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| La Festa Mille Miglia marks its 21st year. Last year marked the 20th anniversary of the event, and this year it made a new start with the Urabandai route it used to take. Starting in 1997, La Festa Mille Miglia took place on the route from Tokyo to Urabanda for 14 years until 2010. However, due to the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, the event was forced to change the route, and for the first time in eight years, it runs in Fukushima. For many of this year's entrants, this is the first time taking the Urabandai route, and I realized again that eight years had already passed since then. According to the weather forecast, it would rain in the morning in Tokyo, but the rain didn't interfere with the start. The four-day journey of approximately 1,400 km kicked off with the entrants setting off on time from Meiji Shrine in Harajuku at noon. The entrants left Meiji Shrine and headed to the first competition site, TSUTAYA BOOKS in Daikanyama. Every year PC competition (a measurement competition to drive a designated section in a designated time in seconds and compete for accuracy of time) in TSUTAYA is held in the results open format. It's an important competition as the results would affect the final results. Some of the entrants looked satisfied with their results, and others disappointed. The party traveled north to Fukushima Prefecture. It was past 3 p.m. when the first car arrived at the next point, Kyororon-Mura in Nishigou Village. They passed through Okawa Furusato Park in Shimogo Town, Ouchijuku, and Enzoji Temple in Yanaizu Town, and by the time the last car arrived at the finish line in the Urabandai Lake Resort, Kitashiobara Village in the heavier rain, it was already past 9 p.m. Taking the Urabandai route increased the travel distance of day one by about 100 km from last year, causing problems to several of the cars. For even the cars that managed to cross the finish line safely, it must have been hard. How many of the participating cars will be able to run the rest of the enjoyable, yet tough route to the finish line? Day two will take a route of approximately 340 km going through three prefectures, Fukushima, Miyagi and Yamagata. The entrants will enjoy interacting with local people as many points are set on the route. （text & photo：Mika Iwamoto） |
 BUGATTI T22 BRESCIA sets off from Meiji Shrine with H.I.H. Princess Akiko watching  Praying for road safety before start  BENTLEY STANDARD 3LITRE competes PC competition in results open format at TSUTAYA BOOKS in Daikanyama  Entrants in ALFA ROMEO GIULIA VELOCE SPIDER respond cheers at Kyororon-Mura  Entrant in S.I.A.T.A. FIAT 500 GRAN SPORT gets last stamp at Urabandai Lake Resort |
