This place was stumbled upon by pure chance. As Tokyo Auto Salon on Friday didn’t start until 2pm, I thought to kill time by checking out the glitz and glamour of Tokyo’s upmarket district, Ginza. My carparazzi mode was activated (actually, it’s probably never switched off). I was hoping to spot lots of exotic supercars because you know, it’s Ginza. Sadly for me, there were none to be seen that morning. This was all made up for when I saw a very swanky building with the words Nissan Crossing and a white R35 GT-R parked within it. Excitedly, I rushed over and once at the front, realised it was "that" Nissan customer experience centre I had read about last year.

I intended to make a beeline to the hotel to pick up my DSLR before departing to the Makuhari Messe that afternoon, so unfortunately, didn’t have it on me during my time at the Nissan Crossing. Apologies in advanced for the nugget-spec photos as they were regrettably taken with my iPhone 5c.

Nissan Crossing is an experience centre which showcases Nissan’s products with an emphasis on future technology and concepts. Upon entry, I was calmly greeted by the Gripz concept car, which supposedly has some design ques from the original 240Z.

Here is the aforementioned white R35 GT-R but immediately, I knew it was the 2017 Nismo version. This is the current flagship, big-daddy GT-R on sale by Nissan and the performance is phenomenal. The updated 3.8-liter, twin snail powered VR38DETT now spits out 441kw (591HP)/652nm, fast enough to accelerate the 1739kg chassis from a stand still to 100km/h in just 2.7 seconds. That’s quicker than a Koenigsegg Agera S and Lamborghini Aventador SV! Nissan recently confirmed that they deemed Australia worthy enough (i.e. have enough cashed up buyers) for the tricked out GT-R Nismo, with the car set to go on sale locally this month. Prices start at a jaw-dropping $299,000 AUD before on-road costs, a $110,000 premium over the regular model.

The Nissan Crossing experience centre occupies the first two floors of the building, while a separate restaurant can be found on the third. Here on the second floor was a virtual reality racing setup where you are given the experience of ridding shotgun in a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 race car. Four tracks were available and being the true Aussie that I was, elected to experience Bathurst, i.e. Mount Panorama Circuit. With my butt firmly seated in the tight yet comfortable R35 GT-R Nismo Recaro seat, I swiftly set off. The experience was pretty cool, as most VR demos are but I would have loved to be the one doing the driving instead.

Pictured below is the Leading Environment Friendly Affordable Family car or more commonly referred to as the Nissan Leaf. This particular Leaf featured a livery designed by famed Japanese artist, Nawa Kouhei. Next to it was the Note e-Power (currently not available in Australia) which is hybrid in nature but uses the petrol engine to charge the battery and not the other way around. This thing has an insane fuel mileage of 2.7 litres/100km.

The second floor further featured a standing-shop selling a range of Nissan and Nismo merchandise, as well as a swag in-house cafe. Want to order a latte with a chocolate Hakosuka printed on it? No problems. How about an S30 Fairlady Z? The Nissan Crossing cafe has you covered.

A short walk away from the Ginza Station, the Nissan Crossing is opened almost every day of the year. Entry is free as well. It’s the perfect spot for any petrol-head to unwind and have a coffee with a chocolate printed vehicle of their choice after a long day of shopping in Ginza. From February 2017, Nissan’s Vision Gran Turismo car, the Nissan Concept 2020 will be exhibited at the Nissan Crossing. Now that would’ve been an extravagant car to have randomly stumbled upon.