I’m always pleasantly surprised when one of my Japanese contacts decides to go out to do some coverage at an event I would otherwise have no access to. I love seeing what’s new with Japanese car culture so when I found out that there was another Hellaflush event going on in Japan, I was anxious to see the photos. Last year’s Hellaflush event in Japan was significant for The Chronicles because it was the event where I first spotted the guys from Tactical Art. If it hadn’t been for that event and some photos taken by Colin from DOHCresearch, I would have never known about them. Since then, I have even had the opportunity to meet the guys from Tactical Art and they are regular contributors to this site. I love what they are about and the Hondas they are working on so it is a pleasure for me to be able to see what goes on in their lives in Japan. I follow the Hellaflush Japan events to not only look at the builds from Japan but also to look for Hondas that may otherwise go unnoticed. There were some that saw the Tactical Art cars but then scrolled right past them, not looking into what their builds consisted of or what “Tactical Art” was. I don’t want to take all the credit for it but since that last event, they have become a recognized name out here in our Honda community and one of their cars is gracing the cover of the upcoming Honda Issue for Super Street. What I am trying to say is that I just want to be able to give some of these guys the spotlight that they deserve. The worldwide car community is so vast that it is really easy for people to get overlooked and it is my pleasure to be able to present some spotlight on fellow enthusiasts. Today we will be taking a look at the Hellaflush event that was held in Kansai, Japan. I don’t have too much information on the event itself but from what I have been hearing through numerous outlets, it was a great event but there were some issues with parking, being that the venue was small. From what I saw there are some pretty great cars there. Some I wish I had photos of, the 326power cars in particular, but I am happy with what I have…

Makoto Onoda aka Makotoman was the one responsible for supplying their photos. I stumbled upon his work while looking for photos of his friends 4-door Integra one day and I have since become a big fan. He does a great job of capturing what is around him and his style is very similar to my own. So much so that the coverage you see today would probably flow right along with the coverage you see regularly here shot by your’s truly. He’s also been able to supply the original photos straight from his Nikon as well so I have gone through and processed them. This also helps to make everything come together seamlessly. I did the same thing with the coverage from USDM Jam 9.0, which was shot by Koji Karimata. I’ve been putting up a lot of Makotoman’s stuff on The Chronicles Facebook page lately because he’s a Honda head himself and takes a lot of photos of stuff that we have been curious to see more of, like the 13engineering K20 EF Civic. Photos of that car have been floating around but Makotoman actually knows the owner so he’s had regular access to the car to get photos of it…

That is pretty much it. The photos and comments below will speak for themselves… Enjoy and thank you to Makotoman for providing these wonderful shots… Looks like Mark Arcenal pulled off another great event so props to him for continuing to do big things worldwide…

Not sure why Makotoman left his Integra at home but he actually has a very nice Phoenix Yellow DC on Barramundi wheels like the ones you see above… I’m very happy to be able to have seen photos from this event because it introduced me to this CD Accord sedan…

The day started out at a local Japanese 7-11 where they met up to cruise down to the venue for Hellaflush Kansai. The four door DB Integra on TE37s is the car that I spotted at USDM Jam 9.0. There weren’t very many photos of it and after a couple nights of searching, I came upon some photos of it that Makotoman shot, and that is how I discovered Makoto Onoda…isn’t it awesome how great the internet age is these days?…and after being introduced to Makotoman’s photos, I also found out that he knows the owner of that EF hatch you see above, another car that I’ve been searching for more photos of for months now… That is quite a trio I must say, and I am a huge fan…

One thing that you’ll never see over here in the states is somebody who is willing to climb on their windshield to apply stickers…haha…long have we had to find someone to hold the other end and someone to eye it to make sure it was centered. Over in Japan, they don’t have problems like this because they are down to have one of their 98 pound homies kneel on the windshield to put on their stickers… If you’re wondering what “Rhythm Motors” is, I have wondered myself. I thought it was their car crew but from what I’ve gathered, Rhythm Motors is the shop that fabricated the cages in the Integra, Accord, and probably the EF…

EF Civic from Osaka JDM that was recently on the cover of Super Streets special “Japan Issue”…wheels are Work-produced Osaka JDM Loop5s…. Looking lovely even with the U.S. front end… Note the mirrors and the Bisimoto license plate frame…

Mark Arcenal’s S13 Silvia drift vehicle wearing the Fatlace brand…Love the TE37Vs and the meaty tires…

A Civic coupe that you’re probably familiar with by now from the USDM Jam 9.0 coverage….interesting look but I can’t say I’m totally sold on the look… Kaminari side skirts actually don’t look bad though and the Advan tire/Watanabe wheel set-up is cool…

An overhead look of what was present at the event. I can already spot a bunch of cars that I wanted to see more of but unfortunately, Makotoman was not able to capture everything….

This whole row had cars that I wanted to see more of. That green Silvia is just nuts…

Though the venue was small, there was more than enough space for guys to do some mini-photo shoots… Here’s a shot that Makotoman captured of the yellow EK from Osaka JDM… USDM-style in full effect on this build…

Set-up from below… guys had their remote flashes out and everything and were ready to do some work…

Absolutely love these older Skylines…this one would probably look better on different wheels though…

LOOKING VIP-inspired FD RX-7… This thing was in Modified magazine years ago and still looks mint. Love the aggressive styling cues mixed with elements from Japanese VIP car culture….

By no means is this Mugen E-AT “Hellaflush” but it is great to see because of the overwhelming nostalgia that one feels when seeing builds like this…I believe this is a replica car from Osaka JDM…

Another Civic representing Osaka JDM on JDM Loop5…

The Ferio that you may recognize from USDM Jam 9.0, also from Osaka JDM. Note the Super Street sticker on the windshield… The Osaka JDM guys are actually going to be hanging out at Wekfest LA if you guys want to come out and meet them…

Barramundi Design wheels are the CCWs of Japan it seems and I’ve been seeing a ton of them lately…Great looking wheel though. I’m starting to wonder when I’m going to see a set pop up in the states…

This white hatch is one of my favorites from Japan actually, not because of the wheel fitment but because of the owner’s choice in color selection. I really like the peanut butter seats and the (not pictured) bronze tone of the Barramundi wheels… I wish Makotoman had snapped some more shots of this car…

The new Beetles are starting to grow on me. I definitely like this body style more than the generation before this one…the lines are sharper and just gives it a less girly-feel…

Also really like the lines of the new Volkswagen Sciroccos…. The roof almost looks like it’s been shaped to make it more streamline… I always post up photos of this one because it is honestly a very good looking build….

I try my best to understand that Japanese enthusiasts’ way of thinking and for most part, I have a good idea of what they like and dislike… I don’t understand why they would put a Celica front end on a Supra though..haha…I guess it’s one of those things where they do it just because they can…

Another look at the Fatlace S13 Silvia… There was a drifting exhibition at this event as well I believe and Mark took this car out for a couple spins…

Rauh Welt Begriff needs no introduction. Arcenal has been working closely with RWB for a while now so it is no surprise that they would be present at a Hellaflush event…

Shooting continued on the yellow Civic from Car Craft Boon!…

A shot of the turbocharged B-motor…

Rear mid-wing and Civic CX badges, license plate garnish, door handles, and side moldings…

Osaka JDM decal…notice the “your fake shit is lame” sticker that somehow ended up overseas in Japan…

Japanese dude STUFFING this model….with flyers… Cool that she was wearing the checkered shorts because if you’ve ever seen Japanese porno before, the vag area is also checkered and pixelated, haha…

I guess now would be as good of a time as any to introduce you to Takuya Nishikawa’s Accord…

From what Makotoman told me, Nishikawa used to own an EK9 Civic Type R. He was such a big fan of the old JACCS Accord from the JTCC racing series that he decided to build his own Accord…He has some super secret plans for it but so far, it is completely caged, gutted, and has an H22 swap in it…

Here is a closer look inside the car and the cage that was fabricated by Rhythm Motors…

Pretty intense cage for such a simple car aesthetically. The inside has also been color-matched with the exterior…

I believe this is a fairly new build from Nishikawa so I’ll update you when I see more updates on it… A lot of you are going to ask again what wheels are on this car so do me a favor the next time you see someone asking. They are Barramundi Design “Snooks”….

K-swapped Hondas are still far and few between in Japan so they attract a lot of attention whenever one pops up at an event. This EF not only has a K-swap, it also has a very clean swap with individual throttle bodies…

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I’m sure you’ve seen photos of it before floating around here and there. I love the pure aggression and how it sits on Barramundi wheels with meaty tires…The slit you see cut on the carbon fiber hood is there so that it can clear the fuel rail on the ITBs… It’s not a totally refined machine but it screams function and probably hauls on the track… As I said, it’s rare to see K-swaps over there. It’s incredible popular here but Japanese enthusiasts are still very fond of the balance that a B-series motors offer on their older Honda chassis’. Very cool to see a K-EF though. Somebody over there is thinking outside the box and I’m happy to see that…

Clean swap too with Hasport mounts… I wonder what these guys are thinking when they go to an event and see this car…It has to draw quite a bit of attention amongst their Honda enthusiasts…

An overhead shot of the 13Engineering EF parked next to a green S30Z Fairlady race car, also sporting Barramundi Design wheels. The one you see on the EF are BMD “Elevens” and the ones on the Z are the same as the Accord set, which are “Snooks”…

Audi on some Bentley wheels…

Nissan Skyline 2000 GTX…

Masakazu Oka’s DB Integra on bronze Volk TE37s… This also sports a cage from Rhythm Motors. Check out the carbon kevlar side mirrors and 5Zigen bucket seat…

A shot from the early morning that I should have posted in the beginning of this post…Here you can see how the fuel rail sticks out of the carbon hood… Again, Japanese dudes are just down to just climb on windshields to ensure proper application of their decals…

Osaka JDM/Car Craft Boon! rear carbon wing for the EF…I believe you’ll be seeing one of these soon at Wekfest LA….

Gonna stop here for today…Check back tomorrow for part 2 of 2 of The Chronicles’ Hellaflush Kansai Coverage… Thanks for looking…