Circle April 10 and 11, 2027, because Japan's premier concours is coming back, and it's landing at a venue that's almost too good: Yakushiji Temple in Nara, the country's ancient capital. Classic Driver has the details, and I've already started doing the mental math on getting there.

If you've never been to Nara, understand what we're talking about here. This isn't some manicured modern event lawn. Yakushiji is a UNESCO World Heritage site, a temple complex founded in the 7th century with pagodas that have been standing in some form for well over a thousand years. Parking world-class classic cars in the shadow of that architecture? Most concours would kill for that backdrop. Pebble Beach has the ocean. Nara has thirteen hundred years of history.

And the drive there is half the point. Japan is criminally underrated as a road trip country. I've written before about Shikoku being the country's best-kept outdoor secret, and the interior roads around Nara and Kyoto are the same story: narrow, immaculately maintained mountain passes, tea fields, and driver etiquette so good you wonder why everywhere isn't like that. If you're shipping a car over or renting something interesting, plan the routes into Nara from the Kansai region as carefully as the event itself.

The concours scene in Japan has been quietly excellent for years. You get domestic classics you almost never see in the West (think Nissan Skylines and Toyota 2000GTs alongside European metal), and collectors who genuinely drive their cars. That last part matters to me. A concours where the vehicles arrived under their own power feels different from one where everything rolled off a transporter.

Practical notes if you're tempted: April is cherry blossom season in Kansai, so it's gorgeous and it's crowded, in that order. Book lodging in Nara or Kyoto roughly a year out, don't wait. The temple sits just west of central Nara, and the city is an easy train hop from Kyoto or Osaka if you're going car-light for part of the trip. Also, Nara Park's famous bowing deer will absolutely eat anything you leave in an open window. Consider that a gear note.

Eighteen months of lead time sounds like a lot, but international trips with a car involved never are. I've been burned before by assuming I'd figure it out later, and later turned into sleeping in a rental van outside a fully booked town. Learn from my mistakes on this one.

A thousand-year-old temple, cherry blossoms, and cars with actual soul. Some invitations you just don't decline.