Citroen DS in Japan

Japan

Many DS in Japan, maybe even a few hundreds, and everything related: clubs,
networks, specialists... The DS has been imported to Japan from the beginning of
its career, and amateurs with taste continue to ship cars from Europe.

Cars

A DS23 Safari, as the estate version was named for export, parked in
front of a traditional wall. It has been restored by the garage Javel to its
original condition. More pictures and the link to Javel

The Prestige of Mr. T, in a splendid condition. It even has the little
curtains for more privacy... More info and another picture

You do not get to meet so often in your life a Japanese gentleman who
introduces himself, in perfect French, with the words "I am an SMist, and
my son is a DSist". Well, this is exactly what happened to me. Full story
and pictures

A brown DS, found by chance on the street in Tokyo near Aoyama. More
pictures

Garages

Takemura-san called his Tokyo garage "Javel". He sells - did you
guess ? - Citroens, classic and modern. Including some DS, after a full
restoration to their original, perfect condition, so that his demanding
customers can use them in daily life. The amazing story and many
more pictures

Cinema

In the 2001 French action film titled "Wasabi", shot for the most part in
Tokyo and featuring Jean Reno and Ryoko Hirosue, actor Michel Muller
drives a local DS in several scenes. This must be presumed to stress
his "Frenchness"... More pictures

Clubs

About 3,500 French cars and 7,000 visitors... That gives you an idea of
the scale of the "French Blue Meeting", a yearly event organized by and
for amateurs of French cars, classic or not. And of course there are
several DS too. No less than fourteen of them during the latest and 20th
meeting, last October 2006 ! Many pictures

Page creation 20/05/2006, revision 13/04/2008

here

Himself a Citroen fan and a 2CV owner, Japan resident Guy de la
Rupelle could not believe what he saw, driving one sunny afternoon in the
Chiba area: a DS on the road, with French plate numbers. He managed
to stop the driver. Story and pictures

here

Suzuki-san dreamt of a DS since his high-school days. Now he's got
one, and a rare pre-1967 at that. Many pictures

here

The very first Japanese DS. In August, 1958, in front of the Akasaka
Prince Hotel in Tokyo, the "Citroen bomb" was unveiled in Japan for the
first time. Illustrations from France had already made some
appearances in auto magazines, but this time it was for real. The full
story is

here

The April 2006 edition of the French magazine "Vogue" featured a very
fashionable Japanese gentleman and his car. Not surprising, Saito-san
being the President of Hermes in Japan... and I have been told the
interior leather is also from Hermes. Yes. More pictures

here

It had to be done one day: a DS / Lamborghini Countach comparative
test ! The magazine Tipo (March 2005) did it. Now, which one of these
exclusive cars do you think is the winner ? Suspense... No other choice
but to look

here

The DS before the DS. In December 1955, images of the new DS19
were shown in Japan for the first time. The public had to wait a few more
years to see the real thing, but in the meantime, the Citroen star was to
be featured and analyzed at length in auto magazines. All the original
articles

here

Hayashi-san uses this rare US-export version of a 1971 DSpecial
almost every day. Many more pictures

here

The first "road impression" report of a DS test drive made on Japan's
roads was published in August 1959 by Shotaro Kobayashi, considered
today the father of Japan's motor journalism. Almost 50 years later, he
still remembers how "impressed" he was. Much more

here

Citroen's importer Nichifutsu Jidosha started an active promotion of the
DS in 1958. Not easy when very few people could afford, and were even
allowed, to purchase an imported car. Hatsuya-san, who was in charge,
remembers those heroic times. His interview, together with many rare
documents, is

here

Magazines

Documents

The DS in the streets of 1960's Tokyo, from 3 recent Japanese books
featuring the photo collections of amateurs who have spent their lifes
snapping pictures of cars... A few more rare pictures

The Citroen DS in Japanese brochures of 1964 and 1966, from Piero's
collection. All DS pages and the link to Piero's site

The "superlative object", as French writer Roland Barthes once put it,
was bound to inspire artists in Japan. From ink painting to plaster, from
origami to manga.... For a tour of the virtual museum, it's

here

The DS on the cover of Japanese magazines, in chronological order,
from 1958 to today. See the collection

here

The December 2005 issue of "Car Magazine" shows beautiful photos of
two black DS, shot one rainy evening in Tokyo. One of them belongs to
Akito Suzuki, a Citroen fan who also started to count the DS existing in
Japan. See

here