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| This is the 14th time the La Festa Primavera 2023 has been held. This year’s event takes a new route through Hokuriku via Hida Takayama. We are so excited to visit new towns and cities and to meet a lot of new people there. Our four-day spring journey has just started. It felt more like early summer than spring on day one. The 60 cars gathered at Atsuta Jingu Shrine, and set off at 11:00 am. They competed a PC competition (a measurement competition to drive a designated section in a designated time in seconds) at NTP Nagoya Toyopet, and received a stamp at the Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology. After visiting those two points in Nagoya City where the event passes through every year, the cars headed to Nakatsugawa City in Gifu Prefecture. When the cars were driving into Nakatsugawa City, many children were waving flags on the sidewalk. The children seemed to be so looking forward to the arrival of the cars and the entrants. They made us smile naturally. In Nakatsugawa City, the entrants received a stamp at Magomekan, then headed to Nagiso Town in Nagano Prefecture. The entrants passed through the municipal second parking lot near Tsumagojuku in Nagiso Town and traveled north to Kiso Town. In Kiso Town, they received a stamp at Michi-no-Eki Mitake and started a PC competition. After competing another PC competition at Taiyo-no-Oka Park, they returned to Gifu Prefecture, heading to Michi-no-Eki Hida Takane Kobo, the last stamp point of day one, in Takayama City. After receiving a stamp at Michi-no-Eki Hida Takane Kobo, the entrants headed to HOTEL ASSOCIA TAKAYAMA RESORT. Compared to Nagoya where the event started, the temperature was as many as 10 degrees lower and the entrants crossed the finish line in the cold air. On day one, the entrants traveled approximately 230km. Even for the entrants who participate every year, driving in new scenery must have been refreshing and fun. On the way from the last point to the hotel, weeping cherry blossoms were blooming on both sides of the road, and the contrast between the pale pink of the cherry blossoms and the green of the mountains and the blue of the sky and the river was beautiful and impressive. On day two, the entrants are driving approximately 380km, starting from Takayama City in Gifu Prefecture and passing through Toyama Prefecture to Nanao City in Ishikawa Prefecture. It is going to be a long drive again, but I hope they will complete the whole distance while enjoying the scenery they see for the first time and meeting new people. （text & photo／Mika Iwamoto） |
 BUGATTI T22 BRESCIA sets off from Atsuta Jingu Shrine  Praying for road safety at Atsuta Jingu Shrine before start  BUGATTI T37 going into stamp point, municipal second parking lot in Nagiso Town  BENTLEY 4 1/4L D.H.C. VANDEN PLAS competing PC Competition at Michi-no-Eki Mitake  TRIUMPH TR2 receives stamp at Michi-no-Eki Mitake |
