It’s crazy to think that it took me this long to unpack all the photos I shot from Japan last month and I’m now already getting prepared to go back. In total, we all just went through about 428 photos together in all 9-parts of this series. That’s not even counting the five Vlogs that I put together for the YouTube channel. I love Japan. I don’t know if I’ve said it too many times or if it is blatantly obvious but being there really helps push my creativity to new heights. Whenever I shoot something there I’m just so excited to go through them when I get home. It’s just so much fun being able to relive everything all over again and to clean them up to show you guys. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed all the content as much as I have putting it all together. My next trip back is going to be very different and Der will be joining me this time around. There’s Osaka Auto Messe coming first, which is the Kansai region’s version of TAS. It’s not nearly as big but definitely has its own unique flavor. Kansai people are different and you see it in their car builds. I have a pretty open schedule after that. As you guys know, I tend to be pretty spontaneous so I can’t really tell you where I’ll end-up next. The following week, I can confirm that I will be going back to Tsukuba for the Attack race series. I had such a good time there last year that I wanted Der to come experience it as well. I’m pretty sure we close-out our trip at the Nostalgic 2days car show, that’s the plan anyway, and I’ve never been to that so I have no idea what to expect…

Wherever and whatever I end-up going or doing, follow me on Instagram (@stickydiljoe) to keep-up…

Today we will close things out with the second batch of photos from the Autofashion Festival that took place in Suita, Osaka, Japan. I’ve attached the links to the previous 8-parts if you happened to have missed any of it…

The Chronicles in Japan 2020 Part 1: Arrival and Tokyo Auto Salon…

The Chronicles in Japan 2020 Part 2: More From TAS…

The Chronicles in Japan 2020 Part 3: Spoon Collection Event…

The Chronicles in Japan 2020 Part 4: Tokyo Nights, Hong Kong Meet, and Factor Racing Service…

The Chronicles in Japan 2020 Part 5: Car Make ACROSS, Trial Tuning Spirit, and Speedforme…

The Chronicles in Japan 2020 Part 6: Impact Magic and TRA Kyoto…

The Chronicles in Japan 2020 Part 7: Central Time Attack Challenge…

The Chronicles in Japan 2020 Part 8: AF Festival Japan…

There’s a lot to unpack here with more reading in the captions than usual so let’s get going…

One of the more interesting car club names I encountered while in Japan this year was “Sleeping Beauty”, featuring this RPS13 180SX and MA70 Supra. Not sure where the name is derived from but I assume it’s maybe because they both have pop-up headlights and since they’re not on, the cars appear to be sleeping? I don’t know for sure but goddamn it, I like it…

Hiroyuki Fujii’s bagged Supra on BBS wheels. I remember I really wanted one of these in high school and tried to convince my parents that they wanted me to have one too but it’s been almost 40 years and I definitely do not own one…

Tatsuya Yamaguchi’s super clean black 180SX on OZ wheels. So rare to see such a simple S-chassis these days…

Yamashin from ZeroZero8 Works’ candy red S15 Silvia with 326power aero and SSR Professor wheels…

A personal favorite of mine from the AF Fest event was this 1st generation Toyota Soarer on BBS LM wheels. I typically see this car at the Wekfest Japan events but its cool to see it outdoors for a change….

The factory 5M-GE engine is long gone, replaced now with a much more potent twin-turbo Nissan RB26DETT swap. I always enjoy seeing RB and 2JZ swaps in cars you wouldn’t expect to them to normally be in. Very cool that the owner chose to keep it a twin turbo set-up as well…

Not too far away from that RB-powered Soarer was this 2nd generation Z20 GT Twin-Turbo Soarer on BBS RS wheels. I don’t know if this car had been restored or not but it was mint!…

As I mentioned before, this event had a little bit of everything from Sleeping Beauties, to twin-turbo Soarers, and even more of the modern stuff we’re used to seeing like this ZN6 86 with a Aimgain x Stancenation widebody kit…

Another shot of Tsuyoshi’s BP-themed EF9 from NO GOOD RACING. He’s got a new Civic build coming for Osaka Auto Messe this weekend so I’ll be sure to get some photos of it for you guys to see…

Norifumi Kobayashi’s Accord Tourer Wagon is by far one of the best, and most thorough, Honda builds in Japan to emerge in the last few years. Basically everything has been converted to USDM Acura TSX Wagon specifications except for moving the steering wheel to the left-side. All OEM USDM TSX components that were available for this car have been switched over before the whole car was sprayed in Honda Milano Red…

The best feature about this build is the engine bay, where it has seen a very complete, U.S.-styled remake. The factory engine was pulled-out and cleaned-up, the bay was resprayed, and the cumbersome factory intake manifold has been upgraded with a polished CT Engineering supercharger. The valve cover was also polished to match and the cooling system has been converted over to braided hoses and -AN fittings which run to a CSF full-sized radiator. It might be hard to see here but check out the motorcycle reservoirs that have been used for the brake master cylinder. Even the engine mount brackets are polished. Excellent work…

Bagged Civic Wagon from Southsiiiide Auto Customs on display at their booth…

A new EK Civic hatchback build from Mechadock featuring a B-series with individual throttle bodies, a Tactical Art front lip, Volk TEs, Spoon Sports brakes and much more…

Tomoyuki Sasaki’s Civic Ferio VTI sedan hasn’t changed much over the years, and there’s no reason for it too because it’s just about perfect the way it is…

’96-spec B18C ITR engine swap which was done a few years back with a collection of more USDM-themed products along with a custom made intake pipe and a engine bay sprayed in a traditional gray tone…

Lamborghini Arancio Ishtar paint, Tactical Art lip, a pair of canards, and vented front fenders which hold a set of Volk TE37Sonic wheels wrapped in Falken Azenis rubber…

Keigo Okada’s Acura Integra Type R built originally by Tactical Art with OEM ITR body, CCW Classic wheels, and a fresh repaint in a dark burgundy…

Tucked engine bay which has been resprayed in gray with the factory B18C Type R engine utilizing Kinsler individual throttle bodies…

At first glance, this RX-7 may seem incredibly over-the-top, gaudy even, but underneath all that gold chrome vinyl is an extensive amount of work that truly needs to be understood to be appreciated. Even for me, it’s a little too crazy for my tastes but I went and did some research on this build and holy shit, it’s pretty fucking amazing…

The vehicle started-out as a 1995 RX-7 Bathurst R (Type R). The owner’s idea was to recreate an RE Amemiya Super GT car but in street trim with a lot of customization to an RE GT kit to really encompass the shape and feel of the Super GT. It was purchased second hand with a bulk of the kit already completed but necessary repairs had to be made to refresh it. An RE Amemiya front bumper was purchased, chopped and extended at each end so it would line-up with the wide front fenders. The front and rear wheel arches were then cut and radiused to allow the car to go very low to the ground once the Airrex air suspension was installed…

Some pieces which weren’t even in production were sourced, including the acrylic door windows that were originally meant for the RE Amemiya Hurricane7 race car. Since the owner couldn’t get the pieces from RE, he actually went and found the manufacturer of the windows for RE Amemiya. Fortunately they still had dead stock pieces which he could use for his build…

The old RE Amemiya AD9 vented hood that came with the RX7 was also altered significantly with the original vents cut completely out and replaced with these two massive hood ducts which route straight into the V-mounted intercooler…

One-off custom made carbon fiber mirrors…

The gold chrome wrap is utilized throughout, included on the faces of the 19-inch Work Emotion CR2P wheels…

Interior trim pieces see the gold wrap treatment as well including the cluster assembly, center console, and door inserts. I was honestly hoping the APEX’i Power FC unit would be wrapped in gold as well, lol…

A brand new Recaro RMS bucket seat was even customized with the gold chrome trim pieces to match…

The wrap is done very carefully and fits almost flawlessly on all body panels of the widebody RX-7. Even on the carbon rear diffuser you’ll see a gold chrome trim. Look at the wrap in in the more rounded areas like the taillights…

The rear wing of this FD is also an RE Amemiya Hurricane7 GT Wing, 1900mm in length with the only main difference being that the end plates have been reversed…

Overall, just a really striking build which catches the eye of almost anyone. Not sure if the engine bay has been completed yet but under the hood is a 13B Bridgeport motor with a HKS T04Z turbo. Hopefully by Wekfest Japan time they’ll be able to showcase the engine bay…

Crazy concept but executed very well by the people from Racing Paddock Miyoshi and wrapped by Kamui Produce. I read in an interview that this build, including the car, is currently nearing the $100K USD range. Fucking nuts but I appreciate the work and effort involved in transforming it into what you see…

B-Crystal Nissan President sitting nice and low, tucking rarely-seen SSR Agle Premium wheels…

This beautiful machine right here is a Toyota UZS131 Crown Royal Saloon V8 in two-tone black/gray hosting a full Junction Produce kit. Very traditional Bippu style that I grew-up loving and only seeing in VIP Style or VIPCAR magazines…

I know many of you guys were going crazy over that CLS 63 AMG on bronze Volk TEs from the previous post, but how do you guys feel about this Lexus NX200T which is on concave Volk TE37Ultra? Fucking amazing right? Talk about a great cruiser to drive around in…

What started out as a pretty cold morning turned into a nice chill afternoon in Osaka with some great cars…

One more of the NO GOOD RACING EF9. Excited to see his new Civic project that Tsuyoshi is probably going to start on the night before Osaka Auto Messe, lol…

Having been a car show judge for a few years now, I knew that the “Best of Show” or in this case the “Autofashion USA Choice”, would come down to either Kobayashi’s Accord Tourer/TSX Wagon or E.Prime Daito’s PS13 coupe. Myself and my friends who came along had a little debate about this and we were pretty split. But I had a pretty strong feeling that the S13 would end-up winning it all. It was a toss-up really, because both cars were so good and had such great details to them. Execution on both sides was also pretty great so the guys who were judging from Autofashion USA had a tough task ahead of them…

Pandem R35 GTR on a set of Rohana 3-piece wheels that I’ve honestly never seen before outside of a Rohana booth. Nothing against them but I’ve just never ever seen anybody buy Rohana wheels. I was thought it was just a front for another business, lol…

One more of the Pandem E30 owned by Kei Miura. No idea where Miura was the entire afternoon. He was most likely taking a nap somewhere or smoking cigarettes…

Another of the Racing Paddock Miyoshi-produced Pandem FC3S since it looked nice as the sun was setting…

When it came down to the final award of the day, I guessed right as Daito took home the “Autofashion USA Choice” award.

Like the Autofashion VIP Festival here at home, the grand prize was also a custom wheel with acrylic face. It’s hard to lug around a giant wheel like the one we had in California so I believe the Japan variation is a 15-inch wheel…

Such good engine bay execution with the RB as the centerpiece…

The head of the RB poking out just above the core support. You can also see my lens reflected in the polished cam cover…

If you have full custom Bride x Betty Smith denim interior, you better win something…

The rear bumper cut-outs on the Mechadock EK along with the carbon side pieces mounted under the EK9 sideskirt…

One more with the hood closed. This EK also has those super wide front fenders that you’ve previously seen on the ACROSS EK9 and a few other Civics in the Osaka area. We actually have a set sitting at the shop here and have come to realize that they are definitely wider but still mount at the OEM front bumper position, making it impossible to turn without ripping the bumper off. That’s why you see the fenders mount with aftermarket brackets because the spacing of the front bumper is necessary for the fenders to truly be functional…

The Expo ’70 park definitely makes for a great back drop to a great event…

As we were leaving, I noticed that the EK9 that was sitting in the parking lot when we first arrived was still there, now sitting all by itself so I decided to get some more shots of it since we already had a great backdrop…

And that officially wraps-up the Japan Photo Series from my adventures in Tokyo, Osaka, and everywhere in-between. By the time you read this I’ll like already be back in Japan so rest assured that there is more content coming. Next-up is the Wekfest Hawaii coverage which is really good in its own unique way. Stay tuned!!…