I want to extend a huge overseas shout-out to all my supporters from Japan. They’ve done a great job of sharing the last four posts via various social media outlets and I really appreciate it. I don’t advertise anywhere or really promote this site anywhere else besides my own social media sources so it is always helpful whenever people go out of their way to share these posts with their friends. That is how the site started gaining followers back in the day and to this very day, a huge part of the success of The Chronicles is thanks to all of you and just basic word of mouth. The USDM Jam series is an event I really enjoy and it isn’t a mistake that Tetsuya Yamaguchi has been able to keep it going for ten years now. He’s doing a great thing and make huge strides for the Japanese enthusiasts and I am happy to see the positive momentum that it has gained over time…
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…
Still loving the 1g dsm! Amazing shot of it, I see one all the time! Its in my driveway I drive it on the weekends and I drive my FD2 conversion CIVIC as a daily.
http://i187.photobucket.com/albums/x94/BlondieMES/DSC_0073copy_zps9df5152a.png <-A picture, hard to bring them both out to a meet, bring a meet to tx so I can hit it up!
That looks like a 2g, not a 1g.
Itd rxactly like the green one its a 1g. 92
What intake is that on the ferio?
really wish I could see some Japanese takes on Preludes at these meets but it really seems they ignore it :/
Americans aren’t the only ones that neglect that chassis unfortunately. There are only a handful I can think of that are really nice.
Wow, I was thinking the same thing reading through this post – where are the Preludes?! It’s sad they’re overlooked, but I suppose it’s true that even on the forums there aren’t that many Prelude owners going beyond the norm to create something special.
The radiused fenders on Kazu’s teg look Great! I have thought for Years how nice that would be on a honda to fit the wheels better while still being able to be low.. Phenomenal looking car! Satoru’s ferio looks incredible with the two door frontend on it!
What is the colour code for the Satoru Hasegawa’s Civic Ferio.