Anytime I get a message in my Facebook inbox from my Japanese friend and contributor Shota Mori, I know that there is something good to look at. The guy just takes great photos. I started hosting many of his photos on The Chronicles a couple years back when I first saw his work being used on the Stancenation website. I liked what he was capturing and wanted to know if he wanted a better outlet to display his photos, which consisted mostly of Hondas. At that point in time, this site was catered more specifically to Hondas to it seemed like a perfect union. He was able to be my eyes in Japan whenever I wasn’t there and I would help by processing his photos before posting them up for the world to see here on stickydiljoe.com…

It’s been some years now and Shota Mori’s photos have continued to improve. I love the angles that he captures and over time, he’s been able to acquire better camera gear which helps to make his stuff even better. I used to edit his photos because they were just raw straight from his camera and he has since learned to process photos himself and has developed a very distant look for them. As you guys know, I don’t regularly host other people’s work here on my site. I’ve always been a stickler for that and have always wanted to maintain a true blog that consisted only of original content by myself. It just helps the brand if I can maintain as the guy who pretty much does everything on his own. I’ve been doing it since 2008 and I think people respect me for it. I have maybe less than a handful of contributors here on the site just because I am more than willing to give them a place to showcase their work because they just see things that you normally wouldn’t from Japan. I can only make it over there a couple times per year but there is just so much going on in Japan that it just needs to be seen. Car culture is alive and well over there and guys like Shota Mori help to capture the “every day” aspect of the culture that exists over there. The photos you’re going to be seeing below is a great representation of that. It wasn’t a major event, it wasn’t a car show or track event, it was just a couple of car guys meeting up from different areas of Japan to hang out with their cars. Just like here at home when you guys hang out with your friends who share a similar interest as you. What is great about these photos, however, is that they consist of very regular guys who otherwise have very spectacular builds. No bullshit, these guys fucking know how to build great cars. It’s crazy to think that they are very into USDM culture in many aspects but their cars remain true to Japanese tradition. They are inspired by our inspiration to build classic Japanese Hondas styled in the ways in which many of us saw them when we were growing up. Takahiro Hasegawa’s Integra has to be one of the greatest, classic, builds I’ve seen from Japan in a long time and builds like Kohei Saito’s are just insane because of the lengths in which he went to make his car look very “ordinary” in many aspects when you put it in the spectrum of the USDM Honda scene. I’ll explain more in the photo captions but many of you who follow this site should be well-aware of who these guys are and what these cars are about…

Continuing on with Shota Mori’s evolution as a contributor to The Chronicles, he’s even wrote a bit of copy for his photos. It has now gone from him just sending me raw photos, to beautifully edited photos, and now text which makes it a post all his own. I’ve taken the liberty of helping him out with some of the text and reconfiguring some of it so it makes more sense, since his English is still very raw. I think he does a good job getting his point across though. Below is the text that he sent me which I have paraphrased for better understanding…

It is the end of a long off-season and Spring 2016 has come. Cherry trees were in full bloom in the Kanto region of Japan. In my local Miyagi Prefecture, there are two USDM-themed shops; one is Akebono USDM which consists of 80’s/90’s Honda enthusiasts and the other, is Type_K Autosource. Type_K is famous in Japan for their involvement in the development of the USDM scene. Akebono USDM is more underground while the latter, is more mainstream. Despite their different target markets, both shops have a very good relationship with one another. This can be seen at the Kday events, where the guys from Akebono USDM can often be seen helping and contributing to the success of the event.

I myself, have a closer, more intimate, relationship with Akebono, but I also maintain a great relationship with Type_K.

On the 9th of April, I heard the news of a ”TPK 2016 Spring Cruise” from the Sendai area of Japan. I decided to join them and welcome them with my friends from my area.

Type_K’s group consisted of Takeshi Kobayashi (Founder of Type_K Autosource), Takahiro Hasegawa and his black Mugen Integra Type R, Kohei Saito with his Midori Green EK9 CTR, and Kentaro Unuma driving his Civic Ferio.

The first meeting spot was at a local convenience store.

I met up with the guys from TPK with my friend Kazuhiro Saito, who owns a real USDM Acura KA7 Legend. Recently, he bought a new car which was a silver EF8 CR-X SiR running authentic Mugen aero. (The translation is loose here but I believe this is what he meant… -SDJ) Saito also owned an EF8 CR-X before and is a true CRX lover. He bought the car as a commuter but also so he could enjoy the car with his son.

After the initial meet-up, we went to U.T.store. This shop is owned by another Japanese USDM enthusiast who also caters to the improvement of the U.S.-style scene in Japan. U.T. Store is located in the Tochigi Prefecture. We met up with more friends there before heading to the Twin Ring Motegi where we walked around inside the Honda Collection Hall. There was also a gymkhana event going on at Motegi that day with many Hondas participating. We watched and took photos before I took more photos of our own cars at the Twin Ring parking lot.

 

Enjoy.

-Shota Mori (@pgm_works)

The initial meet-up at a local convenience store. Members of both the TPK crew and L2P Japan (Lowered2Perfection) parked together before the cruise…

This Honda Integra Type R on Work RSZ-R wheels was new to the party…

Takeshi Kobayashi and his PY USDM Acura Integra Type R next to Shota Mori’s CA Accord…

Hasegawa aka Type_T’s Mugen Honda Integra Type R and Kazuhiro Saito’s Mugen CR-X…

Love the minor details on Hasegawa’s R. Notice the blacked-out Honda emblem to fit the motif…

Metal sunroof on the EF8 SiR which I don’t believe is factory on the SiR model…

Two very rare kits, probably more so now for the CR-X since they are not seen very often in 2016…

Two Rs, one from Japan, the other a transport from good old Southern California…

Mori rocking the black Mugen CF-48 wheels to match the Mugen theme of many of the Hondas in their group…

A child bewildered at the idea of such a clean CA Accord…

Heading out to the next meet-up point at U.T. Store…

Two CTRs lead the way with the Mugen R closely behind…

Upon arriving at U.T. Store, the guys got out to clean off their cars after a long trek from Sendai Prefecture…

Keeping the white plate clean is just as important as the rest of the car…

The cramped lot outside of U.T. Store…

It should be obvious that the man holds very high importance to keeping his freshly painted R clean…

The interior of his ITR is also nice and tidy…

For those new to the site, this is Kohei Saito’s Honda Civic Type R…yes, it is indeed a real EK9. Saito meticulously re-imagined the car to look like a modded DX model Midori Green Civic as you would see one in the U.S….

The interior still shows some signs that it was once an EK9 CTR. Notice how the windows are non-powered versions also with the crank handle even though it still has red inserts…

Kohei Taguchi’s Honda Integra Type R with Mugen Gen. 1 wing and Sprint Hart CP-R…

Saito wiping down the front end of his EK9…

After stopping at U.T. Store, the group headed out to its next destination, the famed Twin Ring Motegi…

Loved this set-up on this EK9 CTR. Spoon carbon front lip, slammed on 15-inch Regamaster EVOs…just stunningly simple…

Takeshi’s incredibly well-kept DC2 Integra Type R on Spoon Sports SW388…

Kentaro Unuma’s Ferio on USDM Acura Integra Special Edition OEM wheels…

Pit-stop for lunch…

Just guys talking cars and other things. Pretty much a universal thing wherever car guys go…

Takeshi enjoying his Type R…

Takehiro Hasegawa’s R is nothing short of spectacular…

…it also looks good on the move…

The R on RSZ-R from earlier…

Here you can see a slight bit of the Spoon Sports front brakes peeking through the spokes of the 16-inch Sprint Hart wheels…

Unuma giving the thumbs-up…

Great ride height on Saito’s EK9…

More photos never hurt, especially since we rarely get a real good look at any of these builds since they don’t come out very often…

Two ITRs with very different faces…

Taguchi’s BYS front bumper with kevlar lower section…

The group parked at the Twin Ring parking lot…

CTR, ITR, and NSX-R line-up at the Honda Collection Hall within the Twin Ring Motegi…

Honda Insight in near showroom condition next to a Honda CR-X del Sol…

Honda Accord Coupe “Import Edition”. These were badged as the “Import Edition” and came left-hand drive because the coupe model was the only body style that was built specifically in North America and sent to other parts of the world….

CC2 Honda Vigor, Legend V6, and Honda Quint Integra…

Daisuke Ito posing with a Honda S500 roadster…

Have you ever seen a Honda Today before? Well, you’re looking at it…

Honda Quint Integra and Honda Prelude coupe. In the background is the earlier-mentioned Import Edition Accord…

In front of it was a pristine Honda CVCC hatchback…

Honda Civic Shuttle in showroom condition…

It is always interesting to see what the Honda Collection Hall has to offer because they always rotate cars in and out to keep things fresh…

Senna…

Keke Rosberg’s #6 FW09 F1 vehicle…

Integra Type R bearing a WAKO’S livery outside in the paddock area of the Twin Ring Motegi. As Mori mentioned, there was a track day going on that afternoon so the guys decided to check it out since they were already at Twin Ring…

T.M. Works DC2…

Official Twin Ring pace car in the form of a caged FD2 CTR on Mugen GP….

Not Honda-related but this GT-Four Celica looked pretty rad…

A variety of Hondas participated at the track event that day at Twin Ring, from S2000s, to Integras, NSXs, and even some non-Hondas…

I love that you can spot Volk Racing wheels far and wide…

…and wrapping it up for today with a shot of this AP2 S2000 on classic bronze Volk Racing CE28. There are still two more parts coming so stay tuned! There are some definite beauties in this group that you must see more of!…