I Drove A Go-Kart Around Tokyo Dressed As Yoshi

2nd December 2018

I have NEVER done anything so utterly ridiculous, crazy and fun in my entire life. I have been to Tokyo before, so of course I have seen the people driving around the city in go-karts (seriously, go and Google it, there are some amazing videos on YouTube) but I have never known what it was all about, nor had I ever prepared for it before. So when a good friend of mine announced he wanted to celebrate an upcoming birthday in Tokyo, I knew we had one mission and one only… to ride go-karts around Tokyo dressed as game characters.

As far as I’m aware there are several companies in Japan that offer mario type go-kart experiences and not just in Tokyo. But the most popular one is MariCAR that operate in a few cities in Japan and a couple of districts around Tokyo. We chose the Akihabara location as our starting point, as it had the longest route that we wanted to do. It looks like since we did the tour, they have opened a few more shops and have switched the rides around a bit! But this was the tour we did;

It was estimated to take 2.5-3 hours and would cost JPY13,000 per person or JPY11,000 if you left a review on their Facebook page. So that’s about S$130, and let me tell you, it is the best S$130 I have spent in my life to date.

The process of booking your drive is really easy. You can simply book through Facebook messenger and they will send you a confirmation. It’s at this point I should probably point out that because you are driving an actual vehicle on the road in Japan, you will not only need a driving license but also an International Driving Permit (IDP). Depending on the country of your license, this may or may not be easy to get. You will need to send both to MariCAR prior to your drive.

On the day of your drive, prepare for the best day of your life! Remember to bring your driving license and IDP with you, as you will need to carry them in your go-kart too. Get there early, there is a waiver to sign and you will want to gear up with the best costume possible!!! You can rent practically anything from MariCAR, not only do they have lots of costumes to choose from (if you want a specific character, just ask them), but you can also rent GoPro’s, gloves, masks etc. Depending on the weather, they may advise you wear a small padded jacket (provided) underneath which we did, it can get extremely cold driving outside for 3 hours!

Once everyone is ready (there are normally 4-8 people per tour) your guide will walk you all across the street to the parking area where you finally get to lay your eyes on your go-kart!

I had not actually driven a car for 7 YEARS at this point, which I did NOT tell our guide. I was ridiculously nervous and really don’t advise a) not driving for that long or b) your first drive in 7 years being in a go-kart in a foreign country. But our guide couldn’t have been more fun and safety conscious! He explained how to drive the thing… I mean honestly it’s like a toy, or one of those bumper cars you drive at the fair (but without the bumpers…) Gas, brake, indicate, handbrake, wheel. No gears, so it’s basically go or stop. He also explained that the drivers of Japan are fairly used to these things, but try to drive close together so you don’t get separated. You will need to follow your guide in a formation the whole time, so no, there is no ‘racing’, overtaking or throwing bananas at each other! Your guide will signal when you have to go in single or double file (for when you’re driving and when you pull up at traffic lights) and when you need to stop or indicate. Once you’ve all understood that, it’s time to zoooooom!

HAAAAHHHHAHA OH MY GOD. There are minimal words to describe how utterly fun driving a real life go-kart around Tokyo is! My face hurt from smiling so much, and at one point I remember turning to my friend and asking “how on earth is this legal!?” Although you obviously have to concentrate on the traffic, you are able to take in such amazing views and your guide will do everything possible to stop just in time at traffic lights, to take photos (which they’ll then AirDrop to you after)!

Driving alongside actual traffic in this tiny thing was a bit scary, but the ridiculous element made it all better. In more crowded parts like Ginza, people would point, wave or take pictures. You really do feel like a celebrity!

The most amazing part was driving over the aptly named Rainbow Bridge. I got up to 70 kmph which in a tiny go-kart feels STUPIDLY FAST and I felt like I could take off at any second! After that, we stopped at Odaiba for some pictures.

We drove past the new fish market on the way back too, which is somewhere I wouldn’t normally go and visit. These tours really allow you to see parts of Tokyo you’d otherwise miss! We also stopped for petrol at one point which again, was just so funny. People in the city are obviously really used to seeing 6 go-karts with adults dressed as game characters pull up, but it must’ve been a hilarious sight! We even saw another tour as we got closer to the centre of the city again, and from afar it really is quite a funny sight.

The tour we chose was REALLY long and as we started in the afternoon, it ended as it was getting dark, which made it a bit harder to see. Bear this in mind when booking your tour! Day time would absolutely be best, because you’ll get the best views too.

When I go back to Japan, I will absolutely be doing this again. It is still the stupidest, most ridiculous and the most legitimately fun thing I have done in my life! If you are going to Tokyo and you can drive, you MUST get an International Driving Permit and do this!

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