The Honda welcome plaza in Tokyo, full of exhibits from the manufacturer's rich motorsport past, always tends to be a busy place in the build-up to the Japanese Grand Prix. But this year crowds were, by and large, there to see one person in particular: Yuki Tsunoda, making his first public appearance as a Red Bull Formula 1 driver.
Our Video Production Manager Luke Hinsull was among the crowds there to welcome Tsunoda. Here's his impressions of the day.
It's the final day at Honda's welcome plaza as we know it, which has hosted countless Honda automotive and vehicular legends.
Currently, Tsunoda's VCARB02 is sitting in the lobby but it's sat among championship- and race-winning cars and bikes: Senna's McLarens and Lotus 99T, Max Verstappen's RB16B, and Marc Marquez's Hondas from over the years.
Honda's presence here in Minami-Aoyama, Tokyo was housed in a massive modern building on the crossroads at Aoyama station. Its purpose as a venue is "to showcase Honda's products and corporate values, make visitors feel at home, and provide the joy of experiencing the expanding lifestyle possibilities for all people".
Its also a really good place to show off your Honda-backed driver who (finally) has just got a Red Bull seat.
It's just gone 7am, and already at least a few hundred people are here - and it's still an hour or so before things open for tickets. Feet of steel are definitely required for the day ahead.
As the queue opens, it's clear to see Yuki hype is in full effect: there's plenty of Red Bull Racing and Tsunoda merchandise of show. Not that that's enough to stop me from trying to join the line to see F1 podium finisher and double Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato - which is dwarfed by the queue to hear from Tsunoda.
An hour and a half later and the queue is moving - and they've stopped taking people at the end of it. So I think I've got a ticket - fingers, crossed, anyway.
Old and young fans of all demographics have come here, and the atmosphere is generally enthusiastic and chipper. Though there's a solemness to it all - as it seems like a lot of Honda fans are coming to pay their respects to the building.
It should be noted that today isn't just about Tsunoda (although he's the most popular part by far). Others appearing at the plaza today include the aforementioned Sato, fellow former F1 driver Satoru Nakajima, Takumi Takahashi (British Superbikes/MotoGP), Trial rider Tomoyuki Ogawa, former Super GT and sometime World Touring Car driver Ryo Michigami, and multiple 500cc race winner Tadayuki Okada.
Having heard from Okada and Takahashi, I am offered to add my own post to Honda's 'Dreams' wall. As one part of the management team explains to me, "Every company needs a dream".
Ordinarily you'd dismiss that as some quirky word salad but you have to recognise, in an F1 capacity in particular, Honda's growth and recovery since it entered this era of hybrid engines. It worked hard to turn around that nightmare into a dream - so you get it.
The atmosphere remains really relaxed as the plaza opens up while the talks are on going. There's lots of interest in Tsunoda's show car which - with my F1 tech hat on - is actually fairly proper: it's an AlphaTauri AT03, with a few AT04 parts and a VCARB01 nose. It's really interesting to get a look in detail at these cars, even if it is a few years old.
(As an aside: what's this? Potential hints of a white Red Bull at Suzuka for one last dance with Honda...?)
It's lunchtime now - gone 1pm - and finally, here's the main man, who arrives to a rapturous reception.
The talk theme is master and student dialogue, so a lot of the talk early on is about Tsunoda's career to date - remember how big a part Honda has played in that - his ups and downs, the challenges faced and the 'master', his old Dragocorse boss, Michigami, feeding back on finally letting him go to race in Europe.
As the conversation turns to the topic that everyone's most interested to hear about, Tsunoda's keen to recognise just how busy this period has been getting prepped to join Red Bull's senior team at his home race.
What we're able to decipher from our AI-assisted translation tool of choice is to be taken with a pinch of salt. But while there's an obvious note of caution he does seem to suggest he's optimistic about adapting to the tricky RB21 - he suggests he didn't find it so complicated to drive, presumably on the simulator - and there's a whisper about the potential for a podium (with the caveat that he'll need time to understand the car), which understandable brings a loud cheer from the crowd.
As Tsunoda's appearance winds down, concluding with feel-good career look backs, Honda's involvement in his career, and his own memories of his younger self attending similar exhibits at Honda welcome plaza, what's not lost on me is the significance of this moment not just for Tsunoda, but to Honda, and Japan, itself.
