Photos by Shota Mori and processed by StickyDilJoe
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!…