Our First EPM

On November 2, my husband’s beloved GT3 was displayed at Exciting Porsche Meeting (EPM) 2019, held at the GLION MUSEUM in Osaka. The event had been held at Yokohama’s Red Brick Warehouse in previous years, but this time it was coming to Osaka. Many Porsche owners my husband knew were also planning to bring their cars.

Before the event, my husband told me it would run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. “What are you supposed to do there for that long? Do people vote on which Porsche is the best or something?” I asked. “I don’t know. There’s no schedule or anything. I think we just display our cars,” he replied.

“But isn’t there nowhere nearby to kill time? Are you really going to stay there for seven hours?” I asked. “I’m not sure, but I’ll go and see,” he said.

The Red Brick Warehouse in Yokohama is surrounded by sightseeing spots and attracts plenty of visitors, but I wondered what the atmosphere would be like in Osaka’s Chikko district. I was feeling a little under the weather, so I had already decided not to go.

My Husband Comes Home for a While

On the day of the event, my husband left around 6 a.m. to drop off the car. But just after 9, I got a message: “I caught up with some of the Royu crew, but there’s not much to do, so I’m heading home for a bit.” He left the GT3 at the venue and was back home by around 10:30.

I never expected him to come home in the middle of it… lol

“There’s not much nearby except the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan. And people kept asking, ‘Hey, isn’t your wife coming today?’ lol”

Hearing that made me want to see the event after all, so once we’d had lunch, we decided to head over.

The weather stayed sunny all day (maybe it cleared up because I wasn’t planning to go lol), and when we arrived, around 150 Porsches were lined up. There were lots of air-cooled cars, though I hear the Yokohama event usually has more water-cooled models, too.

My husband brought his GT3 Touring. He told me there were only three GT3 Tourings on display that day, including his.

I was amazed by how many people had come from Kyushu, Nagoya, and the Tokyo area, judging by their license plates. They must have driven all the way there themselves—that’s impressive. As we looked at the Porsches one by one, my husband kept pointing out cars and explaining what made them special: “This one is incredibly rare!”

Some of the models were ones I’d never seen before. It struck me that you don’t often get the chance to see so many Porsches together—including such rare examples. As we walked around, we also ran into people we usually see at Royu. One person told us they’d gone to the aquarium to see the whale sharks because there wasn’t much else to do.

Well, that makes sense—you’d probably do the same thing lol.

And of all the roughly 150 Porsches on display, our kids’ favorite was apparently a little green toy Porsche. (lol)

So adorable! (lol)

I had a great time at the event. I finally got to meet in person someone I’d exchanged comments with several times, and I also met Yamaken, who had made the trip all the way from Tokyo by bullet train.

If the event is held in Osaka—or perhaps Kobe—again, I might go as a spectator next time. Bringing a car means committing to a full day, after all.