Well, let me start off by saying “Happy New Year” to you all. I’m always thankful of the support that I’ve gotten over the years and 2015 looks to be as big a year as ever. I hope to travel more and document more of my adventures for you guys to see. My hope is that you stick around to see all of it. I appreciate the love….

Now, moving on….

There isn’t much of an introduction needed here. My buddy Yasutaka Shimomukai from Tactical Art recently hit up Nakayama Circuit to check out some Hondas that were running. He has some close buddies from Osaka that track their cars pretty often so it was an opportunity for him to get some photos for me to post up here on the site. I haven’t seen Atsuki from Tactical Art lately but I’ll be visiting them in a few weeks when I head to Osaka. Their group of friends track a lot and will even go out during the winter season when it is pretty cold. Some of the cars you see here in the post today should look pretty familiar to you if you follow The Chronicles regularly. I’m not going to sit here and deny what you’re looking at because many of the cars in these photos are indeed Hondas that you see occasionally on Osaka’s highway system. They are “Kanjo” cars by definition. Some have made the transition and only participate in sanctioned circuit events and some pull double-duty and race on the track as well as on the street. Most of the cars are pretty raw and unrefined but I think it’s interesting to take a look at them because it is unusual from what you’d typically see here on the site. If you like Hondas then you will enjoy the photos. If you think it is dumb or lame that some of these cars are also Kanjo builds, feel free to keep that to yourself and move along. I appreciate the time that Yasu took to capture these photos and you’ll unlikely see this stuff anywhere else so let’s just sit back and enjoy them. I gotta get ready to travel most of this month so I don’t have a whole lot of time, but I did squeeze in some time to process these photos. I’ll try to describe what you’re looking at but honestly, most of it is pretty straight-forward. That and I don’t have much info regardless so I’m looking at these photos for the first time like all of you….

I got a pretty big chunk of photos from Yasu that I’m still going over but this is the first half of it. I don’t see it extending to three parts so I’m going to try to maximize my time and space by just keeping it two parts. Allow them to load and enjoy….

PHOTOS: YASU SHIMOMUKAI
POST-PROCESSING & WORDS: STICKYDILJOE

A couple of the guys from NGR on the way to Nakayama Circuit…

You guys should remember this EG Civic if you’ve been here on the site before and have viewed my Japan coverage….

The damages on the body of this Civic probably have quite a number of interesting stories to tell….

Spoon-replica EK9 CTR on Kosei K1s….

Not sure what is more interesting in this photo, the guy from Toy Box wearing the Bulls beanie or the dude rocking the Marijuana jacket…

Love how this EG sits on white Enkei NT03s….

One of the more peculiar additions to the Hondas pictured in this post is the “Danger” sign on this EG warning of laser beams, haha…

Many of these cars are legal for road use so they are trailered to the track…

One of the Hondas that I am hoping I’ll encounter while I’m in Osaka in a couple weeks is this Red Bull-themed EF9 from No Good Racing…Such a cool livery, especially paired with the gold SSR Type-C wheels in gold….

Many of the cars represented Car Make ACROSS, a tuning and body shop, on their windows….

Traditional “gun” hand signal which represents No Good Racing….

This wild-looking “GOD HANDS” EG is from Top Gun Racing….

So many Civics at this event that it looks like an old Civic one-make race….

Bright magenta EF with chopped rear bumper and Joe Yamauchi’s EF from ACROSS….

One of the cleanest Hondas that day was this white EG on 15-inch Volk CE28N….

ACROSS EF9….

One of my favorite current EF9 Civics in Japan….

Carbon canards and J’s Racing front intake duct on this white EG. Also notice The Chronicles decal on the windshield. Thank you for the support….

ACROSS EF9, also representing OG Club Wharp….

Check out the wide front fenders on this EF….

Japanese Civic Heaven at Nakayama Circuit….

Camaraderie between automotive enthusiasts transcend language and cultural barriers. Car guys are car guys….

EG9 Ferio from Garage M-TEC….

It is a real honor and surprise to see The Chronicles represented prominently on the ACROSS Civic… Thanks to Yasu Shimomukai for helping to make that happen…

Awesome to see that people in other parts of the world care about what I do here…

Another shot of the Spoon-styled EK9…

Beefy tire set-up on the EF front and back….

STREAM Racing EG6…

Yamauchi actually has some pretty sick builds in his stable. This is just one of them. He also has a black EK which has been circulated pretty heavily over the years on social media that no one even knew was his as well as a white NSX on Volk TE37 that looks amazing….

Top Gun Racing EG with chopped rear bumper. By the way, I swear to you, I was just at HMO over the weekend and saw these exact same L.E.D. taillights on a EG half-cut sitting inside the shop…

Gauge set-up on the Top Gun EG….

Great duo right here….

Yasu didn’t get very many photos of this EG but it looked great on bronze WED’s SA90s…

Custom switch panel with power cut-off….

EF and EK….

WHARP RACING, since 1982….

NGR Red Bull EF9 SiR…

Rare to see the Banzai Attack EF9 not on Barramundi Design Eleven wheels, which everyone knows the car for. On this particular weekend, he was tracking his K-EF on Volk CEs. Almost looks like an entirely different car….

Wonder Civic from Osaka JDM….

Snow began to fall lightly as Yamauchi and friends head out to the circuit….

Couldn’t get over how clean this EG was. Almost like it was fresh out of the paint shop or something. You rarely ever see circuit Hondas from that region that are this well-kept….

The Magenta EF heading out with the others…

Loved how Yasu was able to capture the snowfall that day…

Nothing wrong with having some fun in the snow in the heart of winter in Japan….

Crooked smile….

White EGs everywhere….

One of Atsuki’s friends tracking on his old Work Meister S1s….

A Honda Beat appears….

ACROSS EF….

TOP GUN EG….

Great capture of the three Civics exiting a turn….

Yamauchi in a winter wonderland…

Every time I see these wheels it makes me miss the Tactical Art EG….

Good to see that SSR Type-X wheels are alive and well in Japan. You don’t see very many of them over here in North America anymore…

EF with Osaka JDM front wide fenders reppin’ ATS GARAGE USA….

Red Bull EF in action….

Cutting it off here and closing out Part 1 with yet another shot of the ACROSS EF in action. More to come in Part 2, stay tuned!!….