An hour’s worth of rest wasn’t a whole lot, but it was time to head over to Nagoya to set-up for Wekfest. The drive was just around three hours and we had to be there early, so the Tactical Art Toyota Alphard van came to get us from the hotel at 2 AM. I think we were all a little tired but as they say, “the show must go on”, so we rounded up the troops and set off for Nagoya. We thought that the rest of the Tactical Art guys would be caravaning with us but we wouldn’t meet up with them until later on. We also had no idea if Yasu even finished his S2000 in time so it was going to be interesting to see if we actually had everyone together for the show. The journey to Nagoya was all kind of a blur, as we were in and out of sleep but we eventually met up at a rest stop to reconvene with the others…

If you missed any of the previous three parts, please take a look at them to get caught up on all that went on leading up to Wekfest Japan…

The Chronicles Wekfest Japan Trip 2014 Coverage…Part 1…

The Chronicles Wekfest Japan Trip 2014 Coverage…Part 2…FEEL’S Twin Cam and Tokyo Bay Dinner….

The Chronicles Wekfest Japan Trip 2014 Coverage…Part 3…#Wekfestprep With Tactical Art…

We pick up our coverage at said rest stop where we awaited the rest of the group’s arrival…

We had some time to spare while we were waiting for everyone else so I pulled the camera out and snapped some shots of the guys who were already there with us at the stop. Here is Tomoyuki Sakoda’s EP3 Civic Type R on CCW LM5 wheels….

Tomoyuki Sasaki’s orange Ferio…

Really liked how these shots came out of Masashi Kameoka’s EF9 Civic SiR. He hung out for a bit before retreating into his car for a nap. It would be a while before the rest arrived so we all just hung out for a bit until we got the phone call to take off. Oh, if you’re wondering, no he didn’t take off the hood for these shots. He actually drove all the way from Osaka to Nagoya with no hood whatsoever. Good thing it didn’t rain on the way there, haha…

We waited a little while longer until Atsuki and some of the others arrived. The only one missing was Yasutaka so we were worried he wasn’t able to get the S2000 done in time but he met up with us later at the Wekfest venue. Since he didn’t make the gathering at the rest stop, we decided to head out…

The drive seemed like it took forever since we were both sleepy and excited but we managed to catch the sunrise in the early hours of the morning…

We started to see some of the other show participants as we got closer to the venue and eventually found the entrance into Port Messe where the show was set to take place….

As we entered, I caught a glimpse of Satoru Hasegawa’s Civic Ferio on a trailer outside. I’ve seen plenty of photos of this thing online before but this was the first time I had the opportunity to see it in person…

I also spotted Work Wheels’ V8-swapped Toyota 86 RC. The last time I saw this car was on my last visit in January at Tokyo Auto Salon…

The outside of Port Messe was adorned with Wekfest/The Elites Nobori flags. In that moment, it seemed a little surreal to see Wekfest on Japanese shores….

Yuya Yasunari’s Honda Integra Type R with U.S.-converted ’97-spec ITR front end conversion and black iForce wheels…

One of the first true USDM-styled Hondas from the Yamaz Store camp…

Takanori Iwasa’s DC5 Integra Type-S on 3-piece SSR Professor MS3….

Tomohisa Tanaka’s U.S. Civic hatchback that was purchased from Las Vegas and imported to Japan…

Gorgeous Porsche 997.2 GT3 with Bride’s new “edirb” line of seats…

Inside the venue, the Tactical Art guys were busy setting up their booth while Yasu was prepping their new K-swapped EK build for the show…

Here you can get a peek of Rywire’s new tucked radiator through the front bumper of the K-EK…

The Tactical Art guys were nice enough to provide a space for both Ryan and I to set up our own booths to sell some of our merchandise that we shipped over from home…

On display in their booth was this 14-inch wide CCW wheel that I later ran my shin into and fucked up my leg with…

Outside, Hiro Ueda was frantically running around making sure the staff was in place and roll-in was going smoothly. For those that aren’t aware, Hiro was in charge of running the entire Wekfest event in Japan….

Vendor cars started rolling-in pretty early to set up along the sides of the Port Messe venue. This S2000 with Mugen front lip looked pretty interesting with its bright green custom BBS LM wheels…

This S2000 on aggressive SSR Professor MS3R wheels was on display at the Megan Racing booth…

Kei Ootsuka’s DA9 Integra on custom Mugen CF-48 wheels complete with refinished Aero Discs….

Vossen Japan’s Lexus LS600h….

Daisuke Ito’s DC5 Integra Type R with a newly-added Mugen rear spoiler…

Yasunari’s Integra Type R once again….

T.R.A. Kyoto Rocket Bunny S14 Silvia on 18-inch Barramundi Design Fogos….

Common Snapper and Barramundi Design boss Noriyaki Miyamoto’s personal tri-rotorary powered S30Z race car. This thing is an absolute monster and needs to be seen/heard in person to really be appreciated…

Akifumi Ikeda’s Honda Integra Si-VTEC on white Volk Racing TE37…

Masaki Fukuda’s Spoon Sports-themed EG6 SiR Civic from Lowered2Perfection….

A beauty of an Audi A6 Avant hammered to the ground…

Suzuka Blue S2000 running a Mugen front lip, OEM hardtop, and custom step-lipped Mugen M7 wheels…

Clean, white EF Civic on WRD Chevlon wheels…

Toyota 86 built by Body Shop Kikuta bagged on VIP Modular VRS13 wheels….

Toshiyuki Yanagi’s Honda Integra Type R….

Keisuke Morita’s HKS supercharged Scion FR-S w/APR aero add-ons and CCW LM5s…

Masashi Kameoka’s EF9 getting placed within the show floors…

Sasaki’s Ferio reppin’ Phaze2 Japan…

Sakoda’s EP3 Civic…

9010 DESIGN’s V36 Skyline 370GT with full custom paint, re-imagined in purple and yellow….

Creamy white DA Integra on Barramundi Design Toman wheels…

One of my favorites from Japan, Ryouichi Tanaka’s EG6 Civic rocking a Rocket Dancer front lip and bronze 15-inch TE37 wheels…

Dougie, Ken from Wekfest, and Salem. Both Doug and Salem were rocking the new Stickydiljoe.com t-shirts….

After walking around and chatting with some new friends, I decided to make my way outside to check out some of the cars in the staging area. This was also where the spectator lot was which I was sure would have some really nice cars. Like Tokyo Auto Salon, I expected car enthusiasts everywhere to come out for Wekfest Japan which meant that the possibility of having nice cars in the lot was high. People in Japan aren’t as hesitant to drive their cars to park at events because it is just a safer environment for them. Vandalism and theft isn’t nearly as common over in Japan so it is honestly “safe” to bring your car to an event and park it outside. That’s why the parking lot at Tokyo Auto Salon was a show in itself and Wekfest Japan had a similar feel. At that point, I didn’t know who was just parking and who was waiting to get staged inside the venue so I just captured whatever caught my eye outside…

The first build that I spotted was Teru Ito’s H22-swapped Honda Odyssey. Ito actually came to America to visit just a couple weeks before so it was good to see him again back in Japan. He’s a really nice guy and even came by my office to check out the shop and to look at my RA3 Odyssey. His Odyssey is probably one of the best in the world currently and managed to win like 8 awards or something at the USDM Jam 10 event. Nothing had changed much since then, other than the addition of the Mugen rear wing. I was just happy to see this thing in person finally…

I remember posting some shots of this D21 Nissan truck on my Instagram account last year and people went completely ape shits over it. It’s fucking badass and looks every bit as crazy as it does in photos. I didn’t expect to see it at WFJP but the owner brought the car out to display on behalf of Barramundi Design wheels. I’ll have more photos of it later in the coverage with engine bay shots and all…

I spotted Hideo Shingu and Yuko Abe in his Honda Integra Type R on WED’s TC05 wheels…

One of the builds that made my trip to Japan totally worth it was Kazu Imai’s Integra Type R. It was amazing to finally see this thing in person after all these years. I was surprised by just how great it looked and how good the quality of body work was on his radiused fenders. Even the paint itself on the car is impressive. I thought it was just a simple red tone before but when I saw it in person, I realized it was a metallic, almost candy-like, red…

Kouki EK Civic hatchback on 16×8 Volk Racing TE37 wheels…

Kiyotaka Nakajima’s orange EG Civic with Wings West lip kit and Mugen MF10L wheels. Nakajima actually came up to introduce himself to me while I was taking this photo. After posting up photos of his car a couple times before over the years, it was nice to finally put a face to the car…

One car that I was stoked to see was this CD Honda Accord from PROTO-TYPE/Rhythm Motors. I absolutely love this thing and have been a huge fan of it ever since I first saw it. The cage work is insane and I just love how the car sits on BMD wheels with its custom center-exit exhaust. It is just one of those really rare builds that you wouldn’t see anymore else but Japan. Last time I checked, the owner was in the process of doing an H22 swap but I’m not sure if he ever completed it since he never popped his hood at Wekfest…

Kazuhito Hirabayashi’s Honda CR-X del Sol…

Like the Accord and many others, I was overjoyed to see Masakazu Oka’s DB Integra. I’ve posted a ton of photos of this car over the years and I remember looking for hours and hours on the web for photos of it after I saw it once in the background of another shot. Something about it is just so cool and while it is very simple aesthetically, it just sticks with you in your memory…

One of the reasons why it stands out is probably because of its wild cage. You wouldn’t think that Oka’s Integra even needed a cage and it probably doesn’t, but man, it’s awesome to see in there. Even the old school 5Zigen N1R bucket seat is cool…

PROTO-TYPE also brought out their Kanjo-themed EF Civic. Love the style of it and how it screams “Osaka, Japan”…

Well that’s a lot to take in so I’ll cut it off here for now. Part 5 will be much like this one and involve some more shots from the outside as well as my return back inside the venue. There is some really cool stuff coming so make sure to stay tuned for more updates. Thanks for looking!!….