Tokyo was the first city visited in the World Grand Prix in Pixar’s Cars 2.
The film opens with the race series arriving in Japan, where Lightning McQueen competes against international racers including Francesco Bernoulli. The Tokyo race gives Cars 2 a markedly different setting from the American desert roads and small-town locations central to the first film.
Tokyo also provides the backdrop for the movie’s spy-story opening. Mater becomes involved with Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell after being mistaken for an undercover operative. The race and espionage plots then continue through later events in Italy and England.
Porto Corsa is the second World Grand Prix location, while London hosts the final major race. Because Cars 2 moves rapidly between cities, viewers sometimes remember London as the opening destination. Tokyo is the correct first stop, and its neon-lit streets, harbor, and race-course scenery are among the sequel’s defining visual settings.