario-k.html
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I’ma Wario, I’ma gonna win!
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Met a group of these last month in Tokyo, it’s an organised activity mostly for tourists. Looks fun, although a bit dangerous since it’s all in traffic. Saw them getting out of costumes at a carpark near SkyTree.
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Wait, it’s legal to drive motorized karts in Tokyo’s busy traffic lanes? Wow.
Speaking as someone who did a lot of crazy (read: stupid) things in motorized vehicles of various types, during my teens and 20s and managed to walk away more or less intact, I gotta say this seems like a really bad idea. The kart drivers’ heads are at about the same height as the bumper of a large box truck.
One squirrely kart jockey or inattentive truck driver and somebody could get run over or decapitated. SMH
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Blimey, that’s hard to say after a couple of vodkas.
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There’s another location at the base of Tokyo Tower, Skytree’s grandfather. Hugh Jackman filmed a sequence for The Wolverine over by Tower, I’m suprised he didn’t see the Karters then.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that no vehicle is “large” in Japanese cities, because you have park like this:
Edit: no idea why Discourse decided it’s a vertical pic, when it’s fine on my phone. I tend to correct my pics straight away when i take them…
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Every single driver in Tokyo I’ve spoken to dislikes these Mario Kart customers on the road. The karts themselves exist entirely in blind spots and are too low to the ground to be seen even next to or sometimes in front of you and the people that drive them do not drive them well.
Outside Tokyo in my wife’s small hometown in central Japan I’ve also seen these but its very rare and generally only done during festivals when its understood that streets may be unusually occupied.
Please come drive here sometime. It sure as heck aint only Kei cars on the road thats for darn sure. OTOH I admire the hell out of domestic parking skills!
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Saw them again today, they have been driving for months in various costumes having fun but I cringe every time I hear the convoy of tiny karts on major streets. They don’t wear helmets and are grinning maniacally… it’s not going to stop until somebody gets badly hurt or killed. Seems to be the people at maricar.com which helps me understand why there are a lot of non-Japanese in these cars.
http://maricar.com/
http://www.tokyoweekender.com/2016/03/race-streets-tokyo-classic-mario-kart-style/
As I understand it helmets are not required for vehicles in the mini-car category these fall under. Oddly enough same for 3 wheel scooters like mine. Since I’m not an idiot, I wear a helmet.
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