Along the road to Gotemba, the Matsuda Ferrari Museum is on the left. The yellow building houses a coffee shop.

Life Before Ferraris
In the skyline to the north, Mt. Fuji looms with it's beautifully snow crested cap. The weather is a bit chilly but the sky is clear and the air is crisp. It's early in the year on a weekday. We are at the Ferrari Museum of Art in Gotemba, a tavern town along the Tokaido route that first linked Tokyo and Kyoto back in the 18th century.

Back then it functioned much like Route 66 in the USA, though today the 125mph/200kmh Bullet Train (the Tokaido New Train Line) will get you there faster. Gotemba today is more of a mountain resort with Mt. Fuji and the Hakone National Park near-by where many hot spas are located; a reachable get-away retreat from the busy buzz of the huge metropolis of Tokyo.

Mr Yoshiho Matsuda has had his automobile museum in Gotemba for 20 years now, making public what is his personal collection. But as they say "Rome was not built in a day". For the Western readers who are kind and curious enough to read this story, we in Japan must advise you that many museums of decent size and content are almost all run by the government, local or national, and none are automobile in nature. Even in 2002 the largest car museum is Toyota's, built in the booming early 1990's.

Mr Matsuda was born in Tokyo and now at the age of 61, runs his family business of office rental and buildings. Having graduated from the Economic Department of Keio University (the equivalent of Harvard Law School in the USA) he has always been interested in cars, and was a member of the university car club while in college.

The main building with its concrete and glass facade invites the visitors to enter a public view of a very personal collection.

However, our favorite hobby and transport was a luxury in Japan for many years. Decades ago huge American cars could be seen on the streets of Tokyo, but were limited to governmental use. The typical "man on the street" was without a car. The fledging automobile industry was still trying to recover in the 1940's and most people were hard at work getting things back together. Free trade was not allowed until the early 1960's.

It was not easy for an individual importing something from overseas. Even taxi companies had difficulty obtaining automobiles. They obediently waited until the agencies and corporations purchased a new batch of sedans, so that they could get hand-me-down, used cars and transform them into taxis. There were no VISA or Master cards then either!

In the 1950s, a famous movie star, Yujiro Ishihara, and a wrestler by the name of Rikidozan brought hope to the man on the street, with their flair and strength on the silver screen and in the ring. Fans also became aware that the two stars both owned a Gullwing Mercedes 300-SL. Such marques as Ferrari, Porsche and Lotus were seen racing in the first Japanese GP in 1963. Japanese car enthusiasts were initiated to a new world, but it is easier to hitch a ride on the NASA Space Shuttle today than to buy these pure competition cars back in the early years.

The Tokyo Olympic Games in 1964 declared the start of a new era. Six-lane avenues were constructed and those who could afford a car did not have to rely on our reliable train systems for transport. Trading firms began importing American and European cars that could be used for transport and also for fun.

By the late '60s Toyota, Nissan and other major manufacturers began to produce cars with a sporting flavor, in addition to their square-shaped, mundane sedans. The industry was gaining strength, and car enthusiasts read of European and American cars in magazines. Some, like Mr. Matsuda, decided they should own them.

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Part II Coming Soon