Photos & Words by Joey Lee

I love Tokyo Auto Salon. I really do. After going the last couple of years, I’ll admit that maybe my excitement has waned a little bit but I really do look forward to going. I just really enjoy the idea of going to an event and seeing so many new build unveiled. Some of my other friends who go with me don’t seem as into the idea of walking the show floors for two-days straight but sometimes I wish I could go all three days. The only thing stopping me from going to all three days is the ridiculous crowd that rolls into the show every year. There were so many people there this year that there were times when it was difficult to simply walk around to check out a car. Still, I put forth my best effort to try to capture the builds that caught my eye the most at the show. I was a little bummed I didn’t stay all of Saturday but that is just what happens when you travel with a sizable group. It didn’t seem like they really wanted to be there anymore and I wasn’t going to be the only one that forced everyone to stay. I think once all this commotion of going to Japan wears down, I’ll still be walking around at TAS taking in the ambiance of the event and seeing all the great cars there. I saw so many people from America at TAS this year that it almost felt like I was still at home, haha. Apparently this year was THE year to go to the show. Its good to see familiar faces but man, it almost felt claustrophobic seeing all these people there…

The Vlogs seem to be catching on and growing in popularity so I’m happy that people are sitting down and watching all of them. I’m honestly way ahead with the videos compared to the photos I shot and am nearly finished with all 10-11 parts. There are only three uploaded on YouTube for now but I honestly want to put a good gap in-between all the videos to show you guys these photos. The photo coverage is where this site got its start so I don’t want to alienate the people that come here for that. I feel the write-ups don’t need to be nearly as lengthy anymore because the videos do a good job of showing what the event is like. More so than my words ever did. If you haven’t had a chance to check out the three Vlogs that are up on YouTube right now, please spend a few minutes to check those out as well. They are good, I promise…

There is so much going on lately that I am already getting a good understanding of just how busy 2016 will be. While I’m going through video and photos, I also have to find a solid place to live and plan out the year with the trips I’ll be going on to cover more events. While I was going through some video, a flood of water came rushing into the shop because the neighbor directly next to me had a plumbing issue that flooded his entire shop. There was so much water that it came into my shop and soaked up all my carpet. Luckily I had good friends here to help me clean up the mess. It would have been a complete disaster had no one been here and the water continued to come inside. I think I just need some time to breathe or take a step back to take a break before this all becomes too overwhelming, haha. Life is good, I cannot lie, but boy are things getting a little crazy right now…

Enjoy the first part below. Like I said, I have like 1000s of photos to go over and this is just a small portion of it. Stayed tuned for more photos along with the upcoming Vlogs of our journeys in Japan…

As always, we make a quick run through the parking lot of the Tokyo Auto Salon 2016 event to see what interesting cars we find out there…

RE Amemiya FD RX-7 staying true to form with the Enkei RPF1 wheels sitting under the widened fenders. RE has had a long-standing relationship with Enkei over the years so a true RE enthusiast will usually rock Enkei wheels to complete the look…

RB Odyssey Absolute turbocharged and seated nicely on BBS LM wheels…

“Rauh Passion” RWB Porsche 993 tucked in-between two modded vans on color-matched SSR Professor SP1…

Maziora iridescent white S15 Silvia…

I see this RE Amemiya FD in the parking lot every year it seems. Nice to see that it is still in great condition…

Z33 Fairlday Z from Dropper car club. Nice and simple with minimal aero….

FD2 Civic Type R with some FEEL’S Twin Cam aero and Rays wheels…

It turns out that Han is alive and well as is his VeilSide Fortune Model RX-7. Interesting to see it on some winter wheels instead of the VeilSide Andrews Racing wheels…

Hamana Lexus LS460…

A quick overview of how one of the show floors looked before the crowd rolled in in the afternoon…

Atsushi Honda’s E46 BMW with full TRA Kyoto Pandem widebody kit. The car is not quite finished yet as it should be receiving a 13B Rotary engine swap with hopes for a debut at this year’s Wekfest Japan event in Nagoya….

Some of my immediate favorites from this year’s TAS event were the Nissan S-chassis builds from Car Modify Wonder. Love the aero and just how the cars sit on the show room floor. Just beautiful creations…

This particular line of aero I believe is from their brand new “Glare” line…

Car Modify Wonder S14 Kouki in a very bright yellow…

Car Modify Wonder RPS13 180SX on Work Emotion CR….

One more look at the S15 and S13 together…

THE talk of Tokyo Auto Salon 2016 had to be the R35 GTR from Kuhl Racing Japan. They unveiled a silver GTR last year that was amazing and topped it this year with a completely gold-etched and painted R35. This is just one of those builds that looks incredible in photos, but looks even better up close in person. Hopefully this car makes it over to the U.S. some day so many of you guys can see it…

Even more insane is the engine of the GTR, which is also re-imagined in a bright chrome gold finish…

Kansai Service R35 GTR on gold Advan GT wheels…

Brand new Honda S660 roadster built by Kansai Service on new Advan Racing RZII wheels parked in the Yokohama Advan booth…

Porsche 991 on Porsche-spec center-lock Advan GT wheels…

C-West unveiled their new aero package for the popular Lexus RC chassis…

Loving the livery on this Pandem E46 M3 coupe on new Enkei GTC01RR wheels. Great display too by the way to spotlight the Enkei wheels…

Star Road’s beautifully-executed Hakosuka Skyline on Glowstar wheels…

Star Road also brought back their widebody S30Z that debuted last year in the Option Magazine Tuning Hall of TAS…

326Power’s wilde JZS161 Toyota Aristo on their new line of wheels…

Keita Kikuchi’s brand new 326Power Infiniti Q50 /Nissan Skyline themed similarly to his previous S15 build from SATO AUTO…

326Power’s new widebody Toyota 86 kit and wheels…

Famed tuner and drifter Nomuken’s new URAS ER34 Skyline on Enkei RS05RR wheels. This is a far departure from his usual builds that featured wild graphics and even wilder aero…

Honda/Mugen’s display area featured the Shinden Yon electric superbike…

Naoki Yamamoto’s Mugen Super Formula race car center stage in the Mugen display area…

Honda NSX GT Concept vehicle in its prototype stage sans livery….

Liberty Walk has been spitting out kits like crazy lately. For Tokyo Auto Salon 2016, they had all kinds of debuts at their booth. Above is the new Liberty Walk Maserati GranTurismo….

Liberty Walk Audi R8 and Ferrari 458 Italia…

Kato from Liberty Walk’s personal custom S30Z works-style build that he built specifically for TAS ’16…

Liberty Walk Lamborghini Huracan and LB*Kids Lambo…

Also debuting was this Liberty Walk Audi S5 coupe….

The Work Wheels Japan display showcased this Skipper-equipped Lexus RC coupe on their new Emotion T7R 2P wheels…

Wald Black Bison Rolls Royce Wraith on Forgiato wheels…

MLK Customs widebody Lexus LS mixed with Aimgain aero…

MLK Customs widebody Lexus LS, this one with K-Break aero….

Aimgain International used the TAS ’16 platform to unveil its new GT widebody kit for the popular MX-5 Roadster…

Aimgain worked closely with Stancenation to release this collaborative widebody aero kit for the 86 platform…

Aimgain GTLamborghini Aventador…

Love how aggressive the Aimgain GT kit is for the R35. I especially like how the rear flares and rear bumper create an all-new bodyline that flows nicely into the rear diffuser…

Aimgain VIP Sport Lexus RC coupe with its version II rear bumper…

The WEDS Kranze display featured this blue Aimgain Lexus RC bagged with BOLD WORLD suspension and their new Kranze Vorteil wheels…

Well, that’s a wrap for Part 1. I got so many photos to go through still that its honestly a little ridiculous to try to get both photos and video up in the next couple of weeks. Plus I gotta head to Hawaii this weekend for Wekfest. Shits crazy over here but I appreciate the continued support. Thanks.