Thank goodness Shota Mori is back in Japan… If you guys don’t know, I don’t use very many photographers other than a handful of them worldwide. Reason is, I prefer to shoot everything myself and most of the time, I try to make it out to as many events as possible to do so. I’m also very picky, I guesss you can say, because I have a particular affection to detail and I want as much in-depth coverage as I can get. Shota Mori is one of my main suppliers of photos in Japan. If I were to ever officially have a “staff” of people who contributed to the site, Mori-san would definitely be at the top of my list. I really dig his shots because he not only takes a ton of them from multiple angles, he also has a very good eye and is very well-versed behind a camera. Mori has been out here in the U.S.A for what seems like a couple of months now for work and though I enjoy seeing his adventures in America, I much prefer to see what he captures while he is in Japan, haha. The guy goes to like, every possible event I can think of over in Japan, whether they be big or small events, and covers it all. I’m happy to have him on board and I appreciate all the content that he provides me. As much as I’d like to be in Japan all the time covering events over there, I just can’t so it is great to have him there. I love to have my scope wide open on Japan to see what they do over there and it is really cool to see how they have translated USDM car culture and made it their own…

Today, we’re going to be taking a good look at some of Mori-san’s photos from a recent event in Japan known as the “Wreckin’ Meet”, Volume 2. This is their second annual event and is geared towards those Japanese enthusiasts who have a love of U.S. car culture. It is held at a venue called “IOX AROSA” and not only is it a car gathering, it also serves as a charity event. They have collection boxes at the event to raise money for the Great East Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. I remember seeing photos of their first ever Wreckin’ Meet last year and the gathering consisted of some pretty nice builds. Hopefully you guys dig these shots as much as I do. If you follow the site regularly, then you most likely will recognize some of the builds in this coverage because they’ve appeared on this site before. It is great to see their progress and for me, it is just like following some of the builds out here. Whenever I see cars like this, it also reminds me of how big the USDM car scene has gotten over there the last couple years in Japan. Now you see full builds that look like they could have been built over here, from the engine bay, to the exterior aesthetics, etc. They’re doing a great job of it, especially in the Honda community. Some of the more elaborate stuff that we do here to our engine bays has yet to translate overseas but I see big things coming in the next year or so for Japan. Oh, one thing to make note of is that there was a big storm leading up to the day of the Wreckin’ Meet and the rain last through the day of the event as well. It didn’t really have any effect ultimately on the day as people just kind of stuck around and just put up with the rain. They see rain so often over there that it really isn’t a big deal for them anyway. It probably sucked ass for the people that drove from long distances but it didn’t look to have hindered anyone from coming. Anyways, enough rambling, here are the first set of photos. The Wreckin’ Meet Vol. 2 coverage is only two parts so make sure to come back tomorrow to see the rest….

We start off today with Shota Mori and friends at a rest stop where they gathered for a caravan to the Wreckin’ Meet…

This DB8 Honda Integra on 2-piece Work Meister S1s belongs to Takeshi Kato. The red EG Civic behind is Takayuki Saito’s…

Yuma Saito’s Nissan 180SX on gold-faced 17-inch Panasport G7 C5C2s. I don’t know if it is obvious to everyone but the rear quarters look like they’ve been radiused slightly and the fronts may have been also. It’s so subtle that it almost looks stock…

Takayuki Saito’s aggressive EG6 Civic and Takuya Matsuda Nissan 180SX Type-X…

Saito’s Civic is way over the top and rides on very aggressive 15-inch Work Meister S1….

Norifumi Kobayashi’s Honda Accord Euro Wagon and friends gathered at the rest stop…

Takeshi Kato’s Honda Integra sedan looking good on silver Meister S1s…

A couple of Japanese car enthusiasts talking S2000s…

ASM-equipped Honda S2000 representing LEVEL ONE Japan Chapter…

Back on the road and off on their journey to Wreckin’ Meet Vol. 2….

Task Ogihara’s white EF Civic on matching-white GAB Sport wheels. Really liked that black 4-door Ferio behind it with the BYS bumper and white Regas but unfortunately Mori-san did not get any close-up shots of it…

Arrival at IOX AROSA for the Wreckin’ event…

That rain came down hard early in the am as set-up commenced…

The meet provided a lot of variety from Nissans, to VWs, and of course, Hondas….

Tomohisa Tanaka’s blue EK hatchback that was originally purchased in America and transported back to Japan. Next to it is an MK1 Golf on newly-released Work Seeker DX wheels…

Really loved this shot by Mori of a VW line-up with the rain coming down hard…

One of my favorites from the Wreckin’ Meet was Masaki Morohashi’s S13 coupe. He recently got rid of his 180SX/U.S. 240SX front and converted the front end back to the JDM S13 front. I’ve never been a fan of the flip-up headlights so this is the perfect look to me…

Zenki S14 Silvia with Ganador Super Mirrors and Nismo LMGT4s in white…

Slammed Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution on black SSR Professor MS1…

Turbocharged Mitsubishi Lancer that has remained incredibly pristine over the years, seated on polished JLine wheels. Not the cage inside as well…

Weird how bagged Mitsubishi Evos and Subarus are popping-up all over the world now…

EK9 Civic Type R on Sprint Hart CP-Rs…

Slammed Civic Ferio on classic SSR Mesh…

Volkwagen Golf GTI 4-door looking good on Work Meister S1 3-piece wheels….

You’ll notice a huge Volkswagen presence in a lot of Shota’s photos because he is both a Honda guy and a big VW fanatic as well…

A car crew known as “Crazy Rabbit” brought out a slew of nice VWs and also a Civic Shuttle with some wheels that I currently cannot remember the names of. I encountered these a couple years back but I just can’t recall what they are. The center of the gunmetal single spare has “Das beste auf der welt campeao do mundo”  around the face of it. I believe they are truck wheels normally hence the 6-lug pattern and maybe the ones on the Shuttle have been filled and drilled…

Here’s a slightly better look…

Bagged Volkswagen Bora on white Fifteen52 Tarmacs…

Another Bora with basically the same set-up, just the colorways have been switched around…

Another huge favorite of mine from this set is this Volkwagen Jetta Wolfsburg Edition coupe from Illegal Sick Japan. The interior is completely gutted and caged and the body is nice and simple with a perfect ride height…

Wheels on the coupe are step-lipped Schmidt TH Lines….

Can’t say I’ve encountered this type of front end before on this VW Jetta…Almost looks like (or is) a rally-style front grille with the quad-headlights…

We don’t have these here but I think these Volkswagen Up city cars are actually pretty cool-looking. This one is dumped on M Technica Turbo wheels…

Here is a four-door version slammed on white BBS wheels. The front ends of these things look like a giant smiling face which I’m sure was the original intent of the design…

The bigger brother of the VW UP, the MK6 Golf, planted on the floor on some BBS wheels as well. All you wheel fitment fanatics out there will appreciate this style…

The theme behind this event is “U.S. car culture” so it makes sense that you would see this Subaru WRX STI on Work Emotion XD9s. This type of look is pretty much how you would find a lot of the Subarus executed here in the States…

Hiroshi Kamomo’s Civic coupe on Sprint Hart CP-Rs. This is another very common look in the U.S. that has found its way back to Japan’s USDM culture…

Classically-styled E36 BMW M3 on BBS RS….

Owner of this white EK9 Civic Type R on Work RSZ-Rs applying some decals to his windshield. Not sure if he is sitting in a puddle or not but it looks like he has a flat rear tire…

Some more shots of Task Ogihara’s EF hatchback on GAB Sport wheels…

A close-up of his GAB wheels reveals a set of spike lug nuts that Bolt Boys was selling awhile back. Can’t say I’ve actually ever seen them on a car before. Pretty interesting…

Custom mini-trucks were also present at the Wreckin’ Meet….

Here you can see the size comparison between the Volkswagen Up and Ogihara’s EF…

Japanese enthusiasts and U.S. car culture lovers were not put off by the rain and enjoyed each other’s company despite the rainfall…

Lowered 2 Pefection car club brought out some really clean Hondas, some of which have appeared numerous times before here on The Chronicles…

One of the builds that I really wanted to show you was this black EG6 Civic that is executed almost exactly how you would see a really clean Civic build here in the U.S…

The engine bay is on point and probably one of the cleanest Honda bays in Japan right now. I have one or two more shots of this Civic in Part 2. It’s just very simple outside with 949Racing 6UL wheels along with a Spoon Sports front lip and duckbill wing…

Lexus GS F-Sport on air ride suspension from Lexon…

Big fan of this Honda S2000 from A-Spec on concaved Rotiform TMB wheels…

One more of the Ferio from earlier on SSR Racing Mesh…

Gonna close-out Part 1 for now with two of my favorite Hondas from Wreckin’ Meet Vol. 2. This orange EG6 Civic owned by Kiyotaka Nakajima looks great on Mugen MF10s. The interior has red Recaro SRDs and has a roll cage while the outside carries a black/orange theme. Just very simple and very well-done. Nice touch with the color-matched foglights too. I think the Wings West lip and sideskirts might look better color-matched but I understand the theme the owner is going with….

I’ve honestly never been a big fan of the whole “black on black” look but man, when it is done right, it is DONE RIGHT. Ryota Tanaka’s Civic Ferio looks fucking beast with the aggressive ride height and black Enkei RPF1, especially with the meaty tire. This is proof that you can just keep a Honda very, very, simple and still make it look incredibly aggressive. Everything just comes together and flows really well… Bravo sir…

Well, that’s it for today. Back with more tomorrow so stay tuned! Still a lot of great cars to cover…