Drive Japan and Clear Out America!

Based on the more-frequent-than-usual Blog posts, it’s probably obvious that a lot is going on. The latest are two things that will definitely be of interest, including a huge clearance sale!

Drive Japan

One of the things I’ve wanted to do for a long time, but was never enough of a priority, is to offer tours in Japan. It’s something I do whenever a friend comes to visit me here, and I truly do enjoy it. Back when my wife and I had our wedding ceremony in Yokohama, most of my guests that came had never been to Japan before and were asking me for advice on what to do while here. Due to the timing, my wife and I weren’t able to go directly from our wedding to a honeymoon, so instead I carved out some time for my guests and took them around Tokyo and Osaka. Every single one of my guests said that the trip exceeded their expectations and a couple even said I should start giving tours professionally, but I shrugged off the suggestion. Given how much else I’ve been dealing with, it was never a high enough priority to actually do anything about as a business. Trying to fix Redpants USA while also establishing Redpants Japan was enough to stretch me to [and past] my limits as it was. Now that things are mostly running somewhat smoothly again for Redpants USA, and Redpants Japan is up and running, I’ve got enough bandwidth freed up to take on more.

Enter my buddy Floris, who comes to Japan once or twice a year for work and carves out some time to meet up with me each trip. On his latest visit, he wanted to rent a fun car and go for a drive. The rental company I happen to know wasn’t available but I was able to find another for him to use for a car, and I laid out a quick itinerary that would get him out of Tokyo and onto some fun roads.

Floris and another friend of his, Roo, rented a Ferrari Portofino and I led them in my Aston Martin V8 Vantage to Hakone.

Roo, Floris, and Rich in Hakone, Japan.

At one point we stopped for a few quick pictures at a scenic overlook. While Roo was having a chat with a local guy that happened to be parked nearby and had kindly offered to take a group picture for us, Floris asked why I wasn’t doing this professionally. I explained that I didn’t have the time or energy to take on anything more than I already had on my plate, and then briefly vented about how messed up my life had been the last few years (sorry for unloading, Floris). He understood but encouraged me to give it a shot because he saw a lot of potential in it, and could tell how happy I was doing it despite my therapy dump.

That night, after they returned the Ferrari, the three of us plus my wife were having dinner and Floris mentioned that the guy that owned the rental car company, Olivier, knew who I was. Turns out, he also has a 2014 Aston Martin DB9 and knew of me because of that. Floris again pushed me to consider giving tours and put me in touch with Olivier. The result: Redpants Japan and RentMeJP are teaming up to offer guided driving tours!

One of the things I wanted to avoid from the outset was the typical Wildo-Speedo thing (uh, that’s the Japanese name for Fast and Furious). If anyone wants to do that, there are companies out there already doing it… for better or for worse. My goal is to cater to those that want to enjoy driving nice cars in areas that can’t be accessed or even seen from a train window. Japan is such a beautiful country but most tourists that come here only see the same few places - Tokyo, Osaka, and Kyoto - and very few venture out into the countryside. A car is needed to get to some of the most scenic areas, so why not take a nice one like an Aston Martin DB9, Ferrari Portofino, or Porsche 911 Targa 4 GTS?

By partnering up with RentMeJP, we can offer guided driving tours that keep things as stress-free and enjoyable as possible, whether that’s for single-day routes or overnight itineraries. The tours start and end in Shibuya, near two different train stations for easy access. Car rentals include insurance, ETC (automated toll road payments), and fuel - and there’s no need to refill the car before returning it. We lead the way so you don’t have to worry about getting lost or figuring out the sometimes-complicated road signage, and we have radios in each car to keep in contact in case anything comes up while driving. Plus, all of our tours are private so we can tailor them to your tastes, schedule, and budget. We’re like a concierge tour service, but with really cool cars.

I may or may not have finished setting up the online booking system by the time you read this. Regardless of if it’s done or not, please feel free to contact me through that website if you’re interested in a tour! Redpants Japan is a separate company so communications for each one’s products and services need to be kept separate as well.

I’ve already met a lot of you at events, and even a few that have reached out during trips to Japan, and it’ll be great to meet more of you in person. And rest assured that I’ll do everything I can to make your trip as enjoyable and memorable as possible!

Oh, that reminds me… I still owe my wife a honeymoon.

woopsies

Redpants, LLC (“Redpants USA”) and Redpants Godo-Kaisha (“Redpants Japan”) are two separate legal entities. Redpants Japan is a Japanese company registered and operating in Yokohama, Japan.

Clearance Sale

The time has come to finally clear out the last of my inventory from the US! My last few Blog Posts have already covered what’s been going on so I won’t rehash it again. But, feel free to check those out if you need a reminder or haven’t yet read them.

All of the items marked as Clearance items have their own product listings, which will show up at the very beginning of the Redpants Online Store. These items are being treated the same as Garage Sale items: all sales are final – no returns, refunds, or exchanges will be accepted. The Clearance items specifically are those that are still in the US and are being sold at a large discount to reduce the cost of my final relocation shipments to Japan. Most items are marked 15-30% off, so you should be able to save quite a bit if you want to stock up on parts!

Not only are they on sale, they’re also all located inside the US, which means they won’t be subject to any of the new tariffs that are affecting virtually all shipments into the US. Since I’ve already reconfigured my shipping system for keeping my inventory in Japan and shipping from here, a USPS option will not be available during checkout, but most orders will likely ship via USPS regardless of what is chosen during checkout.

The items being sold on clearance are limited. Once a product sells out, or when the clearance sale ends, the product listing will be removed and that price will no longer be available. It’s a clearance sale for a reason! I’m expecting to end the clearance sale at the end of September, but this may change with or without notice.

Redpants Products

Redpants products are continuing to roll out!

My all-new Redpants titanium lug nuts are in production, and the bare titanium ones have already sold out! If you missed out, they can still be ordered but please allow a couple weeks (from the writing of this Blog post) for them to be restocked. I’ll resume shipping those as soon as my next batch of inventory arrives.

Also all-new are my Redpants titanium door sill plaques and engine plaques! These are highly customizable and are a great way to add a personal touch to your Aston Martin. They’re available in the same finishes as my lug nuts, so you can coordinate the look on your car if you appreciate those tiny details as much as I do!

Also also all-new are my Redpants front corner markers and rear corner markers, which are both in stock. These are completely different and MUCH higher quality than the original Redpants corner markers. I still don’t have an ETA for the side repeaters but I’ll make some announcements once I have some solid information to share with everyone.

Pre-production testing continues for my famous Redpants oil catch can kits. My manufacturer is in the process of setting up a new facility and we’ll be able to continue once that has finished. Again, I’ll make announcements as more info is available.

Keep Current

Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel and turn on notifications so you know when I put out a new video about Aston Martins, parts, products, and DIY information.

My second YouTube channel is for Redpants Unzipped. It focuses on events and travel in Japan and elsewhere.

I hate social media so I’m rarely on it. If you want to get in touch, email me or use my Contact page (they both go to the same email address). If you message me on a Redpants social media page, it should say to email me. If you try to message me on a personal page, it won’t be seen.

I notify people when I publish Monthly Updates by sending out a Newsletter. If you’re not subscribed to my Newsletter, you can do so here:

Okay, that’s it this time. I’ll push out Blog Posts as needed in addition to my monthly ones, so make sure you check back if you want to see those.