Mid Night Club

The organized mayhem of the Mid Night Club

You’re rich. You’re bored. You want to drive very fast. This should mean that you find your nearest racing circuit, book some time, and let loose. In 1980’s Japan, however, an elusive group of speed seekers set out to do things a bit differently. The Mid Night Club was formed in 1987.

This wasn’t the sort of club where anyone could rock up and apply. Potential members needed to prove themselves right for inclusion. You couldn’t simply be a well-to-do speed racer. Everyone wants to go fast. But Mid Night Club members want to do so while also maintaining the idea that safety of other motorists is a top priority.

The Mid Night Club would make the dash along the Shuto Expressway. A section called the Bayshore Route, or Wangan, served as top-speed shootout locale. Club members would arrive at a predetermined time in their high-horsepower heavily modified machines. And then they would set off in search of clearing 200 mph on their speedometers. There wasn’t a police car in the force that stood a chance of catching the Mid Night Club if they roared on past.

First rule of Mid Night Club…

The club was secretive. Those in didn’t speak of their involvement. Even all these decades later, and club members still don’t reveal themselves. The Mid Night Club came to an abrupt end in 1999. During a high-speed run, members of Bosozuku motorcycle gang attempted to crash the party. The cars kept running at a high rate of speed but soon entered a section of road with higher than usual traffic. There was a massive crash. Two bike-riding gang members died and eight motorists were sent to the hospital.

The club disbanded immediately.

The Mid Night Club lasted for 12 years. Over the course of that time, they made sure to run a very unsafe and illegal adventure in a manner that actively cared for the other motorists around them. It sounds crazy to say, of course, but it’s true. Until the one time it was no longer the case… and it all came to a halt of twisted metal, injured drivers, and deceased motorcycle gang members.

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3 responses to “The organized mayhem of the Mid Night Club”

  1. outback_ute Avatar
    outback_ute

    There must have been more than just speed keeping the police away, they can get pretty hardcore in dealing with ‘unruly’ motorists that regularly run in the same area/time. Also wasn’t there the case a year or two ago when some sort of supercar was crashed at one of Japan’s race tracks, and the Mid Night Club sticker was removed from it soon afterwards? As in ‘membership’ was revoked because they crashed.

    1. roguetoaster Avatar
      roguetoaster

      According to grainy and poorly translated videos of the ’90s the Midnight Club had a sort of understanding with the police. As in, the club members would speed on open sections, would leave space for isolated motorists of police officers, and slow down in more frequently congested areas.

      Banning members who violated the rules was common, although it’s hard to say how many club members there were at the very peak, but probably less than twenty, along with quite a few wannabes.

      1. Lokki Avatar
        Lokki

        I have a Japanese friend who was NOT a member of the Midnight Club per se but was heavily involved in the night racing scene on the Skyline. He spoke of a tacit understanding with the police – a policy of benign neglect- where cars might be wrecked but would be gone by dawn, and a pause in the action if grandma decided to trundle through the route in her Kei car. He also said that while his Nissan Skyline (the tool of choice for this adventure) was heavily modified all the stock parts were carefully kept and boxed and put back on the car when it was time for inspection. Yes, he had a bottle of the same yellow paint the inspectors used. I don’t know of any accidents involving other cars, but I was only hearing stories. When he moved to the States he bought a Z28, which he found crude but satisfying.