I have a particular affinity for Osaka. In the many years that I’ve been to Japan, I guess you can say that Osaka has become a bit of a second home to me. Much of my time is spent there whenever I travel and I have good friends who live there. I think if it hadn’t been for the people of Osaka, Yasu in particular, The Chronicles would not have grown to what it is today. Japanese car culture and its rich history is what I’ve been researching and documenting for the better part of a decade and because of my many adventures in Osaka, I was unexpectedly injected into the world of the Kanjozoku. That of course, is always a bit of a polarizing subject but I wouldn’t sit here and try to deny that I didn’t do my part in bringing Kanjozoku culture (back) to life in the 2010s. In fact, I think many would consider me at the forefront of that ‘movement’. As I’ve always said, I don’t condone the style of driving or what they do outside of Osaka. I’ve merely been there to document it as a cultural experience and nothing more than that. It’s an incredibly dangerous lifestyle and the people involved in it are probably even more dangerous than the driving itself. With that said, however, during my stay in Japan, I’ve also come to know many of these individuals quite well, especially the many personalities of the guys from No Good Racing…

There are stories, so so many stories. I wish I could tell you them all but honestly, some things are better left untold. Some often should never be mentioned again. I’ve been fortunate enough to be welcomed into their environment and to have seen what I have seen. They trust me, they respect me, and vice versa. So many experiences are left in only my memory and the memories of my friend who have also been fortunate enough to be along for ‘the ride’. No Good Racing is a big part of this site and its success over the last few years. I honor that by respecting their privacy and anonymity…

Osaka Auto Messe is the “Auto Salon” of the Kansai region. Where Tokyo has the Tokyo Auto Salon, Osaka has its ‘Auto Messe’. It’s the same thing. And also not the same thing. You’ll see a couple of the same cars from major tuning shops there but it has such a different vibe than TAS. The best way to put it would be to say that it is a smaller TAS but with plenty more attitude. Osaka people are interesting to say the least and they are often more more expressive in many ways than the more business-like Tokyo area people you’ll come across at a major show like TAS. Let’s just say that Kansai-area people like to keep things interesting. I have personally attended the show one other time back in 2017 and while it was fun, I didn’t imagine I’d go back because it’s often scheduled so close to Tokyo Auto Salon. If you gave me a choice, I guess I’d tell you I’d rather go to TAS because it is such a huge event. And with my Tokyo trip I’d often go to Osaka anyway so there was no reason to go back annually. This year, in January when I was in Japan with Yasu, he told me that he was helping to build a new Honda project car for the head of No Good Racing. He said it was going to be a pretty big deal because they were going to do a huge NGR display booth with three cars total and the folks from No Good really wanted me to be there to check it out. This isn’t anything they’d typically do and I also found out that the head of No Good Racing was set to step-down from running things so the car that Yasu was building was important to all involved. NGR and its members have done so much for The Chronicles and I’m so grateful for them bringing me into that world that I felt it was only right for me to be there for this momentous occasion…

The only real obstacle was time. I had Wekfest Hawaii to come back to the States for but that trip was perfectly placed the week prior to Osaka Auto Messe. Everything just sort of fell into place after that. I’d come back from Hawaii and have time to do my laundry again before jumping back on a plane to Osaka. There are probably plenty of people wondering why I didn’t just fly from Hawaii to Osaka and I’ll tell you exactly why. I’ve done it before and it was not easy or fun having to pack a suitcase for two completely different climates. Hawaii was in the low 80s while Japan was still in the dead-middle of winter, which meant that temperatures would be in the 30s. That’s a lot of clothing to lug around. That and I didn’t want to be in Japan any longer than I had to be considering how I just got back from there a few weeks prior…

You should have seen the Vlogs by now and with that means that this event will seem like it happened so long ago. In reality this three-day show was just one month ago but so much has happened since then. Another trip to Japan of course, with the Attack Tsukuba event, and so many Vlogs. I’m glad you guys are enjoying the videos because they were a lot of fun to make. Now we get to see the photos that I’ve finally managed to find time to go through. All three-parts have a little bit of everything because I was running around as much as I could during the show, which was multiple days. They aren’t in any specific order other than what I shot them in. Enjoy and please share if you do! Not too many people are familiar with Osaka Auto Messe but it is a legit, very entertaining show…

I got to the show before it opened on the first day and began shooting right away. Lighting wasn’t always ideal but eventually they turned on all the lights in the convention halls once it got closer to the opening. While it was empty, I made every effort to capture as many clean shots as I could because it was going to be super crowded by mid-day. I started out snapping a photo of the Mode Parfume GaMu S2000 demo car on the new SSR Professor SPX wheels…

The NGR booth was placed in the “performance hall” I guess you can say with all the major tuning shops surrounding it but in the middle of that hall was one single VIP-build in the form of this Toyota Crown Majesta from BUILD WORKS…

The most peculiar car of Osaka Auto Messe was most likely this Ferrari 550 Maranello drift car. Not because it was a Ferrari drift car, because we’ve seen one or two of those before…

…but because it was a 550 Maranello with a Nissan GTR VR38 engine swap. I guess if you have to ask why the answer would simply be “why not?”…

Those who have been deep into their search of all things “JDM” and Japanese car culture-related may be familiar with the famed racing team “Mid Night”. At Osaka Auto Messe I was introduced to a BNR32 Skyline drag car which wore the decal of its apparent rival named (appropriately enough) “Over Night”. I don’t know much about it other than how fucking cool that sounds. The Skyline was no slouch either and a drag car prepared by the storied Phoenix’s Power tuning shop…

The engine bay revealed a built RB26 set-up with an upgraded GReddy turbo mixed in with some HKS products. It not only looked great but the Skyline was also an 8-second car…

It was great to see the ASLAN K-powered Civic once again after visiting ASLAN a year ago. Looks like it has been steadily improving and as I found out some weeks later, it’s also getting as fast as it ever has been…

I thought this air duct that was integrated into the front face of the ASLAN EG was pretty sick and also very functional, delivering air straight into the ITBs…

The custom front fender of the ASLAN EG with its many vents…

Rear diffuser and massive rear wing set-up on one of the fastest Civics in Japan…

From the back you can see just how wide the ASLAN Civic is with those meaty Advan A050s and DC5 rear subframe…

Beautifully executed Wonder Civic on Work Equip 40 wheels from Five Mart. Love the blue tone and the gold/black 40s…

Kazuhiro had a great display for Auto Messe with not just a couple Wonder Civics but also this mint Mugen CR-X PRO.2…

So rare to see an incredibly well-kept CR-X in Osaka these days let alone one with a complete Mugen PRO.2 kit. Finishing it off was a set of rebuilt, but not too aggressive, Mugen MR-5 wheels…

1st Generation CR-X wearing a classic two-tone finish with a red accent and OsakaJDM Loop5 wheels…

If you know Kazuhiro Furakawa from Five Mart, you already know how deep his love is for the Wonder Civic. I’m glad he got to show the world with this great display at the show…

Another portion of the huge Phoenix’s Power display section which was filled with many GTRs…

I especially loved the “Handbuilt” plaque on the center of this VR38 engine…

If you know Phoenix’s Power builds, you’ll remember that they don’t do full liveries very often so this MOTY’S-adorned R35 on BBS FI wheels really stood-out among their fleet…

ENDLESS is another local GTR tuning house and they also provided a solid line-up of the latest Nissan GTR…

I got to see this EF9 from ASLAN when I visited last year and it was in a incomplete state then. It seems like everything is in order now with the car sitting pretty at the ASLAN/TEMPLE RACING booth…

GT-R Magazine had a pretty nifty display, showcasing a Skyline from four different generations, beginning with a fairly stock version of a BNR32, HKS’ BNR33, Trust/Greddy’s BNR34, and a Blitz-tuned R35…

East Ball C210 Skyline coupe with fender flares, front under spoiler, vented fender, and SSR Longchamp wheels…

East Ball Hakosuka coupe also running over fenders and a ZG front spoiler…

Recently re-released WRD Chevlon wheels no produced by Superstar…

Subaru always has a huge presence at the Auto Messe show with a black display highlight with a fleet of blue Subarus of different varieties…

Tsuyoshi from Shine Motor’s newly painted EF9 Civic build wearing a BP-inspired livery representing No Good Racing…

If you watched the Vlogs you’ll remember that this EF was just painted and finished hours before Osaka Auto Messe. We had to drive an hour out to Kyoto just to pick it up and bring it to the show that morning!…

Nizo-Low always brings out some really cool builds. This year they displayed a Mercedes G-Wagon and Ferrari California, both on bronze Volk Racing TE37 wheels…

I don’t know how many people were a fan of this but I live by the idea that everything looks amazing on TEs so this California in blue sat just perfectly for me bagged to the floor on concave-face TE37Ultra…

Remember that Aristo that was all chopped-up at Garage Excellent when I visited Japan just a month before? Well, here it is, finished and in all its glory in the VIP hall of the Osaka Auto Messe show. I have more photos of it later but it came out spectacular as we expected it would. The flares, radius, and body is all metal and the hand-built by Garage Excellent…

Custom 17-inch Panasport G7 C5C2 wheels with deep step-lip resting snuggly under the custom metal wheel arches of the Aristo…

Toyota Crown Majesta from Crystal Garage getting the T-Demand treatment complete with SSR Professor wheels…

Daichi is one of the rare No Good Racing members from outside of the Kansai region. His “Supreme/Captain America” themed EK and himself are actually from the Tokyo-side…

If you’re wondering why Osaka Auto Messe uses a lot of green carpet. I don’t know why and I couldn’t get an explanation why either. It’s kind of an eyesore but they stick to tradition and traditionally the show has always had green carpet…

The Exceed-built Mode Parfume GaMu S2000 which is different than the Mode demo car in that the kit has been molded to the body…

The custom engine bay is also done by Yasu from Exceed (because this is his old personal car) and hosts an HKS GT-Supercharger…

Origin Labo RPS13 180SX drift car running a silver carbon kit with door caps and rear blisters that have also been made in silver carbon fiber…

Ichiraku’s Rauh Welt Begriff “Rough Rhythm” completely redone in a Martini livery, a far departure from its bright green look that it has become known for…

I think he did a great job with the new livery but I honestly miss the green…

Voomeran MK2 GTI wearing a classic Apple Computer livery…

Much respect to Junichi Tanaka, founder of JUN Auto, who recently passed away. JUN is a legendary tuning shop that we all grew-up appreciating. Glad I was able to see their display at Osaka Auto Messe which had one single display car; their R35 demo vehicle…

The GTR wore their new-style JUN livery and hosted a 1500+ horsepower VR38 powerplant…

The JUN R35 also wore original JUN Auto aero and Advan Racing GT wheels…

RS Pantera FD3S RX-7 running their own aero components throughout and Volk Racing ZE40…

Under the hood is a 13B-RE twin-turbo set-up with V-mounted intercooler…

Love how exposed and visible the two turbochargers are mounted to the Wankel engine…

Perfect set-up for an FD3S RX-7. No LS-swap, no 2JZ, just a 13B with two big turbos…

The Exceed-built EJ1 Civic coupe put together for Ryuji from No Good Racing. He wanted to do something unique and different than what NGR has been known for through the years so he opted for a modern K20-swap…

The K-swap was nearly finished by Yasu was still waiting on some parts to reach Japan from Hybrid Racing…

A little mix of North America and Japan with the Rywire titanium plug cover and No Good Racing oil cap…

Also unique to the coupe was a Japanese Taxi motif, down to the bright pink paint which was taken from a Toyota Crown of the same hue which is often used as a Taxi in Japan…

One of the coolest builds of this year’s Auto Messe was the Y’s Complete 20Celsior which wore the front face of the new Toyota Century, which is the true flagship vehicle of Toyota in Japan….

NK Spirit custom JZS161 Aristo widened front and back seated on OZ Futura wheels…

The rear with the radiused and widened body with a OZ wheel so deep that it was filled with Japanese treats…

K-Break had a massive display at Auto Messe, centered around this Lexus LS wearing their aero kit which was created in collaboration with Liberty Walk…

That’s it for Part 1. Still much to come with two more parts coming and plenty of variety. Stay tuned! And thanks for looking…