Simply Japanese – 20th July 2025

Words and Pictures by Adam Woods, South East Chapter Coordinator

Simply Japanese at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in southern England is one of those national events that we should all attend at least once.

This year we went large and had 21 lovely Figs and (as always) lovelier owners in attendance.

With members arriving from various corners of the country and even by ferry, some stayed the night before, while others travelled early to get to our meeting place for 8:30 am. We all met 5 miles away at Tesco in Hythe, as did quite a few other attendees, but it’s always fab seeing Figs arriving one by one, while a bit of rain didn’t dampen excited spirits! With nearly all the tickets distributed (sorry Heidi and Kev!) a member’s friend kindly filmed as we left, and so began a convoy of fantastic Figgyness, across country, stopping for a brief moment to capture some photos of the long line of Figs!

And so we drove onto site at Beaulieu, with more opportunities for Figgy photos, and having passed through security, we headed towards our location, and got rows of Figs into position, the gazebo and bunting up, and were ready for the event starting at 10.30.

The morning was a little dreary, with a few showers here and there, but armed with brollies and coats, members welcomed visitors as the day got busier. As the day went on, the sun came out, and attendance picked up a little, with lots of interest in the cars from the broad age range of attendees.

Included in our tickets were visits to the grounds and National Motor Museum itself which has quite an array of vehicles from the last 100+ years, so members went off to visit those places, and of course see all the other Japanese cars in attendance. There were also some stalls to visit, though no sign of an autojumble as has been available in past years.

While Simply Japanese doesn’t have a best car club award, the organisers were very complimentary about the cars, and who knows, maybe next year they’ll introduce one!

By 3 pm, things were slowing down a little, and so we started to take things down, ready to finish up at around 4 pm.

Easily the best thing about attending an event like this is meeting the lovely owners. It’s always nice to catch up, or meet people you haven’t met before… and always a great atmosphere as people chat and laugh together.

Thanks to everyone who came, and everyone who came to visit. We’ll look forward to seeing you at another event soon!

Watch the video