It’s no secret Japan’s supercar owners like to do things differently. Whether it’s sticking riveted over-fenders on Porsches or turning or Lamborghinis into LED displays on wheels, these people have no limits. But every now and then you’ll get someone who tops the rest for sheer ridiculousness, and that’s exactly what Hajime-san and Torako have done.
Hajime-san regularly drives his Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni around the streets of central Tokyo and is usually accompanied by his wife and Torako, their 8-year old American Shorthair cat. There are far too many supercar owners who don’t drive their cars out often. Many of them won’t even let mere peasants inside.
But then you have Hajime-san and Torako who are out so often that Torako is also referred to a the “Lambo Cat.”
So how does one get a cat accustomed to this lifestyle? Much like children, start them young. Hajime-san said Torako has been riding in cars since she was three months old. Her first car was a Mercedes-Benz SL. There was no formal training involved, per se, it was a matter of letting her get used to it. In no time she was used to living life in the fast lane.
At the age of six, Torako started riding Hajime-san’s Gallardo. She hasn’t looked back, and is now very much in tune with the Lamborghini lifestyle. Hajime-san still has the SL which he uses on occasion, but Torako prefers riding in the Lambo, because of course she does. Any sane person would as well.
Torako lives the high life, man. She’s got her own custom made outfits too with faux jackets and trendy accessories. Of course she has her own Instagram page too, because it’s 2018 after all.
It’s no surprise wherever they go they’re swarmed with attention. Incredibly, Hajime-san says whenever they park up, like they did in Ginza when we met, the Lambo rarely gets any attention. All cameras point towards Torako.
And she loves it. Torako loves the attention but she won’t look directly at the camera—that’d be too obvious. If you want her to look at you, you really have to work to get her attention. She doesn’t mind humans but apparently she’s not so keen on screaming children.
Within five minutes of Hajime-san parking up at Ginza, crowds of people went up to get a closer look at Torako, mainly pairs of old ladies. There were lots of kawaii (cute) being thrown around and people asking if it’s okay to take photos.
Torako’s favorite spot is on top of the instrument gauges, blocking Hajime’s sight when driving, but she’ll also sit on the passenger side dash or with Hajime-san’s wife. He says he doesn’t mind driving with Torako by now. It’s only tricky when she’s wearing some of her larger outfits.
Now that she’s in a Lamborghini, she doesn’t mind going fast either. On her Twitter (I mean whose cat doesn’t have a Twitter these days?) there’s video of her going around around Fuji Speedway while she’s calmly sat on top of the instrument clusters.
That’s what surprised me most about Torako; she’s extremely well behaved on the move. I’ve seen some aggro cats in my time, but Torako’s incredibly tame.
Apparently other supercar owners in Tokyo have tried to do the same with their pet cats, but unsurprisingly they weren’t too cooperative. As it stands, Torako is the only cat to regularly ride around in a supercar in Japan’s capital.
Also, Hajime-san has taken delivery of a gold (Oro Elios) Aventador S. I’m sure Torako will appreciate the upgrade. The gold definitely suits her diva lifestyle.