Perhaps the most polarizing “car club” in the last few years in the wide-spectrum of the Honda tuning community are the guys from NO GOOD RACING. I’m not going to sit here and talk about Kanjozoku culture because we’d be here for hours. There would be this huge debate on their history and culture, why they do what they do and why many think it is wrong, etc., etc. I don’t have time anymore to argue with people so you’re either going to enjoy what they do, or you’ll absolutely despise them. That’s just how it is. They are polarizing figures in our car culture because they are very controversial. What started in 1985 has evolved through the years but they are still very much a part of Osaka’s underground car culture. They are probably one of the cogs that helped to create what we now know as Osaka car culture today and what we understand as the foundation of the Japanese Honda scene that we came to nickname “JDM”. While many have moved on and have left NO GOOD RACING, many are still around and keeping their infamously popular tradition alive. A select few still roam the streets and run on the Osaka Loop Line but others have changed the focus over to sanctioned circuit events on an enclosed circuit. Some of the cars pull double-duty but for the most part, the track is where you’ll find most of these Hondas from NGR these days. Kanjozoku culture quietly went away about a decade ago but has recently made a resurgence in Osaka. It will never return to the old ways where hundreds of cars will roam the streets but I’m sure many of you have noticed that you’re seeing more of the NO GOOD RACING namesake in 2015…

Last month, NO GOOD RACING celebrated its 30th anniversary. 30 YEARS. Try to put that into perspective, it’s pretty crazy. Some of the stories that these guys must have and all the things that have seen over the years is probably mind-numbing. Maybe some day someone will be able to tell their story but since much of what they do is in what you’d consider life’s “gray areas” (car-related or not), it would take a lot of trust for someone to get an inside ear on their rich history. To celebrate their big 30, NO GOOD RACING decided to host an event at Suzuka Twin Circuit and hosted many other Kanjozoku car clubs from Osaka. Everyone got together with their cars for a track day and judging from the photos, it looked like an absolute blast. I wasn’t able to make it out to Japan for this event but I was fortunate enough to get these captures from my boy Yasu Shimomukai from Phaze2 Japan. Yasu shot a ton of photos that day that I have just recently found the time to go through. October has been a crazy month but I really wanted to get these photos up for you guys to see. I know a lot of you don’t agree with what they do, but I think we can all come to an agreement that we collectively love Hondas and you’ll see plenty of them here today. Some of these are pure track cars, some are “street” cars that roam Osaka, and some do a little bit of both. Try to just see these cars for what they are and enjoy them as pure functioning machines driven by like-minded automotive enthusiasts…

Don’t like it? Well, turn your head, click the “Back” button on your browser and go on with your life.

For those that are here to see cool shit, welcome.

Thank you to Yasu for the photos and congrats to NO GOOD RACING on 30 incredibly-interesting years….

Enjoy…

EF9 Civic SiR from Hawk Auto Project being trailered into Suzuki Twin for the NGR 30th Anniversary track event…

Though it was predominantly Hondas present that day, there were a few other automobiles that showed up in support like this Nissan Skyline on Hayashi Streets…

No fucks were given as this flyer for the event was taped over the Suzuka Twin Circuit sign…

Mizuho EG6 wearing the new NO GOOD “Shark” livery. Interesting to see that some of the newer NGR builds are running aftermarket aero like this EG with the Chargespeed wide fenders and Sergeant front bumper. Even more interesting is that I see my decal on many of these cars, haha. Pretty surreal sight….

Bosozoku motor bikes had a strong presence at the event as well as they have long been linked with the underground Osaka street culture along with the Kanjozoku…

Love the colorway on this EK from CLUB WHARP on Enkei ES Tarmac wheels…

Zero Fighter EF9 in bright orange…

As mentioned, the event featured a little bit of everything…or a lot of something all in one car…

Interesting, bizarre, and oh so old school Japan…

Happy to see that SSR Type-X wheels are alive and well in Japan. One of my favorite wheels of all-time and apparently they’re also a heavy favorite for the Japanese in 2015…

NO GOOD RACING Red Bull EF9 Civic SiR, once owned by the head of NGR but the car has since been sold. You can tell that the car has been changed here and there from the photos I captured it the last time I visited this EF in Japan earlier this year….

Mechadock EF now wearing some vinyl. You may remember this build during my initial visit to Mechadock in Osaka….

Probably my favorite EF9 ever, the Car Make Across Civic from CLUB WHARP….

WHARP RACING well represented at the NO GOOD anniversary…

Spoon Sports-themed EK9 Civic from NO GOOD RACING. Crazy to see a street car not associated with Spoon wearing its livery…

Another of the Mechadock EF with its custom headlight ram-air duct…

Drift cars were also welcomed at the track event…

Kazu from Mechadock…

Atsuki from Tactical Art checking on Taku Kusugami’s EK before it hits the track…

The “GOD HANDS” EG from TOP GUN RACING…

Itasha-style EF Civic. Not entirely sure what “Subterranean Animism” means…

Zero Fighter EF9 with bronze Volk CEs up front and Enkei RPF1 in the rear…

Tsumori Engineering EF9 looking great in bright green with black CEs up front…

Fuel cell and swirl pot in the passenger seat of the EF9….

Love how the alarm clock is incorporated into the Tsumori Engineering logo. Not sure what the significance of the “44” means. Perhaps it might mean that this car represents another old school Kanjozoku car club; MAGUNAMU…

Mugen CR-X Pro.2 from WHARP RACING…

Some good symbolism in this photo…

EK9 Civic Type R from PANDEMIC…

Civic Type R from RANDAM with an custom front splitter set-up…

Many of the Hondas present at the NGR event were actually strictly track cars, like this EK, and weren’t street cars that ran the streets…

Subtle EK Civic hatchback from TEMPLE RACING on Volk Racing GRN wheels up front….

Rare sight to see an S2000 rocking a Buddy Club front bumper….

Blue/white two-toned EK9 from TOP GUN RACING….

1RANK-UP AUTO EG representing LAW BREAK… I actually randomly came upon a YouTube video of this car in action one day. I’ll attach it below. Kinda long but you get to see some pretty cool stuff…

Anyways, back to the pics…

FIVE MART EG on 15×8 Volk TEs and running a Sergeant front bumper…

EF8 CR-X with a modded front bumper, retro-fitted front lip, Mugen sideskirts and SSR Type-X wheels rocking an old school 5Zigen livery…

Great to see Taku’s EK out and about again after sitting for an extended period of time. It still looks as good as ever and yes, he does track this car. That’s actually its primary-use since he hardly ever drives it on the street…

“Spoon” EK and Mechadock EF9…

Drivers’ meeting for those participating in the festivities…

NO GOOD signage was present everywhere throughout Suzuka Twin Circuit…

Many of you who have followed my journeys in Japan in the past may remember this EG6…

Racing Factory VARON EK4 on WED’S wheels…

Clean EK9 on white Volk TEs from LAW BREAK Family…

EG and EF from NO GOOD RACING wearing matching liveries…

NO GOOD RACING EG in blue wearing the new “Shark” livery…

Loved this magenta/neon yellow EG also with the Shark graphic…

Here’s one in yellow also with matching livery…

..and even Kazu from Mechadock’s daily-driver was rocking the NGR Shark livery…

Ryuji, head of NO GOOD RACING, and his newly-finished Civic Ferio tribute build…

A couple more of the Mechadock EF. Awesome to see my “Tradition” decal represented well…

Joe from ACROSS getting ready to step into his EF…

LOOSE RACING EF with wide SSR SP3R up front and lightweight Type-C in the rear…

The guys from NO GOOD RACING even brought out this B-series powered mini indycar to rip around on the track…

And on that note, this wraps Part 1 of 3 of the NGR 30th Anniversary coverage. I’ll get the other two parts up this week as well so stay tuned!!…