Meeting “The Challenge” at 37th Tokyo Motor Show

The Tokyo Motor Show is one of Japan’s biggest, hottest and most important trade fairs. Since the first Tokyo Motor Show in 1954, it has blossomed into what is arguably the most popular Japanese exhibition, attracting visitors from all across Japan and the world.

Held at the Makuhari Messe (Nippon Convention Center) in Chiba Prefecture from October 25 – November 5, this year’s show attracted over 1.4 million visitors. In fact, numbers were so optimistic and overseas visitors so plentiful it spurred talk of an economic recovery.

Like the Japanese auto industry itself, competition at the show was fierce. Some 263 companies, 4 governments (Canada, Germany, Sweden, U.S.A.) and organizations from 14 other countries were represented, each parading their latest models in the best possible light. While features and technical details are important, on the show floor appearance is all that matters.

Over 300 Martin fixtures were incorporated into a wide variety of booths and vehicle unveilings for automobile manufacturers Citroen, Eclipse, Daihatsu, GM (Cadillac, Chevrolet, GM Suzuki), Mazda, Mitsubishi and Nissan. Martin fixtures were also utilized on motorcycle manufacturer booths such as Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha. More than 2/3 of all automated fixtures at the show were Martin with supply from Martin Professional Japan.

Many of the booths were simply stunning, utilizing a variety of MiniMACs, MAC 250, MAC 250 Krypton, MAC 300, MAC 500, MAC 600, MAC 2000 series, and Alien 02 to paint and decorate both set pieces and the vehicles themselves. Special mention should be made of the Alien 02, whose complementary design fit in ideally and whose color change was used quite effectively at an elegant Nissan booth.

This year’s show theme was “The Challenge: Driving Towards a Better Future” with visitors able to test-drive the latest fuel cell, hybrid and CNG vehicles. The Motor Show then moved on to Nagoya and Osaka.

Martin equipment

22 x MiniMAC
7 x MAC 250
4 x MAC 250 Krypton
31 x MAC 300
64 x MAC 500
151 x MAC 600
16 x MAC 2000 Series
38 x Alien 02