For the last couple of months, I’ve been working closely with Brandon from BOWLS FILMS and Jonathan Wong (Former Editor-In-Chief of Super Street magazine) on a once-in-a-lifetime video piece documenting the ever-mysterious underground Kanjo racing subculture from Osaka, Japan. I had done a huge piece on it after my visit to Japan earlier this year, but this video piece would be the epitome of all you would ever NEED to know about the Kanjozoku. I put emphasis on the word “need” because well, it really isn’t anything that you should know too much about. First of all, this subculture is so shrouded in mystery that even the newer generation of car enthusiasts from Osaka do not even know about it. The mystery doesn’t come because the Kanjozoku died off and people just forgot about them. It is a relative unknown to many because it was done so purposely because many in Osaka did not want anyone else to know about it. For the ones that do know about it, they don’t really like to talk about it. Many times, they will even pretend to not know just so you don’t speak of them anymore. There are some individuals from the past who were heavily involved in this underground world that your average everyday Japanese wouldn’t exactly call “good people”. I myself do not want to speak too much about it but there are definitely some things that I have been told in confidence that I wouldn’t even repeat…

The more Brandon and I got into this project, we were told by some in Japan to please be careful, and to be weary of what exactly we are expressing to the rest of the world. There are some things that are better left unsaid and we definitely understood that. We weren’t profiting at all from doing this and there are no investors involved, so we could have easily stopped. The reason why we continued to push forward with this is because it is a true passion project for us. We cast a spotlight on this world for you guys to see because we think that it is an important part of the development of today’s car culture worldwide. The point of this whole thing was never to promote “street racing” or any sort of illegal activity. We knew that all along going into this. It is the history that we want to showcase and the passion that these men possess for their hobby. We didn’t want to get involved with anything more than that. I didn’t want to know anything about their personal lives or what they do outside of the Osaka Loop. The less we knew the better in that aspect because we respected their privacy. All we wanted to do was to capture the essence of why they loved what they loved and why they continue to put everything at risk, especially for the guys who have been in it for a long period of time. At the end of the day, when you strip it all down, I think we all want to have a better understanding of why we do what we do. That love, the drive to do anything that you feel is important…that is what I am after. Anybody can show you car shit from anywhere in the world. Social media has dictated that anyone can be a “photographer” these days. The story, the MEANING, is what is the pinnacle. You can show anyone anything and they can assume whatever they want. If you can tell them a story and light some sort of fire inside of them, and help them understand something that they didn’t understand before, fuck man, that is an incredible thing….

For the Kanjozoku, I believe that story is coming. I’ve done my part to explain the logistics to you guys and give you a glimpse into their world, but what you will see next week is unprecedented. At last, we can finally hear from the major players involved and you will not only understand their passion, but it’ll teach you something about Japanese car culture that you probably had no idea about before. We knew going into this what was at risk, and we’ve done our best to protect those involved. We also knew about the dangers and those who have asked us on multiple times to stay away, and as of now, this may be the last time we ever touch on this topic. I don’t think the world should see anymore of this and whatever else I do in the future I will probably keep for my own eyes. There is a lack of understanding and a lack of appreciation for the Kanjozoku and its history, and hopefully that changes after our project is revealed next week. If not, then it’ll be buried back in the shadows where many believe it belongs. For what its worth, I was honored and proud to have been invited into this secret world. There are some over here in the States who have made it a purpose to hate or make fun of anything related to this topic, and by all means, it is a free country, “do you”. By that same token, you’re still looking though, and spending time out of your day to waste your time belittling our efforts. That speaks to your lack of understanding and maybe you need to better devote your time to improving yourself, rather than to waste your energy. We are not hear to worry about the least common denominator.

We did it for the love of it, because we cared about it.

To check out the media hub that we have created to showcase our forthcoming video piece, appropriately titled “The Kanjozoku”, please click the link below.

THE KANJOZOKU
THE KANJOZOKU
THE KANJOZOKU

The site features the trailer as well as some small stories related to it. Next week when the video releases on the 14th, we will also have some new stories for you to read thanks to Japanese car culture guru, Mike Garrett. There are basically three guys who have been specifically invited into this world who have been allowed to document it and to produce content for it; that is Brandon from BOWLS, Mike Garrett from Speedhunters, and myself. Anything that you’re getting that is media-related or stories that you hear/read otherwise are from third-party sources. Be weary of what you read from these sources because they have not been verified. WE are the direct sources and I’m happy to have all of us together to present this the right way…

Today, we’re going to finish off some coverage that I worked on detailing the LAW BREAK 30th Anniversary Event. It was a track day event that was organized by the group and was held at Motorland Suzuka. The first section covered the set-up of the event but Part 2 has more of the “action” and gets more into the core of the event…

Here’s the link to Part 1 just in case you missed it:

LAW BREAK 30th Anniversary Coverage…Part 1…

LAW BREAK 30TH ANNIVERSARY

PHOTOS BY YASUTAKA SHIMOMUKAI

POST-PROCESSING & WORDS BY STICKYDILJOE

And now we continue with the rest of the photos from the 30th Anniversary Celebration…

Before the actual track competition could take place, everyone got together for a group photo along with supporters…

EF9 SiR Civic wearing traditional Mugen colors….

Behind-the-scenes look as the group gathered for the photo-op…

…and this was the result. The shot was actually published in a Japanese magazine as well…

My buddy Yasu actually sent me the magazine as well. You can see the photo at the top corner of this spread. Now, you may be wondering what type of publication in Japan provides Kanjo coverage and I too wondered the same thing. I don’t know exactly what it is but let’s just say that there were a lot of blurred-out faces, some naked Japanese females, and other assorted, not so legal activities…. *wink wink*….At first I thought he just tossed the magazine in the box as cushioning for the other stuff that he sent me but sure enough, I looked through it and found a 4-page spread that documented the Law Break 30th Anniversary event…

After the quick photo session, it was time for a quick parade lap to showcase the cars participating and then the track competition would begin…

The EF9 that you saw above…

Another EF9 SiR, this one prepped by tuning shop, REAL Company, and representing old school TEMPLE RACING family…

LAW BREAK EK9 Civic Type R…

Idemitsu Motion x BRUSHUP Auto Works EG6 Civic from NO GOOD RACING….

LAW BREAK K20 EK9….

A group of traditional Bosozoku motorbikes from LATE RISER….

One of the vehicles on display at the Work Wheels Japan booth was this custom Mercedes Benz from K’s BPA rocking aggressive Work Meister S1R wheels. If you want to see more shots of this car, simply Google Image Search “K’s BPA Benz”. You’ll see shots of it from J.C. of Work Wheels. It’s definitely not to everyone’s tastes but it’s a pretty detailed build. You gotta see the rest of it from other angles…

Carmake Across’ EF9 Civic SiR from CLUB WHARP/WHARP RACING….

I don’t know how many of you reading are aware, but the Kanjozoku have quite a rich history and many of the brands that you see in our tuning industry today have roots in Osaka’s underground street car culture. Junction Produce, probably one of the most globally-recognized Japanese VIP companies, is one of them. They too started out with Hondas and it is a rare sight today, but there are still some Kanjozoku around that still rep the original Junction Produce Racing signage on their vehicles…

Above is a photo of two of the Junction Produce EF Civics from a Osaka car show back in 2010….

Flared S30Z Fairlady cruising the lot…

The Boso/Yanki subculture has always been a big part of Osaka’s history. What many do not know is that female motorcycle gangs were just as big as male tribes at one point. Here are two Japanese ladies dressed in traditional Boso garb. Not something we’re used to seeing and because of its outrageousness, we tend to not take it seriously, but hey, this is culture. Just because it isn’t our culture, it doesn’t make it any less significant….

J’s Racing widebody S2000 from Impact Magic….

Bosozoku cruise around the track at Motorland Suzuka. Helmets optional….

This NO GOOD RACING EG Civic should be pretty familiar to you by now if you’ve followed my coverage of the Kanjozoku culture up to this point…

Unfortunately, I do not have much usable video from this event but Yasu was able to get some pretty good shots of the cars once the friendly competition began. Below is a short clip of what he was able to capture on video. I think he stopped getting video because he was worried about memory card space….

Looks like the NGR Idemitsu-themed Civic has seen some body damage since the last time I saw it in January…

NO GOOD RACING EG dipping through a turn at Motorland….

One of the three/four Civic Type Rs from LAW BREAK…

Of all the photos that I’ve seen online over time, this EG from BRUSHUP is probably the one I see the most on the track regularly…

WHARP RACING EF9….

More NO GOOD…

ACROSS EF9….

The yellow SiR from LAW BREAK ran into some issues towards the end of the day….

Impact AP1 S2000…

Individual throttle bodies…

Enkei RPF1 and Project Mu big brake kit under J’s Racing wide fenders….

Love how unequivocally Japanese the CLUB WHARP EF9 looks. Like, there would be no doubt as to where this build came from. Same goes for the WHARP decals. They are so cheesy but so Japanese and so great, haha…

Lunch time….

Some guys weren’t so fortunate on the track that day and went home with some repairs that needed to be addressed….

LAW BREAK K-EK9 doing work…

LAW BREAK EG….

One of the cars that I wanted to see more of was the ZEROFIGHTER EG. Unfortunately, this was the only shot I was able to find…

As expected, the K-powered Civic from LAW BREAK ended-up being one of the fastest cars of the day…

The Garage Kiyotaki K20 EG is not a Kanjo runner, but did race with the rest of the Kanjozoku that day….

Loved the simplicity of the black EG6 SiR-II

At the end of the day, the competition narrowed down to the LAW BREAK EK and WHARP RACING EF9…

The two then lined-up…

…and the final run began…

The race was close up until the point when the LAW BREAK car eventually spun-out. The translation was rough but I think something happened mechanically…

…which paved the way for the WHARP RACING EF to take the win….

After it completed the lap to seal the win, the EF returned to the paddock, celebrated by those in attendance….

The spin-out caused the front bumper to rip off so fellow LAW BREAK members came out to assist in repairing it before the car was taken off the track…

Group photo of the LAW BREAK family along with friends from WHARP…

Congrats to CLUB WHARP for the win…

After the competition ended, some of the guys got back on the track for some free runs….

Love how the SSR Type-C looks on the front of this EK9…

One final shot of the NGR EG…

That’s a wrap. Hope you guys enjoyed it. Thanks to Yasu for the captures and thanks to all for looking…

Make sure to head on over to THEKANJOZOKU.COM and check out the collaborative effort between BOWLS LA and I. The video piece that has been so long-awaited is finally in its finally stages and drops on that site 7/14/14!! Don’t miss it!!