One of my favorite things about being in Japan is having the opportunity to see just how intertwined custom car culture is with every day life there. It’s hard to explain in just words and photos but anyone that has been there any length of time can attest to that. You can be cruising around or walking the streets of Tokyo and you’ll often see a modified car driving by or parked in any number of public parking stalls throughout the city. Even driving through the countryside provides regular glimpses of custom car culture. If anything, it’s even bigger outside of the metropolitan cities. Sometimes I just want to have my camera in-hand just in-case a nice car cruises by or we catch one in traffic. It happens so often. Even though a majority of the Japanese population looks down on the modification of cars and considers it a hobby for “kids”, it doesn’t stop true car enthusiasts from modding or driving their cars. What I will say about the Japanese is that they really do have this undying devotion to the things that they love—sometimes to an obsessive level. That’s why you have these “otaku” who are people who love their hobbies to a detriment to their own social skills and existence among their peers. They can be into anime, sex dolls, food, or cars, if they enjoy it, they will probably continue to do so for the rest of their lives and have this dedication that you don’t often see in other parts of the world. That’s why you see so many automotive enthusiasts who are of older age in Japan. They love cars and they don’t care if society thinks they are immature for it. It’s also alarming to see just how much older some car guys are who are of a different generation because many of the 18-24 crowd in Japan is more into music and fashion than they are into cars. It’s considered “uncool” to be into cars and reserved for delinquents, no matter what age…

I appreciate their devotion. It shows conviction, you know? I’d much rather have a bunch of old car guys at a car meet or gathering than a bunch of kids who are only into cars because it is what is the “in” thing at the time. Car people aren’t into cars there because it’s popular or it can help boost their social standing—and that’s definitely a good thing. At my age now, I can definitely relate to enjoying cars just for the sake of enjoying cars on my own time. I document this shit to show you guys because I think it’s cool but even if I didn’t, I’d still be very much immersed in the culture. My documentation of Japanese car culture started when I came for the first time in 2013 and I’ve come back multiple times, every year since then. In that time, things have certainly changed. For the most part, the Japanese enthusiasts haven’t changed much, but the continued infusion of Western culture and other parts of the world has undoubtedly shifted the landscape of Japan’s car scene…

When I arrived in Tokyo that Thursday, I was notified over Instagram Direct Message from a local Japanese car guy that there was a “secret” meet happening. I was instructed not to tell anyone about it because it has become increasingly difficult to have car gatherings within Tokyo these last few years. Super Street had been doing them, as have I in the past, but one in particular got way out of hand one year and the police came and shut it down. It was such a mess that it actually cast a pretty bad light on car culture in the Tokyo region and it hasn’t been the same since. Most of the time people are pretty respectful and will gather in parking garages without issue but on this particular evening, people just started getting a little too crazy doing burnouts in the street and what not and if there is one thing that normal Japanese citizens do not like, it’s people causing a melee and bringing attention to themselves. I remember the police intervening immediately, shutting everything down, and even on a different night when I was trying to host a private meet somewhere, the police began following our every move and would be at the different locations we tried to use before we even got there! It was crazy. I haven’t tried to host a meet in Tokyo since and Super Street doesn’t want that type of heat on them. When there are meets, they are usually SUPER small and not discussed outside of specific circles of car people. So when I got the invite, I respected the anonymity. The problem with sharing a private event with people is that it only takes one or two bad eggs to make the whole thing…well…not private anymore. And that’s what happened this year. Chalk it up to more car people visiting from out of the country and wanting to be a part of something. As I’ve said before, the world is just getting way too small now thanks to social media. Everything is just so easily accessible. One foreigner got the memo about the secret meet from someone and it just spread like wildfire…

I don’t think I’ve ever been to a meet where there were so many people and so little cars. It almost seemed as if it was a prank to just gather all the foreigners together underground. If this was a sting operation we all would have been caught…

The location was great, being in the heart of Shibuya, one of Tokyo’s most active areas for eating, nightlife, and tourism. We got there super early and there weren’t even cars yet except for the ones owned by the hosts of the meet. Within a few minutes a few cars began to stroll in, many of them owned by military guys who were stationed out here and had modded cars, and hoards of people began to flow through the once-quiet parking garage…

I’ve been trying to shoot more photos and have started moving with this whole “one shot” mentality where if I can get one good photo wherever I am, I’d call it a successful day but boy did this meet make it difficult…

I can’t recall being anywhere in Japan where I’ve been around more non-Japanese people but on this night, I definitely think the locals were outnumbered. You could tell that there were a ton of people from the U.S., Australia, Hong Kong, and China. I tried shooting with a tripod because lighting was low and I really wanted to get a clean shot but it was pretty much impossible, lol. There were so many people there trying to make Vlogs and had their front-facing cameras on themselves, completely ignoring anyone else who was also trying to shoot that it just got way too frustrating. I mean, I don’t blame them. Everyone is just trying to get a piece of the action but I just didn’t have the patience for it after having to swim their hoards of people earlier that day at Tokyo Auto Salon…

I reminded myself that I just needed one good photo and it wouldn’t be a total loss and I think this shot of Hiro’s NSX from LEVEL ONE Japan was it. It shows a brief 20-seconds of uninterrupted peace and soon after that everyone was just swarming around the car…

To be fair, I don’t blame anyone for being there or for crowding the small parking garage that night. Everyone is entitled to be there and we’re all just car enthusiasts trying to maximize on the opportunities to experience Japan’s great car scene—it was just a little overwhelming. I thank the organizers for trying and I feel their pain. Shortly after, I got another DM from the original event host apologizing for the madness that ensued. An apology is hardly necessary. I understand how things can be sometimes. Better luck next time…(if there is a next time)

In the next few days that followed, we continued on our quest to see more of Japan’s vibrant car community. With the Tokyo Olympics coming soon, Japan has been trying to keep a squeaky-clean image and as such, have been trying to prevent any newsworthy things from happening in their city. Tokyo Auto Salon is a huge event during this time and its always been a great time to bring car people together. Too bad its exactly the type of noise and attention that the city doesn’t want to be attached to their image…

So we went hunting for modified cars in the more ‘popular’ areas of the city, knowing full well that gatherings wouldn’t last long. We passed by the famed Tatsumi Parking Area off the highway on multiple nights and all we saw were police cars blocking the entrance. On the last night before we went off to Hong Kong, we decided to go down to another famed gathering spot, Daikoku Futo parking area, and luckily enough, not only were there some cars present, the police had also left the lot undisturbed…

One of the first cars that really caught my eye was Kason’s turbocharged C33 Laurel which was slammed on RS Watanabe wheels…

You never know what you’ll find out in Daikoku PA. You’ll see something like the Laurel above and then a few steps away you’ll see a Subaru WRX STI wearing wide fender flares and Voltex aero…

Probably my favorite encounter that evening was this Suzuki Kei car which was incredibly tiny, yet ultra aggressive with the added flares and Advan RGII wheels. I don’t even know exactly what kind of Suzuki this is but it look crazy slammed to the ground with this aero…

There’s no wing but from the rear angle you can see that the owner even made a custom rear diffuser for it. I wish I had something to put next to it so you guys could grasp the small size of it. A peek inside the cockpit and the driver’s seat was all the way adjusted to the rear as if the driver was piloting the car from the backseat. Such a cool little build that is probably pretty quick too…

One of the kits you’ve probably never seen before is the Proratio widebody kit seen on this Z33 Fairlady which, if I remember correctly, was once displayed at Tokyo Auto Salon years back. Interesting lines for sure but just one of those kits that maybe looked a little too unconventional for many Z-owners…

JZX100 Mark II drift car from Team Charme wearing Car Modify Wonder aero and a set of Work VS-KF wheels…

Being at Daikoku PA always feels special. It might as well be hallowed ground in terms of Tokyo car culture, being that it has always been such a special place for enthusiasts to congregate at. We walked around some more and saw modified cars come and go. We didn’t stay long however, as we had an early flight to Hong Kong the following morning…

When we arrived in HK, I had no plans to do anything car-related. I didn’t even consider it. It was supposed to be a little getaway from all the car stuff that had been happening but of course, being car guys, the cars just somehow find us. I don’t really know if anyone from Hong Kong even knows what The Chronicles is, but a few Honda enthusiasts there definitely knew who Yasu was. He had never been to Hong Kong before but decided to join us on the trip. Yasu has some customers out there that he’s sold some parts to but had no grasp of what their car scene was like. When he told his customers from HK that he was coming, they decided to get a little gathering together so we could see some of the modded Hondas in the area. Everyone knows that Hong Kong is going through some changes right now with the protests that have been happening in their fight for freedom from China. The media had shown so much of all the negativity that had been going on in the country that most other parts of the world thought that it must have been pure chaos with people in the streets blocking roads and what not. What we saw was anything but chaos. The city had calmed a bit in the last few months and though there was evidence of rioting, for the most part, the city felt safe. The HK police are so preoccupied with the protests and the possibilities of a riot that they have little time to worry about anything else—and that includes car meets. So we went from one parking area in Japan to another one in a completely different country…

I personally haven’t been back in almost twenty years so I had no idea what to expect. I didn’t even know there was a big car community out there. Being that I hadn’t thought of doing any car stuff while in HK, I really had no expectations. Not only did the locals organize a pretty solid meet for us, they also hosted it basically right next door to our hotel, which made it very convenient. It was about 90% Hondas, some good, some… not so good. I’d say that it was an eye-opener though. Totally unexpected. There was even a automotive magazine there to talk to us that was based in HK so this kinda felt like a big deal…

I can’t say I’m a huge fan of FK2 Civic Type Rs, but I also haven’t been properly exposed to them since we never received them in the U.S. market and they weren’t very common in general in other parts of the world. Seeing one in person is pretty cool though and it’s on Volk TEs, which is an automatic win in my book…

This AP2 S2000 had a Voltex-theme going with the front bumper, rear wing, and fender add-ons. One of the most popular wheels from my observation while walking around HK was the Advan Racing GT wheels seen on this S2K…

The meet was filled with a fleet of white Hondas of all models but the ones that saw the most modifications were the EKs…

One can never go wrong with a Spoon Sports front lip and this one was paired with white CEs, AP Racing brakes, and EC Works mirrors…

Randomly in a sea of Hondas emerged this bright red Porsche 993 with GT2 front lip and rear wing…

If I were to pick my “one shot” from the Hong Kong set, I’d have to say that it was this one of a white NSX as the driver was getting in to move his car closer to the other collection of NSXs at the meet…

Another one of the matte gray vinyl-wrapped S2000…

If you’re wondering where Japan’s population of Mugen RRs went, apparently a bulk of them are in Hong Kong now. From chatting with one of the guys who helped organize the meet, he says that Mugen RRs are quite common—like in the HUNDREDS. Of course, the first thing I asked was if they were real and he confirmed that they are legit imported Mugen RR Civics…

Many of the Hondas at the gathering looked similar to this fashion, with just light mods, suspension and wheels. Nothing too crazy because they don’t have all the resources and know-how, also because modifying cars in HK isn’t exactly legal…

One more photo before I dropped my camera off the tripod and almost broke the 70-200mm L lens I was shooting with…

That was the most exposure we had to the Hong Kong car community on that trip. I met up with another friend who lived there from Copaze but all we did was eat desserts. After three days in the humid HK weather, I was ready to get back to the freezing cold temperatures of Japan. Early Thursday morning, we hopped back on the plane and flew to Osaka…

I told Yasu that once we got back, I really wanted to focus on getting as much automotive content as possible. The three days off in HK was nice but it was time to get back to business. I extended my stay to attend the Autofashion event that Sunday so we tried to cram all the shop visits we could from Friday to Saturday night…

Yasu mentioned that he wanted to bring me over to Factor, a well-known tuning shop in Osaka known for their work on Civic and Skyline race cars…

We arrived at Factor Racing Service to find some of their Hondas parked outside…

Yasu does the normal chatting with the owners of the shops while I run around and shoot, asking questions whenever I had them. Yasu would do his best to translate and be our interpreter…

The Factor Racing EG6 Civic race car, like used for one-make races and powered by a B-series engine…

This EG Civic with a full carbon front-end was actually owned by a customer from Tokyo…

Tucked tightly behind the spokes of the Volk Racing TE37SL wheels were SS WORKS brakes made by Sumitomo. These were a popular item back in the early 2000s and are actually Nissan brake calipers (If I remember correctly) retrofitted for Honda applications…

Carbon C-West style front, carbon hood, and carbon roof skin…

Fuel set-up and surge tank in the gutted rear section of the EG. Draped over the it was green “Magnum” safety harness…

The engine set-up is executed in a very traditional way with a 2.0L B-series powerplant with VTEC-killer cams and TODA Racing individual throttle bodies…

Signature red anodized TODA Racing fuel rail…

TODA individual throttle bodies with foam filters zip-tied to the velocity stacks…

Further inside the shop we see the Factor Racing BNR34 Skyline GTR race car on a lift placed in the back corner of the shop. In front of it is a rarely seen AW11 Toyota MR-2 race car with WEDS wheels…

The 4A-GE engine was out of the MR-2 for service and like the Civic, also featured a set of individual throttle bodies…

I didn’t get to learn too much about the BNR34 but it looked like it had been up on the lift for quite some time…

The rear bumper had custom cut-outs everywhere along with a paint-match rear GT wing…

The Z-Tune style front fenders also had an additional vent integrated into it and with the wheel-off, you can see the massive front Brembo brakes…

The front bumper was removed as well, exposing the oil cooler under the headlight and the front-mount intercooler that’s been wedged under the front crash bar…

And that concludes Part 4 of the Japan Photo Series. The next installment is a good one, featuring one of my favorite shops of all-time; Car Make Across! I’ll try to get that up as soon as I can since I’ll be in Hawaii this weekend for the Wekfest event. Keep an eye out for it and thanks for looking!!…