Believe it or not, I’m walking on air, I never thought I could be so free-hee-heee…Haha, just kidding. I am however, back in Osaka, Japan as I type this. It is about 11:31 PM here and I am typing this up while sitting on an air mattress inside my boy Yasu’s house. It is just days before the annual Osaka Auto Messe event and I can honestly say that I am pretty excited to finally experience it for the first time. It is a show that I’ve always been curious about checking out in person and one of those automotive events that has long been on my automotive bucket list. This year’s Osaka Auto Messe is a particular notable one for me not only because it is my first, but also because I have actual presence there as a brand and namesake. Masao Hirano from Mode Parfume came up with this wonderful idea to have a joint booth set-up between himself, Autofashion USA, and me (The Chronicles). I would not in my wildest dreams have ever thought that I would actually be so well-represented at an event of this magnitude and it is a real honor for them to share their space with me. It is just another one of those crazy things that just somehow happened and I just have to remind myself to sit back and actually enjoy as well as appreciate it because I’ve worked hard over the years to be presented with these incredible opportunities. Osaka presents an alternative look at Japanese car culture and I am thoroughly enthused by the idea of seeing how it compares to a Tokyo Auto Salon event…

While I’m on the topic of Tokyo Auto Salon, below are my final set of photos from the 2017 TAS. It is unusual for me to be in Japan so soon after my last trip but I couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to finally see and be a part of Osaka Auto Messe. Usually I’d be sitting at home typing this up for you guys but instead I’m just hanging out in Japan after hopping on a flight over here from Honolulu where I literally just was for the first Wekfest show on their nationwide tour schedule. The time and climate change is a little drastic and I find myself starting to get a little worn thin but alas, car life calls and I know that I would be a fool not to answer. Tokyo Auto Salon seems like so long ago now with all this traveling back and forth and all but I hope you enjoy the photos below. You’re actually going to see a lot more photos from Tiffanie Marie in this post because she did most of the photography work on the second day in which we were there. I concentrated on video so she handled the photography work and she did a fantastic job of it. Take a look below to see the further development of her craft as an automotive events photographer…

Tokyo Auto Salon 2017
Photos by StickyDilJoe and Tiffanie Marie
Words by StickyDilJoe

I really love how T-Demand as a company has branded itself. The way their products look, their logo artwork, and overall execution of their simplistic VIP car builds is a very effective way of establishing memorable brand image. There really isn’t another company out there like it in the VIP community and they have become a worldwide hit with their catalog of suspension components. I just enjoy how great the cars look just really low to the ground, subtle in coloring, usually sitting on a set of SSR wheels with brightly accented brakes and suspension pieces peeking through the wheel spokes…

Origin Lab brought out a full silver carbon RPS13 180SX drift car…

BN Sports debuted a new FD3S aero kit which is far from typical of their usual wide, flared, and squarish design. This kit us actually quite sleek and has with it its own unique look that you wouldn’t otherwise expect from BN. Don’t get me wrong, I love classic BN stuff but its cool to see them straying from the beaten path so-to-speak…

Here you can see the sharp lines of the fenders and front bumper section as well as the multi-vented hood…

Adding to the new look of their styling was this BN Sports widebody R35 GTR…

This R31 Skyline GT-S looked pretty spectacular, if you’re into R30/31 Skylines. Under the hood was a carb’d L-series engine…

Aless Toyota Crown raised up off the ground so people can check out the multi-colored undercarriage and custom exhaust…

Awesome to see the classic Tomica R30 Skyline Super Silhouette car on display for all to see…

My buddy Sara Choi working TAS once again this year helping to showcase some builds from SHOWUP and Balance…

The Old & New Japan Porsche owned by Shuichi Nakagawa from Bad Quality…

I am not entirely sure which booth this Toyota 86 was parked at but it looks like something I would totally build in an old version of Tokyo Xtreme Racer…

S Road CRAFTSPORTS R35 GTR competitive race vehicle…

Interesting display set-up with these two widebody Mercedes Benzs from THREE-S DESIGN. The pink one is an SL500 while the other is an AMG SL55…

JUN Auto left their Synergy V8-powered Subaru BRZ back at the shop and instead displayed this FT86 with the updated (Kouki) front face design…

Another angle with a better look at the front…

JUN has also been working quite hard on making the Honda Fit a much more potent machine to race around in…

JUN Auto-prepped RB26 engine on display…

One of my favorites of this year’s TAS event is this BNR32 Skyline GTR built by Top Secret. On the outside it looks pretty tame but on the inside, you’ll find a newer R35 GTR engine powering it and in the cockpit are components from an R35 interior. I wouldn’t really call it a “Sleeper” just because it is from Top Secret but just looking at the exterior, you’d never venture to guess that it was VR-powered…

The always renowned Phoenix’s Power showcased this beautiful white R35 on BBS LM…

RS Pantera FD3S RX-7 on Volk ZE40…

One of the many VIP builds that really stood out to me was this Toyota Crown Athlete built by Duex. I dig the custom wheel arches and how they fit the custom Work Meister 3-piece wheels…

Check out the wild interior of this Aristo complete with custom audio enclosure and all…

Overall just a really well-rounded VIP build that is just a little bit over-the-top…

Wisteria RPS13 180SX…

ACR Performance-equipped Aston Martin V8 Vantage…

I always have a soft-spot for Starions/Conquests. It has a lot to do with how it looks overall but I also really like the nostalgia that just overcomes you when you see one…

Apparently, this even-wider Starion is powered by a Nissan RB26 engine swap…

JMS LMcorsa 488 GT3 set-up nicely at the Project Mu booth…

Eventually we made our way over to the smaller “Option Magazine Tuning Hall” where they had a hoard of nice builds present including this widebody S30Z from Star Road…

Auto Service Watanabe S30…

Fujita Engineering FD3S RX-7…

Reverse R32 Skyline GT-R featuring an HKS 2.8L Stroker Kit…

…and twin HKS turbochargers…

The rear of the Reverse GT-R…

Garage Active Racing BNR32 with a acrylic transparent hood to show-off its twin-turbo RB26 engine…

ONE STYLE R34 Skyline hammered to the floor…

The wild creation above is Hiroto Hosotani’s TPP 180SX drift car which is quite the popular vehicle on Instagram. You can see more of this car by following him at @bad180sx…

HKS GT-Supercharged S2000 from Kurumadoh Custom…

Panspeed FD3S RX-7…

Kinokuni Suzuki Jimney powered by a Nissan SR20DET engine that you probably saw in The Chronicles Vlog…

Check out that rear radiator set-up…

The craziest thing about the debuting Varis Kamikaze-86 was that it was powered by an 800HP TRD JGTC 3S-G engine…insane…

Kazuya Taguchi’s Team UPGARAGE S15 Silvia D1 Grand Prix drift vehicle…

Auto Veloce Ferrari F12…

Individually-throttled 2JZ-GE engine swapped Toyota Crown Majesta…

Top Fuel’s iconic S2000RR always on display at Tokyo Auto Salon…

Closing out this series with this purple widebody Lexus GS from Skipper Japan…

Tomorrow is set-up day at Osaka Auto Messe 2017!! Follow me on Instagram (@stickydiljoe) if you want to receive live updates! Thanks for looking!!…