This automated car park in Japan effortlessly swallows cars like magic

This automated car park in Japan effortlessly swallows cars into what looks like an underground maze of vehicles.

The car park in the Roppongi Hills area of Tokyo was visited by a Japan-based Youtuber who showed via dashcam what happens to your car when you leave it in one of the country’s many automated car parks.

It seems otherworldly if your idea of a car park is a standard tarmac space that you drive your own vehicle into.

In Tokyo, things are done a bit differently.

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Tokyo’s remarkable ‘magic’ car park

The city has over three million vehicles for a population of over 30 million people.

Combine that with a nationwide law against on-street parking and there’s not much space for vehicles to go.

So what’s the solution? Underground!

The video shows the Audi being loaded on to the platform before dropping down into the maze of parked cars below.

Warnings on the display tell the driver to lock doors, apply the handbrake, and retract the aerial.

The latter probably applies to those 80s and 90s car owners whose vehicles were made back when electric retracting aerials were a thing.

The car then slides backwards and is parked in a row of cars all on their individual platforms.

As the car slides back, it’s clear to see how standard the car park is for the city.

Among the cars it parks beside are a Honda Insight, a Toyota Ist, and a Honda Life kei car.

Not the sort of cars that would hit seven figures on the auction block, but still.

Certainly, there’s far less technical car parks with many more supercar treasures within, including this London car park full of Ferraris and Bentleys.

The car park in Japan isn’t without critics

Commenters questioned how cars in winter would fare being stacked on top of each other after driving on salty roads.

However, others remarked that Japan does not salt its roads in winter, choosing instead to use tire chains or just to let the snow melt naturally.

It also makes you wonder what you’d do if you forgot something on the backseat or if you needed to run to your car to grab something last minute. A little bit trickier if your car is on a robotic platform several feet underground!

Another question could be how it will cope with growing car sizes.

As cars get larger, will they have to increase the size of the platforms in the same way some cities are increasing the width of their parking spaces?

In any case, while it might not be an experience for your Tokyo holiday – unless driving through the city’s fearsome traffic jams is high on your agenda – it’s still a pretty cool thing to see.