As always, here are the links to the previous posts in this 6-part series. If you missed any of it, it is always recommended to go back and view it all….

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 1…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 2…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 3…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 4…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 5…

…and thank you once again to Mr. Koji Karimata for the photos from Part 5 and now, Part 6…

EK Civic hatchback on black nickel JLine wheels…

This is the white EK on dark blue CCW Classics that you saw in the Hot Import Kenoh coverage that was sitting on Tetsuya Yamaguchi’s U.S.-converted flatbed trailer…

A Civic Ferio that you’ve seen plenty of times before here on The Chronicles. The build features a nicely-tucked engine bay, BYS front bumper, and custom yellow-faced BBS wheels…

The EG hatchback with the L.A. Dodgers windshield banner that you saw in Mori’s coverage….I don’t know how well that would go over here with all these random haters walking around willing to damage a vehicle over someone’s like of a particular baseball team but I guess it is very “USDM”…

In a previous photo I posted of this EF, I had wondered about the use of the extra side molding on the doors and a viewer passed along some very valuable information: “the extra molding is known as ‘island molding’ in Japan. Back in the 80s and 90s Honda and many other dealers in hawaii offered it as an option for new cars and it is very desirable in Japan”…Thanks to user “Hondamatic” for the info…

Rarely ever see modded Celicas of this generation anymore but this one looks pretty good on Work XSAs…

Interesting how the IB Complete crew has a slew of Hondas that are all the same color. It reminds me a lot of the old school luxury VIP car clubs from Japan that all had matching cars. It makes for a cool look when you’re cruising together and really shows the unity of the group…

Civic coupe wearing a similar brownish-hue from IB Complete on blue Work Meister S1…

IB Complete ES2 Civic sedan on really aggressive Work Emotion CR wheels and featuring a K20A swap which is not very common anywhere in the world…

Kazuhito Hirabayashi’s CR-X del Sol has been one of the more recognizable Japanese Honda builds these last few years. I think he showed up either last year or the year before to a USDM Jam event with a sticker-bombed lip and boy am I glad that he doesn’t have that anymore, haha…

Here’s an EG that we hadn’t seen before prior to Part 6. The orange reminds me a lot of the Seeker Japan Hondas, and the build as a whole is pretty nicely done. It just needs a nice set of side mirrors and it is set…

Brown AP1 S2000 on what looks to be Work Gnosis GS1 wheels…

EK4 Civic SiR with EK9 front lip….

Custom Emerald Green DA Integra on BBS wheels…

White ITR with Spoon Sports carbon lip, J’s Racing front air duct, and BBS LMs…

I don’t believe we’ve had a chance to see this white Integra Type R yet prior to this day. I have a thing for WRD Chevlon wheels and I love it everytime I see a set mounted on a Honda…

This Civic is another build that we hadn’t seen before. It has a very circuit-inspired look and I wonder if there is any significant work under the hood. Love the beefy tires and the general theme of the car….

DB8 Honda Integra with Mugen front bumper and Mugen M7 wheels…

Koji Yonekawa’s EM1 SI-inspired coupe on silver Volk SE37K…

Shinichi Konno’s coupe, which is also EM1-inspired with sunroof and all, on Volk TE37SL…

Honda Integra with a color that reminds me a lot of BMW Laguna Seca Blue. I wonder if that was the owner’s intentions when he had the car re-sprayed…

White CR-X del Sol looking nice and simple on paint-matched BBS wheels and a pair for blue Recaro seats…

Another del Sol, this one you’ll probably recognize from Ujos Society…

In a previous post, I had also brought-up the question of what the reasoning was behind this VW enthusiast having multiple bumpers on display and once again, another informative reader also had some information about it to pass along: “I’m not sure if people will notice this, but that Red MK2 VW Golf has a ‘westy’ front end. It’s a front end that was given to cars built at the Westmoreland, PA plant in the US, so only US cars came with that radiator support. Of course, for the MK2 it’s a bolt on affair. The bumper on the ground is also a US bumper — the bumper on the car has a spot for a European plate.’ Thanks for the info!…

Tatsuhiko Murata’s Civic Ferio with Mugen EK4 front lip and grille, mixed with Mugen Ferio sides, rear lip, and wing. Interesting that he used a Spoon Sports hood but on another note, these re-barreled Mugen MR5s look great…

Really aggressive set of SSR Professor SP1 wheels on this AP1 S2000…

USDM EJ1 Civic coupe with shaved moldings and Weld Racing Magnum drag wheels used as street wheels…

Black DA6 Integra  with purple engine bay and re-lipped Mugen CF48 wheels…

Bronze Civic coupe that looks like it is straight from the early 2000s-era USDM Honda scene. The only modern touch on this coupe are the bronze-anodized Barramundi Eleven wheels…

Nothing more “USDM” than a windshield banner that says that you are “USDMing”…

CB Accord coupe with a pair of Bride seats, bronze Mugen MF8 wheels, black-housed USDM OEM headlights and aftermarket all-amber corners, U.S. front bumper and Xenon front lip…

This EF sedan is one of the cleanest EFs I have ever seen, whether it be U.S., Japan, or anywhere else in the world. Really well done….

DA Integra with USDM headlights and corners, sitting on Barramundi Toman wheels…

OsakaJDM EK on their Work-made Loop5 wheels…

Yayoi Torii’s EF9, representing OsakaJDM…

Yamamoto Mayumi’s EF…

Dumped Integra Si-VTEC on orange BBS mesh wheels…

Black USDM EJ1 Civic coupe that is also on BBS wheels. After seeing all these U.S. EJ1 coupes at USDM Jam, maybe DPK David should try to sell his coupe to someone in Japan because it seems like they would appreciate the car more than people would over here…

Shunsuke Takahashi’s S2000 from LEVEL ONE’s Japan chapter…

ASM-equipped S2000 that is usually a part of the same trio with Takahashi’s S2K…

…and Norifumi Kobayashi’s Accord Euro Wagon converted to resemble a U.S. TSX wagon…

The EF sedan that you saw quite a bit of from Shota Mori’s trip home following the USDM Jam 10 event…

As mentioned before, Teru Ito and his H22A Odyssey was the big winner that day. Congrats once again to him…

And we close out the 6-part USDM Jam series with one more photo of Koji Karimata’s DSM Eclipse/Talon. He also took an award home that day and was completely deserving. Thanks for looking everyone. See you all at the 2013 Eibach Honda Meet this weekend…

ALL THE INFORMATION THAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WEKFEST SAN JOSE IS LOCATED IN THIS LINK.

For you Instagram lovers and social media people, please share this proportionally-sized flyer below. Just save it and repost on all your favorite social media sites, thanks!!

SEE YOU THERE!

With Part 4, we closed out the coverage of the event from Shota Mori and today, we will be heading in a different direction and looking at the event through the eyes of another Japanese enthusiast, Koji Karimata. Karimata should be a familiar name to you who follow this site because he’s done some more for me before. He always provides in-depth coverage of every event he goes to and does a great job of capturing the cars that I have a particular interest in. I never tell him what to shoot or ask him to get anything in particular, he just gets the job done right and gets exactly what I need. Admittedly, Karimata told me that he was pretty burnt out from the trip to USDM Jam so the photos weren’t the greatest. I told him that it was no problem and that I could clean them up for him and the overall results are really good, I feel. I think you guys will enjoy it. You’re gonna see some cars that you saw in Mori’s posts of course but Karimata did capture some cars that we had not previously seen before in the four posts before this…

I’ve attached the links below to the older posts for you to view, in case you’ve missed any of it…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 1…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 2…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 3…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 4…

Photo for Part 5 & 6 are shot by Koji Karimata and processed by StickyDilJoe…

We kick off Karimata’s coverage of his trip with some rolling shots that he captured while driving to Mie prefecture with some of his friends… Above is Teru Ito’s H22A 5-speed Honda Odyssey. I wonder if he had any idea on the drive to the event how many awards he’d be going home with that evening…

Yasuhiro Hashiba’s USDM-themed Toyota Cressida on Rotiform wheels…

A TE72 Corolla that accompanied them on the trip. In front is the Toyota TownAce van that ou saw in Mori’s coverage on Sprint Hart CPs…

Another Odyssey that was a part of their caravan with others in the distance…

This clean FC3S Savanna RX-7 looked great both on the road and at the event later that day…

This EG was rolling on some pretty aggressive BBS wheels through the Japanese highway system…

One more of Hashiba’s Mark II Cressida-conversion…

After they arrived and got settled in, one of the first shots that Karimata captured was Yuya Yasunari’s JDM ’98 ITR to USDM ’97-spec Integra Type R conversion….

Atsushi Ishiyama’s DB8 Honda Integra on Dunlop Formula Harts….

The FC3S on white Enkei RPF1s that you saw in motion above…

A better look at the EG Civic from a parked position. I really like the color choice and while paint-matched BBS wheel faces are getting a little overdone, it really works on this EG…

Honda Odyssey with RA3 front bumper and USDM corner lights. Headlights might be USDM too but it’s hard to tell because the only obvious difference in the two variations are the City Lights that are incorporated in the JDM pieces….

3GS Lexus on VIP Modular wheels…

Hiroto Nakamura’s Accord sedan on BBS wheels. Thanks to Nakamura for rocking a Chronicles decal on his windshield…

In terms of building a Civic that’s specifically tailored to look like a U.S.-built Honda, this EG has got it down. Just a very simple, nicely executed Civic on U.S. 949Racing wheels and accessories from Checkerd Sports….

A good look at Kazu Imai’s Integra Type R and his custom radiused front/rear fenders. I absolutely love how this looks and how it brings the overall ride height down significantly while he’s still able to have full suspension travel. No more crazy camber or anything either since it isn’t necessaryany longer for Imai to fit those BBS LM wheels…

Akifumi Ikeda’s Honda Integra Si-VTEC on bronze Volk SE37K…

Kohei Taguchi’s Honda Integra Type R from Lowered 2 Perfection car club, a dedicated Honda crew from Japan. Kohei’s ITR is also a very “USDM” looking car as it features a lot of parts, though they are original Japanese products, that are heavily-used here in North America. You’re probably more likely to see a BackYard Special front bumper here than over in Japan, which has always been a little odd to me since it’s a very universally good-looking front piece…

Seiya Suzuki’s DB8 Type R, also on Sprint Hart CP-R…

Shunichi Hatta’s 4-door DB Integra is a Honda that would be relevant on both sides of the world. It has a very classic look with parts utilized that would never go out of style….

One of the cars that we did not see previously in Shota Mori’s coverage is this USDM DB2 Integra GS-R. I’m not sure if this is a conversion or not but it may very well be an original Aztec Green DB2, which is rare enough already here in the states. This one is sitting nicely on Volk TE37s and I wonder if it is the same one that we saw last year from the USDM Jam Ver. 9 event…

Touma Kaga’s white-on-white EF9 Civic from L2P…

One of my favorites from Japan, Kei Takafuji’s EG6 Civic on hydraulic suspension. Love the execution of the engine bay and overall presentation of the whole build…

Another favorite of mine, although I am not that huge of a fan of the BBS wheels, is Satoru Hasegawa’s Civic Ferio. He and Takafuji have two of the best custom Honda engine bays in Japan and they would definitely be able to compete with some of the top tier Honda builds here…

Masaki Fukuda’s EG that you’ve seen plenty of in the previous four parts of our USDM Jam 10 coverage…

One of the cars that you probably only got a small glimpse of previously was Takanori Nagai’s Mugen EK4 SiR Civic build, complete with Mugen lip, grille, wing, and 16-inch M7s. He is also another proud member of the L2P group…

I can’t get over how good this S2000 looks on these 3-piece concave Rotiform NUEs… such a great look, especially with the blue on white…

This DB Integra reminds me a lot of Sloppy’s old Integra minus the 98-up front end…

Takeru Tojo’s Honda Element from Lowered 2 Perfection. He actually did some coverage of the event himself, featuring a lot of his fellow L2P members. CLICK HERE if you want to check it out….

USDM left-hand drive EJ1 Civic coupe on white 15-inch Regamaster EVO…

RA1 Honda Odyssey with Isuzu Oasis grille and badging, also with USDM corners/headlights sitting really nicely on OEM R32 Nissan Skyline wheels…

USDM Mazda MPV mini-van bagged on black-faced Work Meister S1 3-piece wheels…

The “belle of the ball” was most certainly Teru Ito’s H22A Odyssey. I love how the engine bay is shaved and filled but he’s managed to keep the air conditioning and power steering intact…

Koji Karimata’s personal build is this 1st gen. DSM Eclipse/Talon that he recently had painted. This is as USDM as it gets since these vehicles weren’t available in the Japanese Domestic Market and the only way to get them was to import them from the U.S. He’s kept to the U.S. style with the old school HRE wheels and everything. Just a really cool build that you really have to understand the significance of to truly appreciate. Think of it this way, these were available and pretty popular in the U.S. back in the day, but when was the last time you even saw a 1st gen. Eclipse or an Eagle Talon the road? These things are few and far between nowadays so it’s great to see a mint one in a country that never even had them…

Satoru Hasegawa photobombing Karimata’s shot…

Masaru Tanaka nervously taking a picture with model Noriko “Coco” Komatsu…

Tanaka’s AE111 Corolla to USDM Corolla conversion…

Hashiba’s Toyota Mark II once again…

Stock-bodied Mazda RX-8 looking aggressive on Work Meister S1R…

Lowballers Japan model Yuuki Mori posing for a photo against Masaki Morohashi’s S13 coupe…

Kazuki Hirota’s beautiful E46 BMW M3 coupe on 3-piece concave Rotiform TMB…

…and closing it out for the evening with Tomohisa Tanaka’s newly acquired Civic hatchback from the United States…

That’s all for now. Come back for the sixth and final portion of our USDM Jam 10 coverage tomorrow. Thanks for looking…

Today will cover the very end of the event and Mori’s drive back home with some of the people from Ujos Society. On his trip back, you’ll also get to see some of the Hondas from “Illegal Sick” as well as “Weekend Playerz” car club. If that’s not enough, Mori also surprises us all by stopping by to meet up with Akebono USDM, a very popular Honda car club from Japan. If you guys are lovers of the EF chassis, then today is your lucky day, because a big chunk of the coverage from Part 4 will document EF builds of all styles. Some you may like, some may be a bit too much, and some are just plain odd but that is the beauty of the import automotive car community worldwide. You just never know what you’re going to encounter and you really get to see the cultural variations between cars, even though these guys in particular are gearing their builds more towards “USDM styling”. I think you guys understand by now and are willing to accept a little bit of the odd more often than not. You may dig it, you may not, but either way, at least you opened your eyes to seeing new things.

If you missed any of the three previous parts, check the links below to catch-up…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 1…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part  2…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part  3…

Now here is Part 4…

A group shot of some of the Ujos Society guys, who would be making the trip back home with Shota Mori…

The Accord looks a little odd with the old school 3-piece Work Equips but props for making the attempt….

This Ferio however, was kind of interesting with the gold wheels and EK4 SiR front end…

Tomohiro Nakamura’s clean slammed black EF…

This Toyota Hilux Surf was looking great on the Volk TE37X…

Ujos Society in full-effect…

Both this EF and Mori’s Accord are on old school SSR wheels…

Another group of Honda guys that were hanging out after the event…

Shinichi Konno’s EM1-look Civic coupe on Volk TE37SL…

Really enjoyed the subtlety of this Silvia build…

Thought this van was prety cool with the glass top and the black Sprint hart CPs….

Black EG black-faced SSR Professor SP1…

A lot of the cars from the USDM Jam event actually stayed longer just to hang out…

Rear shot of Yasuhiro Hashiba’s  Toyota Mark II converted to U.S. Cressida specs and Hiroto Nakamura’s Accord on BBS wheels…

One more shot of Shota Mori’s personal car before they take off…

One of the EGs getting trailersed away…

Back on the road with Ujos Society…

Mori and friends stopped by a local shopping area to take a break…

CR-X del Sol that you saw in Parts 2 and 3…

Accord brotherhood….

The line-up of cars from Weekend Playerz car club…

Really clean dark/emerald green DA Integra on BBS wheels…

The “SakuraF” is hopefully owned by a female, otherwise the “Make Way 4 The WP (Weekend Playerz) Princess!!” decal on the back is gonna REALLY throw people off…Not really my style but I can dig it. Not a bad way of using color accents to make a white car stand-out…

Another interestingly-modded EF Civic from WP…

I really like how this EF sedan looks on SSR MKIII….

As the sun set on their day, we get a glimpse of the “Illegal Sick” EK….

Customized WRD Chevlon wheels with white faces, gold spiked hardware, and a custom IS (Illegal Sick) center cap to match. Whether you like this style or not, one can surely appreciate the level of detail that goes into each individual build…

Shakotan problems…. Hope they have some smooth roads on the drive back home…

The slammed Integra Type R on BBS LM wheels that you saw earlier in the previous USDM Jam 10 posts….

One more of the Sakura EF from Weekend Playerz…

Every time I see on the of Hondas from the Weekend Playerz car club, I can’t help but think of the cars from the old Tokyo Street Racer videogame series. Just the colors and the way the cars are presented along with the random quotes on the windows really screams the videogame’s style. It almost makes me appreciate the game more now because I believe they really did a great job of capturing the essence of Japanese car culture…

A group shot of some of the Ujos Society members before they departed…

Random capture by Shota Mori of the CR-X del Sol at a gas station stop on the way home…

The drive back dove deep into the late evening and early morning…

Mori was even able to capture this photo of the Fuji Mountain during his drive…

…and what do you do after you see a Japanese icon? Well, you run into another one in the form of an R34 GT-R…

As part of his journey home, Mori also stopped to hang out with the Akebono USDM guys for a bit. They had all got together to work on their cars and just hang out for the day…

If you happen to be an EF guy, then you likely have heard of the Akebono guys before. They have a particular fascination with the USDM lifestyle and their cars reflect that. Akebono has become so popular that there are guys in the U.S. now that rep Akebono here. So they are Americans repping a crew that is trying to rep U.S. style in Japan, back here in the U.S. Yes, it is all a little confusing…

Carefully backing into the driveway with really stretched rubber on those Mugen M7 wheels…

They were positioning the car in the area because some work was going to be performed on the suspension of this EF…

EG hatch and Akebono CR-X in the distance…

This 4-door Integra on refinished Stark wheels was mint…

I like how there is a Mugen NR10 and MR5 just chillin’ on the window. That wouldn’t really go over too well here in the U.S. Anyways, you can really see the U.S. influence in the way they dress and how their cars are put together. Everything about their life is seemingly inspired by American culture…

Suspension modifications on the red EF from Akebono USDM…

Off in another area, you get a closer look at the cream EF hatchback that was inspired by an EF from Northern California. I’m sure many of you are familiar with Woody’s EF. If not, Google it…

While the inspiration is definitely there, the overall execution is much better than Woody’s EF. The Japanese variation is just way cleaner so it’s hard to say that it is a copy. The color and the low ride height I can see but this is definitely the more refined version of you were to really compare the two. The car even has the “Wild Kardz” and Dumpedstars decals as an homage to Woody’s old EF, which has since been chopped up into pieces and thrown away…

One of my favorite shots from this set of photos. I think any car enthusiast anywhere in the world can relate to this…

This EG really makes me think about the earlier years of the Honda community when everyone just dipped around in slammed Hondas with small wheels. Nobody worried about stance or crazy aero back then and your cars weren’t anywhere near perfect. They were just street cars that you could take anywhere. It was just cool to have a slammed Civic with some wheels and the OEM optional fog lights….

Almost nothing better sometimes than just chillin’ with the homies and doing car shit…

…and that is a wrap on Shota Mori’s photos. Great thanks go out to him for taking the time to capture his entire trip. I love his perspective on things and I very much appreciate the fact that he takes time to cover everything even though he may be very tired at times from driving back and forth to every event. These events are exactly close to each other so it is a very rare thing for someone to really want to put forth that effort into documenting their journey. That’s why he is one of my favorite photographers worldwide and that’s why you see his stuff here on The Chronicles. Thanks to everyone for looking and I hope you come back tomorrow for a different eye on the USDM Jam Ver. 10 event. Stay tuned…

LATEST NEWS AS OF 5/11/2013:

REGISTRATION CLOSES TOMORROW MAY 12, 2013. If you do not register your vehicle to be parked inside by tomorrow evening, you will not be permitted to participate in the event and will be parked outside of the meet itself. There may be a possibility that you can get a spot the day of the event but there is absolute no guarantee that it will happen. I don’t know why you or your friends would want to wait that long to register anyway. Again, 5/12 is the deadline to register.

Here’s quick diagram showing how traffic will flow. General parking is green and red is show parking. Please take another look at this a day or two before the show. If you guys follow directions we’ll get you into the show much sooner.

Also, the show does not open til 11. If you are not parking in the show there is no reason to arrive early. You will just stand outside until 11am.

That should about cover it. Everything else that you need to know is provided below or in the link to the official Eibach Honda Meet Facebook page, located HERE….

I’m looking forward to this and I hope you guys are too. If everyone follows directions and shows up in a timely manner, it should all go very smoothly. Thanks and see you guys there.

Download Larger Version (1600px)

For those who are wondering, yes both the Eibach Honda Meet and Wekfest LA fall on back-to-back weekends. I believe it was the same way last year and coincidentally, it happens once again this year. Ryan from Eibach Springs commissioned me to create the flyer for the event this year and I gladly obliged. All the details you will need have been provided below and with that, I have also attached the larger version of the flyer with more details on the back, so if you could do us all a favor, please help spread the word about this event by sharing the flyer BELOW. It has all the details for people who want to be a part of the 2013 Eibach Honda Meet that doesn’t require you to go to any other website or anything. Unlike the Wekfest series, the Eibach Honda Meet does not have a dedicated website solely for it and the only other event detail page is on Facebook and on the NWP4LIFE forums. By circulating the flyer below, you help to answer any questions that people might have in regards to participating in the event or spectating. For social media sites/apps that are restricted in size, you’d probably be better off saving the larger version linked above.

If you want to complain about it being in a new location once again this year, then maybe you just shouldn’t come. I don’t know, people work really hard to make these events as good as they possibly can and since the event itself continues to outgrow every venue it has used, the decision was made to move it to an even larger venue. A real enthusiast wouldn’t complain about where an event like this is taking place, they would just make every attempt to be there. Show respect to those who do everything they can to provide you with an outlet to share your hard work with your fellow Honda enthusiast.

Anyways, thanks for the help and I hope to see all of you guys there. The Eibach Honda Meet is a staple within our Honda community and it is one of, if not, the premier all-Honda dedicated event to attend. It was an event created by diehard Honda guys for Honda guys and the tradition continues in 2013…

New location!

Storm Stadium 500 Diamond Drive Lake Elsinore, CA 92530

After experiencing unbelievable growth over the past eight years, the Eibach Honda Meet has completely outgrown its home at the Eibach facility in Corona, CA. To accommodate more vehicles, more vendors, and more visitors, this year’s event will be held at Storm Stadium in the city of Lake Elsinore. A massive parking lot will play host to the Honda-only event, and offer three times the amount of space as compared to the previous events

Registration
As with previous Eibach meets, a pre-registration process will allow for quicker roll-in times and parking analysis prior to the big day. We accept PayPal to reserve your spot at the event. Keep in mind; if you’re paying for someone else, we’ll need his or her first and last name, as well as a current mailing address. Registration is $45 and this includes a pass for you, and one passenger. If you are paying for multiple vehicles, we need their drivers FULL NAMES too.

To register, simply PayPal $45 to rhoegner@eibach.com and title the transaction “Eibach Meet”. Like we stated above, please include your full name and mailing address in the notes section.

We will simply reply with “Thank You” to let you know payment was received. Roll-in info will be emailed to you and posted here two weeks prior to the meet. THERE ARE NO REFUNDS.

Spectators:
Entry fee: $5 per person (children under 5 are free)
Parking: $10 per vehicle – outside of the event in a secure lot

Vendors/sponsors

If you are interested in becoming a vendor or sponsoring the event, please send an email to rhoegner@eibach.com

Please share the detailed flyer below, thanks… If you want to be a part of the Eibach Honda Meet page on Facebook, CLICK HERE. Any important updates will be posted up over there so it might be a good idea to stay in touch with the FB page….

Thanks for looking…

With that said, I also have to be completely honest in that I’m just completely burnt out from writing at the moment. I’ve hit the fucking wall actually. After spending this week putting together 4 different stories for Import Tuner, Super Street, and Honda Tuning, I am just done with writing for today. I just really need to get some rest and to let my brain reset. The love my job though and I welcome the challenge every month of creating new stories. On days like this however, it’s tough to put together 1,000 word posts right after a full day of work. Even still, I don’t want you guys to miss out on any of the USDM Jam coverage, so we are gonna move forward. I guess I’ll let Shota Mori’s great shots tell the story for today…

Here are the previous two posts if you missed them…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 1…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 2…

Today we’re gonna take a look at some more cars inside the Messe Wing hall and then head back outside to see a couple more cars before Shota captures the roll-out process and some more shots towards the end of the day. This post, I think, is probably the best in the series. Part 4 is pretty cool too since you get to see Mori’s journey back home alongside the guys from Ujos Society…

Kohei Taguchi’s Integra Type R on Sprint Hart CP-Rs and BYS front bumper…

Seiya Suzuki’s DB8 Type R Integra also on CP-Rs…

Masaki Fukuda’s EG6 Civic with a complete set of Sprint Hart CPs, center caps and all, with Spoon Sports front lip and duckbill wing…

I’ve been on a real Odyssey kick lately because I am in the process of putting one together myself. It’s great to see that they are still very popular in Japan because RA1-3 vans like the one you see above are motivation for me and give me a ton of ideas as to what I’d like to do to my own van…

Yuya Yasanari’s 1998 Honda Integra Type R that he’s recently converted to a U.S. ’97-spec ITR. I have a couple more shots of this car so I’ll give you more details on it when you can see a better angle of the car…

Clean FC3S Savanna RX-7 on white Enkei RPF1…

One of the surprises from USDM Jam Ver. 10 was Kazu Imai’s Integra Type R. I knew he had been making changes to it but when I saw a photo of it from the event, I was shocked to see what he had done. I tried to explain it on Instagram and Facebook but a lot of people just didn’t understand. What Imai did was a process called “radiusing” which is when you cut out the fenders and rear quarters in a way to bring the overall ride height of the car down while still allowing for full suspension travel. This process is common in the Japanese VIP community but I can’t say I’ve seen it in non-VIP builds except for some S13/S14 drift car builds. It’s hard to see in the photo but in my other set of pics I have a better shot and I’ll try to give you guys a better idea when we get to Koji Karimata’s photos…

More of Kei Takafuji’s beautifully-executed EG6 Civic. Simply one of the best Honda builds that Japan has to offer, whether you’re a fan of the “stance” movement or not. Like I said last year, it’s the closest thing we will ever see again to Phaze2 Arnel’s EG…

The talk of the USDM Jam Ver. 10 event HAD to be Teru Ito’s H22-swapped Odyssey that ended-up going home with FIVE awards that day. His RA used to be an F-series turbo car but he took it apart, shaved the engine bay, cleaned everything up, and dropped a H22A swap in there and also converted the van to a 5-speed manual transmission.  Just a fucking awesome build, especially being that it’s originally an automatic van with a column shifter…It would have been worth a trip to Japan for me to just see this car in person…

Masaru MSR Tanaka’s AE111 Corolla that was chopped-up and converted to a U.S.-spec Corolla…

Yasuhiro Hashiba’s Toyota Mark II to U.S. Cressida conversion on Rotiform wheels…

Koji Karimata’s DSM Eclipse/Talon on HRE vintage wheels. Koji, of course, is one of my other main contacts in Japan that often provides photos for me from events….

A DSM Galant on OZ wheels that often rolls with Tanaka and Hashiba’s crew…

Another regular of their crew is this Mazda MPV minivan on Work Meister S1…

Kazuki Hirota’s BMW M3 coupe on Rotiform TMB…

Masaki Morohashi’s S13 Silvia coupe with U.S. 240SX/Zenki RPS13 180SX front end conversion from Lowballers JP…

Lexus IS on CCW wheels also from Lowballers Japan…

A couple more shots of Eric Lizer’s old EK, which I believe is owned now by Lowballers Japan member Tomohisa Tanaka…

ES1 Civic sedan from IB Complete…

Ujos Society CR-X del Sol on old Work Ewing wheels…

A shot of Kazu Imai rolling out of the venue. Here you can get a better view of how low the car can be and how there is no unnecessary negative camber to fit the wheels. With the radiused fenders, he can clearance to ride with a thicker tire also because he used to stretch 195-wide rubber on a 9-inch wheel…

Awesome 1st generation VW Scirocco on Rotiform-modified BBS Motorsports E76 wheels…

Hiroyuki Nakamura’s KA7 Honda Legend on Regamaster EVOs…

Masaki Fukuda’s EG once again…

My Japanese buddy Takeru Tojo and his Element from L2P…

Daisuke Ito’s USDM-style DC5 Integra…

ASM-equipped S2000 reppin’ LEVEL ONE Japan…

The Savanna RX-7 from earlier posted up outside with Yuya Yasunari’s ITR…

I’ve always been a fan of the FC3S chassis as well and it’s really rare to see some clean examples of them these days, whether it be in Japan or elsewhere…

Rotiform wheels looking really good on this S2000….

Some more shots of Yusunari’s 97-spec ITR conversion. He’s one of the guys that I spoke of earlier that truly “gets it” when it comes to understanding pure USDM Honda style without all the crazy trends. His Type R features a pair of Status Racing seats, Rotora big brakes, and rarely utilized Team Dynamics wheels, all of which are or were used in the U.S. import scene…

Akifumi Ikeda waving as he pasess Shota Mori on the way out of the Messe Wing hall…

I guess we can officially call this Tanaka’s EK now. I wonder if he has plans to change up the car at all or keep it as Lizer left it…

More of the aggressively-seated EF CR-X that you saw detailed in Part 2…

Mori and Tamiya’s Accord and Hilux, respectively…

Though Mori made the initial trip to USDM Jam 10 with Daiki Tamiya, they would part ways for the drive home as Mori would head a different direction…

I love 80′s Hondas with old school, era-specific Speed Star Racing wheels. The EF is on SSR MKIII and Mori’s CA Accord on MKII…

Atsushi Ishiyama and his DB8 exiting the Messe Wing hall. You can see Tanaka/Lizer’s Civic loaded onto a tow truck in the background, possibly because it’s not registered to be driven on Japanese roads…

One more of Yasunari’s Integra Type R…

Masaki Morohashi’s S13 on custom-colored SSR Professor SP1…

Shunichi Hatta’s 4-door DB Integra on white Enkei NTO3…

Touma Kaga’s EF9 hatchback…

Really liked how peaceful this shot looked…

Cool angle of Kazuhito Hirabayashi’s CR-X del Sol…

Hadn’t really had a chance to see more of this black Civic Ferio on black Enkei RPF1 but it was too late as he was driving away already…

Another Ferio, this one from IB Complete…

Loaded-up and ready to roll…

More of Mori’s slammed Accord. I’m glad he’s been open about taking more pics of his Accord now. Back when he first started submitting photos to me, I never got to see any photos of his car and I knew he had this Accord and also built an EF hatchback previously that I really liked…

A couple more from some Japanese Chronicles’ regulars as they exited the event…

One of my favorites from USDM Jam 10, Teru Ito’s Odyssey on Mag Blue Volk TE37s…

…and a parting shot to close part 3 with Satoru Hasegawa’s custom Civic Ferio…

Thanks for looking, back with more tomorrow….

Welcome back to Part 2 of the USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage, presented to you by The Chronicles and Japanese contributor Shota Mori. When we last left off, Mori and friends were on their way to Mie for the event until Daiki Tamiya’s Hilux pick-up broke down. There was an issue with the alternator that I believe was later resolved because Mori’s photos of their trip there stopped at that point. The next photos that came to me were already from the start of USDM Jam on so I can only assume that it wasn’t too big of a deal and they got the truck fixed. The Hilux was at the event itself and parked right alongside Shota Mori’s CA Accord so it was either towed there or they managed to resolve the problem. In any case, our photos today are from the start of USDM Jam Ver. 10. The idea was to keep all the photos in the order in which they were taken, but since Mori took multiple shots of certain cars, I’ve gone through them and sorted them out so that there is more variety in each post in the future. That way you’re not looking at the same car multiple times in the same post. I’d rather separate them to give you a much better feel of the event…

One thing that I thought was worth mentioning was how close this event was to not even happening at all. Not many of us stateside know about this but the USDM Jam Ver. 9 show was so huge that creator Tetsuya Yamaguchi was almost faced with shutting the event down. Last year’s event was held in the countryside of Japan and was so big that it created a lot of congestion along the roadside leading into the event and local Japanese complained about it being a disruption. It became an incredibly stressful event with over 700 cars at the event and Yamaguchi considered the idea of putting this years event off for another year so that he could find a more adequate solution to deal with the over-crowding. In the end, Yamaguchi was able to find a better venue in the Messe Wing in Mie prefecture and, for the first time ever, decided to make the event an invite-only affair. By extending private invites out to select enthusiasts, the USDM Jam staff was allotted the opportunity to keep the crowd smaller and more manageable…

The overall layout of the event was very different than what I had seen in year’s past. The Messe Wing had a huge lot but there was also a giant airplane hanger-like building where a lot of the more recognizable Japanese USDM builds were displayed. These were probably the more “preferred” vehicle builds that they wanted to showcase and further added to the exclusivity of the event. Over the years, I’ve become acquainted with a lot of the Japanese auto enthusiasts that attend these events so I had a pretty good idea who would be there. If you guys follow this site closely, I’m sure many of you will also recognize a lot of these cars. Some have been redone so they will seem completely new to you but I think we are all starting to become pretty familiar with the guys over there as if they were the same enthusiasts that we see regularly out here in event coverage from California…

If you missed Part 1, I’ve conveniently attached the link below if you want to go back and read about Shota Mori’s journey to the event…

USDM Jam Ver. 10 Coverage…Part 1…

Now that you’ve read some back story about the 10th annual USDM Jam event, we can move forward with the photos…

One of the Honda-dedicated car crews from Japan that I am familiar with is Lowered 2 Perfection or, simply, L2P. At USDM Jam Ver. 10, they brought out their whole fleet. Above is Touma Kaga’s EF and Masaki Fukuda’s EG. This EG is actually 1 of 2 that Fukuda owns. Both are very subtle and classic…

Akifumi Ikeda’s Integra, a Honda that you may recognize from my trip to Japan in January for Tokyo Auto Salon…

Shunichi Hatta’s 4-door DB Integra, Seiya Suzuki’s 4-door, Kohei Taguchi’s DC2 and Ikeda’s DC2 in the distance… I believe I have better photos of these guy’s cars later in the coverage. And if I don’t, I’m sure my other Japanese contributor, Koji Karimata, took some but don’t quote me on that since I haven’t had a chance to go through his photos yet…

Speaking of Karimata, this FC3S RX-7 and RX-8 both rolled with him to the event…

Daisuke Ito’s DC5 Honda Integra from Lowered 2 Perfection on bronze Mugen MF10s….

Kei Takafuji’s EG6, which was one of my Top Ten Hondas of 2012, on display at USDM Jam 10 and looking as good as it ever has. The above photo is actually from later in the day when he already received an award from the USDM Jam staff. Just a beautifully-executed Honda build on hydraulic suspension…

I don’t know how many of you know but I own a RA3 Honda Odyssey as a daily driver and have been contemplating the idea of getting a set of R32 Skyline GT-R wheels but never pulled the trigger on them. After seeing this Odyssey with Isuzu Oasis conversion on the R32 wheels, I regret not getting them…

Simple black EG Civic build that could nowadays be considered “regionally universal”…

Satoru Hasegawa’s Civic Ferio build has one of the best Honda engine bays in Japan. Too bad the hood was down when Mori captured this photo…

I’m not gonna lie, I really like how this S2000 looks on these Rotiform forged concave NUE wheels…Dig the color combo as well…

If this EK looks familiar to you, then you’ll probably realize that it was once built and owned by Eric Lizer from the U.S. He has since sold the car to a Japanese enthusiast from Lowballers Japan and the new owner has left it (so far) relatively the same…

The B-series individually-throttled motor remains…

A mini photoshoot with a model from Lowballers Japan was going on during USDM Jam Ver. 10…

Outside, Shota caught up with friends doing random things as seen in this shot…

Civic Ferio and a CD Accord from Ujos Society, a group that you will later become more familiar with as Shota made the return trip home with this group…

Honda CR-X del Sol from Ujos Society on old school Work Ewing 5-spoke wheels…

Hiroyuki Nakamura’s incredibly clean Honda Legend on Regamaster EVOs…

Here’s a rare sight in Japan…a black Honda Integra Type R with U.S. 98+ DC2 front end…

Beautiful VW Golf on custom BBS wheels….I’m sure there’s a story behind the two bumpers on the floor but I am unfamiliar…

Shota Mori and Daiki Tamiya’s cars parked outside in the Messe Wing lot…

I’m kind of over the whole overly-aggressive wheels on Hondas idea but I’ll admit that I was intrigued by this CR-X on Work CR-01 wheels…

The interior of the CR-X was mint…

Rear shot. I love how they all rock the California license plates. I guess there’s nothing more representative of U.S. import culture than the white Cali plates…

That “INSIDE” decal is actually a decal for a clothing/automotive lifestyle website in Japan. I recommend you go check it out if you want to get a good grasp of how big the U.S. influence is in Japan. They sell clothing and other accessories based on American pop culture stuff like Menace II Society and the L.A. Lakers, etc…

Their interpretation of a U.S.-built EG Civic build, complete with L.A Dodgers windshield banner…

Classic and mint Mugen CF-48 wheels complete with original center cap and Aero Disc covers. Not sure what car this was on but it’s so cool to see a complete CF-48 wheel how it was originally presented by Mugen that it doesn’t matter what it was mounted too…

Yamamoto Mayumi’s EF Civic hatchback representing OsakaJDM/Car Craft Boon…

EK9 Civic Type R also reppin’ CCB…

Kazuhiro Furakawa’s white EK Civic on OsakaJDM Loop5 wheels. Dig the carbon fiber duct on the front bumper…

Shinya Tanaka’s DA6 Integra on Barramundi Toman wheels that’s been recently repainted this cream color. The purple bay reminds me a lot of Phaze2 Sid’s old DA Integra…

My good friend Takeshi Kobayashi’s Type_K Autosource booth…

…with license plates and U.S. gear galore for sale to USDM fanatics…

Good to see The Chronicles well-represented in Japan…

USDM Magazine, a Japanese publication that recently did a feature on myself, also had a booth as expected. They are one of two major publications right now in Japan documenting USDM automotive culture…

I love CB Accords but the styling cue of this particular vehicle would usually prevent me from posting it up here on the site but the reason I show it to you is because of what sits inside the engine bay…

…a K motor! Pretty wild because you rarely see K-swaps at all in Japan and this is in a platform that doesn’t even get swapped here in the U.S…

USDM 09′+ FG2 Civic coupe on CCW wheels…

DA Integra on some re-barreled Muge CF-48 wheels that you might have seen once or twice before here on the site…

The man behind 10-years of USDM Jam….Tetsuya Yamaguchi addressing his fellow Japanese USDM enthusiasts…

Tatsuhiko Murata showed up to USDM Jam 10 with a whole new look. He used to have the Mugen Ferio kit with the front fog light holes shaved but he’s since moved onto this Mugen EK4 aero kit…

With the new aero also comes new wheels in the form of re-barreled step-lipped Mugen MR-5 wheels, which in all honesty, looks pretty good. I’ve never been much of a fan of the whole re-barreling of classic Mugen wheels but this actually works…

His engine bay remains the same as before with a mix of Mugen parts and an ARC induction arm…

Murata’s Mugen Ferio rear lip also remains as does the rear spoiler…

AP2 S2000 on white Work VS-XX wheels…

Right next to the AP2 was another S2000, this one with an ASM front bumper and aggressive Work Emotion XD9s…

Norifumi Kobayashi’s Accord Euro Wagon to U.S. Acura TSX Wagon conversion on white Work CR Ultimate wheels…

Interesting to see all three of them rocking a LEVEL ONE decal on their windshield. LEVEL ONE is a big car crew based in Toronto, Canada…

This turbocharged Mitsubishi Lancer on JLine wheels was pretty cool to see…

Another really cool and not too often seen build was this sixth generation Toyota Celica Liftback on Work XSA-02C wheels…

BBS wheels are ever the popular commodity worldwide, as seen on this custom painted DA Integra…

…as well as this Honda Integra Type R with Spoon Sports carbon lip and J’s Racing intake duct…

Kazuhito Hirabayashi’s Honda CR-X del Sol also has a set of BBS mesh wheels. Nice touch with the Civic Si front lip…

Euro-styled EF sedan on polished Porsche wheels…

Yet another Honda with BBS wheels, this custom green set was prominently featured on an EJ1 Civic coupe…

And the last shot to close out Part 2 of our USDM Jam Ver. 10 coverage is this really clean EF Civic sedan on JLine wheels. Never really did understand the extra side molding but I see it quite often on vehicles in Japan…

Anyways, thanks for looking. Make sure to come back tomorrow for Part 3!…

Instead of posting up some more coverage, we’re gonna take a look at some video. Tony from It’s JDM Yo! has been thinking about putting a YouTube/iTunes podcast style of show for awhile now but timing just hasn’t been right. Well, we finally managed to get it together and started filming recently. If you guys follow the site regularly, then you’ll know about the debacle that was the first pilot episode that we filmed and Tony ultimately made the executive decision to not air it at all. If you wanna read more about it to refresh your memory, I posted up some behind-the-scenes coverage up on the site last week. CLICK HERE if you want to check it out. It was just a little too rough to air so Tony decided to film another episode with a better overall layout and presentation. We also brought in a guest and also brought model Jenn Q back because we didn’t want her efforts to go wasted since we didn’t air the original episode she was in. She was super tired that day from shooting for Super Street already but she’s a real trooper and decided to tough it out for us and filmed…

This is still an ongoing thing and I understand it may not be for everyone, but if you have those moments when you are bored and just want to see what is going on with us, please do check it out. The show will consist of our observations in the import community, what goes on in our daily lives, and just any pop culture stuff that we want to discuss. It is still a very organic process but we will come up with better ideas and improvements every episode. We kind of just did it for fun but if people dig it, that would be pretty cool. If you guys know me, you know that I am usually the one that prefers to stay behind the camera and do the work instead of doing a whole lot of talking in front of a camera. I wanted to help Tony out and provide some insight on stuff that I have a good understanding of so I decided to be in front of the camera for once. I think the comfort level will improve as time goes on but I’m honestly surprised by how comfortable I was already. It’s just kind of weird hearing your own voice because it’s never how you think it’s supposed to sound but hey, we will all adjust, haha. Anyways, check out the three-part episode below. If you guys have questions you wanna ask, don’t be afraid to email us and we will try our best to answer them when we film out next show. Thanks for looking and I hope you subscribe to the channel for future updates. Thanks…

It would have been pretty awesome to have been able to go to this event. Originally, I was supposed to go because the USDM Jam series has always been one of those events that I’ve always wanted to attend. After my trip to Japan for Tokyo Auto Salon in January, I told myself that I would try my best to make it back to Japan in time to be at USDM Jam and Ryan and a few others had planned on it as well. Inevitably, things got busy, we all got tied up with certain things and the plans just fell threw. Ryan from Rywire and I had agreed to even have a booth at the event to sell our merchandise and to make some money back from what we spent on rooming and airfare to Japan. It was a good plan. Our friend Takeshi told us that it would totally be worth our while to have a booth there and I’ve seen the guys from Wek’Sos do the same and have a ton of success. That and being able to see some of these cars in person finally was what really sold me on going. I like that the Honda community has seemingly been rejuvenated with the growth of the USDM culture in Japan and it’s been very exciting to see what new builds they come out with every year. The Japanese are pretty reserved people (most of the time) and because of the language barrier, you don’t seem them post up a whole lot of photos online or create build threads on forums. Because of this, it helps to add to the suspense and excitement whenever events like this happen in Japan because you finally get to see what these Japanese enthusiasts have been working on. In a sense, it is almost better that way. I love the idea of having build threads and to be connected to others while you’re building your car but it almost kills that suspense factor that comes with debuting a car at an event. A lot of the times, the final product never lives up to the hype from the build threads themselves and you are left to be disappointed. The culture is still a little different overseas so it always great to catch up with our fellow brethren from Japan and to see their cars at their best…

Since I didn’t get a chance to get out there for the event, Shota Mori has once again stepped-up to the plate to help provide coverage for me. Judging by the photos that he has sent me, I think that I would still be using his photos even if I had gone to do my own coverage. I would have used mine too but it would be great to also have another eye over there to provide a different perspective. Mori-san is always great about doing coverage for me and is always very timely when it comes to getting me the photos. I never have to wait and he gives me the freedom to do whatever I please to his photos. His work, as I’ve said numerous times, is one of, if not my favorite from Japan. He’s always done an amazing job of getting the cars that I want to see and capturing other cool stuff that I would have captured myself had I been there. He is also one of the more recognized photographers over there and is very well-known throughout Japan. He’s been around for years now and has been to every major automotive event. Sometimes it even surprises me the lengths he will go to attend an event because some of these places are really far. Japan may be an island but it’s actually very vast and it takes a ton of driving to get to all these different events over there. I deeply appreciate what he does and how he has been loyal to The Chronicles. Without him, I don’t think the global perspective would be as good as it is here on the site because he takes care of a bulk of my Japan coverage…

I also have another set of photos from another enthusiast who you should be familiar with. Koji Karimata aka Ka Ry, is also a regular here and he happens to hang out with a particular group of guys who have cars that I always love seeing. He has good company and he too attends a lot of the big events in Japan. I love his work and I will be bringing you his photos once we get through Mori’s set. What’s great about Mori’s trip is that it is not like any other coverage you have see so far from USDM Jam Ver. 10. That is, if you have seen any coverage at all. Like me, he covers his trip from the very start to the very end. Not only does he do coverage of the show itself, but he also documents everything in between. This is possibly one of my favorite photo sets from him ever because he caught a lot of great stuff before and after USDM Jam Ver. 10. You’ll see how it all unfolds as the coverage gets posted but I got a great feel for how his trip went because he was very detailed in covering what he did….

Today we are going to be looking at the start of his trip where he travels from Gunma prefecture to the historical city of Nara with his friend Chujo, which is about a 600km (372 miles or so) drive. While in Nara prefecture, they stop to do a little photoshoot with Chujo’s FD2 Civic Type R. After that they make the drive over to Wakayama prefecture where they meet up with another one of Mori’s friends, Tamiya, who was working on his truck at Kiyo’s Garage, a shop specializing in custom pick-up trucks. Tamiya is also the previous owner of Mori’s 3rd gen. Accord sedan. It all sounds a little confusing since you aren’t familiar with the individuals involved but let’s just sit back and watch it all play out before your eyes. With that said, let’s begin…

Mori’s journey begins in the historical city of Nara where he meets up with his friend Tomohiro Chujo at a local gas station…

Chujo drives this FD2 Honda Civic Type R on red Advan RGII wheels…

While he has retained the stock FD2R front, his rear trunk has been converted to U.S. spec deck lid and taillights. The car still has the FD2R rear bumper though. Also notice the R35 GTR lurking in the background inside the car wash…

Since Nara City is such a scenic place, Mori decided to stop by to take some photos with Chujo’s R…

A shot of Chujo’s Civic in front of the Hokiji Temple in Nara…

I never noticed this myself until Rodrez pointed it out, but when a U.S. trunk is mated to a JDM rear bumper, the rear bumper actually sticks out a couple of millimeters. On U.S. rear ends that have the JDM trunk and taillights, the taillights actually extends past the rear bumper a few millimeters. You can kind of tell in the photo here but most of the time, you’d have to see it in person to really notice…

Chujo getting a shot of his own car…

Love how the countryside always provides a great backdrop for photos in Japan…

One of the more remarkable things I noticed about Shota Mori is that he literally drives his slammed CA Accord all over Japan to attend events. If he goes to a show or meet, he brings his car with him, which means that his Accord has probably logged quite a bit of miles over the years. It really speaks of the quality of older Hondas from the late 80s and 90s. You can drive these things to the ground and bring them everywhere….

Chujo’s SCUDERIA SFIDA windshield banner…

Bride Low Max driver’s seat and OEM CTR passenger seat…

Red Advan Racing RGII and Brembo brakes…

As much as I like the growth of the USDM scene in Japan, I’m overjoyed that Chujo retained the Japanese CTR front end. It’s just a much better looking front end compared to the U.S. variation…

Shota also got a photo of his own car in front of the Hokiji Temple…

More of the FD2, this one in front of the historic Horyuji Temple in Nara…

Two very different generations of Hondas represented in this shot. Oh how things have changed over the years…

After spending some time with Tomohiro Chujo, it was time to depart and head to Wakayama prefecture. Here is a parting shot of Chujo next to a Civic Euro-R…

It took Mori about an hour and a half before he arrived at his friend Kiyo’s shop in Wakayama…

This is Kiyo’s bagged Toyota Hilux pick-up, which used to be owned by Daiki Tamiya. Tamiya is also the previous owner of Mori’s Accord…

Inside Kiyo’s garage, Tamiya was working on finishing his Hilux truck in time for USDM Jam Ver. 10…

Kiyo’s Hilux has all turn signal and corner lights deleted with only the headlights and chrome grill/bumper remaining…

It’s still a work in progress but it is also really cool to see how raw these trucks are when they are built in this style…

Also interesting is how Kiyo’s truck is laid-out on Work Schwert wheels…

The truck bed has been cut-out to make room for the custom rear bed frame which allows for the truck to lay on its frame…

At this angle, you can also get a better look at his custom air suspension set-up, featuring dual air compressors, large air tank, and bags on each end. The fuel tank door on the bed has also been shaved and the fuel filler neck can be seen by the left rear wheel pictured…

Inside, Tamiya continued to put his Hilux back together…

The bed of his truck has also been cut-out, but much more extensively. There is no more bed flooring at all and what remains is the custom frame itself. Even the stock gas tank has been replaced by a custom aluminum fuel cell…

Tamiya doing routine maintenance to the motor to make sure the drive to USDM Jam Ver. 10 presents no problems…

Kiyo and Tamiya getting his Hilux back on the ground. You can see that Kiyo’s shop space is not that big. Still , he manages to fit a lift and multiple cars within…

Kiyo’s office is much like his garage and presents an almost controlled state of chaos. Stuff just kind of floats around everywhere but often the most talented are the ones that are left with little time to deal with menial tasks like organization…

His glass-top table which features a SSR Type-C base…

Kiyo’s family hanging out outside and enjoying the sunset…

Car life, no matter what style of execution, is to be enjoyed. Though many of us may not understand the mini-truck scene, we can appreciate the time it takes in putting a car together in the late hours in preparation for an big event…

A candid reaction from Kiyo captured by Shota Mori…

Tamiya working into the early hours of the morning before USDM Jam Ver. 10…

As the morning came, it was time to start the drive over to Mie prefecture where USDM Jam 10 was set to take place. Wakayama to Mie is about two and a half hours away so hopefully Tamiya had enough time to get all the loose ends tightened-up on his bagged Hilux…

And off to USDM Jam they go…what I’m wondering here is who took this photo because Mori’s car is in the shot and they are at a stop light. Did he just get out of the car to get this photo with traffic behind him? Haha…

I liked this shot of Tamiya through the driver’s side mirror… One of the reasons why I enjoy Shota Mori’s stuff so much is the random moments he is able to capture…

Hilux in motion. Random but for those who don’t know, the Japanese license plate frames with the red slash across it is actually a temporary registration plate…

Mori’s Accord at a convenience store on one of their rest stops on the way to Mie. Love how it looks on classic SSR MKII wheels..

Shota had some time to shoot while at the stop because Tamiya actually ran into some problems with his Hilux along the way…

The alternator on his truck died, preventing the battery from charging properly and presenting a big electrical issue for Tamiya. The next step was to push-start the car and get to a place where they can further assess the problem. Maybe it was just a simple wiring or connection problem, or maybe the alternator is just no good. Either way, we are gonna stop here for today and resume the coverage tomorrow. Thanks for looking and stay tuned for a ton more photos to come throughout this week…

Now, onto the topic at hand. Today, for part 5, we’re going to be looking at IA ATL through the eyes of Shawn Dees. Dees provided us with some good photos of the “Welcome to Atlanta” event yesterday but today, we’re gonna go through a couple of shots that he captured from the Spring Import Alliance meet. You guys have seen many of the same cars repeatedly in the previous four posts so I’ve condensed a big portion of his coverage so that we will be looking at some of the cars you may not have seen yet. Now, with that idea, you’re going to see a lot of cool stuff, some bad stuff, and just some plain odd shit, to be perfectly frank. Shawn’s perspective is probably the most unique one because he took the time to cover a lot of different aspects of the event that we hadn’t seen yet. I hope you guys enjoy it and thanks to Shawn for the hard work…

If you missed any of the previous four parts, check them out here before you move on…

Import Alliance Spring Meet 2013 Coverage…From Varying Perspectives…Part 1…

Import Alliance Spring Meet 2013 Coverage…From Varying Perspectives…Part 2…

Import Alliance Spring Meet 2013 Coverage…From Varying Perspectives…Part 3…

Import Alliance Spring Meet 2013 Coverage…From Varying Perspectives…Part 4…

And now for the conclusion…

Atlanta Motor Speedway was the venue for the Spring Import Alliance event for those unaware…

While it is pretty cool to see a Top Secret GT300 widebody Supra, I just feel it would be better served with better fitting wheels and with the kit not all molded into one piece. It just looks so much more raw and aggressive with the defined lines and rivets in place, as seen HERE on the original GT300 Supra….

This coupe looked kinda interesting with this custom bumper that consisted of a OEM EJ1 bumper molded to a replica Spoon lip. I can’t say I love it but I certainly don’t hate the idea. People take risks to stand out sometimes and it is really hit and miss depending on who you ask…

The engine bay with a single cam motor isn’t too bad either. Pretty clean actually…

CD Accord with a nice clean bay as well, featuring an H22 swap and Mugen front bumper…

DA Integra on WED’s TC-05 wheels…

DC5 RSX on purple MB Battle wheels…

TRA Kyoto Rocket Bunny S13 coupe with some wheels don’t don’t really help to do the car any justice….

The RSX with BYS front bumper that you’ve seen a number of times already in the previous four parts of our coverage…

J’s Racing-themed Honda CR-Z on custom teal Advan RG2…

TSX on some aggressive Work Rezax 1 wheels…

One of the more puzzling cars at the IA Spring Meet was this S2000 that was leaping through the air to God knows where. It’s almost as if someone had woken up one day and put on the wrong shoes or something, haha…

The best part about it was how the owner was just flying through the air with this deep ass bend in their wheel, fucking crazy…

I was so inspired by this car that I just had to do this…

Can you also play this video while you stare at the photo, it just makes it that much better…

Haha…asshole move…but that’s just what happens when stance goes wrong and you ruin an S2000 like that…

“Pull up to the scene with my sideskirt missin’!”…

EK4 SiR-inspired Civic on CCW wheels…

Really clean yellow (Canary Yellow?) EG with BackYard Special front lip and classic Sprint Hart CP-Rs…

Gotta make sure to keep the car clean at all times…

One of the better cars at the IA Spring Meet was this FD3S RX-7 that was parked nonchalantly in the lot. Zero fucks were given as he was just posted with the TE37SLs all filthy and everything…

Red S2000 on CCW Classics on display at the “Funk Fashion” booth…

From looking at various photos of other people’s IA coverage, I’ve come to the conclusion that these two lovely ladies are (Left to Right) Bear Dellinger and Yelinice… You’re welcome for the FB links…

Shawn Dees is not worried about the girl’s heads so he just cropped their heads completely out of the shot…

At one point their heads were just getting in the way so he just went around back for a snap…

A couple shots of the K-swapped CVCC…

Slammed white EF from “Low Monroe”…

The owner of this Civic was showing off Password:JDM’s newest “Amputee” Intake System. Who needs a filter when you can just have a foam stub?….

Don Napier trying his best to not use his middle finger when pointing at Shawn Dees’ Chronicles t-shirt…

NA2 NSX from EMOTION…

Another car that could benefit from some suspension ride height modifications was this K-swapped Integra…

Custom painted EM1 coupe from Premium Garage Krew…

Rami Qasem’s ASM S2000 yet again…

Jeremy French’s del Sol…Apparently his del Sol was in one of the Fast and Furious movies (who knows which one)…

…and Vin Diesel signed his Personal steering wheel…

The bearded guy from the American Top Gear series… I think his name is Gary Rutledge or something. I don’t know, I mostly stick with the U.K. series…Cool that he was there though… (Just kidding, his name is Rutledge Wood. Wikipedia told me this so it has to be true, haha.)

This EF hatchback on old Stark wheels had kind of a sleeper feel to it. The outside is relatively simple in comparison to what was going on under the hood. Not bad…

…and speaking of Hondas with unexpected engine bay set-ups…

This white hatch on Enkei 92 wheels had a really clean bay. It’s almost a night and day difference. Maybe it’s a work in progress and the owner hasn’t really had time to dedicate to the exterior yet but it is definitely coming along nicely with the clean bay…

Black EF on recently re-released Enkei Apache wheels…

Shawn captured both Matt Tucker and David Dowdy as they were leaving the Spring Meet…

AP2 S2000 with white Work Emotion XD9s. I’m surprised by how popular that wheel is out East. You don’t see too many sets out here but there is an abundance of them over on that side of the country…

One more of the J’s-equipped CR-Z…

…and Shawn captured this photo of Tyler The Creator (not really) in his DB Integra as he and his sister were leaving the Atlanta Super Speedway….

That’s a wrap on the five-part IA Spring Meet mini-series. Thanks for looking everyone and thanks to the guys who contributed to the coverage…