Metropolitan Police Department arrested Brazilian man, Danilo Gomes da Rocha, on suspicion of operating illegally modified and poorly maintained Japanese sports cars on sightseeing trips for inbound visitors.
Danilo Gomes da Rocha, 34, ran tours taking foreign tourists around Tokyo and its vicinity in Japanese sports cars that generated about 200 million yen ($1.3 million) in annual sales.
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20260122/p2g/00m/0na/034000c
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I would suggest these are more dangerous and less regulated than go karts.
There are so many of these companies and “tours”. This particular guy use to argue with everyone on Facebook that told him he was operating white taxi’s under the guise of “tours”. Happy he’s arrested, I hope they go after the rest of these stupid “tours”. Dumb tourists paying Â¥40,000 per person to ride around in someone elses car.
I will not mention any names but here is my experience with this whole topic.
I’ve worked for a similar business driving a Skyline for a couple of months. These businesses are pretty shady and had a huge impact on the local car culture in Japan.
Not all but most of the cars are illegally modified. Usually before annual inspections (shaken), all the cars are put back into a state which allows them to pass it and afterwards they just put the modifications back on.
The Skyline I drove had bald tires, an always locked different and no abs or traction control. Driving it in the rain was scary af.
That’s only a part of the issue.
A more serious problem is.
Many of the drivers that drive for these company vehicles are inexperienced with the power of these cars like I was. Or they have a big ego and try to show off their driving skills.
Accidents have happened.
Recently another driver crashed a R35, with customers on board. He was trying to impress them by driving at very high speeds and doing risky overtaking maneuvers.
And for people that don’t know:
-the highways in Tokyo are mostly two lanes and very tight with the highest speed limits being 60km/h on the parts that run through the city and 80km/h on the bayshore route.
-Also there are no acceleration lanes. Cars drive directly onto the highways which is why cars have to give way for entering vehicles. That means that vehicles will change lanes suddenly.
– the roads are also pretty curvy compared to highways in the US or Europe. You can’t really see what’s going on in front of you after that curve.
The C1, C2-Loop and Bayshore route (wangan) are famous for street racing but usually that happens at 2 am when the city is sleeping and the roads are empty. At 5-8pm when the tours are taking place that’s not the case.
And then the biggest issue for the government:
Tax evasion
These businesses are usually cash only. So tracing money is very difficult. And I’m not talking about small amounts.
I was getting paid pretty good and with just two cars you were able to make 4 digit revenue per day.
I was paid a quarter of the revenue I got in the car I drove in cash.
Also some other legal issues are
In Japan you need a taxi/chauffeur license in order to drive other people around and get paid for it, which basically no one had. It also has to do with insurance policies.
That’s just my experience and understanding. I could be wrong at some points but yeah…
It was a fun time and I understand why people do it… but I also understand why the government and the police try to crack it down.
This is why I recommend people to just rent a car if they want to go to Daikoku. I’m not entrusting my life to random people charging $300-500 USD for a ride not knowing anything about the driver.
After reading the article, ot specifically says he was arrested for having a “operating illegally modified and poorly maintained sports car”. I don’t particularly agree with the whole tour thing but being arrested for a loud exhaust seems like a bit of a reach.
Nice. About damn time.
If you’re making that much money why not just get the permits and a mechanic and do it right?